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marlynnofmany · 3 months

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Accidental Training

The animal cargo of the day was large and honking, but it seemed well-mannered enough. Picture a sea lion with tiny scales instead of fur, dark gray on top and speckled pale underneath. Bobbing its head in curiosity at the cargo bay and the people in it. The squid-shaped clients maneuvering the cage into place didn’t rate a second look, but they were probably familiar and boring.

Captain Sunlight, with her lemon-yellow scales and dignified lizardperson demeanor, got a lot of attention. She ignored the honks as she finished business with the clients.

Then I stepped up to see what kind of creature I’d be in charge of for this trip, and it exploded in excitement like a 500-pound puppy, dancing in place on its flippers and honking up a storm.

One of the clients said, “It does that sometimes. Have a good flight,” then waved a tentacle and left.

Captain Sunlight squinted at the cage like she would have liked to cover her earholes but wanted to put on a strong front. Instead she looked up at me and said, “Good thing this is a short journey. It seems to like you, though.”

“I see that,” I said, waggling my fingers at it, which just made it honk louder. “Did they tell us a name for it?”

She consulted the information on her tablet while the excitable creature continued to hop around. “Looks like his name is Freckles.”

“That’s adorable,” I said. “Hi, Freckles! Are you a good boy? Yes? Are you so excited that you could break a weaker travel cage than this? Yes you are!” I pressed my hands to my knees in classic talking-to-puppy fashion, which did nothing for the noise levels in the room.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Captain Sunlight told me. “The hover setting for the cage is turned off; it’s clamped in place; the food and supplies are here; we’ll take off shortly.”

“Got it,” I said with a wave as she left. There was a chance that Freckles would calm down if I left too, but he seemed equally likely to make lonely wails if left alone, and anyways this was the reason I’d been hired in the first place. Nobody else on the courier ship knew the first thing about animals. “All right, Freckles, are you ready to travel through space? Is that new for you? You look like you’re in good shape. Let’s aim for no medical emergencies on this trip.”

Freckles honked once, which I took for a yes. He bobbed up and down like a dog inviting another to play.

I copied the move, and he did it again. I lifted one foot, and he did the same, honking happily.

“Good boy! I’ll bet you make your people proud by holding still for tooth-brushing, don’t you? Lemme see your teeth. Ahhh.” I opened my mouth as an example.

With a similar noise, the clever animal copied the motion. His teeth looked clean enough, with none discolored or missing, and he even stuck his tongue out for a good look when prompted. I found a nearly-empty container of treats among the supplies, and rewarded him for good behavior.

“Good job. What else should we check? Can you show me your flipper? And turn like this? Very good. And like that?”

He could and did, visibly happy with the praise and treats. He was a little calmer now that there was something specific to do.

The engines started up with a quiet rumble, which caused him a moment of anxiety, but he was happily distracted when I started echoing his honks back at him.

If this had been an inanimate cargo, I would have left the cargo bay already, but I had nothing more important to do. My job today was to keep an eye on this guy. So I prompted him to do more beneficial tricks, then when the treats ran out, I decided the container made a fine toy.

“Hey look, a hat,” I told him as I put the lid on my head. The container was a mostly-round thing that twisted apart into two equal halves. That meant Freckles got a hat too. And he was so happy about it when I stuck it between the bars.

Only one coworker walked past the door while I was entertaining the cargo: Mur the Strongarm, who looked much like the people who’d brought Freckles onboard. Mur paused, saying nothing. Freckles ignored him, dancing from side to side while wearing his jaunty new hat.

I held my own pose, one foot in the air, arms spread. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” Mur said. “Nothing at all.” He continued on his way.

“You’re welcome to join us!” I called after him.

“No thanks. I’m good.”

The short trip was pretty fun. Freckles was particularly taken by the discovery that his honks echoed when the container covered his snout. He could even balance it on his flipper like a hand, taking it on and off to test the difference in sounds. When I did the same and then gave him another treat from a fresh container, he pranced in place and slapped his flippers together.

As it turned out, he was good at repeating patterns too. We did some clapping games of the sort that human toddlers love, then I found a ball among the supplies and we were all set for the rest of the trip. It was even the squishy kind that glorped between the bars instead of bouncing off, which was perfect. We played an entertaining game of catch until the engine noises changed into landing sounds.

I was honestly surprised the trip was over. The captain came back in to meet the clients who were here for pickup, and I made sure to pack away everything into the supplies. Freckles made a sad honk when I took the container back, but I gave him one last treat, and that made up for it.

These two clients looked much like the last, though one was carrying a bag from the shopping trip they’d done on the way here. They were also more talkative than the other ones.

“…Had to stop by the battery shop for three different kinds of chargers, then the feed store for more of the special diet that our oldest animal takes, and there was so much traffic!” The one typing information into the payment screen didn’t stop for breath, waving several tentacles as she talked.

“I’m just glad there was a mask attachment of the right size in stock,” said the one with the bag. “Getting Freckles his air vitamins is going to be hard enough as it is.” He pulled something from the bag: a long tube with a concave shape at one end. “What do you think, Freckles? Can this be easy for once?”

Freckles honked, which could have meant anything.

I looked at the mask. “What does he usually do when you have to give him air vitamins?”

The Strongarm sighed like a deflating balloon. “He just doesn’t want it anywhere near his face. He seems to think it’s a game to avoid it, which is fun for him but incredibly tiresome for everyone else.”

“Have you tried making it a different game?” I asked, starting to smile.

“Like what?”

“Can I see that for a moment?” When he passed it over, I got the container of treats and rattled it for Freckles’ attention, then took a position in front of the cage. I held the mask in front of my own face. “Hey Freckles. Honk honk.”

He of course honked happily and shoved his nose through the bars, eager for his turn. I settled it against his snout — perfect fit — and he honked away. I pulled the mask back and gave him a treat, then turned to beam at the clients.

“What! He’s never done that!” said the one.

“How did you train him to do that?” demanded the other.

“Honestly, I wasn’t trying to,” I admitted. “But he’s very smart. He seems to like copying motions, and he’s definitely food-motivated.”

“Oh yes, those are the good treats,” said the client with the bag. “The new kind that my cousin’s book club host recommended.”

I handed back the mask. “Then you might keep these in reserve for important things, like rewarding him for taking his air vitamins. Though given how much he’s enjoying the new game, you might not even need to.”

The clients were overjoyed. They thanked me, thanked Captain Sunlight, and showered Freckles with praise as they unclamped the cage and started up its hover function. We helped them down the ramp, then they waved off any further assistance on the way to a flatbed skimmer with a loading arm. The guy with the bag of shopping struggled just a bit managing all the supplies too, but neither Captain Sunlight nor I were about to insult a Strongarm by suggesting they needed help carrying something. So we just waved our goodbyes and made sure they got everything loaded onto the skimmer before we closed the cargo bay door.

“Bye, Freckles!” I called as it closed. I heard one last honk, which I decided sounded excited about the skimmer ride to come.

“Well,” said Captain Sunlight. “That was fortunate. Good job.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think they’ll all enjoy the vitamin process more now, especially Freckles.”

We walked through the empty cargo bay to the hall, where Paint met us, with confusion on her scaly orange face and a jar lid in her hands.

“Mur said to give this to you?” she said, holding it out to me.

I laughed. “Mur thinks he’s very funny.” I dutifully set it on my head. “Yes, the height of fashion. But I think it would look better on him. You can tell him I said so.”

“Okay,” Paint said, taking the lid back. “Why?”

Captain Sunlight huffed a laugh and headed off to the cockpit while I began the explanation of how I’d spent the recent flight.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

#simple one this time #sometimes the job is just Dealing With Animals #and all that that may entail #my writing #The Token Human #humans are weird #haso #hfy #eiad #humans are space orcs

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a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives · 18 days

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Here’s Why Everyone Is Talking About A Pirate Drama That Ended In 2017

Black Sails has been described as Game of Thrones with pirates

If Black Sails kicked off in 2020 instead of 2014, it certainly would have thrown fuel on the raging fire that was TikTok’s sea shanty obsession. The reality is that this TV series aired on Starz from 2014 for four seasons, coming to a close in 2017. So why is everyone talking about it now, a decade after it began?

Black Sails is coming to Netflix very soon, triggering its fans to emerge from the woodwork and promote the show online. ‘I am SO excited for people who’ll be watching this show for the first time,’ one user wrote, with many others recommending the series to fans of Game of Thrones. With House of the Dragon still a few months away, here’s why you should tune into Black Sails this month.

New To Netflix: Black Sails

What Is Black Sails About?

Black Sails transports us back to 1715 – aka the Golden Age of Piracy. Set in New Providence, an island in the Bahamas, we meet the feared Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) who brings a new younger crew member into the fold (‘Long’ John Silver, played by Luke Arnold) as his crew continues to fight for survival and negotiate their space on the island.

Is Black Sails Based On A Book?

Black Sails was written as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel, Treasure Island (1883).

Is It Based On A True Story?

While Black Sails isn’t based on a true story, it does trace real events. The first season focuses on the hunt for the Spanish treasure galleon Urca de Lima, a real ship that sank in 1715 near Fort Pierce in Florida (where it still lies). Season two traces the fallout of Urca de Lima’s treasure being stranded in Florida, strictly guarded by Spanish soldiers while pirates prowl the shores. The subsequent third and fourth seasons then look at the war for the control of New Providence between the pirates and the British Empire – a la Pirates of the Caribbean.

Likewise, some of the characters are based on real people. Real pirates fictionalised in the show include:

Blackbeard (Ray Stevenson)

Anne Bonny (Clara Paget)

Benjamin Hornigold (Hakeem Kae-Kazim)

Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz)

Charles Vane (Zach McGowan)

Ned Low (Tadhg Murphy)

Israel Hands (David Wilmot)

Meanwhile, Captain Woodes Rogers (Luke Roberts) – who represents the British Empire in seasons three and four – is based on a real English sea captain and slave trader, and subsequently the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas.

Was Captain Flint A Real Pirate?

Captain Flint is a fictional character who was first created by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island. He has since appeared in multiple works of fiction, including A. D. Howden Smith’s Porto Bello Gold (1924), John Drake’s Flint and Silver (2008), Pieces of Eight (2009) and Skull and Bones (2010), and J. M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy (1904).

Where Was Black Sails Filmed?

Black Sails was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, mainly inside at Cape Town Film Studio. Because the real city is so different today than it was in the 1700s, Nassau – the capital of the Bahamas, located on New Providence island – was built from scratch in a studio over a period of four months, as were two large water tanks to house the series’ two ships. Some scenes were filmed outside in and around Cape Town when new terrain was required, but most of the series was filmed on set.

The Cast

The cast of Black Sails is incredibly large, but key characters to know include:

Toby Stephens as James McGraw/Captain Flint

Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie

Luke Arnold as ‘Long’ John Silver

Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max

Tom Hopper as William ‘Billy Bones’ Manderly

Zach McGowan as Charles Vane

Toby Schmitz as Jack Rackham

Clara Paget as Anne Bonny

Mark Ryan as Hal Gates

Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Mr. Scott

Sean Cameron Michael as Richard Guthrie

Louise Barnes as Miranda Hamilton/Barlow

Rupert Penry-Jones as Thomas Hamilton

Luke Roberts as Woodes Rogers

Ray Stevenson as Edward Teach

David Wilmot as Israel Hands

Harriet Walter as Marion Guthrie

The Trailer

Interested? Here’s the trailer for a taste of the action.

youtube

WATCH

All episodes of Black Sails are streaming on Netflix from 17 April 2024.

Source: Country & Town House

#black sails #black sails on netflix #luke arnold #tom hoppers #jessica parker kennedy #clara paget #toby schmitz #zach mcgowan #luke robert jr #hannah new #hakim kae kazim #louise barnes #nick boraine #rupert penry jones #ray stevenson #david wilmot #sean cameron michael #Youtube

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nellasbookplanet · 11 months

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Book recs: sapphic romance for people who like Hannibal and Interwiev with the Vampire, aka fucked up and toxic

Enemies to lovers, lovers to enemies, fucked up power imbalances, manipulations, plain bad people doing bad things - if you like your sapphics a little bit dark check out these books!

Some of these end happily, some tragically, some are more will-they-won’t-they than full on romance, some focus on healing while others focus on Getting Worse, but they’re all very juicy.

For details on the books, continue under the readmore

Feel free to recommend more books in tags and comments!

Othe book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding

Really cool sci-fi worldbuilding

Mermaid books

Vampire books

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

Young Adult. tumblr classic back in the day! A trainer of sea monsters genetically engineered to protect ships from pirates is kidnapped by, you guessed it, pirates, one of whom happens to be very hot.

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

While my feelings on Escaping Exodus were mixed, it cannot be denied that the dynamic between the two leads and the way they go from childhood best friends to enemies on different sides of a class and power struggle is very delicious. It also features some really cool worldbuilding of living, alien generation spaceships and the human culture that has developed inside them.

The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

This book fucked me up when I read it. It’s weird, it's gross, there’s So Much Viscera, there are literally no men, it has living spaceships and biotech but in the most horrific way imaginable. Had I to categorize it I would call it grimdark military sf. It’s an experience but not necessarily a pleasant one.

The Lumionus Dead by Caitlin Starling

Possibly one of the most unsettling books I've ever read, and definitely the most claustrophobic. Gyre, a caver on an alien planet, ventures into the dark and dangerous underground, guided only by a woman who has no compunctions on using and manipulating Gyre as she sees fit to obtain her secretive goals down in the caves.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

On the less toxic and fucked up side of the spectrum, but still pretty juicy. A princess held captive by her own brother, who wants to see her dead, tries to trick a servant into helping her escape, but with undeniable attraction growing between them and the servant having her own goals things quickly get complicated.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Listen, if you're on tumblr I probably don't need to explain this book to you. Trust me when I say it's exactly as good as people claim. There are indeed lesbian necromancers in space (quite a few of them, actually), but also incredible worldbuilding that keeps growing with every new installment, interesting political commentary, morally complex characters with fucked up dynamics, and well-thought out plot that keeps you guessing until the last.

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

Listen, sometimes you just want to read about a vicious bisexual lady professor who murders predatory men and falls for the woman trying to solve her crimes and that's okay.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The source of not one but two movie adaptations, Fingersmith is a story of trickery and manipulation as a young conwoman works to gain the trust of a heiress. I don’t want to say much more because the twists are some of the best parts, but trust that it doesn’t take long for things to get real complicated between them.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Tourraine, who was stolen as a child and trained as a soldier for the empire that conquered her home, is recruited by Luka, the future leader of the conquering country to route out a rebellion. A game of twisted loyalties and attraction is soon to develop.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Again, if you're on tumblr (or twitter, apparently) you have in all likelihood already heard of this one, too. Just like GtN it lives up to all expectations. It features two women on different sides of the titular time war, who starts leaving letters for the other to find as they chase each other through time. A quick read, slightly surreal, and absolutely beautiful, I cannot recommend this enough. Pretty mild on the fucked-up-scale.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

In a world where the rich drink blood to preserve their health, Marion applies to a position as bloodmaid in a notorious noble house far from home. Suddenly showered with luxuries and debauchery, Marion soon gains the interest and favor of Lisavet, countess of the house. A fresh take on the idea of vampires.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

A young pregnant woman flees a cult that left her body strange and changing in terrifying ways. Hidden from the world, she does her best to raise her children while trying to find out the truth of the cult and being pursued by a hunter in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. In no way a romance, but certainly has some fucked up sapphic shit going on.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

After her home was conquered by another land, Baru is determined to join their forces and climb the ladder until she’s in a position to free her people. To prove her loyalty, she’s sent to bring order and quell rebellion in another conqured region. Baru is set to succeed, but also has to struggle with her feelings for Tain Hu, a duchess of this region.

Ice Massacre (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai trilogy) by Tiana Warner

Young Adult. A small island is forced to defend itself against intruding forces of vicious mermaids. As all men trying to fight them get lured in by their siren song, a ship filled with warrior girls is sent instead. However one of them, Meela, had a complicated past with one of the mermaids, which is brought back to life when the two reunite on the battlefield. This one is also available as an ongoing webcomic!

Borderline (The Arcadia Project trilogy) by Mishell Baker

Urban fantasy mystery. Very much of the will-they-won’t-they variety, with a bisexual lead who has a male love interest as well as a female without falling into the typical pitfalls of a love triangle. Plays around with various fucked up power dynamics. A year after a failed suicide attempt that cost her both her legs, Millie is recruited by a secretive organisation that works to control traffic to and from Arcadia, the land of faries. Bear in mind that while the sapphic-ness is present throughout, it has a much smaller presence in book 1 than books 2 and 3.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

The Hunger by Whitley Strieber

Ancient vampire is on the hunt for a new partner, none of which tend to last long.

Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings

Precursor of the famous Killing Eve tv series. While I don’t know much of the books, I did enough research to know this: their endings differ.

#next list will be either vampires or mermaids #(probably mermaids bc i have a couple of vampire books i hope to finish first)#book recs #nella talks books #wlw books #I've been playing around with the layout of these posts and you know what i like this #might edit the first to rec posts to the same layout to make everything nice and cohesive

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squeakadeeks · 2 months

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Transient lore overview

Figured at this point I have enough separate OC verses, let alone actual OCs themselves that its worthwhile to make big overview pages that describe all of their settings, characters, themes, connections, etc.

Transient is a OCverse i've been working on for a few years now ft. Sulu, Function, Felis, Splish, and Alpha in a fantasy space setting. In my head the intended format is an episodic cartoon comedy series, akin to things like regular show, futurama, adventure time, etc with no overarching ""plot"" per se, just following characters as they interact and develop.

Sulu:

Sulu is the main character, he travels throughout sea-space solving problems and helping people however he can. He is very competent and gives things his all until a problem is solved.

He spends a large portion of his time alone, but he frequently links up from his friends Felis and Splish when the need arises. He has a warm, comforting, friendly personality but doesn't often stick around long enough to form deeper bonds. Hes akin to a benevolent trader joes staffer that gives you a soothing sense of ease as he guides you where to the munster cheese is stocked, but like two ships passing never again will your two paths meet.

Sulu as a character is very dedicated and compassionate, and is genuinely motivated in helping others. That being said, there is a deeper layer to his unwavering dedication. Its a two-pronged coping strategy and distraction from his own struggles. He often ignores any ill that happens to him as a result of obsessively working and puts off addressing his own problems to an extremely problematic degree. His struggles with depression and self neglect end up devolving into the primary conflict.

Function:

Function is the closest thing to an antagonist the series has. Function is an entity originally from the realm of pure math that got wedged in what he refers to as "the meat world" (ie the physical world). By nature his intent is to increase disorder without bound. He's still adjusting to being stuck in the physical world and doesnt always understand the harm he's causing by driving chaos into systems. Although most of the time he is still uncomfortable in having a physical form, he adores thematics and getting attention from others. He has an expressive, energetic, rambunctious personality.

At first he poses a serious risk as a genuinely harmful figure in a cotton-candy marshmallow world, and Sulu has to frequently neutralize his actions. This causes a comical nemesis-esc relationship between the two, but in time as he adjusts and copes with his situation he settles down more into a goofy, campy 90's anime rival archetype and the two form a more genuine bond. He becomes great friends with Alpha, forming a "chaos crew" as the two largely goof around and make the most of things. He has a significantly hard time processing emotional turmoil as he's still trying to wrap his head around basic day-to-day functioning, let alone complicated interpersonal conflicts.

Alpha, Felis, Splish:

The other core cast consists of Felis, Splish the fish, and Alpha.

Felis is Sulu's current best friend, as they spend the most time together and work in tandem often. Felis is genuinely an out-of-place-astronaut, as all the other denizens are aquatic creatures. Felis has a classic goofy cat-like personality, they like to be entertained and pal around, but can struggle with serious matters and completing long-form tasks.

Splish is a space safety ranger and works hard to keep everyone safe and happy and within the rules. He employs Sulu's help on the very frequent occasion when he is out of his depth. He doesn't really comprehend serious matters at all, as he belongs squarely to the "marshmallow head" class of sea-space critters. (Felis is capable of processing serious things, but often elects to not engage)

Alpha is a character from Sulu's past, in particular his former closest friend. She and Sulu were incredibly close in their teens and early 20s, but she eventually lost contact as he splintered off and isolated. Alpha gets frustrated with his lack of care towards his own health and functioning, especially how it affects others around him, seeing it as not taking proper responsibility for himself. She clicks with Function not just because they both have very similar bombastic personalities, but also because she admires how dedicated Function is to adjusting to his new circumstances and improve himself. She is wickedly driven, she loves new experiences and exciting things and is overall incredibly active, but can be somewhat introverted. sort of a "i want to do cool things, but only with the 2 people i have allowed into my inner circle". Holds grudges like the dickens.

Setting:

The setting itself is supposed to be a fusion between underwater and space, there are lots of fish, whales, coral formations etc scattered throughout open space. The various planets act more reefs, collecting lots of life and activity. From afar things look more like ""space"" with planets, stars, galaxies, etc, but the actual deinzens tend to resemble either fish or cartoony space aliens. The overall palette is very bright, colorful, and pastel tones to reflect the cheery, cotton-candy environment.

Concept:

Most of the types of problems Sulu, Felis and Splish work on are lighthearted or comical in nature, such as chauffeuring constellations around, babysitting in a stellar nursery, fishing for asteroids, a mediating in a break up between a binary star system, trying to fix the cowlic generated by the hairy ball theorem, cleaning up a milk spill in a galaxy, a magnetar that keeps demagnetizing people's credit cards, things spontaneously gaining more degrees of non-trivial rotational symmetry, neutron star bowling, and other sorts of whimsical space/math problems.

Every so often something more serious pops up, like a quasar posing a legitimate threat or instability in the laws of physics such as a power on a spatial dependence term flickering back and forth, but 90% of the time its cartoony situations, a la regular show. Another equally descriptive statement would be "Cyberchase but with 30-40yr old queer anime people."

Elephant in the room, Sulu is indeed intended to be an outlet/projection/expression of my own struggles with depression and how severe depressive episodes get entangled with my work and social life, but on a more surface level I also enjoy working on this thing because 1) i like drawing fish, 2) i love using vivid colors, and 3) I love being obnoxious about math and physics jokes while stuck in the throes of a physics phd myself.

#my art #transient #committing myself to the terrifying ordeal of actually talking about OCverses by formally establishing characters and lore #whilst trying not to perish from embarrassment

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incorrectsmashbrosquotes · 2 years

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Having finally watched Treasure Planet all the way through for the first time, I vote that we take more classic stories and just fucken set them in space with starships that are actual ships but space cause that aesthetic is killer.

- King Arthur the Space Opera where all the Knights of the Round Table are various aliens and have non-copyrighted Lightsabers.

- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but Captain Nemo captains a hyper-advanced stealth ship, endlessly exploring the stars.

- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but he and Jim travel the galaxy in a rickety old jury-rigged escape pod.

- Dracula in Space

Thoughts? Any ideas of your own?

#incorrect super smash bros #super smash bros #incorrect quotes #smash bros #Treasure Planet #Treasure Island #King Arthur #Space Opera #20000 leagues under the sea #Captain Nemo #Adventures of Huckleberry Finn #Star Wars #Huck Finn #Jim #Dracula #Dracula in Space

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himboskywalker · 4 months

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Heyy boo, do you have a book that is not star wars related that you wish you could read for the first time or reread all the time?

I am searching for books recommendations and I am pretty open about every genre, maybe not horror but everything else is totally fine.

My number one book recommendation that I will always obnoxiously shove in everyone’s faces is Lord of the Rings. It is my heart and soul and favorite thing in the world and if you’ve never read the trilogy I highly recommend it. But I also have quite a few other recs!

Anything written by Andy Weir. “The Martian” is his best known work,which they made the Matt Damon movie of,and while I do love it “Project Hail Mary” is my favorite of his and one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time.

I loved “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” which was Christopher Paolini’s sci-fi debut a couple years ago but he just came out with its prequel “Fractal Noise” and I liked it even more.

For some good old fashioned space opera brilliance I recommend the “Final Architecture” trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The last book of the series just came out and I DEVOURED it. Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time,Ruin,and Memory are also phenomenal, you really just can’t go wrong with him.

For more space opera and politics I highly recommend Arkady Martine,she DEBUTED with “Memory Called Empire” which won all sorts of awards. The sequel also recently came out but I haven’t gotten the chance to read it.

I’m in the middle of reading Pierce Brown’s “Red Rising” saga,which I would describe as adult Hunger Games,and have thoroughly enjoying it as well!

For fantasy I love Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree” and “A Day of Fallen Night”. You’ll get varying opinions of what to read first,I read Priory when it first came out so that’s my biased opinion.

I’m a massive fan of “She Who Became the Sun” by Shelly Parker-Chan and their sequel “He Who Drowned the World” and I want it to go on record I read SWBS when it first came out and before it blew up *flips hair*

R.J. Barker’s “Tide Child” trilogy is awesome,first book of that series is “The Bone Ships.” It’s high seas fantasy with dragon bone ships and epic war and amazing world building.

I always highly recommend “Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir and now also the rest of the books in the series. I think the usual pitch is lesbian necromancers in space.

I cannot cannot recommend “The Shadow of the Gods” by John Gwynne enough! It’s quintessential epic fantasy told as a Norse epic and it’s in my top five of modern fantasy books.

While I have serious beef with Song of Achilles just like our fellow obikin Will,I did love and devour Madeline Miller’s “Circe.” In every way I think it’s her superior work.

I can’t recommend fantasy without recommending “The Grace of Kings” by Ken Liu. His entire series will blow your socks off,but the first book won nearly every award for fantasy books that have ever existed.

I’m a huge fan of R.F Kuang’s “The Poppy War” series although I’ve heard this one is a contentious recommendation. I think this series is hate or love it but if for whatever reason you don’t vibe with this series I also highly recommend Kuang’s “Babel.”

If you want something a little less well known I could chew through drywall over Simon Jimenez’s “The Spear Cuts Through Water.” It was in my top five of 2023 release books.

I can also make a separate rec list of less new books and overall classics I always recommend or gift to people,both fiction and nonfiction!

#book recs #book recommendations #science fiction #fantasy #anons

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pureamericanism · 10 days

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It's an almost banal truism that classic science fiction was largely a projection of the Frontier Experience - and, more broadly, the whole world-shaking events of the European Age of Discovery - onto an imagined outer space. Less frequently remarked is that the reverse is also true.

I grew up devouring Golden Age science fiction novels, and was a fervent believer in Mankind's Destiny Among The Stars. Well, the Space Age - like all the great dreams of thr 20th century - has turned out to be something of a damp squib, but I still want stories of fantastic voyages of exploration, adventure, science, discovery, and intrigue in a vast new world of far-flung outposts separated by titanic distances. So to scratch that itch, why not just...go back to the source?

If you want something like a story about an isolated asteroid mining colony, you can just read the memoirs of a surgeon at a Hudson Bay Company outpost! Why bother with Heinlein when you can just read the diaries of pioneer women, the tales of Yankee filibusters in Latin America, the authentic exploits of desert-island buccaneers, or the early adventures of the Portugese in the Indian Ocean? Do you want fraught tales of inteigue and war and high politics that extend to the farthest reaches of known space? A good book on any of the big 18th century wars for empire will satisfy. And can Star Trek remotely compare in imagination and excitement to the voyages of Cook and La Pérouse? "Strange new worlds, new life, and new civilizations?" Boy howdy, we got 'em! If you look at these things with fresh eyes, with the eyes of a science fiction fan rather than those of someone with access to an infinitide of pictures of them online, nothing could be more surprising than a dugong, a platypus, a redwood, a southern continent of solid ice.

All of this is really just an overly long preamble to my main point, though. Which is that I believe the story of Hernán Cortés, Montezuma, and the Conquest of Mexico to be possibly the greatest one ever told. The themes...bro, the themes! There is here a richness, a complexity and depth surpassing almost anything I can think of in legend or literature.

It is, of course, a science fictional First Contact story, in which two shockingly different civilizations who know nothing of each other suddenly find themselves facing each other down. And indeed, like any good First Contact story, one of the principal characters, La Malinche, is an interpreter! See how the resulting clash of civilizations eludes simple stereotyping - sure, it's easy to see the Spaniards as brash young interlopers into the sophisticated and urbane world of the Aztecs, whose capital was perhaps as much as an order of magnitude more populous than any city in Spain. But equally it is possible to see the Aztecs as provincials, isolated from a wider, older world that suddenly irrupts into their narrow one. Consider that Cortés supposedly got practical advice on political machinations and military strategy by - studying Caesar! Access to ancient wisdom penned by dead hands in far-off lands provides material aid to him.

Then there are the religious themes. It can be seen as a story about the triumph of Christianity, of the Church Triumphant, but what does it mean for a religion founded by a suffering martyr to become militarily triumphant? And what does it mean for thr religion of a suffering martyr to become triumphant over a religion of human sacrifice to the gods? This is a complex and multi-layered irony that spares no one. And consider the strange foreshadowing of the legend of Quetzelcoatl returning from over the sea. Shades of Frank Herbert, here, even (especially?) if the tale is a post-conquest invrntion.

And the role of technology in the tale. Yes, the steel and shot, the horses and hounds, the ships and sails were all powerful allies for the Spaniards, but these would not have sufficed without the smallpox virus - a reversal of Wells that still underlines the power of biology and of the very small even in the face of all our mastery over the brute world. But the conquest also would not have been possible without the alliance with the Tlaxcala and other local rivals and adversaries of the Aztecs. There are very pointed lessons in the social, political, and diplomatic sciences being demonstrated here. Some are obvious, and others very subtle - look at the ways these differing civilizations reacted under the extreme stress of this brutal war to see what I mean about the subtle ones.

I could go on, I could mention the strange aesthetic touches, such as the similarity in climates between the Valley of Mexico and inland Spain, and the parallels between Spain's role to Rome and Mexico's to Spain; or I could talk about the fascinatingly ambiguous characters of all the major players in this story, and the surprising arcs they go through; but not only am I already going on rather long, but I fear I may be making too light of what were, after all, real events, real events that resulted in piles of corpses, and whose tremendous human consequences are still felt deeply by tens of millions of people.

But I stand by my statement that it is one of the richest, profoundest stories I know of. The gods may be cruel, monstrously cruel, but they are artists, too.

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indignantlemur · 7 months

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The Directory!

Emigre: link

Pairing(s): Original Andorian Character/Original Human Character (Dagmar/Shral), Andorian/Andorian, Andorian/Human/Andorian/Andorian

Rating: Explicit (as of chapter 44)

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

A tear in the fabric of space and time has consequences that echo across ages; an unexpected arrival from the twenty-first century challenges a nation's perceptions and sets a most unlikely precedent. An exploration of Andorian culture from a Human's POV.

The Stars Keep Watch: link

Pairing(s): Va'Al Trask/Original Human Character (Va'Al/Mira)

Rating: Explicit

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

Mira Vos signed up for Starfleet only to find herself posted to hell. Undersupplied and overstressed, the fighting on J'Gal threatens to wear her down. The arrival of a special forces unit led by a handsome Andorian promises a break in the routine... A classic wartime romance - but In Space.

🎄🎁❄️Deck the Halls (and Not the Vulcans): link

Pairings: Dagmar/Shral (background)

Rating: Teen

Status: Complete, available on AO3

It's winter time in San Francisco, and the Andorian embassy has just been challenged to participate in a friendly competition between the Federation's founding species' embassies. The objective? To see who can best decorate a Terran Christmas tree. The prize? Nothing less than deeply coveted bragging rights for the coming year.

Dagmar Gunnarssen has never been so ready for anything in her entire life.

Hoarfrost: 🚧🛠️

Pairing(s): Dagmar Gunnarssen & Ambassador Thoris th'Kor, Background relationships from Emigre

Rating: Teen

Status: In-Progress, not yet available via AO3. (Pssst! Sneak peak available: link)

An unusually powerful ion storm forces Ambassador Thoris and his retinue to abandon ship over a largely uninhabited planet. Some of the last to make it to the escape pods, Thoris and Dagmar wind up separated from the others. Together, they must navigate a frozen, eerily barren landscape - and survive.

Emigre Art:

Shral: finished

Thelen: finished with detail shots

Miraal: in-progress, in-progress update

Ambassador Thoris: finished (tentative)

Vrath: finished

'An Eventful Meeting' : finished

IndignantLemur's Very Serious & Accurate Antennae Expression Guide: here!

Dagmar's courting ring: here

Kelenthor the Clanless: here

Fancy Drinks and Fancy Duds: in-progress

Andorian Chitin Map Reference: Thelen, Thoris, Shral: here

IndignantLemur's Very Serious & Accurate Quad Marriage Diagram: here

Winter Holiday Series:

Dagmar/Shral: In-progress 1, in-progress 2, finished

Mermay Series: Andorian Mermaids/Swimming with Dagmar: in-progress

CANON Fan Art:

Shran: here

Commissions/Gifts:

Serrin of Romulus: finished (@bigblissandlove1 commission)

S'Talon of Romulus: in-progress (silly) & finished (@bigblissandlove1 commission)

Gift commission: finished (@the-lady-general commission)

Emperor Georgiou: finished (@the-lady-general commission)

Lt Hemmer: finished (@nichestartrekkie0-0 gift)

Cmdr Ophelia Zubira: finished (@unknownfacelessfanfictions)

Andorian Headcanons:

Andorians and Food

Andorians and the Sea

Andorian Governing Bodies & The Role of Nepotism

Andorian Marriage Dynamics & Divorce

Andorian Proposals

Andorian Religion & Spirituality (And horror stories)

The Andorian Imperial Clan

Andorian Hair

Andorian Holidays

Andorian Courtship Ring Metallurgy

Andorian Medical Professionals

Andorian Awards and Commendations

Andorians and Figure Skating

Andorians and Dancing

Andorians and Currency

The Andorian Facepalm?

Andorian-Vulcan relations pre-ST:ENT

Andorian Language and Conlang

Andorian Weddings and Funerals

Andorian Attitudes on Interspecies Relationships

Andorian-Human Hybridization

The Am Tal and The Andorian Incident

Andorian Clan Identification and Chitin Patterns

Andorian Names

Andorians and Adoption

Clanless Andorians

Andorians and Rites of Passage into Adulthood

The Code of the Ushaan and the Holmgang

Andorian Fairy Tales

Kelenthor the Clanless and Watercolours

Human-Andorian First Contact headcanons

Andorian Fashion and Fabrics

Are Andorians Extroverts or Introverts?

Andorian Family Dynamics

Andorian Cosmetics and Perfumes

Andorian Arts: Theatre/Opera/Poetry/Etc

Andorian Quad Marriages vs Bonds

Emigre General Discussions:

Healing and Grief in Emigre

The Bulreeng Taal Beatdown

Author's Commentary: Chapter 41 - Grace and Poise

Author's Commentary: Chapter 37 - Connection

What Do The Andorians (and Dagmar) of Emigre Smell Like?

Author's Commentary: Chapter 43: The Star Thief

What Language Is Dagmar Speaking?

Author's Commentary: Chapter 46 - Face the Facts

Director's Cut - ask for a writer's commentary on a chapter, section, line, or scene in their work, or send a ⭐for free-range rambles!

Writer Ask Game - send an emoji, get an answer!

OC Emoji Ask Game - send an emoji, specify the OC, and get an answer!

Emigre Playlists:

Dagmar - I Don't Belong In This Club

Dagmar - All I Can Do Is Try

Dagmar/Shral - I Will Melt With You

Dagmar/Thelen - Shut Up & Dance

Anlenthoris th'Kor - The Old Warhawk

Emigre Atmospheric Mixes:

Dagmar At The Office

Hovercar Ride With Shral

Hoarfrost Atmospheric Mixes:

Walking Through A Blizzard

Waiting Out A Snowstorm In A Cave

Alien Aurora While Camping In The Snow

OFFICIAL TAG LIST

(You can always request to be added to the list!)

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frikatilhi · 12 days

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For the sleepover weekend: if you had to write about a ship that isn't bojere, what would it be? (yes, in jo/kä fandom, please) rec me something? (one or as many as you like)

Hah, amazing question!

I have written Bokris before, so maybe that? In my ideas file there also resides Bojan/Kiki, Bojan threesome (I went insane after new years and those instastories of Bojan dancing with Maja Keuc and I just want her and her boyfriend to take Bojan home and squish him like a bug), Jere/Pekka Rinne (please I need that giant of a man to take care of exhausted Jere), and also maybe something something Damon. (I read Janace sometimes when it's by an author I love but haven't really had anything to say about them myself.)

Recs? I'm so bad at saving stuff, and you've read so much lately, but I'll try!! Have some fandom classics and a few curveballs hopefully! I think I don't have repeats from your own rec list??

Since in your own rec post about fics that surprised you you talked about side-eyeing something first but giving it a try, have you tried Bojan’s Carefully Plotted Accident (to Ensure His Chances of Getting Monster Dick in Eurovision) by @oneshotdepresso and @mitochondriencocktail? It's crack treated seriously, monsterfucking, tentacles, but also somehow very sweet getting-together-during-ESC fic that will definitely suprise you into liking it!

AU that will force you to love it as it rips out your heart: Mustista mustimpaan and its sequel by kuurama, aka Space AU that people have definitely told you to read multiple times, so add me to the choir, read it and you won't be sorry! (You will be weeping and wailing, but it'll be worth it!)

My two favourite ESC era sadly-still-wip fics are The Best Laid Plans by @ana-chronista and Ugly Beautiful by slightlysexualfiction. Both are definitely worth it even though they are WIPs, and the latter contains what has to be my favourite tag of all time, "can I call it a slow burn when they are balls-deep in chapter one?" (who doesn't love that trope??)

Have you read When the night falls (stars in your eyes and sea in mine) by finallydeadd aka the Italian summer AU? Sadly unfinished but still worth it.

And here's an early classic that isn't a WIP! falling and falling by @xianvar and if you like it read everything by them ok thanks

Oh! And the Lahjakääryleet fic exchange at Christmas time was excellent, my favourite was Upon a Star by slightlysexualfiction omg omg, such a beautiful, heart-wrenching story of what might have been.

#ask #fic rec #fanfic #i'm terrible at recs

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roxannepolice · 10 months

Note

hope I'm not late for the ship meme, may I suggest 12/simm 👀

You're absolutely not too late, this unironically helps me get around to write my thesis 😅

Who’s the cuddler? Twelve is very embrace averse in the canon, and I think so is Simmy. However, the Master is willing to make sacrifices to annoy the Doctor, so he keeps plopping himself on his lap like it's free real estate. Essentially, Twelve likes his personal space and Simm also likes Twelve's personal space 🙃

Who makes the bed? The Master is a bit pedantic in this area, but after he made the bed a couple of times Nardole thanked him for sparing him this work, so obviously the Master got very pissed and started going against his bed making instincts. Especially given that Twelve only now found out Nardole has been making the bed all this time rather than it spontaneously rearranging itself against the law of increasing entropy and was very happy the Master would do such a selflessly kind thing. So now the bed is a permanent mess and Bill got popcorn for the daily tense stand offs over it

Who wakes up first? Whenever the Master actually wastes his time on such a trivial activity he gets awoken by Beethoven blasting on a guitar. Needless to say, the TARDIS had to start producing a supply of guitars after each meets its gruesome end in a hydraulic press

Who has the weird taste in music? The Master took up the reverse of the Doctor playing classical music on an electric guitar, so now he's mostly into a string quartet cover of I can't decide and Carmina Burana version of Waterloo

Who is more protective? Twelve is not very happy about it, but still feels obliged to end up with a very pissed wet cat version of Simm fished out of Sea Devils' contraptions

Who sings in the shower? The Master, very loudly and purposefully wasting his actually good voice. Given the TARDIS is not very fond of this regeneration, she takes the opprtunity to turn on only hot or only cold water, which results in the Master singing even louder in definace of blisters and coldbite

Who cries during movies? The Doctor allows himself a few somber tears while watching highbrow gangster dramas that are actually cinematic poems about how an individual with every potential to be a decent person becomes a monster and loses everything, betrayals and broken childhood friendships, but also capactiy for last minute redemption (think The Godfather, Once upon a time in America or Angels with dirty faces). And then ruins everything including Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone soundtracks by commenting on them in a very passionate and grandiloquent way that all the same would fit well a sunday school sermon. The Master can later be found performatively bawling his eyes out at the episode in which teletubbies couldn't make the tubby custard machine work so they sang a special song (lyrics of tubby custard, tubby custard, tubby custard (...) tubby custard) to fix it

Who spends the most while out shopping? They're both absolute absolute disasters shopping, but mostly for cosmetics. Twelve spends hours browsing thorugh hair-floofing products while Simmy needs to scrutinize every beard trimming device and test them on other customers' dogs. The one time they went shopping together each made the other wait with the bags outside and started manipulating the timeflow so the torture can last longer

Who kisses more roughly? Again, Twelve isn't very touchable, so Simmy kisses him Bugs Bunny style whenever he drops his guard for a second

Who is more dominant? Twelve is a bit too tired for that, while Simmy flaunts every triumph like making him carry more bags from the disaster shopping trip or seeing his selection of pizza toppings placed on top of Twelve's

My rating of the ship from 1-10. I really wish we had more of their interactions, because I kind of see them turning every domestic detail into an intense battle of wills. Also, Twelve is just more fun to annoy than self-flagellating Ten. Solid 8 ❤️

#tag games #thank you so much this is fun!#and srsly if anyone wants to throw anything at me i'll always be happy to answer though i may take some time #my academic career genuinely profits from it #i actually made a deep dive into teletubbies lore to give this answer :3 #noo noo uses he/him pronouns in case you're interested #doctor x master #thoschei #twelvesimm

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mk-writes-stuff · 3 months

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Writeblr and Whumpblr Intro

Hi everybody! I’m MK, he/they, and I don’t want to share exactly how old I am but I’m over 20.

I write work that teeters on the edge between classic fiction and straight-up whump, generally fantasy with a bit of sci-fi. I write a mixture of original work and fanfiction, mostly for Magic: the Gathering. If I get the courage, I might eventually post my finished fanfiction work on AO3, but I’m a bit shy of that right now.

I tend to write work that isn’t appropriate for younger people (minors please block the “18+ content” tag), and often discusses and shows abuse, both physical, emotional, and sexual. There are frequent depictions of trauma and mental illness. Please avoid my work or ask me clarifying questions if you want to avoid any of that.

Please feel free to message me and talk about my work, I love to talk about it! Or feel free to tag me in games - I’m a bit shy but I’m working on getting comfortable replying.

WIPs:

The Seven Station Chronicles:

Early writing phase, my main active WIP. Original fiction, space fantasy. Tells the story of a young woman coming into her own and learning to navigate the complex political landscape of the isolated group of space stations she lives on, with the reluctant aid of her unwilling bodyguard who has her own secrets, and all the complicated people they meet along the way. Four books planned. Full intro post is here.

To Kill a Dead Thing:

Early writing phase, mostly on hiatus. MTG fanfic. Loosely a sequel to my finished fic, but you can read one without the other. Tells the story of an elvish parole officer at the end of her tether with a mysterious figure that seems determined to break her to pieces, her human friend desperate to help and hold her falling-apart office together while she’s at it, and the chaotic people they meet along the way.

The Pirates’ Roost:

Told in a periodically-written series of nonlinear short stories. MTG fanfic, mostly unrelated to the others. Tells the story of a group of abused pirates escaping their abusers and recovering from trauma, primarily through the story of a young man’s ascent from the groomed plaything of a violent captain to the captain of the most successful ship on the sea. Intro post for the series is here, the wiki is here, and the story archive is here.

Finished work:

The Breaking of Kelsey Karlov:

Finished, needs minor editing. MTG fanfic. Tells the story of a human noble turned into a vampire by a violent vampire pontiff and their attempts to escape him while he pulls them ever deeper into his web.

#writeblr #whumpblr #writeblr intro #mtg

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technofinch · 4 months

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Which do you personally prefer for the name of a sea (and/or space) fairing vessel

#Not a conclusive list but these are the 3 options I'm looking at for Mulligan's new ship

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booburry · 8 months

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Belated WIP Wednesday: Sam Coe/Fem OC

Creativity has been at a low for me lately, haven't written since August or even earlier but MY GOD does Sam Coe know how to inspire. 🤤

Finished the main story line, spent most of my time just talking to Sam and going to sleep to hear his comments that left me with stupid, happy, smiles. I also got inspiration for a story that then transformed into me trying my hand at the classic trope of 'person from our world get transported to new world' and build it into the story of Starfield. Because of this, there are some leniencies I am taking with some canon events. Also there will, of course, be smutty smut later on - we all know our man has the stamina for it (wishing to go for a fourth round...🔥)

A summary, with a bit of the first encounter with Sam in the readmore.

Mallory Harper, an executive assistant at NASA, finds herself catapulted into an unfamiliar future. Stranded in a world where space exploration has thrived, she joins the Constellation Crew on a mission to uncover how she found herself 300 years in the future. Haunted by her past and burdened by a sense of responsibility, Mallory cautiously navigates her new reality with a blend of resilience and curiosity. Alongside Sam Coe, a charismatic former Freestar Ranger, his bright daughter Cora, and the rest of the members of Constellation, Mallory forms deep connections that challenge her to confront her reserved nature and reevaluate her sense of belonging. Together, they embark on a journey that unravels secrets echoing across time and space.

“It’s not right, Sarah.” Mallory heard a man’s voice as she dreamt. She was floating in an endless black sea, surrounded by small, flickering lights. It was peaceful, and the man’s voice only continued to sooth her soul. His voice echoed and reverberated around her, as if encapsulating her in it’s essence. She breathed in the words, finding herself wishing to seek that voice.

“What else were we supposed to do Sam?” A woman’s voice now drifted past her, this one wasn’t as sweet and inviting as the man’s, but it still did not alarm her. It felt guiding, firm but still gentle; parental. “Vasco brought her here sedated, informed us that she was begging him to ‘send her back’. When she came to, she claimed to be from Earth, Sam. An earth not like ours, but that of over 300 years ago.”

Vasco? That was something familiar, something tangible, that pulled her from the black sea that surrounded her. Memories came back to her at the name, and with the words that the woman spoke after.

Ripped from her dream with a flood of visuals—the cave, Hellar and Lin, that large planet in the sky, Vasco flying her on the ship, that metal object—Mallory awoke in a small room that appeared to be quickly rigged for the purpose of a jail cell.

“Jesus…that sounds tough.” Mallory heard the man mutter, the same man she had heard as she was dreaming. “But still, Sarah, you can’t honestly think that keeping her sedated will help with that? If we are meant to understand what is going on, we need to talk to her.”

“We already tried that Sam. We don’t know what we are dealing with here, we can’t be hasty.” Sarah’s tone came with a heavy warning, but she heard the man scoff immediately.

“We also can’t be inhuman.” Sam argued back with a calm sternness. “Go get Barrett back, I can handle this.” As quick as his words came, soft footsteps followed. Mallory forced herself to sit up, still feeling groggy from the, apparent, sedation but she wanted to be alert for whatever Sam intended with his approach.

However, from the small part that she had heard him speak, she wanted to be hopeful that he was going to be kind.

Her smile seemed to catch Sam off guard, as he halted in his steps and awkwardly smiled.

Shortly after she sat up and managed to compose herself as best as she could, Sam rounded the corner. He would best be described as a cowboy, without the southern drawl that she was so used to associating his aesthetic to. Mallory couldn’t help but smile, widely, at a sight that finally reminded her of something normal.

“Uh, hey.” He said to her, as a greeting, immediately bringing Mallory back to being hyper vigilant. Her muscles tensed as her smile quickly faded. Sam stretched out his hands earnestly. “No, I mean you no harm, please. I’m Sam.” He softly introduced himself.

“I heard.” Mallory spoke coldly.

“Ah, so you heard all of that then?” He asked her, guilt vividly present in his expression.

“Who are you people? Why are you sedating me?” Mallory demanded to know of him, bringing an immediate sigh from Sam.

“We’re a group called Constellation, set to seek out the unknown within the charted stars but I have a feeling that means nothing to you.”

“No.” Mallory muttered in defeat, finding her defenses being easily unarmed by Sam’s gentle and honest approach.

“As for the sedation, hey,” he shot up his arms in a sign of surrender, “that wasn’t my call, and not one I ever would have taken.” He paused a moment, watching Mallory before sighing again and adjusting his cowboy hat. “You have to be hungry, let me go, uh, find something that you can eat.” Sam turned around and started to walk away before giving a soft chuckle. “Definitely won’t be what you are used to.” He commented out loud, causing the corners of Mallory’s lips to twitch upward.

There was a calm silence that lingered after Sam left. Mallory felt a significant amount of panic leave her due to the kindness and compassion Sam was showing her. He also seemed to believe her, which made her feel less crazy and more grounded within her reality. She felt herself blush and forcefully curl in her lips as she judged herself for lingering on the thought of how handsome he had also been.

“Is it true?” An eager voice spoke to Mallory, causing her to look up and see a young girl eagerly watching her from the door Sam had only recently walked through. With Mallory’s glance, the girl excitedly walked forward. “Are you really from the past?” She keenly asked.

If it wasn’t for the obvious wonder and spark of curiosity within the child’s gaze, Mallory would have felt like she was being gawked at like a zoo animal. Instead, she just cleared her throat and nodded.

“Mallory.” Cora gripped Mallory’s hand with the same vigor and enthusiasm she exuded before releasing it.

“Woah! That is so cool!” She girl smiled brightly, immediately sticking her hand through the gate. “I’m Cora.” Mallory hesitated a moment before reaching out to grab Cora’s hand.

“What a strange name.” Cora remarked, an absolute bizarre oddity to focus on, at least Mallory thought so, causing the woman to snort as she stifled a laugh.

“My name is the strangest thing about me?” Mallory asked, causing Cora to laugh as well.

“Besides the obvious, yeah.” Mallory hummed in agreement as she leaned back against the wall of her ‘cell’.

“So you believe me then?” She asked Cora, who was quick to answer.

“My dad always tells me that the galaxy is full of endless possibilities, so why couldn’t this also be one?” She asked, curiously.

“Your father seems wise.” Mallory remarked with a smile, finding it slightly odd how calming it was to talk to a child about her situation yet still greatly appreciating the feeling and acceptance. It was already an odd existence she found herself in, so ‘odd’ should be expected.

“I like to think so, myself.” Sam agreed with a restrained smugness as he returned with a plate and a few packages. “I also think I told you,” his gaze narrowed onto Cora, “to leave our guest alone for today. She’s been through enough.” Mallory saw Cora’s shoulders slump slightly, her excitement deflating.

“It’s okay.” Mallory found herself immediately defending the girl’s presence. Sam smiled as Cora returned to her previous enthusiasm.

“Alright then.” Sam nodded to Mallory, perhaps as a gesture of appreciation? She was unsure about that, however what she was sure about was the fact that, for the first time since she found herself in this new time, she felt safe. “She can be a handful sometimes.” Sam remarked with a smirk as he set down the plate on a crate just outside of her cell.

“You know it. I know it. Heck—the whole settled system knows it.” Sam said as he continued to tease his daughter, placing the packages next to the plate. “Don’t worry gumdrop, I still love you for it.” He added sweetly with a glance to his daughter.

“I’m right here.” Cora grumbled, causing Sam to chuckle with amusement.

“Daaaaaad.” Cora groaned as she physically cringed at her father's affectionate words.

#sam coe #starfield #fanfic writing #starfield fanfiction #wip wednesday #current wip

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threadbareturnbacks · 2 years

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Black Sails and Facial Hair - Part 2, Captain Flint

Part 1 Here, in which I give a 1000 word history of the beard in Anglo culture and its place in defining masculinity and empire. Let’s start with the Pirate, Flint, and his journey of presenting Empire. Flint at his origin, or his McGraw, the absolute picture of 18th century moral appearance. His hair is long and neat, his face is clean, his clothes are correct for the story (though the English naval uniform didn’t exist until 1748). He is The Picture of English Empire In Our Collective Imaginations. The story tells us as much too. He’s had to be perfect in every way to get to where he is and that includes his physical appearance. He is, too, not conflicted about his place. Visually, he fits. Arguably he fits in place better than Thomas in the scenes by the docks. This is his space and he is comfortable in it.

Compare that to when he returns from Nassau. His beard is overgrown. It’s not particularly cared for and is, in fact, the some of the most beard we see on him until S4. It wasn’t unusual for a sailor to grow a beard while away at sea, but barbers traveled with both the navy and army, and to return to polite society with such a set of whiskers is a conscious disregard for propriety. All his other actions and appearances are correct, but his inner criminality is showing. He is, in the language of beards, obscuring his true self. His sins (Thomas, rejecting perceived wisdom, wanting to start over in the Hinterlands) are starting to take precedence over Love of Country.

And when we first meet him, 9 years later. His hair is tied back, not so long but still reasonably respectable. His beard and twirly mustache, however, is distinctly Jacobean. Strangely, besides his resistance to England itself, we never actually learn what Flint’s politics are, but we do know that Flint himself is a construct designed to be as frightening as possible to England and their ships. And in 1715, a visual Jacobite armed to the teeth is nothing if not a terrifying and direct rejection of King George I and the English State. But the longer hair still keeps him tethered to the idea of respectability (and Miranda, who keeps up the trappings of civilization despite their circumstances etc). He is caught between his two selves but neither is authentic, both require extensive upkeep and both are constructs that visually fit within a story that is not his own (the navy and his pirate persona). Remember too, his calling card is his Ninja Outfit which isn’t a ninja outfit, but the outfit of a Barbary Pirate, a North African, and those connections to barbarism and barbers. He is literally balancing the line between the Other (Barbary) and resistance in appearance (Jacobism)

After Miranda dies, all bets are off. Friendship with civilization ended. His last ties of society are cut, literally, with a shorn head. Ironically, this is one of the more accurate cuts in the whole show - if a gentleman wore a wig, they did not have a nice tousled cut underneath a la Thomas or Guthrie, they shaved their heads to avoid lice, fleas, and other pests. But! A shorn head is also the signature haircut of, wait for it, Bedlam. He has literally cut Miranda and her tether to civilization and become wild, uncontained, and, like Thomas, mad by association. Maintaining a Jacobean flip in your ‘stache takes work, it’s always been part of his construct and theater and there is no more Flint Theater. There is only Flint. There is no going back. He is no longer pretending one way or another, he is and will be judged for who he is, not who is pretending to be.

He keeps this cut through S4, which, even if it takes place over 5 months, is going to require an occasional trip to the barber (or Silver does it for him though I doubt Flint’s letting anyone put a knife to his throat even if it is his one and only). It’s a classic ‘devil’ cut, and one that speaks to the Faustian nature of the show, where the theme of trading spiritual torment for power is always an undercurrent.

And finally, Flint returns “home” to Thomas by means of Oglethorpe's plantation. Apart of society, it takes the outcasts, the dregs, those that cannot participate in civilization. And in doing so, there are no longer requirements to fit within a role or story. And what do we see there? Thomas with a beard. He is no longer a member of Empire, no longer concerned with propriety. He’ll kiss a man in broad daylight. He’s wearing the outward signs of a madman. Neither of them require any trappings of civilization, they are firmly apart from it, never to return.

This show is the gift that keeps giving and I feel like the mirrors of analysis are endless and but boy am I pushing it.

Part One - History of Beards Part Three - Long John Silver

#black sails #black sails meta #black sails history #captain flint #james mcgraw #thomas hamilton #black sails beards #thats gonna be a tag now #i do actually need to do my job and work #hopefully I'll be able to do silver tomorrow #if you are following me i apologize for all the beard spam #this show makes me insane #im no longer responsible for my actions it's steinbergs fault

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cdyssey · 1 year

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Maggie’s Abbott/Yellowjackets Masterpost

For my organization. :’) | Last Updated: 8/23/23

Abbott Elementary:

Fics:

Drill Day [Tumblr / AO3] → After Abbott Elementary's now traditional Drill Day—which requires the teachers and students to practice four mandated emergency drills over the course of a single day—Barbara checks on her own: Gregory, Jacob, Janine, and, of course, Melissa.

Wounds [Tumblr / AO3] → After Barbara accidentally cuts her hand in the break room, Melissa is there to clean up the wound; however, ever since Draymond's visit at the school, there has been an unspoken tension dividing the space between the two women like a knife.

I’ve Been Loving You Too Long [AO3] → Work Wives/Teddie collaboration fic with @straperine (Michael), my beloved. (2/4 Chapters)

Zipper [Tumblr / AO3] → Frankly, Barbara Howard has never had so much trouble with a damn zipper before. A Secret Santa gift for athenaseden.

Trust Me [Tumblr / AO3] → Melissa had to put someone down as her emergency contact. A Secret Santa gift for Michael.

From the Classroom:

A collection of prompts and one-shots I've written for Abbott Elementary. Mostly Barbara/Melissa. Prompts open!

Baby [AO3] → Barbara and Melissa call each other baby in front of their coworkers.

Fix You [Tumblr / AO3] → The Abbott staff meets up at a bar after work, and a guy hits on Melissa and Barbara becomes protective.

Tattoo [Tumblr / AO3] → Barbara finds it hot that Melissa has a tattoo.

Birthdays [Tumblr / AO3] → Melissa snaps at Janine and makes her cry. Some cute mothery apologies follow.

Crab Bisque [Tumblr / AO3] → When Barbara is desperately craving her late mother's crab bisque, she calls Melissa over to help her make it.

Horrible [Tumblr / AO3] → After the events of 2x09, Melissa and Barbara quickly realize how horrible they had been.

The Art Teacher [Tumblr / AO3] → Pre-relationship Melissa/Barbara where Barb is getting jealous over Mel’s new fling? Could be a new teacher who’s a woman as well?

Hard Candy Christmas [Tumblr / AO3] → After their holiday dinner, Melissa and Barbara ensure that a tipsy Jacob makes it home safely.

Aunt Mel [Tumblr / AO3] → Before Open House is officially over, Taylor pays her Aunt Mel a visit. Set during 1x10.

Silent Night [Tumblr / AO3] → Au where Mel and Barb live together happily and spend a cozy snow day at home thanks to a torrential blizzard/storm. They do all the blissful domestic things like bake/cook, watch movies, cuddle, read, dance, etc. Either the girls are smaller and they build forts/play, or they’ve grown up and moved out by then, whichever! :’)

Sea Barbara [Tumblr / AO3] → One year after her divorce with Gerald, Sea Barbara is a little in love with everyone... including, and perhaps specifically, her best friend.

The View [AO3] → Melissa simply watches her wife as she works in their shared garden, enamored, so in love.

Barbara and Melissa, Pt. 1 [Tumblr / AO3] → When Barbara and Melissa discover that their husbands are cheating on them—and with each other, no less—their lives as they have known them are suddenly and dramatically upended. Grace and Frankie AU (Pt. I).

Advocate [Tumblr / AO3] → Pizza date??

Lies [Tumblr / AO3] → When Barbara has a flat tire at her church, Melissa goes to help her. Of course she does. (Post-2x13).

Promise [Tumblr / AO3] → Barbara and Melissa - microprompt: You scared me."

Irredeemable [Tumblr / AO3] → Ava and Barbara either as a ship or a dynamic: “Irredeemable.”

Texts [Tumblr / AO3] → Ava & Melissa platonic. “Speaking of Barb...”

Good Mood Day [Tumblr / AO3] → It's a classic Schemmenti good mood day. (It's been a while.)

Valentine’s Day [Tumblr / AO3] → On Valentine's Day, Barbara and Melissa have their worst fight yet. [Pre-2.14 Fic]

Valentine’s Night [Tumblr / AO3] → After her airport date with Gerald, Barbara can't help but call and check up on Melissa. [Post-2.14]

One Bed [Tumblr / AO3] → When Barbara and Melissa get to their conference hotel room, they're unduly shocked that there is only one bed. [Post-2.16] | The wonderful @gatalentan made a recording of their favorite part of “One Bed.” Hhhgh, it made me so emo!! Check it out!

Three Women and a Glass of Wine [Tumblr / AO3] → Barbara and Ava go over to Melissa's house to come up with a plan of action against Legendary Charters. (Regrettably, there is wine involved.) [Post-2.17]

Apology Gifts [Tumblr / AO3] → Though they've already reconciled, Melissa and Barbara also exchange apology gifts. [Post-2.18]

No Children [Tumblr / AO3] → Would you be willing to write more about Melissa and having kids?

Tired [Tumblr / AO3] → In the week since Gerald's test results came back abnormal, Barbara Howard has been so tired. [Pre-2.15]

Different World [Tumblr / AO3] → I re-read your gardening fic recently where Mel's staring at Barb and is heart-eyes at her and it's just so nice, so anything along those lines would be lovely.

Human [Tumblr / AO3] → A quiet moment between Barbara and Janine after they return to the school from their shopping trip. [2.21 Spoilers]

Heavenly Moments [Tumblr / AO3] → Unable to sleep at the Franklin Institute, Barbara searches for Melissa. [2.22 Spoilers]

Wreck [Tumblr / AO3] → When Melissa's nana dies, Barbara is there for her.

Facetious [Tumblr / AO3] → After the end of yet another long work day, Melissa comes to collect Barbara. [Post-1.01]

Blueberry Pie [Tumblr / AO3] → Melissa brings Barbara a blueberry pie as an apology. [Post-1.02]

Other:

This is mostly just a compilation of the bigger/longer stuff, but generally, I post liveblogs, meta, and shorter posts under #maggie blogs! And then you can find any art I do under #maggie doodles.

Abbott 1.06 Rewatch

Abbott 2.14 Thoughts

Abbott 2.15 Thoughts

Abbott 2.19 Thoughts

Abbott 2.22 Reactions

Abbott Elementary: 31 Prompts

Abbott Elementary S1-2 Bracket: You can find all the polls and other posts in my tag #abbott bracket!

Abbott Elementary + Things to Never Say to Someone Who Just Came Out

Abbott Rewatch: Anything I’ve personally made for it!! <3 You can find the main blog at @abbottrewatch.

Barbara Meta (2.13)

Discord WW Fic with Michael

Janine and Ayesha Drabble [post-2.18]

Maggie’s Abbott End of S2 Bingo [Last 3 Eps.] [Update 3]

Maggie’s Work Wives Bingo

Melissa + Thanksgiving Headcanons

Pieces that Fit Together [about Mel post-2.11] — Feat. Michael

Pre-2.16 Work Wives Conference Drabble

Random Work Wives Headcanons

Some domestic Work Wives headcanons!

Thoughts on Abbott women and their relationships to the cameras.

uQuiz: Which Abbott Elementary woman are you?

Work Wives Pre-2.16 Conference Drabble

Yellowjackets:

Baby Shower + Steel Magnolias Thoughts (2.03)

Four tickets to the Barbie movie, please.

I’ve had Bruce for a day and a half.

Jackie + Poppies Edit

Jeff and Shauna Thoughts

Lottie’s Gay Compound

Just a little Yellowjackets uQuiz!

Shauna and Callie Meta (2.02)

Shauna and Motherhood Meta (2.06)

Shauna Meta (2.07)

Taissa the Cringefail Girlflop Thoughts (2.06)

Taissa the Dirt-Eating Lesbian

Yellowjackets + The Righteous Gemstones

Yellowjackets S2 Finale Bingo [Update]

Yellowjackets + Things to Never Say to Someone Who Just Came Out

Yellowjackets 2.02 Thoughts

Yellowjackets 2.03 Thoughts

Yellowjackets 2.04 Reactions

Yellowjackets 2.05 Reactions

Yellowjackets 2.06 Reactions

Yellowjackets 2.07 Reactions

Yellowjackets 2.08 Reactions

Yellowjackets 2.09 Reactions

Fics:

Brink [Tumblr / AO3] → Shauna and Taissa have made it somewhat of a dirty habit now, calling each other, checking-in, at least once or twice a week—even though they damn well know they shouldn't.

Good Mother [Tumblr / AO3] → When Shauna returns home from the motel, she's surprised to find that Callie waited up for her.

Safe [Tumblr / AO3] → On the night before Natalie's funeral, Tai finds herself on Shauna's doorstep.

#maggie blogs #s: abbott elementary #s: yellowjackets

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