#shaw&seven thoughts

[stardate44002point3]

Shaw and Seven

So, we're back to Shaw disrespecting Seven and calling her Hansen, and everyone losing their shit over it. But I just rewatched both Dominion and Surrender and I have some thoughts about this.

First, let's just deal with the elephant in the room, that most people seem to be ignoring. When he was in the turbolift with Vadic and her hench-goons, Shaw gave Seven a direct order to blow the turbolift. He knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it, he had far more information about the situation than she did, and he, correctly, deduced what would happen if the turbolift reached the bridge and Vadic gained control of the ship.

Seven promptly ignored his order - she had plenty of time to carry it out - she just chose not to obey it. It doesn't matter why she chose not to obey the order, it only matters that in a situation where a superior officer with more information than she had about a situation gave a direct order specifically to protect the crew, she chose to disobey.

When Shaw is lying on the deck at the end of Dominion, the despair is just radiating off him, there are tears running down his face (Todd Stashwick just killed it in that scene); he knows exactly what is going to happen next - people, his people, are going to die - all because Seven chose to spare him. It's the Constance all over again, but worse, because he's the captain and his job is to protect these people, and he tried, but he was thwarted by an XO that defied him.

(Better picture now I can screenshot)

Which brings us to the bridge scene in Surrender. Shaw is pissed at Seven, Shaw is rightfully pissed at Seven. No one on the bridge has died yet, but Vadic has control of the ship and his crew are dying, he can hear them dying and, as we later see thanks to Jack, some of them are dying horribly. None of that would have happened if Seven had blown the turbolift when she was ordered to. He's absolutely right when he says that being a Starfleet officer means not just obeying the orders that feel good.

She tries to defend herself by saying she "doesn't trade lives". But he isn't buying it, nor should he, because she has traded lives, she's traded Shaw's life for the lives of his crew, possibly dozens of his crew.

Then it gets worse when Vadic executes T'Veen in front of them.

So, if calling her "Commander Seven" is a mark of respect (as she states previously) then he's demonstrating in that moment of contained rage and despair, that he doesn't respect her. And I'm not really sure he should, her action (or lack of action) has caused the deaths of his crew.

By the end of the episode it appears that all is forgiven, when he grants Seven the honor of destroying the Shrike, but that feels cheap; as did her "Captain Shaw, may I present your ship back". That implies that she had something to do with retaking the ship, and she didn't, she made a grand gesture which might actually have screwed up Jack's plan, and really didn't contribute anything to getting Vadic off the ship - that was all Jack, Data and Picard.

Don't get me wrong, I love Seven, but Shaw is absolutely in the right in this entire exchange and the idea that much of the audience thinks that his disrespecting her by calling her "Hansen" is a far more heinous crime than her disrespecting him by disobeying his orders and getting people killed, is bizarre to me.

ETA: If you show up in the comments or reblog to hate on Shaw, I will block you, just a warning. Reasonable debate and discussion is welcome, shit-talking is not.

#captain shaw #seven of nine #liam shaw #todd stashwick #jeri ryan #picard spoilers #picard s3 #shaw&seven thoughts #shaw&seven #please don't kill another of my captains #I know this isn't a popular opinion #but IDGAF

[isagrimorie]

The interesting thing I find this moment:

Seven: “Don’t give me that look. I won’t apologize."

Shaw: “You should have blown the turbolift."

Seven: “But I didn’t. And I’d make the same decision again. I draw the line at trading lives.”

Is that… irony of ironies is that Newly!Human!Seven would have agreed with Shaw.

Young!Seven would have blown the turbolift with Shaw and his walking survivor’s guilt. In fact, I guarantee the cold calculation was in Seven’s head but she didn’t follow through on it.

But also, knowing that newly Human!Seven would have agreed with Shaw would actually piss Shaw off more.

Later seasons and current era!Seven? She won’t trade lives. Because that’s not what she was taught, because her mentor was Kathryn ‘Leave No One Behind’ Janeway. Janeway would rather change a whole timeline than let that happen.

Shaw: “You are a Starfleet Officer. You don’t have the luxury to only make choices that are hunky-dory. Everything has consequences.”

Seven: “Consequences like saving your life?”

I’m also curious in this shift of mentality if this ‘good of the many’ thing Shaw side, aside from his clear survivor’s guilt, is a mental divide between a post-Dominion War Starfleet and Janeway’s pre-Dominion War Starfleet upbringing*.

Although honestly, I don’t think it would solve the Changeling intrusion either way because its clear the other Changeling groups arrived from the other turbolift in the conference room.

(Why was there one there, we don’t know.)

They would still have taken the Bridge and all they would get is a dead captain and a dead Vadic. Although, I don’t know how an explosion would affect Vadic since Vadic was in liquid form at that time and could have made an escape, and the Changelings would still have taken the bridge.

*Although, good gravy, can Seven get a break please from having Captains who are so READY to martyr their lives away? First Janeway and now Walking Survivor’s Guilt!Shaw???

I guess its a good thing she’s the Captain now.

But now its Raffi’s turn to dissuade Seven from walking into dangerous situations.

#thinky thoughts #seven of nine #liam shaw #vadic #star trek: picard #picard s3 #picard 3x08

[ilikethequiet]

They’re just so dorky and I love them. To be honest, I think we caught them on a bad day, I can’t believe these two have been together for a year and yet were still so hostile towards each other. Think about it, surely Seven would have put in for a transfer if that were the case. 

#todd stashwick #jeri ryan #tv: star trek picard #seven x shaw #random caps while editing #random thoughts #i do have some tin hat theories though #mostly my personal headcanons but hmm #ask me my theories :D

[galactic-pirates]

#I loathe Shaw for this I really do and the more I think about it the more I hate him #seven of nine #star trek: picard #Star Trek #I have never made a meme before and thinking how to phrase it was hard #anti-Captain Shaw #anti-Liam Shaw #I want to stay in my lane #I am just physically sick at the thought of them being shipped together #I had to vent a little #sorry not sorry

[uss-sappho]

it took the episode 20 minutes to even show seven on screen, 30 for them to acknowledge she's borg, and then give shaw a mostly unearned moment of redemption where he doesnt dead name her. "you have the conn, seven of nine" are undeniably words i did savour in hearing however, brought a tear to my eye just because she deserves it <3

#i dont Hate shaw i find him compelling and fun to watch but it shouldntve taken his death bed to not deadname seven #in the scene right before he calls her hansen like?? #also just frustrated the whole time theyre talking about the borg and connections and the queen and seven just.... isnt there #did they watch voyager??? #also did they watch picard s2 did all that just not happen??? #foxtxt #star trek picard #my thoughts #spoilers

[thedeviltohisangel]

All The Things I Did:

(Just So I Could Call You Mine)

Canon Universe:

"The most beautiful part is, I wasn't even looking when I found you."

Chapter One: All The Things I Did

Chapter Two: It's All Around, It's All The Time

Interlude: A Sight For Sore Eyes

Chapter Three: Don't Leave Me Alone

Interlude: A Feeling I Want To Get Used To

Chapter Four: The Only Thing That I See

Chapter Five: I Hope I Don't Lose You

Chapter Six: All's Well That Ends Well

Chapter Seven: I Thought About Thinking It Through

Chapter Eight: That Girl Is Going, Going, Gone

Chapter Nine: It's Not Fair To Make Me Feel This Much

Interlude: I Want To Give You The World

Interlude: I'm Such A Fool

Interlude: All I Brought Back With Me

Interlude: The One Thing I've Been Wanting

Interlude: My Little Bunnies

"And then she knew, that you could become homesick for people too."

Special Editions:

Four Times They Speak About Each Other And One Time They Spoke To Each Other

"Darling, you are all I ever wanted love to be."

Misc.

Cass x John Blurbs

"The day I met you I began to forget a life without you."

For A Fortnight There We Were:

(Forever Run Into You)

Hollywood Universe:

The story of Callum Turner and Evelyn Shaw, the actress who plays Cassandra Cooper in Masters of the Air.

One Shots:

It Fit Too Right

"You are too well tangled in my soul."

Misc.

Evelyn x Callum Blurbs/Inspo

"I told the stars about you."

#masters of the air #john egan #callum turner #mota #masters of the air fanfiction #john egan fanfiction #callum turner fanfiction #mota fanfiction #masters of the air fanfic #john egan fanfic #callum turner fanfic #mota fanfic #john egan x reader #john egan x oc #callum turner x reader #callum turner x oc

[slushiepizza]

Marie and Mother Mary

Relationship : Marie & Milo Greer

Tags : Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Post-Partum Depression, Gender Roles, Catholicism, Motherhood, Italian American Marie Greer

Word Count : 1,510

ao3

Notes and Warnings:

this fic kind of surprised me because I'm not super into the Shaw Pack. But I do find Marie Greer's presence and bits and pieces we know of her character fascinating. I wanted to explore Marie's mind and feelings about being a mother when she's dealing with a gambling husband; and for her to raise someone like Milo Greer- she must've done a great job as a parent.

I took inspiration from my own experiences growing up with Catholicism and specifically in relation to the biblical Mary as a religious figure; and how mothers often find comfort in the thought of a figure who related in their struggles of motherhood and womanhood. It also has a theme of gender roles/ alluding to rigid gender identities because of the circumstances that Marie grew up in.

This fic isn't really... religious per se, and it takes more of a neutral standing while still criticizing how religion could be used to provoke feelings of personal guilt and trauma in someone who grew up in it, while also giving comfort to anyone that needed the universe to say that everything will be okay. If any of the themes may cause distress in you, I do implore you not read this fic, as consuming writing is a vulnerable activity.

The year was 1993. Marie Greer walked into the empty church lot with her baby in her arms. It had been decades since she last stepped on its stone floors. The security guard stationed outside looked at her strangely, but let her in once she asserted that she was there to pray.

She passed the main building for a small garden in the back. There were rows of wooden benches but nobody to be found. Good. Marie didn’t want company at the moment. To call it a garden was an overstatement- it was tiny and cramped, overgrown with vines. In front of the benches, the centerpiece of all the foliage was a statue of the Virgin Mary. Mother Mary, she thought, the double entendre not escaping her. 

As soon as she sat down right in front of the statue- Milo wailed inconsolably like he always did. 

The baby’s loud cries echoed disturbing whatever peace that was left from the place. Marie sighed, tired and weary, of this. He was an especially sensitive child, smaller than other babies his age. Marie was used to catering to people who’d fuss over the littlest things, Colm had a particular affinity for order and cleanliness whenever he came back from blowing his month’s earnings in a night, after all. The addition of Milo to the family just added more on her plate- she had to catalog every single one of his many allergies, and make sure that the room was never dusty because he’d have a coughing fit otherwise. The replacement of their popcorned ceiling had not been cheap, either, not with Colm leaving barely anything left after his trips to Vegas.

She did this all for love. For him. For her husband. But oftentimes, she felt like there was nothing left of her to give. Dry. Hollow. 

She shushed Milo and lightly rocked him in hopes that he’d calm down but to no avail. He thrashed and turned, his nails accidentally scratched her in the arm. Marie winced and tried to soothe him, lightly patting his back. It took thirty minutes of rocking and soothing Milo until the baby went back to sleep. 

St. Mary’s weathered ivory-colored face looked down at her, her expression blank and unmoving. Her lips were sculpted into a serene smile. Her pupil-less eyes gazed back at Marie. 

Just like any other Italian-American family at the time, church was a routine for Marie growing up. Her mother would dress them in their Sunday’s best and wrangled her and her seven unruly siblings into the building. “Quit fussin’ your pigtails, Marie. I did that real pretty for you,” she’d chide. They’d sit in the back of the church because tardiness ran in that family’s blood like a curse. 

Past the twelfth and thirteenth pews, God felt distant. 

Marie would follow everything diligently. She stood up when everyone else stood up as the priest lifted the circular white wafer, the body of Christ, above the altar. As a child, her height wouldn’t allow her to catch a single glimpse of it. She’d comfort her younger siblings whenever they’d make a ruckus. But the whole thing- it went one ear out of the other. 

She could’ve sworn she tried her best to listen and followed whatever the adults did. 

I have greatly sinned, escaped past her lips as she did the same thing she had now, rocking her baby sister in her arms. At the time, she hadn’t even lost her milk teeth. 

She stopped going when she married Colm. He was the opposite of the man her mother wanted her to marry, and in retrospect, she felt that it was one of the many reasons she liked him. His mind was raucous, his eyes wild and unmoored. Like nothing was holding him back. Colm used to be an ambitious man- the thrill of being an Investigator for DUMP perfect for his unrested soul. 

Marie loved that part of him, the fact that he’d question everything, unbelieving in anything unproven. 

He said that he wanted to purge the world of assholes- the unjust, those who hurt others for their own sake. As he turned in empowered criminals in the pursuit of it, he became one himself. 

Marie met St.Mary’s gaze- almost challenging her hollow stare. Something surged through her, from the ache in her back settling to her tight diaphragm.

After the birth of her boy, Mary couldn’t cook or clean. All she did was stay in bed. Her sister came by to help take care of the house while Colm stepped outside as usual. She said that it was normal, her body had been through hell, after all. But the heavy feeling, the heaviness that settled in her chest persisted for the next two months.

 Marie hated feeling helpless- her house a mess, and her baby cried constantly. She was a woman of action, and stagnation shackled her, leaving her trapped. Her visit to the psychiatrist- and the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual- had told her that it was depression with a postpartum onset. She told the doctor that she refused to accept that she was a ‘bozo who was sick in the head’ and that she will cure herself with a margarita and a sorely needed hair perm alongside a fresh coat of manicure. 

And look where that got her. Crying in front of a statue in church.

She still stared at the other Mary, the statue’s size and height caused her to look like she was looking down on whoever prayed in the confined space, guiding them iin a time of need. With that, for once, Marie realized that she was angry. 

She wasn’t stuck to her mattress, fatigued, and lacked energy because of sorrow- she was so angry, the weight of her job description as wife, mother, woman, wolf, dog, bitch- Marie weighed down on her like anchors. She was angry, at the fact that Colm was nowhere to be found throughout all this, angry at her mother- for making her a mother to her own siblings when she was barely a child, angry at the fact that she couldn’t even love her child properly because she no longer had any love left in the hollow of her heart. 

The emotions had clawed the insides of her ribs and caused her to let out heavy breaths- she was a dog panting for air when there was none. 

“When does it get easier,” she demanded to the Mother of all Mothers through gritted teeth. “Tell me, Mary,” she begged, desperate, as tears started to roll down her face. “Tell me!” 

“When does being a mother ever get any easier?”

Her voice was a whisper, barely audible, as she started to sob and heave quietly. 

A soft breeze blew past the branches of the trees that surrounded her. It moved the leaves and allowed them to move gently back and forth. The statue still looked down at her, hand slightly outstretched in a supposed kind, helpful gesture. Ants crawled from the crack in the marble, they moved past Mary’s dress down to the hem, circling around her exposed foot, past the head of the sneak that was crushed triumphantly under her toes. 

Marie sank into her seat, tired. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffling. Unbecoming of her, she thought. She’d rather die than let anyone see her like this. But there was a comfort between women, she supposed. Damage from rain stained Mary’s cheek like tears- not unlike the thick mascara that currently ran down her own. The air was comfortable, easy, and Marie felt light. It reminded her of the 80s. Of girls in the bathroom of the disco, talking someone out of calling their past lovers as they applied lipstick and passed cigarettes between one another.

“I guess,” she sniffed. “I guess you know better, right?” she stared into a picture that hung on a distant wall. In it, St. Mary cried as she held Jesus' dying body. “He didn’t give you a hell of a good time either,” her voice cracked pathetically. 

Girl, tell me about it, Marie imagined the statue said. The Virgin Mary had the voice of her best friend in college. Is that not what being a mother is? The pain so bad, it feels like you’re splitting in two? Going through all seven hells for your baby’s sake?

“Why do we even put ourselves through this,” she chuckled sardonically. “If I wanted to go through pain, I’d rather just listen to Colm talk about whatever fish he caught on the weekend.” 

Mary didn’t answer, and Marie understood. Milo opened his big eyes in her arms and reached up to her with tiny hands. He giggled, light and oblivious to the puffiness of Mary’s face and the swell of her eyes. She cooed at him and held up a finger. Milo wrapped his hand around it, gentle. 

St. Mary’s serene smile was still plastered on her face, her hand outstretched in the air between them. 

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #marie greer #milo greer #redacted milo #redacted marie

[quasi-normalcy]

You know...

I grew up with TNG; it’s always been my Star Trek; I spent much of my childhood obsessed with it. And there I was, watching what promised to be the Last! Appearance! by the TNG Crew! Ever!,

and I felt nothing at all.

Nothing had any weight. The Borg Collective got blowed up real good, but they’d already got blowed up real good 20 years ago, and last season set up another, vastly more interesting version of the Borg anyways if only anyone had bothered to mention them or anything else from the first two seasons, so it means nothing. Nothing had any weight. No one even died. No one even got meaningfully assimilated. Apparently you can just peel Borg implants right off your face without, you know, bleeding to death or ripping out a chunk of your brain. Someone should probably tell Seven of Nine about that.

And now I’ve had a few hours to reflect upon it and what occurs to me is: I think I hate it. Yes, that sounds right. I hate it.

I mean, Nemesis gets a lot of sh*t, much of it deserved, but like…I actually cried during Nemesis. Nemesis also had a fascinating nature-versus-nurture theme, which admittedly, was a come-down from “All Good Things’…” promise of human transcendence, but at least it was something! This just felt like empty nostalgia calories, wrapped it a blanket with bathetic MCU quips. No thought-provoking science fiction. No exploration of the human condition. Just…bloodless violence for an hour.

And then I thought back to how this series started, my beautiful, flawed, Star Trek: Picard; and here I must admit that I’m one of those sad, lonely freaks who actually really liked the first two seasons. I liked the weighty themes of living in the cognizance of death, and the serious engagement with transhumanism. Above all, I liked the characters. Elnor, Soji, Rios, and especially Agnes. And then I thought: what an absolute Insult this season is! You dump all of the characters and you can’t even be arsed to namedrop them. I mean, shit, there’s a reference to Chekov in the first five minutes, but you can’t be arsed to reference any of the characters whose series you hijacked? You have Raffi sparring with Worf and she can’t even mention that her adopted son is a Romulan swordsmaster? You have the Borg invading, and “no one’s seen them in over ten years!” and you can’t be arsed to clarify why that Borg Queen that we all saw Jurati turn into last season doesn’t count? Literally the only allusion, anywhere, to any of the characters from the first two seasons other than Raffi is Shaw telling everyone to “Forget that weird shit on the Stargazer.” That weird shit. Yeah. One of the only characters in all fiction that I’ve ever meaningfully identified with. Thanks, Terry!

But, at the same time…what a gross insult to TNG! TNG, with its humanist utopia and moral conundra and scientific grounding. TNG, which, at its best, showed us what humanity could be; which challenged us to see the world in new ways. Reduced to this. This hollow, plastic pile of rubbish.

But, hey; the reviews are positive! The series is in the top ten for streaming! And a billion YouTube comments have already informed me that, finally, REAL Star Trek is back! Forget “all that weird bullshit,” this is what we, the fandom, wanted all along!

Anyways, can’t wait to see the next exciting installment of Star Trek: Funko Pop

#star trek picard #the last generation #spoilers

[gingiesworld]

At My Worst

Chapter Seven

Leigh Shaw x GN! Reader

Warnings: None really but fluff and both Leigh and reader being nervous messes.

Taglist: @username23345

18+ MINORS DNI

Y/N was released after a couple of weeks after the incident. Leigh had decided to start on organising the wedding. Asking about the guests from both sides.

"I guess my family and some friends." They told her as they lay on the sofa as per Leigh's orders. "If I could marry you now I wouldn't care about inviting anyone because I just want to be married to you, but I want to give you a wedding you would like to have."

"Why don't we just elope?" Leigh questioned. "Take an unexpected road trip to Vegas and have an Elvis wannabe marry us."

"As much as that would be fun, I think your mom and sister will most likely do a better job at killing me." They chuckled as Leigh glared at them. "Too soon sorry."

"You have no idea how worried I was." Leigh whispered as she held Y/N's hand. "I thought I was going to lose you and I don't ever want to feel that again."

"Well, I am going to quit." They told her. "And I am going to maybe get a job at the local school maybe, especially since I was a star athlete."

"Whatever." She chuckled as Y/N smiled at her. "What?" She questioned.

"I love you so much." They told her honestly before taking a deep breath. "I never really told you but in that cell, you were the only thing on my mind. I wanted to fight for you."

"Y/N." Leigh whispered as she fully faced them.

"I never wanted you to go through that pain again." They whispered. "It wasn't something that I wanted for you so I fought to stay here for you. For us."

-----

As the weeks went on, Y/N was recovering amazingly with the help of Leigh. The two had set the date for the wedding and Y/N was finally able to pick up their suit with the help of Nat.

"You look dashing." Nat smirked as Y/N came out of the fitting room.

"Yeah? It's not tacky?" Y/N questioned.

"No, the one with the ruffles and the bow tie were tacky but they were for my amusement." She smirked as Y/N shook their head in amusement. "But yes, this is the one." Nat confirmed as Y/N smiled before changing out of it and paying the cashier. "I still can't believe you're leaving us."

"I need a safer job." Y/N admitted. "I did love working there but I can't put Leigh through the pain of losing someone she loves again."

"So you're doing it for her." Nat stated as Y/N nodded as they walked into the coffee shop.

"I would do anything for her." Y/N admitted as Nat just smiled at them before ordering their coffees.

"I think I am going to leave the job too." Nat admitted. "Since that day, I don't feel safe at all."

"I'm sorry." Y/N took her hand as Nat smiled at them.

"You defended me." Nat stated. "But because of the possobilities of what could have happened if you weren't there keep going through my mind and I am scared to go back."

"Well do it." Y/N told her. "Go after the job you wanted before you worked there."

"Just like you." Nat smirked as Y/N nodded taking a sip of there drink.

"Just like me." They smiled as Nat laughed at their goofiness.

------

Leigh paced around her mom's living room as she made sure that everything was ready, her mom, Jules and Drew all stood at the kitchen island, watching with amused looks on their faces.

"She wasn't this nervous for her wedding with Matt." Drew stated as the other two agreed as they watched her on the phone.

"So, is the caterer still on board?" Amy asked as Leigh nodded.

"I am just so nervous." Leigh admitted. "I want everything to be perfect for our day."

"Leigh, everything will be fine." Drew told her as she soon nodded. "As long as Y/N is stood at the alter in a suit, ready to say I do as soon as asked, everything will be perfect."

"You're right." She sighed as she flopped down on the sofa. "Where is Y/N?" She soon questioned as she noticed the time.

"They are with Nat." Jules informed her. "They texted me earlier telling me to let you know they may be a little late."

------

The day of the wedding approached faster than either anticipated, Y/N had Nat stay with them while Leigh stayed in her old room. Her mom wanted to help her get ready again as Y/N headed over to the venue to make sure everything was set for Leigh.

"Everything is going to be perfect." Nat told them as she stood beside them in her own suit.

"Yeah?" They questioned as Nat nodded.

"Yeah." She confirmed. "Leigh is a very lucky woman."

"No." Y/N shook their head. "I am the lucky one to have a chance at a life with her."

As all of the guests had took their seats, friends of both Y/N's and Leigh's. Even some of their old high school friends were sat in their seats. Ready to witness a true fairytale as the two have been within arms length all of their lives but never knew it.

As the wedding march had begun, Leigh nervously took a shaky breath as she took Drew's arm as he walked her down the aisle. Y/N felt their heart stop as they saw her dressed in her white dress, their smile grew as tears formed in their eyes.

"Leigh, there isn't enough words in any language to say how deeply I am in love with you. Every moment I spend with you, I fall deeper and the deeper I fall there isn't any turning back, although that is something I don't want to do." They told her, Leigh's smile growing with every word spoken. "All I know is that I want to be by your side on every journey we take together as one. I love you so much."

"Wow." She whispered as she wiped her eyes. "Y/N, I had been in a very bad place for a few years before we met in that bar. At that moment, my heart knew I needed you to live. To move on and be happy, and that is what I am. I am the happiest I have been in years. You are my light in the dark and I love you so much."

As the I do's were said, Y/N never waited for the pastor to say the words, they just kissed Leigh passionately. Showing her in that one kiss they were ready for a life full of love and happiness with her.

#leigh shaw x you #leigh shaw imagine #leigh shaw x reader #leigh shaw #elizabeth olsen smut #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth chase olsen #sorry for your loss

[stardate44002point3]

Star Trek and the problem of political salience

So, I've been thinking a lot about the Shaw/Seven deadnaming controversy and I think much of what has happened in terms of the level of outrage about it - which probably wasn't entirely what the writers were going for - is the ongoing problem of Star Trek using contemporary political issues to signal things about character and, in this case, having it backfire on them, just a little.

To explain, first what I think the writers were going for was a quick shorthand way of signaling that Shaw was a bit of a dick, but a redeemable one (hence he was always going to call Seven, Seven by the end of his character arc). However, two things got in the way of that and has resulted, at least in the Tumblr and Twittersphere, of a not insubstantial number of Trek fans celebrating his death (because deadnaming someone is clearly death-worthy) and harassing people who openly either like Shaw or, even worse, ship Shaw/Seven.

Why did this go somewhat awry? I think there are two reasons.

The first is that they just didn't think it through when they wrote it. Not only do people openly call Seven, Hansen (without any blow back from her) in earlier seasons of Picard (and not just in the fascist S2 version of the UFP), but now that she is in Starfleet, she must have a name on file. I've said this before. Either that name is Annika Hansen, in which case it is on her to change it, and neither Shaw (nor the rest of the crew) can really use another name for her because the computer won't recognize it. Unless we're expecting them all to shift between names depending on whether they are talking to her or referring to her with the onboard computer.

OR her name is Seven in the system. But narratively that's not going to work, because then Shaw would HAVE to call her Seven or, again the computer wouldn't recognize her. Since he refers to her as Hansen when talking to the computer we have to assume that is her name in the Starfleet HR system. If she has a problem with it, she needs to change it, I can't imagine Starfleet cares what people want to call themselves, nor make it difficult for people to change their names in the system.

So that's just careless writing, they were trying to make a point, and didn't really think through the whole process, relying on the contemporary political zeitgeist to do the work for them.

Which brings us to the second issue. Picard S3 was written in 2020/2021 and largely filmed in 2021. At that time, while deadnaming was something that was talked about and recognized, and understood to be a very bad thing, we were only at the start of the culture wars shifting to Republicans focusing on attacking trans rights (because up until last summer they still had abortion as their go-to wedge issue). Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme court ruling, and the relatively buoyant performance of the Democrats in the 2022 Midterm elections, Republicans have gone all out at the local, state and national level on attacking every aspect of the trans community's existence - from the ability to legal change names to the process of transition itself, to the ability of trans people to exist in society without harassment.

And not unexpectedly, there has been a huge surge in support for the trans community, which means that any indication of disrespect is now a much more politically charged issue than it was even this time last year. So what the writers intended to be throw away signifier of tension between captain and XO, has become a huge red flag of abuse.

Using a contemporary issue in this way is much more fraught than it used to be because, for a variety of reasons, the political zeitgeist changes much more rapidly in the 21st century than it ever did before.

So tl;dr; I don't think Shaw was ever meant to be an irredeemable asshole, I just think the writers did a piss poor job trying to demonstrate friction between him and Seven and the political situation has changed in such a way that the issue they chose has become so much more salient in the last year.

#liam shaw thoughts #liam shaw #seven of nine #abuse will be deleted and blocked

[isagrimorie]

I’m finding Seven’s fast track to Commander and Captain really interesting because in season 2 Seven accepted the field commission of Captain, this of course doesn’t mean its going to stick because Starfleet Command has to confirm this commission.

From what I’ve read of field or battle commissions, when someone is elevated to an officer they have to complete the training, and from what we know from Seven, Janeway and Picard seemed to have double teamed Seven into staying and maybe even complete the Officer’s training.

Starfleet Command isn’t going to give Seven of Nine, a former Borg, her own Command at first go just because she had a field commission to Captain. Janeway seems to have climbed the ladder enough to push for Seven without having to threaten resignation and with Picard’s backing this assured that Seven being in Starfleet comes through.

And I feel Janeway and Picard argued her experience serving in Voyager and years in Fenris Rangers can be credited in Starfleet.

So Starfleet agrees but their compromise is that she only be a Commander.

And Seven becoming XO of Titan is tantamount to a Shakedown cruise.

a shakedown cruise, the new ship is put through simulations of real life working conditions. This allows the crew the opportunity to get familiar with the ship and to ensure the vessel is fully functional. (source)

Given this situation, I can see why Seven was under Shaw’s command. I fully believe that Captain Liam Shaw has a reputation for being a by the book hard ass.

I really find Shaw and Seven’s command dynamic interesting. He was a dick to her and his treatment of Seven reflected on him poorly.

But also when they work well together, they do work well, but that’s not enough. Shaw had too many issues connected with the Wolf 359 Borg incident and he can’t see the forest for the trees when it comes to Seven. And Picard, especially.

I do think he thought he was ready to have a former Borg but the actuality of having a Borg with a Borg designation around is a lot more triggering. (Again, not excusing because there was no call for that at all).

I don’t know how much Seven is aware, but I think she does know a bit about Shaw’s background with the Borg. Jeri Ryan mentioned how guilt is also why Seven is tolerating Shaw. She still pushes back.

Titan-A is an engineer’s ship through and through, Geordi La Forge even mentioned how it was a marvel of engineering and maintenance.

I do think one of the things Shaw looked forward to about Seven being on his Command team is Seven’s knack for engineering and efficiency.

And in that department they worked like clockwork.

I bet Seven even brought back the Efficiency reports she constantly did in Voyager that annoyed a lot of the senior staff on Voyager.

I fully believe Seven had to be weaned off from popping into places she didn’t need to be like B’Elanna had to do every time Seven appeared in a Jeffries tube or siphoned power without B’Elanna’s permission.

(LOL. Again, I feel for Seven’s poor Chief Engineer because now that Seven is Captain no one is going to tell her ‘no’ if they found her in a Jeffries tube tinkering with stuff. Except for Raffi. The Chief Engineer will constantly dog Raffi’s steps complaining about the Captain being in the way again.)

TLDR

Shaw recommending Seven for Captaincy isn’t really a surprise for Starfleet Command because this was exactly why they assigned Seven to serve under Shaw. Shaw and the Titan is her Shakedown cruise.

Starfleet specifically told Shaw (and not Seven) that this they were evaluating Seven for Command. I feel like Janeway knew and Picard suspected and couldn’t say anything but Picard looked damned proud of Seven in 3x01 when she supervised leading Titan out of Spacedock.

#starfleet command #star trek #star trek: picard #picard s3 #seven of nine #kathryn janeway #jean luc picard #liam shaw #thinky thoughts

[author-morgan]

Title: White Knight Pairing: Ser Erryk Cargyll x fem!Reader Rating: M Summary: You and Erryk both know what it means when he swears the oath of the Kingsgaurd, but it does not make it any easier. Warnings: typical Westerosi shenanigans A belated Christmas and early Valentine's present for @mrsragnarlodbrok! ❤️🎁😘

For our love is a ghost that the others can't see.

HE COMES TO you in the night, bringing urgent tidings which leave him elated and distraught. For weeks there were whispers in the Red Keep of who the new members of the Kingsgaurd would be in the wake of Ser Robin Shaw and Ser Clement Crabb’s recent passing. Arryk and Erryk Cargyll’s names garnered much attention and praise from the Lords of the Court and Small Council in recent weeks. The twins are of noble stock from the Crownlands. They are fine men. Among the best warriors the Seven Kingdoms can offer, as so few returned from Prince Daemon’s war in the Stepstones.

The whispers were proven true at the feast to celebrate Prince Aemond’s fifth nameday —and with Aegon and Aemond quickly growing, the young princes would need their own sworn swords. The honor of serving alongside his brother in the Kingsguard is one Erryk has dreamt of since he was a boy. Now Viserys has extended that honor to both he and Arryk. But the vows he must take weigh heavy on his shoulders with the thought of you. 

“Do not let me dissuade you, Erryk.” His clear gaze flits up from the flagstone floor to you —smiling and happier about the news than him. “To be named a knight of the Kingsguard is among the highest of honors,” you reason. Boys dreamt of serving in the Kingsguard, and so few are ever offered the opportunity to fulfill their boyhood dreams. Despite it all, you know why he has come to you so distraught —it is the status of your courtship and the oath he must swear. 

You know the oaths knights swear well enough, and those of the Kingsguard too —have heard the young princes and boys at court whisper them with starry-eyed aspirations of donning the White Cloak one day. I swear to ward the King with all my strength and give my blood for His. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children. I shall guard His secrets, obey His commands, ride at His side and defend His name and honor. I pledge to His Grace my life and honor from this day to the end of my days.

He grips your hands, blue-grey eyes pleading with you to understand the gravity of this moment —what it means for the two of you and the future you’ve both thought and spoken about. “I must swear to never marry.” Erryk’s voice wavers as he echoes the oath. “To father no children and hold no lands.” I can live without a Keep and land to call my own, he thinks. “I do not wish to give you up.” It’s a hoarse whisper that makes your stomach churn with sorrow and heart ache.

You love Erryk, dearly, and for that, you cannot let him set aside such an honor for you —the daughter of a newly named vassal house of the Riverlands. His name will live on in history should he don the white cloak but would surely fade if he takes you to wed. And after all, given your position in court, it is unlikely you and Erryk will truly have to be parted from one another’s company. “I am one of Rheanyra’s ladies-in-waiting,” you remind him, gently, “and you are to be one of her sworn protectors.” You can see the corners of his lips twitch upward beneath his scraggly beard. “I do not think we will often be parted.”

Erryk’s brows furrow. “You would have me break my oath?”

“No!” You quickly exclaim. “I only meant we do not have to become strangers should you accept the king’s offer,” you explain. “We all must make sacrifices in this life, and I would not have you give up your dream for me, Erryk.”

Erryk exhales, his breath shaking —it seems as though you have decided for him. “Grant me one last night then, my lady,” he says, a whispered plea, as he looks at you, pinning you there with his warm, nigh doleful gaze, as though he can’t decide how to proceed or how to make this night last a lifetime. Erryk settles for a chaste kiss. It’s soft, save for the familiar scratch of his beard against your cheek and jaw and searching as he waits for you to give him an indication of where this night is to lead. And when your lips meet again, it's with intention —fingers threading into Erryk’s hair, anchoring yourself against him, and ruining the half-bun that keeps his long dark hair from falling in front of his face.

He moves forward, easing you back toward the bed —a plainly furnished wooden frame and a lumpy straw-and-feather stuffed mattress you’ve shared many times before. He lays you back, never once daring to part from your lips, your touch. Bliss makes your head spin, and upon coming up for air, you find his eyes staring into your own, communicating everything you could ever wish for and everything you can never have.

The chill of the night air turns your skin to gooseflesh as Erryk pushes up the hem of your chemise —the rough pads of his fingers brushing across your stomach and then higher. You squirm out of the thin piece of linen, and he tosses it aside, pausing above you for the briefest of moments. He breathes your name, a soft sigh; then his lips trace over your collarbone before he sits back on the edge of the bed, toeing off his boots.

He glances back up to your face and uses your arms to drag you closer to him, hooking them around his neck as he kisses you deeper this time. You feel his hands settle on your waist —warm and strong as he pulls you against him. He’s hot. Skin and mouth. And every touch and lingering caress sets you alight, burning on the inside. Erryk parts and stares down at you —memorizing the curve of your chin and upper lip, the soft glimmer and adoration in your eyes as you look at him. Between the ache in his heart and the voice in his head, it’s nigh too much, and he dips back down for another kiss, this time parting your lips, relishing the startled breath you give.

Your hands wander across his shoulders and back, gathering the linen of his tunic in your hands before pulling free the hem from his britches and drawing the off-white fabric up and overhead. Erryk shudders when your lips brush over his chest, fingertips wandering over the muscles of his arms and back —committing the feel of him to memory. But his hands wander too, and you can’t help but tense up when you feel his fingers ghost over you. Your legs spread wider for him, and you’re rewarded with a stroke from the entrance of your cunt to your clit.

He does it again before pressing a finger into your warmth, working you slowly open. Your hips jerk softly along with his movements. He hums when a second finger joins it, quickly kissing you again to hide the little whimpers you make with every move of his hand. He knows your body just as well as you do, and it’s easy to tell exactly how he needs to touch you to make you gasp and clench around his fingers —and he’s relentless in his efforts. His thumb rubs firmly against your clit, and you jolt.

“Erryk.” His name is a soft plea for more or to stop. You aren’t sure which. His free hand brushes a stray hair out of your face, and you smile up at him, unfocused and panting hard. You clumsily grab for him but get distracted by the fingers shifting inside you. He moves slower, dragging over the sensitive spots he’s found inside you —leaving your nerves tingling with every touch. His mouth finds yours again, and you run a hand through his hair, then his fingers angle themselves just right to stroke the spot that pushes you over the precipice.

Rising from the bed, he undoes his belt and the ties of his britches, stepping out of them and his drawers. Then he finally lets you touch him in return, and you run your hand along the length of his hard cock. He tilts your chin up with one finger to steal another kiss, and you let out a small sigh —willing to give anything to make this night last a lifetime. Erryk rejoins you on the bed and pulls you atop him, straddling his lap. You adjust yourself, and his hands settle at your hips to line your body up with his. He guides you downward, and you feel the head of his cock push inside your cunt. He bottoms out inside you in one smooth thrust that makes the air catch in your throat.

“Are you alright?” He asks, ever the gentleman, as his lips trail faint, soothing kisses along your shoulder. You nod wordlessly. There’s only the pleasant and familiar stretch of his cock. You give his shoulders a reassuring squeeze, and he lifts you by the hips and brings you back down onto him. He watches you, murmuring praises for you that would sound unbearably cheesy coming from anyone else. His stare is wide and unblinking as he appreciates the sight of your cunt taking him in over and over. Your knight is so romantic it should be embarrassing, but somehow all you feel is affection —another of his many talents. You pull him down for another kiss, long and slow until your lungs ache, and you can feel his lips curve into a smile against yours.

Erryk reads you like a book —a battle plan— ready to adjust his pace or intensity perfectly to match your wants before you can even ask aloud. He does all the work for you, his grip firm on your hips to guide you up and down along his cock. You shift in his arms to drag your lips down his neck, and he brings you down at an angle that’s just a bit different. Your body reacts immediately to the sudden stimulation, nigh severing the only thing keeping you tethered to shore in a sea of ecstasy. His own breath stutters in his throat at the feeling of you clenching around him. Erryk thinks he could spend the next thousand years like this, and it still wouldn’t be enough. And it drives him to madness to know this must be the last time to have like this.

You whimper and groan in frustration when he pulls you off him and lays you back on the bed, but then he’s clambering over you, the bedframe creaking with the shifting weight. Nestled between your legs, his cock nudges deeper and sends lazy tendrils of euphoria curling through you. Erryk’s eyes are darker than you’ve ever seen, shining with love and lust and something akin to awe. You lean your head back, arching your body to better accept him, every ridge and vein of him dragging against you.

Hooking your legs around his waist, you roll into his thrusts, pulling him deeper. His ragged breaths and grunts mingle with your sighs of pleasure, your panting scarcely keeping up with the demand of your racing heart. His kiss is rough and desperate —a wet and messy meeting of mouths as his rhythm loses its steadiness and any semblance of control as he seeks his own end.

He lifts his mouth off yours, and rough fingertips slide between your bodies, pushing through the sweat and slick to strum your clit. His eyes are heavy and half-lidded as he borders the precipice of his pleasure, nearly there, dragging you with him for once more before he will allow himself his release. 

His cock throbs and twitches as your body tightens and clenches under the tender assault of his fingers. You let your head fall to the side, pulling you under the fog of ecstasy. Erryk doesn’t need much longer, only a handful more thrusts, before he gives in. For a moment, he remains like that, half leaning over you, his eyes shit, catching his breath. Then he shifts, and you can feel the extra warmth between your thighs.

Erryk’s gentle as he relaxes his arms, lowering himself to rest on top of you. He lays his head across your chest, ear pressed against your skin to listen to your heartbeat as you run your fingers through his sweat-damp hair, keeping him close. He’ll pull his softening cock out of you soon enough, but at the moment, all he wants is a minute of peace like this. A moment to remember.

With deliberate movement, Erryk shifts back, drawing your body with him as he lays down on the bed once again, pulling you with him. Softly, his palms smooth over your bare back, your figure pressed to his as warm skin sticks together. And his fingertips lightly trace back and forth over your neck as you carefully adjust your head, resting it once more on his chest —whispering your affections.

WHEN RHAENYRA WISHES to return to Dragonstone, you are among the first she asks to accompany her back to her ancestral home. It is the growing rift between her and the Queen that drives the heir to the Iron Throne across Blackwater Bay. Erryk already knows when you find him sharpening his sword outside Prince Aegon’s chambers. But the King has made him and his brother the protectors of Prince Aegon and Aemond. If but a fortnight sooner in her decision, Erryk would have still been Rhaenrya’s sworn shield. He holds you, weeping, for as long as he dares and promises this will not be goodbye. And you pluck up the courage to kiss his cheek before returning to your chambers to ready your belongings. But as you glance back over your shoulder at Ser Erryk Cargyll, he cannot help but wonder if taking the oath was truly the right thing to do.

He comes to pledge fealty to Queen Rhaenrya. Offering the crown of her father —and grandfather— as he recites the vows of the Kingsguard once again. And after little Visenya’s pyre is naught but ashes and the first war council concludes, he comes to you in the dark of night sans armor —echoing a night nigh a decade ago. You open the door to your room, surprised to find him standing before you after all these years apart. 

“Erryk?” He steps to you. “I...what are you–” Chapped lips softly cut off your nervous rambling, and you close your eyes, sinking into his warmth, his smell, nigh all your worries quickly forgotten. He envelops you in every sense of the word, and you let yourself wonder if this is what home truly feels like. Alas, quickly —too quickly— he pulls away, resting his forehead on yours and a hand atop the one that rests on his shoulder. Everything fades as Erryk whispers your name. You kiss him back without thought of consequence, hands moving to the nape of his neck to draw him closer, unwilling to be parted again. Oaths be damned, Erryk thinks, if Rhaenrya must have his head for this offense, then he’ll gladly walk to the gallows. 

[House of the Dragon taglist: @batmomphd / @beelanie / @crispmarshmallow / @crvshnburnn / @darkravenqueen98 / @dollvi3e / @erzsebetrosztoczy / @fictionaldistraction / @gallimaufrea / @hb8301 / @hc-geralt-23 / @holysmokesblog / @idkjj04 / @instabull / @javisjeanjacket / @katie007123 / @ksziggy / @lady-stark-winter-rose / @lillianastras / @lostingoogletranslate / @lucyhotchner / @michellepreg / @midnightmuze / @mikariell95 / @misskatiewrites / @moonlightsspirit / @moshpot24x / @mrsragnarlodbrok / @m1ndbrand / @nenelysian / @nerdy4itall / @newtsniffles / @notbrookie / @paprikabadger / @poisonedsultana / @purestxblood / @qhbr2013 / @safe-within-the-stars / @sandronebabyy / @sapphirehearteyes / @savagemickey03 / @schniiipsel / @singular-itae / @thewintersnoozer / @watercolorskyy / @xcallmetaniax / @xiakahazou /@xinyourdreamsx / @xxgarden / @23victoria ] if your name is italicized, tumblr would not let me tag you. if you’d like to be added to my House of the Dragon taglist, or any other taglist, just let me know with this Google Form!

#ser erryk cargyll #erryk cargyll #ser erryk cargyll x reader #ser erryk x reader #erryk cargyll x reader #erryk x reader #house of the dragon #house of the dragon imagine #hotd imagine #hotd fanfic #ASOIAF #ASOIAF fanfic #my writing

[pasteloctoz]

The Honey to My Hive

Hey guys!

AJ really wanted some Honey and Guy angst so here it is ^^

Summary: Shifter!Honey needs to tell Guy that they’re a shifter and a part of the Shaw Pack, but they don't know how he'll react. They might have waited a bit too long.

A/n: Sorry for this taking so long 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️

Warnings: A lot of crying, Implied fight, suspected cheating (no actual cheating), angst, and FLUFF (I'm not writing a Guy fic without fluff)

Taglist for this fic: @lemonzestxo @annahhopee @deviantaj

//////////

You check the time. Seven o’clock. Time to get up.

Surprisingly your boyfriend was up early today (not really), and he wasn’t even a morning person. You get ready for the day, shaking your head a bit once you see how messy the counter of the bathroom was. The night before you and Guy had gone out for a date night. He was scrambling at the last minute to get his eyeliner right. As you tidied up the counter, you turned the shower on.

“I don’t have work today,” you thought to yourself, “So, I’m going to have to explain why I’m leaving early today. Again…”

These pack meetings were getting out of hand. Your work hours were already so abnormal because you worked at your pack’s business, Shaw Security. Now, it seemed like even on the weekends you didn’t have time to spend with your boyfriend. It was always, “I made plans with friends!” or “Work called me in again.” along with the occasional, “I’m just gonna go run some errands.”

He didn’t mind the extra time to do his own thing, but he would rather spend that time with you. Sometimes, you’d have to go to work right after a meeting too. When you got home later that day, you were too tired to do anything. You’d make dinner and then get to bed. Why did pack meetings always have to be on the weekends?

You brought this up to your pack Alpha, David, “I’m not changing the meeting time.”

“What? Why not?” You asked- You were adamant about not having to tell Guy about what you were.

With a low voice, he spoke “There are other people in the pack that work normal jobs. I’m not inconveniencing half the pack just because you’re having trouble.”

“David! I can’t just tell him I-” He cut you off before you could finish.

“I’m not saying you have to tell your partner. I know how hard that can be. It just… seems like the only option.” You were silent. You didn’t know what to say. He was right, you didn’t know whether or not you hated that. “This is your choice. I’m not moving the meeting time or dates.”

As you stepped out of the shower and slipped into your clothes you wondered whether or not you should tell him today. You watched your misty reflection in the mirror, you questioned whether it would be a mistake or not. How would he react? What would he say? You didn’t realize it but you had become distant. Guy was constantly wondering what was going on with you. He knew you’d never do it, but the thought crossed his mind.

“Are they cheating?”

//////////

You walk out into the living room and see your lover. Guilt filled your senses. You needed to tell him. You were going to tell him, but when? He was sprawled out on the couch, controller not too far from him. Looking at the TV, you saw a “game over” screen from whatever game he had been obsessed with recently. You made a cup of coffee and began to make breakfast.

About half an hour later you shook him awake to give him breakfast, “Mooorniiiing Honeeeeey~,” he cooed.

“Guy, it’s too early for that.”

“Can’t I just greet my lover in the morning? What's so wrong with that?” He grinned widely, noticing your mind was somewhere else. He didn’t say anything. Guy felt that he could just cheer you up like usual.

“Guy…” you whined into a sigh, "Just- eat your breakfast." He went to grab the plate from your hand but you didn’t realize how tight your grip was on the plate. “Sorry-” you let go of the plate, nervous.

“Is something wrong, Honey?” he asked finally while taking a bite of the sausage you had cooked for him. It was the perfect opportunity to make a pervy joke- but he wouldn’t. Something was bothering you. He could tell.

"I'm fine-"

“Don’t give me that, I know you’re not.” You were surprised. He was persistent but never pointed out that you were upset. Maybe it was because you hadn’t spent much time together recently. Maybe it was easier because he was growing distant, too.

You sighed, giving in to his question. “I got called into work again today.”

“What!?” you almost flinched at his response, though you knew he wasn’t angry at you, “They’re still not staffed enough?”

“Yeah…" you were too nervous. You missed the opportunity."

"Can't you just tell them you're not going?" He asked, desperate to spend time with you.

"No… they said they'd… fire me," you quickly tried to come up with a lie.

"Then quit."

//////////

He heard the keys jingle in the door of the apartment, indicating you were home. The last conversation you two had left a sour taste in both of your mouths. You loved Guy but you couldn't just 'quit' the pack. There was no plausible way you had made it through that fight without letting it slip what you were. Somehow, you still managed.

He rolled over in bed, trying to ignore your footsteps. You hesitated at the door, then stepped back to the living room. You couldn't tell whether or not you two were on talking terms since you'd never seen him like this. He had never actually been upset with you- and shown it. The truth was, you were both nervous to talk to each other. The two of you were under the impression that the other was angry at them.

Guy was now under the impression you might be cheating on him. He hadn't asked directly but everything about the situation told him otherwise. You were constantly out of the house on weekends and got super defensive when he asked you to skip. But maybe- just maybe, there was a chance. A chance it had all been a misunderstanding. The chance that you’d actually have an explanation this time- one that made sense.

You sat down on the couch and stared at the paper you carried everywhere with you. Almost as a reminder that you needed to tell Guy your secret. It was the papers you had signed in order to be able to tell Guy what you were. The department had left you with your own copy to remind you of the conditions, which you had reminded yourself of almost 300 times now. It had been weeks since you got these papers, and even longer since you had spoken to David.

His words rang through your head, "It just… seems like the only option.”

That's when the dam broke. You didn't know how, or even why exactly it happened. You just started crying. Your vision blurred and the salty shame rolled down your cheeks. You didn't expect things to go this way- and you definitely didn't want it to play out the way it had. What would you say now? How would you tell him? He wanted a plausible explanation, not some fantasy shit claiming "I'm a werewolf." He was hurt, too. How the hell would telling him something like that make anything better?

You thought about how it would go down so much- you took too much time thinking about it and never actually took the liberty to tell him. You imagined it would be on a day you both had off. The two of you would have just gotten home from a date night and he'd be cracking up about something random that happened while you were out together. This was one of the rare times he'd be able to see you with your walls down. A time when you weren't so defensive to his pervy jokes and were secretly admiring how excitedly he was talking to you. Though, it wasn't really a secret- he could read how your gaze glued to him fondly.

"How'd I get so lucky?" You'd think to yourself before sitting down on the couch.

The two of you would talk and crack up a bit more before you finally tried to get serious. As you attempted to tell him, he'd be unable to keep his smile from showing through his "very serious" face. Finally, you'd tell him and he'd just laugh- not in a dick way. In a way that says he doesn't understand what you mean. A smile would crack through your expression, and you'd say, "I'm serious!" And proceed to show him. Everything would be right in the world after that. It would be peaceful and perfect. It would be a comfortable kind of quiet.

Not like now. Not like the quiet it was now. All that could be heard in the apartment you two shared was your light sobs. Guy was still awake in his bed- the walls were so thin, he could hear the muffled sound of your sadness. Eventually, he pulled himself out of bed to make sure he was right about the sound. Sure enough, you were sitting on the couch, crying into your palms.

As soon as you hear the creaking of the door, you scramble to wipe the tears off your face. You look over to see your lover standing in the doorway to your room. There's a long moment of awkward silence. A few times, one of you would start saying something and then stop mid-sentence. Neither of you could figure out what to say. Usually, when there was silence over the room, Guy would be the one to break it- but not like this. He couldn't just make a joke and everything would be fine again.

"I'm sorry," you decided to speak up, "... I- I need to tell you something."

His heart skipped a beat. What were you going to say? Were his suspicions correct? Hopefully, you'd have an explanation that wasn't what he feared. "Okay…" He sat down on the couch, facing you. There was still a large distance between you two, and his presence was a little less than comforting.

How would you tell him? What would you say? It was now or never… "I… I'm- My work hasn't been understaffed."

His heart sank, but he felt the need to hear you out before storming off, "... but?" His tone was hopeful.

"But… I'm still technically going to work- it's complicated," you sigh frustrated, this was getting nowhere. You could feel his impatience, the feeling was mutual. "How do I say this- I'm a werewolf- but not like the ones from the movies, which I hate by the way-"

"What?" I said in a breathy voice, almost like he was holding back a laugh.

"I'm… a wolf shifter?"

"I know what you said-" his heart was pounding- and all that was the result was a utterly terrible excuse, “but… what?”

You held back tears and your voice broke as you spoke, "I- I can show you."

He was surprised, and he almost believed you for a second. He wasn't going to give in so easily, but he was willing to hear you out a little bit more. “Okay then. Show me.”

You stood up and made your way right in front of the small TV in the living room. It was an odd feeling- like a thousand eyes were on you when really there were just two. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, envisioning a happier scene. Your mind drifted to the last retreat you were able to attend with your pack. The nice, breezy hillsides and the mountains in the distance. The random tree every so often approaches just for you to dodge it. You could almost feel the cold air against your fur as you raced your friends and family to the other end of the fields. Everything faded away and you were just there- in the moment.

When you opened your eyes, you were only slightly shorter now. The first thing you saw was Guy’s surprised eyes. Immediately, you got cold feet and shifted back. Holding back tears, you spoke, "I- I should go-"

You make your way around the coffee table, but before you can leave, you feel Guy's familiar arms hug you from behind. There's a long moment of silence, but this time, more comfortable. You felt your emotions overwhelm and flow down your face. He held you close. He wasn’t sure why this was connected to your work, but he knew you’d explain that in due time. He had so many questions and honestly, a part of him still didn’t want to believe it. Though, that wasn’t what you needed right now- you needed someone to hold you and tell you it would all be okay.

You turn around in his arms and hold him close, repeating a small, peeping apology. By now, you had stained his shirt in tears and snot. Though, your lover continued to hold you. Today has been an exhausting day. It felt nice to touch each other again.

Once you had calmed down, you two were now cuddling on the chaise of the couch. He finally felt it was okay to ask his question, "So, whats been going on with work? Assuming it has something to do with you being a werewolf-"

"Shifter- I'm a wolf shifter."

"Okay, wolf shifter," He laughed, "Answer my question." He held you tightly, happily breathing in that smell he loved so much- the reason he stole your D.A.M.N. hoodies so much. (Which, by the way, always freaked you out. What if he went out in public????)

"Shifters associate with… packs," you pause, ready for him to make a joke related to packs. You weren't sure what, but when you looked up at him, he was just listening intently. You continued, "We help eachother out. So, we have pack meetings every few weeks. Just so happens to be on saturdays."

You thought about telling him that vampires and magic exist- and that there were even more shifters than just wolf shifters. That probably would've been an overload of information. Guy's soft voice broke through your thoughts, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I thought-" you swallowed the knot in your throat. "I thought you'd leave me." Tears filled your eyes, and you hid your face in his already stained chest.

"Hey, hey…" His voice was filled with love and affection, "I haven't left you. I won't leave you. You're the best thing that has happened to me honey."

"Promise?" Your small, wavering voice asked.

"Promise. You're the Honey to my hive."

//////////

Bonus:

Guy: Hey, Honey- random question.

Honey: Alright.

Guy: Do you have like- a pack Alpha? *Snickering at himself, not expecting an actual answer*

Honey: Yeah.

Guy: Wait- Really??? What??? Who?

Honey: You know my boss, David?

Guy: Wait- Shaw? Like- My sibling's, Fiancè, David Shaw????

Honey: Mhm

Guy: Like- The guy I always thought acted exactly like you, David Shaw????

Honey: Wuh- ...................uh yea, I guess...

Guy: I'm going to have a serious talk with [Redacted]-

Honey: I'm sure you will...

#see what i did there #Hehehe #redactedverse #redacted asmr #redacted audio #redacted guy #redacted honey #redacted david #redacted angel #redacted fanfic #☠️ fic updates

[mariacallous]

Shira Fishbach, a newly graduated physician, was sitting in an orientation session for her first year of medical residency when her phone started blowing up. It was June 24, 2022, and the US Supreme Court had just handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, nullifying the national right to abortion and turning control back to state governments.

Fishbach was in Michigan, where an abortion ban enacted in 1931 instantly came into effect. That law made administering an abortion a felony punishable by four years in prison, with no exceptions for rape or incest. It was a chilling moment: Her residency is in obstetrics and gynecology, and she viewed mastering abortion procedures as essential to her training.

“I suspected during my application cycle that this could happen, and to receive confirmation of it was devastating,” she recalls. “But I had strategically applied where I thought that, even if I didn't receive the full spectrum, I would at least have the support and the resources to get myself to an institution that would train me.”

Her mind whirled through the possibilities. Would her program help its residents go to an access-protecting state? Could she broker an agreement to go somewhere on her own, arranging weeks of extra housing and obtaining a local medical license and insurance? Would she still earn her salary if she left her program—and how would she fund her life if she did not?

In the end, she didn’t need to leave. That November, Michigan voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that made the 1931 law unenforceable, and this April, Governor Gretchen Whitmer repealed the ban. Fishbach didn’t have to abandon the state to learn the full range of ob-gyn care. In fact, her program at the University of Michigan, where she’s now a second-year resident, pivoted to making room for red-state trainees.

But the dizzying reassessment she underwent a year ago provides a glimpse of the challenges that face thousands of new and potential doctors. Almost 45 percent of the 286 accredited ob-gyn programs in the US now operate under revived or new abortion bans, meaning that more than 2,000 residents per year—trainee doctors who have committed to the specialty—may not receive the required training to be licensed. Among students and residents, simmering anger over bans is growing. Long-time faculty fear the result will be a permanent reshaping of American medicine, driving new doctors from red states to escape limitations and legal threats, or to protect their own reproductive options. That would reduce the number of physicians available, not just to provide abortions, but to conduct genetic screenings, care for miscarriages, deliver babies, and handle unpredictable pregnancy risks.

“I worry that we’re going to see an increase in maternal morbidity, differentially, depending on where you live,” says Kate Shaw, a physician and associate chair of ob-gyn education at Stanford Medicine. “And that’s just going to further enhance disparities that already exist.”

Those effects are not yet visible. The pipeline that ushers medical graduates through physician training is about a decade long: four years of school plus three to seven years of residency, sometimes with a two-year, sub-specialty fellowship afterward. Thus actions taken in response to the Dobbs decision—people eschewing red-state schools or choosing to settle in blue states long-term—might take a while to be noticeable.

But in this year, some data has emerged that suggests trends to come. In February, a group of students, residents and faculty surveyed 2,063 licensed and trainee physicians and found that 82 percent want to work or train in states that retain abortion access—and 76 percent would refuse to apply in states that restrict it. (The respondents worked in a mix of specialties; for those whose work would include performing abortions, the proportion intending to work where it remains legal soared above 99 percent.)

Then in April, a study from the Association of American Medical Colleges drawing on the first round of applications to residency programs after Dobbs found that ob-gyn applications in states with abortion restrictions sank by 10 percent compared to the previous year. Applications to all ob-gyn programs dropped by 5 percent. (Nationwide, all applications to residency went down 2 percent from 2021 to 2022.)

Last month, two preliminary pieces of research presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists uncovered more perturbations. In Texas—where the restrictive law SB8 went into effect in September 2021, nine months before Dobbs—a multi-year upward trend in applications to ob-gyn residency slowed after the law passed. And in an unrelated national survey, 77 percent of 494 third- and fourth-year medical students said that abortion restrictions would affect where they applied to residency, while 58 percent said they were unlikely to apply to states with a ban.

That last survey was conducted by Ariana Traub and Kellen “Nell” Mermin-Bunnell, two third-year medical students at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta—which lies within a state with a “fetal heartbeat” law that predates Dobbs and that criminalizes providing an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The law means that students in clinical rotations are unlikely to witness abortions and would not be allowed to discuss the procedure with patients. It also means that, if either of them were to become pregnant while at med school, they would not have that option themselves.

Before they published the survey, the two friends conducted an analysis of how bans would affect medical school curricula, using data collected in the summer of 2022. They predicted that only 29 percent of the more than 129,000 medical students in the US would not be affected by state bans. The survey gave them a chance to sample med students’ feelings about those developments, with the help of faculty members. They also founded a nonprofit, Georgia Healthcare Professionals for Reproductive Justice. “We're in a unique position, as individuals in the health care field but not necessarily medical professionals yet,” Traub says. “We have some freedom. So we felt like we had to use that power to try to make change.”

Ob-gyn formation is caught between opposing forces. Just over half of US states have passed bans or limitations on abortion that go beyond the Roe v. Wade standard of fetal viability. But the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a nonprofit that sets standards for residency and fellowship programs, has always required that obstetric trainees learn to do abortions, unless they opt out for religious or moral reasons. It reaffirmed that requirement after the Dobbs decision. Failure to provide that training could cause a program to lose accreditation, leaving its graduates ineligible to be licensed.

The conflict between what medicine demands and state laws prevent leaves new and would-be doctors in restrictive states struggling with their inability to follow medical evidence and their own best intentions. “I’m starting to take care of patients for the first time in my life,” says Mermin-Bunnell, Traub’s survey partner. “Seeing a human being in front of you, who needs your help, and not being able to help them or even talk to them about what their options might be—it feels morally wrong.”

That frustration is equally evident among trainees in specialties who might treat a pregnant person, prescribe treatments that could imperil a pregnancy, or care for a pregnancy gone wrong. Those include family and adolescent medicine, anesthesiology, radiology, rheumatology, even dermatology and mental health.

“I’m particularly interested in oncology, and I’ve come to realize that you can’t have the full standard of gynecologic oncology care without being able to have access to abortion care,” says Morgan Levy, a fourth-year medical student in Florida who plans to apply to ob-gyn residency. Florida currently bans abortion after 15 weeks; a further ban, down to six weeks, passed in April but has been held up by legal challenges. In three years of med school so far, Levy received one lecture on abortion—in the context of miscarriage—and no clinical exposure to the procedure. “It is a priority for me to make sure that I get trained,” she says.

But landing in a training program that encourages abortion practice is more difficult than it looks. Residency application is an algorithm-driven process in which graduates list their preferred programs, and faculty rank the trainees they want to teach. For years, there have been more applicants than there are spaces—and this year, as in the past, ob-gyn programs filled almost all their slots. What that means, according to faculty members, is that some applicants will end up where they do not want to be.

“Students and trainees do exert their preferences, but they also need to get a training spot,” says Vineet Arora, the dean for medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and lead author on the survey published in February. “Would they forgo a training spot because of Dobbs? That's a tall order, especially in a competitive field. But would they be happy about it? And would they want to stay there long term?”

That is not a hypothetical question. According to the medical-colleges association, more than half of residents stay to practice in the states where they trained. But it’s reasonable to ask whether they would feel that loyalty if they were deprived of training or forced to relocate. “If even a portion of the 80 percent of people who prefer to practice and train in states that don't have abortion bans follow through on those preferences, those states that are putting in abortion bans—which often have workforce shortages already—will be in a worse situation,” Arora says.

An ACOG analysis estimated in 2017 that half of US counties, which are home to 10 million women, have no practicing ob-gyn. When the health care tech firm Doximity examined ob-gyn workloads in 2019, seven of the 10 cities it identified as having the highest workloads lie in what are now very restrictive states. Those shortages are likely to worsen if new doctors relocate to states where they feel safe. The legal and consulting firm Manatt Health predicted in a white paper last fall: “The impact on access to all OB/GYN care in certain geographies could be catastrophic.”

Faculty are struggling to solve the mismatch between licensing requirements and state prohibitions by identifying other ways residents can train. They view it as protecting the integrity of medical practice. “Any ob-gyn has to be able to empty the uterus in an emergency, for abortion, for miscarriage, and for pregnancy complications or significant medical problems,” says Jody Steinauer, who is vice-chair of ob-gyn education at UC San Francisco.

Steinauer directs the Kenneth J. Ryan Residency Training Program, a 24-year-old effort to install and reinforce clinical abortion training. Even before Dobbs, that was hard to come by: In 2018, Steinauer and colleagues estimated that only two-thirds of ob-gyn residency programs made it routine, despite accreditation requirements—and that anywhere from 29 to 78 percent of residents couldn’t competently perform different types of abortion when they left training. In 2020, researchers from UCSF and UC Berkeley documented that 57 percent of these programs face limitations set by individual hospitals more extreme than those set by states.

Before Dobbs, the Ryan program brokered individual relocations that let trainees temporarily transfer to other institutions. Now it is working to set up program-to-program agreements instead, because the logistics required to visit for a rotation—the kind of arrangements Fishbach dizzily imagined a year ago—are more complex than most people can manage on their own. And not only on the visiting trainee: Programs already perform delicate calculations of how many trainees they can take given the number of patients coming to their institutions and the number of faculty mentors.

Only a few places have managed to institutionalize “away rotations,” in which they align accreditation milestones, training time, and financing with other institutions. Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Medicine is about to open a formal program that will accept 10 to 12 residents from restrictive states for a month each over a year. Oregon imposes no restrictions on abortion, and both the med school’s existing residents and the university’s philanthropic foundation supported the move.

“I'm very concerned about having a future generation that knows how to provide safe abortion care—because abortion will never go away; becoming illegal only makes it less safe,” says Alyssa Colwill, who oversees the new program and is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “There are going to be patients that are going to use unsafe methods because there's no other alternative. And providers are going to be placed in scenarios that are heartbreaking, and are devastating to watch.”

The accreditation council now requires programs that cannot train their own residents in abortion to support them in traveling somewhere else. But even at schools that are trying to accommodate as many learners as possible, trainees can attend for only a month—the maximum that fully enrolled programs in safe states can afford. After that, they must go back home, leaving them less-trained than their counterparts. As faculty look forward, they fear a slow spiral of decay in obstetric knowledge.

This isn’t imaginary: Already, research has shown that physicians practicing in red states are less likely to offer appropriate and legal procedures to treat miscarriages. Receiving abortion training, in other words, also improves medical care for pregnancy loss.

“Ultimately, I do not think there is capacity to train every resident who wants training,” says Charisse Loder, a clinical assistant professor of ob-gyn at the University of Michigan Medical School, who directs the program where Fishbach is training. “So we will have ob-gyn residents who are not trained in this care. And I think that is not only unfortunate, but puts patients in a position of being cared for by residents who don't have comprehensive training.”

Doing only short rotations also returns residents to places where their own reproductive health could be put at risk. Future physicians are likely to be older than in previous generations, having been encouraged to get life experience and sample other careers before entering med school. Research on which Levy and Arora collaborated in 2022 shows that more than 11 percent of new physicians had abortions during their training. Because of the length of training, they also may be more likely to use IVF when they are ready to start families—and some reproductive technologies may be criminalized under current abortion bans.

As a fourth and final-year psychiatry resident, Simone Bernstein had thought about abortion restrictions through the lens of her patients’ mental health, as she talked to them about fertility treatment and pregnancy loss. As cofounder of the online platform Inside the Match, she had listened to residents’ reactions to Dobbs (and collaborated on research with Levy and Arora). She had not expected the decision to affect her personally—but she is in Missouri, a state where there is an almost complete ban on abortion. And this spring, she experienced a miscarriage at 13 weeks of pregnancy.

“I was worried whether or not I could even go to the hospital, if my baby still had a heartbeat, which was a conversation that I had to have with my ob-gyn on the phone,” she says. “It didn’t come to that; I caught the baby in my hands at home, hemorrhaging blood everywhere, and the baby had already passed away. But until that moment, I didn't recognize the effects that [abortion restrictions] could have on me.”

This is the reality now: There exist very few places in the US where abortion is uncomplicated. Faculty and their trainees do not expect that to change, except for the worse. Staying in the field, and making sure the next generation is prepared, requires commitment that they will have to sustain for years.

“Part of the reason why I sought advanced training in abortion and contraception is because I think there will be a national ban,” says Abigail Liberty, an ob-gyn and fellow in her sixth postgraduate year at OHSU. “I think it will happen in our lifetime. And I see my role as getting as much expertise and training as I can now and providing care while I can. And then coming out of retirement, when abortion will be legal again, and training the next generation of physicians.”

[resistanceisfeudal]

Uncategorised finale thoughts:

The number of times I said "I dont care about this" out loud got a bit silly

Second only to "this doesn't feel like how the borg work"

I think Riker straight up forgot he has a kid to go home to

Jack reminiscing about all his dearest fondest memories from the last, what, two days? Absolutely sent me. 10/10

Something about the "Everyone gets a little something to do" structure of this borg cube heist is pleasing to me. I'll give them that

Presumably, thousands of people have died, right? This happy ending feels weird

Hey, Tuvok! Glad they bothered to remember that.

When was Shaw supposed to have recorded this message? Seriously. When? Post vadic taking over and pre borg taking over? Weird priorities.

Gabe really said "we can reconcile but only once you've saved the Galaxy three times"

"One year later" - cuts immediately to scene that in no way needed to happen one year later then cutting to a discontinuous scene that does. Editing. Guys, come on.

I cannot believe they're putting so much dramatic emphasis on the "engage/make it so/etc" thing. Like, that's a running joke in Discovery!

Laris died on the way back to her home planet.

Thoughts firmly in the salt category:

This whole season felt like an insult.

I saw some post using the phrase "Bury your gays" to describe this episode, which obviously had me worried for Seven and Raffi. But like, even though they survived what even is this? Why even include them? Why break them up if you're not going to do anything with that story beat?

M'talas system. What an obnoxious choice.

I still don't like Jack.

#picard spoilers #salt #star trek picard

[little-alien-duck]

the worlds most nichest post: my thoughts about what different doctor who characters rock climbing styles would be 

okay the point of this is to discuss dr who characters climbing vibes. Climbing is a sport with an INSANE amount of jargon so i’m gonna try to define all of it/explain my thought process but we’ll see how that goes. Also this is written in the order of vibes which is to say that there is no order at all. Also this is not exhaustive as there are characters i don’t have any specific climbing thoughts about (yet)

first category: characters who would primarily be top-ropers

top-roping is what people often think of when they think of climbing. you’re wearing a harness which is attached to the top of the wall via long rope. there is another person on the other end of the rope belaying you (catching you if you fall). this kind of climbing is more technical and endurance based.

-liz shaw would be an EXCELLENT top-roper. super analytical and extremely determined. she would absolutely CRUSH long, technical problems. Specifically i think she’d be really good at problems with crimps (little tiny holds where you’re only using your fingertips, you have to have really good technique for these holds) and slab problems (where the top of the wall is titled back from the bottom, really balanced based and again, super technique driven)

-ian and barbara would top rope together i think. They work together on the problems and it’s very cute. They’re both SO proud when susan sends something

-tbh i think five would really enjoy belaying people. You have to be mentally engaged bc you’re watching the person you’re belaying but it’s also an easy repetitive motion which can be kinda soothing? It’s also just the ultimate Parent activity. He would be so proud of his kids (though tegan would definitely prefer bouldering over top roping. Nyssa would be really into top roping i think. Adric would focus way too much on the grade (how difficult the climb is rated) and would get really frustrated if he could do one 5.10 but then fell on a 5.9 and for this reason would have a lot of trouble actually finishing anything. He knows all the terminology and is extremely pretentious about it but spends all his time commenting on other people’s attempts instead of doing any himself)

-jo: she’s also just like a great climbing buddy. super positive and cares more about having fun than sending anything (more ppl in the gym should have this attitude)  

category two: boulderers

Bouldering (my fav type in full transparency but i’ll try not to be TOO biased) is climbing on lower walls without a harness. The max wall height is generally about 15ft and if you fall, you land on a mat. If you do this outside you bring multiple (!!!) crash pads which are a little smaller than a mattress each and position them under you so if you fall that’s where you land. Outside you ALWAYS have a spotter but inside you rarely do if ever. In bouldering the individual moves are generally harder than in top-roping in that they require more power and are riskier but they’re generally less techy and far less endurance based  

-charley “i’m a champion faller” pollard. self-explanatory.

-ace mcshane bc the lesbian vibes here are off the charts. seven would absolutely try to coach her on like proper technique which she completely ignores. She has the worst footwork in the world which has torn holes in the toes of her shoes bc she’s brute forcing her way through every move. LOVES dynos (short for “dynamic move” essentially it’s just a jump. in a true dyno there is a moment where no part of your body is touching the wall) and is incapable of static climbing (the opposite of dynamic climbing, slow/deliberate movements)

-bill: she isn’t actually bouldering really, she is mostly hanging out in the bouldering area bc there are cute girls here (bouldering is the favorite climbing style of douchey gym bros and women who want to show them up. There are girls doing pull-up competitions here)

-twelve was there at the beginning of bouldering in hueco tanks texas he told me himself :) this was the prime era of climbing being hippie shit so obvs he was there smoking pot with them

-eight: likes the physicality of bouldering. Also he would be doing show-offy moves like campusing (climbing without using your feet so essentially doing pull-ups through the whole climb) and knee-bars (literally jamming your knees into a good hold and using the tension between you knees and feet to keep yourself at rest, in a good knee-bar you can fully let go with your hands and just hang there). would also be really into buddy climbs (boulder problems done by two people working together. you literally have to step on/hang off of your partner and vice versa. They’re risky for obvious reasons and you only ever do them with someone you really trust. eight would love them)  

Category three: lead climbing

Lead climbing is like top-roping in that you have a harness and someone belaying you except that instead of the rope being attached to the top of the wall, there are clips attached to the wall at intervals throughout the climb. As you ascend, you clip yourself in. that means that if you fall while 3ft above your last clip you fall six feet (length of rope above the clip doubled bc you are now dangling below it). Your belayer has to be paying more attention than in top-roping and it is possible to “deck” (hit the ground) if you fall from low enough

-nine and rose would be an ICONIC lead duo (she has to have an anchor when belaying him so she doesn’t go flying if he falls but still can you imagine)

-martha jones would CRUSH lead problems like they’re NOTHING. Super techy problem with little pinches and edges and insane footwork? She eats that for BREAKFAST. Essentially my reasoning here is the same reasoning i gave for liz with top-roping but martha is more of an adrenaline junkie than liz so lead over top-roping

-sarah jane would also be super into lead but would hate climbing with harry bc he’s way over protective (he’s a terrible belayer bc in an effort to make sure he is on top of the job he takes in way too much slack on the rope, accidentally making it harder for sarah to clip in)

-three and delgado!master make a really good lead duo which comes in handy during some contrived circumstance after one of the master’s plans goes awry and they’ve gotta lead climb to save the earth or whatever

cat five: free soloing  

This is like bouldering only stupider (i’m biased). Free soloing is the kind of climbing that other rock climbers refer to as reckless. essentially it’s bouldering except that you climb way higher than that 15 foot ceiling i mentioned earlier. You climb like things that really should be top-rope or lead routes without a harness or any other kind of equipment (sidenote: soloing refers to a lack of safety equipment not whether or not you’re climbing with other people)

-tbh like academy era one would be into this shit. It’s risky as hell and you can be extremely pretentious about it, perfect combo for him

-jack bc he literally can’t die so might as well am i right

Deep water free soloing

This is free soloing but slightly less dangerous bc if you fall, you land in water (any kind of soloing can only be done outside for obvious reasons)

-clara: it’s all of the risk and thrills of free soloing but sexier. self-explanatory.

Speed climbing:

Literally exactly what it sounds like. This kind of climbing only exists for competition and its objective is speed and speed only. It is the only type of climbing where speed is an objective at all and if you saw climbing in the olympics, it was probably this

-ten: noodle man. look at him. he’s perfect for this. long limbs, no body weight, and the hyperactivity of a child with a caffeine addiction.

Other misc. Thoughts:

-Leela would obviously be good at climbing as an activity though i’m not sure about climbing as a sport. She would rainbow (use any holds instead of the ones for the route she was specifically climbing) literally every problem bc “the holds are there, why should I not use them?” just generally would have a difficult time with the rules of climbing as a sport not bc she doesn’t understand them, she just thinks they’re stupid

-missy would never climb as this is obviously beneath her BUT she gives really good climbing advice. She will insult you while doing it tho

-mel rotates between bouldering and top-roping to be more well-rounded (and therefore healthier) and would use the hangboard a lot (like a pull-up bar but designed to mimic small edges on climbing holds)  

#I will probably continue adding to this #bc I'm insanely invested in it #can u tell I'm a rock climber with a dr who hyper fixation? #doctor who #dw