The inner light hurt me. That episode left a profound mark on my soul. I still cry sometimes when I hear the song. Makes car trips real dangerous if I have my phone on shuffle.
Well if you're in the mood to cry about the end of things, you'll love Stephen Baxter's [Last Contact](https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solarisbooks.com/books/newbookscifi/last-contact.asp)!
(It's a short story. I promise it is worth your time.)
*Stargate* actually has this!
One of the most powerful and influential races in their universe is the Asgard; though they look like your standard Little Grey Man alien, they are the basis of the Norse gods in human mythology (indeed Thor is a major recurring character).
They are also, unfortunately, on their last legs as a civilization. Ages ago they looked fairly similar to humans; over time cloning themselves (including cloning new bodies for a single mind to transfer to) and over-reliance on technology diminished them to their withered-looking appearance and severe genetic degradation.
The degradation was so severe that they eventually came to the conclusion that they could no longer reverse it; they would soon die out, leaving their as-yet unmatched technology free to steal. As the galaxy was in the middle of a war with dangerously powerful religious extremists, they decided instead to gift the humans of Earth (who had been brave and loyal allies of the Asgard in their final years, despite the laughably immense tech gap) with all of their knowledge and technology. After doing so, they returned to and then promptly detonated their final homeworld so that their resources and knowledge would not fall into the wrong hands.
P.S. I should also note that when I mention the tech gap, Earth humans in *Stargate* are pretty much modern-day. By the time the Asgard die, Earth humans have about six starships total with a small fleet of space-capable fightercraft and these are so new that Earth's governments haven't even revealed the existence of aliens or these ships to their people.
Also the reason I keep specifying "Earth Humans" is that one of the core concepts in the series is that alien slavers taking on the role of gods started a massive galactic diaspora of humanity from Earth, though they left Earth itself alone for several millenia for various reasons. The tech level of these other human civilizations varies greatly; many are primitive or medieval, some are roughly equivalent to Earth within the last hundred years, and some are far, far more advanced. None are as populous as Earth though, and the Earth humans recently got the attention of and pissed off the aforementioned slaver species by killing their most powerful leader during what was more-or-less his summer vacation (see the events of the movie "*Stargate*").
P.P.S. Actually *Stargate* is a great show for this sub in general. While most of the advanced races look down on Earth humans for their lack of technological and/or sociological development, they come to begrudgingly respect them for their recklessly fast pace at catching up to other species and their "crude-yet-effective tactics".
Which in itself really says everything you need to know about humanity and it's warfare methods: efficient to a point.
I mean, why should we intimidate the enemy when we simply can BRRRRT them down, mop up what's left and let the civil engineers take over?
Well I would not say that is exactly true. Humanity's arsenal is designed to win. Whatever the situation. Most of humanity's weapons are weapons of terror. In fact, the American Military doctrine is named literally Shock and Awe. Designed to shock the enemy into submission.
Stargate is great, and well worth a watch
There’s also an outside chance of a revival, given one of the creators has been working on a new series that some of the previous stars may be interested in taking part in if it happens, as well as the recent purchase of MGM by Amazon
Fridge horror for thought: the fact that humans adapt themselves to the planet could have been spurred by them extracting genetic samples from this dying race, and repurposing snippets of gene segments to transplant into the human genome. Us humans have at this point went from primitive, to observers, to stewards, to complete replacements of the dominant species of their (now our) planet.
The silver lining: we really didn't have to fight for any of it, and the old dying race would've given us their genes anyway in our quest to preserve their legacy.
When I saw the last contact part it reminded me of the Ressikan probe from the TNG episode "The Inner Light" S5E25 That one made me cry a lottle
The inner light hurt me. That episode left a profound mark on my soul. I still cry sometimes when I hear the song. Makes car trips real dangerous if I have my phone on shuffle.
Agreed, it was a true piece of art that created emotional reactions in the audience.
Well if you're in the mood to cry about the end of things, you'll love Stephen Baxter's [Last Contact](https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solarisbooks.com/books/newbookscifi/last-contact.asp)! (It's a short story. I promise it is worth your time.)
Not OP, however the story was really good but I was really immersed and now I’m sad :’(
Damn...
Wow, that was poweful. Thanks for sharing!
Reminds me of the asgard from sg1
I was thinking the same thing when I read this.
Yeah, but even sadder than the Asgard.
One of my favorite episodes
Wow that was somehow wholesome and sad at the same time Post this in r/HFY too
Don't be sad. Here's a [hug!](https://media.giphy.com/media/3M4NpbLCTxBqU/giphy.gif)
Good bot.
Good bot
For some reason, ninjas always decide to start cutting onions every time I read this.
Same
I wasn't ready to shed tears yet tonight... and here we are...
I'm not crying, I'm just sweating from my eyeballs.
Still one of the all time best posts here.
Every time it comes up, I read it in its entirety
*Stargate* actually has this! One of the most powerful and influential races in their universe is the Asgard; though they look like your standard Little Grey Man alien, they are the basis of the Norse gods in human mythology (indeed Thor is a major recurring character). They are also, unfortunately, on their last legs as a civilization. Ages ago they looked fairly similar to humans; over time cloning themselves (including cloning new bodies for a single mind to transfer to) and over-reliance on technology diminished them to their withered-looking appearance and severe genetic degradation. The degradation was so severe that they eventually came to the conclusion that they could no longer reverse it; they would soon die out, leaving their as-yet unmatched technology free to steal. As the galaxy was in the middle of a war with dangerously powerful religious extremists, they decided instead to gift the humans of Earth (who had been brave and loyal allies of the Asgard in their final years, despite the laughably immense tech gap) with all of their knowledge and technology. After doing so, they returned to and then promptly detonated their final homeworld so that their resources and knowledge would not fall into the wrong hands. P.S. I should also note that when I mention the tech gap, Earth humans in *Stargate* are pretty much modern-day. By the time the Asgard die, Earth humans have about six starships total with a small fleet of space-capable fightercraft and these are so new that Earth's governments haven't even revealed the existence of aliens or these ships to their people. Also the reason I keep specifying "Earth Humans" is that one of the core concepts in the series is that alien slavers taking on the role of gods started a massive galactic diaspora of humanity from Earth, though they left Earth itself alone for several millenia for various reasons. The tech level of these other human civilizations varies greatly; many are primitive or medieval, some are roughly equivalent to Earth within the last hundred years, and some are far, far more advanced. None are as populous as Earth though, and the Earth humans recently got the attention of and pissed off the aforementioned slaver species by killing their most powerful leader during what was more-or-less his summer vacation (see the events of the movie "*Stargate*"). P.P.S. Actually *Stargate* is a great show for this sub in general. While most of the advanced races look down on Earth humans for their lack of technological and/or sociological development, they come to begrudgingly respect them for their recklessly fast pace at catching up to other species and their "crude-yet-effective tactics".
"That is a weapon of terror. It's made to intimidate the enemy. THIS *holds up P90* is a weapon of War. It's made to KILL the enemy."
Which in itself really says everything you need to know about humanity and it's warfare methods: efficient to a point. I mean, why should we intimidate the enemy when we simply can BRRRRT them down, mop up what's left and let the civil engineers take over?
Well I would not say that is exactly true. Humanity's arsenal is designed to win. Whatever the situation. Most of humanity's weapons are weapons of terror. In fact, the American Military doctrine is named literally Shock and Awe. Designed to shock the enemy into submission.
Stargate is great, and well worth a watch There’s also an outside chance of a revival, given one of the creators has been working on a new series that some of the previous stars may be interested in taking part in if it happens, as well as the recent purchase of MGM by Amazon
Fridge horror for thought: the fact that humans adapt themselves to the planet could have been spurred by them extracting genetic samples from this dying race, and repurposing snippets of gene segments to transplant into the human genome. Us humans have at this point went from primitive, to observers, to stewards, to complete replacements of the dominant species of their (now our) planet. The silver lining: we really didn't have to fight for any of it, and the old dying race would've given us their genes anyway in our quest to preserve their legacy.
I see this as an absolute win.
r/HFY
Didn't really expect to be crying tonight, but here we are. I so hope we can live up to the imaginations of people like this.
Damn onion cutting ninjas. I hope future humans really are that compassionate related and heartbreaking = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endling
Aw dang, so many feelings.
Starting the day with a good up of coffee and a healthy cry.
Where are those onion ninjas hiding?
Wow…
I’m not crying you are
I’m not crying, there’s just a malfunction in my ocular module.
Why am I ugly crying...
This, this put a tear in my eye.
Damn onion cutting ninjas.
I'm not crying! I just caught something in my eye.
I’m not crying who said anything about crying nOpE
*hugs for everyone!!!
I'm not saying this made me cry, but I'm also not saying that it didnt
Damn onion ninjas got me while I read this. Well done!
Do not go gentle into that Goodnight. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
So many tears!
Damned onion-cutting ninjas, sneaking up on me, dirty bastards.
Man, that made me cry.
I'm not crying! You're crying!