#Aspen greaves

[forest-posts-and-reblogs]

@derinthescarletpescatarian Aspen is fuckimg awesome

[usslakevee]

So I started reading @derinthescarletpescatarian 's story Time to Orbit: Unknown yesterday and I am all caught up now and completely obsessed. So glad I was home sick when I found this and able to dedicate my entire brain to it for a full 24 hours.

I love so many things about this story including the vague references to the past (modern culture) which have been warped by time.

The absolutely fascinating way every mystery feeds into more mystery and things get wrapped up just in time for new things and problems.

the fact that there is so much room for miscommunication and secret keeping but the characters are intelligent enough to know that in the long run keeping secrets is only going to bite them in the ass.

Basically it's good as hell and I love it.

[aekulina]

Late to the party, how'd I do?

[confusedbyinterface]

If you want to understand Aspen Greaves, imagine someone who really loves gothic literature being stuck in a social circle with like two steampunks, so whenever they try to talk about Frankenstein or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde everyone's like "Oh, cool, so you're steampunk too?" and they have to go "NO MARY SHELLY ISN'T ROTTING STEAMPUNK SHUT YOUR ROOTROTTING MOUTH"

[propalitetz]

tal (left) aspen (middle) dr friend (right) from @derinthescarletpescatarian webnovel are in cool fits rn and this is how im picturing it

[patheticbatman]

My Squishmallow got chewed so now it’s moose-Aspen! Moospen*! If themed skin grafts were a thing I’m sure Tal would talk them into a citrus patch for sure I totally didn’t have to post this to discord and have someone goodnaturedly point out the irony lol

*also stolen from discord ^_^ thank you @ Moshicat

If you have no idea what I’m talking about you should check out Time to Orbit Unknown by @derinthescarletpescatarian . You definitely won’t lose hours of your life to an excellent serial!

The culprit

The inspiration chat from discord (see description below I ain’t typing all that into alt text)

Moshicat Today at 8:37 PM

Oh no the citrus! Is Moospen going to be ok? (Funniest fabric choice you could have made)

😆🍊

Pebble Today at 8:39 PM

oh my god it IS an orange fabric i love that

❤️

Deathsmallcaps -... Today at 8:40 PM

Oh dag I didn't even think of that XD. I had a cheap-fabric apron | was never going to use to l used part of its smock (?) as the patch and the apron string as their eye (edited)

Moshicat Today at 8:54 PM

It adds to it. Those are clearly exposed synnerves

🧠

[nidoskull]

VERY MAJOR TTOU SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 178

Go into the Time Void then look at this, thanks. There's art below the cut for those who've read up.

Aspen's not a fan of being tethered to places, are they.

[sleepymccoy]

I have, like many others before me, fallen down the rabbit hole that is Time To Orbit: Unknown. So here's (ex) Captain Aspen and Public Universal Friend who seem to keep accidentally getting along

[visemes]

victusinveritas, tumblr // time to orbit: unknown, chapter 119 - sight // nazrigar, tumblr // sanborn western camps // ttou, chapter 53 - autonomy // martianlukeart, tumblr // ojibwa, tumblr // ttou, chapter 18 - crew // rainer maria rilke, the book of images // victusinveritas, tumblr // ttou, chapter 6 - recovery // the epic of gilgamesh, herbert mason translation // ttou, chapter 18 - crew

aspen greaves - what's in a name

time to orbit: unknown by derin edala

[strangequarked]

On Throwing One's Self Forward

this ramble was prompted by Time to Orbit: Unknown's ending, so yeah spoilers for that.

I enjoy, probably a more-than-normal amount, the feeling of acceleration. Breaking into a sprint, screaming down a hill on a bike, flooring the gas pedal, the roar of take-off thrust on a jet, I find all those not only exhilarating but comforting. Thus, I can't help but wonder what it must feel like to be in the Courageous, to be the Courageous as it engages its engines, screaming across the void to chase the stars. The beauty of it all...

and in general, I loved TTOU's ending. A story that was equal parts grim and joyful ends on an optimistic note and a very particular one at that. The Javelin Program was billed as a mission of hopeful exploration, of venturing into the unknown to discover what lies there, and the crew of the Courageous had finally made it come true. No more murders, no secret Antarctican project, no half-mad experimental AI. We saw the worst of humanity, but we also saw the best. Aspen's resilience, muscling through the void of space all on their own. Dinesh and Tal sticking a failing starship back together. The way everyone on the crew protected each other. Ultimately, we see that we are indeed capable of surmounting dire odds and that is cause for optimism all by itself. Even when everything is falling apart, it can yet be saved. What should have been can still be.

I am perhaps a hopeless optimist but what we see in ttou is my hope for the actual future. I dream of humanity working together to go further than ever before, of an Earth that is more vibrant than ever, of a well-taken-care-of people, of a deeper and broader knowledge of the universe. It is highly unlikely I will live to see our own Javelins set out across the stars, but I hope someone aboard one of them feels the same comfort in acceleration I do.

[sei-kanopy]

Ooohhh Aspen can really be so TERRIFYING. I love that for them .

[vampire-connoisseur]

i wish aspen would get an eye already because the longer they dont the more convinced i become that someone is going to die and they will keep their eye to honor them and it will poetically mirror arborean funerary practices

just as long as it isnt well. you know, the most important and lovable character. please.

[just-a-funny-little-brain]

I Think

Time To Orbit: Unknown, Aspen & the Friend, 1k words

Summary: The Public Universal Friend is wrestling with the aftermath of the procedure done by the Hylaran doctors. Aspen tries to help as much as they can.

tw: none

Read it on ao3

———

I think.

It was an innocuous enough phrase. One that Aspen wasn’t even sure if the rest of the ground crew had noticed. How many times had each of the rest of them said it in the following discussion of what had happened and of the plan?

And yet from the Friend…

It was late now, and Aspen found themself unable to sleep. Anticipation to be sure, hope and anxiety in equal measures of the response of the Hylarans, wonder if it would be the right thing.

But an undeniable part was worry — not of the future and the plan, but for Tiny and the Friend.

Their own experiment had been rough enough with the forced quarantine and suspicion, but at least the base experiment itself had been consensual.

Aspen sighed and ran their hands down their face. This was going nowhere. Quietly — the walls were still canvas, after all — they stood and padded into the set’s common area, not bothering to dress for the sleeping Texans.

Grabbing a cup from the cooking area, they filled it with water and turned towards the seats.

The Friend hadn’t moved.

Aspen was sure at least someone had encouraged the Friend to go sleep, but clearly they had been unsuccessful. Aspen paused, then fetched a second cup of water.

“Hey,” they said gently, unsure if the Friend was aware of their presence. Not getting a response, Aspen perched on the cushion next to the Friend. “I brought you some water.”

The Friend blinked and slowly focused on the cup in Aspen’s hand. “Thank… you,” the Friend said slowly.

A moment passed. “Why are you up? You should be getting some sleep, Friend.”

“I— this Friend tried,” the Friend said hoarsely. “But it couldn’t sleep.” 

Aspen sighed and nodded. “Yeah, same here.”

“There—“ The Friend lifted a shaking hand and sipped the water. The Friend let out a breath. “The first rule of medical ethics is to do no harm. The Hylaran doctors really seemed to believe that they were doing what was best for Tiny and—. But…”

The Friend trailed off and stared at the cup of water. Aspen waited.

“Is it really what’s best if the patient doesn’t want it? If they’re content and have no detriment to their life or the life of those around them? When is it damage that needs fixing and when is it acceptable variation? What if one instance can be both? Who decides ?” The Friend’s voice broke as tears began streaming down the Friend’s face and it curled in on itself.

“Hey, hey… It’s okay,” Aspen lied. None of this was okay, but what else would they say? 

Gently, so the Friend could easily shrug it off if unwelcome, Aspen wrapped their arms around the Friend’s shaking body. Minutes passed before the sobs began to subside.

“Aspen?”

“Mm?”

“Promise me that if we stay here, you won’t let this happen again?”

A pang shot through Aspen’s chest. “You know I can’t promise that,” they said quietly. “But…” They sighed. “I’ll do my best.”

The Friend nodded and wiped its face as it sat up. “Don’t let them get their hands on Tal. Who knows what chaos they’d create messing around with kes brain,” the Friend said with a small smile.

Aspen laughed, probably harder than the joke deserved. “Oh taproot and stars can you imagine? Ke’d be overjoyed!”

The room fell quiet again as the laughter faded. 

“It’s supposed to be irreversible, you know.”

Aspen nodded. “I guess they figured that one out in the last hundred years.”

“I can’t imagine the Public Universal Friends on Earth were very happy with that development.” The Friend sighed. “Mama is very forthcoming with information.”

Aspen laughed dryly. “Yeah, it’s a refreshing change.”

The Friend’s mouth quirked into an almost-smile. “It allowed me full access to the research and relevant information on what the Hylaran doctors did, and…” The Friend drank some water. “It can’t go back. Like going back into chronostasis, the risks grow exponentially. I can’t— this Friend can’t go back to how it was before. Not if it wants to survive.”

Aspen let out a long sigh and let the complete lack of surprise wash over them. They supposed a corner of their mind had already made that connection; the brain is a fragile thing, after all.

“You can still be a Friend, right? The procedure is just a last step.”

The Friend went quiet. “This Friend— I—“ The Friend shook its head, fighting back tears. “Don’t know. Doesn’t know.” The Friend sighed, then asked quietly, “What do you think I- this Friend should do?”

Aspen smiled sadly at the Friend. “I can’t tell you that. You need to decide that yourself. If you decide to continue as the Friend, as it was before, we’ll be with you. The Hylarans will adapt. If you decide to go on with a different name, or a combination of new and old, we’ll be with you there too. Friends don’t abandon friends just because things change, whether we want them to or not.” They yawned. “You don’t need to decide right now though. There’ll be time. And if you want to try out different things, we can do that too. But I think for now, it’s been a long day and we should both get some sleep.”

The Friend looked at the floor and nodded. It opened its mouth to speak, then paused. “It… may be easier to fall asleep in the company of another person right now.”

Aspen stood and smiled as they took the Friend’s cup. “I think we can make that happen. Come on,” they said, holding out a hand to help the Friend up.

“Hey.” Aspen bumped the Friend’s shoulder as they walked to Aspen’s room. “You know I consider you a friend, right? Not just a Public Universal Friend. A friend.”

A small smile appeared on the Friend’s face. “Thank you, Aspen. I think… you are my friend as well.”

[moshi-tehkitty]

[99redragons]

Aspen deserves a fucking break so they get real coffee and blankie time

+some expression sketches, i imagine their grin is somewhat unsettling

[propalitetz]

i binge read a web series about a totally normal functioning spaceship by @derinthescarletpescatarian and i thought it was very fun