#Mom and dad of Voyager vibes

[simplybybea]

Just watched Voyager Season 5 Epiosde 1 Night when the kids mutiny against Janeway's self sacrificing and the whole scene is awesome but I love when she sits down next to Chakotay and just mutters fondly 'they knew before I came in, you told them!'and he doesn't even try to deny it.

I love them your honour.

I also now want to know how the conversation with the bridge kids went. Like, did Chakotay and Tuvok just stand there and go ok so Janeway has a suicidal plan. I'm not going to tell you what you should say or do but we need to prove to her we don't want to lose her. Them just nodding solemnly and filtering out without a plan just 'keep mum alive' vibes.

Or did the kids immediately start planning what sort of things would work and B'Elanna scoffing at something saying 'Janeway wouldn't go for that Tom you need to be blunter!' And Seven agreeing before they all turn to Chakotay and say 'you sir need to stand there and look stoic if you please. She won't listen to you but she will to us.'

I want to KNOW.

Also her post-void conversations with them all. Just gimme all the extra please.

(Honourable episode mention to Tom convincing Seven of all people to join him in Captain Proton)

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok dad Moments in Pathways

Bonus: Tuvok being absolutely shocked that he wasn’t a perfect angel when he was a child...I can’t believe these lies would be spread about Tuvok [Redacted], the world’s most perfect boy then man...

[tsunflowers]

I saw a post on here about the book "wavewalker" by suzanne heywood and it seemed Wild so I got it from the library right away and only just finished. it's ms heywood's memoir about how when she was seven her parents took her and her younger brother to sail around the ocean following the path of captain cook's third voyage bc it was the bicentennial and their surname was cook. they said it would take three years but they ended up loving sailing so much that they trapped her on the boat for ten years making her take on more and more of the work required to run the boat even though she was a child and trying desperately to finish correspondence courses. I really read the whole book like this

her dad was like if a man was made entirely of red flags, with one major example being that he liked to hire crew who had no sailing experience so he could train them to sail the exact way he wanted. her mom was one of those people who doesn't understand that their child isn't their peer and froze her out for the crime of being a child. but the memoir isn't only about the profoundly abusive family dynamic compounded by being trapped on a boat. it's also a fascinating snapshot of a very particular time and place

they set sail in 76 so that's already a different world than the one I live in and the south pacific of that time was even more different. you get the sense the dad would have preferred to only stop in places with yacht clubs and lots of white expats but since he was sailing, against the wind, he had to stop anywhere he could. they ended up on a remote French research station, tristan da cunha, and many small islands and villages where the vibe was like "you gotta give a gift to the village chief if you're gonna anchor here"

it's unimaginable to me to live the lifestyle she did. but if you read wavewalker, you can imagine it for a little while

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s5 ep14: Bliss

This ep was actually better than I remembered it being. There were a lot of nice character moments, and the plot actually made sense!(Admittedly a low bar, but this is Voyager, after all. Don't at me, I love this dumb show with my whole heart!)

Seven and Naomi Wildman are the only ones unaffected when a space creature that eats ships uses telepathy to trick the crew into thinking it's a wormhole back to Earth, in order to lure them in so it can eat Voyager. It's up to Seven to try to stop them, with help from Naomi, the Doctor, and a spacefaring alien who has been hunting the creature for years.

Though I do still think it's a little unrealistic that Naomi is in so many episodes just running around the ship without her mom anywhere nearby, I do like how having her around brings out more of the family side of the crew. She's sort of like the whole ship's kid in way, and it's really sweet how they all collectively assume responsibilty for looking after her and teaching her things. The opening scene of Tom and Seven bringing Naomi along on a routine away mission so she can learn about shuttles is the cutest thing ever. We get to see Tom being an adorable goofball again, finally, and giving major good dad vibes while showing Naomi how to use the helm. Even Seven softens and takes on a parental role when Naomi comes to her for help later, when the crew gets mind controlled by the creature.

It was genuinely refreshing to see Seven of Nine defying the rest of the crew in order to protect them, rather than just because she wants to get her own way. I like it when we get stories where Seven is loyal to the crew and Voyager, and considers herself part of the family, since most of the time they have her whining and complaining and saying how awful it is, and how everyone is wrong, and she doesn't agree with anyone or want anything to do with them. I think it really screwed her over as a character, frankly, because how are we supposed to sympathize with someone who hates the characters we love? I really wish they'd have shown more of her growing closer to the crew and bonding with them more often, since whenever there's a big dramatic moment where Seven gets asked if she's sorry she was brought aboard Voyager, or wishes she could return to the Borg, she always says no, but I feel like we never see her journey to coming to that decision. In the very beginning, they showed her wanting to fit in and be part of the crew, and it made sense that she would, since all she's ever known is a collective existence, and making her into this rugged individualist who wants to be apart from everyone felt out of place, in addition to being off-putting. I think the exploration of how returning to earth would mean losing her new 'collective' on Voyager would have had more weight if we saw and felt how much she valued that. As it is, they usually make her seem like she puts up with Voyager because she has to, and doesn't have much attachment to any of it, which takes away a lot of the drama, and makes you question how she actually does feel about being on Voyager and being human again. But at the very least, I believed that she actually cared about the crew in this episode, so baby steps, I guess.

I also liked that Seven went to Tom instead of the Doctor or the Captain when she started to suspect things weren't what they seemed- it's nice to show her developing friendships with the whole crew instead of just them.

The little sneak peeks into the crews desires for returning home that we saw when the creature started using telepathy on them were interesting too- though I gotta say, I feel like Janeway's desire for Mark's engagement to be broken off was schadenfreude rather than wanting to get back with him, lol.

The creature itself was a cool concept, and guest star W. Morgan Sheppard was perfectly cast as a spacefaring version of a grizzled old sea dog hunting his white whale.

Tl;dr: An interesting episode that did a good job of showing the family atmosphere of the ship, and had a good mix of showing both cute moments and exciting peril.

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

atla characters + star trek

aang

favorite series: he likes the optimism of tos and tng best but he appreciates them all

character he should meet: benjamin sisko. sisko would make him a delicious vegetarian meal, over which they'd discuss struggling with their responsibilities as spiritual leaders

katara

favorite series: ds9 because it has the most explicit antifa politics, and voyager because powerful women. captain katara!

character she should meet: kira nerys. they could bond over losing their mothers at a young age and fighting colonizers, as well as their unwavering faith in their friend who is also a spiritual leader

sokka

favorite series: tng and ds9, but he's seen them all. biggest trekkie of the gaang. has built model spaceships with hakoda

character he should meet: literally any of the engineers. let him follow them around with wide starstruck eyes as they explain the workings of a warp engine. it's what he deserves

toph

favorite series: does not watch star trek but has heard sokka talk about it

character she should meet: seven of nine. they've both fought fictionalized versions of the Rock, they're both defiantly independant because of a repressive upbringing, and seven has been known to bond with intelligent young girls

zuko

favorite series: tos and tng - they offered a comforting refuge for him as a kid with a difficult home life

character he should meet: worf. the only people more obsessed with honor than zuko are klingons, and they could theoretically bond over having a complicated relationship with the warrior culture they're from. but that would require emotional openness, so realistically they'd probably just spar and compare weapons. that would still be fun for them i think. also worf might tell him he fights with honor and that would make him happy

suki

favorite series: voyager, because women, but familiar with all of them via sokka

character she should meet: jadzia dax. they'd spar and talk about their dating lives, bicon to bicon

azula

favorite series: star trek is for nerds like zuzu

character she should meet: kathryn janeway. she'd benefit from a mom figure, and she'd need one who's just as tough as she is and who has experience guiding young women who were raised to be weapons

mai

favorite series: ds9. she enjoys the moral ambiguity and political drama

character she should meet: spock. with the blunt bangs and emotionless attitude, she's basically already a vulcan, and like spock she has had to rebel against her emotionally repressive upbringing

ty lee

favorite series: ds9, also for the moral ambiguity and political drama.

character she should meet: deanna troi. they could have a girls' night eating chocolate and talking about vibes and auras and how people underestimate them

iroh

favorite series: tos - he likes a classic. the politics probably went over his head when he was young though

character he should meet: jean-luc picard. they'd have tea and talk about philosophy, in the process of which picard would call him on only changing his mind about the war when he was personally affected. iroh could call picard out for being a frenchman lecturing an asian man about imperialism but unfortunately picard has probably already acknowledged Earth's past in his speech, plus iroh is from a fantasyland and doesn't know what french people are

hakoda

favorite series: don't make him pick! he's seen them all and is the reason sokka and katara are into it. your stereotypical nerd dad. he sings along to the enterprise theme song, much to his children's embarrassment

character he should meet: james t. kirk. bakoda is so spirkcoded

[clementine-kesh]

#OHHH its SO close between Janeway/Tom and Janeway/Seven #but I chose Janeway/ Seven bc the Janeway/Seven on its own already has terrible 'creator/god/mother/boss/ romance vibes #and I think they could do something really special with all that [in terms of fucking up their children] #Janeway & Tom WOULD be bad but it'd just be your typical neglect wherein every so often they realize they've been too neglectful #and like. Take their kids to the holodeck for one day of fun lin which Tom and Janeway are incredibly awkward with one another] #< They don't scream romantically involved to me and they're also not checking in with each other so ALLL the time the other is absorbed in #their own thing and thinking 'Tom/Janeway is probably taking care of the kid. and in reality Neelix is taking care of them. Again. #I think Tuvok & Neelix would have a contentious personal relationship [bad for a child] but if they were just co-parents it'd be ok #they've both individually proven themselves to be good parental figures and people who WANT to be parents so the kid would actually be #taken care of <3 they just can't go on a trip altogether bc dads are gonna ARGUE. To them it is commonplace but the child is unsettled v_v #B'Elanna/Seven are fucking up and very aware they're fucking up and anxious about it. They're reading 'How To Parent 101' and sweating. #They are slipping on banana peels left and right at a rate faster than they can even get up. They both have so much personal baggage/ angst #that they haven't even BEGUN to unpack in the Voyager era they are NOT gonna raise a well-adjusted child but they ARE trying very hard #Harry & Tom don't want to have a child and it would show if they did have a child. Tom would rely way too much on Harry and encourage the #child to be more like Harry when he was paying attention to them. Harry is consumed by his work. Tom sees his own father in him. Uh Oh Uh O #Uh Oh Uh Oh. while he's sorting through that Harry still doesn't want a kid and the kid is still there v_v #Janeway and Chakotay...........what can be said. Janeway would NOOT be a good mom. Chakotay would be-shrugs- I think he'd #be a better uncle. He's fine. The kid's whole life is 'where's mom?' 'working. #< Keenly keenly aware that your mother cares about several things and people more than you. Sometimes you feel like she ONLY cares about #you because you're a member of her crew. #thus concludes my thoughts! #Honestly if more people wrote two characters having a child just to explore the specific ways THOSE CHARACTERS would fuck up a child l'd be #more interested in the trope #God really can you IMAGINE the Janeway/Seven child???? #Most productive member of the crew by far /intensely negative <- Congratulations! It's an Employee. #I was gonna suggest Tom x Tuvok as another terrible parental pairing but I honestly think Tuvok would just tell Tom to let him raise the #kid and Tom would insist he be part of their life out of a sense of duty[read: Spite at the suggestion]* #Another suggestion: Doctor/Seven #*Tom constantly trying to undo whatever Vulcan lessons Tuvok is trying to impart is pretty much the extent of their parent-child bonding

copying these tags because they’re 100% correct, the most raw and scathing read on all of these characters. i need to see them all raise children now immediately

excluding the canon pairings because let’s be real they would sweep

[benefits1986]

MatchaME’s First Voyage

The more time you spend outside, the more time you’re able to look at all sides.

2023. I’ve always been a fan of foldies. The term itself speaks to me: oldie with an F. LOL. As I am on my way to spend more and more time outside Manila, my MatchaME, my matcha folding bike is an investment.  May 2, 2023. My Tito Taurus’ birthday and MatchaME’s first voyage in my ina’s sleepy town somewhere in the South. Of course, I had first fold jitters and booboos. As I unfold this beauty, I am amazed about how well made she really is. Unapologetic. Tiny but mighty. Streamlined.  Dad egged me to get either a Trek or a Bianchi gravel bike because honestly these two are really strong challengers. Bianchi is a top contender because I like cyan and I like the letter B; plus the reviews are really, really buttery. I actually interacted with sellers already but, my heart belongs to the other B, baby! (May foldie ba Bianchi? Parang ‘di bagay though so pass.) Both are not budging in terms of the value for money and most especially, the curation I am slowly building up. Not about being fancy, but, why a foldie?  I am 5 ft. 2 in. and my arms are longer compared to my legs.  I travel and want to travel more both here, there and everywhere.  I try my best to fit a bike session in each trip.  I still am not confident to go back to driving. I am a TINY HOUSE bitch forever.  I am keeping up with city life and the life outside the city.  I am on my way to spend more time around Tagaytay very soon.  I don’t like fast bikes to be honest.  I don’t like upgrading bikes.  I don’t know a lot about fixing bikes.  I have trust issues hence I don’t like getting my bike fixed.  I have “space invaders” issues, too. I feel like my bike is an extension of my being and doing, hence, I don’t want other people to lambast my bike and me, too. (Tindi ko noh? Pati bike, hindi pinatawad.)  I like chill rides that are about 50KM at the minimum.  I dress up and dress down, so a foldie does well with ANY look and vibe.  I don’t mind running errands with a bike so as long as there’s not much smoke and not much distractions on the road.  I don’t want bikes that are placed in racks.  I don’t want bikes to get in the way and my way, too.  I want a bike that I can conveniently bring with me wherever I go, if possible.  I really have a thing for biking, walking, reading, writing in places that have ambient lights and sounds.  Ergo, a foldie is me.  My Tito is one of my fallen Twin Taurus Towers. The other is my mom whose birthday is coming up very soon. Really not sure if I intended to find a significant date for MatchaME’s first voyage but a lot has been happening in between sleeping less and eating less, too. To be honest, I bike because I need to convince my system to focus on more sleep and eating better. So far, I’ve been making a progress and would need to keep at it because I’m still on the cusp of a spiral or a sparkle.  Taurus szn, you shithead. I hope that MatchaME’s voyages would enable me to make sense of your inescapable entrance and exit. It’s not easy as I am still avoiding my emotions since February of this year. LOL. However, there are many times when I allow myself to feel the cut, the shiver, the pierce, the empty, the choke, the fail, and many more forms of vulnerability to come through the fortress I have built for the past decades.  What’s curious though is that through each brushes and strokes of, with and for vulnerability, I am also finding the calm. This 2023 chaos is indeed life-altering. Maybe, just maybe, this time around, I’d be able to go beyond connecting the dots backward. May this 2023 be the pivot that I’ve been waiting for as I make sense of all shit and wins in my life.  MatchaME’s first voyage was all about testing its power and its limits, too. No gear shifted as I traversed some kind of hilly and flat roads. No fancy tricks, just hyperfocus on what I can do with what LITTLE I have. So far, she’s giving. So far, she’s making my hidden dark heart and soul vibing. LOL. So far, I think we’re a really good match that had to wait. She ain’t easy to get as I’ve been dreaming about her since 2015. And so far, the wait is worth it. Super worth it.  Some lessons I got in her first voyage are:  1 Though you can’t fear the mountain when you don’t know its steepness, truth is, when you’re on you’re way up, you need to know how to make it without the tukod  2 Just in case you come across a tukod on your way up the mountain, it’s totally fine because you are human  3 People who belittle tiny packages do not matter. Surprise them and make them go wild as you make your way to the top no matter how slow you go 4 When people look down on your foldie, smile and tell them you got this and they ought to mind their own shit poetically with pektus (tuhuran mo ng very light ng tumigil)  5 You really need to learn how to befriend the break as you go from the top to the bottom 

6 Keep your eye peeled for stories that are worthwhile, always 

7 Stop chasing the distance. Enjoy the journey. Go for a chill ride.  8 The main road is definitely a good one, but the secret streets make any ride richer and fuller with their sudden uphill and surprising downhill  9 Too much wind, sun and rain are constants. Learn how to make it through them 

10 A bike is a tool, a weapon, and a companion  11 Water and coffee and polvoron might be my go-to for pitstops 

12 Learn how to check your bike before and after you ride (lagot ako sa nanay ko sa part na ‘to because this bitch can’t even pump air or do a basic bike check. Gawin natin ‘yan this 2023.)  Thank u, universe for the long wait for MatchaME’s first voyage. Let’s keep her trips, her detours, her dead ends and her stories coming, shall we? 

[baylardian-1]

Our Threshold kiddy designs all grown up. :D

[minikawa]

Ok so even tho I have a bunch of headcanons about Amihan adopting Halvor and other characters on sight, I also realized that there is another new character in the latest chapter that low key looks like he could be Amihan's actual son holy shit

[mrdrzezstchkowitzatyourservice]

For the ask game, Conseil! All the numbers.

On it, haha!

1: My first impression of them: When Conseil came in during the beginning of the book I immediately liked him because he is a man of logic and rational thought, but he's always ready to go on an adventure!

2: When did I first start to like them: I liked Conseil from the beginning, but he has always been one of the best characters for me because he is selfless and kind to others.

3: A song that reminds me of them: "Doing the Latest Rag" from Titanic: the Musical! Not much lyrical connection, but the overall mood and enthusiasm reminds me very much of Conseil.

4, 5, 6: How many people I ship with them/my favorite ship of them/my least favorite ship of them: You know, honestly, I've read 20,000 Leagues multiple times, and I've never really seen Conseil form a romantic bond with anyone during the voyage, (save, however, for his undying loyalty to Aronnax) and when Ned rambles longingly about girls he's always just like *nods head* "mood". So I can't rightly think how to answer these?

7: A quote of them that I remember: From Chapter 26, when they're talking about pearls n stuff, Ned brings up something related to Cleopatra and Conseil is just like "Ned Land married to Cleopatra?" Please Conseil never change.

8 & 9: My favorite/least favorite outfit of theirs: Hmm, that's a tricky one! Conseil has never struck me as that much of a fashion god, haha. I suppose he looks nice in everything that he wears. Whatever's comfortable, buddy!

10: Describe them in one sentence: A loyal, intelligent, and gifted young man with a big heart!

11: What's the first thing you think about when thinking of the character?: Museums!

12: Sexuality hc: Personally I consider him to be asexual, for reasons stated above

13: You favorite friendship they have: While Conseil and Aronnax go together like peanut butter and jelly, I must admit, Conseil's friendship with Ned is very touching, and has lots of fun moments!

14: Best storyline they had: In the Rankin-Bass adaptation of 20K Leagues Conseil has like, a dolphin friend that he can talk to and honestly I am all for it

15: Worst storyline they had: probably the films where he is not present/replaced by Female Character. Poor Conseil :(

16: A childhood hc: When he was a child, the library was Conseil's second home. Ma boy loves to study leave him be

17: What do you think their first work was?: Shoot, I dunno, probably one of the basics? Ya know, like "mom" or "dad" or "doggy" or something like that.

18: How do you think they were like as a kid?: Probably pretty bookish and shy.

19: the most random ship I have seen involving them: I remember in the deep dark corners of the internet a long time ago I found a Conseil/Ned ship? Which certainly weirded me out.

20: A weird hc: Conseil sleep-classifies. It's like regular sleep-talking but he classifies fish

21 & 22: When were they at their happiest/lowest?: I think that at his happiest, Conseil was describing fish classification to Ned. He had to be loving that moment. As for lowest, that's tricky. He's always been a happy fellow, so I'm guessing the South Pole scene when they're all literally about to die? I guess?? ? ????

23: Future hc: I believe he is going to get a teaching license and teach marine biology!

24: What do you think is a secret they have never told anyone?: Hmm :/ that's though. Conseil has never struck me as the type to hold secrets.

25: When do you think they acted the most ooc?: Definitely when they were at that island and he just straight up tried to shoot a dude.

26: When do you think they were being themselves the most?: At that part when he got stung by an electric ray and as soon as he was able to speak immediately classified it.

27: If they could meet a character from another book/show/movie, who would it be?: Hmm, I'd have to say Phileas Fogg and/or Passepartout solely because I got Conseil vibes (on varying levels) from both of them. Around the World in 80 Days and 20K Leagues crossover when

28: What is the most unnecessary thing they ever did?: Definitely trying to shoot that guy who broke his cool shell.

29: How do you think they would be as a parent?: Conseil is 100% parent material. He's patient, (most of the time) wise, and sensible. But he's also caring and soft-hearted. Best dad ever!

30: The funniest scene they had?: When they're on land and he catches that bird, and Aronnax congratulates him on it and he's just like "nah he drunk as hell."

Hope you enjoyed these ;)

[siren-virus]

Time for an ask now :D sent a day later than the schedule I was SUPPOSED to have but I suck at them XD

First is SWUP, you said that both Unicorns and Dragons are aliens that are apparently at war with one another. Like, they're from different planets and are waging wars over resources/colonies/bad first encounter/something else, or are they from the same planet and evolved together to be both space travelers, but their situation is similar to that of the USA and the Soviet Union, where they're raceing eachother and fighting over economical and political might?

Also, since there are Unicorns that are being sent to Earth only to return later, would there be Dragons there too? Would there ver be an encounter between the protagonist (I forgot her name XD) and a Dragon or another Unicorn besides Wine Aunt? Would some of the friend ever encounter and befriend a Dragon, either by being their friend despite having both of them meet and beat eachother? Or my favourite scenario in this case, be friends with both of them with them never finding out about it? XD

Now it's Free time (nice name btw, I can get a few vibes from that alone :D), the idea with the best trope to ever exist, found family (I'm also a sucker for those XD)

We have the protagonists (whose names I forgot yet again XD), the owner of the braincell bird lady, naive and overly curious problem human (and potential human disaster too since he live in a Dome, and was probably born with a silver spoon), and feral child (there can't be a better description for that XD). How many headaches would bird lady have a day when dealing with both of them at the same time? How would problem human interact with feral child? I can't imagine those interactions being peaceful most of the time. Would the feral child eventually come to see the other 2 as their parental figures? Accidently calling them mom and dad (or any other variation) in their misadventures?

Would the found family ever expand? would there be additions in the form of crazy uncle, stoic aunt, murder cousin, and/or more? Like, I can imagine their family expanding over time the same style as FMA:B, where they meet people that eventually become family to everyone, but considering that they're always traveling, they rarely find eachother (until the possible falldown once they reach the Dome at the end of the voyage, where there's almost always a big encounter and heartfelt goodbye, which only sometimes are left as goodbyes for separating found families is a major crime unless there's a really good reason for that).

Well, that's all the asks for your OCs/stories ideas for now, for even if I had more questions I'd still be missing some (or a lot) of info to make them XD

Birdy boy, Leo (who is a man, he'd be quite offended if you call him a lady.) Naive human, Tristian, very oblivious yes. Rich kid fed with a golden spoon, rather than silver. Mans has a butler! Quite ignorant to the wolrd, so he believed things would go smoothly when he left. Fortunately he's also an optimist. And the feral gremlin child, Robin. She's angry by default. Tristian adores her like a little sister, but Robin is like a cat (contrary to her name) she either hates, or tolerates.

With unicorns and dragons (no design yet, or at least an updated one) I was thinking they live in the same solar system, just on sister planets. So their ecosystems are pretty similar. They're both just very territorial. Plus they've gotten to the stage of harvesting other planets resources. So they've reached the point of going to different "earth type planets" But not on the level of having full control of their solar system. If you get what I mean.

So they're waging war over resources, colonisation, etc. Yeah let's say they're similar to Russia vs to USA, but more violent!

No dragons yet, but a little there's a rumour going around, so perhaps a dragon is on their way. But that's for me to know and you to find out. (If i ever develop this story and make a webcomic- sobs, I love developing shit, but me attention span is too short. By the time I've got something im on to the next thing. Thus the cycle continues!!)

Wine aunt/ Felidae is one of the few unicorns on earth. She's a bit out of sorts.

No plans for the dragons yet, but I'll keep that in mind.

Flee not free, we already got the dreaded swim show.

Birdy boy, Leo (who is a man, he'd be quite offended if you call him a lady.) Naive human, Tristian, very oblivious yes. Rich kid fed with a golden spoon, rather than silver. Mans has a butler! Quite ignorant to the wolrd, so he believed things would go smoothly when he left. Fortunately he's also an optemist. And the feral gremlin child, Robin. She's angry by default. Tristian adores her like a little sister, but Robin is like a cat (contrary to her name) she either hates, or tolerates.

Leo gets many a headache from the pair of them. Especially Robin, he's not above arguing with children. (Same tho).

Robin eventually mellows out (poor baby needs therapy, but therapy don't exist in a post apocalyptic society. As to whether she sees them as parental figures or brothers, you won't know til I say so. (i also wanna make this a webcomic, but- flops- takes effort. and commitment)

Found family would defs expand. I've got one in mind. But I might expand it further. I've got too many stories where its a main trio. Where's my main... 12'o. jk..... unless

FMAB... hmhm, I have an idea. You probably won't like it, seeing as you watched it. You'll find out eventually.

Fuck goodbyes, its always see you later alligator. til death do them part kinda deal.

Fair enough, I gotta start writing stuff down anyways. I'm such a visual creature I always forget about the writitng

[purplesurveys]

1162

What is the youngest age you can remember back to? I was 3 and I had just woken up in a Winnie the Pooh tent with my sister, who was 1 at the time. Our parents let us go ‘camping,’ which was really nothing more than a tiny tent set up on the floor in their room.

What sports are you trying out for this year? Wakeboarding and rock climbing.

Did you wear your hair in a ponytail today? Yeah it was in a ponytail for the whole day as it helps me focus better at work. I’ve kept the ponytail on even though it’s 11 in the evening right now, but now it’s because it would be too warm with my hair down.

Who do you have on speed dial? Nobody. I’m not sure how to do that with my phone, and even if I knew how to I don’t know if there’d be anyone I’d want to put on speed dial.

What colors do you like to paint your toenails? I never do anything with my toenails except clip them.

Would it be cool to learn how to DJ at a club? Sure!

Where are you going to be three hours from now? It would be 2 AM by then but I highly doubt I’d be asleep by then. I just bought all 7 of the BTS Cold Brew Americano bottles (yep, so much happened while I was gone and I am apparently an Army now...) so I’m drinking from one of them tonight; and they are strong as fuuuuuuuck.

What job would you NEVER take, even as a last resort? Anything related to sex work. Not that I’m against it, but it’s just not for me.

If you broke your computer, would you be able to fix it on your own? Only if it’s something a hard reboot could easily fix haha. If it’s beyond that, I don’t think so.

If someone looked in your closet, how would they judge your style? That I need to update my wardrobe. Most of them were trendy at some point, but not so much these days. They would probably comment that I need to add more colors as well.

What was the shittiest hotel you’ve ever stayed at and why? I’m not sure we’ve stayed somewhere I absolutely hated. I know my dad hated our first hotel in Palawan since the whole vibe of the room felt cheap, the bedsheets looked kinda tacky, and the power went out at night, but that’s also just the luxury liner executive in him. Since I don’t really travel just to stay all day in our hotels, I personally haven’t had any experience where I was like, “never again.”

Have you ever gone on a boat and been sick the whole time? No; I get seasick but I can handle it. It’s carsickness I have a problem with.

Did you get a good sleep last night? Not really. My sleep actually felt very shallow and it really felt like I had been up all night even though I’m pretty sure fell asleep by around midnight. Anyway, I’m getting a 3-day weekend since it’s a national holiday tomorrow, so at least I have a lot of time to catch up on much-needed sleep.

What is the weather like outside? It’s pretty chilly and I feel a few breezes every now and then, but it’s not enough. I’m not sweating, but I also need to have my hair up in a bun because otherwise I’d be too warm. Phone says 27ºC.

If someone makes a spelling or grammar mistake, do you ignore or correct? Mostly ignore. I only ever correct if it’s me who made the mistake by accident.

Do oversized sunglasses actually look good on you? I’ve never tried putting any on, so I wouldn’t know.

What is the most overrated thing in the world? Milk tea. It’s great and delicious I like having my own occasionally, but it’s seriously nothing life-changing.

Have you heard any completely untrue rumors about yourself lately? No. I’d feel sorry for someone who would still be making up rumors in their 20s.

What is one word to describe your room? Progress. It’s come a long way since the breakup.

Have you ever kept something from the wild as a pet? Not in the sense that we caught it ourselves from the wild, but there was one time my sister won a baby chick at a fair when we were super young and we had him for a few days. We tried our best to care for him, but we just weren’t equipped and knowledgeable with what baby chicks need so he didn’t last too long.

Do your parents try to plan out your future for you? No, and I’m glad they aren’t the stereotypical Filipino/Asian parents that dictate how I should be living my life. My mom will sometimes let a comment like “get a boyfriend already” slip through, but she also knows I don’t have the patience for remarks like that so she doesn’t bring it up most of the time.

Do you think that surveys are a huge waste of time? I personally don’t think so. Any activity that helps me relax and gather my thoughts isn’t something I’d call a waste of time.

Are you wearing a hoodie today? No. I would hate to be wearing a hoodie right now lmao, I’d be too miserable in the heat.

Did you sleep alone the last two nights? Yes.

You’re single, right? Yups.

How long was your last phone conversation you had? It lasted like 10 seconds because when I picked up, their signal was very choppy and his voice wasn’t getting through at all.

Who was it with? A delivery rider who sent me a package that Bea apparently arranged for me :’) It has all my favorite Korean snacks and goodies and she even included a cup sleeve of Jin from BTS cos she knows he’s my favorite :(((((

What was it about? Like I said, I never got to talk to him on the phone because his signal was poor, though he probably called to ask for directions. He eventually got to my house.

Excited for anything? Binge-watching Run BTS and Bon Voyage all weekend, and digging into the Frankie’s order I got for delivery tonight.

Got laid last night, didn’t you? Nope.

Do you have drama in your life? Kind of at the moment, but it’s something I couldn’t give less of a shit about so I’m not even getting into it lmao. What’s something you really want right now, be honest? To be able to get out of the house and get my cafe visits on weekends back.

As of this minute, what is going through your mind? That these instant noodles I’m eating are really spicy.

Have you laughed until you cried? Many times.

What are you listening to right now? I can hear a neighbor’s dog barking every now and then and a few airconditioners in the neighborhood whirring.

What color are your shoes? I’m not wearing any right now, but most of my shoes are white anyway.

Can you crack your neck? Nope.

What is the last thing you drank? I took a sip from my banana milk right after I had a forkful of my noodles. Too spicy hahaha.

Where would I have found you last night at 11pm? I was cuddling with Kimi in bed while watching Bon Voyage.

What’s your plans for next Friday? So, tomorrow? Just watch a shit ton of BTS videos since they’re my latest obsession.

Does anyone hate you? Possibly.

Would it be hard seeing someone else kiss the person you like? Erm, don’t really like anyone at the moment. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? No.

Could you go out in public looking like you do now? Probably to the nearest McDonald’s or 7-Eleven, but I wouldn’t go out to the mall altogether with what I’m wearing.

Who will you be sleeping with tonight? Just meeee.

Is there anyone you wouldn’t mind punching in the face now? Not in particular.

What do you have pierced? Just the ears. < Same.

Do you know anyone that smokes weed? A few people.

Where is the person you want right now? I’m not into anyone.

Are you too forgiving? I’m not forgiving in the first place.

Will this weekend be a good one? Continued from last night. I’m just glad I’ll get to relax for three days, but I don’t have any big plans for the weekend that would make it something exciting.

What is your favorite thing about being sick? I don’t think being sick is particularly fun, even if it means skipping school or work...

Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t do? Many times, which is why I’ve stopped using the phrase, “I’ll never do X.” I always end up doing whatever the thing is at some point.

Are there any people who don’t like you? It’s possible, but I don’t care.

The boy/girl you truly care about needs you at 3am, would you go? Only for my best friends, and maybe close family members. If you had to get a piercing right now, what would it be? I would get a nose stud or maybe a lip ring.

Do you have any bruises on you? Yeah I have one on my thigh. As usual, I have no idea where it came from.

Are you ticklish? Everywhere.

Ever liked someone who treated you like crap? Yes.

Who do you like right now? BTS? Lmao

What’s the largest age difference between yourself and someone you’ve dated? A month and a half.

Are you gonna get high later? Nope. I know Andi’s always gonna be around as my ~supplier~ if I ever wanna try it out, but I have no plans to any time soon.

What was the first thing you said when you woke up today? That I wanna take a shower.

Do you blow dry your hair? Only for special occasions when I immediately need my hair styled in a certain way.

Do you look decent when you wake up? Some days, I think so.

Have you ever liked someone older then you? I mean they’re all celebrities, but yeah.

Is it hard to make you laugh? Not at all, I like to laugh.

How late did you stay up last night? Around 3 AM because I was watching Bon Voyage, and also memorizing BTS fanchants hahahahaha HELP

Which is worse for you: being hot, or being cold? I fucking hate being hot.

How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Just the caffeine in my coffee and nicotine in my vape.

[sapphoshands]

little-brisk replied to your post “literally just went and checked when yuletide nominations will be...”

i am going to literally die if ppl don’t stop calling all women over 30 mom. i have not seen this gay warrior movie and still i am completely certain what you describe is a war crime

you know what amazes me is that i have never encountered this in, say, grace and frankie, a show in which both main characters are in fact mothers??? or ltih? i know i’m not in any of the cool fandoms so i’m inevitably missing some but this always seems to land on the least appropriate characters who have never done anything maternal in their lives and i don’t? get? it?  why, if a female character does not have motherhood already included in her life, is fandom so focussed on forcing it in?

(aside: i just made myself incredibly sad thinking about how people would talk about janeway if voyager were airing today. they would call her a mommi.  i’m sure of it.)

i asked myself, if this movie were gender-bent, would andy be accused of giving off paternal vibes and like, no, of course not, a world-weary warrior mentor would be allowed to be exactly that.  but there IS a dad in the group, and it’s nicky, so why can’t people let nicky be dad?  at best andy is the queer vodka aunt.

[solarmiracle-makeup]

Watching Sailor Moon musicals with my sister :)

I asked my sister if she had any thoughts/comments about the musicals that she’s seen so far so that I could post them here.

So far she’s seen (not in this order):

Usagi – Ai no Senshi e no Michi

Yume Senshi – Ai – Eien ni… (Kaiteiban) – Saturn Fukkatsu Hen

 Sailor Stars and Sailor Stars Kaiteiban

 Eien Densetsu

 Shin Densetsu Kourin

 Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteiban

 All 4 of the Dracul musicals

Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady

10th Anniversary Festival – Ai no Sanctuary  

Petite Étrangère 

Un Nouveau Voyage

Le Mouvement Final

Nogizaka46 Team Moon and Team Star

Her favorite actors are:

Sailor Moon: Anza Ooyama and Miyuki Kanbe

Sailor Mercury: Chieko Kawabe

Sailor Mars: Megumi Yoshida

Sailor Jupiter: Minami Umezawa

Sailor Pluto: Yuuko Hosaka (“She has really strong mom-energy and seems like the most responsible of the group”), Mikako Ishii, and Seiko Nakazawa

Sailor Saturn: Ayami Kakiuchi and Karin Takahashi

Sailor Uranus: Nao Takagi

Sailor Neptune: Yuuka Asami

Sailor Chibi Moon: Ayano Gunji

She said there was a Sailor Venus that she really liked but she couldn’t remember which one.

Okay, so here’s what she remembers from the musicals she’s seen. I can’t guarantee that this is going to make 100% sense because we were being really silly when I was asking for her thoughts. I probably should’ve asked for her thoughts as we were watching them because she couldn’t remember a lot from some of them, but I’ll do that moving forward :)

Yume Senshi – Ai – Eien ni… (Kaiteiban) – Saturn Fukkatsu Hen: “That Pegasus made me feel scared, I couldn’t tell if it was flying away from or towards me. There should’ve been more Hawkseye��� (because Hawkseye is played by Hikari Ono)

Sailor Stars/Sailor Stars Kaiteiban/Eien Densetsu:

“These 3 Lights are my favorites because they are the nicest and they vibe with the other guardians” (in comparison to the 3 Lights in Le Mouvement Final and in the anime)

Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteiban: “The pirates doing their walk is my last few brain cells” (about Kern, Serpen, and Kraken doing that weird walk where they are kind of crawling?? I don’t know how to describe it??)

Dracul musicals:

“Why doesn’t Michiru just bite Haruka and then they can be vampires together?”

“I couldn’t wait until the second one because you told me Vampir was in it, but everyone was mean to her and she just wanted her dad to be there for her, and when she changed her outfit to look like the cool kids he didn’t like it. Also Le Fay wanted to wear matching mother-daughter outfits”

When Vampir says “Damn it!” in “All of You Shall Die” my sister said “Did she forget her line?!” (she didn’t realize that it was part of the song).

Un Nouveau Voyage:

 “You didn’t prepare me, I wasn’t ready for the Haruka!! You told me she was an idol, but I didn’t realize she was that kind of performer. I’m not mad, I’m just surprised, I was just so confused” (about Haruka’s idol performance at the beginning of the musical).

“Professor Tomoe doesn’t win father of the year award”

 “This Michiru is baby, she looks really young”

Petite Étrangère:

“Sapphir was like ‘Demande, I think you’re being tricked’, and Demande was like ‘Don’t ask questions, just leave it to me’. And that didn’t work out well”.

“Maybe this is more manga-based and I haven’t read the manga, but how upset Usagi was over Chibiusa felt really exaggerated. It seemed like she tolerated her more in the anime and the other musicals. It felt really forced. I like Satomi better in Un Nouveau Voyage”

Le Mouvement Final:

“The 3 Lights were SO RUDE to Setsuna. THE DISRESPECT”

She said that Yaten (Saki Matsuda) reminded her of Yurio from Yuri on Ice. “Yaten is Yurio. If there were a Yuri on Ice musical, you’ve got a Yurio”.

“This Galaxia is terrifying”

10th Anniversary Festival – Ai no Sanctuary :

“Oh my god, they had matching jackets!! Happiest Happy Family!!” (We refer to the outers family as the Happy Family because they’re just so cute and we love them!!)

“I think Marina would’ve been a good Chibiusa. Or if they need an Usagi for like a flashback scene where Usagi was younger”

Her favorite songs are:

“Over the Moon”

“Dream Yume wa Ookiku”

“Onna Kaizoku no Sakusen”

“All of You Shall Die”

“Galaxia Gorgeous”

“Honoo no Messenger” 

“Chasin’ After You”

“See Me, Boku-tachi no Jidai”

“Traditional the Grace”

[quackmyback]

Heads or Tails : chapter one

Will Byers x Fem!OC

Hi friends, I don't think anyone actually read chapter zero, besides myself ofc, so I decided to post Chapter One today like I said I would :)

MADMAX AND THAT ASS

Mason pulled herself from a restless sleep, blinking away the gunk layered across her pupils and trying to swat away the sun streaming through the window. Slowly, she sat up and messed with the knots in her hair and she watched Max peacefully snore with her blanket half on her and half on the floor.

"Max," Mason called to her sister in hopes of waking her from her dreams. "Max. Dude!" Mason threw a stuffed animal -- a small, kind of deflated elephant her dad had got her years ago -- and nailed Max right in the nose.

"What the hell, Mase?"

"Get up, we have a one-way ticket to hell in about fifteen minutes." Mason threw her blankets off her legs and headed over to her and Max's shared wardrobe -- picking out a simple outfit that she hoped wouldnt get her taunted on her first day at school.

The twins juxtaposed each other:  while Max wore her hair down, Mason tied it up with braids and and excessive use of hair clips, while Max liked baggy jeans and larger hoodies -- Mason preferred oddly patterned skirts with white shirts and denim jackets. Both girls only owned one pair of shoes: Max's were a red pair of converse they had found super cheap at a thrift store while Mason's were a weird off brand of keds that were fully white.

Mason walked out of the room, back to the bathroom, and shouted back to her sister, "and you better hurry your ass up, because I am not biking to school!"

"Whatever, dork!" Max slammed the door to their shared bedroom.

• ○ •

W

hen Billy parked the car, Max and Mason exited. Mason gazed around to see everyone staring at her new step-brothers ass and, while delighted it wasn't at her, her lip curled in disgust. She sped walked to catch up to her sister, who was slowly skating towards the Middle School across the parking lot.

"This is gonna be a total nightmare," Max scoffed glaring at everyone around them who dared to take a glance towards the Mayfield twins.

"Maybe" -- Mason shrugged -- "maybe not."

The girls continued their slow, torturous walk to school -- stopping at the front desk so that Mason could ask for their schedules. Assuming that their classes would be the same, Mason felt misery when she realized she would have to part from Max for art.

Max sighed, "Well, at least you dont have Drama with Mrs. Cockwit."

The girls looked at each other before their faces broke into smiles, Mason examined their schedules side by side once again. "Science," she said. "We should probably hurry and go find-"

"-That wont be a problem, Miss Mayfield." The twins turned suddenly to find a burly man behind them, the principal they assumed. Now, they're own personal tour guide. "I will be leading you to your first class, please the bell will ring shortly, so follow me."

They did, reluctantly, follow him to a wooden door where they could faintly hear the teacher teaching his wisdom to a class full of kid more likely than not to drop out of three years. They walked in, quickly as to avoid as much attention as possible. Though when Mason had looked up when passing the teachers desk, she realized that wasn't going to be easy.

"Ah, these must be our new students!" Mason's attention snapped to the teacher, she had realized on her schedule his name was Mr.Clarke.

"Indeed it is," the principal who had herded the two into the classroom confirmed,"All yours."

Mason rushed to follow Max to the back, yet they were stopped about as fast as Max could rolled her eyes.

"All right, hold up." Mr. Clark held put his hand to stop the two and smiled. "You dont get away that easy."

Mason barely muttered under her breath, not even enough for it to really reach her own ears. "One could hope."

Mr. Clark continued his introduction, as if the two girls weren't capable of saying their own names. Mason was more than capable of having a panic attack discretely, surely she could say her name to a classroom full of people. Wait a minute.

"Come on up, dont be shy. Dustin, drum roll." A kid in the front, who wore a hat and a dinosaur hoodie, closed his notebook and drummed his fingers against it. "Class," Mr. Clark began," please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passengers to join us on our curiosity voyage, Mason and Maxine."

Mason swallowed and shuffled awkwardly, "Uh, I'm actually Mason and that's-"

"Max. Not Maxine," Max interrupted her sister, eager to sit down and hide away from the vulturous stares of the class.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. Um, all aboard, Max and Mason."

The twins hurried past him, finding empty seats in the near back of the class -- Mason scoring one near the window. She pulled her notebook from her backpack and pulled one of her many colorful pens from the side pockets -- the only happiness she ever was given was from those pens.

She sat there for a moment, staring at the blank page in front of her and barely hearing Mr. Clarke lecturing the class. Not surprisingly, she also barely notices Max's elbow slowly shoving Mason's notebook off the desk.

"Dude" -- Mason barely caught the book before it fell and furrowed her brows -- "what the hell?" She dropped her voice to a whisper in Hope's of not getting in trouble on her first day at school for Max's mischief.

"Those guys upfront keep staring at us," Max whispered through her hair. Mason's eyes flickered up and, lo and behold, the four boys were, indeed, staring at them. Well...

"They arent staring at us," Mason corrected, "they're staring at you. "

"Why?"

"How the hell should I know?" Max turned to face forward, playing with her hands after her sister said that. Mason sighed," Don't worry, I have an idea."

Max nodded, trusting her sister,"Okay."

With that, Mason grabbed the top of her blue pen with her teeth and popped it off. She wrote the first thing that came to mind in big letters.

• ○ •

Mason walked into the art room, it was lined with floor to ceiling windows and every wall was a different color. The room was fairly empty, Mason assumed it was because art was pushed onto students as much as sports or academics.

She sighed and took a seat by the window. Some one pulled the stool beside her out and sat down. Mason looked over to find one of the boys who were staring at her sister. He smiled, a small smile that didn't really reach his eyes. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, way too much to deal with for a small boy his age.

"Hi, uh, I'm Will."

Mason returned his smile, her hands were shaking; she buried them in the pockets of her jacket.

"I don't think I need to introduce myself." Mason looked down at the table, he had his sketchbook out and she didn't -- she anxious that she was supposed to already have it out. Did anyone else have it out? Her eyes danced around the room, avoiding Will's beautiful brown ones the whole time.

He noticed her behaviour, and it barely seemed unusual until he realized her leg was bouncing quickly and her bottom lip was pulled tight between her teeth. When she released it from its death grip, he could see the scabs forming across the sensitive skin.

"You'd be right," he laughed, hoping to calm her down,"Mason, yeah? That's a pretty cool name."

"It's a boy's name." Mason ducked down below the table to retrieve her sketchbook from her back pack.

"It can't be a boy's name." Mason looked at him for the first time since he sat down next to her. He smiled goofily, she saw that it reached his eyes this time. Her heart leaped. "How can it be a boy's name if it's your name?"

Mason's lips parted and her leg stopped bouncing for a second, but her hands had exited her pockets and were bending the bottom corner of her sketchbook. "Well, I think my parents wanted a boy."

"Well, I think my mom wanted a dog." He spun a lock of his hair around his finger, "She got the shedding and, I offered to play fetch with her, but she thought that was weird."

Will felt pride swell in his chest, a smile broke out across his face after a sweet snippet of laughter fell from her lips.

Mason let her laughter die into a small smile and she glanced at him, "Hey, I'll, uh, I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"

Will glanced down at his sketch book anxiously, "O-Okay."

They grinned, exchanging books and looking through the other's masterpieces. Each other, carefully calculating their looks at each other to see the other's reaction towards their pride and joy.

• ○ •

"He seemed nice," Mason defended her new friend, despite Max's efforts to deter her away from him.

"No way, he's one of the creeps who stared at us." Max slammed her hand down onto the button and violently yanked the joystick.

"They were staring at you, and maybe they arent creeps maybe they just are curious about the new kids and are too scared to approach."

Max quickly diverted her attention from Dig Dug to Mason and back to Dig Dug before she died. "If that were true, they would've been looking at you too." Mason sighed loudly, laying her head against the side of the machine. "Now, dude, you're really killing my Dig Dug vibe."

"Whatever," Mason shover herself off the machine and turned to her sister, "I'm gonna get a soda, you want anything?"

"Grape and a snickers."

"Got it."

Mason walked away, her hands in her pockets jingling she change, she rubbed her fingers over the rough circles repeatedly to assure herself she had enough to pay for everything.

"What can I get for you," The guy behind the register asked. Mason's eyes dashed across the menu even though she already knew what she wanted.

"Uh, yeah, can I get a strawberry and a grapefruit fanta plus two snickers." She looked down at her pocket to pull out the change. "Oh, uh, please.m," Mason quickly added.

"No problem."

While she waited, Mason leaned against the counter and faced towards where Max was standing at the Dig Dug machine working her magic. Then, her eyes fell on the two boys from their science class."

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me."

As if they sensed her looking at them, the glanced behind them and their eyes widened -- busted.

"Position has been comprised! Fall out!" The curly haired boy shouted, Mason watched as they ran out the door. She sighed, shaking her head and turned towards the counter where the guy had set down her order.

"Thank you." She handed him the money and retreated back to Max. She sighed as she handed max her snickers and held onto the soda for when she finished the game she was playing.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" Max barely glanced at her, taking a giant bite of her snickers.

"Fuckin' creeps." Mason cracked the top of her strawberry soda and took a gulp.

[e350tb]

Steven Universe: Marooned Together - Chapter Twenty-Three

(with thanks to @real-fakedoors​ for proofreading!)

Okay… testing, testing, one two three, is this thing working?

It is? Awesome.

Hi. My name is Jeff Fryman, second Mayor of New Earth, husband of Dockmaster Peedee Fryman and possessor of the largest comics collection still in existence. (Is that important? I think that’s important.) I’m making this log to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the foundation of New Earth.

It’s sort of hard to know what to feel about that. See, if it’s fifteen years since we founded New Earth, it’s fifteen years since we lost the Earth. Everyone who was alive back then lost someone, lost more people than anyone can image. I mean, Peedee lost his dad and Ronaldo, and… and I lost mom…

But on the other hand, nobody could have imagined how successful New Earth’s ended up being. We’ve got houses and electricity and clothing fabrication, and Lenny says we might have that food synthesizer by next year! We… we should all be dead! We should’ve eaten each other or something, but we survived!

So how do we mark this? Are we celebrating? Are we commemorating? I… what do I call this? What do we do?

I… I’ll get back to you.

“I just can’t think of anything!”

Jeff sat on the couch, clutching his head, as Peedee and Blue Pearl considered his brief rant. He had a week to go before the anniversary, and the poor Mayor had nothing. Peedee felt for him - his husband looked haggard and worn, his eyes rimmed from lack of sleep. He was clearly thinking hard about this - in fact, Peedee wondered if he was overthinking it.

“Maybe we should ask around?” Peedee suggested, “See what people wanna do? Maybe they just want to keep it low key, or maybe they want a party…”

“But if I do that, it’s not a surprise!” exclaimed Jeff.

Peedee nodded sympathetically.

“I don’t think you can do this as a surprise, honey,” he replied, “I… I think you better just let people know it’s happening.”

“It could bring up bad memories,” Blue Pearl added softly.

“Yeah, what Blue said,” nodded Peedee.

He shrugged.

“How about we take a walk around and ask people what they think we should do for New Earth’s anniversary? Maybe they’ll come up with something we can use. It’s worth a shot, right?”

Jeff scratched his chin, nodding thoughtfully.

“That could work,” he said, “I’ll talk to Stevonnie about it - they’d probably be up to help with that.”

He sat up, smiling and snapping his fingers.

“Yeah!” he said, “That’s perfect!”

The Diamond’s Lament was, to put it simply, a nightmarish excuse of a bar. On the outside, the wooden paneling was worn and any attempts at paint were peeling; it certainly leant itself to the tried-and-true vibe that was inherent in much of New Earth. However, within the creaky tavern doors -- there was an equally underwhelming bar, just like you might expect. It was only after a conversation with the landlord, who was consequently also the barkeep, that Stevonnie truly came to appreciate how many stories were told by the crooked floorboards, the dim lighting, the jaded look on the faces of many customers.

Simon, the landlord, was an old Londoner who was in his late fifties - when the world had ended, he had been in the British military. Those days were long past, and from his demeanor, Stevonnie could tell he didn’t miss it one bit. Now his job was to run the Diamond’s Lament, to grow vegetables and fruit under sun lamps in the back, to operate New Earth’s general store from a window at the southend of the ramshackle building. It was a busy life, but it kept his mind of things.

“My mind,” he said, “Has been uneasy since long before the Cluster. The work keeps my mind off things.”

They spoke for a while on Simon’s ideas for the anniversary - he admitted he had few ideas and would need time to gather his thoughts. Their conversation was interrupted by some new patrons - Commander Lewis and a couple of the Human Resistance. When he saw them, Simon’s expression darkened.

“Bloody fools,” he muttered, “Playing soldier.”

“What do you mean?” asked Stevonnie.

Simon shrugged.

“There were a couple of old military people on New Earth when it started up,” he replied, “Me, Franks, I think two other officers, couple of soldiers. Now me, I just wanted to put soldiering behind me; thought I might be able to have a decent night’s sleep if I did. But Franks, he was adamant that we had to ‘do something.’”

He shook his head.

“Franks is an idiot,” he said, “But his heart’s in the right place, deep down. It’s the others that scare me. Franks wanted to fight back and he’d take anyone willing - but a lot of the people he got…”

For a long pause, Simon studied his hands, reliving some sort of memory to which they were not privy. Judging by his expression, Stevonnie wasn’t sure they would want to be.

“Be on your guard,” he warned, “These are kids who think soldiering and uniforms are glamorous, being groomed by a bunch of hateful bastards who’d shatter every gem they could get their hands on. Keep your distance, kid.”

Stevonnie swallowed, looking back at the resistance members. One locked eyes with her - he grinned, slowly running a finger over his neck.

“Whatever this is,” Simon spoke up again, “It has to be a repudiation of everything those people stand for. I don’t care what else you do, but give them a good kick in the rear.”

“I’ll let Jeff know,” Stevonnie nodded, “Maybe we can make it a celebration of human and gem harmony?”

“I reckon that’d be a brilliant idea, kid,” Simon said, smiling.

Behind them, a cry rang out as the resistance members raised their glasses.

“To the glorious victory!” they cried.

Simon cringed and turned his back away.

“Ain’t no such bloody thing,” he muttered, heading into the back room. “In war, there are no real victories.”

The Diamond’s Lament sold drinks, but there was very little stock left of the old spirits of Earth. There was a facsimile of beer on tap at the counter, watered down to almost comic levels to keep supplies going, and a strong synthetic rum that took a lot of getting used to, but, increasingly, New Earth was forced to rely on new methods of obtaining a ‘buzz.’

“We need to celebrate our food and drink,” said a Topaz as she swept the floor (they called her Spot, because of the big round gem on her stomach), “There’s nowhere humans are more creative in then making what they eat.”

“And working out new ways to get drunk,” muttered Peedee.

Jeff suppressed a giggle at his husband’s quip.

“What do you think’s most important?” asked Jeff.

“Well, you have to show off the Paste,” replied Spot.

Jeff shuddered. The Paste had been one of the sole sources of food in the fraught early days of New Earth - a tasteless, slimy, sickly grey substance that could mass produced from one of the transports they’d taken from Blue Diamond. The mere mention of the Paste could send a chill through the strongest heart and the strongest stomach - it had been replaced as soon as alternative food sources could be found. Nobody, nobody at all, missed the stuff.

“Apart from that,” Spot continued, “You need to mention all the scavengers who go out to get our food supplies. They don’t get enough gratitude, y’know? Think of what we wouldn’t have without them.”

“Well, Jenny’ll like that,” mused Jeff.

“Hey, come to think of it, has she met back up with Stevonnie?” asked Peedee, “I think she keeps missing them.”

Jenny Pizza had become a scavenger; she took a small capsule on long voyages to find supplies for New Earth. It was difficult and dangerous work, but enormously rewarding - not just for New Earth itself, but for the scavenger, who got to see a much wider universe than most others in the little settlement. The downside was long periods of loneliness in space, but for many, the wonders of the galaxy made it worth it.

Jenny knew Stevonnie was back, and Stevonnie knew Jenny was alive, but life of a scavenger left precious little time for reconnection. There was always something that needed doing.

“We’ll, that’s something we’re definitely doing,” declared Jeff, “All the scavengers in port get the night off.”

“...they work to their own schedule, Jeff.”

“Yeah, but I’m declaring a public holiday, so they’re not allowed to work.”

“I have one more thing,” added Spot, “But this is a more general thing. I think we need a discussion about Reddick Berries.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure if we can do that on the anniversary, but I’ll keep that in mind…”

Lapis stared at the little green-yellow berry in her hand. It was about the size of a grape, and felt juicy and cool to the touch. It had a mild sour smell and a smooth texture - it didn’t look half bad, but it didn’t look like much to worry about.

“So, this is a Reddick Berry?”

Buck Dewey nodded from the other side of the stall. Lapis had never really known Buck, but she knew enough to realise that he’d changed dramatically. He had grown mutton chops, making him vaguely resemble a nineteenth century outlaw. A long, nasty scar ran over the middle of his face, from the middle of his right cheek to just under his left eye. He wore a long coat over an old sweater, everything patched and worn - he could get new clothes, he said, but the ‘hobo/cowboy’ look he was running with just ‘fit,’ apparently.

These days, Buck ran a market stall, selling wares picked up by scavengers that weren’t necessarily vital, but were in demand. Payment was done by barter - a customer gave Buck something valuable, and Buck gave them as much stock as the object was worth. As a result, haggling was the order of the day in New Earth’s small market.

“Sure is,” replied Buck, “We used to get them from a planet near Titanicus XIX-XII, but we’ve started growing them in house.”

“You mean in shack?”

“Hey, I’m thinking of adding another storey.”

“So,” asked Lapis, turning the berry over in her hand, “What does a Reddick Berry do? And why’s it called that? It’s green…”

“It’s named after the woman who discovered it,” replied Buck, “And it’s a hallucinogen.”

“...halluci-what?”

Buck shrugged.

“Back when old Earth was destroyed,” he replied, ��We lost all our supply of lot of things humans enjoyed - tobacco, cannabis, things like that. We used to use them to calm down, or to get into an altered state of mind. So when we found this it was like… yeah, man.”

Despite changing neither his tone nor facial expression, Lapis could detect Buck’s emphasis.

“Reddick Berries are the most popular ‘cause they’re a communal thing,” continued Buck, “They create a sort of psychic connection between minds under the influence of the berry, so that the visions and hallucinogens are shared. If you do it right, it gets pretty cosmic.”

“You can do it wrong?” asked Lapis.

“Doing it with strangers is dangerous,” replied Buck, “You never know what inner demons might come up, or what they could do to your mind while you’re connected. You can’t die, but a lot of people who aren’t careful can get traumatised real bad.”

“So it’s like fusion, but more dangerous.”

“Maybe,” Buck replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never fused.”

He reached into the basket and handed Lapis a second berry.

“Give it a go, see what you think,” he suggested, “And take this one for your barnmate. I reckon you’ll enjoy it.”

“Uh,” Lapis scratched the back of her head, “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with this.”

“Sure, no pressure,” replied Buck kindly, putting the berry back, “But if you ever change your mind, the offer still stands. Family friend discount.”

Lapis titled her head.

“I’m not your family.”

“No, but I consider Steven an honorary brother,” replied Buck, “Which makes Stevonnie an honorary sibling. And if they like you, that’s all I need to know.”

“I…”

Lapis gave Buck a small smile.

“Thanks.”

Buck smiled back.

“Anytime, sister.”

“We had three doctors when we started, and one of them was a vet.”

Stevonnie sat across from Doctor West, the head doctor at the New Earth General Hospital. Like everything else, this building was ramshackle, painted a sterile white that did little to hide the hodgepodge of wood and corrugated iron that made its walls. It was not long for the world - New Earth’s builders, including a couple of skilled Bismuths, were in the final stages of construction of a new hospital, which was supposed to be a bigger and a little more windproof.

West was an old man; he intended to retire once the move to the new hospital was done. Once he had been a colleague of Doctor Priyanka Maheswaran (“I must say, I’m really sorry about what happened to your mom.”) He had been a relatively junior doctor, an assistant to Doctor Stromberg. Now he was bearded and grey, and his hands shook when idle. His time was coming to an end, he said, and it was time to bow out gracefully.

“So what did you do?” asked Stevonnie.

“We had a lot of volunteers,” replied West, “A lot of them we’d never have expected to become a doctor.”

He pointed over his shoulder at a Ruby in nurses’ scrubs, washing her hands in the staff room sink.

“They were willing to learn, and we were willing to teach,” he continued, “But a lot of the medicines, we had remake from scratch. Thank god for the scavengers or we’d never have been able to do it. Even now, we’re short on a lot of things - and we have to deal with new infections now. Feels like an arms race, sometimes.”

He took a sip of his drink, remembering.

“The worst crisis I remember,” he continued, “Was Grasseye. It got brought in by a scavenger - basically, it caused fungal growth under the skin; you’d notice it because it’d come out over your eyes and through your gums, and eventually it’d clog your vital organs. It was horrible. We lost thirty people to it, I think.”

He shook his head.

“Thank god for the gems,” he said, “Every tech they bring us is a miracle. We stopped Grasseye because a Peridot worked out a cure from an isolated fungus sample. We have vaccines, insulin, all those things because they made them for us.”

He shrugged.

“It’s still touch and go sometimes, but we make it because we work together,” he said, “New Earth works because humans and gems combine to make it work.”

“Because we need each other,” said Stevonnie.

“Bingo.”

West sat back, templing his hands.

“That’s what I’d say to Jeff,” he continued, “Don’t make this about mourning; we’ve mourned enough. Don’t make it a celebration of New Earth and human survival because some of those idiots in the human resistance will take it the wrong way. Make it about us - about the relationships we’ve formed. We’re all family here - how about we celebrate that?”

“Homebase to Acheron, Homebase to Acheron, come in Acheron.”

“Peedee! You taking over for Lenny today?”

“Nah, this is a personal call. You got a moment to swing back to New Earth? Jeff’s holding an anniversary event and we figured we could use it to reacquaint you with Stevonnie.”

“Well, I was heading back anyway, and I’ve really been looking forward to meeting ‘Vonnie again. Sure, I’ll be on the ground in twelve hours, tops.”

“Appreciate it, Jenny. Let me know when you land.”

“Hey, Peedee, before you go; tell Vidalia I’ve found something very special for her.”

“What, for the museum?”

“Mmmmmmaybe?”

“Sure, I’ll tell her! She’ll love that! Okay, see you soon, Jen.”

“You too, ‘Dee, you too.”

Click.

A stretch and a sigh.

“I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees you…”

“...last year we saw the end of food rationing for the last staple foods… no, using food twice in the same sentence sounds awkward.”

Jeff stood in front of the dirty mirror in his room, clad in a dark green suit and tie. He had just shaved for the occasion (and managed to cut his cheek, damn it,) and was going over his speech notes for the night ahead (not that night really differed from day here, but it made sense to stick to a twenty-four hour day cycle when half of the population was human). He was already deeply anxious - this was an important event, and he was still finding holes in his speech in the eighth reading.

“Hey Jeff!” Peedee stepped into the room, “You ready?”

Jeff turned, and caught his breath for a moment. His husband was dressed in a sand-brown tuxedo, shirt and tie roguishly abandoned and replaced with a long-sleeved shirt that exposed a glimpse of his chest hair. He grinned at Jeff’s reaction.

“I, ugh, uh, hot,” stammered Jeff.

Peedee chuckled.

“Blue Pearl’s waiting on us,” he said, “We gotta run.”

“Yeah, yeah, I just…”

Jeff took a deep breath, adjusting his tie.

“Yeah,” he said firmly, “I got this.”

He stepped up to Peedee and wrapped an arm around his, grinning goofily.

“Let’s do it.”

Jenny Pizza couldn’t help but feel a little bit underdressed.

Everyone else had dressed in their bests, which, on New Earth, translated to clothes that looked presentable thanks to the fabricator, and here she was, fresh from her ship in her scavenger clothes; an old, cropped khaki jacket with the sleeves cut off, a pair of rough canvas trousers and dirty brown leather boots, the stains of sod and sweat still caking her body. Her biceps, toned and muscular from years of intensive physical activity, glistened slightly in the lights of the crowded Diamond’s Lament.

A pasty, thin officer of the Human Resistance, clad in a tight black dress uniform that he had probably designed himself, sneered at her unkempt appearance. She ignored him - she doubted he’d ever done a day of hard work in his life, never mind doing anything to help keep New Earth running.

“Jenny!”

Jenny turned around and, without even enough time to catch her breath, was pulled into a crushing embrace by Stevonnie. She laughed, hugging her old friend back.

“Stevonnie!” Jenny replied, stepping back after a moment, “So it’s true - you’re keeping the fusion gig up, full-time?”

“Yeah,” nodded Stevonnie, “I…”

“Awesome!” said Jenny, “And where’s the girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?” asked Stevonnie, “What do you mean…”

Their eyes widened and they raised their arms, blushing furiously.

“Wait, no, Lapis isn’t… we’re not…”

Jenny laughed again, slapping a hand on their shoulder.

“I know, I know, I’m just messin’ with you!” she replied.

“Stevonnie, Mayor Jim says he’s speaking in…”

Lapis appeared from the crowd, trailing off as she saw Jenny.

“Oh, uh, this is your friend… Kenny, right?” she asked.

“Jenny,” the girl corrected gently, extending her hand.

“No, I’m Lapis,” replied Lapis, gently tapping Jenny’s hand, “Anyway, I’ve got a seat up the front when you’re ready.”

She walked away, leaving Stevonnie and Jenny alone.

“Blue, huh?” said Jenny, “Well… if you did decide to date her, you could do a lot worse…” She grinned teasingly.

“I… Jenny!”

Jenny laughed and playfully punched Stevonnie’s arm.

“Kidding!” she said.

She leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially.

“Just between you-me,” she hissed, “I got a little something planned for tonight.”

She winked and turned around, disappearing back into the crowd.

Stevonnie blinked, tilting their head.

“...huh,” they said, “Wonder what she’s up to…”

“Yo, ‘Vonnie?”

Stevonnie turned. Amethyst had walked up to them, a perplexed frown on her face.

“You seen V?” she asked, “I was gonna ask her to sit with me n’ ‘Dot, but I can’t find her.”

Stevonnie shrugged and shook their head.

“I’m afraid not,” they said, “I did see Jenny though…”

“Cool, cool,” nodded Amethyst, “Let me know if she turns up, alright? Last thing I want is for her to have to listen to that Curator guy talk about train numbers or army buttons or something all night…”

She walked away, leaving Stevonnie once more with the promise if they saw Vidalia, they would point her in Amethyst’s direction

“...okay, Jen’s ready when you’re done…”

“...right, yeah, okay…”

Jeff took a deep breath.

“Here we go.”

Jeff stepped out onto the stage, passing the musician that had been singing before him on the way. He stopped in front of the microphone, smiling awkwardly as the whole room applauded him.

“Thank you, Dan,” he said, briefly turning to the singer offstage, “Well, it’s been…”

God, he thought, he didn’t deserve it - New Earth worked because of them, not because of him.

Wait.

Wait.

That was it!

Jeff grinned and tucked his speechnotes back into his suit pocket.

“Okay,” he said, “I had a speech about milestones and food rationing and everything being better, but I think I have a better idea. I wanted to make a speech about how we work together - as humans and gems - to make something better for us all. And I don’t want to do that by talking statistics.”

“When we came to this place, we had nothing,” he continued, “And had lost everything. Some of us were lucky - we had husbands, wives, families - and some of us weren’t.”

Buck Dewey looked down at the floor, his shoulders sagging.

“We survived,” continued Jeff, “Because there were gems willing to defy their own Homeworld to make sure we survived. Who helped us gather food, build shelter and infrastructure; they risked their lives for us for no reason other then the faint promise of freedom. We owe them everything.”

There were a few annoyed grunts as members of the Human Resistance angrily began to file out - to his credit, Captain Franks did not, awkwardly watching Commander Lewis shove people aside as she went for the door.

“And now, look where we are,” said Jeff, “We have a port. We have a hospital. We have stores, markets and… and we make our own food! I mean, sure, that two-headed ox thing isn’t actually a cow, but it tastes the same, right? We’re building new buildings - real buildings! And all of this happened because we built a community.”

He looked across the room once more. He saw a young man and a lilac sapphire at the same table, sharing a drink. He saw Lenny and the hulking jasper Carl, the latter lifting a little girl up to help her see. He saw a woman and a light-yellow pearl, arms around each other, a faint blush on their cheeks. And at the front, he saw Stevonnie and Lapis, a partnership that had managed to survive and thrive alone on their little island. There were dozens of other little stories of cooperation scattered throughout the Diamonds’ Lament, testament to the heart of their home.

“So this is who we are,” said Jeff, “We’re not just gems, we’re not just humans. We’re not Earthlings and we’re not from space. We’re something better. We are united. And our very existence is a triumph, a message to the entire galaxy; we are still here! And as long as we’re together, no power in the universe can destroy us! Because we represent something more powerful than any weapon, any fleet, any Diamond!”

He allowed his voice to echo in the dead silence of the room.

“We,” he continued at last, “Are hope. And that is a light that can never be extinguished.”

He chuckled to himself.

“After all,” he said, “There are still little miracles happening across the universe, every day. Isn’t that right…”

He turned to the backstage and grinned.

“...Sour Cream?”

The man that emerged from behind the stage had been cleaned up as best they could. Jenny had found him on a lonely desert planet, the last survivor of a small transport pod that had been bound for the Zoo (or, so she guessed.) He had been thin, almost skeletal, and his eyes had been sunken - a long, long beard underlined his face. Even after a meal, a shave and a change of clothes, he still looked worn and haggard, stumbling as if in a dream onto the light of the stage.

His mother walked behind him, her remaining arm over his shoulder, waving somewhat awkwardly with her limb enhancer. Onion - now tall and lanky but otherwise not so different from before, and quiet as always - brought up the rear, his expression impassive as ever.

The audience regarded Sour Cream and his mother - their eyes fell on the limb enhancer that replaced Vidalia’s arm, and Sour Cream’s dry skin and sunken eyes. These were the scars they bore, the price they’d paid for survival, a living tribute to the sacrifice that had created New Earth and kept it alive. The tension in the air was palpable - Jeff wondered for a moment if he’d done something wrong, if he should have kept this private, if…

“This is my son.”

Vidalia spoke into the microphone, her voice wavering slightly.

“I lost him for fifteen years,” she said, “And now he’s back. And the ship that brought him back was made by a gem, and flown by a human. We found him because we let our world’s combine. And I know some people say we shouldn’t but working together…”

Her voice cracked.

“We brought my boy home.”

There was nothing else to be said. Vidalia pulled her son into a embrace, burying his head in her shoulder. Tears fell unashamed from the eyes of both mother and son as they held each other, fifteen long years of separation finally over. Nobody in the crowd dared to make a noise, to interrupt this moment of sorrow and pain and sheer, unbridled joy.

It was unfathomably unlikely, almost statistically impossible, and yet here it was - a family reunited after having been split across the cosmos.

Jeff was right. Miracles still happened.

“...so, I remember finding this in Dad’s stuff - uh, Greg Dad - and he told me mom wrote it? Anyway, I practiced it, and I remember it off by heart now…”

Stevonnie sat on a homemade piano in the back of the now empty Diamond’s Lament. The event was long over now - it was just them (and Simon, scrubbing down the counter), and they were about to leave for the warp pad. However, seeing the piano unoccupied, Stevonnie had felt a sudden urge to give it a play.

“So, these are the lyrics?” asked Lapis, looking down at the quickly scribbled words on the napkin they had handed her.

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Stevonnie, “Just… uh, join in when you’re ready.”

They cracked their fingers and began to play. The sound wasn’t great - the piano had seen a lot of playing, and it was vaguely tinny and high pitched. It gave the tune something of a melancholy feeling. They played the song without singing at first, then took a deep breath.

“Okay, here we go…”

They began to sing.

“If I could, begin to be, half of what you think of me, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love…”

Nervously, Lapis looked down at the words and joined in.

“When I see, the way you act, Wondering when I’m coming back, I could do about anything…”

They both broke into smiles, and Lapis put a hand over Stevonnie’s shoulder, their voices echoing in union in the empty bar room - human and gem, intertwined.

“I could even learn how to love like you… Love like you… Love me like you…”