Fan Films: Three Star Trek Films worth your time

They are definitely worth your time. I hope you enjoy the villain's love for classical music.

Basic Expert: The Blood-Red Ember Pact

The Blood-Red Ember pact is a gemstone from the planes. This blood-red stone may when swallowed (placed on tongue in mouth) by a Magicuser during the casting of a Summon Elemental, instead summon some other monster type. The Summoned Beast should be rolled up by the Dungeon Master on the monster encounter tables depending on the location the spell is cast.
Use of this gem makes the Summons Permanant through a Pact. The spell caster gains a Summoned companion beast if the caster's charisma check is successful. If charisma check fails check the creature's morale to discern its response. If a sentient creature is summoned assume the Pact fails and the summoned is free to act as desired.

The rarity of the Gem is on par with Diamonds though the DM should have final say.

Linguistic Archaeology: the twelve Devils of D&D

12 Devils by popularity of use

1. Primus
2. Asmodeus
3. Mephistopheles
4. Beezlebub
5. Glasya
6. Levistus
7. Geryon
8. Fierna
9. Belial
10. Mammon
11. Dispater
12. Zariel

A      %      E        %         I        %       O         %            U      %
7    58%    9       75%     7     58%     4        33%         4      33%

B      %      C        %         D        %       F         %            G      %
2    16%    0       0%        2     16%     1        8%            2      16%

H      %      J        %         K        %       L         %            M      %
1      8%     0       0%       0        0%     6        50%         4      41%

N      %      P        %         Q        %       R         %            S      %
1      8%    3       25%       0       0%     5        41%         6      50%

T      %      V        %         W        %       X         %            Y      %
3    25%    1        8%       0         0%     0         0%          1      8%

Z       %
2       16%

Popularity of use

75% E
58% A, i, e
41% R, s, l, a, i, e:
33% O, u, m, r, s, l, a, i, e: Mammon,
25% P, t, o, u, m, r, s, l, a, i, e: Primus,
16% G, d, b, z, p, t, o, u, m, r, s, l, a, i, e: Zariel, Dispater, Beezlebub, Belial, Asmodeus,
8% N, y, f, v, h, g, d, b, z, p, t, o, u, m, r, s, l, a, i, e: Fierna, Geryon, Levistus, Glasya, Mephistopheles, Mammon,
0% C, J, K, W, X

Conclusion: linguistically, Mammon predates Primus is the Boss. Geryon is a sibling of Glasya (G- prefix, -y- midaffix). If glasya is the daughter of Asmodeus, then Geryon is also an offspring. Fierna is related to Zariel (by the -ie- midaffix).
Levistus and Mephistopheles are descended from Dispater (by the -is- midaffix).
Zariel, Dispater, and Belial are descended from Primus.

So the first devil is a Moneylender... :-p

Updated(7 December 2019): Sorry, forgot the N which pushes Mammon from the position of first Devil at 33% down to 8%.

Other excluded devils like lilith fall in the 8%-16% range implying they appeared near the end of linguistic development.

Crappy Manga: Watched Happy Sugar Life

I know you have been looking at the candy...

Period Piece: The Aeronauts

The Aeronauts is a fun film about high altitude balloon travel and science. Time period: 1862. Just need them to be hit by fish pulled from the sea by a storm.

You might try Sky Sailors: True stories of the Balloon era by David L. Bristow. 2010.

• The black moon: the first balloon flights (France, 1783)
• Queen of the night sky: Sophie and Jean-Piere Blanchard (France, 1784-1819)
• Splashdown in Lake Erie: John Steiner (United States, 1857)
• The children are gone!: Martha and David Harvey (United States, 1858)
• The long voyage: the flight of the balloon Atlantic (United States, 1859)
• To the top of the sky: Coxwell and Glaisher's record altitude (United Kingdom, 1862)
• The siege of Paris: the balloon-and-pigeon post (France, 1870-1871)
• The North Pole balloon: Salomon Andrees's expedition (Sweden and the Arctic Ocean, 1897)
• Parachute girl: Dolly Shepherd (United Kingdom, 1903-12).

As you can see, the listing for 1862 covers Coxwell and Glaisher's Record Altitude flight. So the Aeronauts covers their story. Even though Henry Coxwell and James Glaishier were both men... so facts don't matter?

Warp Field: Flaws in Faster Than Light

Sure you saw the little Accubiere drive art on the front of that popular science zine... except that at higher dimensions the black hole diameter expands.
So the idea of FTL is flawed. Flip the switch and the space ship doesnt just form a bubble and go zoom...

"Everybody's dead Dave."

Okay, but why are black holes of different diameters then? How about because your approach to the black hole varies with dimension.

So back to million year space programs.

Linguistic Archeology: Japanese Honorifics

Honorifics

1. -san
2. -sama
3. -kun
4. -chan
5. -tan
6. -senpai
7. -kohai

Popularity of use

A        %        E         %         I         %           O          %          U          %

6       85%      1       14%      2       28%        1         14%       1           14%

B        %        C         %         D         %           F          %          G          %

0         0%      1        14%     0          0%        0          0%         0          0%

H        %        J         %         K         %           L          %          M          %

1         14%   0         0%       2         28%       0           0%        1          14%

N        %        P         %         Q         %           R          %          S          %

5         71%    1        14%      0         0%         0          0%        3          42%

T        %        V         %         W         %           X          %          Y          %

1        14%    0          0%       0           0%        0          0%        0           0%

Z         %

0          0%

Honorifics by Popularity of use

85%         A:

71%         N, a: (An (pie): Grandmother/ancestor)

42%        S, n, a: -san

28%        K, i, s, n, a: 

14%        E, o, u, c, h, m, p, t, k, i, s, n, a: -sama, -kun, -chan, -tan, 

                -senpai, -kohai

0%          B, d, f, g, h, l, q, r, v, w, x, y, z

Conclusions

At 42% the earliest honorific is -san (predated by protoindoeuropean 'an' meaning ancestor/grandmother).

There is a jump in time as new alphabet is added, and then a sudden rush as the remaining honorifics are added into use by 14% of the population.