The Big Picture Thread for 2019 AND 2020

[SimonJM]

Phew!  I was about to post an image I did a couple of days ago but managed to stop myself in time as it is shading a bit too much toward the naughty!  So, here's another I did a day or so ago

[Agent0013]

I like that you chose a color not in use so much!

[SimonJM]

A quick use of the new T Rex 3 figure:
".. 99 ... 100 .. coming, ready or not ..."

[SimonJM]

New 'plane model over at DAZ - a Zero by DarkEdgeDesign

[Agent0013]

Corvette Destroyer Jumpship Squadron


Jumpships became the best way to travel between the stars, as one jump would traverse 1/2 of a light-year in an instant. The first generation jumpships had to charge up for the next jump for two months, as the powerplant was not very powerful at generating the energy needed for a jump. So after one jump, the crew had to wait 2 months before making the next jump. During that time the ship would use thrust to reach 1/6 lightspeed, and then coast along at that speed. Just to reach the Alpha Centauri System took 9 jumps for a total journey time one way of 18 months. It was faster that the warp drive system of older ships, which was so slow that it took a total of 3.25 years to reach the same destination. The system was so slow it was not worth installing on even the first generation jumpships, as the power needed to run the warp drive would have kept the jump system from charging at all.


After 12 years using the first generation jumpships, the second generation had finally been developed. This reduced the charge time to 3 weeks, and the travel time to Alpha Centauri System and back to Sol System was less than a year. Long haul 2nd generation jumpships were built to increase the range of space travel out to 30 light-years radially.


5 years later, the 3rd generation jumpships went into service. The charge time had been reduced to 1 day, thus a journey to Alpha Centauri System was only 9 days long. Travel range was now increased to 1,000 light-years radially from Sol System. The 3rd generation jumpship had to be equipped with weapons and shields, because hostile forces had been encountered by that time. Often, 2 jumpships would travel together, one a civilian transport, and the other its protector. The civilian transport was armed but not very well, so an escort was deemed necessary.


It was 3 years later that war broke out between Earth forces and an alliance of 3 extraterrestrial forces. The war went badly at first for the Earth Forces, but the established colonies of Earth origin soon stepped up and built the military might up. A concerted campaign against the homeworlds of the enemies was launched and executed successfully, taking the leaders of the enemy forces out. The war had lasted for 23 years.


In the last 2 years of the war, the 4th generation jumpships entered service. All of the first ones were warships. After the war, it took a year to repurpose the jumpship production lines for civilian shipbuilding. Even those ships were armed, however; for it had been determined that hostile forces lurked in many areas of the amount of space that was now in travel range. That range was now intergalactic out to a distance of 30,000,000 lightyears. The reason this range was possible was because recharging the jump system had been reduced to 1/2 a second! This allowed for a distance of 1 light-year per second.


Earth Force had gained several allies during the war, and it was a sharing of technologies that had given the 4th generation jumpships such high efficiency. As other galaxies were visited more species joined the alliance, and so the Intergalactic Alliance (IA) was born. Now, trillions of 4th generation jumpships travel and patrol intergalactic space. Wars have been fought and won due to the superior forces of the IA. The enemy forces are not as advanced as those of the IA. Here we see a squadron of 4th generation Corvette Destroyer Jumpships flying in formation, patrolling the M5 Globular Cluster of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are on their way to rendezvous with a fleet of warships bound for the Whirlpool Galaxy, where a conflict has broken out. This is but one of several thousand fleets that will soon converge there to assist the allies in that area.

[Seliah]

"Life finds a way."
2100 x 1067



Dandelions are pretty much my heroes of the plant world. They're the first to move into inhospitable soil, in fact, they THRIVE in it. They pop up anywhere they like, and it doesn't matter whether you've poured concrete or asphalt, if they feel like living there, they do. They're food, they're medicine, they're really good at survival, and they do a wonderful job making the soil more inviting for other plants. Without these little guys, a lot of the flowers and food plants we like, wouldn't fare well in the soil.


Rendered in Daz Studio, 3Delight.
Extensive postwork in Photoshop for color toning, fog, fine tuning the DOF, frame, etc.

[Agent0013]

Excellent! I love the post apocalyptic world, with the dandelion as the sole sign of life! When it produces its seed, they will carry on the wind for great distances, spreading new life afar.

[Seliah]

When I was a kid, I would deliberately blow the white seedlings away so they could "plant." LOL


The more the EPA and our environmental safety regulations are dismantled, the more I think about this stuff. This image kind of came out of that.


I still love my dandelions, though. ^_^ They make a lovely syrup, works well in tea... and the greens of the younger plants remind me a bit of spinach when boiled. They're good for digestive issues as they stimulate all of that to work, and they're great for treating anemia as well as potassium deficiency. And I've used them for dieuretic purposes in the past as well.


Ahem. Sorry. Turning off my healer mode now.  LOL

[Agent0013]

When I was a kid, I would deliberately blow the white seedlings away so they could "plant." LOL


The more the EPA and our environmental safety regulations are dismantled, the more I think about this stuff. This image kind of came out of that.


I still love my dandelions, though. ^_^ They make a lovely syrup, works well in tea... and the greens of the younger plants remind me a bit of spinach when boiled. They're good for digestive issues as they stimulate all of that to work, and they're great for treating anemia as well as potassium deficiency. And I've used them for dieuretic purposes in the past as well.


Ahem. Sorry. Turning off my healer mode now.  LOL

No need to turn that off. I find it interesting!

[Seliah]

No need to turn that off. I find it interesting!

LOL. Really? I always think I'm annoying people or boring them with it... so I try not to do it too much. :D