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#no one who goes in to the star trek fandom ever truly gets out
mylittleredgirl · 2 months
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@pomegranate ok you asked for it!!
so i have only seen up thru s4, but as a fandom immigrant coming from star trek, i am obsessed with the time distortion possibilities and keep rotating "how each character deals with being The Only One Who Knows They're In A Time Loop" in my head.
klinger so far is THE most interesting candidate to be an hour deep into a violent cut of "groundhog day." he's desperate to escape. he tries everything and nothing works. doesn't he even try to blow himself up with a grenade one time, with no real fear for the consequences of playing with live ammo??
more specifically, he tries the same thing over and over again despite being told every single time that it just Will Not Work. for like a season and a half, every time he enters the scene they have to tell the audience why there's a dude in a dress, and so he has the same conversation every time. what about this outfit? what if this is the one???? he gains an incredible proficiency with sewing, and what time-loop comedy is complete without a skill-building montage?
also -- how many different assignments does one guy have?? he's in the kitchen or on patrol or carrying bodies around or doing skilled tech support and in rare moments he's even at the table as a nurse??
everyone in camp is unhappy (except perhaps margaret early on), and hawkeye waxes existential about endless war, but klinger is the only one truly shaking the bars at all times saying THIS IS NUTS!! HOW DO YOU NOT SEE IT?? LET ME OUT and actually trying to leave the camp. and always failing. the big moves don't work, so what if it's in the little details?
and henry has to be part of this theory, because it's the most tragic point. he's the one klinger asks to escape with him. (a joke, sure, but we're taking this all seriously for a second.) so what if klinger knows, he's seen it, but he can't stop it? he has tried!! henry can't get out alive either, he's trapped in the loop too, but he can't see it. (& klinger seems to change himself in a post-Henry world, if not right away. as i kept watching season 4, he shows up more and more often in fatigues without objecting to it. once again, until it starts over, he failed.)
and finally, from the post that inspired those tags:
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you don't whip this up in a day. he made it for this occasion. he knew it was coming. carry this picture in your pocket. maybe this is the one.
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getting back at you with 2, 5, 12 and 24 for Ochanomizu and (Kenzo) Tenma!
Omg that's cute the other half of the ships....
Character asks
Ochanomizu
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
Dude he's such a good dad. Whether it's PLUTO's hug or how sweet and supportive and protective he is in the 03 anime or the lengths he goes to in the manga supporting Atom he's just such a good parent!!! He's a sweetheart but he doesn't take shit lying down, he has such strong will and will fight for his kids.
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
So this is technically from Tenma's POV about Ochan but it's one that I do think of with respect to him a lot. Just on account that his smile is so powerful and yeah I too would yearn for that smile
12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?
I feel like he would be quick to forgive Tenma if he would only apologise. In my mind, despite how volatile things are with them, Ochan genuinely would be willing to start fresh if Tenma just asked. Hey babe I'm sorry will you take me back. like it would genuinely be that easy. He's making Tenma figure that out for himself though, otherwise it's not genuine.
24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?
Y'know I would say Kenzo in a lot of respects. They're both forces for such good, genius doctors in their own field, supportive adults (in my mind in a Tenma Swap AU Atom would end up with 2 of the best dads in the world LMAO)
In the interest of talking about some different guys: Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation! Is it partly because they are old men in their hair loss era? Maybe. But also again they are such egalitarian future-focused peaceful guys. Also Picard argued for robot rights in one of the best episodes of Star Trek period ("The Measure of a Man") so like they're the same guy basically is what I'm saying
Kenzo Tenma
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
His ability to inspire good and see the best in people. Honestly going into Monster I thought it would be more #edgy and dark, but because we have this sweetheart doctor protagonist it's instead easily one of the most hopeful stories I've ever enjoyed, truly teaching the sanctity and beauty of all life. Tenma is such a beacon of hope and he's able to spread that wherever he goes.
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
Ah man, this was hard. A lot of the songs I associate with him are specifically Guriten-flavoured...but then I remembered this song. It's one that makes me think of Tenma's earliest struggle with figuring out who he wanted to be, and coming to terms that the hospital he worked at was just using him. It's unsure, it's hurt, but it ends with a hopeful step forward.
12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?
He has very poor anger regulation sometimes. We only see it very briefly, but Tenma is deeply repressing negativity and when it does come out it's a little explosive. I especially feel like he has this sense he has to be "perfectly happy" all the time as a foreigner and is afraid to "look bad" as it would reflect worse on him, but as a result he has these meltdowns sometimes. It comes out more potently when he drinks, so he generally tries to avoid alcohol when around others.
24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?
Obligatory Ochan mention. But okay this is a bit of a weird one...Kaiji kind of?? Now Kaiji is a very different character, very scrappy very stupid very shithead. But it's the way that he has the ability to command such a powerful response from strangers and holds onto hope so strongly and cries and is so earnest...they are characters cut of a similar cloth despite how different they come off at first. Kaiji is just Tenma during his drunk era
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thursdayinspace · 20 days
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twenty questions for fanfic writers
I was tagged by the amazing @oohnotvery, thank you!! <3
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
10, but I orphaned my old account several years ago when I left fandom for a bit. I don't know how many I had back then, over 100 for sure.
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
37.724
3. What fandoms do you write for?
The X-Files. There's most likely going to be some Star Trek in there eventually, and I ventured into other realms in the past, but right now, exclusively The X-Files.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
under construction (Torchwood)
wild side (The X-Files)
in conclusion (The X-Files)
the ghost circle (Torchwood)
the physics of being alive (Torchwood)
5. Do you respond to comments?
Yes. If I ever forget, I'm sorry! I love every comment and it's important to me to say thank you.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
held safely in the dark (Torchwood). It's not even all that angsty by that fandom's standards, I suppose.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Good question. I rarely ever write unhappy endings. Fanfic is my happy place. But I think the one I most enjoyed writing because there was NO angst at all was in conclusion (The X-Files).
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Ohhhh my god one time in a different fandom on my old AO3, somebody left a scathing, vitriolic comment on one of my fics, but obviously meant to do it anonymously -- only they forgot to log out first. By the time I read it they had deleted their entire account. That made the whole thing actually funny in context.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Yes, I do. What kind? Hmm. Mostly pretty plain and boring. It's all about the feeeeeelings.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I used to. Back in the good old livejournal days I loved a good crossover. I wrote a Stargate Atlantis/Firefly crossover once, that might have been the craziest.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not to my knowledge.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
I'm...not sure? I think so? But that would have been like 15 years ago, I'm not sure anymore whether that actually happened or not.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Yes!! And it's so much fun. I've had a few co-writers over the years. Once life is less crazy, I might be tempted to give it another shot.
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
Mulder and Scully. There's a reason my tag for them is "the ship of all time."
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
None, currently. ...I'm. Hold on. That can't be true. But I truly can't think of a single one. I can't remember the last time that happened. This doesn't happen. But no, not one.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Dialogue. Because it's fun, and through years and years of practice. One of my first betas drilled "show, don't tell" into my head to the point where I feel it's permanently tattooed onto the backs of my eyelids and I see it every time I blink when I'm writing. And in my very specific case, that meant learning to make people use their words. BUT it has helped me getting rid of unnecessary exposition, which at the same time made me get a lot of practice with dialogue instead. (Let's ignore the fact that I literally just posted a fic that has almost no dialogue at all...)
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Action. I can't do it, I'm sorry. Whose hand goes where when? Does this guy need three arms to do what I just told him to? Wait, you were just over there, how did you get here suddenly? Anyone who can write action scenes has powerful magic and I envy you and please teach me.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I'm bilingual, so I could do that, I suppose? The need for it has never come up. Sounds fun though.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Stargate Atlantis!! I still miss that fandom. Ahh the livejournal nostalgia is strong tonight...
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
It's usually always the last one I posted, but I'm gonna say in conclusion. I'm very fond of that one.
Tagging...I don't know who has done this and who hasn't! @mr-iskender if you want to?
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sabraeal · 8 months
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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️
As I said on my first fic rec post, I have written very many fics and I love almost all of them, so I can't pick FAVORITES so much as CATEGORIES, and this category is going to be "Fics Joanna Made Me Write Outside My Comfort Zone Because It's Good For Me Or Something"
Whenever I view the moon on the battlefield This was the FIRST fic I wrote outside of ANS fandom, and if that was not already out of my usual groove enough, it's also from the POV of one of the minor characters in Hakuouki, Shimada Kai. The concept was originally conceived while I was streaming a playthrough for the obiyuki discord-- Yamazaki (our best boy) and Shimada are both spies and spend quite a bit of time off screen, so we kept running into scenes and being like "how AWKWARD is it for those two to be watching this right now?" And so when it finally came time for me to throw my hat into the yamachi ring...Joanna asked for THIS to be the fic. You know. Instead of one where Yamazaki and Chizuru actually kiss or whatever. Sigh.
The Most Perverse Creature in the World Listen. I know there are people out there who LOVE xReader fics. I'm happy for you, truly. I am not one of them. But after answering the fandom fuck/marry/kill game (otherwise known as only one bed/slow burn/enemies to lovers) with small littler blurbs about the kind of story I would write for the older gentlemen in ANS (Shidan, Lata & Haruka), SOME PEOPLE got very invested in Haruka's little enemies-to-lovers blurb. Some people made puppy eyes. Some people made puppy eyes and then got very sick after, and I AM A GOOD FRIEND and wrote ONE CHAPTER and have never known a day of peace since. Six years later it's up to thirteen chapters, has a very complicated plot involving the politics of taxing oral sex, and I've learned how to effectively write in 2nd person.
don't speak boyshit I cannot properly explain how absolutely in our heads the Maria/Kamitani pairing is, but like. It's good okay?? Joanna did not so much force me to write this one so much as like...emphatically encourage its existence, to the point where I have a very complicated outline and she routinely reminds me I'll finish it when i'm like. 50. But this is certainly the gateway fic to the OTHER fics for this pairing she DOES want to twist my arm over, SO ON THE LIST IT GOES. I am one of TWO authors in this ship tag, and also one of TWO fics...and yet this is one of my most popular non-ANS fics 🤣
If the Mind Is Willing This is a fic Joanna will HAPPILY admit to being the main driver for, since, as she puts it, "there is no one else who could possibly ever write this fic." Taking TWO very niche concepts (LARP and a SURPRISE FOR LATER) and a very niche pairing (yamachi) would perhaps not have been MY first choice...but Joanna asked for the first chapter as a birthday gift a few years back and here I am, learning a whole new tabletop system and really giving my FBI agent something to talk about at the watercooler.
He Who Studies Evil Of all the niche fics Joanna has convinced me to put to paper (or at least, word document), this is probably takes the top spot. A prequel to my obiyuki Star Trek AU, this covers events about 10 years previous, with Haruka taking over DS9 and immediately being thrown into a political nightmare when he is informed that the Cardassians are in possession of a missing human child. This took...an INORDINATE amount of time to research and write-- I hadn't seen DS9 since I was in high school, and I watched through nearly half a season just to get the timeline right-- but I still REALLY love how it came out. Which is good, because it is definitely one of my least read fics 🤣
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trashlord-007 · 2 years
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I'm glad you have a sense of humor or at least realized that the killed a man question was supposed to be funny.
Lemme preface this by saying some of your questions about me I'm happy to answer, but others I'd like to leave until after the reveal if you'd still like them then. Gotta try and make it hard to identify me if you let curiosity get the better you.
Jongdae is a sweet man and deserves the world, I'm so happy for him getting the family he's wanted. Hopefully, we'll get a new album from him eventually. Did you have a favourite of his songs? Or a favourite bit of his from an exo song?
I do game a bit, although I've never played mass effect or far cry, I stick with the final fantasy and legend of Zelda franchises. Though assassin creed did catch my eye during the ff15 crossover event and I briefly contemplated playing it. I get the finding some semblance of peace actually...final fantasy 15 has a fishing option too though I'm more likely to pop that in and follow the storyline as I wander the world rather than fish. Same goes for Zelda really, I'm more of a start the game over and revisit the world and actions through the story line sort of person.
Problems are a valid creation lol. But gif making? That's a labour of love as far as I'm concerned, I've seen what goes into making gifs and gif makers have all of my respect for the work they do. Same goes for fic writers, fanartists, etc theres so much that goes into producing fan content and its amazing what people do for the things they enjoy.
What sort of things do you write? I'm afraid I haven't familiarized myself with your work. Do you have a favourite genre to write for? What about reading while we're talking about it?
Speaking of reading I squealed so loudly when I read the words gunslinger!!! That is one of my most favorite series ever in the history of ever. Please tell me you've read all of them. Lie if you must lol. Really though, "The man in black fled west across the desert and the gunslinger followed" is an epic opening line and it gives me chills even just typing it out. And don't get me started on when Jake told Roland "Go then, there are other worlds than these." And then purposefully fell. One act that sent Roland on his path to further redemption. The whole series is a masterpiece truly.
You said horror and scifi....I'm not much for horror, but some sci-fi I can do. I generally stick with fantasy and comedy and dramas tbh when I consume media. But there are a few notable exceptions namely the three star franchises...Stargate, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Also Doctor Who...not that my brain equates the doctor with sci-fi lol. Though some are more familiar to me than others. What sort of sci-fi are you into?
Uh most watched YouTube? Well my go to channels are nate the hoof guy and north of the border. I tend to stick them on as background noise since they're easy to follow along with without having to actually pay attention. I do listen to music sometimes when I create though when i do its whatever helps me concentrate best at that moment. Sometimes it's something wordless so I can just immerse myself in whatever I'm working on, or it's a certain song on repeat that I can fade into if that makes sense.
Best part of fandom is its people tbh. As for what I like to create....edits, moodboards, fic, eventually I'd like to try my hand at videos and sound mixing there's a few mash-ups on YouTube that are so cool. I also like to create food, and I love to fingerpaint. I absolutely suck at it but it's fun and messy and a great way to relax, I highly recommend it!
Speaking of creating, I'm not sure what I'll have the time for gift creation wise so how about you give me a few suggestions for themes for the edits or the moodboards, ( I can also do icons/headers/lockscreens) and maybe what you'd be looking for in a fic? Au?, type(angst,fluff,slice of life etc)? member?, that sort of thing.
Now for a a few new questions.... do you have any blog recommendations on here? People you enjoy interacting with or content creators whose work you enjoy. How about exo fanarts or artists? Do you enjoy those? Do you have any favorites?
I like to think I have a sense of humour!
hehe, I can respect that. I promise I won't search for you prematurely but feel free to ignore any/all questions you don't wish to answer!
Jongdae does indeed deserve the world! he's so lucky, too, to be blessed with not just one child but two! My favourite song of his is definitely Good Night! So, so beautiful T_T and definitely one of my favourite songs of all time.
oh heck yeah!! FF and LOZ! I have a FF on my shelf to play but haven't gotten around to it (I have many brand new games on my shelf that still need to be unwrapped, I'm so behind >.<). I don't have a Switch so I haven't played BotW but it sure does look fantastic. I think my last LOZ game was... A Link to the Past on GBA... no, nevermind, I just checked and I had Phantom Hourglass too. But my favourite was Wind Waker on GameCube!!
I'm hoping they remaster the first AC! To me, in my personal opinion, not confirmed (I'm just hoping!!) they kinda hinted that maybe they would?? at Ubisoft Connect this year! so I'm really hoping!! because I never actually finished it T_T I got pretty much to the end, too. Le sigh. I'm so close! But I lost my original save files on one of my earlier consoles >.<
I'm hesitant to replay older games because everyone is doing remasters or remakes these days! I bought the DLC for the Mass Effect games a few months before the remaster was announced with all the DLC included lmfao
I started playing FC6 again the other night (never finished it, oops) and my first achievement of the night was for catching fish so I think it's safe to say I'm obsessed with that mechanic haaaa.
I get that! I like to replay games for the story, too. Sometimes I even lower the difficulty if I'm in a mood to experience the story rather than the gameplay. That way I can finish it quicker! And I won't do 100% completion runs (like checking every planet in ME).
Playing through your favourite games is self-care! -- me, who is spending all my time gaming lately instead of being on here and responding to you in a timely manner (sorry!!).
It really is! I always knew it was hard to do but my God, I didn't realise the true extent of it. GIF creators are amazing. And you're so write!! Anyone making fan content is perfect, talented, and lovely. So wonderful, truly.
That's fine and also please DO NOT feel like you have to! You needn't read any of my fics!
I mainly write... well, I was going to say smut and yandere but my fluff masterlist is the longest so I definitely sneak those in quite often. My favourite genres to write for are the same as the ones I read! I know some people don't like to mix business with pleasure, but I love writing horror and sci-fi! Though I will admit I haven't written space-based sci-fi yet. And if a book or fic is sci-fi or horror, I will try it out. If it's a sci-fi horror or just based in space?? I WILL read it there and then!
OH HELL YES!! Another Dark Tower fan!! Dude, it's freaking PERFECT! You even quoted my favourite line T_T While it does have one of the best opening lines in the history of ever, Jake's "Go then, there are other worlds than these" really just punches me in the gut every time I think about it!! King really outdid himself with that series, my God. The Gunslinger will probably always be my favourite but I'm enjoying every book so far!
But, ahem, I'm still on the fourth book! I miss Blaine the Train T_T he was so much fun! I'm currently finishing Paolini's To Sleep In A Sea of Stars and then I will be go back to listening to Wizard and Glass!
Yes, I love me so good horror! I used to be, hmm, opposed to horror films because every year my birthday was overshadowed with Halloween (lol, don't judge me, I'm opening up here), but now I love them (and Halloween) so much!! And sci-fi... to vaguely quote Markiplier, "I'd sign up on a mission to space even if I knew 100% I would die".
I also don't really think of Doctor Who as sci-fi even though it is! haha, funny. I love the original 6 Star Wars films! I named my kitty cat after Anakin! I haven't watched the new ones yet tho. And, haha, I watched the original Star Trek series after watching the new films. So great, so classic!! I named a kitty cat after Cumberbatch's Khan, too. I never watched much Stargate aside from the original film.
I enjoy any sci-fi that is based in space! Interstellar is my favourite film right now~ and it used to be Avatar which is getting its second film soon!! I told myself I don't even like Avatar that much anymore and then watched the trailer and BOOM obsessed once more haha!
I don't know Nate the Hoof Guy or North of the Border. What type of content do they make? If I had to pick individual channels I like then I would go with Slogo and Markiplier (gaming) and Nick Crowley and Watcher (horror/paranormal investigations/stories etc).
What kind of music do you listen to when you create? Do you have any specific songs/playlists rn? and yes, that makes perfect sense! I like to repeat / loop music when I write, too.
Wow! You're a jack of all trades! that's so cool T_T edits and moodboards require such skill and talent and an eye for design. I also want to try out audio mixing. I make youtube videos occasionally so it would be fun to learn! You cook?? omg, you really are so !!! you know??? I can't cook, like, at all. Finger painting...? I think I'd be too OCD to do it T_T I freak out a little when my hands get dirty haha. I've been better about it lately but I had an episode the other day--- why am I talking about this? lol, I always ramble T_T
No worries at all~ don't stress yourself out over the gift. It's not a big deal! For edits and moodboards, my go-to request is always Jongdae and thunderstorms! For fics... I don't read for Jongdae but if it's platonic then I would! or a Baekhyun fic~ Anything genre wise except angst and MCD.
Honestly, anything you come up with will be perfect! <3
Blog recommendations... I'm assuming EXO-Ls?
@merinaart does the most amazing artwork ever! my favourite artist on the site tbh! @mel-loves-all is one of the sweetest people ever and she used to host this event! @myeoning-call makes some really amazing content, too! and she was my first giftee <3 and @your-sophie18 is my new friend, oml, love her + she tags me in cool things about EXO <3 such a real one. Then I can't forget my lovely @achenlove who made me the cutest little Chen drawing last year T_T I still cherish it!
oh,.. I kinda included the CCs I like to interact with ^ up there. I don't really interact with people that aren't moots very often, and when I do it's just to reblog and leave feedback on fics. I'm not very outgoing like that! hmm... how about you tell me some CCs you like and I'll check them out? or blog recs in general!
Hope you're well and sorry again for the delay! sometimes I just... eh, it doesn't matter. Always have some kind of excuse.
Sending you love and wishing you the best! <3
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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Picard Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Agnes Jurati/Cristóbal Rios Characters: Agnes Jurati, Cristóbal Rios Additional Tags: Meta, Developing Relationship, my take on Agnes and Cris's relationship, and why i think it works, Minor Character Death (Mentioned), Psychological Trauma
Title Inspired by @regionalpancake‘s glorious Downtime Drabble “You’re Light On Me”
A while ago, a friend confessed to me that they didn’t really understand what Agnes Jurati and Cris Rios see in each other. They felt the relationship seemed unmotivated and forced, and they didn’t really see why other people thought it worked.
I’ve seen this sentiment a few times since the show came out, and I’m not here to tell anyone they have to agree with the show-writers’ choices or like a relationship if it doesn’t work for them. But I recently reread the little essay I sent that friend in reply (after making sure they’d want to read it ;9 ), and I really liked it, so I thought I’d share it here.
When people say that the kiss between Agnes Jurati and Cristobal Rios at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1 blindsided them, I understand where they're coming from. I think the showrunners could have done more to make the developing relationship between these characters truly obvious, but for me, it didn't feel like the mutual attraction between Cris and Agnes came completely out of nowhere. Let me explain.
One of the big things about Rios’s character I find striking is that he wants to be stoic and cynical and misanthropic, but he just... can't do it. He tries! He's short, he hides behind his books, and he pretends he doesn't care about politeness. But the only people he ever swears at are Raffi, a very good friend, and the holos (which are a whole other matter, because there is all this self-loathing tied up in Cris's relationship with them). Over the course of season 1, it's pretty clear that Rios is rather good at reading people, and he wants to do right by them. He defers to Picard pretty much immediately and Soji looks at him pleadingly once and he decides to put his ship at risk for her.
Rios doesn't want to like people, he just can't help himself. He wants to be annoyed by Agnes interrupting his reading, but I think he finds her quirkiness disarming and charming. It's already visible in the way he looks at her on the bridge, when they talk about paper books. And then they go to the holodeck to discuss Picard's detour to Vashti. Since Agnes is the audience stand-in, she asks a bunch of questions, and instead of being annoyed or short, Cris patiently explains everything to her (after offering her a seat). Later, when Cris asks Agnes what she thinks about his outfit for the Stardust City caper and she says he's killing it, there's a beat there. He seems almost a little taken aback, either by her sincerity, or maybe by realizing he values her opinion. It's yet another thing they connect over it. (Also robot boxing. That scene is adorable)
With regards to Agnes… I think partially, she's leaning into her natural humour and quirkiness to appear non-threatening and not give herself away, but I also have another read on her behaviour. (This may partially be me projecting WAY TOO HARD, or, to put it more generously, applying some lived experience to what we see of Agnes's character, so your take on this might be very different. But this is what I see.)
When Agnes and Cris talk before they go off to have sex, Agnes is making jokes and smiling. To me, that doesn’t read as fake or a ploy to manipulate Rios, it seems real. And then when he asks, really asks, how she's feeling, suddenly there is this chasm of pain right under the surface. For me, the idea that Agnes has this intense psychological trauma and is dealing with it by finding joy in little things, like watering the plants, and reading papers, and flirting with the hot captain by completely wrong-footing him with a comment about her dad... it feels very authentic. And I can see how this guy, who pretends to be all uncaring and edgy but is actually a big softie not very far under the surface, and who smiles at her jokes and takes the time to explain stuff to her and listens to her babble, that's a nice distraction from the horrible things happening in her mind. Not in the sense that she's manipulatively using him, but in the sense that this kind of human connection gives her moments of light and gives her reasons to keep going, even through so much pain.
After Agnes kills Maddox, she is deeply, deeply conflicted over what she's done. To the point where when they’re leaving the Artefact, she basically says "I don't care if the world ends if I don't kill Soji. Let it all burn. I just can't do this anymore". And then here is this man, who's kind and caring and, yes, hot, and at first it's "I just want to feel something, anything, and he's here, he's half-naked, he's gorgeous". And Rios isn't necessarily opposed to a no-strings-attached fling. Because he keeps telling himself he doesn't get attached and he hates people and he's only ferrying them around because they're paying him. So it's a distraction with a woman who is quirky and witty and pretty, but it won't mean anything, and that's okay.
And then Agnes changes her mind, because she realizes having sex with Rios will make things more complicated. Or maybe because she thinks Rios deserves better. Or that she shouldn't have sex to distract herself from horrible emotional pain because that's kinda unhealthy.
So she pulls back.
And Rios, instead of being annoyed at missing out or feeling like she led him on, or any number of things, asks her how she's feeling. In a way that makes it clear (at least to me) that he really cares about the answer. And for a moment, Agnes lets him see the true darkness inside her. Because she can pretend it's about Maddox dying, she can pretend it's just about being a lonely nerd. She doesn't have to tell him how bad it really is, but she lets herself feel all of the bad emotions for just a moment.
And then she kisses him again, maybe to shut herself up or to distract herself, or because she needs the connection. And he doesn't have any illusion about what it is they're doing. He knows she's trying to feel better, he essentially tells her he knows it's a way for her to deal with her devastation, and he's okay with it. Maybe because he knows what it's like to feel hollow and terrified and need something, anything to cling to.
And at this point, I think they're both still telling themselves that they don't actually care about each other. Cris because he doesn't want to care about anyone ever again so he won't get hurt. (Which, again, he fails miserably at, but I think that's how he wants to see himself and why he treats his holos with so much disdain that Emil tells Picard "He doesn't get any nicer", even though we see Rios being kind to all the people on board.) And Agnes doesn't really have the brain space to allow herself to fall for anyone. She's just taking little moments of light and human connection where she can get them. And they both decide to have sex as a one-night-stand, just to make Agnes feel better for the night, just because they're both lonely and in pain. No deeper meaning behind it.
And then the whole tracker debacle happens. It takes three days to get to Nepenthe and by the time Agnes goes into a coma, they're still a couple days away at least. She doesn't wake up until Picard is back on board, which means she's out for a long time. Even though we don’t see much of the medical drama, we can assume she was very much at death's door. So, now Rios is faced with once again losing someone he feels somewhat responsible for. Someone he has actually gotten close to. And I think that moment and the fear it causes him might make him start to realize how much he actually cares about her.
And then when Picard and Soji are on board, they all sit down together and figure out the big mystery at the heart of season 1. And here is another thing Cris and Agnes find out they have in common: Both of their lives and minds got destroyed by Oh's machinations. Cris went against everything he believed in when he covered up what Vandermeer had done. He didn't actively kill anyone, but he feels like Vandermeer's death is his fault. His belief in the fundamental goodness of Starfleet was shattered when they threatened to blow up his ship. For Agnes, this kind of shattering of a truth she had clung to comes when she realizes she wasn't acting on the directive of the Head of Starfleet Security in a black-ops mission sanctioned by one of the most important institutions of the Federation. Instead, she was nothing but a pawn, used by Oh for nefarious purposes that had nothing to do with the greater good. The exact circumstances of their traumas are different, but they were both caught up in the same catastrophe and cover-up and it has marked them in similar ways.
I think this is one of the reasons Rios doesn't blame Agnes for killing Maddox. If anything, he gets more protective of her, e.g. by trying to stop Sutra from forcing another mind-meld on Agnes. You can see this in a more subtle scene, too: when Cris says goodbye to Agnes at Coppelius station, he reaches out to touch her face, but then he hesitates and proceeds with extreme gentleness and care. To me, that reads like someone very, very aware of the other person's trauma and possible triggers (forced mind-meld) and caring deeply about making sure she feels safe and has something good to counterbalance the horrible memories.
And finally, we clearly jump quite a bit in time at the very end of season 1. When our motley crew sets out from Coppelius, the Synth Ban has been lifted. Just imagine the bureaucracy that must have taken! That’s not something that can be overturned in a day. Also, Raffi and Seven have had time to connect, so I imagine in that time, Cris and Agnes, too, will have slowly figured out whether they're compatible and whether this relationship is something they might, very carefully and gently, endeavour together.
Because they have a compatible kind of humour, because they understand what it's like to feel deeply broken but to keep going regardless, because she's witty and quirky and he's caring and kind and they went through a very specific hell together, and they might be able to hold each other's hands as they slowly make their ways towards healing.
I’m going to do a metatextual thing here and quote an absolutely gorgeous drabble by @regionalpancake that, to me, encapsulates one very important aspect of the relationship between Cris and Agnes.
     Your Light On Me  
You’d forgotten just how it felt. To feel like you. A stranger, Last seen aboard the Ibn Majid. Proud, red trimmed shoulders, Bright pips, a polished combadge. You signed aboard, And found A different man signed off. You’re old enough to know, She cannot fix you. You wouldn’t want her to. That’s between Pops and you. That’s your work to do, Not hers. But Agnes? Preciosa. Something in her, Shines a light. Reminds you who you are. You have to find, Your own way home. But god, It’s nice, At last, To find, A gentle soul, To hold the lamp.
 Chapter 74 of Downtime
That. Right there. A gentle soul to hold the lamp. I think for me, that's what the relationship between Cris and Agnes boils down to.
They are broken people in a broken world, but by the end of season 1, they have found that they can hold each other while they try to put themselves back together. And what starts out as a fun, distracting flirtation, then turns into "meaningless" sex to stop feeling lonely and sad, finally becomes the beginning of a relationship built on shared trauma, but more importantly on kindness and charm.
I have no idea whether these two can make it work long-term, but I am very much on board for what we've seen so far, and I hope this can help a bit in explaining why.
NB: After I finished writing this a few weeks back, I remembered that there was a fic that came to very similar conclusions. Upon reread, I realized it essentially hits the exact same points I do here and does so absolutely beautifully. So if you want a truly touching in-universe perspective on this relationship, go and read Love Comes Softly by Be_Right_Back (@smhalltheurlsaretaken, or listen to the Podfic recorded by Thimblerig. I cannot recommend this fic highly enough!      
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For the writer asks: 3, 8, and 15 :)
(okay so I guess this will be The Mandalorian/TBOBF-centric since I'm still on that train and not getting off anytime soon)
3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?
Ummmmmmmmmm, I always hear that I get really into a character's head and that I can carry their voice pretty well? I get invested in a Thing because of a particular character or characters (looking at you, Dorian Pavus of Dragon Age), and I really like sinking my claws into their core and all of their lived experiences that made them who they are, and then throwing them into a plot to see how that changes them. I know plenty of other people do this too and do this better so Idk, at least I also sprinkle in opinionated OCs to play against main characters and push the plot along?
8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?
I... find it very easy to write characters with a lot of inner turmoil and legacies hanging over their heads. I think it's an Eldest Daughter/diaspora thing; I relate a lot with characters with these.... burdens who are torn between what they should/are expected to do and what they want to do. This is what drives me crazy about Din Djarin; he follows the creed, he is a provider for his tribe, he is the one who goes to the surface and comes back with credits and beskar... and then he makes A Decision that tears him away from his family and sets him on his path, and when he finally finds them? Only to be cast out? God. That's the sort of shit I go feral over.
15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?
I wrote political and pundit RPF/RPS? And the community I was in that was all about it (starring people who turned out to be truly garbage politicians) was once featured in an article? The real question should be "what's the weirdest crossover/premise you've ever written" because then I can happily explain a Tron: Legacy/MCU barista AU with a sequel featuring the Bayformers, and also a Star Trek: AOS/MCU fusion/crossover where Jim Kirk was Thor's son and half-Kree, and also Loki and Valkyrie are trying to start Ragnarok before Ronan & Co. can break into Asgard to find the Space Stone that was in Jim the whole time. It's a long story and I managed to write a whole fic about it.
Anyway.
Ask me anything from this list of numbers!
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Masterlist of My Stories
My Writing
Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, I post a snippet of what I'm currently working on.
On Mondays, I post the last lines of the stories I'm finishing up, as well as lessons learned from the previous week. I post this under the tag #last line monday and #lessons from the week.
On Wednesdays, I throw up a snippet of fanfiction. I post this under the tag #wip wednesday.
On Fridays, I write at least seven lines of my own stories, either poetry, essays, or fiction. I post this under the tag #seven line friday.
On Sundays, I post at least six lines of fanfic. I post this under the tag #six sentence sunday.
For more information about me, check out my About Me page. I don't answer personal questions unless I share an asklist, I don't take prompts unless I share a promptlist, and I don't keep anonymous asks on. I've also made two promptlists--one a writing challenge, the other a list of poetry prompts! Find my work archived and updated under hes5thlazarus on Archive of Our Own.
Below is a catalogue of my stories, broken down by fandom (Dragon Age, Harry Potter, Star Trek):
My Dragon Age Stories
There Is No Ithaca Three moments where Solas loses his home: Solas wrecks his revolution on the altar of Mythal. Solas returns from war to find Ghilan’nain incubating the Blight within their own home. Fen'Harel negotiates the end of the world with the Thaig of the Bastion of the Pure. Answers to various asks from brightoncemore's wonderful promptlist.
Ultramarine Sylaise attempts to trademark the color blue, initiating a civil war. Fen'Harel disapproves. Felassan, at this point, is just along for the ride. Highlights include: Andruil attempts to create biological weapons out of the conquered children of the stone and sell them to absolutely everyone, Mythal may or may not involve, Solas greatly disapproves, and everyone wants to kill Fen'Harel for disapproving. Also an explanation as to why Solas has to think before answering Sera on whether he has ever pissed magic by accident. Sorta a love story, sorta a comedy, sorta a story about political intrigue--but hey, Solas said Arlathan was even worse than Orlais! A big thank you to potatowitch and isomede for talking me through this and getting me to finish it--and for giving me the best ideas for it.
Overheard at the Hanged Man Thirty-one stories written in Nightmare-mode for Beyond the Veil's 2020 Artober Challenge, ranging through the entire series, from Arlathan before the Blight to the Chargers in Serault.
Alistair the Accidental Heretic Alistair gets bored during morning prayer and starts changing the words of the Chant as he sings. Mother Prudence and Knight-Commander Greagoir are less than pleased, and soon he finds himself tripping up over accidental heresy even within the kitchens of Kinloch Hold. It's not easy, being a half-elf templar with a conscience, because even having a sense of humor is heresy.
The Starkhaven Crier A portrait of two future apostates at ten-year-olds: Jowan and Surana are bored, get dragged to the Chantry for the good of their souls, and accidentally make the new girl from Starkhaven cry. Featuring Surana determined to be the one Dalish against letting the Maker come back, the self-hating mage in the Surana/Amell origin as the Starkhaven Crier, and the same Mother Prudence who sent Alistair to bed without supper. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me.
Morrigan at the Crossroads Morrigan reaches her breaking point, confronted with the one person she cannot flee: her six-week-old son, who cannot be soothed back to sleep, struggling in the Crossroads. From a prompt musettta3 sent me.
Shartan's Riddle Surana talks Mahariel through writing Leliana, after Leliana leaves to work for the Divine. Shartan promised them a home, and Mahariel worries Leliana, devout as she is, cannot give it to her. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me.
Winter in Amaranthine The Wardens' companions decide to leave, and Warden-Commander Arana Mahariel cannot find a reason good enough to tell them no. Meanwhile, letters between the Warden and Leliana get lost in translation, and Arana makes it worse. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me.
Palimpsest Velanna and Sigrun fight some darkspawn, talk around the past, and write some letters. Written as a gift for hellbell, for the Sapphic Solstice 2021 Gift Exchange.
Phosphorescence A Despair demon in the Foundry district is clogging up the whole city with a miasma of misery. Justice runs into an old friend of his, during Anders' first few weeks in Kirkwall, and the three set to work. Heavy-handed allegory abounds, but, Justine opines, that’s the Dreamers’ fault. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me.
Labyrinth "Anders made no attempt at escape during the years they were together." This story is meant to explore everything absolutely horrible about that statement. If the core part of Anders' identity is his refusal to submit to imprisonment, then perhaps listening to Karl was a violation of his sense of self. Things get better, and then things get worse.
Kirkwall Thunderstorm Family squabbling as the storm sets in, Hawke flees to face the thunderstorm head on, and laughs, because what's more to life than this, chasing a storm all the way down to the harbor? From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me. One of my favorite things I've written in 2020.
Debutante Leandra manages Hawke's debut ball, and surprises herself by having a lot of fun. From an OC ask I decided to turn into a prompt.
Dregs Anders baits Varric, or Varric baits Anders, both drunk at the Hanged Man. There's no resolution to an argument when they're both just angry, thinking about dead mages. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me. One of my favorite things I've written in 2020.
The Scent of Pomegranates Merrill brings a pomegranate to the Hanged Man, to try and capture some of the way her clan celebrated the new year. Fenris is oddly moved. Written for the DA Den's 2020 Holiday Gift Exchange.
Anders in Autumn Anders and Fenris, over the course of one gorgeous autumn in Kirkwall, find common ground, a common goal, and even tenderness, as the city grows cool and vibrant in the changing of the year. Justice returns to the streets of Kirkwall, one way or another, and it is as transformative and loving as justice truly is. An answer to an Artober challenge from cozy-autumn-prompts
Warp & Weft Anders wakes Fenris up in the middle of the night talking, and then not wanting to talk, about weaving. What they remember and what they have forgot climb into the bed with them. A gift for potatowitch.
Landlocked Merrill goes looking for Isabela after a night of drinking at the Hanged Man, and finds her considering the sun rising over the horizon at the docks. They're landlocked and the salt's drained them both dry, but maybe it's not all been a waste. They're shipless, not shipwrecked. Part of a personal challenge to write more femslash, after realizing how little there is in Dragon Age fandom.
Love and Red Ink Varric tries his hand at a more literary Bildungsroman about his youth as a Kirkwall bohemian. Bianca tears it apart, editing for his own good. Sometimes love is in the margins, your almost ex-girlfriend telling you--I wasn't that pretty, when I was that young.
The Most Boring Sex Party in All Orlais Josephine and Leliana both admit the night they met ended with someone's smallclothes pinned to the Chanter's Board--but what happened right before? Josephine says, “I have played the Game before, and understand its cutthroat stakes. But I must admit, I never thought I would witness the opening salvo of a coup at the most boring sex party of all Orlais.”
Catabasis Kirkwall's in ashes and Hawke and their friends are on the run. Varric might have ended the story at the docks, but the conflict continues. The question persists: should they separate? And what brought them together in the first place? From a series of prompts ellie-effie and musetta3 sent me.
The Domestics Alistair runs into an older elven woman on the battlements, watching the children play in the Skyhold courtyard below. They get to talking: isn't it nice that the mages get to keep their children now? Then, in the course of the conversation, Alistair figures it out. Alistair says, “I always wondered. What my life would’ve been like, if she could’ve kept me. I always kinda knew she didn’t have a choice. King’s bastards are the king’s, not whoever carried them. If she were a servant and if I’d end up in the kitchens or, better yet, the dairy. I really like cheese. But if she were a mage, I guess we never had any of that. Unless she ran away.”
The Bane of Red Crossing In the astrarium cave in the Storm Coast with Inquisitor Lavellan, Cole, and Solas, Sera opens a chest and finds a beautiful bow, named the Bane of Red Crossing. But what is the Bane of Red Crossing? According to the codex: "Ser Yves de Chevac used this bow in the Exalted March against the Dales – specifically, in the liberation of Val Royeaux, where the chevalier famously struck down the elven forces' commander with a shot to the throat at two hundred feet." Lavellan is not pleased, but does not know how to communicate effectively with Sera. Cole and Solas make it worse. Sometimes there is no adequate resolution, when you are faced with the instrument of your great-grandparents' destruction. Sometimes there is nothing that disinterested compassion can say.
To the Victor the Spoils In the Skyhold gardens, in Adamant's wake, Solas meets Loghain. A character study of two trickster-kings, speaking a little too honestly. As Loghain himself says, "The past is always with us. It’s in our bones and our blood and we wear it on our skin. You can think otherwise, but you’ll never get far without it."
Dead Man Hiking Solas broods over what has been lost. Dorian interrupts, and Solas dangles hidden knowledge in front of him like a carrot. They both take the bait, because, as irritable and sad Solas can get, "he wants to give wisdom, not orders," and Dorian loves to learn. Written for Beyond the Veil's 2020 Satinalia Gift Exchange.
So Much Lore! So Much Information! Dorian has a wonderful conversation with the Skyhold Librarian about improvements to the library's filing system and the innovations coming out of Minrathous when Vivienne comes by and points out he's just talking to himself. He's been waxing rhapsodic about the Tevinter equivalent of the Dewey decimal system to a spirit--or maybe a demon. So clearly they must investigate.
Dirthara Ma! May You Learn After the Exalted Council, Solas stops for a drink and a sulk in a quiet tavern in Ostwick. He is convinced no one will ever recognize him with a full head of hair and a beard. Then the Inquisitor walks in. The first in a canon-compliant post-Trespasser Solavellan series.
White Nights A year after Trespasser, Lavellan takes a new lover to a quiet inn in Val Royeaux. She steps out to the balcony for a quick smoke under the stars, looks over to the balcony adjacent to hers--and who is there but the Dread Wolf himself, slightly disguised, with a glass of wine? Despite themselves they talk, and do not stop talking. “Entertain me,” Solas says. “What ending will Master Tethras write for us? Because I do not know how to leave this gracefully. Though I suppose any ending is better than the last one, when I left with your arm.” The second and most comprehensive in a canon-compliant post-Trespasser Solavellan series. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me. One of my favorite things I've written in 2020.
Ligaments Briala has loaded her dice when playing the Game. Gaspard throws her in prison, but her message goes out to both the Dread Wolf, keen to better his reputation for catastrophe amongst the elves of Orlais, and the Dalish Inquisitor, who is still reeling from the loss of her arm. “We do not necessarily know he is the enemy,” Leliana says. “And it is exciting, no? To have that rush of danger and destruction between every kiss.” The third in a canon-compliant post-Trespasser Solavellan series. From the six Florence & the Machine prompts that ellie-effie sent me. One of my favorite things I've written in 2020.
Out From Under the Dread Wolf's Eye Briala and Merrill try and steal an eluvian out from under the Dread Wolf's eye. It doesn't quite work, but that doesn't mean the day's a failure, not when there's dinner to be had and a connection to explore. Written as a gift for hellbell, for a prompt they gave for the Sapphic Solstice 2021 Gift Exchange, but not submitted to the collection.
The Domesticities Solas adjust to a new, gentle love that has gripped his heart and will not let him go: a Lavellan who heralds a world he did dream of, and learns how to survive grief and his own betrayal, learns how to surrender the high moral ground and focus on the domesticities. A series of Solas-POV ficlets from my story, Fen'Harel's Teeth, where Lavellan is a mother and leader in her own right, and barely keeping her head above the water of her own deep grief. Not in chronological order!
He Who Hunts Alone Solas will restore the Elvhen People as he knew them, even if this world must die. It is his only purpose as he understands it. But a magical accident leaves him in another world, where a version of himself has made a very different choice. Solas is forced to reckon with a desire he has never let himself explore. Inquisitor Tara Trevelyan, both his friend and adversary, is dragged with him, as they move from their world, to a world where Solas seems to have won it all, to another that seems both their worst nightmare. Inquisitor Tara Trevelyan: the rebel apostate mage, romanced Josephine Inquisitor Imladris Lavellan: the Dalish First, romanced Solas, featured in Fen'Harel's Teeth Inquisitor Brigid Trevelyan: the faithful Andrastian prophet, rogue and noble, Tara's sister, romanced Blackwall and then Cullen Written in tandem with my partner, batsy22-me, and likewise abandoned when we got bored of it.
Fen'Harel's Teeth First Lavellan, Imladris Ashallin, thought that her audience with the Divine against templars' harassment of Dalish mages would be a token protest, and that her people would use it to draw the city elves closer to the Vir Tanadahl. She didn't think her Keeper's calculations would catapult her to the top of the Chantry's leadership, manipulating the powers of Thedas to leave her people be. Meanwhile, Briala foments revolution in Halamshiral, using the eluvian network to sabotage the armies of Orlais. A new movement erupts in the Dales, and elves across Thedas look at this so-called "Herald of Andraste" and see Mythal's vallaslin. Fiona breaks the chains of mages across Thedas, and Fenris starts whispers of a new age in Tevinter--one where the slaves throw down their masters. A new age is coming, and all of Thedas look to Lavellan to usher it in. My baby, my never-ending story, my current work-in-progress.
My Harry Potter Stories
Harry Potter Daydreams Archiving my old Harry Potter headcanons from Tumblr onto AO3. These are not necessarily nice to the characters from canon, and focus what I find interesting--their flaws, and how that could create conflict in their lives.
General Snape Headcanons Archiving my old Harry Potter headcanons from Tumblr onto AO3.
Augury Gang Eileen's mother curses her, and she dies not too long after giving birth to Severus. Tobias, a millworker and a proud union man, does his best.
Snape in the City Instead of dying, Snape moves to New York. A Severus Snape/Narcissa Malfoy and Severus Snape/Regulus Black story.
An Incident at the Mill the millrat AU A series of vignettes on what could’ve happened if Tobias Snape had been badly injured in an accident at the mill, forcing Severus to drop out of Hogwarts before the Prank. Predominantly Lilycentric. Snily shippers, rejoice: most of the vignettes are from Lily’s point of view, featuring her as flawed, passionate, bullheaded, comfortable in her sexuality, quick to curse and quicker to laugh at herself–and with a complicated relationship to alcohol and the Wizarding World. A big thank you to eleniaz and deathdaydungeon for sparking the initial headcanons that became this series.
Saplings 1980 Albus asks Minerva to tend to the "tender new sapling" of a Potions Master. Minerva looks at the manic-triggered recovered Death Eater and thinks they're doomed for failure. Snape thinks she's right. A couple of friendship & mentorship & not-quite hurt/comfort ficlets, where Severus oozes despair and McGonagall fails, completely, utterly, to be of service. There are two pieces of fanart floating around Snapedom, one of Snape oozing, the other a comic eleniaz did years ago. Unfortunately I've lost the links.
Harry Potter and the Summer of the Stepfather In an alternate world where Neville Longbottom is the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter's parents divorce relatively amicably. Eventually, Lily starts dating again, and Harry finds himself actually enjoying the summer Snape stays over.
Last Round at the Hog's Head Thirty-one ficlets written for the 2020 Snapetober challenge.
Your Body's a Revolution Eight stories written for the 2020 Trans Snape Week challenge.
July 1977 Snape stews in teenage melodrama, eating lunch at a cheap fish-and-chips shop in Upper Cokeworth, beset by memories of a wasted ex-girlfriend, who couldn't be Lily Evans--what Bertha Jorkins saw behind the greenhouses, and what came after. Revised from an earlier account, cross-posted from fanfiction.net.
Maleficari's Mutinous Munitions Sprout grew the wrong kind of mandrakes--mandragora, rather than English mandrakes, and no one knew that there actually was an infinitesimal difference--so Severus needs to save the day before Lockhart can. A little of Slytherin cunning, a willingness to embezzle, and a sense of spite wins the day. Prompted by masaotheheckindog.
Honeydukes Horror Remus Lupin genially humiliates Severus Snape as he attempts to order chocolates. Some schoolboy grudges never get better, and nothing Severus can say will let him seem the better man. Prompted by snapescapades.
Weavers Bored before the start of sixth year, Harry goes through Petunia's old family photo albums. He demands some answers, and Dumbledore sends Snape. "He finds a photo of her laughing with a boy who is not his father, who’s got his long black hair and a hand thrown up, too, covering his face. She’s about his age in this photo, or a bit older. Carefully he slides it out of the plastic. There’s writing on the back: 'Weavers, Sev & Lily, 1976. to Baba O’Riley and the rest of our lives!!' The writing is familiar, spidery, almost indecipherable, and he squints because it reminds him of someone, it’s strangely familiar, and then he drops the photo in shock. Because he knows: that’s Severus Snape."
They Call This Closure? Severus comes to consciousness into a dream of Potter reenacting his worst memory-and then Lily Evans comes tearing in at age sixteen, rather than as the more mature adult his subconscious normally designs her. They call this closure? Officially dead, officially incomplete: and I call this closure?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Mark Triple-cross! Mitarashi Anko of the Village Hidden in the Leaves joins Severus Snape as one of Dumbledore's agents, seeking to train the Boy-Who-Lived to understand his mental connection to Lord Voldemort. Snape thinks that they really didn't need to hire a goddamn technicolor ninja to fill the DADA position, but at least it's not one of Fudge's underlings taking charge--wait, he has to put up with her anyway? More seriously, Anko and Severus discover a connection between their cursed marks and the Potter boy's scar, Dumbledore expedites the plot, and Voldemort weaves an insidious plot, inspired by Lord Orochimaru, to take over the Resistance--from the inside. Incomplete and officially dead.
My Star Trek Stories
Raktajino Kira Nerys stews over the history of Terok Nor and the Occupation over a cup of raktajino, soon after she meets Marritza, and Garak just does not know when to leave a bleeding wound alone. Written as a gift for batsy22-me.
Open Mic at Quark's Thirty-one stories written for Trektober 2020, ranging from TOS, the movies, to Lower Decks and Discovery. Includes Keiko joining the Maquis, Spock introducing Amanda to Saavik, Mariner and crew getting lost on a road trip, and more!
Splash Quark takes a dip in a hot spring. Odo follows. It is not, Odo insists, sexy. Regardless, Quark is going to enjoy tormenting him with mutual nudity, since he was the one who interrupted his bath, after all. Prompted by saathiray.
Lore and the Prophets Lore thinks he can sneak off Deep Space Nine and get through the wormhole without anyone noticing. The Prophets have other ideas. Written for the Star Trek 2020 Gift Exchange, for electricsunrise.
Jambalaya Before Worf's wedding plans take over the station, Benjamin Sisko tries to find out what happened during the Founders' occupation of Deep Space Nine, and why Odo won't look him in the eye. Of course he investigates in the guise of inviting everyone to dinner.
Tear of the Prophets Was prompted by saathiray to write about Kira Nerys repatriating an artifact sacred to Bajor from Cardassia, and this is what we got! The Shakaar cell leads a procession after Cardassia returns the Orb of Contemplation to Bajor, to collective joy. Kai Opaka says, "So I say to you my people, the survivors of atrocity and keepers of the wormhole—the Prophets cried for you millennia before you were made. They sent their Tears from their temple as a safeguard as to what was to come. And now that it is safe, now that we have won—their Tears are for all." Featuring Latha having an Orb experience, explaining why he became a vedek.
Jane Austen Book Club Dukat reads Pride and Prejudice to help him understand human relations (and fuck the Sisko). He thinks he’s being Darcy but really, he’s just Mr. Collins…and evil. Garak lends him a copy of Jane Austen and a horrific cravat, and really, it's all downhill from there.
Miscellaneous Stories
Fireworks, a feminist deconstruction of Naruto Sarada takes one look at the Uchiha legacy and decides she wants no part of it. Sakura, who has built herself a life independent of the husband who abandoned them, tries to reckon with how her daughter cannot actually decide the path her life takes. And Hanabi is happy to offer advice and consolation, as Sakura tries to talk her best friends into letting Sarada be a civilian. A feminist deconstruction of Naruto, where everyone is taken seriously and treated with the same love Sakura offers to all her friends. No character-bashing, just contemplating what could have happened if, when Sasuke left Sakura and their baby the second time, Sakura decided to file for divorce rather than wait for him to come back. Of course they still love each other. Of course it's not simple.
Same Time Next Week?, a Babylon 5 fanfic Vir and Lennier meet for their usual drink. A pre-relationship, lightest of touches, beginning of it all story.
Sunrise, Parabellum, a Disco Elysium fanfic Early Wednesday morning, before Harry's woken up and before they've closed the water lock and headed to the fishing village, Kim Kitsuragi gets up and wants a cigarette. He has a cup of coffee instead and contemplates his partner's newfound sobriety. Sunrise, parabellum: he gets up and prepares for war.
Dragon Eyes, an Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfic On a diplomatic mission to the Fire Nation, Katara leaves the children with Aang to have tea with Zuko and Mai. But the two of them have something they want to talk about. They've lived enough of fathers neglecting one child for the other, and they have seen enough. Katara wishes they had propositioned her, rather than bring this up.
Cages, an Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfic Mai visits Azula. It is not easy.
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anakinthetrashking · 4 years
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BnHA One-Shot Fic Recs (pt1)
Making some fic-rec posts has been on my to-do list for a while and I’m finally doing it, yay! Currently I have 6 word doc pages full of just BnHA recs. So I’m splitting them up by length and completion, so first up is (part one of) one-shots! Let’s go!!!
Lets start with some classic Izuku and DadMight!
Pictures, Posters and Tender Beauty by ProPinkist (tumblr: @dazais-guardian-angel ) Rating: G    Category: Gen   ~4,400 words Summary: Izuku has virtually every All Might-themed item out there, and prides himself on all of it, as Toshinori is well aware. However, somehow, the boy still decided that there was something vital missing. This is fluffy and very cute. No one truly appreciates All Might as much as Izuku does, but 1A comes close. All Might deserves all the love, and this fic truly provides!!!
Dear Mr. All Might by QuizzicalCrow (tumblr: @quizzicalcrow​ ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~5,000 words Summary: As the #1 hero for decades, All Might has collected a lot of fan mail over the years. Toshinori tracks down a series of letters that only now, years later, does he appreciate for their significance.  I always love the thought of All Might looking through his fan mail, even if he can’t get to all of it. This was a wonderful glimpse into that AND it was made to be so, so personal and sweet. Go have some heart-healing fluff.
Growing Pains by LordofLies (tumblr: @theangelofchildren ) Rating: G   Category: Gen    ~5,900 words Summary: Izuku finds himself changed by his encounter with the Hero Killer, but changes of a more physical kind are in store for him as he begins to truly accept One for All as his own. Once, he would have been thrilled to look more like All Might, but now those connections are as much a source of anxiety as they are of pride.Or, Izuku wakes up one morning and sees the world through different eyes. Izuku having anxiety and Toshi being there to help him through it and calm him down? Sign me UP. Its also a pretty cool take on how One for All is able to change things about it’s holder. Could this happen in cannon? Who knows.... Regardless, it was a great read!
I’ll Carry You Home by Renesvetta Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~2,700 words Summary: While training with All Might, it wasn’t uncommon for Izuku to be so exhausted at the end of the day that he unwittingly fell asleep without regard for where he was. It consequently became part of All Might’s routine to help his young protégé home. During that time, Izuku may have let loose more than one sleepy confession towards his mentor.  Yes, it is as adorable as it sounds. Its tagged with “self indulgent Dad Might fluff” which is both accurate and appreciated. In other words: Superb you funky little writer!
Simple Gifts by QuizzicalCrow Rating: G    Category: Gen   ~6,700 words Summary: One year ago, Izuku received the greatest gift he could ever imagine. Now he’s determined to return the favor for the one responsible for it all with a gift of his own.  First off, I love the idea of Izuku and Toshi quietly celebrating the anniversary of passing on OfA from All Might to Izuku. Even just taking the day to hang out with each other. It’s a really precious idea. But there’s not just fluff! Izuku finds himself in a fight, again. (cool villain quirk, too!) I love all of the small details that are in this fic (and in Crow’s other works, too!) anyway its exciting AND very heartwarming, so go read it!!!
Affectionate by Sevi007 (tumblr: @sevi007 ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~2,600 words Summary: Toshinori starts to show affection very easily around his students. The  reactions he gets for that are not quite the ones he had anticipated - well, not all of them, at least.  Toshi is LOVED, APPRECIATED, and 1A feels like HOME. how many times can i say “cute” and “heartwarming” on this post?? bc these are some amazing writers, whom I adore, and their writing makes my heart WARM. AND. FUZZY. i mean, even just the first few paragraphs of this one just, really sets the scene of what i like to believe the 1A dorm is (on a good day, lol). its a really nice read, so go treat yo’ self by reading it.
paint me in trust by dinomight Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~6,400 words Summary: The first mark Izuku gets is a slight brush of green across his temple. It’s the soft touch of a mother holding her son for the first time. Inko has one to match, the same shade of green staining the tips of her fingers. Hers is more noticeable; Izuku’s tends to blend into his hairline. He loves it anyways. He has to. It’s the only soulmate mark he has. (Or: how Izuku goes from just green to a rainbow, UA-style.)  Ok, so this fic sort of plays off the idea of soulmates, and does not fit in with soulmates in the usual form of the trope. First off its completely platonic. Its categorized as Gen and sticks to that. Also it doesn’t seem to be as obligatory and permanent as you would think it would be. It seems to be more of the universe telling you who has the possibility of being important in your life. I really really loved this, it was so adorable and gives you that sweet, sweet Izuku angst, before healing your heart with the power of friendship and found family!!!
The Die Has Been Cast by ChiwiTheKiwi (tumblr: @chiwithekiwi​ ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~5,400 words Summary: “There’s something about that kid you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”When no answer meets him, Shouta tries again.“You know something about Midoriya’s quirk that you haven’t shared with me. Is that right?”(Or: A canon "What If" surrounding the latest manga events and focusing on Aizawa finally making a connection.) First off, this fic has spoilers for the manga, so dont read unless you’re past chp212! I loooooooove OfA reveal fics, especially when it’s Aizawa that finds out. He deserves to know!!! its kind of important!!!! This fic chooses a great moment to work off of, and does a great job with Aizawa’s character. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t keep myself from going back and reading it just now LOL
These last two are actually two-shots, but it makes it an even 10! also Izuku and dadmight, so we can continue the theme here...
Some Unspoken Thing by LittleKy Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~7,900 words (2chps) Green, Toshinori has always thought, is the color of life anew.(Or: It's time for Yagi Toshinori to finally accept that he has a son, now, in all but blood. It's time for Midoriya Hisashi to accept that as well.) YES ALL MIGHT! ADMIT THAT IZUKU IS YOUR SON! great portrayal of the characters and really hits the nail on the head for DadMight. and Izuku in this story is just the smallest green floof that you wish to give a hug. NEVER MIND ALL MIGHT, YOU TOOK TOO LONG SO IZUKU IS MY SON NOW AND IM NOT GIVING HIM BACK ( no but seriously i want to hug this fic its so cute TTuTT )
LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I See You by BirdAntlers (tumblr: @aarymk )
Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~15,400 words (2chps) Midoriya Izuku is a quirkless child, blind from birth. Yagi Toshinori is the most powerful man in the world, loved by millions. They could not be more different, and yet their loneliness is the same.   (From a pair of AU posts on Tumblr that got way out of hand; I wanted to put it here because it turned into more of a fic than a "what-if." Basically a vessel for me to vomit as much Dadmight as I can.) Hey, you! Yeah! You! Do you want to cry? Do you want to start sobbing in a public space?? Do you just want to be destroyed with words and be left there kneeling at the feet of a writer who has torn out your heart and stomped on it before they gently wipe the tears from your face? Yeah?? y oU Wan NA D IE??? READ THIS AND GET REKT.  you’ll thank me later
(under the cut is just me rambling, i kept all the important stuff up here, ur welcome)
Now that the actual recs are over I can rant here- look i really tried to slim my recs down, but i have almost 300 bnha fics bookmarked,some of them are “to read” or theyre in progress, etc but i managed to get this list sorta slimmed down? a little?(to only 58!!!) but as i was gathering this post together it felt like i dont have very many Dadmight recs on that list??? but i havent rechecked all the other fics i was just going through the oneshots. i... kinda read a lot more fics with AIzawa in it instead. it be that way. DadMight content is SO GOOD. but my fav is aizawa im sorryyyyy anyway i have another SEVENteeN oneshots to put in rec posts and that does NOT include the mulitchapter and friikin series and stuff... and like i said this is aaaaaaallllllllllllllll BnHA. batfam fic posts will come after, and then star wars, and then maybe star trek? we’ll see. i have a very specific taste in ST fics and that is Tarsus IV whump. which. i have not read in a while. when they say “that trope came from ST” for sooooooo many tropes, you WISH other fandoms had tarsus as a trope, holy crap it is TOP TIER angst fodder. if you love to write/read whump, angst, and h/c i would HIGHLY recommend that you take a bit of time and explore the content and stories there. heck maybe i will make a ficrec post for just tarsus angst. ok.
my INTENTION is to edit these posts later with little links to the other fic rec lists so that itll be easier to find. but., its me, so itll either happen in painful detail or not at all
asdjkdgh its 2:30am and i need to sleep and not be rambling incoherently again I WILL SAVE THIS AS A DRAFT. 
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cross-d-a · 3 years
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fic tag game
aaahhh @vishcount thank you for tagging me!!! These are so fun and I adored reading about your fic journey~!  ೖ(⑅σ̑ᴗσ̑)ೖ ❤
OH as a note!! For the ppl I tag at the end I don’t expect you to read all of this bc it’s A Lot!!! but I figured you might want to do this game yourself? haha :)
Name: cross-d-a shortened version of my first ever username. unfortunately stuck with it now haha but i’m fond of it :p wish it was cuter tho!!
Posting the rest of this under the cut so it doesn’t eat up people’s dashes!! 
(。•̀ᴗ-)✧
Fandoms: 
oKAY YIKES there are....honestly too many too name. I’ve got a short and obsessive attention span so it’s either all or nothing with me usually. When I can stay in a fandom for a long period of time it’s a miracle. I’ll name the bigger ones that I’ve all written fic for! Even if I’ve never posted them haha
Right now I’m very firmly into Daomu Biji (dmbj). It feels like it’s both got a crap ton of content and yet barely anything at all haha. Maybe because the English fandom is so small. But at least there are a bunch of dramas and books!!! I really, really, really adore dmbj so much!! And a large part of that is the fandom!!! It's been a really cool and unique experience! Everyone in it is truly so kind and wonderful, and I’ve made some really incredible friends because of it (looking at you vish!! ❤). I’ve got a bunch of wips, but I’ve only posted two fics for dmbj!
Before this I was very into Guardian and mdzs. MDZS was my first foray into cdramas and Guardian’s Zhu Yilong really suckered me into watching more haha I also have fics for both these fandoms!
My very first fandoms were Fullmetal Alchemist, D. Gray-Man and Naruto. My very old ffnet account has fics for these and I’ve got a bunch of newer wips on my tablet. Then Star Trek, Twilight, BBC Merlin, Sherlock, Death Note, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Battlestar Galactica, Avatar the Last Airbender and Marvel were a few of my main ones in high school. Plus a bunch of anime (like Fruits Basket! and Kuroshitsuji and Natsume Yuujinchou). 
Then college hit and I renewed my childhood love of Tolkien (mainly lotr and the Hobbit), and Star Wars. I also found Teen Wolf! Then after college it was Stranger Things. 
I find myself in a cycle of mild fondness and complete obsession with these fandoms haha I go back to Star Wars at least once a year!! Then I’m in the gffa hole for a few months. Marvel also reoccurs, depending on how interested I am in new content! Star Trek I always always always go back to. TOS is my comfort show and it will never fade from my heart ❤
But for now I’m stuck in cdrama hell and I love it
Tropes: 
Time travel, found family, whump+hurt/comfort, fairytale-like elements, resurrective immortality (thanks to a “Nine Lives” Hobbit fic), CROSSOVERS
I’m a slut for all these things so they often worm their way into my plots haha
I also just- love weird premises. I think that’s the anime influencing me haha
Fic I spent most time on: 
My series he leaves sand and stardust in my wake (main fic is hurricane on the edge of oblivion), I have...spent five years on now. I have done so much research for this fic it’s insane. 
The premise is force ghost!Obi-Wan getting shunted back into his tiny 10 year old self. I incorporate a shit ton of legends and I try to stay as canon as possible. I basically want this au to feel like it’s 1000% plausible while still getting all my gay shit. It’s chock full of whump, redemption, found family, minor characters turning into major characters, and I’ve got slavery uprising on the mind, too. It’s just- everything I could ever want to explore in the Star Wars universe basically. 
It’s my first big project. I started doodling and scribbling ideas in the margins of my notebook in my Scottish History class. I adore it so so so much. But, because of my hyperfixation and fleeting intense obsession with things it makes it- really difficult to consistently update. I leave it for months at a time and I am constantly guilt-ridden about it. Because it’s my baby and I have a lot of wonderful readers. I fear I’ll never be able to finish it. Especially since I’ve written so much and I’m still only in the beginning of it. ( ; A ; )
Also, I’ve spent so much time with Xanatos, Feemor and Bruck that they just feel like mine now. I can’t read any fics that involve them, it’s too strange. Which is a damn shame because I love them so much haha OH ALSO!! I think it’s the first really big fic to include those three?? So I’m very proud about that haha (I’ve had so many ppl comment about how they actually Give A Shit about these three and are Invested bc of me haha)
Favorite fic(s) you’ve written: 
hurricane on the edge of oblivion (with nowhere to go) (Star Wars)
My long-term passion project. My love-letter to Star Wars, I suppose. Reading it now I feel like a lot of it is clunky or long-winded, but I think it really shows the foundation of my writing today :) Main characters are Obi-Wan, Xanatos Du Crion, Qui-Gon Jinn, Bruck Chun and Feemor. Eventually we’ll get to Maul, Savage, Feral, Shmi Skywalker, (more!) Ahsoka, Anakin and a shit ton of clones ❤
things we hunger for (Guardian)
My Ye Zun self-indulgent fic. It’s a time travel amnesia Weilanzun! Honestly has some of my fav writing I’ve ever done. It’s so soft and really indulges in the hurt/comfort. It gives Ye Zun the friends and family I think he deserves. Also, he gets to grow into a (mostly!) functional person and I adore him.
the beast that slumbers within your soul (mdzs)
Jiang Cheng centric fic!! I feel like all my favourite fics I’ve written are love letters haha. This is one def my love letter to Jiang Cheng. This fic possessed me for two whole days. I wrote 16k in almost one sitting. I went to sleep at 6 in the morning bc I couldn’t stop writing. And when I drifted off I kept thinking of new ideas so I’d whip out my phone and write down lines and notes. I- have never ever ever felt that way about anything. It was- insane. It felt insane. It was so amazing. I’m still riding the memory of that high.
 Basically Jiang Cheng actually finds Baoshan Sanren and it turns out she’s a fox demon and Jiang Cheng is descended from wolves. It’s- okay I said the fic above this had my favourite writing?? That was a lie. This has my favourite writing I’ve ever done. It’s unfinished bc I am in dmbj hell but I am still excited about the next chapter which features Wei Wuxian’s pov!!
the whispers of spirits (dmbj)
My current passion project. In a way it kinda feels similar to hurricane? Bc multiple povs, incorporating different aspects of canon (we’ll get there!! I promise!), shit ton of research, etc. etc. I really really really love it for so many reasons. I’m basically taking all the things I was unsatisfied with in Reboot and Sha Hai and running with it. Found family and whump galore! It’s also a love letter to the women of dmbj who really deserve so so so much better.
Honourable mention to:
One Day (you’ll have given more of yourself than is meant to be taken) (Marvel)
This fic also kinda possessed me. I just- couldn’t get rid of the idea of a trans!Thor. And I mean a mtf Thor! It’s just? So many people look at Thor and go “that’s a Real Man.” Full stop. They never think there could be anything more, and it really really really bothered me. So I wrote out my feelings. I’m not trans. I don’t have that experience at all. I’ve had issues and confusion about my gender but nothing like this. I just wanted to do justice to this idea of Thor in my head. And I still feel a bit nervous having posted it. But I've gotten so many comments from people who really connected with what I’ve written? So I’m very very thankful I wrote it and it has a very special place in my heart. It’s a very cathartic fic.
Fic I spent least time on: 
Probably we rise (Star Wars) and I think it shows haha. I wrote it in response to Dave Filoni posting a drawing of Ahsoka and Gandalf telling her “People thought I was dead, too, and look how that turned out...” So I incorporated Ahsoka (and Din and Grogu and Ezra!!!) into the ending of Rise of Skywalker, kinda explaining how I think they could all still be alive. :)
Longest fic: 
hurricane is my longest fic (159k) but I’m kinda worried whispers will eclipse that.....
Shortest fic: 
Of my posted ones it’s The Five Moments it Took Tony and Scott to Admit They Were Best Friends (and the first time they ever did), currently clocks at 1.6k. It’s unfinished tho so maybe that doesn’t count.... otherwise it’s we rise which is completed and 2k.
Most hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks: 
hurricane overall has the most of all these. Though I don’t think hits counts as much bc it’s multi-chapter. If you discount multi-chapter stuff, most hits goes to my obikin smutfic Homecoming, bc people are horny af haha
Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: 
If I had energy I’d like to rewrite the beginning of hurricane bc it feels so so wordy. I’d want to expand on One Day bc I really would like to write a whole series with trans!Thor. And like- I’d really like the focus to finish any of my WIPs.
Share a bit of a WIP: I really wanna share my Guardian/dmbj crossover that I started back in August. Bc I adore the idea of wu xie&shen wei&ye zun triplets! Plus time travel!!! I dunno if I’ll ever finish it tho ( ; A ; ) It just feels like a lot to deal with right now.
This scene takes place during the Mountain Awl arc. Guardian crew and desperado fam run across each other at the village! Wu Xie has recently found out that he’s adopted and he’s searching for answers in the area Sanshu originally found amnesiac!toddler!Wu Xie in :) Gonna pull two snippets bc I’m v excited and this might be the only time anyone else sees this fic haha:
“Oh?” Pangzi focuses on Yunlan now, lips twisting. “You think I’ve ‘got the wrong guy,’ huh?” He laughs, but it’s not a nice sound. “That’s rich! Are you that cocky or are you just stupid?”
Bristling, Yunlan drops his hands and scowls. “Excuse me?”
“Sir,” Shen Wei tries. “I think—”
Pangzi’s eyes snap back to Shen Wei, sharp and blazing. “How dare you fucking steal his face!”
What?
Automatically, Zhao Yunlan turns to Shen Wei, but the professor looks just as shell-shocked as Zhao Yunlan feels which- is seriously something. Since everything about Shen Wei is so carefully controlled, kept to the minimum. Except for those delightful little smiles that bloom across his lovely face, or the startled little bursts of laughter that fall from his lips. Or even when anger and frustration spark across his features, cracking his calm veneer open enough that he can see a glimmer of what lies beneath, the fire in those eyes. Zhao Yunlan delights in those moments, makes a game of making Shen Wei’s control slip.
He tells himself it’s nothing more than a game. Nothing more than trying to find out what makes Shen Wei tick.
Zhao Yunlan’s always been very bad at lying to himself. Or very good. Depending on who you’re asking.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Yunlan splutters.
But before anyone can say anything else, a very familiar voice calls:
“Pangzi? What’s wrong?”
Yunlan can feel Shen Wei stiffen, and Yunlan himself is pulled to that voice like a planet in orbit, like the inevitable plummet to the ground.
Another shadow wavers in the doorway before it steps out onto the dirt. Light illuminates shaggy hair, limning it gold, sharply casting everything else in shadow. But as the figure nears, the contrast softens until Yunlan can see the newcomer’s face properly and- and—
“Wu Xie!” Pangzi growls. “We’ve got ourselves an impostor!”
The man wearing Shen Wei’s face steps up to them, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down into a sharp frown. He glances between them, eyes landing on Shen Wei. His scowl deepens. He opens his mouth, but then—
“Wu Xie?” Shen Wei breathes, all trembly and lost and hopeless.
Heart in his throat, Yunlan turns to Shen Wei again. Turns and flinches at that stricken look upon Shen Wei’s pale pinched face.
“A-Xie?” Shen Wei chokes. “Didi?”
and
Pangzi snorts. “Professor?”
“I-it’s true!”
Startled Yunlan swings his attention over to Jiajia who clenches her backpack to her chest, face screwed up in admirable determination. “P-professor Shen took me and Xiao Quan on a field trip to investigate an archeological site around here!”
“Oh?” Wu Xie drawls all slow and amused. “Well, what a coincidence. We’re archeologists, too.”
“With guns?” Yunlan bites out.
Wu Xie raises a brow, grin full of teeth. “Well, you can never be too prepared.”
“Right,” Yunlan drawls right back. “Are you a professor, too, then? You come here with your students?”
Wu Xie outright grins. “You could say that, I suppose.”
Out of the corner of his eye, one of the men rolls his eyes. He’s the one with sharp features, glasses and looped earbuds. Does he think it’s appropriate to listen to music at a time like this? Yunlan admires the man’s gall.
aahhhh vish thanks so much again for tagging me!! This was so fun to relive my fic memories!! I’m gonna tag @alwaysaslutforshakespeare @jockvillagersonly @tehfanglyfish @lichelleme @undyingsunshine @humanlighthouse  @thewindsofsong I’m curious about your guys’ writing and fandom journey!! As always, no pressure to actually complete this!! I just thought it was fun ❤
Wow if you read all of this I am very humbled and impressed, thank you!!
╰(*´︶`*)╯♡
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anasticklefics · 4 years
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Frisky Roman Gods
Fandom: Star Trek
Characters: Jim/Spock
Summary: The Enterprise crew visit a planet whose native clothing have cut outs on various parts of the body. Jim and Spock take advantage of this.
Warnings: A bit of sexual undertones, but mostly fluff and nothing graphic.
Words: 1 446
Jim was careful of showing every planet that they landed on respect, especially if they were meeting the natives. Sometimes it meant just being friendly; smiling and greeting them in their own way and making sure to show them that Uhura most likely could speak their native tongue and thus making communication much easier. Other times it meant bending over backwards in order to not offend; their rules stricter than Vulcan and much more complicated than the Academy ever prepared him for.
This particular planet laid somewhere in between. The king was friendly, welcoming them with two pairs of open arms and speaking English almost pridefully.
“I’ve studied you,” he said, his smile reaching his eyes and making Jim both like him and feel a little wary. “Unfortunately I only speak English and a little bit of Arabic, but it seems to be doing me good, ey?”
His casual way of speaking combined with his light tone made Jim extremely wary, but he stepped forward and shook his hand gratefully. “Thank you so much for letting us land, your highness.”
Waving two hands at him, the king replied, “Please. It’s my pleasure, Captain, I assure you.”
“This guy would have zero qualms of throwing us in a dungeon if we offended him,” Bones muttered, out of the king’s earshot but still too close for Jim’s liking.
“Let’s just do what we came here for and leave as soon as we can,” Jim replied, eyes never once leaving their host.
In order to stay in their good graces, Jim didn’t even question it when they asked them to dress in their traditional clothing. He’d wear a potato sack if they told him it would mean a lot to them.
“This is much tighter than a potato sack.”
“Sorry?”
“Nothing.” Jim observed himself in the mirror, Bones looking as disheveled behind him. “I mean, it does show off my best side.”
“It shows off both your sides,” Bones said, giving said side a squeeze that made him jerk away with a laugh. “Wait, this might be useful.”
“Get away from me,” Jim said weakly, aware that the rest of his crew were in the same room, all frowning at their costumes in the various mirrors of this room. Truly the room was nothing but mirrors.
The clothes were tight, random holes leaving skin bare. Thankfully their anatomy wasn’t too far off from the natives, and so the slits in their sides were simply for the natives extra pair of arms, as well as slits on their thighs and lower backs for other parts. The last one felt extra exposing, but as they were all in the same boat Jim didn’t feel too weird about it.
“Everyone okay with this?” he asked his crew, turning to face them. “I’m sure the king won’t notice if a couple of us go back to the ship if you don’t feel comfortable.” Eyes mostly on Spock, but Spock had always been willing to put effort in as long as he was respected back.
“I’m all right,” Sulu said, straightening. And then, with a grin, added, “You can almost see my abs.”
“We’re only staying for the day,” Jim reminded them. “We need to make a good impression. Get some supplies. Get some allies. I count on you to be on your best behavior and to come to me if anything happens. Got it?”
They all nodded and Jim turned to glance at his reflection one last time. Here goes.
“Captain.” Spock stopped him in the doorway. “May I speak with you?”
Jim nodded. “You all go ahead,” he told the others. “We’ll catch up.”
Shutting the door behind them, Jim turned to Spock, his formality melting. “Have I ever told you how much I love it when you call me captain?”
Something sparkled in Spock’s eyes. “I am aware.”
“So what did you want to talk about?”
Spock’s fingertips grazed Jim’s wrist. “I simply wanted to show appreciation.”
“Oh?”
“This uniform certainly… suits you.”
“Oh.” Jim felt himself flush, pleasure and timidness battling and making him fumble. “I quite appreciate the design myself.” He placed his palm over Spock’s bare side. “My hand fits perfectly.”
Spock moved closer, fingers leaving Jim’s wrist and finding the small of his back. “Your skin is cold.”
Jim hummed. “Maybe you can heat it up.”
“I intend to.”
“I see.”
Jim did see; their reflections all over the room. Spock’s skin in contrast to the pale material. The dim light penetrating the thin curtains. Everything on this planet had the air of a mediterranean vacation, except maybe the actual air which was breezy and most likely chilly in the evenings. Jim reckoned even Italy had winters.
“Do I remind you of a Roman god?” he asked Spock now, their chests pressed together as Spock’s hands wandered over his back, into the slit and up toward his shoulder blades.
“You do not.”
“No?”
“The ancient gods were cruel. Some would call them unreal.” Spock rested his forehead against Jim’s. “You are as real as ever.”
“You’re making me blush.”
“That has proven to be an easy feat.”
Jim let out a laugh. “Is that so?”
“I must admit I still enjoy it.”
“You’re the only one who gets to see it, so you better.” He twitched. “That tickles.”
Spock’s hand was slowly moving downward again. “I know.”
“Maybe you’re a Roman god.”
“Me?”
“You’re cruel- hey now.”
“I can be much more cruel, Jim,” Spock said, his other hand having found Jim’s bare side, nails raking over it. “At least in the sense of us pretending this is not enjoyable for you.”
Jim huffed. “How can you know everything?” he asked, twisting in his attempt to get away from the unbearable sensation without actually managing to.
“I do not,” Spock replied. “I simply know you.”
“That’s kinda cheesy of you, Spock- woah!” Jim was full on giggling now, Spock’s hand on his back being merciless to his sensitive skin. It didn’t help that he was pressed toward a mirror; one hasty movement risking to end in broken pieces and seven years worth of bad luck. Not to mention he would have to explain it all to the king. He just couldn't afford something like that.
So he stayed put, and maybe because yes okay he didn’t particularly hate it either. Whatever.
Spock’s mouth had joined in, kissing along Jim’s neck in a very ticklish manner. Spock never accidentally tickled him. He knew exactly what to do for it to simply feel good, which meant that he would always be doing it on purpose if his touches left Jim a squirmy mess.
He was definitely a squirmy mess now; hands gripping Spock’s elbows as he swayed from side to side. Spock’s lips on the left side of his neck, his hand on his right side. Balancing each other out enough for Jim to never be able to escape it. The king certainly couldn’t have had this in mind when he gave them these clothes, and Jim idly wondered if he was offending the planet by doing this.
But this was Spock. Spock would never offend a whole planet just to make Jim laugh when he could merely wait 24 or so hours.
“I can’t,” he choked out, still giggling, still squirming.
Spock left his neck, nearly smirking, in Spock standards. “Do you want me to cease?”
No. “Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
No. “Yes!”
Maybe because they technically weren’t alone, on a planet not of their own, or maybe because Spock respected his words more than his desire. Either way, Spock did back away, his hands smoothing into grips of his skin rather than movements. He tilted his head as Jim calmed down, still tangled up in each other, the mirrors following their every move.
“We should go,” Jim mumbled eventually, pinks still warm even though he knew he had nothing to be embarrassed about around Spock. “They’ll be wondering where we are.”
Spock let him go, and Jim’s own hands fell to his sides. He glanced at one of the mirrors, realizing he looked like a mess.
“Allow me,” Spock said when Jim frantically tried to fix his hair and clothes.
Jim sighed. “Be my guest.”
Spock’s hands were gentle, though not ticklish. Loving, in a way. Jim couldn’t wait to get off of this planet and back to their room, free to laugh and touch for as long as they wanted.
Maybe he was being unfair to this planet, but, well, he wasn’t always as patient as he pretended to be.
“Come on.” Jim pushed the door open. “Let’s make some friends dressed as frisky Roman gods.”
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gumnut-logic · 4 years
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Fanfic Asks 5
This one is for @louthestarspeaker who asked for D U X, @misssquidtracy who asked for H M O and @janetm74 who asked for W. Thank you for your kind questions ::hugs you all so much::
-o-o-o-
D. Do you prefer gen or romance?
If you asked me this two years ago, I would have said gen. Now…I see value in both. There is something just nice about having a couple who know each other so well that they can just fall into each other’s arms at the end of the day.
But I’ve always been a fan of bromance, two guys who will do anything for each other whether they are related or not. I’m a child of eighties TV and grew up on those kinds of relationships. Kirk and Spock are a prime example (yeah, I know they are from the 60s, but I didn’t exist then and the most of the movies came out in the eighties) .
Which leads onto the question of slash. I do read slash, but not so much in this fandom beyond a little Virgil/Brains. My heart truly lives in the friendship or family department. Even my ship could be considered monogamous happily ever after. This is not because I have any objections to one night stands or flings or whatever anyone enjoys, more of a case of I enjoy it (and Virgil’s character calls for it).
I’m a long term fanfic reader and have stumbled across a lot in my time in fandom. I just choose to read what I like and let everyone have their fun their way. I like a little whump, comfort and loyal and devoted friends. I guess I love the idea that people can stick together through anything.
As for writing, I like a challenge and will step outside my comfort zone time to time just to see if I can do it. However, you will always find a brother hanging around when Virg gets injured :D
 U. Do you prefer AUs or canon compliant fics?
I’m pretty open to all sorts of things…except for character breaking. If the character isn’t in character then it is no longer the character.
::chews nails worrying if I’ve broken Virgil’s character beyond redemption::
If it is well-written and hooks me, I’ll read pretty much anything (within my limits).
Writing…AUs require a lot of world building. My AUs tend to be branches off canon that diverge away, taking the built world with them. Things like coffee-shop AUs are a bit beyond my interest level (especially since I don’t drink coffee).
Marks & Wings is my first completely AU fic series. I did have to do some world building, but they are basically the Tracy bros with wings (except for Gordo, he is considerably different). To be honest, I use that universe as a place to write when I’m completely stuffed. The writing is more sensory than my other fics and I can just get arty farty and play with words.
But, as always, whatever I feel like at the time is what gets written.
 X. What fandom have you written the most fics for?
That would be Thunderbirds fandom. According to Ao3, I’m at 132 Thunderbirds fics with 750,000 words. Reactions plus a few other fics/chapters are yet to be posted.
That is over twice my combined other fandoms, heading toward three times. In two years.
You guys have just inspired me so much. Look what you’ve done! ::hugs you all like crazy::
 H. What is the longest fic you’ve written?
Written in 2003, The Asgard Sequence at 80,000 words (I thought it was shorter at 75,000 ::frowns at FF.net::) was my third Stargate SG-1 fanfic. Full of cliffhangers, it basically whumps Jack O’Neill within an inch of his life while exploring the Asgard people. Lots of plot written by the seat of my pants and nowhere at the quality I’m achieving today, but it remains my most popular fic on FF.net and I still get the occasional comment even 17 years after it was published. It was a landmark fic for me.
The question is…is there enough plotline left in the Kermadec Fic to overtake it? I don’t know. Possibly not, but we’ll see. I do have the tendency to ramble nowadays :D
 M. How do you come up with titles?
Write fic first and work out what to call it when at least partly written. I usually look for something short that sums up what the fic is about combined with an inkling of interest that might help draw the reader in. Sometimes I structure the fic (if I’m planning it) in a certain way that leads to the title.
Here are some working titles versus the final titles just for a little fun (the file names are all that remains – first name first, final name second):
Scott and Jeff – Suits
Riguadagnare – Il Mago
Virg and Gordo – A Good Day
The Visitor – Sky Candy
One of the brothers being ticklish – His Part
Marry Me – The Proposal
Hold Still – Lucky Shot
Gentle Showers – Gentle Rain
The Glacier – Access Denied
Tired Virgil – Tick Tock
Tropical rain is warm – Warm Rain
Veggie’s shower fic – To Hurt Us
Just a few from my computer. I still have several that don’t have titles at all.
 O. Is there any fandom you’ve been into that you haven’t written fic for? Why not?
Definitely. I’ve read:
Farscape
Avengers
How to Train Your Dragon
Arrow
Stargate Atlantis (did start a fic, haven’t finished it – also roleplayed a bit as Rodney McKay)
Sherlock
All the Next Gen Star Trek series (did dabble a little, but never finished anything, my heart lies in TOS)
There are probably more that I can’t think of at the moment. With the exception of Farscape and the Trek series, all of the above were read in the last ten years. They were simply relief from motherhood really. I love fanfic in general, hardly read anything else nowadays, but I wasn’t in the right place to write during my forays into the above fandoms. I was also very focussed on my professional art business.
TAG hit me at a point where I was struggling, in desperate need and I went down like a ton of bricks.
 W. Have you ever written anything that you are embarrassed by today?
Considering the thirty years since I started, sure, there are some fics that are a bit crappy. Heh, I still write crappy stuff from time to time ::eyes Reactions and kicks it with a toe::
But embarrassed? I may have been when I was younger. Especially outside of fandom. But now…I’m a perfectionist who has come to terms (mostly) that my stuff is never going to be perfect. All my stuff has had its purpose and is a step up the learning curve – that goes for everything.
Having said that, I do find myself hesitating to mention the one or two slash fics I have written in the past in other fandoms.
Mentioning that I wrote for Knight Rider gets the oddest looks. I wrote two slash fics in that fandom, but they are close to what I write here in content and plotlines.
I have also written a few explicit scenes in this fandom (of varying quality ::rolls eyes:: ).
Mentioning fanfic outside of fandom has its challenges and when it comes to the above mentions, these are likely not the ones I’d highlight to my workmates (though they all know I write fanfic). I had to stop myself from posting a link to Gentle Rain on Facebook a while back because while I’m happy with its novelish length and content, it does have that one scene…
So, yeah, maybe a little wary of what other people might think of things content-wise. Writing-wise, I’m fairly confident, except when I get the wibblies ::eyes floppy Virg and John…just John…no other Tracy gives me as much strife as Johnny::
-o-o-o-
Thank you to all the wonderful peeps who asked me all these questions. I hope I haven’t bored you silly with my answers (or scared you off with the last one ::chews nails:: ).
I also hope I haven’t missed anyone. Poke me if I have and I will apologise profusely and answer asap.
::eyes word count on questions:: Well, I’ve written 3,500 words about myself ::gulp::
And it is heading toward 1.30am with work tomorrow.
Nutty
(saluting off)
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beetlemancy · 4 years
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I am so brunt out on CR and it is isn't the cast or the actual content. I adore the cast, and I love the stories they try and tell. But I am so tried of the BS and Drama, (the let's hate on Everything They Do because it makes us feel In Control And Important squad) Any advice?
That sucks, anon. I don’t really have the personality to where any online drama would affect my enjoyment of a show I watch, especially not one as riveting and creatively inspiring as Critical Role, and I thank my lucky dunamantic stars for that gift. However, I really feel badly for anyone who does, and I DO have things I do naturally that I think might help people out! 
First of all, compartmentalization is key. Repeat to yourself, either vocally or in writing or just in repetitive thought, that CR IS NOT ITS FANBASE.
Second, try to remember that comparatively we are doing pretty okay as a fanbase. It can seem like its worse because we were smaller and people were a bit more tight-knit and CR itself is such a force of positivity that the contrast can be unbearably stark. But think back on previous fandoms you’ve been apart of - things like Doctor Who or Star Trek or SPN or OUAT - something big and genre-y. Do you remember those ship wars? Do you remember those fights and epic fandom splits and decades-old beef between factions? It comes with the territory of getting bigger. 
On that note, this is how you ride it out - Find your people. Find the discords you vibe with or the blogs that just keep it chill. If you have to unfollow me and other blogs that do get into the shit, that’s okay! You can still find my content I do put out in the tags, and if you’re ever hankering for some drama later, I’ve got tags for that. Curate your tumblr experience, get New Xkit and make a healthy blacklist. Block the assholes in the tags. If you know that fandom discourse makes you not want to watch the show, don’t engage with it. If you join a discord and they have a vent channel, ask if you can be put on a role to not see it at all. Get the temptations away from you as best you can.Alternatively, try spite. Its what fuels me personally. But take with caution - you don’t want it to overwhelm your entire life. The key is to be kind, but take no shit.
I wish you luck, anon! This game, and this show, is something special and I hope you can find a way - either by using some of my methods or by finding something that works better for you - to continue being inspired by CR, and, maybe, friends who watch too and who won’t bring you down so much.
Also, don’t get on Twitter. Twitter is a place where faith in humanity goes to die.
Edit: also, this is all written with the assumption that you DO want to try and continue watching the show. If you in the end decide that you cannot separate fandom from media, and it is truly an issue for you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not continuing to watch or engage at all. That is completely valid, for any reason. This is YOUR leisure time. YOU get to decide what to do with it.
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(Discovery Season 3 Episode 4 “Forget Me Not” Spoilers)
Greetings disco friends, here is my attempt at a fix-it fic.
What I mind most of all was them showing his graphic death scene, whether it’s partially-temporary or completely-temporary, after doing the same with Hugh and Michael’s then-death scenes. As far as the future of Gray's plotline goes (this season and into the next, since we know the actor is filming Season 4), I think there's a chance (especially given that GLAAD was helping them write the storyline) that he'll be completely brought back from the dead like Hugh and a chance that he won't be brought back fully but rather will continue to hang around noncorporeally like he's doing now. But either way, as with Hugh and Michael's graphic then-death scenes, that doesn't change the fact that they showed that in this episode.
I think I've reached the point of hard 'no’ on continuing to watch the show myself. (Though of course I completely support y’all in watching or not watching the show, as works for you!) And I’ll still be around here, writing fic based on Season 1 through to this episode.
Also, I’m currently brainstorming ways to put something affirming into the fandom this season while not watching, since I won't be writing fix-it ficlets and…obviously I know no one ~depends~ on my fix-it ficlets, but this community means a lot to me and I guess I want to feel like I'm putting something into the fandom even as I'm (aside from continuing to make content for older season stuff) walking away, if that makes sense? (Maybe some book giveaways of sci-fi books with trans characters, tho that may or may not work logistically/financially, or something like that.) Please let me know if you have suggestions! <3
Dreampt Of More Things
Other, F/F, M/M | Teen And Up | Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | 2,600 words
ao3 link in a reblog since Tumblr still seems unpredictable about when posts with links are allowed in the tags
and/or, full fic + tags here:
Tags – Jett Reno, Jett Reno’s Wife, Michael Burnham, Hugh Culber, Ellen Landry, Philippa Georgiou (original Captain version), Adira Tal, Paul Stamets, Gray Tal, Sylvia Tilly, Tracy Pollard Adira Tal/Gray Tal, Jett Reno/Jett Reno’s Wife, Ellen Landry/Amna Patel, Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets Grief (Ellen’s) and mentions of Lorca, no serious injury since again we are sidestepping that but very brief description of Adira’s joining surgery, Gray Tal Lives, Jett Reno’s Wife Lives, Philippa Georgiou Lives
Note: This is not an Amna Patel Lives universe (Ellen Landry’s fiancée from Star Trek Online), as I am Making A Point about how no, it’s not that queer stories about loss and grief are bad or that I personally don’t want to write/read them; it’s about context, and how many characters have died over the course of your franchise, and the nature of your franchise, and what to portray versus not portray onscreen (in the context of your show), and how you’ve advertised your characters, and reading the room.
***
“Burning the midnight oil, huh?”
Jett looks up as Michael steps closer to her workbench in the corner of Engineering, raising an eyebrow, as Michael had known she would.
“Here to check my work on your outfit, Commander?” she asks, laconically, before bending her safety-goggled face back to her work.
Michael grins despite herself as she pulls out a chair opposite Jett. “I’m entirely confident in your work, Commander.”
“So you’re here to pester me because…?”
“Because I’m curious to see the work-in-progress. And, more importantly, because I ran into your wife on her way to turn in for the night, and she told me to tell you that she’s taking you out on a fantastic date when all this is over.”
“Where’s she think she’s gonna scare up a place to go out on any kind of date in the ass-middle of the 32nd century?”
Michael grins again. “I think it was a ‘looking for a way to take my wife on a fantastic date and if I cannot find one I will create one’ kind of thing.”
“Yeah, that tracks.” Michael can hear the smirk in Jett’s voice as she fiddles with the wiring on the angel suit’s chestplate.
“Don’t stay up too late, Commander,” she says as she stands. “We’re still gonna need you on shift tomorrow.”
Jett grunts in acknowledgement, and Michael smiles as she walks past the spore cube and towards her quarters for the night.
***
“How are you doing with all this, Landry?” Hugh ventures, after a few days of deliberation, when he and Ellen have a quiet moment alone together at the end of a meeting.
Ellen takes a minute before answering, dropping a PADD into her bag. “One of my security lieutenants said it seemed implausible that we’d be able to find a way to send Burnham back in time, once again, especially with the way the Burn affected ability of the time crystals on Boreth to interface with the suit even if we are granted one.”
Hugh raises an eyebrow and waits, silent.
“I told her that if she thought implausible was going to stop this crew, she must've not been paying attention to half the weird shenanigans they’ve pulled off.”
Hugh smiles wryly. “‘More things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,’” he quotes.
Ellen gives him a look, and he holds up his hands in surrender. “Maybe I’ve been spending too much time around this ship’s surprisingly high number of Shakespeare fans.”
“And we’ve already dreamt of more things, haven’t we?” Ellen asks simply, pausing and leaning a hip against the table. “At this point, it’s just a matter of choosing philosophies.”
High raises an eyebrow again. “That's an interesting way of looking at it, Commander.”
Ellen folds her arms. “Yes, thank you, I am a font of excellent observations, at least when I’m not busy misreading dipshit captains and making the worst choices in the universe. You can stop giving me the sympathy look, by the way.”
Hugh watches her, silent.
“Yes," she tells him in a sing-song voice, "I have in fact experienced one or two emotions while helping prepare for a mission to bring someone back from the dead and knowing I can never bring my own fiancée back.” Her tone drops back to a flat command. “The only person in my, this, situation who actually deserves your sympathy is Amna, and she’s not here to receive it. You’re a busy man; you’re needed all over the place. Go do something clever and medical somewhere.”
Hugh watches her for a moment longer before he says simply, “I’m so sorry. For your loss.”
“Don’t. No.” Ellen’s voice is firm, though without rancor. “Those words are not for me. I am not a good widow. Do you understand that? Instead of honoring my fiancée in any substantive way, I went off and got manipulated by some dipshit. And what’s worse, if it hadn’t been for the manipulation and the secretly evil part, I might not have ever figured out to regret it. Do you understand that? Can you understand that? You’re a good person. Your partner is a good person. Do you know what it is to not just not be able to save her but to get even grieving wrong?”
For a long moment, Hugh considers what to say.
“I think your actions in helping Lorca were wrong,” he says. “I don’t think it’s possible to grieve wrong.”
Ellen, eyes dubious, grunts in a way that could be dismissal, acknowledgement, or something in between.
“Take care, Commander,” Hugh says quietly, heading for the door.
He is nearly in the hallway when Ellen speaks.
“This is part of hers.”
Hugh pauses, turning to face her again. “Hers--?”
“Amna. This mission would have been part of her philosophy.” Ellen’s lip twitches in what could be the shadow of an exhausted smile, voice still blunt and the expression in her eyes still characteristically direct. “Without question.”
***
When Georgiou returns from Boreth, she discovers that Adira has slipped down to the shuttle bay to meet her.
“How did it go?” they ask, hesitantly, eyes wide with some unknown emotion.
“Successful,” she tells them, as the two of them make their way out of the bay together. She pats one strap of her pack. “We now have a time crystal.” Given that Gray’s life rests on having a crystal to power the suit, it’s unsurprising that Adira has been worried.
“No, I mean—I knew you’d be able to do it,” Adira tells her, as if this is obvious, a trust and confidence in their eyes that makes Georgiou’s heart ache. “But, I just, I do talk with the rest of the crew, and they talked about how Pike was so f—messed up by whatever he had to go through to get the crystal, like it was really really…bad. And I just—” They stare at their feet as they walk, sneaking a quick glance sideways at Georgiou. Georgiou knows she probably looks like shit. “If I’d never come to this ship, you wouldn’t have done that for Gray. For us.”
Georgiou stops walking, turning to face Adira, and Adira watches her, their face pinched and anxious.
“Listen to me, Adira.”
Adira nods.
“This might not be something you fully, truly understand until you’re an adult yourself, but when kids are hurt or in danger, it’s us adults' job to protect you. That’s one of the most important parts of being a caring adult Human. Caring adult person,” she corrects herself. “Maybe the most important thing.”
Adira nods uncertainly.
“Saving Gray is the most important thing right now,” Georgiou says gently, as the two of them resume walking. “To all of us. You arriving on this ship was a very, very good thing for so many reasons, Adira. Saving him is one of them.”
“And that’s a go, Burnham!” comes Paul’s voice in Michael’s ear, and she launches herself upwards from Discovery’s stationary hull, the soft interior padding of the red angel suit once again surrounding her as she hovers in space, programming her coordinates.
“Jump commencing in thirty seconds,” she reports.
“Take good care, Commander,” Paul says, his voice gentle in her ear against the silent cushion of the vacuum around her.
“I will.”
A pause of a few seconds. “Adira says ‘good luck.’”
Michael can picture the two of them as they were when she flew out of the shuttle bay, Paul standing at his portable console in the shuttle bay's cobbled-together mission control, one arm around Adira.
“Tell them—” Michael swallows. “Tell them thank you. Tell them that I’ll—tell them that we’ll be back soon.”
“I will.”
The countdown completes, and Michael falls forward into a bright shower of instants.
***
Outside the generation ship, Michael shifts reality out of the timeline with a wave of one Jett-Reno-enhanced suit hand, glancing at the two figures inside the viewport in front of her before tractoring the asteroid off its course. After confirming its trajectory away from the ship, she punches the personal transporter on her chest, materializing inside.
Gray and Adira startle, each making as though to stand protectively in front of the other.
“I mean you no harm,” Michael says quickly. “And you’re both going to be safe. I am going to make sure of that. My name is Michael Burnham, and the next year is going to be very difficult for you, Adira,” she continues, feeling the words tumble from her lips as quickly as she can say them, “but I want you to know that when that year is over, you’re going to see Gray again. Gray,” she says, holding out the unpowered exoskeleton of a second timesuit, “I need you to put this on and come with me.”
Gray steps closer to Adira. “What? No, I—”
“Your name is Gray Tal, and your last name was Senna Tal, and when he was a child his favorite thing to do was to read books to his collection of plush tribble toys,” Michael says.
Gray’s eyes widen. “That’s—“
Michael continues, rattling off former Tal host facts as quickly as she can, before explaining, also as quickly as she can, about the asteroid they’ve just seen her deflect, and the symbiont, and the Discovery.
“Adira needs to have the symbiont,” she explains, “in order not to cause a time paradox. But the modified time crystal in my suit will allow me to shift you—” she nods at Adira—“back into the real timeline in time for the medbots to give you the symbiont. I just need to do it at exactly the right time, so that Gray doesn’t actually die, and you snap back just as the medbots are holding the symbiont.” Do medbots hold things? Hover them? Whatever; she’s getting the point across. And Gray is putting the suit on.
“Luckily, my amazing crewmates have worked out all the timing,” she continues, “so I just need to transport us back outside and then snap the timeline back to the right instant. And, yes, there will be two Tals in the galaxy when you see each other again and I’m sure that will make things very interesting. Ready to go?”
She holds out a hand, and Gray takes it. “I love you, Adira,” he says, as Michael reaches for the transporter.
“I love you too—” Adira says, and Michael and Gray reappear meters away in space. Adira is standing watching them, and standing watching them, and then with a motion of her hand Michael slams them back into the timeline and Gray puts a hand to his mouth over his suit visor as he watches the medbots complete the surgery and place a blanket over Adira, flying the newly-joined Human slowly away down the hallways and out of sight.
“You’ll see them again,” Michael whispers, “in just a minute.”
“Them?” Gray sounds puzzled.
Oh, right. Well, in just moments, there will be ample time for explanations. “Adira. You’ll see Adira, who’s going to be so very, very happy to see you. It will have been a year,” Michael adds, as she pulls up the angel suit controls, “and Adira is going to be so glad to see you again.”
They fall forward into sparking and sparkling time together, and all at once they’re dropping back into the timeline, floating easily in the vacuum in front of Discovery’s shuttle bay.
“Ready?” Michael asks.
Gray nods. “Yeah. I mean—of course I’m ready. I’m ready.”
Michael smiles, floating them into the bay as the forcefield ripples obligingly to let them enter and landing them both on the smooth floor, steadying Gray as his feet make contact.
“Gray?”
Adira is pressing their own hand to their mouth as Michael and Gray release the visors on their suits, and then they take a step toward him, staring as though they don’t quite believe he’s real.
“It’s me,” Gray says quietly, smiling nervously at them. “I’m here.”
This appears to be all the encouragement Adira needs to dash forward, wrapping their arms around him. He hugs them back, eyes closed as he buries his head against their shoulder. Adira is smiling and crying at the same time.
“I’m here,” he whispers to them again.
Michael steps away from the two of them, leaving them to it, and Sylvia hurries forward to wrap her arms around her. “Welcome back, Michael,” she says.
Michael hugs her for several long seconds before releasing her to accept a hug from Philippa and then a pat on the back from Paul as Tracy steps forward to scan her with a medical tricorder. “No adverse effects of the jump,” she reports, smiling.
Hugh is stepping over to do the same for Gray as Gray and Adira finally—though, Michael suspects, temporarily—pull apart. Paul echoes his motion, heading for Adira and rubbing their back before wrapping a supportive arm around their shoulder as Hugh reports that Gray is fine as well and the two teenagers grin exhaustedly at each other.
Michael watches the four of them for another moment, smiling, before turning to glance at the place where Ellen stands at her own console, studiously powering it down. Her eyes flick up just briefly toward the reunion in front of her before she lowers her gaze again, turning and slipping out the doors of the shuttle bay. Michael catches Tracy’s eye, and the two of them walk after her as Sylvia steps over to power her and Paul’s consoles down in turn and Philippa begins the process of packing the rest of mission control up.
***
At 20:00 hours in an undisclosed location on the starship Discovery, Jett’s wife leads her, eyes closed and complaining happily, into a room that has been decorated to a degree that resembles an explosion in a paper snowflake factory, while a few decks up on the bridge, Philippa settles into the captain’s chair for the night shift. Tilly climbs into bed, pulling out her PADD with its book on 30th century Earth, and at the table next to the viewport in Discovery’s rec room, Michael and Tracy sit beside Ellen in silence, keeping her company in her complicated grief. Hugh hums to himself while he brushes his teeth, and Paul yawns as he finishes slipping on his pajamas, stepping forward as Hugh sets his toothbrush back in its holder and wrapping his arms around him, humming deliberately off-key. He garners an eye-roll for his trouble, and two decks down, Gray and Adira sit in Discovery’s mess hall, gazing into each others’ eyes as Adira lapses into silence after explaining how Paul found them in the Jefferies tubes in orbit over Earth.
“You’ve had so many adventures all this time,” Gray says, grinning. “Adira Tal.”
Adira half laughs, shrugging one shoulder. “I guess so.” They look up at him. “I think my adventures are about to get even weirder, Gray Tal.”
Gray grins again. “You know, I didn’t think I or anyone I know was ever going to have the chance to visit the pools. What was it like?”
“Yes, I suppose you would have to ask me what it’s like, since it’s one of the memories we don’t share,” Adira comments with a mischievous grin of their own.
Gray laughs, shaking his head, and they beam at each other in shared exhaustion and confusion and joy as Adira begins their story and the Discovery floats onward through the night.
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thebeauregardbros · 3 years
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Can you tell me about Yakuza 0? I've never played it before and would like to read your thoughts on it.
YOOOOOOOOOOO LES FUKIN GO (thank u!!)
This review is spoiler-free!
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Despite what you might assume a game about a bunch of tough muscley fighting dudes, the amount of moral philosophy in this game could rival a 3-part episode of Star Trek: TNG in terms of surprisingly deep and emotional thought. The struggles the protagonists go through has a huge emphasis on honor, keeping your word, taking responsibility for your actions, standing up to things you think are wrong and persevering no matter how much pain, suffering and threat you personally go through all in the name of trying to be a good person, and emphasizing that the mental fortitude to stand for your convictions is the true strength, not just brawn. Character development is absolutely fantastic and I feel like it’s impossible not to fall for these main characters by the end of the game, no matter how weird or even pigheaded they might seem to you at first.
(Trust me, moral philosophy is probably my biggest autistic hyper-fixation. They did this shit GOOD.)
Another major reason I really love Yakuza 0 is that it takes an unusual setting to the normal person - the incredibly political, dark, yet surprisingly realistic setting of organized bullies, criminals, and the uneducated brawn and bad-attitude baddies of the world and try to show them as worthy of more as humans like you and me than just trash that should not be seen or touched. The amount of humanitarian outlook on these people and the humanitarianism of our protagonists is absolutely heartwrenching and beautiful. Despite appearances, anyone can be a good person - this seems to be a major message in this story which I just find absolutely beautiful.
The yakuza definitely have different rules to their world, and that is one that’s built on violence over paperwork, especially when it comes to showing eachother the extent of their passion about something. I feel like it’s an excellent way of portraying the difficulties any normal person goes through with their mental health while struggling to do the right thing in a very direct and relatably painful way that anyone can understand.
The story deals with not only the importance of preserving life and protecting it with surprisingly pacifist ideologies, but the aesthetics in align with the idea that no matter how dark the world or your life feels, happiness is always an option.
Why you might love Yakuza 0 even if the plot doesn’t sound that interesting to you:
Tons of minigames - I think about 28~30 total. That includes 4 actual vintage SEGA arcade games! There’s also tons of gambling games like black jack and shogi, fishing, rhythm games, bowling, fighting tournaments, pool, darts, stock car racing, doll dressup.. It’s very hard not to find at least one you’ll like!
Tourism. Yakuza 0 has such an incredible amount of visual detail to every nook and cranny of every corner and unseen alleyway in the town maps that it feels just absolutely insane to me. The devs didn’t need to put in all this detail but they did. I could legit spend hours in first person mode just looking at everything. On top of that, every restaurant in town has a detailed menu describing each item despite the fact that all food items are just generic healing items. I think there’s even a bar where the bartender will go on a spiel talking about certain drinks after you order them. The atmosphere really makes you feel like you’re truly taking a vacation in another place. Great for when you’re longing to see new scenery while being stuck at home all the time during COVID.
The amount of optional side quests is absolutely insane. According to a wiki there’s a total of 100 side quests in all. If you’re a fan of JRPGs or a fan of completionism, completing them all gives you a ton of extra content and side-stories that can sometimes be just as gutwrenchingly wholesome or tragic as the main plot, or otherwise be great comic relief.
Speaking of comic relief, this game is notorious for it. The main plot can be incredibly serious and stressful and the devs know that can really wear down on the mental state of the player after awhile, so seeing Kiryu dance at a disco in the most lame awkward embarassing dad way possible, or see him pick up a phone in the most ridiculously over-dramatic way for no reason, or see Goro sing lovey-dovey pop songs is just something that will absolutely kill you with laughter and joy and give you a refreshed break you need to help you be able to keep continuing on.
Big fan of seiyuu (Japanese voice actors)? The karaoke bar lets you hear your protagonists’ gorgeous singing voice. You can even invite some side characters and hear their voices too!
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NOW THE FAIR CRITICISMS:
Despite the plot having a huge emphasis on how important the morality is of not killing, fighting animations are often totally lethal. Goro canonically fights with a knife and a bat by the end of the game. Both characters can use guns, swords, poisoned knives, baseball bats and other lethal items as a weapon. One of Goro’s main fighting animations is snapping a dude’s neck. Kiryu threw a dude out of a high window. Kiryu shoots at dudes with a gun in a high speed chase at some point and none of these instances are ever addressed in canon plot as having blood on the hands of these characters - no matter what, the people hurt by these things seem to be able to stand up fine later on like nothing happened. Even the main characters can get shot by an actual gun 20 times in a row and shrug it off by shoving convenience store food down their throat. It’s super dumb but absolutely hilarious in it’s unaddressed B-Movie esque hypocritical nature and became a huge in-joke with the fandom. Despite these Goofy Video Game Logic instances, the main plot (specifically the cutscenes) are all extremely realistic and well done. Actual members of real-world Yakuza say the story is pretty accurate to reality.
One of the minor characters is obviously a trans woman but is misgendered constantly by other characters, including the protagonist (though this may be a translation problem), and is the only female character in the game you can fight and have to fight in order to unlock Kiryu’s endgame fighting style (though he remarks he only fights her because she looks like she can handle herself in a fight). She does end up joining up with you as an ally afterwards without changing anything about herself so that’s a positive, I guess? SEGA is aware of fans’ dislike for transphobia and have removed a lot of transphobic content from their re-releases of future Yakuza games, as well as shown the protagonist, Kiryu, as a huge LGBTQ+ ally.
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Things you might like or otherwise want to check out relating to the same story style of Yakuza 0 I personally highly recommend:
Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! (aka, "From Today, It's My Turn!!"): Absolutely hilarious gag comedy with surprisingly heartwrenching drama and incredibly lovable in-depth characters. It’s about highschool delinquents in the late 1980s (same era Yakuza 0 takes place!). The two main characters remind me a lot of the protagonists of Yakuza 0 in that one is very straight-laced and honorable while the other is more prone to dirty tricks but still does the right thing in the end. I personally recommend reading the manga above all because adaptations cut out a lot of details that I feel add a lot of depth to the characters, but the OVA anime is pretty good on it’s own and there’s a hilarious live action TV show adaptation if you like slapstick.
Rookies: A story about an impossibly determined formerly disgraced highschool teacher doing absolutely everything he can to be the best teacher he can be. Part of his journey is helping reform a group of delinquents who have self-sabotaged themselves into having their baseball team - the one thing they cared about - disbanded. The delinquents constantly fight the teacher off, believing him to just be another adult putting on airs instead of truly caring, while the teacher perseveres no matter what to prove them wrong. A manga and live action drama - both extremely good.
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incomingalbatross · 4 years
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For the ask: 001: Doctor Who; 002: Wodehouse ship of your choice; 003: character of your choice from Psych.
Thank you!
Doctor Who
Favorite character: ...I mean, it has to be the Doctor. He’s the embodiment of Chaotic Good, and he’s so entertaining and absurd and so deeply good at the same time. Even if there are regenerations I like less than others, I always love the Doctor.
Least Favorite character: ...Rose Freaking Tyler. I don’t talk about her much, because I don’t want to inadvertently start something with anyone who feels differently, but this is not a Rose-friendly space.
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Canon-ish: Ben/Polly, Amy/Rory, Martha/Mickey. Non-canon: Harry/Victoria, Jenny/the son of Kate Stewart (he only barely exists in EU, but the idea of the Doctor’s daughter marrying the Brigadier’s grandson is just really cute to me)
Character I find most attractive: ...Hm. The Eighth Doctor, maybe?
Character I would marry: Harry Sullivan. He’s a sweet, gentlemanly dork of a Naval surgeon with traditional values--what’s not to love?
Character I would be best friends with: The Doctor. Not so much because he’s the character most like me, but because he’s very good at Being Friends With People.
a random thought: One thing I really love about the New Series is the increasingly consistent trend--especially in Moffat’s era, I think?--of explicitly treating the TARDIS as another character. It’s been there implicitly for a long time, but they made it much more canon and I appreciate that.
An unpopular opinion: Missy is not the Master, and I’ll never believe she is. This isn’t even about her gender, but about her whole personality.
My Canon OTP: Ian/Barbara, from the First Doctor’s era. This isn’t exactly controversial--I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything, in fandom or EU, where they weren’t happily together--but I love them.
My Non-canon OTP: Master/Clara... Which is entirely the fault of my sister’s fics. I wasn’t expecting to ship them!!
Most Badass Character: ...There’s so many to choose from. Aside from the Doctor, maybe Sarah Jane? Aside from being one of the greatest companions, she got her own spinoff show in which it was established that she’s been regularly saving the world on her own, she adopted two children and began mentoring three more in her fifties, and she was generally amazing for five seasons.
Most Epic Villain: ...The Master gets highest points for Presentation (as Megamind would say), and the Daleks are the most consistently menacing... But I think Rassilon scares me the most. He’s the founder of Time Lord society, and he’s evil. 
Pairing I am not a fan of: The Doctor/anyone other than River, honestly. (Well, or his Gallifreyan wife from pre-canon days--I assume they were a good match, from what canon evidence we have)
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): ...A lot. Today, though, I’m going to say Sarah again. As said above, she’s a hero in her own right, and there’s no force in the universe that could stop her from having adventures. Reducing her to “female character pining after the Doctor and unable to get over losing him,” as they did in “School Reunion”, was a massive injustice to her character. (ESPECIALLY since their Classic relationship was not romantic. I mean, they’ve been shipped, of course, but their was nothing romantic in the writing or--IMHO--even the acting.)
Favourite Friendship: I think I’ve said this before, but the Doctor and the Brigadier. I love constant their friendship is, how much they’ve done for each other and respect each other, and how easily they fit back together every time they reunite.
Character I most identify with: ...I honestly don’t know. I love almost all of them, but I don’t think any of them click in quite that way, you know?
Character I wish I could be: Romana, maybe? She’s a Time Lady who traveled with the Doctor--that’s a pretty good deal!
Wodehouse Ship: I’m going to go with Mike/Eve here, for fun
When I started shipping them: As soon as the name “Jackson” appeared in Leave it to Psmith, I think. I trust and support Mike’s judgement. :P
My thoughts: I wish we’d, you know, seen them together. But I like that Mike has a wife he can take care of! I think that suits them both. (I also have a headcanon that Psmith went off--to the Drones, maybe?--and dug up dirt on Rollo, and that these discoveries were what pushed Mike to propose. Because he’s an honorable boy, and I think getting him to propose to an engaged woman would take some intervention from Psmith... Also I don’t like what we’ve heard of Rollo.)
What makes me happy about them: That they exist. That they got their farm, and that their best friends married each other, so the two couples can look after each other when they need to! 
What makes me sad about them: No content. :(
Things done in fanfic that annoys me: ...I’ve never read any fic of them that wasn’t written by myself or one of this Tumblr microfandom, so... Nothing, really!
Things I look for in fanfic: Anything of them interacting with Psmith/Eve is especially fun. (Someday I’d like to try the scene where they find out Psmith and Eve are engaged. Because A) if they’re told soon enough, it would be the same meeting where they share the news that they got the farm, which sounds delightfully chaotic B) last they knew, Psmith and Eve hadn’t even met, and C) the second Mike heard they’d met at Blandings, he’d know Psmith was behind getting them the money. Somehow.) 
My wishlist:
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: ...I’m sure there are other Wodehouse Protagonists who would suit them, but none come to mind. They’re good with each other.
My happily ever after for them: Hmm... For them to have lots of kids, and the Psmiths as neighbors, and play cricket with their combined families every summer. Margery can visit and be the fun aunt, and since they’re doing well financially maybe the Jackson parents will come live with them at some point? (I’d also like them to have a chance to help Psimth and Eve out of some significant trouble, since it’s usually the other way around... I don’t know what, though.)
Psych character: ...I’ll pick Henry, since I’ve been talking about him a lot lately
How I feel about this character: Good! He’s a good, though flawed, dad, and a good cop. (One of the few Lawful Goods in this cast, in my opinion.) He’s solid, and principled, and one of the few people who can really, truly keep up with/keep a hold of Shawn.
Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: His wife, I suppose? I don’t remember being a big fan of her, but he clearly still loves her, and I’m a sucker for “divorced couple reconciles” anyway... So yeah, Maddie.
My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Shawn, of course. Henry just... he built his whole life around raising his son, and it shows with him and with Shawn. They’ve both affected each other so much, and I love that the show just shows them being more openly important to each other as it goes on.
My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m not sure what’s “unpopular” here... But I think his training of Shawn was less about wanting him to be a cop, and more about giving Shawn A) something halfway constructive to do with his racing brain, and B) the tools to survive whatever trouble he'd get into in the future. Because, even then, Henry knew Shawn was never going to stay out of trouble.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Shawn had told him he loved him out loud, to his face, which I don’t think quite happened. I’m pretty content with Henry’s content overall, though, I think.
Favorite friendship for this character: I’m going to cheat slightly and say Gus. It’s not exactly a friendship, but I love the implicit history there, and the way that Gus is practically his second kid and they both relate to each other as such. (I am also highly indignant that the “Henry & Gus” tag apparently doesn’t even exist on AO3... Distressing.)
My crossover ship: ...I got nothin. However, I have decided that in a Star Trek fusion AU (sort of a crossover!) Shawn’s mom would be a Vulcan. That’s the closest I’ve got.
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