Need help identifying a Harry Potter fanfic. Publish date: Before 2010. Given the in-universe period, likely before HP5 or HP6 was published. Main plot detail remembered: Harry became associated with a rare dark (I think "black" but not sure) Phoenix. Don't really remember much else about the plot though. Just to be clear - this was a REAL BIRD - not Harry's Animagus form or mascot/mark as most fics named "Dark Phoenix" seem to be about. Size: Novel length. As in, 100+ KB size, at least. In-universe period covered: I think it starts after year 4 or 5. Non-typical fic : Normal narrative (as in, no deeply alternate universe differing from prior HP books, no parallel worlds, no time travel, no weird romantic pairings). It's a straight up sequel to the previous JKR book. My Google-fu seems insufficient to find it - every one I found was some weird Alternate universe thing.

In Pokémon Origins, Red sees a image with the three legendary birds and Arcanine. Why was Arcanine there? I mean, he's 'The Legendary Pokemon' but not a legendary Pokémon. In this question/answer , there is a comment by Rayz Rusher on the answer that Arcanine was originally a legendary Pokémon: "...Nintendo first gave Zapdos, Articuno and Arcanine as the legendary trio. But they removed Arcanine as it would have been awkward. Two birds and a dog, huh!..." This still does not add up because Pokémon Origins was created a while after they removed Arcanine. Any thoughts? Answer In a much earlier episode of the Pokémon anime, Ash goes to the same Pokémon center in Viridian City and sees the same picture. This must be just a callback to that, which was much closer to when Arcanine was still considered a legendary Pokémon by Gamefreak and Nintendo. Image from 2nd episode of Pokemon Anime - Bulbapedia article .

Here's what I remember:- A group of heroes and not heroes try to escape a tiered dungeon sort of thing, working their way up. The casualties mount until there's only a girl, and a love interest left. It's pretty much a converted car park. A character gets his head taken off by some spherical device he sticks it into. I believe he got to communicate with the guy running the dungeon through it, somehow. Another character, somehow isolated from the rest of the gang, falls into some sort of steel wire trap; the sudden tightening of the wire (or something) removes his body from his feet. He offers money from his wallet before dying somehow or rather. The "main heroes" who survive at the end exit the dungeon thing with the sun in their eyes, as majestic silhouettes. The love interest somehow remove the girl from some electrocution torture thing she's strapped to. I think it was produced by Showtime Australia... maybe. Either they've since disowned it, or my memo...

Looking for a short story probably anthologized in a golden age collection about space cadets that are under the impression they have to figure out who in their class is the secret android (and maybe kill him). They end up picking the valedictorian / smartest in the class for obvious reasons. I think that it might then be revealed that this is a hoax played upon the students by the instructors. Answer I believe you are seeking the 1974 short story Pacer by Raymond F. Jones (not to be confused with his 1943 story with the same title). Pacer by Raymond F. Jones (from Future Kin , © 1974) Summary: A class of futuristic space cadets must decide whether to accept a member whom they suspect to be a robot known as the Pacer or to follow tradition and kill him.

If Gandalf wears the One Ring, will he be invisible? Or will he master it and be visible? Maybe I should ask: is there a chance that the "invisibility" effect of the Ring is a side effect of weakness? Answer Here's an argument for no I am going to say no because of this passage in the Lord of the Rings ‘A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades[.] The Lord of the Rings | The Shadow of the Past Now Gandalf here is referring to the Great Rings (which we can take to include the 9 and the 7) what this tells me that any of the great rings would make a mortal invisible, not just the One Ring. As he is saying this Gandalf is wearing one of the Three Rings and is visible. The other bearers of the great rings are elves and also are not invisible. On the question of the great rings The e...

I can't really remember how long ago it was, but I think the book was marketed towards children/teens. All I remember is the basic premise of the story. Some story about these unusual little blue electric critters that only certain people could see, and these kids took it upon themselves to go about destroying them since they fed off energy or something like that. Not sure whether they fed off people or off electricity... or both maybe? I think the dominant method of destroying them was an electric baton that was taken from law enforcement. I wanna call them buzz batons, but that's probably thanks to Artemis Fowl . Answer The Supernaturalist (2004) by Eoin Colfer. "In the not-too-distant future, in a place called Satellite City, thirteen-year-old Cosmo Hill is unfortunate enough to come into the world unwanted by his parents. And so, as are all orphaned boys his age, Cosmo is dipped in a vaccine vat and sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boy...

Heard about this from a friend. Story about race of alien cat type people who capture other aliens and turn them over to be hunted by a race of shape shifting aliens. Human in the story is caught while sailing solo across the ocean. Human is then placed in confinement with a 7 foot t-Rex alien? Looking for a title on this one.

The story is about a man who slowly but gradually finds out that he is living in a virtual reality. Eventually they let him return to the real reality, but then, after a while he starts to notice things again that make him suspect that once more he's in a virtual reality. It's a bit similar to what the Enterprise (TNG) crew did with holodeck character Moriarty, but that's not the story I mean. Also, if I remember correctly, the equipment is a bit similar to that in The Matrix. I remember reading this story when on holiday in 1996 and the book was probably quite recent then. The copy I read was in English and I'm pretty sure the author is American.

I often hear among people who are only vaguely familiar with Star Trek referring to the character of Spock as 'Dr Spock', getting confused with the author of the book about children. It got me to thinking though: Spock is a pretty clever guy and it wouldn't surprise me if he had a PhD. My question: Does Spock actually have a PhD ? If so, what is it in? Answer Probably not. He's never referred to as Dr Spock, or as having a PhD, in any of the Star Trek series (source: the second of the two links below). So there's nothing to say he did have a PhD, but also no canon confirmation that he didn't. You can find fan discussions of the issue here and here . From the first of these links, here are some arguments for Spock not having a PhD: We know that Vulcans are not above calling themselves Doctor. We also know that Spock rejected an offer to attend the Vulcan Science Academy in order to attend Starfleet Academy. I suppose he could've earned a Ph.D. at Starfl...

I have watched Terminator 2 several times now, but there is one major problem with it that has been bothering me. The Terminator* was sent back in time to (unsuccessfully) assassinate Sarah Connor, and the remnants of this destroyed Terminator* were the basis for what would become SkyNet in the future according to Terminator 2. This appears to me to be a bootstrap paradox, whereby the only way for this technology to be developed was by it already being developed . I cannot understand this. What was the original SOURCE for this technology? *(also known as the T-800, T-850, or T-101)

These two people give Thorin the staredown when he arrives at the Prancing Pony in Bree. Who are these people? I didn't recall reading about them in the books.

Any avid sci-fi readers around? A while back, I was working in a max security hospital. I came across a book, and started reading it during down time. It was a collection of short stories themed with robots/Androids. It was an older book, 60's-70's. It wasn't Asimov. Possibly though I don't think it was, Gibson. I only made it through a couple of chapters of the first story before it disappeared the next day. I can't remember the title, nor the author. The story was about the "father" of the robots - the engineer responsible for first creating them. Years later, his work lead to a revolution/evolution of sentient robots/Androids. Upon hearing that he was slowly dying of old age, the robots set out to capture him with intentions to "robotify" him in order to preserve his life - as they didn't want their father to die; the clincher was they'd have to essentially kill him in order to do it. I only made it to the part where they were explaini...

I went through the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , yesterday and a question popped in my mind: Does Death, the supposed creator of the Deathly Hallows, really exist in the Harry Potter universe? Dumbledore thought otherwise and I am with the same school of thought. By the way who created the deathly Hallows actually ? Update: 1) Why were the brothers so sure that the hooded figure was death(couldn't it be a more powerful wizard playing with them) 2) Couldn't, Beedle and the brothers create this story? Answer There is no proof whatsoever that Death exists in Harry Potter as a character. The only time Death is mentioned is in a folk fable, collected with OTHER made-up fables into a fiction book called "Tales of Beedles the Bard". To assume that Death existed in Potterverse merely because of that is equivalent to assuming Snow White or Seven Dwarves existed in our universe based on reading Brothers Grimm book. Or, for a Potter in-universe example, l...

Under the assumption that Barry Allen can think as fast as he can run, how does he perceive things around him? Is everything else just moving at a minuscule rate to him? How does that not drive him insane? Does he have the ability to turn his powers off? Answer Just as with his movement speed, he's able to control how fast he perceives time. So day to day, he spends his civilian time mostly perceiving time at the rate we all do. When fighting crime he'll vary it to keep up with how quickly he needs to be moving.

I'm trying to remember a film I saw years ago (1980's?). The only part I clearly remember is a man and girl being bricked up alive (in a tower?) and escaping by turning his (magically large) coat or cloak into a rudimentary hang glider. The film had a medieval sword/sorcery setting. Answer I've found the film I was looking for. It was a Russian film called The Story of the Voyages made in 1983. In a medieval fantasy kingdom, two orphans, May and his sister Martha, live in poverty. A group of robbers kidnap May to use his magic talent: he feels sick when surrounded by gold, therefore he can feel gold from a long distance. Martha goes on a quest to find her brother. She is soon joined by a travelling scientist, Orlando. Together, the two wander through various fantastic countries. They visit a city built on the back of a dragon, and see it burnt down when the dragon wakes. In another city, they are sentenced to death for starting a bar brawl. They manage to escape from pri...

The Emperor is sometimes called the strongest psyker ever in the world of Warhammer 40,000 . Some, but not all, of his sons inherited psychic abilities. Which of the 20 primarchs have/had psychic abilities? To name a few: Magnus the Red, obviously. Leman Russ is also a powerful psyker, though the Space Wolves attribute their powers to the forces of nature in Fenris. Conrad Kurze can see the future. If I remember correctly, Lorgar had limited prophetic dreams. What about the other ones?

This is not a Gandalf vs Smaug debate. The question is more about whether, if presented with the opportunity, Gandalf would have been permitted (by the Valar) to fight Smaug without any limitations to his power? I know that as a wizard, he is instructed to only be a guiding spirit and not unleash his full power. However, in Moria, he fights the Balrog using his abilities as a wizard in full. Answer Probably. The prohibition on the Istari: "Their emissaries [the Istari/Wizards] were forbidden to reveal themselves in forms of majesty, or to seek to rule the wills of Men or Elves by open displays of power" Unfinished Tales , The Istari "But they were forbidden to match his [Sauron's] power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force or fear". LOTR , Appendix B Fighting Smaug wouldn't constitute trying to rule or overawe Elves or Men, nor trying to defeat Sauron directly, so it would probably be OK.

In Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones , Mace Windu says that Count Dooku is a former Jedi. Mace speaks highly of him, so it's clear that Dooku left the order on good terms. Later in the same film, Obi-wan makes it sound like it would be difficult for Anakin to leave the Jedi to be with Padme. Why would Dooku be able to leave the Jedi order, but Anakin not? What's the process to do so? Answer I can't seem to find the exact way that Jedi leave the order (presumably, they would tell the Council they wanted to leave, but this is only a possibility, not necessarily the way that they would leave), but it does seem that Dooku is a special case, as he was of a noble family and he would have had a life that he could return to outside of the Jedi Order. Few other Jedi could say this, most having entered into the Jedi order at a very young age. An about.com article notes that Anakin could probably have left the Order, but that, had he done so, he probably would have been ...

For reference, here are two questions that deal with wizarding population: What is the total wizarding population during the events of the Harry Potter series and How many people worked for the Ministry of Magic? The British Wizarding population seems rather small. Apparently the entire student body of Hogwarts is able to fit into the Hogwarts Express (According to Pottermore -- 1 , 2 -- the Hogwarts Express is the only way to Hogwarts; it's not like some students ride the train and some students are dropped off by their parents for the school term.). How many wands would Ollivander have to keep on hand at any given time? We know Harry tried out a lot of wands before his wand finally chose him. Maybe some kids need five tries; maybe some get the right wand on the first try. And there are broken and lost wands that need replacing to take into consideration. I don't consider the movies canon, but as they're JKR approved, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone shows Ol...

Is Wedge Antilles (of Rogue Squadron) related to Captain Antilles (of Leia Organa's Tantive IV from Episode 4) in-universe? (G to C canon) . I couldn't find any mention of relation (or its absense) in Wedge's Wookieepedia page . Answer I think I may have found the source of the Antilles/Smith fact: Antilles is a very common in-universe family name in Star Wars. Stephen J. Sansweet, director of content management at Lucasfilm, stated that Antilles is equivalent to "Jones" or "Smith". "Jon Antilles" is thus synonymous with the name John Smith, a generic alias used in Western culture. Wookieepedia page for Jon Antilles This is also referenced in information about Wedge: Wedge Antilles is from Corellia. For more information on Wedge, please visit the alt.fan.wedge news group. On the Official Site Steve Sansweet explains "it should be noted that 'Antilles' is sort of the Star Wars equivalent of 'Jones', and 'Smith'. T...

In The Eye of the World there is a passage that has long stirred up theories and controversy among Wheel of Time fans. A voice reverberates inside Rand's head, speaking in distinctive italicized all caps. IT IS NOT HERE. It was not Rand’s thought, making his skull vibrate. I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL. “Where?” He did not want to say it, but he could not stop himself. “Where?” The haze surrounding him parted, leaving a dome of clear, clean air ten spans high, walled by billowing smoke and dust. Steps rose before him, each standing alone and unsupported, stretching up into the murk that obscured the sun. NOT HERE. Since the Companion has been released, and a corresponding book tour has been run, I was wondering if any further, more concrete information on this subject has been released. Theories abound, but I'd like a Word of God answer. Please note that in the Wheel of Time community, a Word of God answer could have come from R...

I believe it starts out in a tavern and someone is going to be an apprentice to someone... that part is blurry... but I do remember castles and an evil king and his magicians were failing him... there were 3 I think. I believe someone was rescued from the castle, not entirely sure. And there were these giant stone monsters that the rescuers had to bypass to get to the castle. One of them climbed the tower and went in through the window. Anyway, there were 4 orbs that needed to be obtained to awaken a sleeping king who I believe was going to bring peace back to the land. And there were giant bats and evil parties also trying to obtain the orbs. It was not written by a female. And it was written before 2012 because that was when I read it, possibly a year sooner. I think it may have been part of a series. Does anyone know what this is?

I'm trying to remember a series I read in the early 90s, which I think was written in the 80s. The main character was a female who was raised Rapunzel like (separate in tower) and ransomed/ hostage off when her mothers country was conquered. It then follows her life as she accompanies the conquering army, eventually 2nd or 3rd book she comes to the attention of the general of the army. Not sure if I'm mixing a different series but I think she was meant to assassinate the general when she was ransomed, but failed and maybe hid in the army.

I am looking for the name of a 1960s (or earlier) - black & white movie - that involved a normal human having an (airplane?) accident and being stranded in a valley of people with no sight. I specifically remember that it looked as if the actors and actresses who had no eyes had slight depressions where their eyes would be. These blind people had definitely overcompensated by developing their other senses. The movie went out of its way to falsify the adage of "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". He is hunted after they realize he is "different". He (and his romantic interest) finally escape through a narrow passage in the mountains surrounding the valley to our" normal" world. Answer I'm almost certain this is the Teleplay written in 1962 for the TV Series " The DuPont Show of the Week " titled " The Richest man in Bogota ". It was an hour long episode that aired on the 17th of June. This story is based on...

In The Peace War by Vernor Vinge: She slipped Quiller's in place and turned on the oxygen feed. She recognized the smell that still hung in her helmet: The tracer stench that tagged their landing fuel. That smell from the tracer was inside the helmet? Why he says “the smell that still hung on her helmet”? The smell was there since when? The smell got to the helmet after she turned on the oxygen feed?

I have not read the book of The Martian, but there was one glaring omission in the movie that struck me. How were the crew in the Hermes protected from radiation? In space, especially interplanetary space, radiation is a big problem. Look at this from Wired : A new study highlights one of the big problems with extended space travel: galactic cosmic ray radiation. According to the report, astronauts on the International Space Station would receive doses that exceed their lifetime limits after just 18 months for women and two years for men. A Mars mission crew would be spending at least this long in the harsh radiation of deep space. The Hermes looks very pretty, but it is all windows and gyms. Not much that would protect from a radiation storm. Even when the crew are discussing doing another round trip, the fact that they are massively increasing their own cancer risk is not mentioned. Is this covered in the book at all? Answer It was handwaved . “In the book they have this really thi...

When I was in elementary school, I remember borrowing a science fiction short story collection from the library. It had a number of great stories in it, but I've never been able to find it as an adult. This was in the early nineties but I think the book was published in the early eighties. I remember the name "Ben Bova" on the cover, so I assume he wrote one or more of the stories. I also remember one of the tales was about a boy who bought a make-your-own-star kit, which allowed people to construct a miniature star in a glass jar. He did as instructed at first, but eventually got bored and started feeding bricks and things into it. Catastrophe ensued. Anyone know the name of the story, the author, or the collection? Answer It was called Bobo's Star! This is where I have been going wrong. I read a lot of Ben Bova, and must have conflated the names in my mind. The actual book was a collection called Science Fiction Stories (Red Hot Reads) , with the stories chosen by...

At the very start of Rogue One, we see several objects that look like this: This looks very similar to a moisture vaporator from A New Hope: Moreover, we learn that these objects are used for farming. However, it seems unlikely that the ones in Rogue One are used for moisture farming, since: (the following spoiler is extremely minor) it rains a short time after we first see them - and the presence of mosses and very green grassland suggest that this is not a rare event in this climate. It's also worth noting that we don't see any evidence of crops or livestock, just green ungrazed grassland and bare rock. Given this, my question is, what are these objects and what are they used for on this world? What does this farm produce? Answer The Rogue One: Ultimate Visual Guide identifies them as Moisture Vaporators , with the taller ones very much the same as the ones on the Lars homestead. They're needed because the atmosphere, while breathable and moist, tends to be a bit rich ...

I'm only basing this question on the LotR movies, since I haven't read the books. Gollum starts following Frodo and Sam, and then one night jumps out and tries to kill them and take the Ring. They subdue him, but only because they expected him and were thus able to defend themselves. From then on he kind of decides to help them get to Mordor to destroy the Ring. During this period he seems to have split personalities: Gollum vs. Smeagol, with Gollum wanting to kill them and Smeagol seeming to be at least neutral towards them, from the conversations the movie shows between the two. At some point though, Gollum seems to win over Smeagol and convince him to lure them to Shelob to kill them. But why didn't he just kill them while they were sleeping? In the movie, he has dozens of opportunities where he could definitely cut one hobbit's throat, bash their head in with a big rock, push them off a ledge, etc. Answer To begin with, Gollum does not know Frodo and Sam are tryi...

We see that in DS9 the Bajoran religion is alive and kicking, but I've never seen any mention of a religion that came from Earth, or one practiced by humans. Are any of Earth's religions still practiced in the current setting for Star Trek in the 23rd 24th century, or have they all died out? If they have 'died out', is this ever mentioned? Answer I can't give you a page or a reference or link, but I can tell you this was told to me by Ronald D. Moore, under a professional situation. When I was pitching to Star Trek: The Next Generation I had a couple stories that dealt with the effects on the Enterprise crew due to the religious beliefs of other beings. In one case, I had a story I pitched about an off-shoot of the Betazoid race I temporarily called the Gammazoids who were very religious and superstitious and considered Troi, for several reasons, an abomination. Ron's response was that something to the effect that (and this is NOT an exact quote), "In...

In the seventies Fassbinder made a scifi called "Welt am Draht" (in English "World on a wire"), inspired by "Simulacron-3" by Daniel F. Galouye. I never read the book. If I understood/remember correctly, the hero of the movie discovers at the end that the "real" world to which he managed to ascend is also just a world on a wire. Does the book have a similar ending? Answer No, at the end of the book, he transfers to the world higher than his original and that's about that. Obviously he has no idea if the world he just entered is the top or not, but this is never addressed as it seems to no longer be that important. His girlfriend could love him though he was a simulation and the whole "I think, therefore I am" concept seems to gain full importance in his mind.

In the film Smeagol found the ring, went in the mountains and turned into Gollum. At the time when Gollum followed the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf called him Gollum. Who gave him this name, or why do the others call him like that? Answer From The Hobbit. It's a verbal tic he's developed. Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed: "Bless us and splash us, my precioussss! I guess it's a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it'd make us, gollum!" And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself 'my precious.'

Worf was rescued from the wreckage of the Khitomer colony by a Starfleet petty officer and raised amongst humans in a time when Klingon\Federation relations were somewhat shaky. How did Worf end up behaving with a Klingon cultural identity? How did the Klingon concepts of honor and behavior get so firmly enmeshed into his personality? Answer I suggest that Worf doesn't act very Klingon at all. He is instead probably acting out a warped sense of what he remembers Klingons being like, from when he was young, combined with the tilted educational materials avaiable about Klingons while growing up with the Rozhenkos. Together they would go a long way to explaining why Worf isn't very Klingon at all. While it is true that Worf holds honor in very high regard, and enjoys fighting as much as the next Klingon, he doesn't really know how to behave like a Klingon. When he is with other Klingons he rarely really fits in: when they're drunk, he's sober; when they are laughing ...

They don't eat, breathe, etc. Can Changelings survive in space? Could a changeling transform into a ship and fly? Answer Yes. Happened a few times. Most notably in the DS9's episode Chimera , where at the beginning, Odo and Chief O'Brien meet Laas. Who approached them (in a Runabout, in space) as a very fast "space eel fish"...

The photon torpedoes entry on Memory Alpha states that photon torpedoes are warp-capable. Under the technical specs it says that photon torpedoes launched from a vehicle traveling at warp will remain at warp, but will not accelerate to warp if launched from a sub-light vehicle. In "The Best of Both Worlds Part 2" when it appears to ^Captain Riker that they would not be able to stop the cube he orders Acting Ensign Crusher to set a collision course with the cube at warp 9. This is the only time I can think of a ship using their warp technology in an obviously offensive way. To me it seems like throwing objects at faster than light speeds at targets would be incredibly devastating. Are there any other examples or weapons when someone uses warp technology as a weapon? ^ At this time he had a field commission rank of captain. Answer There are two examples of warp capable weapons that I can think of in Star Trek, both from Voyager. The first was the Cardassian ATR-4107 weapon...

The Earth in all of its varieties has wide ranging climates. At the top level it has tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar climates. And yet often the planets depicted in science fiction are often single climate planets. The forest moon of Endor The desert planet of Dune The desert planet of Tatooine The desert planet of Vulcan The outer planets in Firefly all appeared to be mostly desert (supiciously like Calfornia desert). The inner planets in Firefly were all temperate or tropical. The icy Breen homeworld The icy Andorian homeworld The icy Frost Giant planet I'm not suggesting there are no Earth-like planets in science fiction, but it feels like it is less common than it should be. Considering the only planet we have as an example is our own, it seems like planets should be just as varied in the cosmos. Answer This is known on tvtropes as the Single Biome Planet trope : Planets in outer space will often be defined by a single setting. It doesn't matter if the ev...

I've been thinking about this since I saw the movie a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to put my finger on a definitive answer so I figured I'd ask here. At the end of Interstellar Coop leaves the Tesseract around 80 years after the mission started in our universe. He's spit out by Cooper Station which was by Saturn which was where the wormhole was located if I'm not mistaken. When he meets with the elderly Murph she tells him to go find Brand who is apparently alone on Edmund's planet just trying to do the whole plan B thing. This leads me to believe that no humans had made it to Edmund's planet yet. Why hadn't humans made it to this planet yet? It seems like As soon as the gravity equation was solved they'd begin their voyage as a species to this new galaxy and their new home Am I missing some sort of time dilation effect that has stopped humanity from going there? Like word of this planet not reaching our galaxy yet? Answer I think the answ...

After reading my question if there's an obvious answer in a later episode, then just let me know and I'll delete my question. DS9 "Begotten": QUARK: A Yridian I've been dealing with sold me something that might interest you. ODO: I don't think so. QUARK: You don't even know what it is. ODO: I know I don't want it. QUARK: In that case, can you tell me how to get in touch with the Founders? I know they'll want it. ODO: What are you talking about? (Quark takes out an elaborate bottle of blue goo.) QUARK: It's a changeling . Or it was, anyway. Since it's dead I'll let you have it for five slips of latinum. There's no explanation of where the people who sold it to Quark got it from. ODO: It's not going anywhere, Doctor. It doesn't know how. It's just a baby. (After the opening credits, the blue goo is on top of a pulsing devise, and just a bit is now orange.) SISKO: A baby changeling? ODO: Centuries ago , my people sent a hu...

The last time I watched the original trilogy, I noticed that, in the firefights, Leia will often shoot maybe 20% what Luke and Han shoot, but will almost invariably hit whomever she is shooting at . Mind, I'm just going by observation here, but it got me thinking. So: is Leia canonically a better shot than Han and Luke? Or am I just seeing Girl Power thanks to my own biases? If she is a better shot, what is the explanation for this? (That is, did Senator Organa take her skeet shooting in the summertime? Did she practice in the in-between times of the films? Or, do her Force capabilities manifest as sharpshooting?) I am wholly unfamiliar with the Expanded Universe, so pardon gaps in my knowledge. Answer In real-world combat, most fire is used to suppress the enemy, not kill them. Luke and Han also tend to take time to shoot 'on the move', firing blaster rifles (typically one-handed) or pistols while evading or running. Leia is typically seen firing from cover, cooly and c...

We know Star Wars happened, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" . Is there any information on exactly when that was, relative to our time? Answer No. I think Lucas wanted to remove all links to our world. Though I found a decent Star Wars timeline explaining when the various events happen in the Star Wars universe.

Warning there are major spoilers in this question. Not all of them are hidden behind masked text blocks. Masking character name in title to avoid spoilers. I'm wondering whether Rey was a Jedi youngling from Luke's new Jedi Order which was torn apart by Kylo Ren. The reasons for my suspicion include: Her flashbacks. She has flashbacks which include screaming. She was witness or part of a traumatic event. It also appears to me as if she was dropped off on Jakku at a young age. Presumably this would have occurred immediately following the fall. She is about the right age to have begun training as a youngling under Luke's New Order from birth. Though Luke obviously trained people who were not newborns, I expect he would see the value in training newborns especially if Yoda's force ghost was still advising him. After her memories are triggered by Kylo Ren during his mind probe, she displays mastery of the force at a technical level, rather than something raw and untrained. ...

Story starts with a guy buying a terrarium with 4 groups of beetle-like insects brought and installed in his own house by an alien race. A different color each. Each tribe were supposed to start a kind of colony on its share of the terrarium and sooner or later they were supposed to fight small strategic wars between them. They also changed its shape as they developed stronger. The owner, against recommendations, is not patient enough to wait and starts to force such fights. Things go terrible wrong and one of the groups, I think it was the weakest yellow colored ones, get out of the container and he kills them. And everything goes downhill after that, as the beetles hate him and he actually has to fight them when they get free. The yellow ones actually fully developed far from the house to be exactly like the aliens. It's just that the aliens didn't considered them as their offspring because they were way very underdeveloped if kept inside the terrarium. Answer Sandkings , b...

Are there any intelligent lifeforms on Gallifrey other than Time Lords? In the episode The Day of The Doctor , we see that humanoids were being killed on the streets. These humanoids looked like just ordinary civilians. Therefore are all of them Time Lords? If so, why are they running? Aren't they as smart as The Doctor too? The Doctor usually faces and fights and only runs when he has a plan, but the people in the episode were running in fear, they were being massacred by the Daleks. Therefore weren't they as smart as The Doctor to devise a plan instead of just running pointlessly? Answer "Time Lord" is not a race. The natives of Gallifrey are Gallifreyans. That is their race/species. Gallifreyans are inherently time-sensitive, but they are not Time Lords. Time Lords are a small group of Gallifreyans with access to advanced technology that other Gallifreyans lack (this is muddied by whatever happened to make River Song whatever she is, but that's TARDIS magic a...

In the book Star Wars: Bloodline , Princess Leia is a senator in the New Republic. All senators that I am aware of in canon represent a planet. For example, Senator Casterfo is from and represents the planet Riosa. My question is, given the destruction of Alderaan, which planet does Leia represent at the New Republic Senate? Answer Pablo Hidalgo answered this on Twitter ; according to him, she represents the Alderaan sector , rather than the planet: @BartlamTyler: I've nearly finished reading bloodline a I still don't know what planet or sector Leia represents if any @pablohidalgo: Same as when she was in the Imperial senate: the Alderaan sector. It seems like a misconception 1 that Senators exclusively represent planets; on Twitter , Pablo Hidalgo notes that senators can represent either planets or sectors, based on such factors as population, among others: @thesupremepablo Do senators represent sectors or systems? Trandosha and Kashyyyk are in the same sector and each h...

Looking for a trio of cyberpunkish books about a character named swordfish that were written in the 70's or 80's....there was a main female character and some kind of hologram suit.

A long time ago, I read a short story in which there was a man on a train who learns how to control the rolls that come up on dice. The way it's phrased is that he maintains a certain pattern in his mind, and as a result, the rolls of the dice always come up totaling seven. The story implied that the ability wasn't general telekinesis; it only influenced chance events into coming out a certain way. The story ended with the implication that this would be a world-changing event, but it didn't go into the details. If I had to guess, then I'd claim that Ray Bradbury wrote it, but I really have no idea. I read it some time around 1997, but the book or anthology was rather older than that. As best I can remember it had a 50s-to-60s feel. Anyone have any idea what story this was? Answer This sounds similar to the plot of Kurt Vonnegut 's first short story, " Report on the Barnhouse Effect ", though in this story the protagonist (one Professor Arthur Barnhouse) ...

Is there a page reference for this quote from Return of the King? The Hobbits Frodo and Bilbo (and later Samwise), although of mortal kind, by virtue of having borne the One Ring also bore a weariness in their bones. But in Middle-Earth they could find no relief from this.

We know that Anakin Skywalker has become a Force Ghost — at the end of Episode VI , Anakin's Ghost is a wallflower at the ewok party on the Forest Moon of Endor. We also know that it doesn't necessarily take special training in order to commune with Force Ghosts — while Yoda mentions in Episode III that he can teach Obi-Wan to speak to Qui-Gon's Ghost, Luke can speak to Obi-Wan's with no special training. In The Force Awakens , Kylo Ren meditates in the presence of the helmet of Darth Vader and pleads to Vader, "Show me again the power of the darkness..." I assume that Anakin has not actually appeared to Kylo, for if he did, he would have surely advised Kylo to return to the Light and to give up his obsession with the dark period of Anakin's life. Given that Kylo is Force sensitive, given the stakes involved, and given the familial connection between Anakin and Kylo, why hasn't Anakin's Ghost appeared to Kylo Ren? Answer I'm afraid the answe...

According to Wookieepedia, few organics have directly learnt and understood Binary, and these are mainly people who interact with droids frequently at a technical level, such as pilots, mechanics, scavengers etc. Even then, it tends to be people who develop an interest into taking up the language. It provides droids with an ability to speak vocally even though the recipient more often than not relies on a text display screen or a protocol droid for a comprehensible translation, often in a more organically natural language. Clearly, Binary is not intended to be the standard language of communication between droids and organics. Where it is needed, language packs and compatible hardware for common languages such as Basic or Huttese are installed into droids. The main design intent of Binary is for droid-to-droid communications. Ignoring out-of-universe needs to portray communications to the viewers, what is the in-universe basis for Binary's existence in the first place? For droid-to...