#space opera
One of the Omniverse Tales laying out some of the most important backstory. Specifically how Syian III the Regicide gained the name.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31117466
Hammer of the Stars: - TheLightdancer - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]
I *finally* got started on Book 4 of Eternity’s Empire! (Can I get a HELL YEAH!) Here’s a peek at the first draft of the opening:
While Aeternitas and her guardians huddled in the Earth queen’s palace, waiting for doom or salvation, her mother’s distant realm seemed like a dream.
But now that she had returned to the stars, it was Earth and not the empire that felt like a dream.
She still loved the Earth as much as she loved its queen; that was indisputable. She saw nothing but potential in its rolling green fields, jagged mountain ranges and rolling plains. But now that she was back among the ease and technology that permeated every aspect of life in the empire and its surrounds, the time she spent there seemed more like a fantastic camping trip, a venture through the wild, untamed reaches of the galaxy.
In other words, it had been a vacation. And it was time for that vacation to end.
Learn more about the Eternity’s Empire series here!
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/230d46678c134ce7fe09a8b37ea083be/ccd620afcc0f8e06-f4/s1280x1920/a279082ca83bcf037ebc35c58f5652d1cc11c7d1.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6634e75fac14823d0cb8f77e6e720faf/ccd620afcc0f8e06-77/s1280x1920/85fa7ee86febafff69beee467aedad6ffe0f3a0c.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/0eeccafc80d27ca808e9896df6968547/ccd620afcc0f8e06-d2/s1280x1920/6fb854e8b268312d9f7ccd98b4cb0b1af3ae2fa1.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e92b320a5751a061e7efa7908b8bccb1/ccd620afcc0f8e06-8d/s1280x1920/b08de2236e7f073af448851cefdd152fd011770c.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/433c3d808a45fe6172cef9c4d442e9fb/ccd620afcc0f8e06-e6/s1280x1920/5e6d9949c8d5fe878d3fdb8f973a6319906e062c.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/73b2b093b563b1e941953c9f10b41e22/ccd620afcc0f8e06-43/s1280x1920/47045d6fb2c9806c283c6a7fdb988366e56657c7.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
![[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2cfbf7fb3a7e1f5ee0cdba5c48601100/ccd620afcc0f8e06-4e/s1280x1920/6d28960e190394afb1b3fa9eaa211efcc3b4c9a9.jpg "[Transcript under the cut]So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more cont")
[Transcript under the cut]
So, uh… Here’s a quick intro post for my novel to provide more context for my illustrations. If you want to see more of these characters, check out my “radio isotope” tag.
Disclaimer : I’m a visual artist, not a writer, I write very slowly and in French because my English is shitposting-on-the-internet good, not writing-two-entire-novels good, so I won’t post writing excerpts unless I’m very proud of it (and after i finish writing this whole thing and find someone to help me translate it). Also I’m still working on the outline (rebuilding the entire thing from scratch), but I have a LOT of illustrations ideas so stick around for those i guess ?
Powerpoint ID :
A 7-slide powerpoint, written in comic sans.
Slide 1:
The Radio Isotope (working title) : a comic sans presentation by Sanasean.
This story has been a work in progress since 2016 and i’m finally making progress.
also powerpoints are harder to do than i remember.
Slide 2 :
What ? When ? Where ?
Space pirates ! In the future ! In SPACE !!!!
In the Andromeda Galaxy, approx. 1000 years in the future. Humanity left the earth and somehow ended up a whole galaxy away. Their spaceships were discovered by Isshan explorers (the Isshan are one of the many aliens species that live in Andromeda and the founder of the Union, the galactic government) and they were given a planet (Noutéra) and Union citizenship.
Why did the humans leave the earth ? Where the fuck is even the earth ? idk lol (the Noutéran government says they fled because an asteroid was going to destroy the planet. Weirdly enough, people who try to investigate the earth and humanity’s exodus tend to disapear under mysterious circumstances).
The inhabitants of the galaxy don’t care about why humans came to Andromeda, they just want to live their lives in peace. It’s pretty easy when you live near the Center, where the seat of the Union is located, but a bit more difficult for the people who live on the Edges, near the unexplored parts of the galaxy, where space pirates, mercenaries and bounty hunters thrive.
And that’s where our story takes place.
Slide 3 :
Plot (aka where are the protagonists and antagonists at the beginning of the story).
The Captain is… the captain… of the Radio Isotope, a small spaceship with a small crew of space pirates. Well, space smugglers more exactly, but the Captain IS a space pirate so his crew are pirates as well. They are not having a lot of luck lately, and going from failed job to failed job. After a botched scavenging mission (the spaceship they were supposed to loot was not even
there), they finally land a pretty easy smuggling job AND they get a paying passenger, a young human named Nua.
Except luck is still not on their side because Nua is hunted by bounty hunters for reasons she doesn’t even know, and the tiny radio isotope ends up prey to the biggest bounty hunter spaceship of the galaxy, the Imperator.
The Emperor is a mystery. Captain of the Imperator, immortal (?), a robot (???) and obsessed by the earth. They will stop at nothing to get the information they want, and with the imperator’s firepower rivaling that of a planet’s army, they do not fear Noutéra. They are the scourge of pirates, the hero of the Edges, a thorn in the Union’s side .
And for some reason, they’re after the radio isotope.
Slide 4 :
Main characters : the ones whose problems end up ruining everyone’s day.
Above the text describing each character is a portrait of them.
The Captain (he/him) :
Image ID : The Captain is a humanoid alien, with warm brown skin, four red eyes, dark red hair and beard, cat-like whiskers and a pair of horns, the right one broken at the base. He is looking at the camera, unimpressed, frowning slightly. End image ID.
- Isshan
- he’s the boss of the RI.
- lived his whole life in space, and most of it as a pirate.
- never stays more than one month in a place.
- never talks about his past.
- great storyteller, atrocious liar.
- walks with a cane, which can turn into a rapier. he’s pretty deadly with it.
The Emperor (They/Them)
Image ID : The Emperor appears to be a robot. Their head is vaguely shaped like a tortoise skull, with three more eye sockets, two behind the normal eyes and one on the top of the head. They have four fangs and the shape of their jaws make it so they are always slightly smiling. Neon green light comes from the inside of their head, contrasting with the dark metal the rest of their relatively humanoid body is made of. They are wearing a light gray-green cape covering their shoulders. End image ID.
- ????? robot ??? haunted armor ???
- they have been haunting the Edges for more than 100 years.
- there are a LOT of legends about them, and most of them are true.
- where they go, the Imperator goes.
- they have an informator network that spans half the galaxy.
- strict but fair captain.
Slide 5 :
The Radio Isotope’s crew : Lovable space pirates.
Above the text describing each character is a portrait of them.
Etha (she/her)
Image ID : Etha is a humanoid alien, with light blue skin, white feathery hair and very large white eyes. Her nose is almost non existent, and her mouth opens from ear to ear. She is looking straight at the camera, head slightly tilted to the right. End image ID.
- the first mate.
- armisian (alien with telepathic abilities).
- cartographer, ethnologist and linguist.
- braincell of the crew.
Jill (she/they)
Image ID : Jill is a human with dark brown skin, straight black hair cut short on the left side and a black right eye. She has scars across her nose, her lips and around her artificial left eye. They are smiling to the camera. End image ID.
- the mechanic.
- fixed the ship so it could fly, lost her right arm and eye in a reactor accident.
- first recruit.
- fiercely loyal to the captain, but argues with him on a daily basis.
Meden (ael/aer)
Image ID : Meden looks exactly like Etha, being her twin sibling. Ael is looking to aer right, and seems a bit confused. End image ID.
- the doctor.
- etha’s twin.
- not really a fan of the pirate or spationaut life tbh.
- mom of the crew.
Nua (she/her)
Image ID : Nua is a human, with light beige-pinkish skin, green eyes and light brown hair in a bun. She has freckles on her cheeks and nose and a wide smile. End image ID.
- the lost human.
- pretended she could pay to travel to another planet to flee her pursuers.
- stuck on the RI now.
- kinda maybe in love with jill.
Slide 6 :
The Imperator’s crew : scum and villainy (unless ?…).
Above the text describing each character is a portrait of them.
Wënn (she/her)
Image ID : Wënn is a human with pale beige skin, long straight black hair let loose on her right side and braided on her left side, and sad blue eyes. She has freckles all over her face and is smiling apologetically at the camera. End image ID.
- the second in command.
- she doesn’t really know what she’s doing here, she was a docker before the Emperor made her their second.
- very kind.
- swears like a (space) sailor.
The Lieutenant (he/they)
Image ID : The Lieutenant is a humanoid alien, with reddish beige skin, short cold dark pink hair and cold purple eyes. He has small scales on his cheeks and long ears, and is smiling broadly to show his shark-like teeth while looking away from the camera. End image ID.
- the mercenary.
- somewhere between a human and a lizard alien.
- very random loyalty, his only motivation is money and he’ll change sides on a whim.
- excellent pilot, races regularly.
- extremely arrogant.
Raki (any pronouns)
Image ID : Raki is a human with very pale skin, short dirty blond hair and cold grey eyes. The right side of their face is covered in burn scars. She has a hearing aid in her left ear, and is looking pretty angry, frowning at the camera. End image ID.
- the loose cannon.
- who the fuck are they ?
- cyborg, ~ 50 % of their body is artificial.
- she has a tendency to appear where she’s the least expected.
- tired™.
- he’s looking of the earth too.
Slide 7 :
What else ?
●LGBTQ+ characters, queerplatonic relationships.
● found family !
● space magic ! Stories and words have power, semi sentient spaceships, space
ghosts and weird spacey timey stuff, singularities as power source, playing very fast and very loose with physics, mentions of space dragons.
● billionaires and capitalism = bad.
● struggling with identity, wether it be lost by accident, shed voluntarily or imposed by circumstances.
● the futiliy of fleeing from the ghosts of one’s past, learning how to face them.
● also i plan to illustrate the whole novel so… yeah.
End powerpoint ID.
Post link
My comic for the 23HBD 2021
Theme : Winged creature
Constraint : A sequence must be nonsensical
Post link
My comic for the 23HBD 2021
Theme : Winged creature
Constraint : A sequence must be nonsensical
Post link
My participation to the 23HBD
Theme : Anachronistic myths
Constraint : The blue color must always be present in your story as a character or element that deeply contrasts with the rest
Post link
My participation to the 23HBD
Theme : Anachronistic myths
Constraint : The blue color must always be present in your story as a character or element that deeply contrasts with the rest
Post link
My participation to the 23HBD
Theme : Anachronistic myths
Constraint : The blue color must always be present in your story as a character or element that deeply contrasts with the rest
Post link
James Blish: Cities in Flight (1970)
‘The Fifth Element’: How Luc Besson’s Space Opera Conquered Cannes 25 Years Ago
The film’s lead producer explains the nine-year development process behind a movie that would become the most expensive in European history, attract attention from Sylvester Stallone (who wanted the main part) and culminate in a $1 million party on the Croisette.
BY ALEX RITMAN
Luc Besson and Milla Jovovich at the 1997 world premiere of ‘The Fifth Element’ in Cannes. COURTESY ARNAL-CATARINA-CHARRIAU/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES
It takes a lot to crack the top list of Cannes parties. But an event costing a festival record $1 million and featuring a Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show, a futuristic ballet and guests including the biggest A-list couple on the planet, not to mention dinner, fireworks and tickets in the form of a specially made Swatch watch, certainly sounds like it has the right sort of ludicrous credentials.
The party in question was for The Fifth Element, which opened the 50th Cannes Film Festival in 1997 in extravagant, star-studded style and now firmly resides on the list of cinema’s cult classics. Luc Besson’s wild space opera brought lead star Bruce Willis and his then-wife Demi Moore — plus co-stars Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker and Milla Jovovich (wearing a loincloth-style skirt and little else) — up the Palais steps for the world premiere, followed by a grand post-screening shindig for 1,000 guests by the seafront in a specially built space of more 100,000 square feet. And all this glitz was a precursor to a global box office in excess of $260 million, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year.
In the 25 years since its release, much has already been written about the making of The Fifth Element and how it began its epic journey, culminating on the Croisette, as an idea in the imaginative head of Besson when he was just 16 years old. But it wasn’t just a cinematic odyssey for the director, who was 38 when it hit cinemas. French studio Gaumont took the project on when it was still in infant form and spent a full nine years developing it — during which time Besson made three other films — before a camera was even picked up. The company even stumped up the lion’s share of the budget that, at the time, made it the most expensive European film in history.
According to then-Gaumont head and The Fifth Element’s lead producer Patrice Ledoux, he first optioned the rights to Besson’s wildly colorful sci-fi adventure — or at least the idea for it — back when the director was developing his 1988 free-diving aquatic drama The Big Blue, the film many consider his international breakout. The company had backed his previous, and debut, feature, the French box office smash Subway, a film — later Oscar-nominated — that marked the director out as a fast-rising star (the “enfant terrible” badge was already being heavily overused) and a pivotal figure of the new, highly visual and pop-soaked Cinéma du look movement.
With Besson initially focused on making his second feature, which was shooting on the Greek island of Amorgos, Gaumont hired a team of creatives to begin putting together the script for The Fifth Element. “We had a lot of people working on the writing,” notes Ledoux. But even once The Big Blue was completed (it screened out of competition in Cannes) and with numerous hands, including Besson’s, on board, the film was still proving to be something of a monster, impossible to contain in one manageable feature.
“At one point, we had two scripts of 300 pages,” says Ledoux, who acknowledges it was always going to be a “very, very ambitious project” (while he says that Besson would have likely gone for it, Gaumont was never going to agree to split the story into two features). The ideal size was 120 pages, so there was a lot more work still to do.
With Besson itching to get behind the camera and the development work for his magnum opus still rumbling on, he wrote and directed two more live-action features for Gaumont in 1990’s La Femme Nikita and 1994’s Leon: The Professional, which Ledoux produced. He also squeezed in time to make the 1991 underwater documentary Atlantis.
But — eventually — The Fifth Element was whittled down to an acceptable size, with Ledoux agreeing on a budget of around $90 million. “Which for a French company was absolutely insane,” he admits.
So the producer went with cap in hand to the U.S. and to Sony’s Columbia Pictures, which had taken both The Big Blue and Leon, and it agreed to hand over $25 million for the U.S. rights. “But $90 million minus $25 million still leaves a lot to make up,” he notes. Although there were a few presales and other investments, Gaumont paid the — then European record-breaking — rest.
While he says it was a “big risk,” it wasn’t his first risk with Besson. “We were pretty confident we could succeed.”
Ledoux also notes that Besson was no longer the young upstart filmmaker behind The Big Blue, but the director responsible for Leon, which had become a major critical and box office hit around the world.
The Columbia deal came with conditions, however, not least the casting of a Hollywood star of a certain caliber to fill the lead role of taxi driver turned savior of mankind Korben Dallas.
“Luc’s initial idea was Mel Gibson,” claims Ledoux, who adds that the actor made frequent visits to Besson’s house in L.A. But Gibson eventually turned it down. A major name who was interested, however, was Sylvester Stallone, who the producer says heard about the film and approached independently. “It was very strange, and Luc was actually annoyed because although Stallone was a big star at the time, he wasn’t the right guy for the movie.”
Several stories have emerged over the past quarter-century as to how Bruce Willis eventually joined The Fifth Element, but in the one Ledoux tells, it was actually his then-wife, Demi Moore, who first told the Die Hard star about this crazy project from Besson, who had become “very fashionable” in L.A. thanks to Leon and Nikita. The two met up.
However, there was a problem: At the time, thanks to the likes of Pulp Fiction and 12 Monkeys, Willis was one of the biggest stars on the planet and, despite the already oversized budget, the production couldn’t afford him. “I said to him, ‘Bruce, we don’t have the money to pay you, it’s just not possible for us,'” claims Ledoux. But Willis was still interested, so sent his agent to discuss how much Gaumont could actually afford.
“It was very bizarre, because one day Luc went to a hotel with a script, which he gave to Bruce and then waited in the corridor until he finished reading it. Then he came back in and Bruce finally said, ‘Yes, I agree to it’.”
With Willis officially signed, the rest of the cast — including Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman and Chris Tucker — were much more straightforward and required far less intense negotiations, claims Ledoux, who adds that they were all hand-picked by Besson.
And while Willis may have taken a pay cut, Ledoux asserts that he was “very well taken care of,” with his family, coach, cook, secretary and two bodyguards all paid to accompany him to London, where most of the 21-week shoot took place (there was a brief jaunt to Mauritania for the scenes set in Egypt). Although Besson had wanted to film in France, the country at the time had no experience when it came to making major sci-fi features, so he had to turn to Pinewood, where the production took over most of the soundstages — including the enormous 007 stage — and where Ledoux says there were as many as nine sets running at the same time.
When shooting started in January 1996, Ledoux handed over the reins to veteran line producer Iain Smith, whom he hired after first meeting him in Costa Rica where he was working on Ridley Scott’s Christopher Columbus drama 1492: Conquest of Paradise (another Gaumont title). “I came to supervise production, and he served us chicken with mint, and I thought, ‘If this guy can get us chicken with mint in central Costa Rica while shooting this film, he’s the right guy for us.’”
But despite taking a back seat for the production as Smith oversaw proceedings at Pinewood, Ledoux had a firm grasp of the immensity of the project he had greenlit. “In the middle of the shoot, there were weeks when I was signing a daily payroll that had more than 1,000 names on it,” he says, adding that the VFX work — which took place in California — involved 400 people working at the same time. But he says that The Fifth Element never went over budget. “I had put my reputation and position on it,” he says.
And Ledoux still had one major trick up his sleeve — getting The Fifth Element to Cannes as the curtain-raiser. As it happened, despite a loud, colorful and campy sci-fi movie not seeming standard opening-night material for a festival more focused on art house, it proved relatively easy.
First up, the film’s French credentials — The Fifth Element being the biggest and boldest production in history from the best-known French studio. “Cannes was very happy to show the world what we can do,” notes Ledoux. “But the second thing was that I brought Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, and at that time, if you were to tell the Cannes Film Festival that you could bring Bruce Willis and Demi Moore to the opening … let’s just say they were enthusiastic!”
There was also the not-inconsiderable fact that Gaumont spent $1 million on the opening party.
But Ledoux says there was a method to this flashy madness, with Cannes effectively serving as The Fifth Element’s condensed international press tour. “We knew it would be impossible to take Bruce Willis around the world with the film, so instead we invited everyone who had bought it to Cannes to spend a couple of days with him,” he claims. “So the expense was not actually that huge if you think about it. Sure, we did spend a lot of money. But it was spectacular. And everyone who came said, ‘Yeah!’”
Here’s the latest page of my web comic series, BINARY STAR!
Page 19-5
Okay, that is a hugerelief. It seems like Zaki’s father had no idea what was going on, and he sure as hell didn’t approve any of it.
You can read BINARY STAR online for FREE at Tapas,Facebook, and right here on its own Tumblr!
Post link
Here’s the latest page of my web comic series, BINARY STAR!
Page 19-3
I know these two dudes are some of the most despicable monsters in the galaxy, but something about them always cracks me up. They just… don’t give a single fuck about anything, and it’s hilarious.
You can read BINARY STAR online for FREE at Tapas,Facebook, and right here on its own Tumblr!
Post link
BINARY STAR
CHAPTER 19: BLACK OUT…
Oooh, it’s time for chapter 19 of BINARY STAR! I’m not even gonna preface this chapter - let’s just dive right in!
And be sure to check back every Monday and Thursday for a new page!
You can read BINARY STAR online for FREE at Tapas,Facebook, and right here on its own Tumblr!
Post link
