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what-if-i-just-did · 1 year ago

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Writing Realistic Future Names

You writing something with aliens? Dystopian future? Doctor Who fic? 'Humans are the Weird ones' post? Need names?

Are you, like me, tired of dystopian names which are normal names written dumbly, or futuristic settings with normal names (looking at you Star Trek), or absolute nonsense? Well here's some cool ways to get futuristic names that make sense.

Celeb and Fandom Names

Names like Draco, Hermione, Sherlock, Mycroft, Enola, Benedict, Castiel, Destiel, Jensen, Danneel, Spock, Katniss, Primrose, Teyla, Elsa, Anakin, Loki, Constantine, Jinx, Rhianna, Catra, Adora, Zendaya, Halsey, Misha/Mischa, Korra, Katara, Toph, Cardi, Mabel, Ariel, Whoopi, Madonna, Oprah, Usain etc are gonna become increasingly popular, like they already are, even more so once enough time passes that people stop associating them with certain pieces of media or certain famous people.

Other Language Names

Historically, in different times different countries have a total global influence, and that will effect names. Right now, it's the USA. During the Rennasaince, it was France. We're pretty close to having Japan and other Asian cultures become the next big influence, what with all the anime everyone globally is watching/reading. Now, depending on how far in the future you're writing, add global influence from other countries. Dutch names like Marjolein and Ninthe and Brechtje, pronounced to the accent of the setting of your story. Try to go with cultures who have potential to be big: don't choose some small country somewhere that nobody has ever heard of. Go for Native American or Mexican or Russian or Japanese or Egyptian.

Surnames

Use surnames for first names! A lot of names that used to be surnames are now gender neutral first names, such as Avery. Use surnames! Johnson, Harris, Smith. All of it!

Strange Shortenings

Shorten traditional names in unntraditional ways! Richard always gets shortened to Richie or (for some unfathomable reason) Dick. What about Char? Chard? Those are kick-ass names. Chris for Christian? Cancelled. It's Tian now. Cathy for Catherine? Wrong. Let's make it Rhine. Amy from Amelia? Let's screw with that, turn it into Ammy. You get it.

Pretty Words

People tend to call their children by name of something pretty, and then those names exist untill after the words have lost their meaning. Right now, most of our names are Biblical Hebrew and Latin and Old English/German. We're at the point where slowly, child names are gonna mean things in today's language again. It's already happening a little; Dawn and Hope and Autumn... but give me children called Justice and Fauna and Prime and Amethyst and Earth. Ash and Queen and Happy and Light and Feline. Give me twins called Sapphire and Sapphic, like we call our twins Catherine and Caithlynn or Tim / Timothy and Tom / Thomas now.

Spelling

Spelling is going to shift with the years, and you want your names to reflect this. This one pretty much only works for at least a hundred years into the future. Here's some guidelines of what spelling might become:

t / th = d

s / k = c

ee = i

a = e (sometimes)

y = i (sometimes)

ks = x

o = oe

h = h (add more often)

Examples: Katherine = Caderine, Timothee = Dimoedhi, Blake = Bleke, Susanna = Cucennah etc. Of course, you can do it your own way, or only use some of these guidelines if you want. Feel free to play around with it. If you chose to go for this, keep in mind that there will still be some names in old spelling, just like we still have towns called Kooperdeck and stuff like that. This technique sounds dangerously close to the "say names while your mouth is full of oreos" technique that some dystopian writers use that I hate, but because it's based on logic and what the future might actually be like, as long as you use this in moderation, it'll sound really cool. Out of these examples, Caderine and Bleke are better to use than Dimoedhi and Cucennah, because "Timothee" and "Susanna" have been pretty much lost. If that's what you're looking for though, then that's your thing, I just personally like to be able to see realistic names and eventhough those names are based on logical prediction, they sound made-up.

Gender

You need to pay attention to the percieved gender of names. You can use names that are gendered or slightly gendered right now as gender neutral names. But if you're inventing new names, do pay attention to whatever percieved gender they have in your universe. You can use Chard and Jensen for girls, Caderine and Sapphire for guys. In fact, you should definetly use names like Loki and Earth and Rhine as non-binary names.

Disclaimer: I haven't studied history, and most things I reference here as 'historically, x has happened and is therefore likely to repeat in the future' are just things I've picked up on and heard about and logically deduced, and they could be wrong. However, I consider myself very smart and I really really like history, so you should consider this as a fairly accurate depection. Just know that if someone who actually studied or researched this topic says I'm wrong then I'm probably wrong.

So there you go! How to write realistic future names. Have fun!

#writeblr #hfy #character names #future #writing #dystopia #tw star trek mention #fanfiction

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wulfhalls · 2 years ago

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You're full of surprises, you beautiful creature. What other pairings do you ship apart from Daemyra and Jonsa?

otp otps

hannigram - hannibal, chuck x blair - gossip girl, catherine x peter - the great, spirk - star trek, cesare x lucrezia - the borgias, (daemyra and jonsa are also up here lmao)

other pairings I'm into

kastle - the punisher/ daredevil (fuck marvel but the dynamic was too bomb to miss out on so I only watched their scenes exclusively lmao) yennskier - the witcher (if they don't kiss next season I have to blow up netflix unfortunately) kenstew - succession (they have explored each others bodies in the past and will do so again), arthur x eames - inception (the ogs nothing is ever gonna hit like 2014 inception fic livejournal gyzym the only writer EVER) seonho x yeon - my country the new age (ITS THE DEVOTION OF IT ALL) joowon x dongski - beyond evil (its licherally just kdrama hannigram with more daddy issues), gaius x number six (the sexiest bitches who ever caused the destruction of humanity u simply had to be there) , mulder x scully (watching all seasons over a 3 month period when I was like 19 changed my brain chemistry), kaz x inej - shadow and bone (and if I'm a basic bitch at heart then what) dan x amy - veep (will hunt david mandell for sport on day for what he did to them and us <3)

book otps

richanne - the sunne in splendour ( best book best pairing best everything) cathy x heathcliff - wuthering heights (goes insane) leto x ghanima - children of dune (He runs and runs and runs. And when he's exhausted himself, he returns to me, puts his head in my lap and asks me to help him find a way to die. like?????????????????? fucking insane)

#asks #kansou

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anotheruserwithnoname · 3 years ago

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RIP Joanna Cameron

Numerous fan sites are reporting that Joanna Cameron, who played the very first lead female superhero in a television series (The Secrets of Isis), has passed away due to a stroke. At the moment regular media hasn’t picked up on this yet. The sites reporting this are reputable enough that this, sadly, probably isn’t a rumour. (EDIT: the source of the report is her former co-star Joanna Pang - pictured at left.)

Secrets of Isis debuted in September 1975 as a made-for-kids Saturday morning live action series intended to provide a female counterpart to the popular Shazam series, featuring the original Fawcett/DC version of Captain Marvel. Isis (a.k.a. Andrea Thomas) was created exclusively for TV. The show debuted months before Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman and Lindsay Wagner’s The Bionic Woman, making Joanna the first female lead in a superhero series (Yvonne Craig’s Batgirl was a supporting character on Batman; Cathy Lee Crosby’s Wonder Woman never got past the pilot movie). It ran for two seasons and included several crossovers with Shazam, predating the Arrowverse concept of a shared universe. Decades later, DC reintoduced the character in its “52″ mega-series, and a reimagining of the character, now played by Tala Ashe and named Zari Tomaz (later Zari Tarazi), is part of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; in one of her early episodes, set at Halloween, Tala wore a version of Joanna’s costume from the TV show. The character is not referred to as Isis due to the name gaining negative connotations in recent years.

Joanna was also a popular guest star on shows such as the 1970s version of Amazing Spider-Man, and reportedly held the record for most appearances by an actress in TV commercials. Her bio also mentions she appeared in the film Pretty Maids All in a Row, one of the few projects Gene Roddenberry produced that didn’t have “Star Trek” in the title.

I was very late to the party when it came to Isis. I grew up in a city that never got the show, so I mostly knew it from the (better-than-you’d expect) DC Comic book spin-off, and of course I finally watched the DVDs. It was definitely made for kids - violence was non-existent and Isis, much like Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, was pretty much restricted to pushing and harsh language when it came to dealing with villains. And of course every episode ended with Isis talking to the audience and hammering home the moral of each episode (this was pretty much mandatory for American Saturday morning shows back in the 70s). But all that side, it was a fun show, Joanna Cameron was charismatic in the part, and even though she had a long career in film and TV (before leaving acting to work in health care and marketing), it’s a groundbreaking role that she’ll be most remembered for. RIP.

#joanna cameron #secrets of isis #saturday morning television

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icarusthelunarguard · 3 years ago

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This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

Aries

Vacationing is going to be tough this year, so plan on doing it all remotely. Instead of a PenPal system, how about setting up a way for people to tele-vacation via Zoom or something? People in great locations that are local to them can bring a camera, show you around in real time, and you get to make new friends! Sounds like fun?

Taurus

Feeling like you were adopted is normal. Sometimes we all feel like we don’t fit in; and that’s ok. Just remember that family isn’t always about genetics. We’re your family of choice now. And we kinda need to ask if we can borrow your truck to move house. Please?

Gemini

Saturday is going to be your best day this week. Buy some frozen waffles, pancakes, french toast, and good quality bacon and syrup for a Saturday Morning Cartoon Cramfest! Don’t worry if you can’t find a onesie to fit you.

Cancer Moon-Child

How many “Bionic” people have there been, including the 2007 Bionic Woman reboot and excluding any cartoon characters? You want to say “four”, don’t you? Well, the answer is “Five”. No, that doesn’t include “Max” the bionic dog. You didn’t know about “The Seven Million Dollar Man”, did you? Go buy the box set and watch it all again - and watch out for a young John de Lancie!

Leo

You’re not off the hook either, Leo. After you find the episode of “The Bionic Man” with John De Lancie in it, pull up the rebooted “Mission: Impossible” series from 1988. Mr. de Lancie was the villain in that episode, after Star Trek: The Next Generation had him on as “Q”.

Virgo

You need to watch some TV too, Virgo. This time it’s a Star Trek actor battling, of all people, Wonder Woman! After he was Khan the first time, Ricardo Montalbán was in the 1974 TV movie with Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role. We want you to watch to the end to see the wonderful delivery Mr. Montalbán gives the line, “I LOVE you, Wonder Woman!”

Libra

When we told you to buy new slacks to go into the office with… Ok, look. TECHNICALLY YES, it was Casual Friday. And TECHNICALLY YES, clown pants are, definitionally, “Slacks”. And because you were TECHNICALLY CORRECT, you are also TECHNICALLY going to be suggested to not do that again. At least not until late October.

Scorpio

Some stranger is going to give you life-affirming advice this week. Listen carefully to what they have to say, then ignore it. All you need to do is make them think you’re paying attention and not being rude so they’ll go away quicker.

Sagittarius

Your predecessors in New York did not listen to our warnings. We sincerely hope, for your sake, you pay better attention then they did. Getting Rest doesn’t always mean Get Sleep. Doing something entertaining can be just as good sometimes. Going down YouTube Rabbit Holes at 3am with your smartphone is an exception. Stop doing that.

Capricorn

Debating with people online isn’t the best use of your sleepless time this week, Capricorn. Invest in a set of binoculars instead. If you’re in the country you’ll get to see some amazing stars, if you’re in the city you can see some amazing late-night activities.

Aquarius

It’s finally time to decide on your Halloween costume this year. Yes, it’s a little early, but you’re going to need time to plan out what it’s going to be, find the fabric you’ll need, get the right thread, and read up on how to use a sewing machine for the fourth time. Keep Bactine on hand, just in case.

Pisces

Being a farrier is a more dangerous job than you thought it would be. Not only are you going to get kicked by the horses, but at least one of them is going to nibble on your shoulder. That isn’t the dangerous part - explaining to your significant other why you have a love bite will be.

#comedy #horrorscope #parody #funny

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trans-elrond · 4 years ago

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All numbers from 1-30 for your writing ask! Please?

um yes absolutely, thanks for asking!! lol I have a lot to say so buckle up :’)

1. What’s your WIP title and any working titles it’s had in the past?

My current feature screenplay is called “Charity” and it’s never had any other name. I am open to changing it in the future, but for now I think it’s a decent working title!

2. If you could write for any currently airing TV show, what would you choose and why?

omg... The Mandalorian of course... I just think I would be an excellent fit for our fave Star Wars space western, and I just love the show so much <3

3. If you could go back in time and change the series finale/ending of any TV show, what would it be and what changes would you make?

going to have to go with Star Trek: Voyager on this. I love the show to bits, but the final few minutes are SO unsatisfying, and I’d want to extend the ending to include an epilogue of sorts showing their return to Earth and the resolution of several major relationships.

I would also kill the Chakotay/Seven romance dead because Janeway/Chakotay is where it’s at >:(

4. What’s a trope you find yourself including in almost all your works?

I LOVE giving my characters truly awful moral dilemmas where there’s no right choice and either way someone gets hurt :))

5. What’s a trope you hate/could never bring yourself to write?

love at first sight...... nope, can’t do it! it’s slow angsty buildup or nothing, baby!

6. What’s your OTP from your own writing and what’s their story?

I’m REALLY sorry for outing myself as a self-insert/canon character shipper, but my Star Wars OC Akēna ends up with Axe Woves from the Mandalorian. I know he literally has 3 lines in the show, but I love Simon Kassianides so much and came up with this whole angst-ridden backstory for Axe that I just literally can’t resist

(His parents were Death Watch, he wanted to leave Mandalore for good to escape that history, but the Mandalorian genocide/Purge brought him back to fight for vengeance and to support the survivors, and he’s struggling with the legacy of just what it means to be a Mandalorian. [Religious deconstruction, anyone??] Then Axe and Akēna meet when Axe is on a mission for Bo-Katan that brings him to the planet where Akēna’s been in self-imposed exile for the past year, then they go on lots of fun/action-packed space travel with slow burn shenanigans and defeat Akēna’s archenemy, who killed her dad.)

7. What mashup of two writers/filmmakers matches your storytelling vibe? (___ meets ___)

I while back I said I was Madeleine L’Engle + China Mieville and I stand by that!

8. If your WIP was being made into a film, who’d you want to direct it? (Choose an established filmmaker)

perhaps Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey)—it’d be important to me to have an Asian woman directing Charity and I looove her visual style!

9. Who would you cast as your main character/s in the screen adaptation of your WIP?

Jessica Henwick as Krida (she’s a bit too young but she’s so gooooood), David Morrissey as Dr. Brandon Lane, haven’t decided the rest of the cast but maybe Maggie Q as Verda, Dominique Tipper as Mia, Bob Morley as Raul??

10. If you could collab with any living writer on a full length work, who’d you choose and what would your project be?

hmm, this one’s tough but honestly I’d love to write a fantasy-horror screenplay with Guillermo Del Toro. I just want to learn from him and I think he should do more fantasy!!

11. What are your favorite and least favorite genres to write?

Fave: high fantasy, space opera, urban fantasy. Least fave: contemporary drama and romantic comedy.

12. List the top 3 words/phrases you find yourself unintentionally writing over and over. (E.g., my characters are always furrowing their brows)

my characters definitely furrow their brows, glance away, and inhale/exhale too often lol

13. Your WIP is being adapted into a TV show. What song plays over the main credits and what’s the vibe/aesthetic of the credit sequence?

this one’s hard because I have so many songs I love!! for Charity, maybe the chorus of WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? by Bastille. I’d love for the main credits to be really a jarring juxtaposition of the hedonistic cruise vibes + the blood/sweat/violence of the latter half of the story. (It doesn’t really work as a TV show because it’s very much a standalone film lol.)

14. Share your WIP’s plot like it’s a Reddit “am I the asshole” post.

Okay so I’m (F38) on this luxury cruise [AN: through space, because as a rule I write sci-fi and fantasy] and started seeing this guy (M50s?? let’s call him Brandon) who’s probably newly divorced but we aren’t really talking about our respective reasons for going on a cruise alone. That’s just not what this relationship is. Everything’s fine and I’m doing a great job at distracting myself from real life™, but then our ship is rerouted to respond to a ship in distress a few hours away.

Brandon’s a medical professional so he volunteers to assist. I’m in marketing with no medical certification so I feel kind of useless. I go and get a little bit drunk with a new friend who also feels useless (F35, we’ll call her Mia). Mia tells me she’s been seeing one of the ship’s third engineers, and through him, we get access to the engineer group chat, where we find out that our ship is literally breaking all the speed rules and going way over the recommended limit for this vessel, putting all of our lives in danger to try to reach this other ship faster, with no certainty that we’ll actually arrive in time to save anyone.

At this point I haven’t told anyone but Brandon that my estranged older sister (F50, we’ll call her Verda) is actually the ship’s captain, and I came onboard in hopes of reconnecting with her, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. But as we read the engineer group chat, Mia and I get more and more convinced that the ship’s top brass (meaning my sister!) are keeping important info from the passengers, and we might actually be in real danger of dying because they’re pushing the ship too hard.

Now here’s where I might kind of be the asshole. I’m legitimately concerned that we’re putting our lives at risk (and potentially destroying our ship!), and while my sister’s a really smart woman, obviously she’s keeping our speed and the actual status of the other ship a secret from the passengers. So I use my relationship with my sister to visit her on the bridge, cause a distraction, and broadcast our current speed and the status of the sinking ship across the entire ship.

So Reddit, help a girl out: who’s the asshole here, my sister (who might actually have killed us on our way to help that other ship) or me, literally just trying to save our lives? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I’ve been lying to Brandon about what I’m up to via text message this whole time, but I felt like he didn’t really deserve to know. We’re not even in a relationship and this just wasn’t something I felt I had to involve him with. That was kind of asshole-y of me, but telling him the truth also would’ve been weird!

15. Share a line from your WIP that you’re proud of.

I love this exchange:

Then an AUDIO RECORDING: Mia hits play. Alby's a Southern girl--with a sailor's mouth. The roar of the ENGINE can be heard behind her.

Alby (v.o.): Y'all aren't going to believe this shit when you get up--I've never gone faster than 21 knots on a fucking cruise ship--I didn't think it was possible--oh, man, engine watch is having a night. Couple of officers came down here to oversee it. I'm just chilling till they tell me to suit up. (muffled--to others in the room) Hey, how fast are we going?

ENGINEER: (v.o.): Just passed 24 knots.

Alby (v.o.): Ho-ly shit.

END OF ACT

16. Share the most recent line from your WIP.

“Krida turns off the lights and they head out.“—wow that’s a boring line but at least I’m making progress on the script??

17. Share your top 3 strengths as a writer.

consistent idea generation, killer loglines, and sheer stubbornness to keep at this writing thing lol :’)

18. Share something about writing/craft you learned recently.

well, the other day I heard from a screenwriting/TV writing podcast that I should really have 6+ scripts in my pocket before striking out as a writer. which I am absolutely Not doing because I just have 2 scripts right now. oh well!!

19. You’re given a blank check to adapt a book or book series into a TV show, miniseries, film, or film series. What book/s do you choose and which medium do you use for the adaptation?

ooh okay I’ve LONG dreamed of adapting The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper into an extended miniseries (like a few episodes for each book), but I also acknowledge that should really be done by a Welsh person because it’s so steeped in Welsh geography, culture, and mythology.

I would also KILL to do a Queen’s Thief film series but someone is already adapting it, and besides I don’t know if I’m smart enough to catch all the subtle winks and foreshadowing in those books!! so my real answer is maybe the Westmark books by Lloyd Alexander as a film trilogy :)

20. You can hang out with any living author for a day, who do you choose and what do you hope you’ll talk about?

TA Barron, author of the Lost Years of Merlin series. He seems like such a genuinely wholesome, smart, compassionate guy and I’d love to just bask in his wisdom and maybe take a nature hike with him tbh

21. What’s your ideal readership, publication, or writing career path for the next 5-10 years? (Sky’s the limit, but also fine if you don’t have publication as a goal!!)

I want to have an agent and be on a TV writing staff, writing spec features for fun. Ideally I’d make enough money from TV writing to not have a subsistence job on the side, ahaha. TV writing jobs are just like... you’re employed in a room for a few months and then the show ends and you have to scramble for another job or just be unemployed for a while? which sucks. but at least I’m walking into this career with no delusions of grandeur!!

22. You’re a ~famous writer~ who has a special muse-like relationship with an actor/actress (think Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan.) Who is it and which of your characters do you cast them as?

Jessica Henwick is kind of already like this for me. I saw her in promo material for Iron Fist and went “wait that’s me” :’) (terrible show though, glad she’s onto better things these days.) I’d cast her as Iphigenia and Akēna and maybe Krida, though I’d be a little uncomfy with the age difference if Brandon’s actor is really 20+ years older lol, so I’d reconsider that if this were an actual thing

Side note: I’d also LOVE to cast Kelly Marie Tran and Lana Condor in everything!!!

23. Which of your characters is most likely to be voted prom king/queen/monarch?

I think I mentioned Blake Rosario Marquez in another ask as someone who would play wonderwall on an acoustic guitar just not knowing about the memey implications... everyone loves him and he’s very charming so he’s probably an easy bet for prom king!!

24. Which of your characters is most likely to go through life like Goob from Meet the Robinsons?

there’s one character in Iphigenia’s contemporary magic story, Hector Loren, who is 100% this. He’s the brother of the main villain and he feels horribly complicit in her evil deeds, though he did his best to limit the harm she caused. He’s convinced everyone hates him and he deserves it :(

25. If you make character or story moodboards, share a recent fave!

this is for my sweet, sad selkie character Bellan!

26. If you make character or story playlists, share the tracklist from a recent fave!

okay okay this is the angsty man who accidentally stole his lover’s selkie skin a decade ago and is now trying to make amends :’(

a playlist for rivke marhos (oh, my heart, i cannot face him now)

fear - sleeping at last, fallen empires - snow patrol, róróró - of monsters and men, the haunted man - bat for lashes, in my veins - andrew belle, sorrow - sleeping at last, i have made mistakes - the oh hellos, particles - ólafur arnalds and nanna bryndís hilmarsdóttir, shrike - hozier, falling slowly - marketa irglová and glen hansard, sudden love - the woodlands, oh love - phildel, if i knew - bat for lashes, leave the war with me - london grammar, place for us - mikky ekko, samson - regina spektor, ready to lose - ingrid michaelson, unbroken - birdy, union stone - phildel, everything i need - skylar grey, our corner of the universe - ks rhoads, we’ve only just begun - bat for lashes

27. One of your stories gets an amusement park/theme park attraction—what's it like? (Can be a ride, interactive theater event, ren faire-like immersive experience, etc...)

I ADORE the idea of interactive theater events for my stories, but a space cruise ship disaster a la Titanic sounds extremely traumatic?? probably not a good idea in general!

I would love to be able to “visit” my fantasy worlds, especially the city of Varvaris! it’s kind of Mont-Saint-Michel + Tashbaan from Narnia. People could dress up and go to the market and join a croquet tournament in the palace and go fishing at the docks... maybe sneak through the drainage tunnels and join up with various guilds and shadowy factions...??

28. Do your character names have meanings? If not, what are some faves and how did you come up with them? If yes, what are some fave character names and their meanings?

For contemporary stories, I often choose names with specific meanings or mythological/folkloric backgrounds. Iphigenia is a Greek tragic character, the daughter of Agememnon, whom Agamemnon sacrifices. (Is her destiny to die for her people? or can that be averted?)

Also because I’m an incorrigible writer of self-inserts, I will confess that I extrapolated the name Iphigenia from the nickname Nia, which I chose because it’s made of letters from my first name. Akēna is a mangled misspelling of my name backwards.

For fantasy/sci-fi stories, I’ll go with cool-sounding names drawn from specific linguistic backgrounds—I generally dislike just mashing sounds together without rhyme or reason. Rivke is kind of Dutch and Bellan is kind of Roman/Latin.

29. Which of your characters is most likely to start a podcast, and what's it on?

this is totally crack but I personally want to hear the “Akēna interviews important Star Wars characters she’s briefly run into” podcast. like she maybe has met Din Djarin and Grogu once, she and Bo-Katan are reluctant allies but also dislike each other (character bleed?? why i never—), she’s definitely heard of Luke Skywalker, etc... possibilities are endless

30. Is there a dream story/vibe for a story you want to write someday but haven't gotten around to yet?

SOMEDAY I’ll write my vaguely dystopian/futuristic King Arthur :(

#helathorloki #can you tell i wrote the ask game because these are the questions i specifically want to answer :')

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thegeneralreturns · 5 years ago

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Thoughts on Birds of Prey

I don’t think it’s very good. In fact, I think that beyond the genuinely good performances by the actors, there isn’t a single level upon which this movie works.

Birds of Prey’s story is told in a disjointed style that fractures the film’s chronology like early Tarantino or Nolan. Which is fine in a bubble and looks good on paper, but the advantages that Tarantino and Nolan had were runtime (in the former) and just focusing on a single character (in the latter). Birds of Prey has neither. This kind of complicated, doubling-back storytelling means shots and lines of dialogue are replayed two or three times. This is a one-hundred minute movie with an ensemble cast. Real estate is both scarce and valuable, which means the movie wastes precious time being fancy at the expense of its characters. I thought Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were great as Black Canary and Huntress, but with what little time we spent with them at the expense of Harley, I wish the movie thought so, too. With the approach this film took, it should have either been longer, or it should have focused more. Birds of Prey is the closest cinematic equivalent I can think of to the ten-pounds-of-shit-in-a-five-pound-bag analogy. And it ain’t a girl gang movie if the girls are only a gang for the last twenty minutes.

The action scenes are par for the course, but for the love of God, can we cool it with the John Wick comparisons, please? This movie has none of those films’ immersion in their sequences. Save for a couple of scenes near the end, director Cathy Yan is content to just sit back and watch, letting the choreography do all the work. Which is, y’know, fine, but the praise of critics and the movie’s fans kinda got carried away.

These are my grown-up problems. I still have one rather large comic book nerd problem with Birds of Prey.

And if I told you my favorite superhero is Cassandra Cain, you know where this is going. Before we proceed any further, however, I should make a point to mention that I am not, nor shall I ever be, mad enough at a movie to pick on a little kid on the internet. Ella Jay Basco did a great job with what she’s been given, and I hope the future treats her well.

But the alterations made to Cassandra Cain’s character in this movie are just baffling. A disabled master martial artist with a more staunch no-kill rule than Superman is now a chatterbox wuss who has no problems waving guns around and blasting people to smithereens. Everything cool, interesting, or sympathetic about her is just gone.

There are two things that make this perplexing. The first is her inclusion in the first place. I have a hard time believing that they put a character named Cassandra Cain in this movie in hopes of luring comic readers when DC has been trying their best to bury her since 2007. You had Holly Robinson that could have been used, who would have provided connective tissue for the inevitable Gotham City Sirens movie when Margot Robbie’s Harley met Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle. If you need a tie into the upcoming Batgirl movie, just use Stephanie Brown. That way, when the Batgirl movie gets here, you can use Cluemaster as a built-in villain. Hell, you can eve keep the actress. It’s not like Basco did a bad job, and there ain’t no rule that says Holly or Steph can’t be Asian. Why Cass? Why, God?

The second is how did they get her so wrong when they got everyone else so right? All of the other central characters closely correspond with their comic book counterparts. Hell, Black Canary is such a mess of interpretations and backstories in the comics that hammering any two of them together into something coherent is a genuine feat of good writing. Birds of Prey namedrops places like the East End, Amusement Mile, and Robinson Park. It’s not like these motherfuckers have never picked up a comic book before! So how did they do everyone else so well and Cass so poorly?

You know, I really don’t give a shit about the behind-the-scenes nonsense with The Rise of Skywalker. I really don’t. JJ Abrams made a bad movie. Case closed, and mystery solved. Any Star Trek fan will tell you it happens with regularity, and it was your turn.

But The Cassandra Cain Cinematic Shitshow? I definitely want to know what’s going on there. I want to sit and listen as this person or these persons explain themselves. I want to know how they thought irredeemably scorching my favorite superhero in her first big screen outing was a good idea that would sell a single ticket. If they wrote a book, I’d buy the damned thing.

To quote a great man, whoever made these decisions was either dumb as fuck... or they did it on purpose.

#birds of prey #harley quinn

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maulthots · 5 months ago

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so yesterday we watched looking for par'mach in the all the wrong places. it made an impact.

#cathy watches star trek

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maulthots · 5 months ago

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Their closed marriage bullshit now has a body count

not in like a gay way or anything. just as bros

#kira and julian #cathy watches star trek

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suburbantimewaster · 5 years ago

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Here’s the first illustration I received for a fanfic, this one being Mind Games set in the universe of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the origin of Candy Marino and Chris Patel, who can also be found in Return of the Greek Gods. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the references right for Marino the first time but I did get them right for everyone else. Anyway, this is drawn by s2ka from Deviantart.

Marino gave all of her attention to Shere Khan, feeling the vibration of his purrs. All it took was one sneeze for him to get off. She still had time before her next shift to make one call, even if it was one she dreaded. Marino took a sip from her flask, enjoying the bubbly substance going down her throat, then finally entered her room on the right with another fan set up in the middle. She set her personal computer on the desk and opened it.

"Computer, connect to T’Mara on Vulcan, Priority One connection, authorization Marino-Alpha-6359-Rose," Marino ordered, taking a seat.

It wasn't long until a caramel face female Vulcan with her raven hair tied in a long braid appeared on Marino's screen.

"Ensign Marino, I was expecting your call," T'Mara said, noticing the flask in Marino's hand with a disapproving gaze.

"Don't worry, it's just synthehol," Marino explained as she put it on her desk.

"Acceptable," T'Mara said with a nod. "I suppose you have just finished making yourself at home on Deep Space Nine."

"Actually, I haven't even started," Marino admitted with a wave of her hand. "I got caught up reading this manuscript left by the previous owner."

"What was the content of this manuscript?" T'Mara asked with clear intrigue.

"It was about looking into the mind of a Cardassian who loved torturing any Bajoran he could get his hands on," Marino explained with a smile and tone equivalent to a five-year-old girl who just tried on her first princess dress. "Rebels, collaborators, civilians, you name it." Marino's smile faded and her tone grew more condescending. "Though it does talk a bit too much about Cardassian superiority over other species. Other than that, it was like reading something written by Ramsay Snow. Only thing missing was the sigil of a flayed man."

"Considering the character of Ramsay Snow, I would imagine that Roose Bolton would be more likely to write such a tale," T'Mara told her.

"No, Roose Bolton wouldn't be stupid enough to flay a collaborator. Remember what he told Ramsay?" Marino recalled and then adopted a serious stance. "'If you acquire a reputation as a mad dog, you'll be treated as a mad dog. Taken out back and slaughtered for pig feed.'"

"Logical," T'Mara acknowledged in a voice only a tiny bit away from being complete monotone. "Speaking of Game of Thrones, when we last talked, you described being assigned to Deep Space Nine as 'being sent to The Wall without having to take a vow of celibacy and no Jon Snow to make it bearable.' I am pleased to see that your opinion has changed."

"I'll say one thing," Marino said with a confident smile. "You never would've found anything like that manuscript on the Prometheus." Then she pointed to a suitcase with isolinear chips, one of them containing Game of Thrones. "Plus, I made sure to bring that gorgeous bastard with me."

"Ah yes, your last posting," T'Mara acknowledged, completely ignoring Marino's last remark. "I remember you compared the Prometheus to serving on a dollhouse in outer space."

"With everyone all sunshine and roses, you always knew who was good and who was bad and everyone went around talking about how we're so superior and have found the right way," Marino said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"To which you believe that there's no such thing as 'the right way,'" T'Mara said, raising her eyebrow at the last part.

"And anyone who believes that is deluding themselves," Marino said with a scoff. "This is turning into less of a check up and more of a counseling session."

"Considering the nature of these 'check-ups,' a counseling session is inevitable," T'Mara informed Marino. "Or are you forgetting about the incident that nearly resulted in your expulsion from Starfleet?"

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten," Marino said, taking a sip from her flask. "It's the whole reason I got assigned to this shit bowl."

"From what you've told me, I can logically assume that the assignment is a good fit for you," T'Mara told her positively.

"Great, then the conversation's over," Marino said, about to cut the connection until T'Mara raised her hand.

"Unfortunately, you and I still have some issues to discuss," T'Mara told Marino in as harsh of a tone a Vulcan could muster. "For instance, were there any temptations when you arrived on the station?"

"Just one," Marino said distastefully. "When I walked into the station, I smelled booze. I'm talking the smell of stardrifters, kanar, blood wine, Saurian brandy, and something that smelled like a citrusy wine. Even if the smell of dust and grime mostly covered it up. Not to mention the heat."

"Does the heat curb your cravings for alcohol?" T'Mara asked in a helpful manner.

"You'd think, but no," Marino said sardonically, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "Don't get me wrong, thanks to living on Vulcan for a few months, I've gotten used to three-digit degree weather. It's Shere Khan who truly suffered." Marino's voice filled with distress as she remembered her kitten's meows and his attempts to bathe himself with his tongue repeatedly. "I had to set up fans all around my quarters to keep the poor little guy from overheating!"

"Considering Cardassian physiology and the average temperate of their home planet, this does not surprise me," T'Mara informed Marino.

"Then I hope Cardassian animals don't have fur, because that would be pure torture," Marino remarked bitterly. "But we both know I didn't call you to talk about Shere Khan's suffering."

"Yes, I can sense that you are troubled by far more than your feline's suffering," T'Mara told her. "Care to tell me what that would be?"

"I had a little run in with a blast from my past," Marino told her.

"I didn't think anyone from the Prometheus would be assigned to Deep Space Nine," T'Mara stated with confusion.

"Actually, this one isn't from the Prometheus," Marino informed her. "He goes much further back."

* * *

Patel unpacked everything and then set his computer on the desk, seeing a message from the one member of his family he could count on. It only took a few seconds for the face of a jet black haired young woman with a toffee complexion to appear on his screen.

"Hey, Chris," she said with a smile. "By the time you view this, you're probably settling down in your new posting. You know, the rundown Cardassian station you were dreading. Well, I kind of envy you right now. I'm still interning on Andoria," Cathy said, pouring herself a drink. "Which makes New Jersey winters look like Gujarat."

Patel looked at the alcohol with a disapproving glance.

"I know, you don't like your baby sister drinking," Cathy said, rolling her eyes. "But cut me some slack, I'm living on a giant ice cube."

Patel drew back with a jolt. It was scary how well Cathy knew him.

"All right, the internship's not all bad. I got to watch Redbats nesting in a cave!" Cathy said excitedly, putting her hands on her chest. "Though one of them freaked out and nearly crawled through my brain."

Patel found himself peering at the top of Cathy's head, at least as much as he could see, for signs of scratches.

"Thankfully, Areliv helped me get it out," Cathy said with a dreamy smile. "He even offered to take me out to dinner."

And Cathy's got a new boyfriend, Patel thought with both pride and worry. Though I don't think Mom and Dad will like their daughter dating an Andorian.

"I know what you're thinking and Areliv is not my boyfriend!" Cathy insisted, though her bright red face told another story. "He's just a friend! A very handsome and charming friend!" She laughed. "All right, I'm kind of hoping that it will turn into something more." Cathy smiled brightly. "Who knows? Maybe Areliv and I can double date with you and Ian."

Patel's face fell.

"Anyway, I've got to go. I'm meeting my boss in a few minutes," Cathy told him. "Try to make the best of your assignment and, remember, our summers on Gujarat prepared you for Cardassian heat, even if it made Andorian cold almost intolerable."

Cathy closed the connection, leaving Patel staring at a black screen.

* * *

"His name's Chris Patel," Marino answered.

"Ah, yes," T'Mara said with a nod of her head. "The childhood friend who you separated from in high school."

"We both fell into different crowds," Marino explained bitterly. "He belonged to the hotshot squad and I belonged to the social outcasts."

"I recall you saying this during your time at the monastery," T'Mara noted. "However, I do not recall you ever telling me that Chris did anything to personally attack you."

"Oh, he didn't," Marino stated, hoping she wouldn't have to clarify.

"Then I fail to see the problem," T'Mara said, shrugging her eyebrows.

"The problem is that I'm trying to make a new life for myself and I don't need some childhood friend telling everyone about the 'sweet little girl' I used to be," Marino said crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"Again, I fail to see how a childhood friend would cause you personal strife at your new duty position," T'Mara told her.

It was at that moment Shere Khan chose to jump on the desk.

"Is that the transient feline you found outside the monastary?" T'Mara asked, her brown eyes following Shere Khan. "The one you retrieved the fans for?"

"You mean the one who was abandoned on Vulcan?" Marino said, her eyes narrowing as she remembered seeing him panting on the hot desert of her former retreat. "He didn't really have anyone else who could take him in."

"So, you chose to make him your pet," T'Mara recalled.

"What was I supposed to do?" Marino said defensively as she took Shere Khan off of her desk and held him in her arms. "Help the poor kitty and then abandon him to the shelter?"

"You always did have a compassion for animals," T'Mara told her, raising an eyebrow. "People are another matter."

"Yeah, animals rock, people suck," Marino said, setting Shere Khan down on the floor, meowing loudly as he rubbed against Marino's legs. "Sorry, wittle boy, but your mama's in the middle of something."

T'Mara raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm one of those nutsos who treats their pets like their children," Marino said, folding her arms. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

T'Mara raised her right eyebrow.

"Perhaps Mr. Patel will not divulge sensitive information without your approval," T'Mara told her helpfully.

"You might be right about that," Marino conceded hesitantly. "But he might get defensive when people insult me." She recalled his apology before contacting T'Mara. "Plus, Chris would still have questions that I really don't want to answer."

And one of them will be answered when the CMO arrives with my medical file, Marino thought sardonically. That'll be fun.

"I'm sure if Mr. Patel respects your privacy, then he will not force you to share information that you are uncomfortable divulging," T'Mara told her reassuringly.

"You've got a point there," Marino agreed with a reluctant nod.

"Is that all that concerns you?" T'Mara asked.

"Actually, there's one more thing..." Marino asked hesitantly, holding up her right index finger.

"Ensign Marino, Vulcans do not 'change their mind.' You are still not permitted to imbibe any alcohol," T'Mara told her firmly.

"Wow, am I really that predictable?" Marino asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes." T'Mara answered in her usual matter of fact tone.

She has me there, she thought. When she spoke again, her voice was a little more relaxed. "Though, you have to admit, it's going to be hard for me to 'curb my cravings' when I'm assigned to a place that smells like booze."

"Your argument is illogical since the synthehol and blitz should curb your cravings," T'Mara told her sympathetically. "Additionally, consider the manuscript you found. It may be logical to conclude that Deep Space Nine could give you the mental stimulation the Prometheus could not."

"Yeah, but even Deep Space Nine can't keep my brain entertained all the time," Marino concluded with her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side. "So I might need a little pick-me-up on those slow days."

"As your sponsor, I must advise against that," T'Mara told her firmly.

"Fongool," Marino said angrily, putting her arms to her side. "Chat with you more, but I need to unpack."

"Very well," T'Mara said with a nod. "Remember to contact me if you feel any urges."

"Sure thing," Marino said as T'Mara held up her right hand in the traditional Vulcan greeting.

"Live long and prosper," T'Mara told her.

"I can try for the latter, but I'm not making any promises about the former," Marino told her honestly.

"Ensign Marino..." T'Mara told her in a slight warning tone.

"All right," Marino said, putting her hand up in the Vulcan salute. "Peace and long life, Counselor."

Marino cut off the connection and looked around her quarters. It seemed pretty standard with a desk, the typical Cardassian mattress, her bags near the door and silhouettes of paintings owned by their former occupier. Like everyone else on the station, he left in a hurry. She unzipped one of her bags and pulled out a few isolinear chips that contained recordings of all of her favorite songs, some of them having their own playlists. She used her personal console and installed them all in her quarters, instructing the computer to play one at random.

"Journey," Marino exclaimed with a bright smile as the music started playing. "Awesome!" Emptying the contents from the rest of her luggage, she lazily threw them in the correct places in her quarters, singing along to "Don't Stop Believing," relishing in the antiquated style.

* * *

Patel turned on the connection, ready to record his outgoing message.

"Hey, Cathy," he greeted. "Really liked hearing your message and glad to hear you're doing well, in spite of the freezing cold. Though I might have to check this Areliv out to see if he's good enough for my sister." He smiled to let Cathy know that he wasn't serious. Well, not entirely. "Things on Deep Space Nine aren't too bad and trust me when I say the heat's the least of my worries."

The doctor's smile disappeared. "The whole place looks like a shipwrecked ghost town and knowing the history of this station doesn't help. Let me put it this way, Candy found a manuscript of the Gul who used to live here and, by the way she talked about him, things didn't sound pleasant." Patel's smile returned, imagining the look on Cathy's face. "Yeah, you heard that right, Candy's my roommate. Though, she's a little different from how we remember. As for how, let's just say that she finally got that backbone you always said she needed to grow."

Patel's face fell. "Also, there's something I need to tell you. Ian and I broke up. I know you liked him and you're sad to see him go, but it's better this way. Our careers were taking us in different directions and we both felt that it would be better to, in archaic terms, rip the band aid off rather than leave it on until it naturally falls. Anyway, I have to go. Plenty of unpacking to do and I need to get the Infirmary set up for when the CMO arrives."

He closed the connection and unzipped one of his bags. He meticulously placed everything where they belonged and realized he could hear Marino's music from across his quarters. He had to admit that the ensign had a beautiful singing voice, but he had a hunch that he'd be listening to it way more often than he wanted to. * * *

#star trek #star trek deep space nine #fanfiction #Fanart #commission #candy marino #chris patel #mind games #deviantart

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redshirtgal · 7 years ago

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WHAT DO JOE TORMOLEN AND A GIANT BAT HAVE IN COMMON?

Played by the late actor Stewart Moss, LTJG Joe Tormolen (”The Naked Time”) touches a blood stain in a research station on Psi 2000 and starts a chain of infection that spreads throughout the Enterprise. Years later in the film "The Bat People,” Moss again portrays a character who becomes infected, but this time by a bat . But he is not the only actor Trek fans will recognize in this strange tale.

Also known as "It Lives By Night," the movie begins with Dr. Becker (Stewart Moss) and his wife Cathy on their honeymoon and moves to their visit to the local caverns. While there, Becker is bitten by a fruit bat and undergoes a long, tortuous transformation into a grotesque looking bat. Don't ask- this is one strange film, although it has its charms. Cathy is played by Moss's own wife, Marianne McAndrew.

Terrified by all the changes and the fear that he may be responsible for several murders that have occurred, Becker consults Dr. Kipling (Paul Carr who played Lee Kelso in "Where No Man Has Gone Before"). At first, the good doctor believes he has a form of rabies and treats him accordingly. Naturally, this does not work too well. At some point, Dr. Kipling does what some doctors always seem to do when they don’t know what’s wrong - he tells Becker that this is all in his head. Despite the dead bodies that have been found, which attracts the attention of....

Sgt. Ward, a police detective who decides to take on the investigation. He also decides that Cathy looks a bit lonely, what with her husband going out at night to bite the necks of sexy young girls. So now you have a strange love triangle going on on top of everything else. If Ward looks familiar, it is because he is actually Michael Pataki whom we remember as Korax, the Klingon officer in "The Trouble with Tribbles.

And the final Trek actor involvement is Stan Barrett as the stunt coordinator for the movie. He had played the jailor in "All Our Yesterdays." Unfortunately, we have no photos of him in this film. And we will not reveal the rather uninspiring but predictable ending. You have to see it for yourself.

Stewart Moss will be fondly remembered by Trek fans for his two roles in Star Trek. Still, this film is also an interesting footnote to his life. It has the distinction of being featured by Mystery Science Theater 3000 and named among IMDb's 100 Worst Films. But if you are a fan of cheesy Grade B horror flicks, it’s worth a watch.

#star trek TOS #star trek #stewart moss #the bat people

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chitarra10 · 7 years ago

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So check this out... this is Cousin Teo wearing the Star Trek shirt I surprised her with yesterday from all the way back here in the USA. :-) I don’t remember if I mentioned this in my picture posts, but Cousin Teo was kinda just “meh” about Star Trek before, but Aunt Cathy is my fellow sci-fi Trekkie nerd, and she mentioned to me a few months before the trip that she hadn’t seen the 3 new movies yet. So I put my DVD’s of all 3 movies into my backpack and brought them with me to Panama so we could watch them. We ended up watching them all twice because they loved them so much. :-) After the first round of viewings, Cousin Teo decided that she’s now a Star Trek AOS fan, and she very quickly developed a huge crush on Zachary Quinto... I can’t say I blame her, he really is quite beautiful. :-)

She saw me wearing a shirt just like this... well, actually mine is a cheap $5 knock-off, but this one that I gave her is the authentic one from StarTrek.com :-)... and Aunt Cathy and I happen to overhear her add a tiny little tag onto the end of something the was praying, asking God for a shirt like mine. But she said it in such a way that it was quite clear to me that she was only saying it because she didn’t really consider herself or her prayer important enough to warrant an answer from God. Two things immediately crossed my mind. 1) In the Bible, Jesus says straight up to his followers in John 14:13-14, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.“ 2) The day before, I just had a rather in-depth discussion about prayer with one of the other missionaries in which I said that we all should be willing to let God use us to answer other people’s prayers because people are the main method God uses to answer prayers. And then I started to ask myself if I was gonna take this opportunity to literally put my money where my mouth is and be the answer to a prayer that I was completely capable of... especially in the middle of a mission. X-) It’s just a t-shirt, otherwise nothing groundbreaking or world-changing, however I suddenly started to see it as something that could be a reminder to Cousin Teo that God really does hear her prayers and really will answer them. And that’s what made it so important. :-)

So I motioned Aunt Cathy over to the room where my mother and I were staying, and I whispered to her not to tell Cousin Teo because I wanted it to be a surprise, but I wanted to buy her the shirt, and I asked her what size I should get. Aunt Cathy smiled widely at me, hugged me, said thank you, told me which size, and said thank you again. :-) Then I grabbed my tablet, made sure Cousin Teo couldn’t see the screen, ordered the shirt online, and had it shipped to Aunt Cathy. The shipping date ended up being long after Mom and I left for home, so I asked Aunt Cathy to get a video of Teo’s reaction when she saw it. :-) And just yesterday, Aunt Cathy did that for me... it was so awesome, I was smiling so hard that my face almost cramped X-)... and then she posted this picture on Facebook of Cousin Teo posing happily with the shirt on. :-)

So it may be “just a t-shirt,” but to Cousin Teo, it’s a little faith booster that can always remind her that God does answer prayers and that she doesn’t ever need to feel like she’s not important enough to ask. :-) And I considered it an honor to get to be the one to give her that. :-)

#panama #panama 2017 #mission trip #the mission continues even though i'm home :-)

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ladyjstruth-blog · 7 years ago

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Quatre & Trowa Spend an Evening at a Carnival (Excerpt from Back to Reality)

Already it was near dusk by the time they were walking along the harbor pier that hosted a small Carnival year round. The bright lights were on, crazy carnival noises and local radio broadcasts carried across the pier from many of the attractions.

The two walked in between rows of game tents while avoiding crashing into children as the little urchins ran headlong through the crowd. Trowa's sudden change in behavior seemed to have been something of a dream like it had never happened and Quatre was munching contentedly on a bag of cotton candy (it was his second) while Trowa held a large stuffed panda bear that he'd won at a shooting booth. Trowa smiled at Quatre's love for sweets.

"You have such a sweet tooth." He commented casually, glancing down at the smaller youth.

The blonde smiled and shrugged, pulling out a small handful of the fluffy pink stuff. "I've got a good dentist," he replied offhandedly. His quip answer provoked a deep chuckle from the tall acrobat, causing Quatre to falter a step. The sound almost made him melt. He recovered quickly though and Trowa didn't seem to notice.

Relief washed over the young multi-millionaire. He could handle executives and siblings hounding him about WEI on top of his school work, during exams no less, but he wasn't sure he could handle Trowa's reaction to Quatre spilling his guts about his feelings toward him.

Especially when the blonde got the impression that Trowa wasn't exactly batting for his team, so to speak.

As much as Quatre was attracted to his former comrade in arms, he was too afraid of ruining their friendship to say anything. The last thing he wanted was to scare off the one person he wanted to get closest to for something that might not even work.

Trowa's voice cut sharply into Quatre's internal dilemma.

"Quatre, want to go take the ferry around the harbor?" The taller boy was looking at him expectantly and Quatre figured it hadn't been the first time he'd been asked that question.

"Oh, yeah…sure," replied the blonde as he hurriedly finished the last of the cotton candy, throwing the bag away as they stepped onto the ferry boat. The crowd was fairly large already and the air inside the enclosed area of the boat was too stifling, so Trowa led the way out onto the open deck.

They stopped near the railing, Quatre allowing his school bag to drop to the floor unceremoniously at his feet, leaning with his forearms on the rail. He looked into the gloomy black waves of the water as they pulled away from the dock, allowing them to take his thoughts with them.

Trowa stood, straight and erect with his hands in his pockets, panda bear resting against his leg, and taking in the colorful lights of the harbor. His eyes soon drifted over to the blonde by his side only a few feet away. He couldn't help but enjoy the view.

Quatre was turning into a very naturally attractive young man. He felt the urge to run his hand through that beautiful golden blonde hair, gently trail his fingers down Quatre's neck, whisper sweet nothings in his ear while his hands slipped down across his back sending ripples of pleasure across the younger boy's body, and lower to his waist, and then continuing even lower…

Trowa was startled, as much as the usually composed ex-Gundam pilot could be anyway, out of his less than innocent thoughts about his friend by a question spoken so softly he almost didn't catch it. "When will you leave?" asked the blonde, looking up at Trowa, searching for an answer he knew wouldn't be there.

The brunette shrugged, not picking up on the hidden meaning underneath the simple question. "A week, maybe longer if we do well enough." He watched as Quatre casually turned around, leaning his back against the rail, stuffing his hands in his pockets and gazing up at the few stars that weren't obscured by the bright lights of the city. The blonde closed his eyes and sighed, causing a guilty knot to form in Trowa’s stomach. "Not long enough is it?" he asked.

Quatre shook his head. "It wouldn't be nearly so bad, you know, if you would write or call or…something, every once in awhile," Quatre accused with a bit more vehemence than he had intended.

"Duo and Wufei at least contact me once in awhile and I talk to Relena enough to know what Heero's up to...As much as you're allowed to know what he's up to anyway. But I don't hear a word from you until you show up out of the blue. Not one, Trowa." Quatre looked over his shoulder to meet Trowa's eyes with his own. "What's up with that? I thought we were closer than that," he finished quietly, fighting desperately to keep the tears from welling up in his eyes and the pathetic quiver out of his voice. He was suddenly very angry with Trowa and also very hurt, but he didn't want to collapse into a blubbering mess in front of the guy.

Trowa didn't react, just met Quatre's gaze coldly. The brunette saw the tears in his eyes threatening to get the better of his friend and the knowledge that he was the cause pained him. He knew he owed Quatre a better explanation than he could give. There wasn't any good reason Trowa was willing to admit to that kept him from making contact with him up until today, so he kept silent. He saw a flash of anger in those vibrant blue eyes, and then an expression of defeat as Quatre dropped his head to stare dejectedly at the deck.

Quatre blinked the tears away and waited until he trusted his voice before changing the subject. "How'd you find me anyway?" he asked curiously. Any hint of anger or pain was gone from his voice, replaced by faint curiosity. "I mean, it's not exactly like I announced what school I was attending and Wilmington has a very strict code on privacy for exactly that reason".

"I hacked into all of the private schools' databases in the surrounding area until I found you," Trowa replied nonchalantly, looking back out across the water. "It's not like it was hard," he added as an afterthought.

In spite of his annoyance of Trowa's lack of interest in keeping in contact with him, Quatre chuckled at his answer. He should have guessed that that was how he had done it. Just because they didn't necessarily have to hack into places anymore didn't mean that they still couldn't.

"Old habits, I suppose" commented the blonde, looking back up at the sky. The stars made him think of the colonies, which in turn, made him think about the ESUN, followed closely by thoughts of the Republic. "We're going to war again Trowa," he said with a painful finality in his tone.

"It’s highly likely, yes," replied the taller brunette. He turned to face Quatre fully and moved closer to the blonde. The change in personal space brought Quatre's attention from the sky back to Trowa, who was now only inches from him. He felt his throat constrict and it took all of his willpower not to look away from the determined look that he found in the other’s eyes.

"There is a chance though, that the Republic has merely taken up mobile suites because they feel threatened by the ESUN, optimistically speaking anyway. And a large part of me wants to believe that," Trowa continued. "But if the Republic does go to war against the ESUN, I'm ready to fight again. I have no doubt that Relena will ask us for help if it comes to that. But until she does or the Republic declares war, whichever comes first, I'll stay with the circus. I'm not yet willing to leave Cathy for a maybe."

Quatre stared into Trowa's eyes for a moment before looking back over his shoulder at the harbor dock with all its radiant lights edging closer as the ferry boat made its slow trek back to port. "It's a shame," he thought out loud. "I had just gotten used to being a normal high school student. It was nice."

Trowa could see the conflicting feelings raging within his friend. Out of all the pilots, Quatre was one of two who had previously held a relatively normal lifestyle, even if it hadn't exactly been all happy days and sunshine.

The war between Earth and the space colonies that surrounded the Earth which he had so actively participated in, the constant conflict with and eventual death of his pacifist father followed immediately by the death of his sister, and the overall baggage one accumulates during a war had changed him significantly. Hardly normal for a fifteen-year-old, but in spite of such traumatic events he had forged a new life as a civilian quite successfully. Something none of the others had managed to accomplish.

And now, thanks to this new Republic of Eurussia, it was all getting yanked away because Quatre wasn't the type of person to stand aside and watch everything he had worked to achieve get destroyed.

Trowa couldn't imagine how it must feel to the kind hearted seventeen-year-old. Trowa had never been an overly expressive individual and his upbringing amongst mercenaries hadn’t exactly promoted sensitivity. But he could see the confusion, fear, anger, and determination in his friend's eyes. At that moment, all he wanted to do was comfort him. Let him know that despite whatever happened in the future everything would be okay.

Before he realized what he was doing, he had brought a curled index finger underneath Quatre's chin, gently forcing the blonde to look him in the eyes. "Quatre."

Quatre's breath hitched as Trowa tenderly coerced him to meet his gaze. Butterflies made themselves known in his stomach, he felt his heart pound hard against his chest and somewhere in the back of his head he prayed that Trowa couldn't feel his pulse.

Quatre was powerless to do anything other than stare up into those wonderful green eyes. He was also becoming increasingly more aware of how close they were to each other. Just one more step and their bodies would touch.

"Trowa…I..." Quatre started as he made to move closer. The intimacy was lost however when, just as Quatre had moved toward the other pilot, his cell phone rang. Buzzing obnoxiously in his back pocket, Quatre cursed under his breath as he reached to silence the thing. At the same time, he was painfully aware that Trowa had promptly withdrawn his hand, which had felt so comforting to the blonde, and had backed away a few paces.

Returning to his original position, Trowa watched calmly as Quatre fished the offending gadget out of his pocket. Casting the stoic young man a look of apology at the intrusion, he noticed the caller was Rashid.

Cursing again, a little louder this time, Quatre pressed the answer button.

Full story can be found on AO3 at: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9327206/chapters/21135179

#gundam wing #post cannon #gundam boys #trowa x quatre #young love #trowa barton #quatre raberba winner #rashid kurama #thisweekingundamwing

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