#I've never been so captivated with a ship in my LIFE

[boojangs]

To date, I have published 1,100,858 words for wenclair. I'm so proud of myself for that, it's been insane for sure.

[ranticore]

inspired by a post by @/serpentface of a concept that captivated me, i'm going to present the much anticipated, much requested, "what cars my characters would drive, bearing in mind their economic status and assuming the year is 2024" post

we can start reallyyyy easy because for Bowman there's no other option:

An ep3 Honda Civic. Is it a type-R? nope but it's got vtec bro!!!! it's surprisingly practical and the wheels are kerbed to shit. there's fluffy dice. there's an aftermarket spoiler on the back and a halfords special front splitter. He's of the opinion that girls don't know the difference between a hot hatch and a grandma's car so this works as well as the expensive one. i think his driving style is best described as 'life changing'. for better or worse.

Senca:

unflinchingly practical. the car that can do it all. a 2010 1.6 TDI Skoda Octavia with roof rails. it's not about speed or looks and it's not even about transport, really, it's about looking superior because nobody else's car can fit the contents of an entire house inside. and then looking less smug when someone pulls up in a Volvo V50. the type of driver who can't fucking stand it when other people break the rules of the road but when she does it, it's fine. because she's a "good" driver.

Léa:

2004 Hyundai Coupe 2L. Yes bitch it looks fast!!!! IS it fast? No, but the better coupes from the same era did not depreciate so much in value and aren't affordable. in Léa's hands it's like a rocket ship. The indicators must be broken though because nobody has ever seen them in use. She spray-painted the wheels herself.

Islin:

a step-through road bike WITH panniers. cars damage the environment and the thought of contributing to that is unconscionable. doesn't wear a helmet anyway. dichotomy of ocd

Helena:

Porche Cayenne. Mostly someone else would drive her around but every so often she wants to get behind the wheel and start tailgating aggressively, just for the thrill of it. She replaced the stock lights with retina blaster 9000s and is always about 1 inch behind your back bumper, full beam on. Red lights are for other people. She ran over a child once because she wasn't looking and blamed the parents.

Jean-Baptiste:

Caterham 7. The one made up to look much older than it is, and he ordered it in kit car form and built it in his garage. I've always insisted that Jean would be massively into motor sport if he happened to have been born when that was a thing. He didn't follow the manufacturer's instructions because he felt that he knew best so his car is very unsafe but makes far more power than stock. It's not road legal but you will find it on the road nonetheless.

Erica:

Oh? You've never heard of it? You've never seen a man look so smug in your life. He shuts the silent-close door and explains that he traded in his Tesla model 3 for a BYD Seal because Tesla was becoming "too mainstream" and there were too many of them on the road.

Félix:

1998 Mercedes Benz E Class. Yeah it cost him £700 on Autotrader, but what's important is that it cost £60,000 when new. This is a good car. This is a luxurious car. It has heated seats - they don't work, but if he wanted to fix them he could. It has an overflowing ashtray from the previous owner and there's not a single thing that goes right on it but it makes him look adjacently wealthy, and isn't that the point? The poppy helps him look more sympathetic to elderly people (scam victims). Number One Most Likely To Attempt Murder-Suicide By Automobile. You've never seen a man look so divorced.

Carmen:

For her i just sorted price low -> high and picked the cheapest running car. And it's a Fiat Bravo! Notorious for earning a zero star euro ncap safety score and exploding into scrap if it hits a kerb. Carmen can't rely on her parents buying her a first car or paying insurance so she has no choice but to scrape the bottom of the barrel. She thinks it looks nice though.

Pascal:

was there any doubt.

Nico:

Beat up 1999 Discovery permanently attached to a horsebox. It is always filthy and somehow filled with straw and dog hair even though he doesn't own a dog, that's just what seems to happen to these cars. The heating doesn't work anymore but other than that it's fine, does the job. Drives with what can only be described as malicious compliance to all rules of the road.

Cain:

a Lada Niva. Why the hell would you ever need more than this. Electronics? No thanks. You're lucky it has gears. Cars peaked in the 1970s and anything built after that is just a piece of ridiculous frivolity, a toy for children. Here is a real workhorse. It costs 20 grand. Probably the only truly good driver here.

---

Sir Heaven:

Please for the love of god stop making him drive the Revuelto he doesn't want to do it anymore it's too scary

Sir Victory:

2003 Seat Leon Cupra R, with decals that make it seem very impressive and like it might actually be a racecar, but it isn't. It's made of rust and the engine sounds sick. It's battered and broken and the subframe is bent from a side-on collision. One day it might crumble away entirely but until then Sir Victory will drive it like he's at Goodwood. A very aggressive driver, mostly due to impatience, and he always wins the red light drag race.

Mercury:

It's a normal Ford Crown Victoria with a tank engine strapped to it. What? His holy calling is building and designing engines, of course this is safe and sane. Kind of a lackadaisical driver, obeys the rules when the mood strikes.

---

And just for fun, random other characters:

Qedivar:

1999 Audi A4. I just tried to imagine the most boring history professor tier car I could think of. It's in good condition for its age but it's never brought anyone a single scrap of joy in its entire life. Nobody smiles seeing this car and to this day Qedivar often fails to pick it out in a car park.

Huarvaa:

The legendary Renault Scenic RX4. It's big, it's 4-wheel drive, and it's a practical MPV. and it looks like it's constantly dipped in some kind of algae or perhaps sludge. Modified with a snorkel so it can drive through deep water. Still really rusty despite the plastic cladding.

Holly:

Rover Metro. It's incredibly spacious!!! Wow! He can't see over the wheel.

Finbarr Ó Casaide:

A Lupo. Literally the perfect car for his needs and he knows he must be conservative in how he goes about things. Yellow colour for the Ó Casaide clan, to show that he really does belong there, promise. A devastatingly precise driver; guns for the tiniest gaps and somehow makes it every single time, without putting others at risk or being particularly reckless. He will get you to your destination 20% faster than anyone else.

Olivier Tanet:

Ford F150, specifically an imported one from the US, specifically driven in a normal-sized place that is not built for stupid american cars (as in the photo). It is gigantic and it's in your rear view mirror 24/7. Helena might be a maliciously careless driver, but Olivier is just malicious. He wants you dead. His truck is part of an elaborate dick measuring contest that he intends to win. Plus side is that it's not a pavement princess, it goes offroad (it does doughnuts in your front garden)

[uslessnoahtall]

Book Genre Legacy Challenge

Hello! I've been playing the Sims for what feels like forever at this point, and the only way I ever manage to keep myself invested in the game is by playing legacy challenges. I kinda wanted to try my hand at making my own legacy challenge, so here it is!

The Sims 4 Book Genre Legacy Challenge!

Basic Rules: - Reach the end of each aspiration. - Reach level ten of career unless specified otherwise. - Cheats are allowed but try not to use them (only because they make gameplay less fun). - Reach level 10 of each set of skills given for each generation - Heir can be any gender unless specified.

I did my best to make this as Base Game compatible as possible, if you’re missing some packs and I didn’t offer an alternative just pick your own or skip it.

Gen 1: Classics

Colours: Blue and Brown Traits: Family Oriented, Dog Lover (BG: Neat), Art Lover Aspiration: Lord or Lady of the Knits (BG: Successful Lineage) Career: Start as Business but quit once you have kids Skills: Knitting and Parenting

You’ve been called an old soul all your life. Everyone always laughed at you for your simplistic dreams. You’ve always wanted a simple life. White picket fence, perfect partner, two kids, and a dog, maybe even a rocking chair to knit on. Who cares if you don’t have big career plans, at least you’ve got a family.

Rules: - Must have at least two kids - Quit your job once you have your kids. - Have a good relationship with all children. - Adopt a dog once your kids are toddlers. - Only have one romantic relationship and marry them before you’re an adult.

Gen 2: Western

Colours: Brown and White Traits: Bro, Rancher (BG: Hates Children), Loner Aspiration: Championship Rider (BG: Bodybuilder) Career: Athlete or no Job (Horse Ranch) Skills: Fitness, Horse Riding, and Guitar

You grew up in a picture perfect home. You were adored by your parents and lived the perfect life. But not everything was as great as it seemed. You learnt very quickly how mean children could be, as you were the youngest of the family and constantly picked on by your sibling(s). You moved out as soon as your were able to and bought the biggest piece of land you could find. Anything to get away from other people. 

Rules: - Have a bad relationship with your sibling(s) - Move out as soon as you’re a young adult onto a plot of land - Buy a horse (if you have HR) as soon as you can - Have an unexpected child (one only)  - Don’t move in with your partner until you know you’re having a child  - Have a high relationship with partner and parents, no one else

Gen 3: Science Fiction 

Colours: White and Green Traits: Geek, Socially Awkward (BG: Clumsy), Genius Aspiration: Computer Whiz Career: Astronaut Skills: Programming, Rocket Science, and Robotics

As an only child, you were taught to entertain yourself. Your parents had never enjoyed company, and hadn’t payed much attention to you growing up. You kept yourself busy, ignoring their silly western ideals and searching for a more captivating life in the stars. You found a passion in technology, and found numbers far easier to understand than people. Maybe there’s life out there better than the people you’ve met on earth. 

Rules: - Build a rocket ship  - Travel to Sixam and bring an alien back to earth with you (if you have GTW) - Marry the alien and have a kid  - Never make friends  - Don’t talk to your parents after you move out 

Gen 4: Comedy

Colours: Green and Yellow Traits: Goofball, Self Absorbed (BG: Noncommittal), Outgoing Aspiration: Joke Star Career: Entertainer (Comedian Branch) Skills: Comedy and  Charisma

Your parents always had their head in the stars, and being half alien you felt like an outcast as a child. You hated how hard it was to make friends and only wanted to be like everyone else. Once you reached a teenager however, you realized that if you tried hard enough and got everyone to like you, no one would even realize you were a little odd. 

Rules: - Make a bunch of friends as a teenager, but never stay close with any of them - Host house parties once a week - Have at least three kids and have a good relationship with them all - Sever all connection to your alien parent after you move out

Gen 5: Contemporary

Colours: Yellow and Pink Traits: Ambitious, Snob, Materialistic  Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy Career: Doctor (BG: Business) Skills: Logic and Painting 

You grew up in a very loud family. Everyone was always laughing and there were parties almost every week. As a child you loved it, but as you got older you realized there were more important things in life than laughter. You decided to take a different route than the rest of your family. To you, there was nothing more important than success, other than money of course. 

Rules: - Marry someone in the same career field as you. - Have a large house and hire a maid/butler as soon as you can afford it. - While your children are young, hire a nanny for them instead of sending them to daycare. - Have an over-the-top wedding. - Decorate your house with your own art (no one else makes art that is good enough for you)

Gen 6: Romance

Colours: Pink and Red Traits: Romantic, Good, Music Lover Aspiration: Soulmate Career: Entertainer (Actor Branch) or Acting (GF) Skills: Charisma, Acting, Piano or Violin

As a kid, you always felt like the outcast of the family. Your sibling(s) were super smart and seemed likely to follow in your parents successful footsteps, while you were always a little behind, more interested in making friends than success. You feel in love with romantic stories and tv shows at a young age, as everything always seemed to work out for the main characters. Your parents were a little cold and  you barely saw them be affectionate with each other. As you got older you decided that the world needed a little more love.

Rules: - Must be a woman  - Date as many sims as you want but don’t woohoo until married - Have at least two close friends and one best friend - Adopt a dog - Have a music room in your house

Gen 7: Horror

Colours: Red and Black Occult option: Vampire Traits: Gloomy, Perfectionist. Unflirty (BG: Hot-Headed)  Aspiration: Villainous Valentine Career: Secret Agent (Villain Branch) Skills: Vampire Lore, Pipe organ or Piano, Mischief 

Your mom drove you crazy growing up. Her insanely positive outlook on life made you laugh. You believed she’d just gotten lucky in her love life, there’s no way anyone else could achieve that sort of perfect romance. All that being said, you do love her with all your heart. But as the only official black sheep of the family, you made it your goal to make your family the complete opposite of the one you grew up in, staring with the worst career you could think of. 

Rules: - Have a good relationship with your parents and invite them over for weekly dinners  - Adopt a black cat -Partner should match your values - Don’t settle down until aspiration is complete 

Gen 8: Fantasy

Colours: Black and Purple Traits: Loves Outdoors, Jealous, Creative Aspiration: Freelance Botanist  Career: Gardener (BG: No Job) Skills: Gardening, Flower Arranging, Baking

You loved the whimsicalness of your grandmother when you were a child. If you had the choice you would’ve had her raise you instead of your own parents. Growing up in such a dark environment made you want to fill your own house colours. The one thing you and your parent do have in common however, is your twisted outlook on love, as you are constantly convinced that your partner is cheating on you.

Rules:  - Have a good relationship with your grandmother  - Have at least three partners before you find the one, and be the one to break up with them all - Have a greenhouse  - Don’t have any kids until your grandmother dies - Have a rocky relationship with your spouse

Gen 9: Mystery

Colours: Purple and Grey Traits: Paranoid (BG: Loner), Loyal, Slob Aspiration: Master Mixologist  Career: Detective (BG: Secret Agent, Diamond Agent Branch) Skills: Mixology, Photography, Charisma

You had a pretty normal childhood, aside from the occasional screaming match between your parents. Unfortunately you inherited one of your parents tendency for paranoia, and constantly think somethings out to get you. Instead of taking it out on your partner however, you take it out on the criminals in town, and the occasional drink. And hey you never know, maybe some criminals can be trusted. 

Rules: - Have at least one drink a night after work (either at a bar or at home) - Marry someone in the criminal career branch (can be cheated) - Move houses at least three times (best to never stay in one place too long) - Never hire a repair service, fix everything yourself 

Gen 10: Memoir

Colours: Grey and Blue Traits: Perfectionist, Ambitious, High Maintenance (BG: Creative) Aspiration: Best-selling Author Career: Writer (Author Branch) Skills: Writing

Growing up you loved your parents, but something about how much they drank always rubbed you the wrong way. You always liked things to be set up in specific ways and you hated the fact that your parents always left a mess. You spent a lot of time reading as your parents were too preoccupied to take much care of you. One day you find a bunch of dusty old books that appear to be about the older generations of your family, but it’s hard to make out. Annoyed by the lack of information about your family lineage, you decide you should be the one to write it all down. 

Rules: - Have a complicated relationship with your parents  - Publish 10 books, each named after a different generation. - Read 9 books prior to starting your writing (as research). - Have a library in your home 

I think that's everything! I hope you guys enjoy this challenge! Please tag me in any posts about this challenge or post it with the hashtag #bookgenrelegacy

Happy Simming!

[heliads]

can you make a nikolai lantsov x reader?? i've been thinking about one where reader was one of sturmhond's crew as a tidemaker and they were together for a long time, but when nikolai became king, the two separated because royalty had done too much harm to r family and she didn't want to become one of them (besides her being Grisha). maybe after RoW they finally talk and get back together??

yesss pirate!reader x nikolai my beloved

masterlist

If Nikolai Lantsov were to regret anything in his life, anything at all, it would be how he handled her. It’s not that he regrets her, he wants to make that clear. He couldn’t if he tried, and Nikolai has tried many times to get over her, to find some flaw out of an improbability of perfection so he might not feel as achingly heartbroken as he always does.

But when Nikolai lies awake at night, unable to sleep despite a gilded bedroom and dozens of lush pillows and luxurious blankets, the worries troubling his mind are not of a country to run, nor the endless cycles of politics constantly reinventing new problems to crush his world beneath his boot. No, he thinks of one woman. He thinks of you.

Before Nikolai was the latest Lantsov king, before he was a homeward bound prince, he was a boy, and a boy who wanted to run. A much younger Nikolai in body and spirit had signed onto a pirate ship the second his guards turned their backs. It was a terrible decision for a golden prince to make, but the best choice for the bastard who never wanted to see another silver spoon again unless he was stealing it.

When Nikolai was a young man, he determined that he would be the captain of a ship, and a captain always needs a crew he can depend on to carry him through thick and thin. Nikolai sailed to countless foreign shores, finding friends and enemies in oceans sapphire and stormy, cerulean and calm. He wore dashing waistcoats and ruined them with the blood of slashed throats. He blockaded and benefitted small towns with equal joy.

And, most importantly of all, Nikolai found his first mate. It is a difficult thing, of course, choosing someone who could be your successor. If he picked someone a little too captivating, he ran the risk that they could depose him in a mutiny. If he gave that spot to someone the crew hated, though, his leadership would be undermined all the same.

He was just starting to think it would be impossible to find the right sort of figure, and then this young woman he’d never met before had simply walked up and asked for it. Technically, it wasn’t such an easy meeting as that. She had actually stolen one of the rowboats off of his ship while it was tied to their ship in the harbor with her abilities as a Tidemaker, then used the water to ferry her over to him.

From anyone else, Sturmhond would consider that a punishable offense. However, the privateer in him was also a politician, and one used to fronts and facades at that. Nikolai looked at the woman in front of him and realized that she wasn’t looking to use him as an avenue for a coup to captainship. She’d done her research and figured out that he was the best captain to serve under, and was simply ensuring that she made a good impression.

There is nothing Nikolai can appreciate like a fine display of showmanship, so he’d accepted her acceptance of his non-offer and told her to move her belongings into the first mate’s cabin that night. The crew woke up to a new member, and they took to her as readily as Nikolai himself.

After that, it was easy. Nikolai skimmed over frothy waves and he had someone by his side, a proper companion. He has liked his crew heartily all this time, but Y/N– he likes Y/N even more. Saints, he loves her. It takes him a while to realize that, but he does. Once that knowledge is common to him, the fact that he could have felt anything else is nothing short of absurd.

He’d given her his name a long time ago. Part of it, at least. They’d been on night guard together one shadowy twilight and she’d begged him for some sort of name she could use. Sturmhond, although great for inspiring fear and leadership as he saw fit, wasn’t personal enough for a friend, and Captain was too formal. Nikolai had witnessed many years of his father forcing everyone to refer to him as the king and nothing more. Never will he force a title on anyone.

So he’d said Nik, she could call him Nik, and that was more than good enough. It feels like cheating, a little, to have her bypass his real name and go straight to the familiar nickname. If anyone could do it, though, it would be her. Captains aren’t supposed to have favorites among their crew, but this is Y/N, and he loves her, so she calls him Nik, and he– he lets it happen.

All this truth, this love, and he never told her who he was. Not by choice. How could he? Y/N hated the monarchy, and so did he. The elder Lantsovs did not treat Grisha kindly, only tolerating them in the confines of the Little Palace. There was nothing Nikolai could do to protect them, to protect her, half as well in Os Alta as he could as Sturmhond, so he kept it a secret.

You could call that selfishness. You would be correct in doing so. Nikolai did not tell Y/N he was a prince because he was terrified of how she would push him away. In the end, there was nothing he could do to avoid that. The Darkling called on his help in capturing Alina Starkov, and Nikolai revealed that last ace in his sleeve the night before he was to dock in Ravka and personally escort the Sun Saint and her friends back to Os Alta.

He will never forget how Y/N had looked at him when she finally learned what he was, not as long as he shall live. He had asked her to come to his office, to lock the door so no one could hear. Y/N has been host to a great many of his secrets, good and bad and terrible, so she thought she could handle just one more.

She was wrong. Nikolai stood before her, and said, “I am the son of the king.”

She’d laughed, actually, but that had dried up when she realized he wasn’t joking. “No. You can’t be serious. All this time we’ve been out here, and you haven’t told me? You would have told me.”

Her eyes were desperate, pleading. Y/N L/N is one of the finest pirates Nikolai ever had the pleasure of meeting. He’s seen her go into no-luck gunfights with a grin on her face, and now she looks like all of her luck has finally run out. How awful, that he would be the one to finally crush her spirit underfoot.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it,” he tries to explain.

Y/N shakes her head. “No. I don’t like it when Tolya borrows my knives to slice fruit. I don’t like it when we stay in small towns too long. Nik, it’s not that I don’t like it that you’re a royal. It’s that you’ve betrayed me. You know how the Lantsov kings have treated Grisha, how they’ve treated anyone who isn’t an elite.”

It occurs to Nikolai that this might be how he loses her, in truth. “Y/N, please. We can change everything. Why do you think I came out here in the first place? I want to help Ravka. I want to help my people. Just come with me. We can do it together.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “No. I don’t want to be one of them.”

Not like he is, at least. Nikolai is endlessly, ineffably them, but she doesn’t have to be. She’s safe from them. From him. “Y/N. I love you, and I want you with me. Please, come to Os Alta with me.”

She turns to him abruptly, eyes violent. “No. That’s final, Nik.”

Ah. So it ends. And so Nikolai had gone to bed alone, heart a bitter mess of hurt, and he had disembarked from his ship with Alina and Mal and the rest. He had taken them to Os Alta, he had reclaimed his position on the throne, and all the while, he knew that he would never want anything in the world half as strongly as he just wanted her. 

It’s funny, isn’t it? Nikolai is a king now, and despite all his reach and power, the one thing he desires most will never be in his grasp again. She will always be the sea’s, and, as of late, that means she will never be Nikolai’s. Nikolai is chained to the crown; he will never leave it, he can never leave it. Y/N will be out there on the storm-tossed waves forever, as wild as the night he met her, and that will cause him grief until the day that he dies.

Nikolai grows up and it gets no better. He watches friends lose themselves to war and misery. He wears the crown upon his head, and then, surrounded by the clamoring voices of those who wanted him gone, he relinquishes it. Nikolai had tried to do his best while he was in office, but, walking back from the meeting with a strangely light feeling upon his head and shoulders where a great burden no longer rests, he wonders if it had ever been enough.

No one can ever be enough for Ravka. This he has known since he was a child. He had tried, though. The trying should at least get him somewhere. Nikolai passes blind laps around the Great Palace, attempting to remember every garden and room before he leaves it. He’ll have to pack his bags at some point, move out and find somewhere else to call a home after so many years in this one place.

Zoya has already offered for him to stay here, albeit in a different room. He’s a valuable advisor thanks to all his years on the throne, and he’s still as good a diplomat as ever. Nikolai will probably take her up on it; he wants to help Ravka, and this seems like the best way to do it.

About a week later, Zoya knocks on the door of his new rooms before letting herself inside when he invites her in. She’s taking to her new royal title very well, even if this seems to include her stealing his tea far more times than is strictly proper. 

This time, though, she isn’t here to stop and talk. Instead, Zoya hovers hesitantly at his door, and says, “There’s someone here to see you.”

Nikolai arches a brow. “I didn’t realize relinquishing my crown meant I got to have the Dragon Queen herself here to announce my visitors. Will you do this every time?”

Zoya laughs sarcastically, but her voice is still stilted when she adds on, “Just this time. She says she knows you. She was on your crew. First mate.”

Nikolai swears his heart stops in his chest. This is– no, it couldn’t be. He told Zoya about Y/N a long time ago. She’d asked why he hadn’t been more invested in finding a suitor and he’d admitted that he was pushing it off for as long as possible, knowing he couldn’t love unless it was her.

He nods a little frantically. “Alright. Where is she?”

“Here,” says a voice behind Zoya, and then the queen of Ravka is disappearing back down the hall and Nikolai is alone in a room with someone else and– and it’s Y/N, Y/N after so long, and he doesn’t really know how to think straight, let alone say anything at all.

She pauses over the threshold before finally going inside and shutting the door behind you. “I suppose I should be glad you’re speechless. Shows you still care, at least.”

“Of course I do,” Nikolai chokes out. “But– you do too? You’re here.”

She inclines her head, taking a seat on the chair opposite him. “I came as soon as I heard that you would no longer be king. I thought it would be hard. To lose this one last thing from your family.”

Nikolai frowns. “You hate my family.”

“I don’t hate you,” she says simply, “and even if they treated you harshly, they were still your blood. That means more than any of us want to admit, I think.”

Nikolai sighs. “You’ve always been the wise one, Y/N.”

She smiles at that. “Isn’t that why you hired me, Nik?”

The nickname again. His heart contracts painfully in his chest. “I should have told you,” he blurts out. “I should have told you everything.”

“I knew a lot,” she replies, “Enough to love you. I’m glad for every moment. There would have been fewer if you had told me sooner.”

Nikolai grimaces at the truth in that. “So you’re alright with me being a Lantsov now?”

She furrows her brow. “I heard some whispers that you aren’t entirely a Lantsov at all.”

He can’t really argue with that. “Who am I, then?”

“You’re Nik,” she tells him, “My Nik. My captain. And yes, my king, even if you’ve given over the throne. I always kept track of what you were doing during your reign. I was always proud of you.”

A bright burst of pride flares in his chest. “What do you advise I do now, if my reign is over?”

She stands, extends a hand to him. “We could always go back to a good time. The sea only gets bigger.”

Nikolai looks up at her, and he thinks– this is what he’s missed. Nikolai makes a fine king, but he has always missed adventure. He’ll have that now. And, when they both get old and tired, they can come back here, and continue making policies now that they’ve lived the lives of both the rich and the outlaw. It sounds wonderful to Nikolai.

He takes her hand. “Shall we go, then?”

She smiles. Radiant. He loves her just as much as he did at the start. “I think we shall.”

grishaverse tag list: @rogueanschel, @deadreaderssociety, @cameronsails, @mxltifxnd0m, @story-scribbler, @retvenkos, @mayfieldss, @eclliipsed, @gods-fools-heroes, @bl606dy, @auggie2000, @baju69, @crazyhearttragedy, @budugu, @aoi-targaryen

all tags list: @wordsarelife

[kiwinatorwaffles]

I found This is About a Stuffed Bird bc of you and its one of my favorite fics ever. Do you by chance have more suggestions?

hermitcraft/mcyt fic recs? :0 let's go!!

i get a lot of my fic recs from other friends since i don't really go out and search on my own all too much for this fandom. but there are lots of great works out here! i will be listing out some of my favorites :3 mostly hc but a couple general mcyt ones that i think are an excellent read no matter what. all of the fics i'm listing will be genfic without ships!

also i just realized a lot of my bookmarks are grian-centric which is funny i guess because i am admittedly quite picky about content of my other favorites and grian just tends to have the most content in the fanbase. hope that'll be alright

(i hope some of my friends and mutuals don't mind me tagging them for their works)

hermitcraft longfics:

the last days of the free angel of carrows by @theminecraftbee - loved stuffed bird? here's another great longfic by second! this one is about joe and cleo in an urban fantasy mystery setting. again, second writes our beloved hermits into an captivating au!

leaping and hopping on a moonshadow by @lunarblazes - a fantasy au by luna my beloved! pearl suddenly gains magical powers and goes on a quest to find her long-lost friend grian who might know what's happening to her. she meets a lot of familiar faces along the way!

Recall by @redwinterroses - hey, i was the artist for this one! :D mumbo goes missing, so grian and scar search for him. they find that grumbot has been up to some... things along the way. the fic isn't finished but i think the chapters red put out is worth a read if you don't mind leaving off on a cliffhanger because it really is super interesting

dramaturgy by wormcity - a universe where gem and pearl join in a season 7 that was never finished. mumbo became the mayor, but the turf war went so very wrong afterwards. admittedly i have not finished reading this yet because ummm short on time xD but it's super interesting with a lot of layers of drama(turgy hahaha)!

hermitcraft short fics/oneshots:

for trying. by @autistic-evil-xisuma - a stuffed bird universe oneshot of x and xisuma during their lab days. great if you want to be sad over the doomed brothers again :D

the wheels on the bus by sparxwrites - a hilarious post-s8 oneshot about grian being a little shit towards the watchers. one of the first fics i've read from this fandom and i still love it

a body is an object by ruffboi - grian is a mimic, and pearl's arrival in s8 shakes him up. she hasn't seen him in a while and is quite upset to learn that the grian she knew died a long time ago. a great read for familial connections and conflict of friendships!

Goatman and the Rift by TheDepressedCanary - doc's eldritch powers start acting up when the rift appears. what shenanigans will ensue?

other mcyt fics/crossovers:

late at night, when the stars don't look quite right by @lunarblazes - an excellent empires s1 and hermitcraft crossover longfic, where grian lands into the server and is discovered by pearl! very great worldbuilding and relationships, i especially love the dynamic between gri and pearl and pearl and gem :D

every new discovery is just a reminder by amaranthinecanicular - grian begins pulling alternate versions of the hermits from the life series into the server. he does save a lot of them, but at what cost? it does end on a cliffhanger but this is genuinely one of the most captivating oneshots i've ever read... argghhh

The Fair and the Brave and the Good by @slashmagpie - an afterlife smp longfic centered around the shelby, scott, and sausage. i have never watched afterlife smp before in my LIFE and this is still one of my favorite pieces of literature ever. the characters and worldbuilding is impeccable and perfect if you like something dark with themes of hope and renewal.

Two Can Keep a Secret (If One of Them is Red) by anonymous secretmcblog - a 3L oneshot! ren suspects grian has stockholm syndrome with his pact to stay with scar, but his expectations are wrong. a truly excellent read and one of them first fics i've read! i still go back to reread it from time to time

dog at the door by fluffy_papaya & iamsolarflare - a longfic where doc and ren take a trip on a van on their way to s8. ren, however, is not quite himself, and doc has to learn to befriend the red king.

devil town is colder in the summertime by @bananasofthorns - a oneshot from a 100hsmp/life series d&d au! team BEST ventures into a cursed evil fucked up forest. uh oh.

Interview with the Aftermath by @ranchersrevenge (wanderlasts) - the last life contestants are invited for an interview. the responses vary greatly.

stars, smoke, and stolen car keys by wormcity - a 100hsmp modern au oneshot where grian, scar, and joel go on a hike. it doesn't go quite as they expected.

the beehive state by amaranthinecanicular - a dsmp oneshot after wilbur moves to utah. tommy visits him, and the two reconnect. i have to say i stopped following dsmp a long time ago but this fic made me BAWL. i don't even think you need to know any of the characters that well to really enjoy just how amazing the writing itself is

Can't Go Back (This Time) by @duckmumbo (musicaltvbooks) - soup group goes end raiding and accientally finds themselves in afterlife smp. nothing goes wrong, surely! also admittedly i havent finished reading this either but roy i swear i will. this is a great read nevertheless and the soup group dynamic is impeccable!

TommyInnit's unbeatable method of avoiding sudden death by eneliii - on the train of dsmp fics, this is the superhero au longfic that inspired my own hc superhero au, vdhau. it's a lot of funny shenanigans with tommy and his friends. the fic does take a dark turn at the end, but that can be skipped entirely (as said by eneli herself) if you just want the wholesome aspects.

if you don't mind a little self promo, here are some of my fics!

it takes two to play (the game of mutual secrecy) - the aforementioned hermitcraft hero au. this installment is centered around xisuma and evil x as brothers resolving their issues through hero work and solving the mystery of welsknight's disappearance :D there are other works that are set in the same universe if you're interested for more!

how to form the ultimate besties dynamic: an unreliable tutorial by hypnotizd - a oneshot! hypno is a warlock who goes treasure hunting under the sea. he meets a guardian who later becomes his unlikely friend.

smoke and mirrors, the hunt perseveres - grian's arrival in empires s2 unwittingly brings the watchers' suspicions with him. cue jimmy freaking out and a lot of shenanigans.

ballad of etho’s lab - my newest installment! a oneshot about etho's storied life as the redstone god.

i'm also currently working on the sequel to the game of mutual secrecy and a new (well not exactly new since i made concept art for it) au called private detective gem tasey! these will likely be released sometime late january or february. have fun with these fic recs! i haven't been reading as much lately but i hope ill be able to find more if anyone else asks in the future. cheers!

edit: the fics are out! here they are!

hiding in plain sight (the meaning of trust) - sequel to the hermitcraft hero au! it follows an escaped lab rat trying to acquaint themselves with human society while avoiding suspicion and making friends with familiar faces from tgms ;D

private detective gem tasey: a rotten mystery in london - a hermitcraft detective au where gem gets hired for a case that spirals completely into drama and politics!

[barblaz-arts]

Gonna be honest I'm a little nervous to send this because I'm a longtime lurker, but life is short, yanno? Anyways I just wanted to say that while I have literally never watched Wednesday (I will if they make those lil lesbians canon tho lol) your art seriously got me into Wenclair which in turn helped be work through some major art/writing block, so I just wanted to say thank you. Even if you aren't doing it now, seeing your art and the progress you've made with your fankid Vega (who is adorable and I totally didn't put in one of my design inspo docs no way) was so genuinely inspiring that I just have to thank you for it. Sorry if your a little sick of hearing about the show/ship now that you're interested in something else (which I get on a personal level, hyperfixations am I right?) I just felt like it was better late then never.

Tl,dr: Thank you!

No, please don't apologize! I'm really really touched and honored to hear that. It's still so surreal to think about how many other people made fanart and fanfics and even fanvids of Vega and the rest of the characters in my AU. Fan content of a fankid... this fandom will be one of my favorites of the ones I've been in ever for that. I'm so happy they were so well-received and loved. Someday if I ever go back to making my own original content again I hope I could have an audience just as captivated.

[k-s-morgan]

Who are your top 5 (or top 7) favorite (fictional) characters ever from any media? Why love them? Thanks ⭐

Hah, funnily, I can only call three characters my absolute favorite, and I write fics only about one of them.

It's probably because I have a very specific and narrow understanding of what a favorite is. I love many characters - everyone I write about is very dear to me. But favorite… it's someone I don't just love, it's someone deeply admire; someone I'm fascinated with outside of the ship and someone I could discuss endlessly.

For years, there was only one character in this list, Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler. He's so young, but the amount of things he's managed to accomplish, even despite having help from his demon - it's impressive. He's so wonderfully contradictory. He's genuinely cold, he doesn't like people, he has a pretty low empathy level, and yet he takes his duties extremely seriously, and he's ready to risk his life and die for people he considers his family, even if he doesn't love them. He's so smart and so manipulative, so fearless, but with the splashes of such authentic vulnerability that he evokes admiration, fear, and sympathy in me.

I love how he plots, I love how much he enjoys the deranged games he and Sebastian play sometimes. How he's capable of regret, grief, and love, but how ruthlessly subdues these feelings in himself because he considers them a weakness. He's incredibly strong to go on like this after the trauma he experienced, and I find it captivating how he willingly stews in his bitterness and hatred to fuel his need for revenge. Ciel is a study of contradictions, and I love him to bits.

Just a month ago, another character joined my list of favorites, and now he's sharing the first spot with Ciel. It's Wei Wuxian from Untamed & Mo Dao Zu Shi. I've fallen in love with him completely and irrevocably. He's truly the person born with a smile on his face. The amount of inner strength he possesses is amazing and very inspiring. Unfortunately, I don't come anywhere close to rivaling it, but he's my role model in this regard. I find him absolutely hilarious - his jokes and his antics never fail to make me laugh; the way he's so starved for love yet has so much love to give is adorable, tragic, and very fulfilling since he does find a person who cherishes him and worships the ground he walks on. He's so wholesome, I think he's my comfort character. It's been love from first sight.

A character I would place on the second place after Ciel and Wei Wuxian is Kang Yo Han from The Devil Judge. I love smart characters, and Kang Yo Han is the most believable in his smartness. He's not simply a character capable of predicting everyone's moves ten steps ahead - he's a human whose intellect allows him to do so realistically. Each of his decisions is understandable and accessible to us, mere mortals. It all makes sense, and it's absolutely brilliant.

His psychopathic tendencies are also fascinating. A girl fell in love with him, but she was a thief and tried to set him up, so he used her feelings to make her jump out of the window? Even years later, he's genuinely confused as to why this wasn't an acceptable thing to do. His selective empathy, obsessive nature, and his ability to actually enjoy every second of his revenge and bask in the afterglow are unique. I don't recall seeing characters who felt so fulfilled after taking revenge before.

[gerec]

At this point I'm embarrassed to ask how the search fics on your blog (I'm not very good with tumblr) this question probably already exists, but I wanted to read fics about Erik in prison or prison fics.

No worries Anon; I appreciate you wanting to do so before sending me an ask. These lists are fun to do but do take time, so I always encourage people to check if their ask has already been addressed before submitting one :D

As for how to search - if you go to my blog at gerec.tumblr.com you can click on the 'gerec's fic rec' tag on my left nav menu and it'll bring up all the lists I've posted over the years. There are a lot of great fics to explore! To find something more specific, go to the search bar and enter 'gerec's fic rec', a comma, and then whatever particular prompt you're looking for - in your case 'prison au'.

Tumblr's search is a little funky so it doesn't always work but there you go lol. In any case, to answer your question, I've NOT put a list of Erik in prison or prison aus before so here's one for you!!!

(Remember to read the tags!)

Jail Bait by Villain

Charles is the new psychiatrist at a high profile correctional facility for rogue mutants, and Erik is the notorious criminal who takes a liking to him.

The stars incline us, they do not bind us by ikeracity, Pangea

Intergalactic Federation pilot Lieutenant Charles Xavier is assigned last-minute to a high profile mission: transporting over two thousand prison inmates from an old and overfilled prison complex to a newer, higher-capacity prison stronghold located on the outer reaches of the galaxy. Just as he's settling down for a long and uneventful ride, things take a turn for the worse after the inmates riot and stage a hostile takeover of the ship, leaving Charles to find himself at the complete mercy of cold-blooded killers and facing the chilling prospect that he might not ever make it back home alive.

The Force of Reality by valancysnaith

Charles almost misses him because Erik’s mind feels different. Muted, somehow, like all those sharp edges and shimmering metallic bright spots are wrapped in cotton. Erik’s thoughts were never this foggy, even asleep; his is the prickliest, most carefully compartmentalized mind Charles has ever touched. Now it feels wrong.

Submission by FuryRed

Charles didn’t belong in prison- literally, he really didn’t. Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Charles unfortunately found himself held captive in the world’s most formidable mutant prison- a place where even his telepathy wouldn’t be able to save him.

The situation would be bad enough, but to make matters worse it turned out that the man who essentially ran the prison- an experienced criminal by the name of Erik Lehnsherr- had a habit of doing whatever was necessary to get what he wanted, and it just so happened that the thing he decided he wanted most… was Charles.

plastics by phalangine

Erik has been convicted and locked away for years, but Charles still comes to visit.

Lies We Tell by Gerec

Dr. Charles Xavier thinks he knows everything there is to know about Erik Lehnsherr - renowned terrorist, fellow mutant, and his patient of the past six months. Their relationship blossoms into something intimate and wholly unexpected, and Charles finds himself fantasizing about a life at Erik's side.

When it happens, it's nothing at all like he imagined.

Rotten Rules by ellenchain

On Erik's first day, he can already tell that prison is indeed not a pony farm. Still, he can't help sticking his nose into dark machinations going on in the depths of the prison. He quickly learns that there is only one rule: eat or be eaten. In addition to all the rumors about dangerous inmates and a corrupt director, a charismatic man from block C in particular does not let him get a good night's sleep. But he too seems to have more secrets than he makes Erik believe ...

Heartaches Disguised as Homelands by InsertSthMeaningful

After Kennedy's assassination, Charles pays Erik exactly one visit in prison.

Containment by feathershollyandgolly

Guilt swirls within as Charles watches the concrete door slide open. As he enters a hollow prison, both modest and intimidating. He is well aware that what he is about to do is a terrible thing.

White by still_lycoris

Erik finds different ways to cope in his prison.

The Last Love Song & Testament of Charles F. Xavier by midrashic

When Erik is accused of domestic terrorism, Charles has no choice but to marry him to keep him out of jail.

Liability by citrinesunset 

A few guards in the Pentagon decide to give Erik some harsh treatment.

Conjugal Visits by ikeracity, Pangea (part of a series)

How Erik and Charles finally get married does not exactly go the way anyone involved ever imagined.

In The Dark by Gerec

Late one night, someone visits Erik in his cell beneath the Pentagon.

Quid Pro Quo by Gerec

Written for the prompt: While he's imprisoned in the Pentagon, some of the guards decide to punish/have "fun" with Erik.

[memlibbib]

Bridgerton, Press Tours, and Private Lives - A Reflection

Some of us have been swept away in a wave of fandom lately. This level of storm is somewhat new to me. Not since Bella and Edward from Twilight have I felt this type of attachment to characters and actors. But now as a working adult with a family, I've been absolutely captivated by the Press Tour designed for Bridgerton Season 3.

Colin and Penelope's story was such escapist fiction in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. To be honest, I had not read Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series until Season 3 was released. The Netflix series captured the passion and romance we all wanted (and left a few things to be desired with invasive subplots and storylines that never fit in coherently). But it was a beautiful escape from a world that has become increasingly filled with hate and division. And this is something we all look forward to when watching the series - the themes of love and hope.

So, when our actors began this behemoth press tour (which, undoubtedly. was unlike anything I've ever seen in my entire life), we were given beautiful morsels of laughter, authenticity, affection, and love. We witnessed joyous conversations and a real insight into their acting process as well as their onscreen relationship.

But as I so willingly bobbed along in this sea of fandemonium, I became aware of something troubling: the idea of "shipping" and an unhealthy attachment to the idea of creating someone else's destiny. Also, the invasion of privacy and the constant need for social media evidence from Instagram and TikToc became overwhelming. I witnessed fans going down endless rabbit holes to answer questions like: Will they fulfill the destiny I want them to have? And how could they not want to turn their seemingly beautiful friendship into a more committed one? These questions are asked every day by the fandom.

But reality tells us another story. We know a few things about our male actor and the relationships he has had in the past. And we know even less about our female actor in regards to previously committed relationships. Being a significant supporter of gay rights and LGBTQ, this community provides her with love and support with which she seems most comfortable. But as far as romantic love, committed long-term relationships, and the desire to have a heterosexual relationship involving a male partner with children and family - we know nothing about. And without this knowledge, the fans seem to want to create this destiny for our young actors.

The press tour mostly definitely solidified the constant need to reassure our obvious assumptions: That Luke and Nicola must be together in real life because that is the message we were given throughout. And ultimately, in a traditional sense, when a woman takes home the man to meet the family, doesn't this signify love, acceptance, and the sign of a committed, long-term relationship? In our world it probably does, but in their world it certainly might not. The "friends zone" seems to be a barrier that no one can get past. And we were given such availability to the actors, that we all were left starving for more access (even though that time has come to an end).

So now, we slowly try to break away from the need to determine someone else's destiny. And realize how intoxicating all this can be, and how addictive social media can be, and how toxic the fandom can be, and how this too shall pass....and we will hopefully find another form of escape to give us the hope and love we all want to experience through the medium of television and movies.

[beanghostprincess]

I would like to know your thoughts on Boa x Luffy.

Because I have a few problems with this ship. (actually it´s mostly one, the others are more reasons why I don´t ship them)

First the age gap: Can´t say anything to it since I like Marco x Ace (I don´t won´t to think of that age different! )

A problem I have is that Boa seems to idolize Luffy and alredy wants to merry a 17Y old Luffy. And first I was like thats a bit creepy but then I stopped a moment to think. When I look of her behavior and her thoughts, she actually reminds me more of a little girl with her first crush. (lasteres is definitive true) While she wasn´t as lucky to grew up as isolated as most of the amazons (who didn´t even know what a man looks like) and has probably good reasons to hate men, she soesn´t know much about relationships.

I think, and I can´t believe I´m saying this, that Luffy is in this more mature than her in this. He clearly says that he won´t marry her. (and thank you Oda to not play it for laugh and make him not understand what she means) I´m pretty sure Luffy knows her feelings for him, but ignores it (doesn´t think about it).

What I really don´t like about this ship is actually not the ship itself (even if I don´t ship them), it´s some "shiper" when you can call them that. It´s when someon just ships them because Luffy NEEDS a love intrest (not true) or because with someone Luffy has to have children in the future (also not true!).

I hate that! Boa (and Luffy) deserve better than that. She is a strong independent women that is more than her crush on Luffy.

I could write so many reasons why I love Boa, but I wrote already so much (more than I wanted) and my cat is bothering me because she wants attention. ( how dare I not give her the attention she deservs? Love her.)

I usually have no issues with ships because if I don't like them I just ignore them, so I basically don't care about this ship? Like people be people. You do you. Hakuna Matata. I personally don't like it because it's not my type of thing and because the only reason Boa likes Luffy is because she feels safe around him the way she feels safe around Rayleigh. Men have always seen her (and still do) as an object, and she has managed to use her beauty against them and their stupidity and I love it. I love her. I find Boa and Luffy's dynamic really endearing because it's not only that she has a ""crush"" on him, but she trusts him and genuinely feels comfortable in his presence to the point of saying "well, if this goes wrong I'll just go to Luffy" (which is really fucked up actually because she should be more independent and relying on romantically/sexually is only a trauma response, but yeah, at least she has two men in her life she can trust). I think she doesn't love Luffy or have a crush on him at all. She's just captivated by him and how safe he makes her feel because he's one of the only two men who have never seen her as an object. So, from that POV I really like the dynamic, but not romantically/sexually at all. I honestly think she's a lesbian going through the biggest fucking case of comphet I've ever seen, but then again, no opinion on the ship other than I don't like it but people can do whatever they want as long as they don't bother me.

However, I must say I do agree with you on the fact that most Boa/Luffy shippers (dudebros, mostly) like the pairing because they think Luffy as a main character needs a female love interest, and since she's been pretty much the only girl who has explicitly displayed romantic feelings for Luffy, they just take it as canon without thinking about their relationship or characters in the slightest. These people just keep pushing a normatively straight and allo agenda that I can't fucking stand. But, well, it's not like I interact with them so whatever.

Most people see this ship as problematic for the age difference and I find that pretty much stupid because usually the main problem with age difference is the level of maturity and power imbalance, but in this case, Boa is just down bad for him and she's a bit annoying at times (honestly, I keep saying it's just her coping mechanism often played as a joke for her character). And Luffy knows that she is because he has refused to get married to her multiple times. People act like Luffy is this naive kid who doesn't know what love/sex is, but the guy is just... Not interested. He doesn't seem bothered by her either? If Luffy genuinely disliked Boa for this he would've said so. He is a very direct and honest character. He likes Boa. He's friends with her. He'll help her if needed and he cares about her. However, he just doesn't like her romantically and... That's pretty much it? It's not that deep from Luffy's POV, honestly.

And when people call Boa a predator (I've seen that) I just feel uh... Conflicted with their opinion. Because a predator is somebody who has these patterns and keeps wanting/liking kids/really young people and keeps insisting whether or not they want it and they're, well, pervs, basically. Boa's feelings for Luffy are, like you said, pretty much shown as a high school innocent crush. The way she acts around him is to rely on him rather than take advantage of him, because, I repeat, all men in her life have used her and now that she has a male friend who doesn't see her as an object, she copes with having a crush on him. Which is really sad and it has happened to me and to a lot of lesbians with bad past experiences and... Seeing people call her out like this as if she were some big evil predator makes me feel really uneasy and worried about the reading skills of this fandom. Have you considered that... Even if there's an age gap... Some people don't have bad intentions and adults can also be traumatized? Like, I'm not saying this would be okay in real life, because it wouldn't (even if her behavior is understandable from a psychological POV), but in fiction? I think Boa is a pretty complex and well-written character and she has her reasons behind this comedic gag, even if it doesn't seem like it. Oda likes to exaggerate these things, with Sanji, for example. Y'all would literally hate Sanji in real life for how he treats women most of the time and we all acknowledge it's a comedic gag that got out of hand.

I'm not sure if I'm wording this right, but basically: Boa doesn't like Luffy romantically/sexually and just mistakes feeling safe with those types of attraction. I don't like the ship for that reason, and most shippers only ship them without having any understanding of their characters at all and because they just want a main straight pairing. It can be seen as problematic for the age gap and it's a running gag that can make people uncomfortable, yes, and I understand. But that does not make Boa a pedo/predator and y'all keep using those words very very freely to the point of them losing their true meaning.

Now this ended up being kind of an essay on them rather than my opinion so, TL;DR: I don't like the ship but they're cute friends.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Dal/Gwyn, Janeway/Chakotay parallels

I've been mulling this over for a while so I just wanna put all of these down. I really have been enjoying the parallels between these four, and there's a bunch. Will add to this as I think of more.

Dal and Janeway:

They're both on a quest to find home. Janeway back to Earth. Dal back to his family.

Both captain a nontraditional crew and bring them under the Starfleet banner. Dal captains his crew of escaped prisoners from Tars Lamora and Janeway the combined members of her original crew and the Maquis in each case this is born of expediency. They need the crew numbers to get the ship running. And for both part of their journey becomes learning to be a better captain to their unique crews.

Both explore and grapple with their relationship to starfleet ideals. In Dal's case learning Starfleet ideals and laws from scratch and putting them into practice. In Janeway's having her existing ideals tested by an environment where they are difficult to hold to. She and Dal both experience obstacles that test their commitment to these ideals and face consequences of straying from them.

Stars: Dal's window of dreams. Janeway's love of nebulas. The stars mean different things to these two: freedom to Dal and discovery to Janeway but both are seen to have a particular affinity for them.

Learning to lean on their crew: Both in one way or another return to themes of accepting help rather than depending only on themselves. For Dal, this comes from a past of self-preservation and survival. For Janeway, from guilt-driven instinct to put her crew before herself. Both see some of their greatest successes and moments of growth when they set aside those tendencies and accept help from their crew.

Gwyn and Chakotay

Both leave their home for Starfleet, and later return to it when it is in trouble. Chakotay leaves Dorvan/Trebus at 15 against the wishes of his father in order to pursue Starfleet Academy. and only returns when it attacked by the Cardassians. Gwyn idealizes Starfleet her whole life on Tars Lamora only to decide to try to save Solum rather than join her friends as warrant officers.

Both have complicated relationships with their dead fathers. Both of their fathers disagreed with their pursuit of Starfleet, and wanted them to embrace a future that more directly benefited their homeworld. Both were in conflict with them before their deaths and Both of their fathers were killed violently, spurring a shift in their thinking.

Both love exploring other cultures. Gwyn has a love of languages. Chakotay of archeology/anthropology. Both enjoy learning about new people and places and making connections.

Both of their homeworlds are abandoned by the Federation for political reasons - a treaty with the Cardassians in one case and a commitment to non-interference in the other. In Chakotay's case this leads him to turn against starfleet for a time, feeling that it had abandoned its ideals. I'm curious if Gwyn's mission to Solum will lead her down a similar path.

Both act the first officer to an equal. Chakotay was a captain of his own ship before agreeing to be Janeway's second in command. Gwyn has more technical expertise about the Protostar's systems than Dal, and more familiarity with the Federation.

Dal/Gwyn &. Chakotay/Janeway

Both pairs begin their relationship at odds in similar ways. Janeway is seeking to arrest Chakotay. Dal is first Gwyn's prisoner and then takes her as a captive.

The Moral Star/Coda parallels. I just enjoy a good "You might be dying in my arms and I never told you how I felt moment" okay. I am a sucker for it.

Gwyn and Dal ending Season 1 in a similar place to where Janeway and Chakotay were at the start of it. Chakotay winds up trapped on Alt!Future Solum after accepting a mission to complete some of the unfinished work/fix some of the mistakes Voyager had when it first traversed the Delta Quadrant. Gwyn ends Season one going to fix some of the mistakes made between Solum and Starfleet in the alternate future. Janeway and Dal, meanwhile, are at HQ with their own Starfleet-focused duties.

Speculations:

All of the above have me wondering if both couples are in a similar place romantically. Dal and Gwyn are just beginning a romantic relationship when they separate. Is that where Janeway and Chakotay are as well?

And will this mean that Gwyn will also need a rescue? Will her mission go sideways like Chakotay's did?

[cowboylikeyouu]

avengers interstellar AU

since i've seen it in theaters last night i can't stop thinking about writing an avengers/winterhawk interstellar AU and i feel like it's eating me from the inside, so i'm just gonna throw all my ideas at you. spoiler warnings for interstellar and a fanfiction i'll probably never write (having some interstellar knowledge is recommend lol i'm not explaining any of the movie aspects)

it's not gonna be as angsty as actual interstellar bc i can't do main character death for the life of me, i'm gonna ignore a lot of science bc i'm stupid and it's gonna be heavily winterhawk focused bc i'm insufferable, but here we go:

the world is ending and has been for years due to the blight and everything, yap yap yap you know the deal. the avengers basically just were a team of super talented scientists and engineers and test pilots, doing a lot of research for years and also dealing with some international shit or smth idk and it doesn't really matter. the team doesn't exist anymore bc they're not needed anymore, with food becoming the most dominant problem and everything, again, yk the deal. so most of them decide to retire from shield/nasa work and become farmers/etc.

nasa is doing the lazarus missions tho, and who volunteers? 10 people who don't really matter to the story (just like in the movie), steve (bc he's steve goddamn, ofc he's gonna volunteer to go on a suicide mission to possibly save humanity) and nat (bc she's rational, + she knows clint's probably gonna settle down with bucky somewhere (they've been in that "we fuck and spend almost every minute together, and we're so obviously in love but too scared to talk about it" stage for years), so she knows she won't be needed anymore bla bla)

clint's devastated about nat leaving, but she's like "enjoy your time as a farmer and when fury asks you to travel through spacetime to rescue us in a decade, you better be married to bucky's ass, idiot".

bucky's angry with steve for leaving but not surprised, and he's like "don't you dare die out there or i will walk through that goddamn wormhole just to kill you again"

tony's super pissy with steve for leaving, but doesn't show up to say goodbye or anything bc they're not really on speaking terms (they had an affair that was obviously much more than that during the period when tony and pepper had broken up, but then something civil war-like happened, and they're still angry at each other bc of that, and now tony's with pepper again, but there's obviously still a lot of unresolved stuff going on between them ykyk.

regarding steve & bucky: pretty sure i'll make them both the same age as everyone else, so no "frozen/held captive by hydra for 70 year" business, but i still need them to be supersoldiers. so maybe steve still volunteered for the experiment, and maybe he even became some kind of captain america (but an astronaut-version of him???), and bucky still got the not-so-good super-serum thingy and was held captive by hydra, but "only" for a couple of years, before he was rescued and joined the avengers.

again, all of that's not that important, the only relevant thing is that bucky got the serum and that it slows his aging process significantly.

whoo, lots of exposition sorry. that was basically just the prologue.

fast forward, 6-10 years, idk. pepper and tony had morgan, but pepper died of cancer (and i HATE nothing more than killing of a woman for an mlm ship, but seeing as cooper's wife in interstellar died as well, forcing him to leave behind his kids without a mom, i think it's a valid plot point for once). clint took bucky with him to his parent's old farm, they had peaceful couple of years, both recovering from trauma yap yap yap, they're happy alright (and officially together bc this is NOT a winterhawk slowburn).

then they all get a call form fury tho, being like "hey guys, sooo steve's, nat's and [random third character's] worlds look promising, wanna travel through the wormhole and check those planets out lolol???", and they obviously don't want to, but they all knew that day would come, so clint, bucky, tony and someone else (haven't decided who, bc that person's gonna be the one who dies on the water-planet thingy close to gargantua, so that's a hard decision to make) become the endurance team and set off into space.

and here's the thing: tony's on the mission bc he wants to save the life of morgan and especially her potential future kids and OFC bc he has a tiny hope of seeing steve again. clint's on the mission bc with bucky on the ship as well, there's nothing keeping him on earth, + the tiny chance of seeing nat again. bucky's on the mission for all of those reasons, but there's another factor for him, and that's time dilation.

he's a couple of years older than clint, but due to his slow aging, their body's are pretty much at the same stage already if u know what i mean, and while clint's relatively chill about it bc "hey man, you still gonna look sexy as fuck when i'm a bald old man, i'm so lucky", bucky's freaking out over it.

he's well aware of the time dilation caused by gargantua, so his plan is to be the one to stay behind on the ship while the others fly down to the planet on its horizon, and to NOT put himself into hypersleep for all these years, so that when clint and the others come back, he's gonna have a few physical years on clint again. his thought process is kinda like "i'd rather spent 20 years alone on a spaceship with the knowledge that clint is probably alive and i will see him again, than to watch him die of old age and keep living on my own for another 50 years". it's kinda stupid, but that's love for you guys.

so yeah, they travel through the wormhole, clint, tony, and [random fourth character] go down to the planet on gargantua's horizon, clint's convinced bucky's just gonna sleep for 7 years bc that's what sane people do, [random fourth character] dies, tony and clint have to stay down there an hour longer due to the water damage on the ranger, yap yap you know the deal, they go up again and BOOM: they've been gone for 23 years and bucky spent all those years alone and awake and looks 10 years older than before they left. many emotions for both of them "fuck yes clint, you're alive, i fucking missed human contact", and "jesus christ bucky you put yourself through this for me and" and "JESUS CHRIST bucky you put yourself through this FOR ME?????"

anyways, next stop is steve's planet. good news: steve's alive, bad news: the planet isn't a suitable candidate for a new world. the obvious new plan is to go check out nat's world bc it's quite literally their last chance. tony - now that they already "wasted" 25 years on this mission and found steve alive - really just wants to go back to earth tho and see morgan again. he knows that clint and bucky won't agree to that tho, so he kinda manipulates steve into getting on a ranger and flying up to the endurance again, leaving clint and bucky behind on steve's planet. don't be too angry with him, he just wants to see his daughter again, alright :,)

neither steve nor tony are exceptional pilots tho, (that's clint's fucking job), so they don't manage the docking process. bc this isn't a main character death angst fic, they don't die in an explosion like dr. mann did in interstellar, they just cause the endurance to spin rapidly, and then kinda float next to it in their ranger being like "well shit". clint and bucky come in with steve's old lander to save the day, and clint manages to dock onto the spinning spaceship (like cooper does in the movie) and stops it, and then talks tony and steve through the docking process on another point of the ship (the endurance, the rangers, and the landers all work the way i want and need them too btw, idc about accuracy when it comes to this kinda shit lol i just want them all to survive)

when they're all safe on the ship again, they talk it through. the endurance + 1 lander HAVE to go to nat's planet, it's the point of the entire mission, but clint's a self-sacrificing idiot, so obviously he wants tony and steve to have a chance of going back to earth. they load up on lander with enough fuel to take steve and tony back through the wormhole (they're not sure if the lander can withstand it, but it's the only way), from where it should be possibly to contact earth again, so that someone could get them.

clint tells bucky that they have enough resources and enough fuel to get them both to nat's planet safely, which is a lie, but bucky trusts him bc they're in love, man.

clint does the iconic slingshot-around-gargantua-or-whatever manoeuvre to give the endurance the boost it needs to reach nat's planet, and he also does the iconic "yeah, i'm just gonna load up one of the rangers with one of the robots (the robots are FRIDAY and JARVIS btw) and let it fall into black hole to hopefully gather some data, but then i also let myself fall into it without telling you beforehand" move, bc they need to lose the weight and there aren't enough resources for both of them.

he's like "this is paypack for your aging dick move, say hello to nat for me" and then he's gone. ouch.

then there's the whole black hole shit, with the 4th dimension tesseract and the data from the black hole that i don't really give a shit about rn tbh lol. the "solving the gravitation equation" problem won't be a huge part of the plot anyways, bc yes, it's an important factor to this story's universe in general, but i really just wanna focus on bucky and clint in the fic, so idc. it's all kinda happening in the background.

clint sends the data to earth in morse code like cooper does in the movie - tho idk yet if he sends it to a now much older morgan, or peter parker (who's kinda tony's mentally adopted son btw) or directly to tony, who made it back to earth safely. idk. like i said, doesn't really matter. the tesseract collapses, clint's gets picked up by stark station that they were able to build bc of the data he send them, all is well.

his slingshot manoeuvre around gargantua did cause another time dilation ofc (idk if i'd make it 60+ years like in the movie tho), so maybe tony's already dead when clint gets picked up by the station. due to slowed down super soldier aging steve's still alive and well tho, and they have a little chit chat where steve's like "go find bucky, clint, there's nothing keeping you here" and when clint tells him he should join him, steve's like "i'll follow, we all will at some point, but i promised tony to look after morgan" (who's older than steve at this point).

so clint steals a ranger (they're advanced by now, but not 100% cleared to do interstellar travel yet, but this is clint we're talking about and cooper literally did the exact same thing in the movie) and sets off to nat's planet.

it takes him a few years, but he gets there, and bc i'm a soft soft softie, OF COURSE both nat and bucky are still alive, already raising the first generation of the new colony (bc they obviously didn't know if they solved the equation after all). i'm not entirely sure how plan b in interstellar war supposed to work, like who would carry & birth the first generation?? but bc of the fact that they only put one woman on the mission, i'll just go with "they have artificial wombs" :D

and now they'll just chill there until the rest of old humanity joins them.

and idk, the thought of bucky and clint being adam and adam of a new humanity for a few years (bc nat puts herself into hypersleep on a regular basis being like "i cant deal with you two idiots for too long, i'm gonna sleep 'til these babies are grown-ups so that i can actually have some good conversations") just really does it for me lmao.

and they all lived happily ever after.

okay this was a long one, sorry, nobody's gonna read this post anyway lmao. i just needed to get it all out of my head bc i'm still not sure if i actually wanna write it or not. i feel a lot better now tho, maybe my head won't explode bc of this idea tonight.

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 17: Annette/Gilbert)

Gilbert: I remembered how happy you would be, as a child, when I handed one of these dolls to you. Annette: I was back then, but I'm not a child anymore. It's too late for this now, Father. It doesn't make me happy anymore. Gilbert: Annette… Annette: I… I was so lonely after you left. I was always, always alone. I didn't know where you were, or who to turn to for comfort. All I could do was look at the dolls you carved for me, and remember you…and weep! Gilbert: If you don't need it, you can throw it away. It is all the same in the end.

Annette was also a victim of Faerghus's patriarchal culture. The tagline for the game was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Her fondest memories were related to her father. But Gilbert was so devoted to the king that when he failed his duty as a knight, he felt too ashamed to live a happy life and abandoned his wife and daughter. He didn't even think he had the right to smile.

Ashe: Your father gave it to you. I know you said you'd throw it away, but you can't just toss out something so important. Annette: Ashe… Thank you! I'm so happy!

Annette shared her paralogue with her father and many of her Supports ended up being about him in some way or another.

Annette: Then the least you can do is apologize. I'm fine, but Mother deserves as much. I've finished my studies at the school of sorcery and entered the Officers Academy. I have a busy and satisfying life now. But Mother… She's waited for you to return all this time, living under my uncle's roof.

The Crest of Dominic is associated with the Empress arcana. It represents the divine feminine principle, which includes qualities such as abundance, nurturance, motherhood, and love for home and family. And Annette's story arc revolved around her broken family.

Dimitri: Annette… Something's been weighing on me. Something I've done terribly wrong. Your father… He worked tirelessly. I don't know if I ever saw him take a rest. I feel as though, in a way, we stole him from you.

I probably can't talk about pairings without addressing Netteflix, the #1 most popular ship for Annette. The two of them actually had a lot in common. Both of their fathers were so devoted to the dead king that they failed their living children. There was a lot of potential for them to connect on a deeper level because of that. But the whole Support chain revolved around singing. Which actually ended up working out pretty well.

Felix: I want you to sing for me. Your song never leaves me, whether I'm asleep or on the battlefield… I might be a captive of your song. Annette: Captive… Wh-what are you saying?! That's… um, embarrassing! Felix: …I-it can't be helped. I don't even know what I'm saying! Annette: W-wait a minute… Why are you blushing, Felix? Felix: …Mind your own business. Annette: …………….. Felix: …………….. Annette: …I don't really get it, but if you're saying that much, then you can listen to my song again.

I found their A+ Support absolutely hilarious. It seemed like Felix, who was raised in a strict military family, had so few opportunities to experience people expressing themselves, that he became utterly fascinated by singing. It was something foreign and exotic to him. He only showed interest in Dorothea when he learned she could fight, but even MORE when he learned she could sing.

Felix: Alright, then. Sing something for me. Any song you remember. Annette: Leave it to me! Then, I'll sing you my favorite song! Um, um. Burning with fiery life, carrying the blood of flames... Let's get into the bath with our bodies still hot...♪ If we start to feel dizzy, let's take a break...♪ Once we've revived, let's try getting in again...♪ ……………… Felix: ……………… To get in a bath when your body is hot… That's some determination. I should learn from that. Annette: ……………… Felix: However… to rest after getting dizzy and then enter again… You really like baths that much? Annette: ………

In their Hopes Support, the lyrics for Annette's song were slightly more suggestive than they were in the localization, since it alludes to people getting in the bath together. Annette was blushing when she finished singing. I think she assumed Felix asking her to sing was a way of him showing romantic interest and she was attempting to flirt with him by choosing lyrics that were a bit risqué. But Felix just did NOT pick up on it at all. It went straight over his head.

Felix & Annette After the war, Felix inherited the title of Duke Fraldarius from his late father, Rodrigue. Some time later, he married Annette, and the pair earned renown together by working hard at restoring their territory to and beyond its former glory. The people adored the pair: Felix for his fierce determination, and Annette for her boundless cheer. Years later, Annette threw herself into songwriting, and with the support and encouragement of her husband, she produced melodies that remained popular for generations. The lyrics became distorted over time, however, and the original meaning of the music was lost.

They're an inoffensive ship with a pleasant paired ending in AM, although I don't exactly ship them. I thought it was great that she was able to help him find a passion for something unrelated to military or warfare. I always thought that his "passion" for swordsmanship was drilled into him from birth rather than genuine. Still, I think the joke was that he fell in love with singing, not Annette herself. I thought they had deeper relationships with other characters.

Annette: Mercie, we'll stay friends like this forever… Won't we? Mercedes: Is something wrong? You sound worried. Annette: Since our time in the capital, so much has happened. We've had to make new lives for ourselves, and we've seen at least as many hard times as good. If things keep changing like this, I wonder if we'll be able to stay the same people we are now…

Other than her father, Mercedes was the most important person to Annette. In their A-Support they both confessed their love for each other. And while it did seem like the bisexual Mercedes may have loved her beyond friendship (especially in the Japanese), Annette seemed insistent on emphasizing her platonic love.

Annette & Mercedes After the war, Annette and Mercedes lived separate lives: the former as a teacher at the school of sorcery in Fhirdiad, the latter as a cleric at Garreg Mach. Though they lived apart, they exchanged letters so frequently and shared their lives with one another in such detail that it was as though they were side by side. After many decades, they resigned their respective positions and reunited at Garreg Mach. In their final years, they relocated to a modest house in the Fortress City. It is said that they were happy together to the very end.

They will not be life partners even if you go for their paired ending. It's slightly a bittersweet ending, showing how, as friends get older and pursue their own dreams, things don't always stay the same between them. While they do eventually reunite during retirement, I don't consider it to be the most satisfying ending for either of them.

Annette: You know, you might already know, but my uncle is really strict. He always said, "Do everything perfectly on your own, whether it's cooking, studying, cleaning, or laundry." …Otherwise, being a knight's daughter would just mean being bought by a noble for their Crest.

By the end of the game, I did not ship Annette with anyone, nor do I think any of her romantic paired endings offered a truly satisfying conclusion to her storyline. Even at the Goddess Tower, she just wished to stay friends forever with Byleth. Romance and marriage had little to do with her character arc and she expressed more interest in her friends and family compared to her love life.

Annette: My father was so happy to see me using magic… Seeing him happy made me happy too, and that made me want to work even harder. If only things could have stayed like that… Byleth: What do you mean? Annette: When I was about 13, my father left home. He was a devout man, so I figured he'd gone to the monastery. That's why I went to the school of sorcery, so that I could eventually get accepted at the Officers Academy. I studied harder than ever, and sure enough, I finally earned a referral.

Annette joined the Officer's Academy to reunite with her father.

Annette: After the battle at Gronder, some people claim they saw my father. They said he walked off the battlefield clutching… His Highness's dead body… So long as Father's alive, I don't need anything else. I just… I hope to see him again one day…

And her motivation for joining VW is simply to find him. Repairing her relationship with him was absolutely vital to her happiness.

Dimitri: Say, Annette… When this war is over, where will you go? I heard that you were close to Baron Dominic back in the academy days. Annette: That's right… But five years ago, my uncle betrayed the Kingdom and went over to the Empire's side. I reconnected with Father. So I'd like to live with my family again, in the capital. Also, if I'm in the capital, I'll be able to see you from time to time… Right?

In many of Annette's paired endings, she moves away to live with her husband (Claude, Linhardt, Felix, and Ashe). But she wanted to stay in Fhirdiad to live with her family, and so she could stay in touch with her friends such as Dimitri. I was rooting for her to reconcile with her father more than getting a husband. Gustave was clearly the "life partner" she wanted most.

Gilbert: Still, I wonder what path my life should follow once we achieve our goals. Byleth: Aren't you going back to your family? Gilbert: That has been my intent. But surely my daughter, Annette, must have her own path to follow. Perhaps she would be happier if our paths diverged. Of course, if she desires it, I will gladly return.

And that's obviously what he wanted, too. Gilbert prioritized his duty to his dead king over his relationship with his living wife and daughter. Similar to Dimitri, his character arc was about forgiving himself and realizing that he should live for himself and not the dead.

Dimitri & Gilbert Dimitri assumed the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and spent his life ruling justly over Fódlan. At his side was the knight, Gustave, who had discarded the name of Gilbert and reaffirmed his oath of fealty to the royal family. After many more years of service, in which the trust between them grew and never wavered, Gustave finally wished to retire. Though he bristled slightly at Dimitri's request to look after and tutor the young prince, it is said that Gustave took on that duty with due patience and solemnity for the remainder of his life.

Gilbert only has a few paired endings. His ending with Dimitri depicts him becoming a father figure to Dimitri's son, which is the same as his solo ending. And it sounds like he was still bound by duty and guilt, unable to have his own life or even retire.

Annette: I'm not going to cower in safety while they struggle, especially when I'm in the best position to help. Gustave: If you sense any danger at all, child, promise me that you'll run. I couldn't bear to lose you.

For better or worse, Annette was the most important person to Gustave in both Houses and Hopes. His guilt and shame led him to make bad choices. But in Hopes, when it came down to life or death, he was a father first and a knight second. He will let his daughter flee, so that he could die in her place.

Gilbert: Your Highness, may I ask what your next plan of attack is? Should we dispatch our troops to the Kingdom capital or to the Imperial capital? Dimitri: We will take the Imperial capital. There, I will kill her. We end the war and chase away the lingering regrets of the dead. Nothing could be more to the point. Annette: Uh, that may be true, but don't forget that your people need our help right now…

Annette's relationship with her father was interesting due to how inextricably linked it was to Faeghus's toxic culture of chivalry and the overarching themes of AM's story.

Edelgard: But one cannot measure a leader's worth based solely on whether or not they bear a Crest. There are plenty of talented people in this world without one. People believe Crests are blessings from the goddess, that they're necessary to maintain order in Fódlan. But the people are wrong. Crests are to blame for this brutal, irrational world we live in. Their power is granted only to a select few, whom we elevate and allow to rule the world.

One such theme was "blind obedience". Because Dimitri bore a certain Crest and had the "divine right to rule", his attendants were not willing to step in and call out his poor leadership. Without Byleth acting as an authority figure to override Dimitri, everyone in the Kingdom army will be sent to their deaths.

Gilbert: Annette, throw down your arms! Would you really fight your father? Annette: I can't do it, Father. I can't betray Mother and my uncle! If I have to defeat you, then so be it!

There is unused dialogue that was apparently meant to be an alternate scenario based on whether Annette was defeated in Part 1 and was unrecruited in Part 2. Annette sides with the Empire because she has given up on her father and wants to stay loyal to her mother and uncle. And Gilbert is so loyal to the king that he's even willing to kill his own daughter. It was clearly the "bad" ending.

Annette: We thought maybe you hated us, were trying to forget all about us… Gilbert: Never. I swear it on his late majesty, and on my homeland. Annette: I see. All right…then swear. Swear that some day, when this war is over, you'll come back to us. Gilbert: I hear you, Annette. I will return without fail. Annette: No matter what. That's a promise you just made. If you break it, I'll never speak to you again. Gilbert: Yes. I promise.

And it was meant to juxtapose the "good" ending.

Gilbert & Annette Having discarded his false name, Gilbert, now the royal knight Gustave, renewed his loyalty to King Dimitri. Returning to the capital city of Fhirdiad, Gustave reunited with his wife, who had been staying with Baron Dominic, and his beloved daughter Annette, who began working as a teacher at the capital's school of sorcery. Initially, conversations within the family were somewhat awkward, but over time, smiles and warmth returned. In the Kingdom free from the shadows of war, the three of them enjoyed peaceful and happy days, reclaiming the life they once had.

A fulfilling occupation was vital to Annette's happiness. Her strict uncle wanted her to be perfect at everything, so she wouldn't be sold off for her Crest. She worked so hard because she wanted to support herself. Her dream was to become a teacher. When she was younger, she wanted to be a teacher at the school of sorcery, and she achieves that in the ending with her father.

This is the only ending where Gustave completes his character arc and learns to live for himself. Deep down he was not a bad person, and it was rewarding to see him get his priorities straight. He could still serve the royal family, but his focus should be on his own family. He is a father first and a knight second.

[lurkingshan]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

Tagged by @negrowhat to give away all my fandom secrets. I came up in the US, so most of these will be Western shows. Also be aware that I'm old and been around in fandoms for decades, some of you youths might not even recognize these ships.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

Felicity and Noel. I was very into them (and very anti-Ben) when I was first watching this show at the tender age of 14, but then I rewatched it as an adult, realized Noel was a classic Nice Guy with some clear warning flags, and settled into Team Ben.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Hmm maybe Elizabeth Wakefield and Todd Wilkins? I think I started reading Sweet Valley High at, like, age 8. For TV, I was a sitcom kid and I was obsessed with Dwayne Wayne and his flip-up glasses as a child. I loved him and Whitley. Damn now I want to rewatch.

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

The first I read? I am pretty sure the honor goes to Buffy and Spike.

They were the first ship I remember having that classic fanfic brainrot combo of 1) captivating me entirely with their dynamic and 2) canon leaving me unsatisfied. I lost months of my life over at Elysian Fields.

In terms of the first fanfic I wrote, the honor goes to Ian and Mickey.

I was big into Shameless for its first four seasons. But then the show went way off the rails, the fandom went with it, and I quit watching and scrubbed all my fandom activity off the internet.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

I honestly have no idea. Probably something Buffy, I was doing a lot of internet dwelling for that show.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Getting into discourse is my whole entire thing LOL. I have survived many, many ship wars and let me tell ya you haven't seen unhinged until you've been knee deep in the tags in a long-term fandom with multiple ships for the protagonist. One of the things I love about BL and nearly all Asian dramas is that we go into every show knowing who the main pairing is, so we don't have to fight about ships.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

Hmm I was a big Buffy/Angel anti and that was before Spuffy was even a twinkle in my eye. I never liked that man in a romance until he got hooked up with Cordelia in his own show (but then they ruined it ugh). I was also very anti-Harry/Hermione back in the OG HP days (let characters have meaningful platonic relationships!).

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

I've been on a Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian kick of late.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

OTPs are eternal! Like I said above, since I mostly watch Asian drama now, they're baked in. My fav of my current watches is Ten and Prem.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

YES I AM STILL MAD ABOUT ROBIN AND BARNEY.

You show me two characters who are clearly uniquely compatible, you give me a brief taste of their extremely fun and non-traditional relationship, and then you break them up and stick her with the milquetoast Nice Guy protagonist in a total betrayal of your entire narrative premise? Fuck off forever, HIMYM, I will see you in hell.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

Hmm nothing comes to mind. If I decided to hate a pair in the past I am pretty likely to still be hating.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

I would like to see you try to cancel me!! I'll echo Eboni here and say Brian and Justin, though of course there were people who hated them because of the age gap back in ye olden times, too. Fandom spaces are mostly women and women in queer fandom spaces often struggle to account for the totally different culture and power dynamics between m/m pairings.

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I don't really do crack ships, I am a canon pairing girlie.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

I don't know who the ultimate winner is, but I think it's probably a neck and neck competition between Spuffy and Wangxian as my most read pairing.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

There's actually a lot of variety in them in terms of personalities, appearance, and tropes. I think what makes me really click into a ship is the feeling that the two people are uniquely suited to each other and well matched to go through life together.

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

When I don't believe they can actually make it.

Tagging @my-rose-tinted-glasses @twig-tea @imminentinertia @shortpplfedup @stuffnonsenseandotherthings @littleragondin.

[shadowqnights]

May I ask what are your favorite MCD or Mystreet Ships or just Platonic Relationships? I love seeing people’s opinions on different characters relationships. I’ll occasionally see one that I never saw before and I think it’s so neat.

hello welcome to bee's fav ship masterlist

I’m sorry this ask took so long, this is the one that had all my progress deleted before I could save it anywhere during a blackout. So I didn’t try again to write it for a little while. I know you mentioned MyStreet but I want to make a Separate post for that so I might reblog this later with additions but for now I’m just gonna focus on the MCD side because I know my thoughts better on that and already have plenty to say about it.

Here’s like a little masterlist of my favourite ships + platonic relationships in MCD plus some itty bitty summaries with my thoughts on them. As always I’m down to elaborate on any of these if anyone has questions! I can always make more posts specifically about any of these pairings to fully like. Flesh out and brainstorm rewrite stuff. Some characters might overlap cause multiship win. Also these might sound non-canon because this is how I write them, a lot of this is in beeland not canonical jessland. And I've probably forgotten a shitton but fuck it we ball.

Romantic/Sexual Pairings

Garroth x Laurance. No surprises here, I’m predictable, not much to say other than what I say every other time. Enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, they’re toxic and bloody and they are obsessed with each other. They are codependent. They need each other. There is something so insane about enemies to lovers when they literally have seen the worst of each other and fall in love anyway, providing a foundation for such an intimate trust because they spent so long memorising each other for the sake of hatred. Now they would die for each other, now they are black holes for each other - I never really ship Garroth with anyone else in MCD specifically because they are completely absorbed in each other, and Laur only in like alternate timelines where Garrance aren’t quite as insane for each other and are capable of being normal exes. A delicious religious corruption sun x moon guard4guard freak4freak meal for me. Rich with hungry dog metaphors and plenty of blood. I will defend them to the death. In beeland general rewrite (not Loverman, sorry), they get to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere having an honest but peaceful life. They have a couple of kids, including Malachi<3 and once they’re old they are NOT fucking bothered by plot shit again. They go through many hells and then they finally get to rest. They are so fucking in love with each other that it makes me sickened how Jess accidentally gave me source material for the most insane yaoi that would take over my life for a multitude of years. I don’t know what to even summarise here because like. I’ve written a 500k fanfiction about them that is still ongoing like I don’t know what else to say about them that I haven’t already yapped on about. There’s probably more to talk about because I never stfu about them. No one is surprised.

Katelyn x Aphiah. More enemies to lovers but also in a more guard4princess dynamic, and if you squint also worshipper4god if you consider Katelyn devout. Katelyn enters as her assassin and does literally come close to killing her multiple times only to become her target’s most dutiful loyal guard. Their magicks call to each other. Katelyn teaches her how to fight and forces Aph to confront parts of herself that were unacknowledged before their meeting. Confident that with the amount of devotion, desire and pure angry emotion that I give Katelyn, if Laurance hadn’t been at the werewolf wedding in Season 2, she easily could have had a similar outburst and take his place there to save Aph. Katelyn is obsessed with her from the start, no matter whether considering Aph a symbol, then an enemy, then finally a friend, lord and lover. And Aph is utterly captivated by Katelyn, not just her beauty, but her power. Plus, majority of the things you like about Garmau and Laurmau can be translated to Katemau but better if you try.

Dante x Nicole. No enemies here, just lovers, oh god I love these two. They are both runaways haunted by their ‘past lives’, trying to create new names for themselves and heal. I associate them both with animals - Nicole quite literally as a fox, and Dante more metaphorically as a dog or coyote. They are best friends for YEARS before anything even happens between them, and I understand why Jess saw their vibe as an innocent young love/fling but also nooo………………….. I see the visions………………. They heal together… they understand each other’s vulnerabilities and insecurities so well….. they rescue each other…. they are adoring and energetic pure t4t love formed off years of friendship and mutual respect and like. They loved each other as friends and then they loved each other More and just very naturally became partners. They’re both very playful and adventurous when they open up, and even at their most different they’re this lovely dynamic of Nicole unable to stop yapping while Dante stares quiet and adoringly at her. And they fight together side by side!!!! (Hypnosis eyes for you to think more about mcd dancole)

Those are my big three holy trinity right nowwww but. Here are some more smaller-scale MCD ship dynamics that I also looove.

(Jeffory and Katelyn are also on this list but I talked about them yesterday in that other essay so I don't feel like repeating myself. Just know that they're included.)

Vylad x Laurance, errrr it’s complicated you already know what’s going on here. soul bonded or whatever, went through hell together. don’t know each other yet understand each other better than anyone, which isn’t saying much in vylad’s case, since no one comes close to ever really understanding him but if anyone’s going to pretend to, it’ll be laur. they are each other’s hopeful fantasy, like sitting in a dark cell and saying ‘do you think that, in another life-’. in this life, you will always have some kind of self-inflicted divide (you don’t know what the divide is blocking, because it’s not exactly friendship or romance but some third secret scary thing), but the thought will never die. you’re not even friends. in another life, maybe you could have gotten along somehow, but in this life you make stupid, foolish promises about freedom. you leave each other behind eventually, as is natural. vylad had far more clarity and knowledge of shadow knights that garroth never fully grasped, that made laurance feel seen. they make him feel seen in different ways. those damn ro’meaves.

Katelyn x Travis, nooo ha ha wow it’d be so funny if we were both burdened by years of pain and sacrifice thinking that we will never receive love only to find it in an unexpected place. it’d be so funny if you managed to save each other after years of being hurt. to the point that one of you feels that she wasted her only chance at love and the other is afraid that after years of isolation he will never know what it feels like. what if you realise that what you thought was frustrating and annoying is actually exactly what you need right now. maybe he was waiting for you his whole life. maybe he feels like letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding for so long. oomf if you keep on cracking the stupidest flirty jokes i might have to let down my tough exterior to actually smile a tiny bit if only in wry amusement but still, he gets her smiling. let’s go swimming and heal together oomfie!!!

Cadenza x Sasha, tragic sun x moon lovers forcefully separated. like your entire friend group was definitely all in love with both of these zvahl siblings at some point but like. instead of both of you being the fascination of this nerd freak one after the other, you two were meant to be together but could never voice it. you were such close friends that everyone already thought you were a package deal. not to be separated. only for everything to go wrong just as you are about to bring those feelings to light and now you will never get the chance because the girl you love just came back Wrong. and worse, she is so convinced that its Your fault that maybe it is, because if she believes it so forcefully it has to be true. without even knowing about gene altering her memories, you just let go because its the easiest thing to do. doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Laurance x Travis, but only in like a certain AU where Garroth is his ex but they’re not fucked up enough to be entirely obsessed with each other still. I don’t really indulge in Laurance or Garroth ships often because I am so ride or die for Garrance but I think in some world Laurance and Travis fit so nicely together, the same way that Laurance has that complicated relationship with Vylad but only in the circumstance that he’s not with Garroth. You have to hear me out here as I tell you that I understand Laurance on a deep insane level and you need to trust me when I say that he’s interested in science. He spends years ruling by emotion and temper. He’s searching for something logical, something with a straightforward answer that doesn’t depend on keeping his heart in check. He’s tired of being told to meditate or do yoga or whatever, thanks Vylad, he wants something tangible. Everyone is so busy worrying about him being this dangerous, volatile ticking time bomb that needs to calm down or leave when he’s already been through an emotional washing machine’s worth of hell that season alone. He’s tired and he wants a solution to a problem that is very much emotional, something that can’t just be fixed. Shadow Knights are made out of emotion, and ugly emotions at that, and now more than ever Laurance is so exhausted by the constant of it.

(Interesting to talk about later that Garroth and Laurance essentially swap, despite their respective emotional reputations, that Garroth’s leaving is emotionally driven and while Laurance’s is triggered by emotion, as per the Shadow Knight overreaction, his actual leaving is far more logical and straightforward, making it less emotionally destructive. Despite the notion that he is more emotional and Garroth is far more repressed, their breakdowns kind of reverse. It’s a little funny. Truly made for each other. Ok sorry no more garrance.)

And oh look who it is its Travis fist deep in the dirt hunting for worms with books and maps strapped to his back conducting the most fucked up science experiment known to man, someone who is very used to putting up a kind of faux performance to survive while having an incredible amount of burdens and sacrifices hidden beneath that carefully curated persona. They’re both incredibly clever, and despite those personas being playful and flirty, they know when to lock in to get the job done. And Travis is that perfect intruiging mix of heart and logic, because he’s blunt and straightforward especially when it comes to reciting things he knows from books, but when he gets passionate he can yap for hours. He is incredibly brave and sweet but also very studious and not very emotionally intelligent. He sees that Laurance has a problem and works himself to the bone to try and fix it for him, even when Laurance is trying to explain that its something unfixable. They’re kind of rivals at first that turn into besties who study each other sometimes. They are considering dissecting each other to figure out wtf is going on in the other’s brain. In a time period where literally everyone’s waiting for Laurance to snap, and he really does snap on Travis, it’s kind of comforting for someone to be fascinated by the Shadow Knight rather than afraid of it, and wants to approach it with science and reason rather than with emotion, fear or merely just projecting their own shames onto him. Their demon sides like each other or something.

Kiki x Cadenza, they’re pretty simple and cute. Sweet little background couple both passionate about nature - obviously Kiki loves animals, and Caddie is more interested in plants and gardening. They both have these almost-dormant magicks that emerge in very beautiful, caring ways. They are soft and tender with each other and also the idea of them meeting via Cadenza being a literal hen is kind of funny. They should throw rocks at Zane together.

Lucinda x KC, except I haven’t fuuuully thought about their endgame, just that they are so cute. Rivals to friends to rivals again, then friends AGAIN, then business partners/besties for many many years. And then when they’re older, lovers. They are stronger together, their magicks respond well to each other, and their individual business ventures actually work best when combined rather than competing. They don’t get together until they’re older ladies and, while Lucinda would still be working through some teacher-related conflicts, she’d be more willing to settle after years of wandering and long after being the White Witch, she might feel more comfortable sticking to one place. But even so they’re the kind of yuri that never has an explicit conversation about it and never tell anyone, it just happens so naturally, they’re old women who live together and have a dual witchcraft store + bakery and finally get to live in a place where they don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves or be in constant competition, even playfully, they can just Live. And also owl x cat dynamic is so cute.

Platonic/Familial Pairings

I feel like a couple of these I have talked about in more detail before so these will be kiiind of brief. Here are some of my favourite platonic dynamics and I am CERTAIN I've forgotten a lot of nice little underrated friendships but fuck it here's a top three.

These AREN’T ROMANTIC !!!

Dante, Aphiah & Aaron, their dumb dog-core little found family - Aaron becoming this old, gruff older brother figure for the both of them. After being alone for so long and bearing so much suffering, he finds solace and the beginning of a healing journey in both of them. None of them are replacing what has been lost per say, but fill the gaps of pieces missing in certain ways. Aphiah the amnesiac who, if she ever had a family at all, has literally no one now, getting to have a sibling dynamic with Dante, who waits so dutifully for his sister to come home. She looks to Aaron as a mentor figure, someone who can understand her feeling of otherworldliness and how she often feels alienated from the rest of the cast while also empathising with her as a Lord and a parent. She and Dante follow him and learn from him very attentively - and for Dante, to have an older brother figure that isn’t Gene. They take care of each other. An old wolf and the cubs that started following him around one day and while gruff and stubborn as to ignoring them at first, slowly learning to open up to them, thus earning their trust.

Vylad & Katelyn, give it up for EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BESTIESSSSS. Every time I’ve brainstormed and thought about them with oomf I’ve been so genuinely pleased at the idea of locking them in a room together where they literally would just sit in silence and not be able to start a conversation. Such a painfully stubborn, awkward silence. Every scene they have together is so fucking funny do NOT put these guys on a boat together. They’re both gods of obsessing over their stony unfeeling tough exteriors to spare themselves of feeling. Kings of having tragic ass pasts and significant people in said pasts that haunt their respective narratives in a way that they feel no one will ever understand. So they can sit Close to each other sort of and continue to not understand each other but yet be the exact fucking same. GO TO THERAPY LOSERS.

Lucinda & Dante, go get therapy pt. 2, Dante you have to stop latching onto all of these caring figures that are a little older than you and provide some sort of semblance to a sibling, Dante stop it. She picks up on his subtle fear of witchcraft really quickly and decides to teach him more about what she does. He’s able to divulge parts of his past to her that he could never tell anyone about and she’s able to offer some comfort. I do appreciate that it’s not entirely one-sided - like yeah Dante is seeking comfort and understanding which he hasn’t really been able to take before, but he’s also there as a supportive shoulder for her, too, the way that his friendship with Aaron also starts out as mutual transaction. He notices that Lucinda has been feeling a little bit outcast by the town, even though she thinks thats what she has to be yet longs to be involved in the community, so he makes an effort to include her and spend time with her. He’s not really her apprentice, but he’s definitely willing to help out when he’s around, picking herbs and such. It’s a little funny that Dante is so insecure that he thinks of himself as undesirable and unloveable but a vast majority of town is literally a Dante fanclub willing to die for him and take him under their wing. Like oh baby. Your awkward charm is undeniable.

Stayed up late writing another ask answer yet again yippee. As always inbox is open for more asks if you feel brave enough to receive an answer of this average length and insanity :3 Stick your hand in my cage. I don't bite :).

[galaxywhump]

A Lesson in Cooperation

[An Immortal Among Stars Masterlist]

contents: lady whump, immortal whumpee, captivity, a lot of dying, torture, asphyxiation, cutting, implied surgery, briefly mentioned eye gore.

~~~

Every time someone called Karita the immortal, it was terrible news.

She tried to be secretive, and usually she succeeded, but every once in a while someone would find out. There were people strongly attuned to magic of all sorts who could sense something strange about her and piece it together; there were those who simply saw her come back to life; and there were the most mundane ways, finding her old photographs, mentions of her in documents, because no matter how hard she tried, she could never fully erase her existence from the records.

Which meant, of course, that those in power were the most likely to find out about her secret.

"So, you're the immortal I've read so much about," Princex Yari drawled with a sly smile, looking down at Karita, who answered with her best look of confusion.

"Excuse me?" She frowned. "I-I think you got the wrong person. Your Highness," she rushed to add, her eyes widening as she put her entire heart into playing the part of a confused, intimidated mortal.

It rarely worked, and judging by the princex's laughter, this time it did not.

"Don't lie to me," they said, giving one of the guards standing by their side a nod. "I can easily test it."

Karita let out a terrified gasp when the guard handed the princex a dagger, shiny and bejeweled, more of a beautiful accessory than a weapon.

"No, please!" she choked out, struggling in the guards' grip. "Please, I swear I don't know what Your Highness is talking about, I'm not immortal!"

"That's just too bad." Yari shrugged, approaching her. "If you're telling the truth… Well, I'm terribly sorry, and I hope you had a good life."

The freezing blade was pressed to her throat, making her shudder, and with a quick precise cut her fate was sealed.

"Have you ever considered becoming an actress?" Yari asked, giddy with excitement, as soon as she came back to life. "I'm sure you'd shine in death scenes."

She glared at them, abandoning her wholehearted impression of normality.

"What do you want from me, Your Highness?" Her voice was dripping with venom.

"Information," they replied, leaning down to be closer to eye level with her. "A lot of information."

"I'm not telling you shit," Karita sneered. She saw stars when her reply earned her a hard slap to the face. It was annoying more than anything, but it drove a different point home: once again, she was a captive, after a mere few years of peace.

"Maybe you won't have to. All I need is your full cooperation."

"That's not gonna happen either."

"Really?" Yari raised one eyebrow, still smiling. "I think my offer is quite sensible, especially considering what will happen if you refuse."

"Oh? Then why don't you tell me about it?"

She had been presented with many offers she couldn't refuse throughout her life. It always turned out that she could, in fact, refuse, and the consequences were bearable. There wasn't much that could scare her into submission.

"Like I said, I need information. Information about the Serpent Cluster.”

Karita frowned. Serpent was a lost cluster, taken over long ago by loosely organized groups of the underworld, now a death sentence to any ship that passed too close. The cluster was being monitored as much as it could be, which wasn’t a lot, and for decades there had been plans and promises to deal with it once and for all, but it wasn’t going to be an easy operation, and as years passed, the groups ruling over the cluster only continued to grow stronger. No-one had been stupidly brave enough to venture there, including Karita - she wouldn’t lose her life in the cluster, sure, but she knew better than anyone that there were fates worse than death.

“I don’t have any.”

“I know,” Yari said with a patient smile. “But you’re going to get it for me.”

“What, you expect me to just waltz in there and ask around?”

“No, of course not. We’ll go with a more stealthy approach.”

“We?” Karita snorted, even as fear started to set in. “I’m not going to cooperate and you know it.”

“Yes, you are. Anyway, the plan is as follows: We’re going to put implants right here.” Before Karita could react, Yari grabbed the sides of her head and ran their thumbs behind her ears, pressing down to the point of pain. “They’re going to record everything you hear while you’re there, and send it directly to us. It’s only sound, but it will have to do for the most part.”

“No?” Karita stared at them in disbelief. “You’re not putting that crap in me.”

Yari sighed.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, immortal? I’m a princex. I’m in charge here, and right now I control you. You can act tough all you want. In the end, you’ll do exactly what I want you to do.”

“No,” Karita repeated and shook her head. “You can’t force me. What are you going to threaten me with? Death?”

“Actually, yes. In a way,” Yari laughed, and gestured at the guards, who grabbed Karita by the arms and started leading her - or more like dragging her - out of the room. Her thoughts were racing, her heartbeat frantic, as she tried to guess what the princex had in store for her. She had died more times and in more ways than she could count; mundane, horrific, suicide, murder, freak accidents, magic. She had suffered, she had been mutilated, there was nothing that could sway her and convince her that going to the Serpent Cluster to act as a spy was the better alternative.

She was pretty confident, until she started to realize where she was being taken.

She pulled. She tried to dig her heels in, to stop the guards, to free herself, to do something, and maybe she was wrong, but there it was, the airlock, and two people in spacesuits, and the vast universe outside.

No. 

She was paralyzed with terror at this point, which didn’t happen often - she had learned long ago to act no matter what, to fight through the fear, not let it overpower her, but this-

The star exploded.

She could’ve been there, on one of the destroyed planets, fire, burning, melting, ice, freezing, floating in nothingness, no hope of ever being found.

Sturdy manacles were closed on her wrists and ankles. Yari appeared in front of her, holding a helmet.

“So,” they said, taking in her terrified expression, “it’s just death, isn’t it? You’ll be fine, no matter how long you’re there. I still haven’t decided, to be honest. Let’s say… six hours, and then I’ll ask for your cooperation again. Then… we’ll see.”

"No." The word left her before she could stop herself, and that was it for acting tough. They knew how scared she really was. 

She wasn't going to be there forever, though, or even for several days, months, years. Six hours to start with, after which…

She couldn’t agree. She just couldn’t.

The princex put the helmet on her, but she already suspected it was only temporary - she didn't have a spacesuit or any protective magic, and a helmet offered a sliver of protection that her newest captor obviously didn't want her to have. The two guards in spacesuits grabbed her and pulled her towards the airlock, and she struggled, she did, but there was absolutely nothing she could do.

Immortality couldn't save her from this.

The hatch behind them closed, the one in front of them opened, and she was pushed into a nightmare.

Freezing pressure immediately surrounded her body and her breath caught in her throat. The guards wasted no time attaching a tether to the manacles on her ankles. There was no sympathy, no hesitation in their actions as they followed their orders, testing the tether, then taking the helmet off Karita, leaving her head unprotected from the ruthless vacuum.

They pushed her further away from the spaceship - the tether was long enough for that - and left her to die.

The first time she did, she wasn’t sure what was happening. She was freezing, but at the same time her blood and saliva were boiling and- She passed out.

When she came back to life, there was a layer of ice on her face, and she screamed soundlessly when she felt her eyes boiling too, an agony she had never experienced before. The vacuum was pushing, squeezing her body, compressing her lungs, she ran out of the meager amount of air she came back to life with, and passed out again.

She had read about this, just like she had read about every potential deadly situation she’d heard of, imagining what it would feel like, learning how to survive it, if there even was a way. The source of that particular report was a gnarly one, shady experiments on unwilling human subjects in a magically recreated contained vacuum; it wasn’t a publicly available document, but she had to find it, and she succeeded, only to be plagued by nightmares for days.

The subjects lost consciousness after ten to fifteen seconds.

She plummeted into darkness more merciful than that surrounding her, speckled with stars.

Death occurred around the ninety second mark.

She gasped when she came back to life, only for the vacuum to take all of her air, as if pulling it out of her, leaving her struggling weakly until her brain shut down again.

Deceased subjects recovered after 24 hours were frozen solid.

How long had it been? Karita was in no state to try and count the moments of consciousness, short, and yet feeling like an eternity. Freezing, boiling alive, suffocating, struggling, suffering, with no end in sight, unless it had been three, four, five hours already and she was going to be taken back soon, but it might as well have only been half an hour.

There was also the possibility that Yari was going to leave her like this for much, much longer. Maybe they were watching this, enjoying her pain and panic, or maybe they couldn’t handle it. Based on what was happening to her body, she could only imagine what she looked like.

This could be her eternity. The tether was the only promise that she was going to be brought back eventually, but if it failed, or if someone undid it, she would have no anchor. Restrained, and dying too often to be able to do much anyway, she’d be left at the mercy of space until she could no longer remember what it was like to be anywhere else.

It never got more bearable. If anything, it was even worse than she had imagined and feared for so long. She couldn’t handle it. She wasn’t strong enough.

Resigned, she died. She died. She died. She woke up in the grip of two guards.

She was inside the spaceship again. Every breath was agony. She managed to look up and saw the princex, who smiled at her and said something, but she couldn’t make out their words. The bejeweled dagger shined in their hand, was pressed to her throat, and sent her back into darkness.

“So? Do I have your full cooperation?” Yari asked when Karita opened her eyes.

It was always strange to come back to life free from pain. She had just spent hours in agony, and now it was only a memory. Her clothes and face were damp, but at least not frozen anymore - the temperature must have been cranked up to make her thaw out faster. 

She should refuse, but the thought of being out there again filled her with panic that made it hard to breathe. The Serpent Cluster really did seem like the better option.

“Yes.” She wanted to simply nod at first, but she had to make sure she could still talk.

“Good. I’ll give you a moment to compose yourself and… clean yourself up.” The princex grimaced and scrunched their nose. “Then we can proceed.”

She was dragged to a bathroom, and she was glad it had no mirrors. She sat in the shower with her eyes closed to avoid looking at what the water was washing off of her until she was forced to leave when one of the guards knocked on the door insistently.

The walk to the medbay felt like walking to the gallows, and she was barely aware of what was happening; her body was walking down the corridor, but her mind was somewhere else. They made her lie down on her stomach on the operating table, tied her hair into a tight bun so it wouldn’t get in the way, and hooked her up to machinery she didn’t even bother to try and recognize.

They were merciful enough to sedate her before the procedure, and someone even reassured her that there was no chance of complications, as if it mattered much in her case, as if what they were doing was supposed to help her. That was never the case - as soon as she lost consciousness, they got to work turning her into an unwilling spy, nothing more than a tool.

~~~

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