#middle could use some work i need to Architect this thing out

[yloiseconeillants]

mushroom, goat cheese, and shallot pastry thing

i am very proudful rn akljdsfa;kls

[icewindandboringhorror]

It's always interesting to hear about people's weird/unexpected "alternate life paths". Like, something that you could have done with your life, a job you almost took, a school you almost went to, etc - that was still actually realistic enough that it could have happened, but NOW it seems to not suit your current personality.

Like for example, I currently hate advertising (how manipulative it is, brands trying to be 'relatable', social media amplifying it to an obnoxious extreme, etc.) so much that even seeing a little ad before a youtube video is grating to even witness, but there was a point in time where I was genuinely seriously considering going into marketing/making commercials as a career lol. Or like, I have a relative who was very inclined to be a pastor when they were younger, even though today they're a super strong atheist, etc. etc.

[arkhammaid]

 — ˚₊‧⁺˖ THE (DENDRO) BIG THREE AND HOW YOU FELL FOR THEM.

fandom. genshin impact

pairing. alhaitham x dancer!gn reader, baizhu x anemo!gn reader, kaveh x architect!gn reader

content warnings. none, written in lowercase

word count. 1.6k

notes. i wrote this when baizhu and kaveh leaks dropped and actually finished it in a day. i justify the long wait because i didn't have the pngs of them back then LMAO ty sophie for proofreading 🫶

 — ˚₊‧⁺˖ alhaitham. 

as a dancer and singer under the zubayr theater, you generally dislike everyone from the akademiya

maybe that wasn’t the nicest, nor the right, thing to do, but every student and official scholar has mocked you and your fellow artists, trying to shut down the theater

you keep your dislike, the almost hateful feelings you have, silent, no matter how problematic those scholars are. after all, you try not to create more problems and you don’t think nilou would forgive you for being so mean to others, even if they’re mean to you

it was not until the maddening mission of freeing the dendro archon you met him. the scribe. you’ve heard about him, of course you have, and of course you already had your thoughts about him

when he joined the group to celebrate the successful mission, you avoided him, keeping close to nilou and the traveler, distancing yourself and paimon with food and keeping an eye out on him

just because he helped to free the dendro archon didn’t mean you trusted him. you would rather trust the general mahamatra with your life than him, the feeble scholar and now acting grand sage

instead of thinking about the handsome scholar, you busied yourself with learning new dances for the next performance. like nilou, you owned a vision, but you used it only on the stage

your cryo vision could create the most beautiful forms and shapes, entrancing your audience while you danced with twirling arms and complicated steps. and it was then, in the middle of the most important performance of the year, when you caught the acting grand sage, alhaitham himself, in the audience, following your movements with an intense gaze

you almost stumbled, the ice you created cracking and your body hesitating, but you had to focus. you had to focus, while alhaitham kept his eyes on you and only you

“i see you have joined the festival, acting grand sage,” you muttered politely. nilou had nudged you to talk with some of the scholars who visited and witnessed the performance, stating it will be good for both sides to talk. 

“i have,” he smiles, tall body towering over you. “and i especially enjoyed your performance. it was truly magical. i’ve known nilou is a great dancer, but i didn’t know there is someone who can surpass her.” his sudden compliment made you blush and you stutter a thanks, completely blown away by his honest words. a scholar, complimenting you? 

and then he smiled at you, eyes earnest and dendro vision glittering, his element suddenly filling the space between the both of you. 

“i’ve heard it’s tradition to gift flowers to the actors and dancers after their performance. will you accept them?” with wide eyes you slowly take the beautiful bouquet, still showing traces of his element. 

“thank you, alhaitham.” the moment you utter his name, he gives you another smile, making your heart race and face. how dare he be so nice to you!

— ˚₊‧⁺˖ baizhu. 

you’re a merchant and a collector of liyue, having built a small business with three other people. you supply those in need with herbs and flowers, especially from liyue but also from sumeru and mondstadt

it’s hard work and keeps your days busy. trekking through the lands, defending yourself from hilichurls and other monsters, all while trying to collect the flowers and seeds you need

but, in the end, it’s rewarding work because many will pay big amounts of mora for herbs since they’re so hard to gather. lucky for you, you received an anemo vision many years ago, rather easy to collect the rare plants

your business is split up– while you founded and technically also own it, it’s your dear friend who acts as the main merchant and seller. you supply them and the other two make sure to gather other herbs in more distant places, traveling on horse to deliver them faster

but then your friend falls ill and you have to go out and sell your gathered herbs. selling them is not a problem, the people in liyue would fist fight to get the amount of herbs you offer at a fairly reasonable price

yet your friend recommends you to the bubu pharmacy, telling you that the doctor is currently in need several herbs

you’re surprised, since you know hat the bubu pharmacy is technically self sufficient, but you pack your things and climb the many stairs to the building

meeting the doctor, who immediately introduces himself as baizhu… is an experience. he’s a very handsome man and his smirk has you hiding your sudden blush

you try to tell yourself it’s just the warm weather, or your sudden shyness and inexperience in dealing with customers

it’s really not. because then you start running more often into baizhu, eyes wide when he stops whatever he’s doing to greet and talk to you. his kindness, no matter how much he teases you, is something unexpected and maybe that’s why you fall for him

“ah- hello, my dear. i was just thinking about you. do you have another batch of qingxin? it seems that my inventory is currently suffering,” he sighs, shaking his head and already worrying about the many orders he received. 

“the current cold that’s going around is eating up my reserves. do you know how long it took me to build such an impressive amount of treatments?” but you don’t listen to him, too busy repeating those two words he just uttered without any care in your head. 

my dear, my dear, my dear- he called you his dear!

“uh, yes- j-just a moment,” you stutter when he glances up from his papers, a questioning gaze heavy on you after you didn’t answer him. “i think- we should have some left, but i don’t know if it will be enough…” 

“fuck,” you can only mumble when baizhu turns his back to you again, leaving you with your thoughts screaming in your mind. did you really fall for him? a teasing smartass? 

— ˚₊‧⁺˖ kaveh. 

as a fellow architect, you can recognize kaveh’s talent, even if you would never say it out loud. there has been a rivalry brewing between the both of you, with neither of you showing any signs of stopping

the two of you fight for clients, reputation, and especially partners, which are your fellow scholars. the rivalry goes so far that many of them don’t even want to work with any of you anymore, fearing their lives and, even worse, their own reputation. but neither of you notice, too bullheaded and blinded by the unofficial competition you have going on

yet during all those years of this serious competition between two architects, you’ve never exchanged a friendly word. not even a greeting. oh no, it’s always spitting insults and spiteful remarks that often end in a screaming match

it would’ve probably never stopped if it weren’t for alhaitham. he had enough of the pettiness and decided to sit you down, have both tighnari and cyno watch over you and locked you in the room. the two other vision owners were here to ensure no one would end up dead;, but that wasn’t needed

silence filled the room for almost an hour, until kaveh cracked and asked how you were doing. you, of course, snapped at him, telling him you had much better work to do than sitting here with him

“listen, i’m really sorry… about everything. neither of us stopped and so i just continued,” he started speaking and you lean back, eyes wide and trying to hide your gasp. kaveh apologizing? that was really something new.

“i’m sorry for stealing your clients and saying all those stupid things about you. now that i think about it, it was petty and we should’ve just talked it out and act our age,” he continues, not looking at you, all the while apologizing for being an ass to you. it surprises you, silent as you are, but there is a sudden desire to apologize to him as well. 

“you don’t have to say anything. i know it’s a bit much, but i hope we could try out as friends? i mean, you’re so talented and your commissions and works are absolutely beautiful! if we work together… we could create masterpieces.” kaveh finally looks up and notices your wide eyes, your whole body frozen in your seat. with a sigh, he stands up and nods to the two other men in the room and makes his way to leave. 

but before he knocks on the door to ask for alhaitham to let him out, he turns back once more with a smile and says “i would love to call you a friend of mine, such a fierce person,” a chuckle escapes his mouth and he shakes his head. 

“let me know when you’re up for my offer.” 

and you can only stare after him, the man who had tormented you for years offering friendship and even partnership. furiously, you try to hide your blush that’s spreading, noticing once again how handsome he is. stupid kaveh with his stupid smile. 

taglist. @keyz-writes , @obsidianjewel , @keqism , @kamiiyaka , @venexus , @stellumi , @wanderersbell , @uraqtttt , @spiriteddreams , @lxvebun , @ineshapanda , @baeshijima

if you want to join the taglist, please read this post!

ARKHAM MAID 2023

[peonysgreenhouse]

presentable. (kaveh x reader)

summary: you help kaveh do his hair after he oversleeps.

tags: kaveh x gn!reader, just fluff!

You find him fast asleep at his architect's desk, neck craned at such an uncomfortable angle you wonder how long he had been awake before drifting off.

"Kaveh." You call, quietly, as not to startle him awake. When he doesn't stir, you creep closer, putting a hand on his shoulder and gently shaking him. "Kaveh, you have a meeting soon, you need to wake up."

When he wakes, he does so slowly, the middle of his sketch paper sticking to his cheek as he raises his head from the desk. He groans, blinking slowly against the light from the window, then tilts his head towards you.

Kaveh's face scrunches up when he does so, and it seems he notices two things at once. One, that his choice of nap location has smudged his precious work, and two that he now has a horrible pain in his neck. He groans once again and stands up, huffing.

"I can't believe I fell asleep like this!" He throws up his arms and starts rifling through his clothing chest. "I don't even remember being tired, it's like I finished the working drawings and then I passed out."

You look down at the top sheet and see what looks to be a floor plan, with lots of text in the margins and mathematic symbols you don't quite understand. It gives you a headache just looking at it.

"This is for the lighthouse renovations, right?"

"Right." He answers, shucking off his old shirt and putting a new one on. He shakes out his hair, and then turns to you. "Do you know what time it is? It's not past midday, is it?"

You figure you shouldn't mention how some of the graphite from his paper had imprinted on his cheek. "Ah, well, it's just a little past twelve."

Kaveh curses, striding angrily across the room into the bathroom, angrily muttering to himself. He curses again when he sees his reflection, and starts scrubbing at his face.

"I can do your hair, if you want." You offer, trying to keep him from catastrophizing further. Kaveh continues scrubbing until the pencil markings rub off onto his hands, then leans against the sink.

"...That would be nice." He says, quietly. "I'm already going to be late, might as well be presentable."

You laugh to yourself; you think that sleep-ruffled Kaveh was still more handsome than anyone else in Teyvat. You grab his wrist and tug him back to his architect desk so he could sit, and work on taking out the feathers, the hairpins, the braids in his hair.

Kaveh looks over his working drawings one last time, content to let you brush out his hair with your fingers. He tries not to shiver when you scratch lightly against his scalp.

"Do you want me to style it like you usually do?" You ask, starting to separate the strands for a braid.

Kaveh shrugs. "Whatever looks best. I trust you."

"So I can put it up?"

"Of course." Kaveh takes your hand and brings it up to his lips, kissing your knuckles softly. "Like I said, I trust you."

Your heart flutters at his honesty; you feel you might never get used to it. You braid the small section you had started on and gather his hair into a ponytail. His hair had gotten long since you last messed with it.

You tie it off with a hairband, and move around him to brush his bangs out of his eyes. His cheeks pink at the contact.

"Handsome, as always." You say, content, as you stick his feather behind his ear. "You ready to go now?"

"I've decided that I need to change one little thing." He leans back in his chair, tilting his head back to look at you. Kaveh winces as it pulls the strain from earlier.

"Kaveh, you're already late." You playfully chide.

"I know, I know." He leans forward, grabbing a pencil and tapping it to his lips. "But I'm telling you this is going to be worth the extra minutes. If my employer is passionate about this project, they'll understand."

You sigh. You know in your heart that his employer would most likely not understand, but you couldn't tell him that. You can't help but admire his never-ending optimism for hoping that one day, he'd meet an employer who cared for the art of architecture as much as he did.

"I'll come and drag you out in fifteen, then, alright?"

Kaveh is already so engrossed in his work that you're sure he doesn't hear you. You shake your head, laughing, placing a quick kiss to his hair before leaving him to his work.

You said fifteen, but you'd give him twenty. Art can't be rushed but sometimes it needs to be nudged gently towards the finish line.

[lovelynim]

Don't make a noise

Genshin Impact - Alhaitham x Kaveh

A/N: I was bored at work and I came up with a little something, teehee

Summary: "Shhh, don't make a noise. We don't want them to find out, do we?"

Word count: 1305 words

Kaveh wrapped his arms around his roommate's neck, desperately pressing his lips against Alhaitham’s, using him to keep his balance and not fall on his back on the table. The blonde could feel the tip of his feet barely grazing the ground, but he was too lost in their act to mind it.

On the other side, Alhaitham kept one hand wrapped around the architect’s waist while placing his palm on the man’s bare back, even sliding his fingers inside through the back’s window on his shirt. His legs slightly intertwined with Kaveh’s, craving for more as each second passed by.

This was becoming a way to frequent part of their routine. It’s been a while since the two of them started to do more than share a room and, lately, Kaveh would sneak at the Grand Sage’s office just to see him and… do other things as well. 

Alhaitham was against the idea and made sure to always remind Kaveh of the risk they were both taking by doing that. Yet, he would always give in to the blonde’s demands and teasing, not thinking twice before pulling him into his embrace.

“So troublesome…” Alhaitham gasped between their kisses, trying to catch up his breath, but resuming the act after some short sighs.

Kaveh chuckled, throwing his head back to fill his lungs with air again. The other groaned, as an impatient kid whose toy was taken away. The blonde looked at him, grinning. He had the upper hand, after all. “You are not easy too, you know?” He muttered, moving one of his hands to Alhaitham’s face, caressing his cheek. “In fact, you are pretty har-” knock knock knock

The noise cut through Kaveh’s words, making him stop at the middle of his sentence as the both of them widened their eyes, exchanging panicked looks. 

 “Grand Sage, sir, are you there?”

“Yes,” Alhaitham said, without a hint of hesitation. “Just a second, please.”

“What are you doing?!” Kaveh whispered as the man backed up a little, sliding off the table.

“Shut up,” the scribe told him, but before Kaveh could protest and snap back for those words, he felt Alhaitham’s hand at the back of his head, pushing him down until he was sitting under the table. “Don’t make a noise,” he whispered before sitting on the chair, pulling it closer to the table, carefully placing his legs in a way he wouldn’t press Kaveh even further into the small space. 

“Come in,” he said louder, fixing his clothes a second to make sure he didn’t look like someone that was almost caught red handed.

A scholar walked in, carrying some papers in their arms. “Grand Sage, here are the documents you asked me. I think this should be enough material for the revision,” they said, getting close to the table as they carefully placed the pages, one by one, in front of Alhaitham.

Kaveh, under the table, sat in the fetal position between Alhaitham’s legs, hugging his knees and sinking his face between his shoulders. He wanted to curse his roommate for that, but knew he also had some fault in his current predicament.

It shouldn’t take long - or so he hoped - for that scholar to finish any matters they had with Alhaitham, so he only needed to wait a little more. Not wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation between the Grand Sage and his secretary, Kaveh tried to ignore it all. However, he couldn’t help himself but to pay attention when his name came into the matter.

“Were you able to make any progress during the past week, sir?” The scholar asked, with a slight hint of mockery in their words, “if your roommate is as bothersome as you say, I believe it must have been quite the task,” they laughed.

“Well,” Alhaitham continued, making Kaveh perk up his eyebrow as he waited for what he would say in his defense, “with the right efforts, I couldn’t work without so much trouble.”

“I can only imagine, sir,” they continued while Kaveh, under the table, listened carefully, “with him nagging at you all the time, it must be a real headache.”

As they seemed to drop the conversation from the formalities of work to simply talking about daily life, Kaveh managed to catch more and more comments about him thanks to Alhaitham’s secretary. That stupid scribe… He wasn’t going to let Alhaitham’s slide off that easily, no. The gears inside his head were turning, plotting his revenge. 

“Before you go,” Alhaitham started, searching for something on his desk, “I’d like to ask you to taHA- hng!” 

He greeted his teeth to stiff his laughter. Giving the space under the table a quick glance, he saw Kaveh, with a wicked smile, resting his hands over his knees. That damned brat.

“Sir? Are you okay?”

“Yes, peherfectly fihih- fine,” Alhaitham continued, trying to move his legs away from Kaveh with no avail, since the architect was already taking most of the space under the table. The scribe battled the smile threatening to take place in his face, clenching his hand as he tried to bear the tickling.

“Just gihihive m-me a secoHOnd,” startling both the scholar and himself with his own reaction, Alhaitham wished he could simply kick Kaveh when the blonde decided to test how sensitive his thighs were.

Kaveh wasn’t holding back at all, grinning from ear to ear as he scribbled his roommate’s inner thigh with one hand and squeezed his knee with the other. While Alhaitham struggled to hold back his reactions, Kaveh amused himself with how much his legs trembled and squirmed under his touches.

“Is something wrong, sir?” The scholar asked, half concerned and half confused, not sure about what was going on.

“Y-yehehes, I juhust f-feel a lihihittle- ah, littlehe d-dizzy!” The acting Grand Sage explained, banging one fist on top of the table while using the other hand to cover his face. He tried to press his knees together, protect himself somehow, but only ended up “trapping” Kaveh’s hand between his legs, not able to stop the blonde from playing with his thighs.

“Should I call the emerg-”

“AHa-” Alhaitham cackled when Kaveh decided to tickle the back of his knee, wiggling his fingers at the rather sensitive spot. He slapped his hand over his mouth, revealing his slightly pinkish cheeks to the scholar in front of him. No matter where Kaveh targeted, everything seemed equally bad, ticklish enough to drive him up the wall. “N-noho need fohor thahat!”

“Sir, are you… laughing?”

“I j-juhust remembehered a-ahah, hnng- a f-funny epihihisode,” Alhaitham bit his lip, taking every ounce of strength left in his body to resist as much as he could and finish that sentence at once.

“I-I see… ahm,” the scholar confusion was starting to grow into awkwardness, being it the first time he could witness Alhaitham at such state.

“C-cohould you- ahah, fehetch me a g-glass ohof wahahater?”

“Ah, surely. Just a second, please,” the scholar nodded in a hurry, turning around and walking past the office’s door to fulfill the Grand Sage’s request.

As soon as he was gone, Alhaitham pushed the chair back, looking down at Kaveh with furious eyes. “What do you think you are doing?!”

But, instead of an answer, Kaveh looked up at him, placing one hand over his knee while he brought the other to his own lips, holding his index finger out, “shhh, don’t make a noise, Haitham, they will come back at any moment. Bear it, yes?”

“You-”

Before he could finish, the door opened again. The scholar, trying to not look as concerned, handed him the glass, “your water, sir,” they said, with a smile. Eying Kaveh under the table and reading through his intentions, the scribe sighed. That was going to be a long meeting…

[faytelumos]

Into the Black With a Matchstick, pt4

I'm going to be going through the previous three parts and adjusting some language and pronouns (if I haven't already done so by the time this is posted). It won't require anyone re-reading if they don't want to, but it should make things feel more consistent for first-time readers.

@c00kieknight, @hypersomnia-insomniac, @jxm-1up, @midnight--architect, @robinparravel, @thepotatoofnopes, @those-damn-snippets; @tildeathiwillwrite, @thelazywitchphotographer

first previous

allergens: some miscommunication, brief reference to sex

cw: description of a needle (non-threatening)

---

Paxie sighed again, breathing deeply in the shuttle. Klte's suggestion to rest and take off the helmet was a good one. They felt better now, having taken the moment to recuperate. The past two hours had been a flurry. They decided to get back to work, and they stuck their head back into their helmet, allowing the automatic clamp to reseat. Captain Eme would need a break soon, too, undoubtedly. So they should head back to the ship as soon as possible.

The shuttle was still cycling the atmosphere out when their earpiece chirped.

"Go ahead," they said.

"Admiral, we'd like to request a Ghost to come aboard," Kime said. Paxie tried to perk their ears, but the helmet kept them mostly in place.

"Is there something wrong with the Earthlings' vessel?" they asked, maybe a little too worriedly.

"There's an inconsistency in their comms systems," Kime explained. "They wanted to view a star map to reconcile the data, but can't use our devices."

"Ah," Paxie mused. They supposed it wasn't a bad idea. There didn't seem to be an abundance of digital technology in this ship, but it did sound like this matter could be handled with a Ghost's help. "Very well," they said. "I'll have Captain Eme dispatch our Ghost immediately."

"Very good. I'll… prepare the Earthlings for its arrival."

"Actually, Ensign, I'm almost done." The shuttle sounded more or less silent by now, most of the noise Paxie could hear coming from the body of the strange, small ship and up into their suit. "I'll let them know what to expect."

"Very good. Sergeant Klte and I will be sure to leave a path for you."

"Excellent, thank you."

Once the request had been sent along and the blue light shone to indicate the cycle was complete, Paxie opened the doors again. Most of the doorway was taken up by the outer hull of the ship. There was radiation fading on it, and the dings and pocks of micrometeorites. They shivered to think of how desperate this species must have been to leave their planet with such an unequipped vessel.

They lowered their head and squeezed into the open airlock. Since Paxie was too large to fit with both of the Earthling airlock doors closed, the doors had both been manually opened. Paxie wasn't worried about the Xoixe's technology failing to hold the seal from the outside. Even with the awkward shape of the small ship. But if it had been an issue the Earthlings had to solve with their own technology, well….

They hated to admit it, even to themselves. But they would not have felt safe.

Klte and Kime were both out of the hallway that lead to the bridge, allowing Paxie to get most of the way in. This room wasn't made to accommodate as many as The Water's Kiss' bridge. There were four…console stations, and what looked to be a command module in the middle. This is what Harrison and Ramirez were working on.

"Captain Ramirez, Lieutenant Harrison," Paxie said. Both looked up, and Paxie bowed their head lower. "Please forgive my absence. But I do have some positive news."

"Good news is good," Harrison said. Their eyes got wider as they watched Paxie. Ramirez remained stoic as ever. Paxie licked the roof of their mouth.

"We are summoning a Ghost to come help with the technological gap," they announced. Both aliens looked towards Klte with slightly widened eyes. Paxie hesitated. That was a… strange reaction. Both looked back to them, and they kept talking, unsure of what else to do. "Its kind is often a bit… difficult for those who have not seen one before to grasp."

Harrison looked very uncomfortable. Ramirez glanced at them, then back to Paxie. But they also seemed uneasy. Paxie hesitated again. They looked to Kime, but she didn't seem to have any insight.

"Lieutenant Harrison? Do you need to rest?"

"I'm sorry," Harrison whispered. "I just… you work with ghosts?" Paxie tried to perk their ears, and Kime and even Klte seemed to hone in on Harrison.

"You know of them?" Paxie asked.

"We have… legends. Stories." Ramirez looked again to Harrison. They had changed color, going pale—

Klte lunged at the same time as Ramirez, and both of them grabbed Harrison and kept them from falling completely down. Paxie watched, momentarily stunned, as Ramirez took on the burden of Harrison's weight.

Had Harrison died?!

"What's happening?" Paxie barked. "Kime, vitals, we need—"

"I'm okay," Harrison rasped, dumbly grasping at Klte.

Paxie didn't know what to do. They were useless, clogging up the entire hallway, unable to move anywhere fast, watching as Ramirez labored to get Harrison to one of the consoles. They sat them down (what a strange sitting position) and crouched down in front of them. And Paxie struggled to even get near.

Harrison looked half dead. Ramirez had a hand on their neck, and was saying something quietly. The translation protocol couldn't pick it up. But it did hear Harrison.

"It's just a lot," they said. "It's a lot."

Ramirez stood and pushed down lightly on the back of John's head. They shifted, then rested their head on their knees. Bendy creatures, then. Xoixe certainly weren't so flexible.

"He's okay," Ramirez rasped. "He just fainted. It's…." They didn't speak for a moment, reaching into a compartment and getting something out. When they spoke, their voice was raspy. Wet. "Sorry. It's been a long day for us."

"I understand," Paxie soothed. They had felt the same way, and this had been a normal day until two hours ago. They couldn't very well imagine what it was like for these small aliens.

"Thank you," Ramirez rasped. They opened a small, thin container and pulled part of the inside of it out. They handed it to Harrison, who took it and held it loosely in one hand. Then they put their hand on his back and moved it in slow circles.

"What is fainting, Captain?" Kime asked. "Does he need medical attention?"

"No," Harrison groaned. "I'm… I'll be…."

"He's okay," Ramirez said again. "His emotions are very severe right now, and he's dehydrated and hungry. His body is taking in too much stimulus, and it overwhelmed his nervous system." They laughed, quiet and breathy. "His body threw a tantrum." Harrison laughed, too.

"This all sounds very severe," Kime said. Paxie definitely agreed.

"Do you have food?" they asked. "Did you bring any?" Ramirez laughed again.

"We have food and water, we'll be okay."

Paxie quirked their jaw. They didn't understand. Harrison was sick, so sick that his nervous system was… throwing a tantrum? Were these conglomerate creatures? They didn't have the markers for that. But Harrison had looked by all means to have died for a moment, and the two of them were laughing about it. Maybe laughter meant something different on Earth.

Either way, this kind of treatment of crew was unacceptable. Paxie could dismiss the cryogenics ship-wide, as that was a species survival tactic. But they would not tolerate gross neglect of subordinates.

"Captain Ramirez," Paxie ordered. Ramirez looked up, and Harrison followed their gaze groggily. "Your lieutenant is ill, and his needs have clearly reached a point of catastrophe. I demand you give him proper nutrients and rest at once."

The bridge was silent. Both aliens were staring at Paxie. They had their claws raised now, and they were grinding their jaw in agitation. Ramirez's eyes were wide. They were breathing hard, their chest swelling.

"Admiral," Ramirez said, their tone low. "I will yield to your command. But I promise you that my lieutenant's condition is completely survivable."

Paxie watched them both. They weren't sure now if they appreciated Ramirez's command style. Neglectful and dismissive of their crew's needs. Those were terrible leadership qualities.

"I'm okay, Admiral," Harrison said. He stood, slowly, and both Ramirez and Klte seemed ready to grab him if he faltered. To Paxie's shock… he didn't. "Your concern is… heartwarming." Paxie huffed quietly, resisting the need to raise their head, knowing now from experience the ceiling was too low. Ramirez motioned for Harrison to walk in front of them, and the two walked toward Kime. She backed up along the hallway to allow them in. "Don't judge me, but I think I have a crush," Harrison whispered as they left.

"Shut up, they can hear you," Ramirez whispered back. Paxie pinned their ears flat. If Harrison had an injury, especially a crushing one, then they wanted to know about it. They turned off their translator protocol.

"Ensign Kime. Make sure Lieutenant Harrison is getting the appropriate care."

"Yes, sir."

"Sergeant Klte, be sure to be available of he needs help."

"Aye, sir."

---

John kept his head down on the table. He'd managed to finish the new hydration pouch, too. Adina still couldn't stomach the idea of putting anything more than water in her face. And even then, she'd barely been managing to sip her pouch.

"You should really get a hydration pouch," John whispered. "You need the electrolytes."

"I don't want to waste it if I throw up again," Adina breathed.

"You're more likely to throw up if you don't."

She knew he was right. But her tongue was tingling, her back itched all over, her head was throbbing, and every limb felt hollow and staticky. And now ghosts were real and part of this… space federation. On top of everything else.

Adina glanced around the galley again. It was small, only made for up to eight, but the nightmare creature was sharing the space with them. Actually, it probably wasn't nice for Adina to call it that. It had tried to save John's fall, after all. And Adina got the distinct feeling it was watching her to protect John. Because now the admiral of the alien fleet just outside thought she was a heartless bitch who didn't care about her lieutenant.

"Hey," John muttered, looking up. Adina looked back to him. He was still pale, and his eyes were painfully red, and he nodded his head delicately towards the bridge. "Be honest," he breathed, and Adina noticed the nightm—the cave mantis' suit didn't repeat him. "Do you think I have a shot?"

Against her will, Adina pictured John in nothing but an environment helmet and boots, looking at a condom the size of a tube sock with apprehension.

She burst into laughter, splitting her head with pain and laying over the table. John laughed, too, rasping and hysterical, and they both filled the metal room with a cacophony. When the laughter died down, Adina had both arms over her head, squeezing her skull against the cold, plastic table and whimpering.

She was shaking. She knew if she opened her eyes, she wouldn't even be able to see. She took long breaths, but they were somehow shallow. She felt like her body was falling apart.

"Am I dying?" she whispered. John's hand came down on the back of her neck, cool and heavy.

"You survived the wakeup process," John whispered back. "That's where everything goes wrong."

"I feel like shit," she whimpered. "I've never felt like such absolute shit like this."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and he smoothed his hand over her shoulder. "Maybe we should just get you an IV."

"We don't have time for that," Adina rasped.

"The aliens haven't killed us yet," John uttered. He sounded like he was smiling. Grinning, actually. "Besides, they like me enough. I'll put in a good word and get you twenty minutes to close your eyes."

"My hero," Adina droned. John laughed, then stood.

"C'mon, let's get you hydrated," he said, and he stepped around the table and gently took her by the arms. She rose carefully, keeping her eyes closed, and let him lead her to the med bay. The cave mantis followed behind with minimal noise, but she could still hear it. He helped her sit and then lay back in one of the beds, then started rummaging for the proper fluids.

"What is wrong with Captain Ramirez?" Kime asked.

"She's badly dehydrated," John said for her. She wasn't eager to talk at the moment, and she appreciated his answering for her. "We'll put some fluids in her, and then we can keep trying to figure this out."

Adina eventually opened her eyes when John made some noise from right beside her. The room was a bit blurry, but it was manageable. John set the IV on a small hook in the wall, then tied a length of rubber around her upper arm.

"What is this for?" Kime asked. She was in the doorway now, trapping Adina, John, and the cave mantis in the room. It was as close to the bed as the big alien could get.

"These fluids are going to re-hydrate me," Adina said, and she sat up slightly. She started forming and relaxing her fist repeatedly once John had the band tied across her bicep. "I'm increasing the pressure of the blood vessels in my arm right now, to get a large vein to push against my skin so he can put a needle into it."

The room was very quiet as John bent low, swiping an alcohol pad over the inside of Adina's arm. It burned just a little, and then he gently touched her skin with one hand and lined up the needle with the other. She watched him push it into her, impressed with the steadiness of his hand. He untied the band and stepped back, and she laid her head back with a sigh.

"I'll get something for your head in there, too," he said.

"Thanks."

"C-Captain Ramirez," Kime uttered. Adinia looked up sharply, jarring her head badly, surprised to hear the alien sounding so... scared? She was looking directly at Adina through the domed helmet of her environment suit, but Adina just couldn't read her expression. "Can you not drink water? Are you malformed?" Adina blinked. Then she took another look at the scales on Kime's face. Had the Xoixe never heard of injections? Of intravenous fluids?

"I, my body can't stomach the fluids I need right now," Adina explained. "So I have to bypass my stomach." Kime and the cave mantis exchanged looks.

"You mean to say that you do not require your stomach?" Adina glanced at John, who looked a little bit amused at the disconnect as he injected medicine into the top of the bag.

"I do," Adina explained. "But my stomach isn't doing what I want it to right now. So I'm, uh, removing it from the equation right now. So that I can get back onto my feet."

"Why do you not simply rest?" the cave mantis hissed. Its voice was a bit frightening, halfway between a snake and the chirp of a bat. It made her want to turtle her neck.

"We have too much to do," Adina said, reluctantly meeting its big, black eyes. "I can't afford to take the time right now."

"But your body is failing," Kime said.

"Well, I mean, it might if I kept going like this," Adina relented. "But by doing this, I'm able to stave that off."

"I don't understand," the cave mantis hissed. "You're dying."

"No, I wouldn't say that—"

"Then you do not require water or your stomach to live."

"Well, okay, I do—"

"It's a bit more complicated than that," John said.

"But rather than sleeping and resting your body and mind," the mantis continued, "you are instead piercing your body and adding an outside substance to your flesh, so that you may continue your activities without... sacrificing the time?"

Adina blinked, and she could see John staring at the thing, too.

"It sounds pretty metal when you put it like that," John said.

Everyone in the room flinched when the two aliens' suits made a loud, sharp noise.

"Code black, code black!" another Xoixe voice called over both enviro suit speakers. "Hostile ship spotted, Skel-type destroyer, weapons hot and locked onto the Earth-type explorer! Approaching at factor 3, ten minutes until interception!"

Adina looked directly at Kime, her entire body suddenly seeming to fade away. She was numb all over, and the drugs still in her veins seemed to rev up for a second round. Time slowed. The Xoixe seemed to pale beneath its scales. Part of Adina tried to convince the rest of her it didn't mean the same thing on them that it meant in humans. That the alien's body was reallocating blood flow to muscles out of anticipation of a fight. Out of fear.

"All ships!" Admiral Paxie's voice boomed over both speakers and from down the hall. "Spool FTL drives and make heading for nearest fallback position! Defensive power allocations! Ready automated fighters to scramble!"

---

next

[bloodgulchblog]

Thanks for answering my ask! You just made me realize how interesting Halsey. I mean I always knew she was a complex character but I haven’t really read the founding halo books since middle school(?). Anyway you have now have me utterly fascinated with her and know I must consume all content relating to her (that’s written by nyland). Sooo thanks for that! Also the scene spartan ops where she learns John’s alive is the scene that has stuck with me the longest from that mode, that followed by the prison break or the warthog run mission.

You're welcome! God, she breaks my heart now. (This ask answer just turned into a fresh outpouring of Halsey thoughts/feelings and I hope they are interesting.)

Halsey is one of the characters that I sat down and was like I need to understand what their deal is when I started really getting back into Halo. It's really easy to just hate her because, you know, she's the architect of horrible things happening to children. But especially once I started understanding the food chain of exploitation that goes on within ONI it was like oh my god. Then going back through the diary and being like wait, how old was she when the Carver findings were being discussed? How old was she when ONI started to court her?

You realize that Halsey was also so young, and they groomed her and manipulated her and preyed on her and built her in the image they found most useful. And by the time she wanted out, she was too far in and they basically held those kids hostage by threatening to hand the reins over to someone who wouldn't have cared about whether they suffered more than "necessary."

Halsey was their useful monster and had to figure out how to keep living with herself, justifying the monstrosity, and just throwing herself headlong into her work. I'm still struck by how the diary shows her feelings about Keyes, it's not in-your-face but augh. Catherine Halsey, terrifying science witch of ONI, cold and ambitious and condescending, and Jacob Keyes was a gentleman to her and trustworthy with secrets.

On a related note: Something I've thought about a lot with Halsey is that, on its face, her having Miranda does not make sense. ...But then if you turn it in your mind, suddenly it does. Halsey is a doctor in the deep space future, if she did not want to have a child she would not have a child. What did she want by that? It was obviously not to tie Keyes to her, they never married and only occasionally saw one another (even though it's obvious how much they mattered to one another.)

Rampant speculation: I don't have a canon answer to that question, but the timing (during Spartan-II) maybe speaks to Halsey wanting to prove something to herself about her own humanity vs monstrousness. Maybe, if she could raise a child well, it would prove that what she did to those other children was not the whole of her.

And in the end, her work for ONI devoured her and she did fail Miranda. She tried for six years, and in the end she sent Miranda to live with her father because she knew she was not a good mother to that child. Halsey missed Miranda and even though her daughter took after Keyes so much more than her, even though Miranda wanted nothing to do with her, we know that Halsey used what influence she had in the UNSC to try to protect Miranda from a dangerous frontline posting that could kill her.

Even though the whole My-Spartans-are-the-next-step-of-humanity thing is bullshit to me, there are some things about her late-canon characterization that do make sense to me.

Imagine how bitter it must feel, how alone she is. Halsey believed, truly believed, she was sacrificing herself to protect other people. Halsey believed that great ability came with the responsibility to spend herself for what she thought was a good cause. So she did, and now here she is: alone and hated, with nothing to show for it but regret and isolation and death while she has outlived almost everyone she ever cared for.

[valtionrautatiet-official]

Hey totally-official-VR! Can you tell us anything cool about the railway station in Loimaa? I hear the building is of a crop of station buildings that's rather rare to find these days :)

Hi totally-unknown-anon! The Loimaa station is indeed an interesting one, and certainly rare enough for Museovirasto (the Finnish Heritage Agency) to have listed it as a nationally important building.

Street facade. TeVe, Wikimedia Commons.

So. The Loimaa station is one of the original surviving stations of the Toijala–Turku line, built in 1876. It's also one of the numerous station built for operational reasons: the location, near the bridge passing Loimijoki, was approximately at the halfway point of the railway. Thus, despite being built in the middle of a forest, the Loimijoki station (as it was originally know) was the only III class station on the line (Turku and Toijala were II class, all others were IV or V class).

Platform facade. Mikkoau, Wikimedia Commons.

The station building is again likely designed by Knut Nylander, who was VR's in-house architect at the time, but the plans are unsigned. Somewhat unusually for the time, the plans are unique; usually Nylander and his successors produced type drawings that were copied for numerous stations along the same line and even across different lines to save costs. The Loimaa station was a one-off, and in the Renaissance revival style that was typical of Nylander's later work for the Pohjanmaa line, but contrasted with the other stations of the Toijala–Turku and Hämeenlinna–Tampere lines (which were built simultaneously). To my eye the station also has some similarity to the long since demolished old stations of Lahti and Viipuri, but of course I'm just an enthusiastic amateur.

Also somewhat unusually, the Loimaa station remains largely unaltered from the original; commonly, stations were built with a minimal budget and needed to be expanded later on, but this was never necessary for Loimaa.

An undated view of the station area, presumably from the late 1960s or the 1970s. The station itself to the left, behind the Dm7 railbuses and Dm9 fast train unit. Next to it is the freight station. Suomen rautatiemuseo.

After construction of the station, a town quickly sprung up around it, becoming the most important centre of the area and it is today the administrative centre of the Loimaa municipality.

Had history played out differently, Loimaa could have become a major intersection station, as from the late 1800s until the 1950s there were plans to build a direct line from Helsinki to Pori, which would have crossed the Toijala–Turku line at Loimaa. From the point of view of architecture it's perhaps a good thing this didn't happen, as a major elevation in status for Loimaa would have probably resulted in the station building being torn down and replaced by a larger one.

[tobiasdrake]

Well, we've met the kids. Now we need to figure out where we go from here. Let's plot some mischief.

"Magic seal" here defined as "Big glob of cancerous Dweller flesh". Can we just hit it really hard with moon and sun beams? I have it on good authority that our magic is stronger than this stuff.

...so the answer is yes. Yes, we can just hit it really hard with moon lasers. Don't even need Zale's help to take out this bottom-feeding scrub of a flesh blob.

Though I'm sure the crystal helped. A little.

Gonna go out on a limb and say it concentrates my moon powers into a solid laser of Fuck That Noise?

Concentrates my moon powers into a solid laser of Fuck That Noise.

Are you kids for hire? I mean, I know you work for Aephorul but fuck that guy. I would love to help with your research. If we'd known you existed, your research could potentially have provided another option for solving the problem of Torment.

Even though we've already taken care of that issue, who knows what other secret Unsolveable Dwellers might be lurking out there. Or in other worlds. If your shit can provide new avenues for Resh'an's efforts then that could be game-changing.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

What did I say? What did I fucking say back at the Dweller of Torment? It's almost like uniformity is bad and diversity is good or something.

The biggest weakness of the Solstice Warriors is that we're too insular. There are so many other things out in the world that can benefit us.

I'll be back before you know it.

Alright, team. This is just like Roro's lab.

Plan A: Burglary

Plan B: Civil Negotiation

Plan C: Hostile Negotiation

Plan D: Armed Robbery

We're coming back with that master key. The Watchmaker's level of involvement, willing or otherwise, is going to be up to her.

XD Trying to imitate our time manipulation. These kids are adorable. I want to hire them. The logistics of that would be difficult given their confinement here but I want to.

You know, given that Aephorul himself was responsible for the brickwork, I'm surprised at how much of a shitshow it is. I criticized him before for the fact that he and the Watchmaker didn't understand how each other's stuff works and just did their own thing, but I expected the brickwork to be, at least, good.

That is just a pile of magic bricks. No self-respecting architect worth his salt would leave a pile of enchanted bricks lying around like this and call the structure complete. Have some professional dignity, Fleshmancer.

...okay, she's right there. But I don't think she's noticed us ye--

Holy shit, did you make Wheels!? Is that where I know the name Watchmaker from!? Ma'am, I am a HUGE fan of your game and I--

...am....

...in the middle of robbing you. >.< Shit, Plan A is out.

So. Is that "I will not give you the key because that would be involving myself" taking no part, or "I will not stop you from taking the key because that would be involving myself" taking no part? Centrism can be ambiguous sometimes.

I would remind you that trying to withhold the key from us will involve you in conflict right here in this room, but I think we're still at Plan B so I should hang onto my threats for later.

Okay, it's the latter. No threats necessary. Plan B was a rousing success.

Thank you for the pleasant conversation and nothing else. It has been a pleasure retrieving what we needed from this room while not doing business of any kind with you.

...this might have been too fast for Cael. I hope you'll forgive me if I take a little time to completely fangirl out about your game oh my god I'm such a huge fan.

Can we play a round or two? Please please please please PLEEEEEEASE

._. Okay that's fair.

I would promise to come back later but I'm prophesized to die in like half an hour so I guess this will just have to be a bucket list item never fulfilled.

Yep. Walked in and picked it up off the floor. Piece of cake.

What you got for me? On the scale of "Good" to "Super Good", how loud is this going to make me scream?

Can I see it? I want to see it. I want to know what it does. Tell me tell me teeeell meeeeee.

I want to see it. I wanna seeeeeeee it.

Fine. We'll do this your way, and I can just be surprised. I'm prophesized to die in half an hour so anything other than that is automatically a surprise by default anyway.

[plasmasimagination]

Hi there! I recently stumbled upon your account and I must say that this is what I was looking for for quite some time. I am interested by your matching up event and was wondering if you're still up for it?

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail (and/or) Genshin Impact

Preference: women

Characters I would NOT like to be paired up with: men

(I am pretty much gay)

I am a cisgender woman, she/her pronouns. ENTJ, Virgo sun, Libra moon, Scorpio rising.

I am androgynous-looking, can easily be mistaken for a dude. My voice is deep and had a slight rasp to it. When it comes to clothes I present soft masc. I am 6', very athletic (as it is a big part of my life to stay active). I have brown eyes and wavy hair that is styled in a short wolfcut with a middle part and curtain bangs. No tattoos, but when I have the money I will get covered in designs.

I perceive myself as a calm and collected person who is more on the quiet and observing side. Which, close ones always tell me, makes me appear intimidating and judging (Scorpio rising). I like to keep my social circle small and trustworthy because I have trust issues. But around my friends I am friendly and always there to help out with the teenage dramas. I would say my top traits are sarcasm, assertiveness, loyalty, and adaptiveness. (Being an ENTJ and Virgo sun say enough about me, but I am softened up by my Libra moon.)

I am a very artsy person, but also very sporty. I am passionate about a lot of things (playing the guitar, drawing, writing, reading, acting, playing soccer, volleyball, training calisthenics, martial arts...) but in this short lifetime I had to choose one, and it is drawing - more specifically, becoming an Architect.

I've never been even close to catching feelings for someone. I've had barely any crushes, none of them real, none of them celebrities, just successful/badass/dangerous/mean women from fiction. I guess that puts me somewhere on the Asexuality spectrum, most likely Demisexual. I want to use my teenage years to work towards building a secure career for myself so that I could eventually spoil and take care of someone who deserves it.

I don't have much preference for looks, despite the fact that I am attracted to femininity, not necessarily someone stereotypically girly, but fem. For me, I need someone who will be able to match my energy and challenge me with playful banter and deep, meaningful talks. Someone who has a strong and unapologetic personality, (I am a sucker for mean fems), but knows when to stop and take a step back.

[Thank you, even if this doesn't get attention, which I completely understand. I will love to see your future works and posts!]

HEYYY DARLING ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ IM SO FLATTERED HIHI (*ˊᗜˋ*)

Anyways as for your matchup....hmhmhm...

Your match is....

.

.

.

KAFKA

OKAY OKAY let's be honest this was to be expected!

Scary looking girlfriend X equally as scary looking girlfriend (both can beat your ass)

I like the power couple dynamic here.

Plus I think she fits your type pretty well hmhm...

Kafka would be quite interested in your hobbies, she isn't very vocal about it but sometimes she just sits in the same room when you're doing something (drawing/playing guitar/writing etc...) and she'll just discreetly pay attention to it.

She also will kind of tease you about it, telling silverwolf and blade how good you are at your hobbies, and she'll intentionally do it in front of you

Chaining it to the one above-She likes showing you off, not only your hobbies...just you in general

She will also vibe with your attitude and find it amusing and definitely match it just as strong.

Also I think that kafka would also have equally trouble to completely warm up to you, yeah shes confident and flirty with people but I dont think she trusts people as easily,but when you guys spend more time together she would actually become quite fond of you

YAE MIKO

Honestly this is a pretty good pair, love it Picasso

I don't think miko is as outgoing and challenging as kafka, but she's there

It's just that miko is a bit more how do I put this ..dominant? Controlive? I know it sounds bad to put her up against kafka but I have a feeling miko is more on the serious dominant side while kafka is more playful, especially with their darling

Though yae miko is quite the person to talk to in moments of need, she's a good listener and gives good advice, she could simply talk&listen with you for hours on end

She, similar to kafka, would definitely match your vibe, just a bit more reserved type of sarcasm for example.

She's sly with it, just how fox's are eh?

Miko would take it slow to become closer to you, as she can guess you're having trouble fully trusting her, and she would definitely be less teasing at the beginning when you guys first met than when you're in an established relationship

[elshells]

Agent Ace || Character Art

Thank you @illjustpretend for taking on my request and delivering with all of these beautiful sketches you created for Agent Ace! Please check out the rest of her art, because I'm in love 💕

*Minor spoilers in character bios*

⬗ Sophia Colbo

“If it looks like you won’t make it, I’ll be here to catch you. Whenever you’re ready.”

Sophia Colbo is a former Harmont Guardian and a current agent of the Watch. After her own crucial mistake resulted in a traumatic accident, she stepped down from the Guard to take up field work, scoping out potential threats in the city and gathering intel. Despite the smooth transition, her past days as the sharpshooter Ace continue to haunt her at every turn. Sophia is scrappy, tough, and competent, taking immense pride in her work and refusing to accept failure or dissatisfaction. She'll never back away from a job (or an ally in need), even if it means putting herself in danger.

⬗ Janus

“We’re all on the same side here, whether you like it or not, so your cooperation would be much appreciated."

Janus is a street-smart vigilante working alongside a shadowy organization with ambitious plans for the city of Harmont. Despite his alliance, he mainly operates under his own agenda without any regards to authority. Snarky and sarcastic but surprisingly empathetic, he isn't easily rattled. Janus is used to building up walls and working hard to bury his past from the rest of the world—including himself.

⬗ Harley Manalis

“At this point, I’m starting to get used to the weird.”

Harley Manalis is Sophia's younger sister, but due to their complicated family history and large age gap, they rarely cross paths. She loves to tinker around and discover how different mechanical creations work, considering herself an amateur inventor. After graduating high school, she was offered a robotics scholarship for the prestigious Westheight Institute, but she ultimately turned it down to accept an apprenticeship with her eccentric uncle, the talented but underrated architect Atticus Manalis. Harley is as intelligent as she is loyal, harboring a secret crush on her one of her best friends that she wishes she could share. She may not have the same tactical experience as her sister, but she, too, has a protective streak—to the point of being impulsive—and may be capable of much more than she realizes.

⬗ Jade de Soto

“Some things can be self-indulgent. You’re allowed to have fun with this, too.”

Jade de Soto is best friends with Harley and Max, though certain feelings for the former continue to transform and grow stronger. She has a talent for chemistry, though her passion lies in street art. Participating in the medium as an anonymous artist to avoid scrutiny from the public, she works to build up a reputation and prepare her portfolio for the day she steps into the light. She's incredibly spirited and bright in terms of both brains and personality, loving her friends with dedication and ferocity.

⬗ Max Ahn

“I might not be as strong as you, but I know more about these guys than anyone. I’m not that helpless.”

Max Ahn has been friends with Harley and Jade for many years. He's quiet and reserved, but mentally strong with a dry sense of humor (though he's rarely funny on purpose). He studies law and political science at the Westheight Institute and is extremely close with his family, though together they keep a dark secret, which he learns the hard way once he gets caught in the middle. At first, he's uncomfortable as a leader, and unsure of himself in moments of high pressure, but as he learns more and starts taking charge, he begins to grow and gain confidence in his own abilities.

⬗

TAG LIST: @writernopal, @mysticstarlightduck, @livums, @wotchergiorgia Message me to be added or removed!

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

In My Head, I'm Yours

A/N: dipping my toes into the world of percabeth, i hope you like it

Summary:

Percy Jackson, Piper McLean, and Jason Grace make up the band, Delphi. They're not big yet but one day they might be.

Annabeth Chase is studying to be the best damn architect New York City has ever seen.

They have a million reasons not to be together but can't seem to let the other go. Despite knowing it'll end in heartbreak.

AO3

Chapter 1: Someone Turns Your Heart Around

Annabeth didn’t need background noise while she did her homework. But her awful neighbors blared their stereo at all times of day; they favored the late to early morning hours. She could hear and feel the bass through their thin walls. Her only saving grace was noise-canceling headphones. A gift from her roommates last Christmas. So it wasn’t unusual for Leo or Thalia to scare the living daylights out of her when Annabeth was in her zone.

She was drafting on their kitchen table. During her sophomore year, she had learned the hard way not to draft buildings on the floor when she had to redo her architecture midterm overnight due to a spilled can of Diet Coke. Headphones on, no music, just good old-fashioned silence, pencil in hand, and a tightly secured cup of soda on her left.

There was no passage of time when Annabeth was drafting. But it had to be after midnight when Thalia tapped her shoulder. Annabeth jumped and tossed her pencil five feet in some direction. She pulled off her headphones.

The first thing she noticed was the music had stopped.

“C’mon bedtime,” Thalia said.

“I’m almost done,” she insisted.

“It’s one am.”

Annabeth checked her phone.

1:12 AM

“Oh.” She began packing up her supplies. “How was the thing?”

“The thing?” Thalia laughed, “you really need to get out more. The band was great. Leo and I may drag you with us next time.”

Annabeth frowned, wondering where her pencil had gotten to.

“Here.” Thalia picked up the pencil which had rolled into their living space.

“Thanks. I’m glad you had a good time, maybe I’ll go when things slow down at school.”

Thalia smirked, “I don’t think Columbia ever slows.”

Annabeth looked up at her friend and smiled, “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Oh I know, blondie. I know.”

They had known each other since Annabeth was seven when Thalia's family moved into the neighborhood. Thalia was a few years older but had a younger brother Annabeth’s age. She liked Jason Grace well enough but there was something about Thalia that just clicked. Maybe it was because with her Annabeth didn’t have to be the perfect only child, she got to be a kid. Still, the 3 of them ran that little cul-de-sac during their middle school years or at least they liked to think they did.

Being older meant Thalia was already out of school. She’d gotten the damn piece of paper because her dad threatened to do anything in his power to make her graduate. Their dad was a real piece of work.

Now, Thalia had a job in the city at a rescue center. Over the years, she’d grown pretty soft to animals and every couple of months tried to convince Annabeth and Leo to break their no pets allowed lease and adopt.

Annabeth knew Thalia loved no one in this world like her little brother. She’d do anything to protect him. She knew Thalia was terrified of heights but still went to the top of the Empire State Building for Annabeth’s eighteenth birthday. She stayed in the observatory room but she still made the journey to the top. Annabeth knew she acted tough and looked tougher but Thalia had a soft spot for animals, found family like Annabeth and Leo, and a love for anything so spicy it made you cry.

And Thalia knew Annabeth in all the same ways. She always kept a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer because she knew it was the one food Annabeth ate when stressed. Thalia knew Annabeth’s relationship with her family had always been a sore spot but as her stepbrothers got older, the closer the Chase siblings got. Most importantly, she knew Annabeth put her schoolwork above everything. Which is why she knew there was a slim chance that Annabeth would go out on weekends with her and Leo, not even to go see Jason’s band. Unless it was a special occasion like one of their birthdays.

“Alright ladies, it’s time for bed,” Leo announced from the top of their short staircase that led to their bedrooms. “Leo is tipsy and sleepy and your yapping is echoing down the hall.”

“We’re coming,” Thalia said.

…

Percy loved the rush of being on stage. It was like a wave crashing a little higher than expected but not enough to knock you down.

He didn’t always think he’d be a singer. There were a few years when he thought he’d never make anything of himself beyond a little family in New York if he was lucky. But when he got to college and met Piper it changed everything.

It was their spring semester of freshman year. Percy had been sitting in this big green space they had in the middle of campus on a blanket with his guitar. Paul, his stepdad, had taught him how to play when he was fifteen. Playing guitar had been the one thing aside from swimming that felt like home. Percy was good at it. He could calm his thoughts with chords and lyrics and keep his fingers busy with the strings. It was easy to get lost in it.

That’s exactly how Piper found him. She had this fierce energy about her. Confidence that Percy had always wished for in high school, something over the years that Piper had instilled in him.

She didn’t bother introducing herself or even saying anything at all. Instead, she just started singing.

There’s this movie that I think you’ll like This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City This cowboy’s running from himself And she’s been living on the highest shelf

Percy harmonized with her until the song was over.

“You’ve got a great voice,” he told her.

“You’re pretty skilled yourself,” she replied, “I’m Piper.”

He had never seen her on campus before that day but they spent the next few months hanging out, watching movies, complaining about their shitty love lives, and eventually auditioning for a drummer.

It took 3 months before Jason walked into their audition room. That day it had been a space they rented on campus. The music department also lent out instruments so they rented a drum set for a few hours.

When Jason entered the room, Piper immediately whispered to Percy, “he’s hot,” and winked.

Percy wasn’t about to hire the guy based on how hot Piper thought he was but then they heard him play.

Now, he couldn’t imagine life without the two of them.

So yeah, Percy loved being on stage with two of his best friends but what he loved more was the moments just after he left the stage; when you could still hear the crowd applauding and the noise ringing in his ears when his bandmates clapped his shoulder and he’d bring them sweat and all into a bone-crushing hug, when Percy wonders if this feeling of lightness will ever disappear. When they make it big, will stadiums feel different? Or will they always be this weird trio from the New York City streets who love making music together?

But these last weeks, that lightness had formed itself into a tightness. Sitting right in the middle of his chest. And it had everything to do with a girl named Annabeth.

Maybe he should back up a little.

It was the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, their last gig for two weeks. Jason was going on a sibling trip with his sister, Thalia, plus with the holiday almost no bars in the city were looking for some no-name-twenty-somethings and their band to be playing to the drunkest crowds. So, they wanted it to be a good one.

This bar was a place they hadn’t played before so setup took a little longer as they realized the stage was slightly larger than what they normally dealt with. It was a college bar which meant plenty of people their age, which was refreshing. Normally, Percy pulled out some oldies covers to appease the older crowds they typically played for.

He was happy to not have to try his darndest to remember the words to Haddaway’s What Is Love tonight. It repeated itself too much and got jumbled in his head.

It happened in the middle of their set. Piper was introducing the next song. She and Percy took turns with vocals. While Piper was talking about her ex-girlfriend who she wrote this song about, Percy was switching out his guitar for a tambourine. Percy began hitting his thigh with the tambourine, Jason was playing a steady beat on his drums, and Piper opened her mouth to start singing.

Heartbreak Saturday nights, getting ready To make you see that I'm better already I put on every perfume and I do it to hurt you, oooh Make sure I smell like your bedroom when I was in it Wearing the dress that I met you and sent you spinning And I flirt with your friends but it’s a beggar’s revenge Cause she’s with you again

Percy let his eyes wander over the crowd, people seemed to be enjoying their set. It was one of the biggest crowds they had played for. His eyes trailed over to the bar because he knew if Grover had shown up he’d be there. Grover tried to make it to most of their gigs but Percy never knew for sure if Grover had made it or not until he spotted him in the crowd. Percy had been looking for a pair of brown eyes belonging to his best friend but instead, he found himself caught in a pair of stormy gray ones.

She was watching him too. He knew because her cheeks flushed like she’d be caught doing something wrong; he was positive his were red too but hopefully it played off that he was just hot from performing.

He didn’t know it then but she was about to be the death of him.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

White Flag-ish

https://www.patreon.com/empyreaniris?fan_landing=true

https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/182501791735/master-post

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jzEIdDAB4omdO2JcQVMObfrhLJ5kX4ONmSsLypM1ks0/edit?usp=sharing

The Empyrean was on their side, were that not the case, Adam and his makers would have taken the ship back over in a matter of minutes, but instead they found the empyrean unresponsive to their commands while simultaneously eager to follow along with her more human crew.

The bridge stations had stopped working, unless the construct running it made a decision.Down around the rest of the ship, the makers were unable to access the weapons systems or the equipment. One thing after another kept going wrong for Adham, who now stood in the middle of the mess with a look of incredulity slowly growing into permanency on his face.

Out the bridge doors, down the short hall and into the main atrium of the ship, the SE soldiers now gathered, geared up in their new model SE armor, waiting for instructions. I'm the Ship’s hangers, pilots were setting about preparing their fighters for battle, but looking out the front viewscreen, Adam noted, among the corrupted Void ships, plenty of regular vessels as well, running on warp energy rather than recycled void energy.

It seemed as if the constructs would be on both sides of this conflict.

Adam turned to look at Adham, where he stood floundering and ineffectual on the bridge floor. He floated a little lower, releasing control of the Empyrean to her own devices for the moment being.

“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you were being unreasonable and I wasn’t about to sit back on the sidelines and watch. I want us to work together, I really do, but I need you to understand that I am not yours to order around. I am not your child, I am not your responsibility. Any actions I take here are my own, and as well informed as they can be. I realize I may not have had a few million years to think about it, but  to me a few years is time enough to decide that there is no power in this universe that can stop me from protecting my children, do you understand that.”

The two men stood at odds.

The first man, and just some guy.

Adham was the perfect representation of what the architect had wanted when he built a human construct. Ageless, placeless, and entirely ambiguous in all ways, Adham looked at Adam, and with a long, deep sigh, he stepped back, “This is an argument i will not win.”

“No.”

“But I maintain my control over my men.” He glanced around at the ship, “I defer to your piloting skills as the Empyrean seems to trust you.”

A little spark of warmth spilled through Adam’s chest.

Having the Empyrean was like going to a friend’s party with a bunch of other people, but the dog still chooses to come sit with you. It was that feeling but about a million more times potent.

He was glad that the Empyrean trusted him because in return he planned to trust her.

It wasn’t an agreement they could entirely hash out in the moment as, just then, the comms specialist rose to her feet and turned to look at Adam, “Sir, we have an incoming communication from the central enemy ship.”

Adam squinted out the window at the large mass of black metal and jutting edges. Orange light flared along the seams in her body. When the orange light burned iit burned dirty, and had they been in atmosphere, Adam might have imagined thick black smoke billowing out from the engines.

“Sir, It's kazna.”

Adam felt the line of his mouth twitch in distaste, but he motioned sunny forward.

She nodded, stepping up the ramp and onto the command platform with him. If he was going to verbally toe to toe with the black general, than he was going to use his greatest weapons as an advantage.

The Saint of Anin, who knew Kazna almost better than anyone else in the universe.

“Patch her through.”

The holo blinked once and then went dim. At first he thought they were still waiting for it to load, until his vision readjusted and he realized that the room they looked onto was just incredibly dark. It was the general’s eyes he saw first, glowing and golden peering out from the black dimness as shadows swirled around her.

It had been some time since he had seen her in person. In fact, the last time he had seen her, she had been busy running a spear through his chest, but it seemed that, since then, her power had only grown. The shadows were deeper, blacker, but also thicker as they rolled over and around her body like so much sentient curling smoke.

Adam retracted the helmet of his SE armor back into his suit. He wanted her to be able to see the disdain on his face while he spoke to her. Maybe it was petty perhaps, but either way it certainly made him feel better to know that she could see how muh he hated her.

“Human” She said by way of greeting not bothering to lift the disdain from her voice.

He raised his chin, “Drev.” 

If she was going to play that game, than so was he.

“You have entered the territory of Apollyon. Leave now, and this does not have to break into conflict. Our business here is none of your concern.”

Adam snorted, raising an eyebrow in incredulity, “You plan to blow up the universe, kill everything in it, and unmake our souls, forgive me if I have a hard time trying to figure out how that isn’t my business.”

Kazna crossed her arms, beside her, her massive three pronged trident glittered in the half dark.

“You could return home, to your family,  spend what time you have left with them instead of embarking on this fruitless adventure.”

He shook his head, “That's not how this works Kazna. Given the option between going home right now and spending the next few days with my kids before they never exist again, and beating your ass, getting rid of apollyon and then returning home to my kids to watch them grow old, fall in love, have kids of their own before I eventually die and become one of the Makers….. Well to me there really isn’t much of a choice.”

The general sighed and shook her head slowly.

She was silent for a long moment before turning to look at Sunny who floated, quietly bristling next to Adam, Do you let thai human speak for you? Or has he finally succeeded in turning you into his obedient breeder.” Adam bristled, fists clenching,  Immediately ready to reach through the holo and strangle Kazna, but Sunny raised a hand.

“I stand beside my battle partner of my own free will, and with all the power of my soul…. Can you say the same,”

As it seemed, that little barb struck a nerve, and Kazna snarled, her golden eyes flaring in the half dark, ‘I would be perfectly content in allowing thai conversation to end here, and to begin the battle that lies ahead, but Apollyon is more reasonable than I and he wishes to discuss terms on neutral ground.”

Adam crossed his arms, “How does a creature that exists outside of time and space understand the customs of a truce.”

Kazna raised her hands, “it's simple, this filthy universe has forced him to take on a shape and a coherent consciousness. He has watched your kind for long enough to understand. He wishes to send a delegation to meet with the architect’s emissaries to discuss terms, see if we can’t come to a decision that is beneficial to us all.

Adham laughed, finally putting aside his annoyance at Adam and coming to join them, “Apollyon doesn’t make compromises, he will look to bully us into his position and make it seem like it was our idea.”

Kazna shrugged, “I do not yet know his offer, but you will never know unless you accept the invitation.”

“He must agree to come under the flag of truce or no deal.” Adham said white robes billowing lightly around him as he spoke.

“Those terms are acceptable.”

“How many.” Adam asked, “How many delegates can we bring.”

“You get enough to fit in your small shuttle and we shall do the same. There is a derelict ship that lies in no man's land between our two armies. It used to be a black hole research facility…..”

Adam felt his skin go a little cold, slightly clammy despite the moisture wicking suit that he wore,  That couldn’t be the same research station he was thinking of. He had been there before some time back, and the station had been home to thousands of human researchers and military members supporting research for the black hole.

Kazna saw the look on his face, and hummed with a tone of black amusement, “yes, it is one and the same.””

“How did…. How did we not know?” How had they not heard about the loss of an entire space station, and the thousands of people on board. Shouldn’t someone have said something, if not the families of those who had been stationed there.

How could they have missed it?

Kazna chuckling grew, “The station was taken over during hunt’s presidency towards the end during the invasion of earth. All support for the research stations around the galaxy were cut off, and then subsequently lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. WIth no one in charge of taking care of them, there was no one for the families to go to to ask about their missing loved ones.” She tilted her head back the other way, unnervingly slow, like a cat contemplating an injured bird, “Apollyon enjoyed toying with their minds, perfecting the art.”

If Adam had the ability to ask a genie for a superpower in that moment, he would have wished to be able to kill someone telepathically, but even so all of his efforts were fruitless.

“We will meet on the derelict.”

“How do we know you're not springing a trap there.” Adam shot back, “Seems hardly like neutral ground, a dead space station on apollyon controlled territory. Perhaps it isn’t a derelict, and everyone there is simply a zombie, and the moment we step on you will turn them on us.”

Kazna rolled the haft of her spear between her hands, “Oh I assure you, no one is alive, and I am sure your ships bio scans will detect the same thing.”

“Traps then.”

Kazna shook her head, “There are no traps, he really does wish to speak.”

“Funny how I don’t believe you.”

“Funny how you have no other options if you want to have this conversation.” She said

Behind her orange light pulsed dimly with anticipation, casting her face into silhouette..”

“Will you accept these terms?”

Adam thought about it for a moment and then took a deep breath, “Fine, but if you try any funny business, I am going to have lord Avex blast that place to Kingdom Come, The little bastard is bloodthirsty, he won’t even feel bad.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

And then the comms went dead.

[cloudyswritings]

Pjo/Sunless sea crossover thing:Part 1

So wearing right here, this will have spoilers for sunless seas, skies, and some parts of fallen London. Proceed with caution

So basically I got thinking about what character from pjo would go by in sunless seas, and what their Parabolan counterparts would be too. The names will go like this (Characters name/Sunless sea title/ Parabolan counterpart). Let’s start, like all things do, with Percy.

Percy Jackson/The Saltborne Captain/ The Ancient Mariner:

The inhabitants of Parabola have all sorts of theories about the origin of the Ancient Mariner. Many Fingerkings claim that he is a manifestation of poetry and the furious call of the unreal sea, and nothing more. The cats of Parabola seek his wisdom often, they claim he waits for the arrival of a traveler, and that he plans to depart once they arrive. And those one the fringes of Parabola, those desperate wretches clinging to the edges of broken mirrors and hiding between the false light orange sunbeams claim something else. They claim the Ancient Mariner is a fragment of the Sun Beneath the Sea, bearing a word of its law. Of course who can say whic of these groups are correct…

(I think if Percy were in sunless sea he would probably end up following Salts path, albeit a modified one. My headcanon of him has him feeling an innate connection to the unterzee that could be explained by him being Salts reincarnation.)

Annabeth Chase/The Meticulous Detective/The Peerless Architect:

To: The Shivering Spirifer

We’re going to need to move our operations to the east end. I heard some Whispering Urchins talking about how The Meticulous Detective is back from visiting the tomb colonies and we’re dead in the middle of her usual stomping grounds. I don’t think that her erratic behavior as of these last few years(which have, of course, been 1999) is going to prevent her from dragging us to the constables and shaking our pockets out for Incendiary Gossip along the way. Best we get a move on and look for other hunting grounds.

Cheers!

The Soulful Author

Nico/The Shadowy Citizen/The Thing in The Darkness

Some say, in the depths of Parabola, where even the light of its false sun doesn’t reach, there dwells a creature. It doesn’t belong to parabola, how could it? Its unrealness has knotted and twisted in on itself like the slow writhing of vines and compression of ancient stones. In this way it has become real once more. The Thing in the Shadows, they say, hunts for probabilities, devouring them right out from under its victims. It was a potential squandered and a future loss, and its keening cries echo with the satin-grey notes of prophecy. So they say at least, it may just be a tale told to keep young Parabolans on their best behavior.

Frank/The Jolly Veteran/The Formless Soldier

It’s quite a thing to be formless among the legions of not-things that live behind glass. Quite impressive even, though none in Parabola would say so within earshot.

To: The Duplicitous Heiress

I can’t quite seem to figure out what angle the Jolly Veteran is working truth be told. He seems to be as he is, and I’ve found no connections to any of the factions here in London beyond the joviality typical of him. Truthfully even our friends in the flit couldn’t find anything on him. I’d suggest picking a target easier to besmirch m’lady.

Regards

The Repentant Knight.

Hazel/The Bedazzled Sorcerer/???

“if you are crafty enough, if you are powerful enough, and if you are mad enough-though who isn’t these days- you can bind things from Parabola and bring them into reality in truth. Though I can’t say how this might be accomplished I reckon it’d take magic beyond us mere mortals. Or dying properly I suppose-not like anyone here on this d__n zea can anyway.”

excerpt from Phenomenon of the Unterzee by the Complaining Chronicler.

[oui1024]

could u introduce me your ocs? :>

sure!! ive quite a few ocs, so ill give a run down of some of the more developed ones! to start, (sorry for wall i am terrible at being brief) my main oc is a tall android girl named Dualynn (shes the girl in my icon!), a social android from the distant past that survived the end of the world. she doesn't remember much of this very well, so she's more or less taking it as a chance of a new life in the strange new world: one covered in ruins and robots and biomechanical beings, where nature and biology have become one with technology!

dualynn is calm, polite, creative, and more importantly, very curious, with a fascination in seeing all the new things the world has to offer, from the ancient to the brand new. she commonly seeks new purpose and new experiences. she's polite and cautious, but not at all opposed to taking risks if something piques her interests- ESPECIALLY when exploring! she's also girlfriends with my next oc.... ashlii! she's another main oc, and a much more modern bot, being a "nanomorph" - the name given to the species of bots that exist as a "digital" mind that use a "core" to control a nanite swarm and form their bodies! for ashlii, that's the form of a short girl with a translucent body and neon outlines that resemble text! she's highly energetic, clingy, and a constant showoff, as her unique form of existence enables her to shapeshift basically at will, something she loves to make use of. she's also incredibly reckless since her body makes her basically immune to physical harm. she and dualynn are almost inseparable! mostly because ashlii refuses to let go, but dualynn is more than happy to hold on

to round up the main ocs, there's also ana, a strong and quiet "reverse cyborg" girl growing her own body, being unsatisfied with her original robotic form and wanting to make something of her own. she's incredibly strong, serious, and disciplined, though she's not at all inexpressive- she just has to keep her emotions in check, as her own health can be highly sensitive to excitement. in private and in safety with those she can trust, she's very willing to open up and show her softer, more emotional side. there's also rosalot, a walking ink-based 3d printing bot thats a prolific architect- though also very stressed due to her work, having let stuff get a bit out of control and just needing some help getting it back together. hanging out with the other three has helped her a bit with this! finally, two of my less "main" but still major ocs to cap it off- lovesick - another reverse cyborg, a "failure" whose body growth went wildly out of control and gave her a massive, fragile, wormlike body, her human form dangling on the front as little more than a face (think like glados)... and also the absolutely sweetest, happiest person you'll ever meet! she lives in an empty bunker-city in the middle of nowhere that she uses like a massive shell for her body, and uses it to get up to all kinds of experiments no one else could ever get away with- safety's easy when no one's around!

john death - the literal, walking, talking embodiment of the concept of death, the grim reaper of legend and myth, the arbiter of the old death, in the "flesh"..... and also retired. or maybe on paid leave? he's not sure, death never exactly had "employment" to begin with. but he knows he's not needed now; the world he was made for is gone, and the new one has moved on to new forms of death. instead, he spends his time working as a farmer, a "gravetender", a storyteller, a car collector... anything to fill the time, really, until he's ever needed again.

thanks very much for the ask!! this was fun!! :)

[quaykey]

My Thoughts on Gardener vs. Architect

I figured it might be worth sharing the approach I take to writing because maybe some people out there might be people out there who find it interesting.

If you're unfamiliar with what the 'Gardner vs. Architect' idea is about, give this a read - it'll explain better than I can:

Gardener vs Architect, Which Type Suits You Best – LivingWriter Writing Blog

My approach is a hybrid between the two. I'm gardner who relies on an architect mentality to achieve a cohesive, creative whole. So how does that look?

At the start of a project, I start to list work out the ideas and themes I have in mind for this story. I'll use a document, a digital whiteboard, whatever feels right. This is supposed to be an idea dump - things I think would be interesting to read. The key here is that there's no structure.

From those pieces, I start to form structure. Perhaps a theme on "loss" could develop into a small arc; character A has to go through a tragic loss. How does the loss happen? What motions do they go through? I chart this idea out into something more structured. This is where the Gardner becomes the Architect.

I repeat this process until I have a bunch of stuff I could string together into a somewhat coherent whole. The purpose of what I'm doing right now is the get the overall storyline.

When I get stuck, I turn to a post-it note style of planning:

This is a barebones framework for a character arc. It could be the main story arc, or it could be a side arc. Regardless, it's not quite enough to write a whole arc with.

I'll seperate the story beats like so, and in the middle put blank post-it notes:

Now it's my job to fill in how we get from post-it note 1 to note 3. Again, this doesn't have to be detailed. It could be simple ideas, or specific scenes you had in your braindstorm that could fit in.

And volia, from nowhere, the bones of a story are starting to form.

I could continue this, or I might start to write the opening scene I have in mind.

While I'm writing that opening scene at the funeral, I might gardener myself some ideas which relate to the beat about "similar circumstances of death."

When she looked at her friends wrist, she noticed that a tatto she had was missing.

Now I have a new thread to add to my structure; the killer removes tattoos.

And during a later story beat, I might want to explain why that is. I'll add a small post-it note to remind myself to close that thread when I get to that section of the story.

Now this is no literary work of genius, but for an example it highlights how in a few minutes you can have the structure (architect) of something to allow you to behave like a gardner and explore your ideas freely and expressively.

As I write, I expand my outline. As my outline grows, I might have ideas that I need to go back and add into already completed chapters.

Here's the outline for the work I'm currently writing. It started off with only four or five post-it notes, and grew over the course of a week or two while I've been writing the first three chapters:

You'll see I use colours to represent threads/arcs/themes, arrows to show the flow of these arcs, and sub-notes whenever I have things I want to remember for future use.

I hope you found this interesting!