#!scifi

[theslashpile]

Rec: After the Storm

Title: After the Storm

Author: H Birchwood, Key Dyson & Raymond Roach

Format: Text  (with art!)

Published/Free: Both

Length: 194,299 words

Status: Complete

Rating: Mature

Warnings: past sexual assault, trauma, abuse, alcohol use, food insecurity, violence, consent issues

Link:

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/213099434-after-the-storm

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1003186

Summary: After four years of hell on a ship with a deadly crew, all Rich wants is a second chance. Get some sun, relax, maybe hook up with a cute guy. But old scars, bad habits, and an insane AI aren’t going to make it easy…  Rich Merrill, gene-tweaked supersoldier by birth and AI support technician by vocation, is done fighting. Finally reassigned after four hellish years aboard the Sympatico, a dysfunctional ship with a deadly crew, all he wants is to make the most of his second chance. The survival skills that got him through his last posting aren’t going to help him on the Reliant, though. In among a kinder, gentler crew, Rich’s old scars and bad habits are just as much of a problem as vengeful ex-crewmates, or the Sympatico’s corrupted AI, which wants him back. Rich wants to be a better person. He wants to make some friends, finally. He’d especially like to be friends–or more–with Basil Wright, a brilliant teen rival who’s grown up captivatingly handsome; or Liam Beaker, a beautiful, mercurial botanist and fellow tweak. Rich wants to reconnect with what’s left of his family, pick up some hobbies, get some sun, learn to relax. But if he can’t learn how to leave his old life behind, his new life won’t be worth living.

Review: This story is sweet and comforting. The characters distinct and endearing. The world building is interesting and feels alive.

Submitter note: I really miss the Slash Pile from its Lifejournal days and have trouble finding more original fiction. Maybe we can breath some new life into it? I saw some AO3 stats and Original Works is on the rise! So here’s a recommendation I got on my dash by pure coincidence.

[gnarlyghost]

Overhaul

[neon-wonderlands]

[theriu]

For as popular as the idea of a "hivemind" is we never talk about how it doesn't exist in nature. There's no animal colony that connects and controls all its members through a psychic connection. Even bees, the eponimous hivemind, communicate by pheremones and, more importantly, interpretive dance. My point is when are we going to get a movie about an intensely organized alien race that mainly communicates via sick dance moves, why are we sleeping on this.

[doomed-jester]

"I don't like old sci-fi shows, the special effects look too cheesy" you are incapable of joy. Go to the dungeon.

[hellsgate-roadhouse]

📺 📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺

[evilvvithin]

ALIEN: ROMULUS behind the scenes •

[erysium]

Environment vis dev I made a few years ago, for a recently axed animation development project 💔💫

[scifiseries]

This shot of a giant excavator in Germany slowly making its way to a coal site 25km away. [March, 1999]

[blanchebees]

Perfect organism

Print

Print

Tip jar

[soranatus]

Ultraman: Rising (2024) - Film vs. Concept Art

“The moment when Emi is born: what does it feel like to see life for the first time? Well, maybe it would feel like a nursery, with a moon and the stars hanging from the ceiling of a nursery.” — Shannon Tindle

[olliemnjones]

Intruder

[gnarlyghost]

Nerd and jock from yesterday’s illustration

[visuallifes]

[c-r-yeet]

A very experimental art for me, i want to try out some new style. ihnmaims radio drama got me in a chokehold and possessed me to draw this.

Also I'm giving Ted zero gyatt cus that man did not deserve it.

Note :

- the binary translates as "HATEHATE" on repeat.

- the pair of punchcode tapes representing AM's talkfield, are from the original short story. The left one is "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM" and the right is "COGITO ERGO SUM".

โอ้ยปวดตา

Update : I posted a timelapse here!