Into The Stars (TV Series)

Into The Stars is an adult animated space opera television series created by S.A. Parham.
== Plot ==
For years, Ophelia Rose grew up on Earth, in an era where there was more human or half-human population living off the mother planet than on it. Not a bad feat for a race who still numbered in the billions on their planet of origin. But a seemingly mundane idea to journey to a far away planet will change her boring life path in a big way. Whether for good or bad, the choices Ophelia makes will decide if she ever make it back to Earth and her family again. Now, Ophelia will meet challenges ranging from grumpy passengers to shipboard disasters. 
== Cast ==
=== Main ===
* Ophelia Rose, a 25-year-old human who always dreams of travelling into space. After graduation, she took a job on Earth to gain experience before looking for off-planet work, but she kept her eye on the job postings. The work opportunity was one of a lifetime, even if it meant living apart from her own family for over five years and eventually accepting the contract.
* Jules Donovan, the captain of the Swift Arrow. There are those who describe Jules as a throwback to an earlier time, who’d have been more at ease captaining an ocean-going ship than a spacefaring one, but Jules was born on a family-owned spaceship and spent a career working toward owning a ship to make it a comfortable atmosphere for crew and passengers both.
* Ren Ybarra, a delicately built Dianthan male, with slit-pupiled eyes and white hair. Ren is a former triathlete and general athletic trainer for crew. Considered friendly and approachable by the crew, probably because Ren is actually younger than all but Harper and Izumi. Dedicated and hardworking and likes to try to motivate crew to similar effort.
* Cris Hernandez, the first mate on the Swift Arrow. Antisocial from the crew’s viewpoint due to spending all shore leave as far from the ship and crew as possible, leading to much gossip. Cris attended the Academy on a partial scholarship and financial aid.
* Harper Vang, a willowy Yolancian female with pale skin. She is from a space faring family, but grew up on the orbital station around Llochovic. Followed in the family business by signing on with a ship as soon as graduated school. Lack of ambition is worrisome to best friend since no skill advancement beyond on-the-job training is happening.
* Michi Amano, an extremely tall Ruathan and the chief engineer. Attended the Academy on an engineering scholarship after winning a multi-systemwise engineering contest as a teenager. Michi wearing a uniform is about as close to conforming as she likes to get, which is why she signed on to work for Captain Jules.
* Rory Woodward is a slim human female, with coffee-colored skin, black hair and dark eyes. He has been on the Swift Arrow since the captain purchased it six years ago, signing on as soon as their original ship contract expired. Ambitious and studious.
* Logan Kirby, the engineer and a human male. Grew up in Earth’s solar system on one of Saturn’s moons, but moved to the Quru system with father as a teen.
* Kai Castaneda, the ship’s nurse. Born to a spacer father and station dwelling mother, Kai grew up in a neighboring system, but didn’t attend the Academy until after working several years as a nurse on the planet the station orbited.
* Izumi Kaji, the apprentice engineer in his early twenties. Chipper and naive, most of the crew are overprotective of Izumi.
* 
=== Supporting ===
== Alien Races ==
=== Dianthans ===
Dianthans excel at all things intellectual, often learning new skills involving the intellect at twice the pace of any other race. But the delicate build common even with half-Dianthans makes physical skills harder to acquire. Their extemely dark skin, ranging from deep blue-black to pure black, developed as a protection to the high levels of ultraviolet light on their homeworld. Variable light conditions led to dark, slit-pupiled eyes. A few different folklore stories exist to explain their fanged canines, but a diet heavy in touch crustations is the likeliest reason. 
Historically, being a mono-gendered race allowed their population more genetic stability because it was impossible to end up with unbalanced gender numbers. Although not particularly rigid about relationships prior to marriage, Dianthans still rely heavily on monogamous, renewable ten-year contract marriages, although as more of their population lives among other races, the emphasis is lessened.
=== Ruathans ===
For Ruathans, their original homeworld has a heavy gravity that moulded the race into one heavy in muscle and at ease at all things athletic. But it sometimes makes anything requiring fine motor skills difficult, and many people see the bulky physique of a Ruathan as making them less than bright. Science class often taught that heavy worlders should be short and bulky. If modern day Ruathans had been shortened by their homeworld's gravity, they were immensely tall by human standards once. 
They are a race fairly uniform in looks: pale red, light-sensitive eyes, skin so pale it was nearly transluscent, and dark hair so black it had undertones of blue or burgandy. While traditionally living underground to avoid harsh surface conditions on their homeworld, even Ruathans aren't sure how many of their differences are genetically engineered versus natural adaptation to living away from sunlight. 
While some parts of their human-origin history were lost by the time Ruathans joined the Republic two hundred years ago, the reason for their androgynous dress code and pronouns was not. Pre-Republic contact with humans was negative enough that Ruathans wanted those they traded with to know as little about them as possible. The custom endured even after the Republic regulated behaviors among different cultures.
=== Yolancians ===
Yolancians had made a name for themselves in the Republic as charming diplomats. But that same reputation could backfire by those who also saw them as pretty songbirds without mass or substance. The ability to scent and deliberately produce hormones regarding emotion is especially enhanced in Yolancians. 
Hair color and skin tone varies as widely for them as humans, but with an added level of gleaming, iridescent scales tracing the major nerve branches. Those born off the original homeworld have fewer scales, due to the scales being partially triggered by the ultraviolet radiation levels of the homeworld. 
Yolancians have an easy society that cares little if a male wants to wear the flowing robes of a Yolancian female or even dress as a human female, or vice versa, or to choose no outward display of gender entirely. Marriage among Yolancians is most commonly composed of a triad, and a long-term couple doesn't usually formally marry without finding a compatible third. Triads are most often formalized to bring children into the relationship.
== Terminology ==
=== Quru System ===
The Quru system is different from Earth's solar system in many ways. Part of a triple star system of red dwarfs, the other two stars (Airu and Weyld) appear in the sky on Quru planets as small bright bodies much larger than surrounding stars. Due to the red dwarf host star, the skies on the planets are all reddish-orange instead of the blue shades of Earth. Although Quru is past the age of stellar activity that makes solar flares in a red dwarf system so dangerous, the native flora and fauna still reflect adaptations from earlier periods of time. 
The Quru planets and moons had been named by the team of surveyors who'd first reached and officially catalogued whether or not the system was suitable for human colonization. Claatea is too close to the sun to be inhabitable, worth colonizing, or harvesting for resources. Lyndia, the further flung outer planet, had only recently had small mining settlements on its surface, but was not yet considered inhabited. 
Kicarro, Ioria, and Tagoth, the three immediately habitable planets, had native flora and fauna, but no lifeform deemed sentient by human standards. Llocholiv had no native flora or fauna and needed the most adaptation for human colonization, since its distance from Quru made it too cold for liquid surface water. It took many years and a lot of technology for humans to settle both Llocholiv and its moons. All ships entering or leaving the Quru system stop off at the massive space station orbiting Llocholiv, as it is the only one large enough to dock intersystem ships. Llocholiv has three moons orbiting, dubbed Taebos, Ovis, and Mewei.
=== Europa Academy ===
As planets joined the Republic and agreed to a more uniform method of flinging ships around space, various merchant alliances banded together to form a standard training center for officers on merchant ships. After all, no one wanted to lose a ship worth millions of credits due to an untrained captain. Over time, more and more ships officers began training at the Allied Merchant Academy on Jupiter's moon, Europa. 
When the Republic Navy was formed as a sort of loose police force for member planets and outposts and began requiring their officers to be trained at the Academy, the name was changed simply to Europa Academy. As the need for medical personnel on ships became more widespread, a medical school was established on the Academy grounds. As with most alliances, the Republic had agreed upon regulations for the fledgling Navy to enforce, and over time, it became generally accepted that any licensed ship had to agree to follow regulations on staff training based on ship size and function. Following the old Earth military customs, ranks developed for both the Academy-trained officers and the general workforce who had the option to learn most of their duties on the job. The Republic formed an agency to cover regulations of the shipping lanes and supervise both Europa Academy and the Navy personnel, with the completely unimaginative name of Republic Spacefaring Authority (RSA). 
Europa Academy's curriculum turns out three types of officers: Deck, Engine, and Support. It isn't out of the ordinary for a cadet to change focus during their years at the Academy, or for a graduate to return to train in a different field, but officer training remains the formal way of getting a berth of almost any legally licensed ship. Upon graduation, the cadet receives the license that makes them eligible for hire. 
== Planets ==
=== Kicarro ===
The planet is tidal-locked, so those who live on the planet's surface have developed systems of producing indoor day-night cycles. It meant there is just one long growing season and a combination of ingenuity and science have led it to be the most profitable agricultural planet in the system once the inhabitants had used science and ingenuity to spread beyond the original temperate terminator zone. 
Native fauna is sparcer on Kicarro than Tagoth and Ioria. The natives are all various species of small, heavily shelled invertibrates well adapted to surviving solar flares. Nothing comparible to mammals evolved on Kicarro. They are a good source of nutrients to the local human population, as well as exported as a luxury item to other solar systems. The Native flora evolved in dark shades, appearing black or purple mostly, especially as many evolved to utilize ultraviolet radiation. Those on land developed a natural sunscreen valuable for a number of production requirements on other Republic worlds, and those in the ocean in the temperate terminator zone could sink so quickly to protect themselves that tourists from non-red dwarf systems often liken them to animals rather than plants.
=== Ioria ===
A uniform temperature and single season contributed to agricultural products being their primary export, although there are more extremes of the "cold side" of the planet due to further distance from Quru. Most of the human population inhabits the sunlit side of the temperate terminator region, with similar adaptations for day-night cycles among human dwellings as Kicarro. Proximity to Quru made it necessary for developing warning systems for solar flares and methods of keeping people, crops, and livestock safe. 
The native fauna of Ioria are divided between various species of small, heavily shelled invertibrates well adapted to surviving solar flares and fast flying animals similar to the birds of Earth that dwell only along ocean areas. When they sense solar flares, they dive within the water's depths for safety. Native flora evolved in dark shades, appearing black or purple mostly, especially as many evolved to utilize ultraviolet radiation. Those on land developed a natural sunscreen valuable for a number of production requirements on other Republic worlds, and those in the ocean in the temperate terminator zone could sink so quickly to protect themselves that tourists from non-red dwarf systems often liken them to animals rather than plants.
=== Tagoth ===
Tagoth had been dubbed a mini-Earth by the first surveyors, especially when they noted that unlike many other planets in the system, it wasn't tidal-locked and had a natural day-night cycle and seasons. Tagoth is a fabulously fertile agricultural planet, renowned throughout the Republic for its exports of unique fruits and the many varieties of liquors distilled from the fruits. They also export enough fish and sea dwellers from their thriving oceans to keep huge fleets sailing. 
A variety of native fauna developed: hard-shelled invertibrates similar to other Quru planets, small mammalian species similar enough to Earth's mammals to be classified as such, and large flying animals that appear closer to Earth's pterodons than birds. Native flora on Tagoth has a much wider spectrum of color, with reds, blues, and yellows appearing among the purples and blacks of sister worlds. With a thicker atmosphere, solar flares are less of an issue, but the plants are well adapted to survive them.
=== Llocholiv ===
Llocholiv had only been colonized first in enclosed living systems that had grown to sprawl into large cities, leaving life on Llocholiv to be closer to living on a space station orbital or moon station than the other three planets. But it produced valuable minerals and metals that made the investment for humanoid life to be worthwhile. As the only planet in the habitable zone with moons, all three moons had their own small settlements, with variable populations producing exports for the more mineral hungry members of the Republic. 
Its distance from Quru eliminates seasons despite the planet's rotation, and the surface is a combination of icy desert and frozen ocean. There is liquid water beneath the frozen ocean surface, but it takes an intense amound of technology to access its resources. All local food production and animal husbandry is done in immense, carefully controlled greenhouses and barns.
=== Lyndia ===
Ten years ago, the need for locally sourced minerals led an alliance of system companies and governments to build mining stations on Lyndia. Population remains small, compared even to the Llocholiv moon colonies, with ships on a regular rotation bringing in supplies and relief workers and shipping out ore and workers. Plans for more permanent settlement are at least a decade out. Its distance from Quru eliminates seasons despite the planet's rotation, and the surface is a frozen wasteland.
== Episodes ==
#	Episode Title	Description 	Release Date
1	 	On her first day, Ophelia arrives on the Swift Arrow. She meets Second Mate Ren Ybarra, whose delicate build, slit-pupiled eyes and white hair gave away Dianthan heritage. With such a small crew, there's no such thing as a day off while underway with passengers.