Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

Variable Sword from Larry Niven's Known Space universe - a length of monomolecular filament with a force field to keep it rigid, with the length variable from a few inches to several feet. Because the wire is invisible there's a red ball on the end so that idiots can see what they're doing.

[Disembodied]

Neuronic whip, Omni-Blade, Cosmic knife (I wasn't sure if Mesmetron qualified, as it is technically projectile), Lightsaber, Ahn'woon

I'll add Auto axe and Shishkebab as runners-up...

Well, that was quick … that's eight right there, and even though three are from the Fallout universe that still makes the regulation five. You get to ask the next question!

[Milo]

How about this, then... name five fictional, delicious foods from five different SF universes. Bonus points if said foods are important to the plot.

Also, nice choice with the Variable Sword, ffutures.

[Disembodied]

Uncle Ump's Umpty Candy, from Judge Dredd. Literally too delicious to be legal.

[Milo]

That certainly qualifies. I have one in mind but I’m curious if anyone else thinks of it ...

[cbr]

Soylent green, biscuits anyone?

[ffutures]

MMMMM, Vat Protein! Yummy.... if you live in the Alpha Complex, in the Paranoia RPG. It helps if you have the matter eater mutation, of course...

[Milo]

Next you’ll say “humans” from the Alien movies...

[RockDoctor]

How about this, then... name five fictional, delicious foods from five different SF universes. Bonus points if said foods are important to the plot.

Since I'm currently failing to sleep to Protector (having recently failed to sleep to the Ringworld Engineers), I think Tree of Life fits, and I'm not sure how many bonus points since it is fundamental to the whole Pak arc of Known Space, and therefore to the whole history of humanity (though not Puppeteeranity?).

Point of order - we've had Soylent Green from "Make Room, Make Room", and "humans" from the "Alien" universe - different universes, but very definitely the same food. (In a nod to current political activity, the wrapping is purely cosmetic and not functionally important.) Is that legal?
If it's not, I'll sneak in a shot under the keeper's knees with Soylent Yellow - not as yummy as Soylent Green , but still valued enough for (IIRC) a shipment truck to be ambushed fairly early in "Make Room, Make Room". I forget if it was actually made from soya and lentils, or powdered frog spawn (that should be nutritionally rich, if you dried it - experimental reports, anyone?) or whatever. But it was better than basic rations - a joke going back at least as far as Napoleon's Grand Armée, if not the Assyrian people-peelers.

Now I've got to add the colour options to my BBCode cheat tool.

[ffutures]

There's always Boomfood, as seen in Wells' The Food of the Gods - very nutritious, and nobody seems to complain about the taste, except you end up 20 ft. tall if you eat enough of the stuff.

There's the unnamed "living green jelly" that grows on rotting vegetation on the planet New Frenchman's Bend in Alexei Panshin's Star Well, a gourmet preserve much prized at the titular space station. You you put a bit on your meat and it spreads itself out out and extends its feelers. Give it time to settle and feel comfortable before you eat it.

[Milo]

https://sites.google.com/site/asimovgoodtaste/

[ffutures]

Another one - Popplers, from Futurama. Delicious fast food, but it turns out they're the larvae of an intelligent species, and the world where they are found is one of their nursery worlds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Problem_with_Popplers

How many is that now? Are we there yet?

[Milo]

By my count, we have more than five, although several of them were people. Tree of Life is a strong contender due to its plot importance and the fact that baseline humans who smell it experience an irresistible craving for it, which could be interpreted as deliciousness (smell is a key component of taste after all), but I think this round goes to Disembodied with Umpty Candy.

[Disembodied]

I think this round goes to Disembodied with Umpty Candy.

Traditionally, the round goes to whoever supplies the final answer … as I posed the previous question I'll defer to ffutures.

[ffutures]

Okay... we've had food and drink, we've had booze. Let's try another necessity of life - clothing.

Five SF stories about clothing. Films, TV, Comics, books, whatever, no two from the same source, author, or universe, but clothing and/or clothing-related fashion must be the main focus of the story. And to avoid making it too easy, space suits and other environmental garments do not count as clothing for this purpose.

For example, if The Emperor's New Clothes was an SF story anything else by Hans Christian Anderson would be ruled out. If Ugly Betty (a TV series about a fashion magazine) was SF anything else based on its source, the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, would be ruled out.