#she does it because she's first mate of a military vessel

[quilloftheclouds]

14 on the setting swap ask game for Phoenix pls!

[Send me a setting and I’ll describe my OCs’ reactions to it!]

I'm loving these because this is straight up the worst setting on the list for these characters and it's BRILLIANT.

14. A party hosted by the ultra rich, with elaborate costumes being a must and refreshments and food galore–but also social expectations.

Oooouch. Phoenix hates overly fancy things, especially things that are just like that to show off someone's money. This rich party is that exact thing, y'unno?

One, the clothes. Phoenix would be expected to wear either her uniform or something like a neutral coloured black tux or dress. She likes colour! She likes bright red everything. Comfy clothes, not something form-fitting. Even in a costume, it wouldn't match what she'd want.

Two, the formality expected of her? She doesn't like talking with those who look down on her for her speech alone, especially when they take pride in saying overly long words that really don't mean what they think they do. Especially when they brag about doing things (like hoarding money) that Phoenix knows derives others of resources they need, and Phoenix can't call them out for it.

She'd basically give everyone the silent treatment, maybe drink as much as she's allowed and stand in the corner glowering.

[thestuckylibrary]

A Year in Reading: 2019 - Blue

So real life kind of kicked our asses in 2019 and we weren’t able to keep up with the monthly Mods’ Reads posts. We’ve gotten some questions about them and we still intend to keep them a thing, hopefully, in 2020. But for now, this will have to do. Below the cut is everything I’ve read in the past year:

(It’s a long list and I may have missed some things we try and warn for, so make sure to check tags and warnings on any fics that catch your eye <3)

January

Slainte mhaith by Speranza (oneshot | 1,180 | M)

Under the Bridges of Fame by alby_mangroves, notlucy (complete | 89,678 | E)

For better or for worse (usually worse), Steve Rogers has been the most famous guy in the room for a while. And though newsreels have given way to YouTube, people’s reactions haven’t changed much in seventy-some years. Steve’s become an expert at keeping his head down and getting on with his life.

A head-on collision on a busy street sends books flying and sweeps Steve off his feet. The point of impact has a name: James. A charming mess of long hair, thick glasses, and a crooked, not-quite-smile. If he recognizes Steve, he chooses not to comment, placing him firmly in Steve’s good graces.

As far as Steve can tell, they might be Bogie and Bacall all over again, save for the group of idiots with selfie sticks who surround them. But for once, the request isn’t for Steve.

Which begs the question: if James is James, then who the hell is Bucky?

So, You’ve Adopted a Fruit by Nejinee (complete | 17,769 | E)

Steve knows that Bucky’s trying his best to stay whole in this new modern world. Then Bucky finds a struggling little scraggly creature and decides immediately to wrap it up in his open heart and take it home. It’s a bit bizarre seeing a former assassin taking to something so small and helpless, but to Steve it all makes sense.

Part 1 of 2 lovestruck idiots and a dog

Sandy Cheeks by Nejinee (oneshot | 4,227 | T)

A day at the beach with Steve, Bucky and Blueberry.

Part 2 of 2 lovestruck idiots and a dog

The Job Between Here and There  by Pohadka (series, ongoing | 182,404 | M)

He might be free from HYDRA’s command and making his own life now, but James Buchanan Barnes is far more lost than he’d ever been before. Nothing matches the vague memories he’s recovered so far, and the world has progressed far beyond needing soldiers. To find out what he wants, and how to get it, he just needs a little… Leverage.

all systems snot by galwednesday, silentwalrus, skellerbvvt (oneshot | 2,962 | T)

They don’t let you suck dick in quarantine.

A Hatemance For The Ages by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves) (series, ongoing, restricted | 28,750 | E)

This is what happens when you find your soulmate… and instead of birds singing and roses blooming, you discover they’re an insufferable jerk. But an insufferable jerk that you low-key really want to bang, if nothing else because MAYBE THEN THEY WOULD SHUT UP.

Features the worst, most annoying iterations of Cap!Steve and Modern!Bucky. There is nothing these two wouldn’t do for each other… out of spite.

[A series of occasional short fics that I write when I just want snark and hate sex]

The Department of Special Collections by alby_mangroves, Speranza (oneshot | 4,867 | T)

It was a messy thing of leather and papers and rope. It looked like Phillips had carelessly thrown a bunch of documents onto an old piece of black leather and then rolled the whole thing up and tied it … The papers inside were all different sizes, everything out of order and haphazardly stacked, like someone had been in a hurry and just grabbed it all.

love is blind (steve and bucky are just dumb) by talkplaylove, wearing_tearing (oneshot | 4,409 | T)

“You shouldn’t have interrupted their date, then,” Natasha pipes up, finally showing her face as she gives Bucky a wave and a tiny smile. “I like the hair.”

“Thank you.” Bucky preens a little. He ignores the teasing about this being a date; Nat and Sam somehow got it into their heads that Steve and him were dating via Skype calls. They’re not. They’re just friends who video call sometimes. Friends do that.

Part 3 of Happy Steve Bingo

Part 1 of men with no plans

i love him and our goat children by talkplaylove, wearing_tearing (oneshot | 5,526 | T)

“Bucky, why does Sam have a photo of you surrounded by goats and the words “Always be happy with Jesus” on it?” Steve asks, looking at him on the screen.

Or the one where Steve and Bucky move in together, adopt some goat kids, and live happily ever after.

Part 2 of men with no plans

Part 4 of Happy Steve Bingo

February

Treasured by Dira Sudis (dsudis), Sealcat (complete | 24,609 | M)

When everyone in town became convinced that a dragon really had come again to the Old Lair, and that the town would have to offer it tribute, they all looked at Steve.

Honestly, he was relieved.

The Joy of Little Things by obsessivereader, Sealcat (complete | 29,744 | E)

"Do you want me to eat you?"

“No, but—” Steve broke off his instinctive response. All his life, he’d believed in doing what was right… he was not about to stop now. Wincing at the prickling pain in his feet, he straightened up to his full height. “Yes. If it means you’ll leave this place.”

"But you don’t look very filling." The tip of the dragon’s tail twitched. "I don’t suppose you’re a virgin?" he asked hopefully. "I’ve heard they taste better."

Steve gritted his teeth and refused to answer. The dragon could very well find that out for himself. He stared at the dragon. The dragon stared back. Then the dragon got up, turned around, and went back into his cave.

"Well? Come on, tribute."

or, how Steve ends up working for a dragon with a very odd sense of humor

It's A Funny Story... by perfect_plan (oneshot | 6,009 | M)

Bucky just had the most mind-blowing sex of his life with a handsome stranger and nothing can ruin his day. That is until he goes out to breakfast with his room mate to meet Sam's best friend who just moved to town.

total eclipse of the bark by Deisderium (oneshot | 2,627 | T)

Steve's first day at the flower shop, he walks into the break room to find an extremely large and muscular man having a breakdown because his dog is sick. Only an asshole wouldn't try to comfort that large and muscular man.

Karma's A Fake Orgasm by gracie137 (complete | 51,653 | E)

There’s another abandoned mug, festering with mould in the living room — Steve offically has the world's worst roommates. And complains about them. Often. Bucky, tired of his lack of action, decides it’s time to avenge Steve's sleepless nights and unsanitary conditions once and for all. They’ll pretend to be the world’s most annoying couple: excessive PDA, loud fake sex, and general repugnance. The plan sounds easy enough; it will be strictly platonic. Or will it?

Part 1 of Revenge Is Best Served Horny

A minor misunderstanding, solidarity, and reunion by owlet (oneshot | 2,456 | T)

Barnes should know better. Lidia should charge her phone.

Part 8 of Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail

Licence To Thrill by roe87 (oneshot | 4,153 | M)

James is a Russian spy, ordered to take down American agent Steve Rogers.

Steve is an American agent, ordered to take down Russian spy James.

But when they first meet, things take a different turn.

(Or, a spies meet cute)

You Can't Take the Sky from Me by LeisurelyPanda (oneshot | 6,259 | M)

Captain Bucky Barnes and his crew were flagged by an Alliance ship after innocently minding their own business during an illegal salvage operation. It's not Bucky's first scrape with the oppressive, bureaucratic Alliance military, and it won't be the last. However, most Alliance vessels don't send someone so... adorably susceptible to Bucky's charms to interrogate him.

Steve was conscripted into the Alliance at a young age. He's been around long enough to know that it's not what everyone said it was when he was conscripted. A dashing rogue in his interrogation room, however, offers what might be his only chance at escaping this life.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by stevergrsno (noxlunate) (oneshot | 5,186 | E)

“You should come over for a drink.” Christmas Stealing Hot Neighbor says instead of answering Steve’s very valid question.

“I really don’t think I should. Sounds like fraternizing with the enemy.” Steve says, even as he’s abandoning his tree and moving towards the gate.

“Look at is as a know thy enemy thing instead,” Christmas Stealing Hot Neighbor says before flashing Steve a smile and oh, oh no, Steve is screwed.

Aka Steve Rogers is competitive, Bucky Barnes is into his hot new neighbor, and Christmas Feelings ensue.

The New Super by gr8escap (oneshot | 3,001 | T)

Steve Rogers is trying to get comfortable in his almost affordable apartment and the New Superintendent of the building is a cruel distraction.

Part 6 of Happy Steve Rogers - [Bingo]

10-94* by gravesecret, softcorehippos (complete | 38,817 | E) *graphic violence

Late at night, when the city sleeps, they race.

Bucky Barnes owns a garage and race for pinks, Steve Rogers is an FBI Agent with a lot of people to prove wrong.

Destiny Knows Better by Polska_1999 (oneshot | 4,251 | T)

When Steve woke up after the ice with a new soulmark, and one that offended him no less, he made it his personal promise to hate the person that the universe chose to replace Bucky. Shame that the universe didn’t quite get the memo.

Part 9 of Sprint Towards Blackout (Happy Steve Bingo 2018)

Sergeant Hot Pants by cleo4u2 (oneshot | 11,798 | E)

When Sergeant Bucky Barnes is assigned to temporarily take over for Maria Hill, Steve can't quite keep his shit together. Not around Bucky, who is the hottest Alpha Steve's ever seen.

Lessons Are So Cold by herecomesbucktofuckshitup (complete | 57,575 | E)

Steve knows that he's small. He knows that someone has to go undercover at the local high school, and he knows that he was the right person for the job. He just wishes he wasn't. And Steve really really wishes that the cute boy he'd hooked up with the night before his mission hadn't turned out to one of his teachers.

Patience by cleo4u2 (oneshot | 5,073 | M)

You should never Google yourself. Steve knows that, he's been out of the ice for over a year, but he just can't help himself. After finding a gorgeous, sexy brunette thirst tweeting about calling him Daddy, he can't help himself from responding, either.

We Are The Lucky Ones by blithelybonny (oneshot | 28,563 | E)

The Soldiers will be drift compatible -- of that, there is no question. They were bred for perfect synchronicity; two halves of one whole, one mind in two perfect bodies.

But they cannot be allowed to remember. The drift may be catastrophic.

Seashore by Speranza (oneshot | 505 | not rated)

No Kind of Life by Speranza (oneshot | 1,995 | not rated)

"You know I have to do everything the hard way, Buck. It’s the fundamental fact of my nature.”

The Gentleness That Comes* by doctormccoy (oneshot | 8,566 | M) *sex work

Steve Rogers never really views the things he had to do to get by before the War with any sort of shame or embarrassment. People ask him for his opinions on modern issues in interviews, but Steve has gotten good at talking around those types of questions. Fury insists that there's no way to answer them without casting a shadow of controversy across the reputation of the Avengers, and that's the last thing Steve wants.

But then a sex tape is released featuring Tony Stark in bed with another man, and Steve can't stay quiet any longer.

Expressive Force by Avaaricious (oneshot | 3,795 | T)

AKA the "You punched me in the face while gesticulating wildly to a friend" AU

Part 1 of Meet-Ugly

Bite Your Tongue by Avaaricious (complete | 34,193 | T)

AKA the "I work at a department store and if you take out and unfold a shirt and then leave it one more time I'm going to stuff it down your throat" AU

Part 2 of Meet-Ugly

March

Misdemeanor by Avaaricious (complete | 9,140 | G)

Based off this tumblr post by peterssquill:

Some cop, unlucky enough to pull over Captain America of all people: Sir um could I see ur... uh... license?

Steve Rogers someone who never bothered to get one: ....no

Part 6 of Meet-Ugly

P.O.W. by Avaaricious (oneshot | 20,420 | T)

AKA the "You're strapped to a table in a lab and I've come to rescue you, but you think you're hallucinating and kiss me" AU

Part 5 of Meet-Ugly

Part 1 of Fixed Points

The New Super by gr8escap (oneshot | 3,001 | T)

Steve Rogers is trying to get comfortable in his almost affordable apartment and the New Superintendent of the building is a cruel distraction.

Part 6 of Happy Steve Rogers - [Bingo]

Seashore by Speranza (oneshot | 505 | not rated)

Fan the Flame by Avaaricious (WIP | 253,880 | M)

AKA the "I thought you were a dude-bro and meant to swipe left on Tinder but I slipped. We matched and now I'm stuck talking to you" AU

Part 4 of Meet-Ugly

Heckin' Chunker for Love by canistakahari (oneshot | 2,708 | T)

On the inside of the big floor to ceiling window of the office across the street, someone has used Post-it Notes to spell out a message:

W H A T I S Y O U R C A T ’ S N A M E ?

Like Playing With Fire by GoldBlooded, LeisurelyPanda, wilfling (complete | 33,567 | E)

James is heir to his family's business, brought over from Mother Russia by his great-grandfather in 1917. In 1918, an Irish organization also moved to Brooklyn, a little too close for comfort. They've been rivals for over a hundred years, and it can get pretty stressful. Sometimes James needs to blow off some steam, and if a handsome stranger named Grant wants to do the same, James certainly isn’t going to say no.

Steve, heir to the Irish family, has never met James Barnes. But they all know that he's an arrogant, dangerous enemy without honor, as evidenced by the way the Russians are crossing lines again. On the way to a 'meeting' between the two families, Steve doesn't spare his counterpart a single thought... because his head is swimming with a man named Bucky and the earth-shattering night they've just spent together.

How will Steve and James cope when they find out they're sworn blood enemies? What happens when the 'meeting' is sabotaged by an unknown third party? Will the Irish and Russians be able to look past ancient, ingrained hurts for the sake of survival? More importantly, will Steve and James be able to ignore the ever-growing attraction between them?

I’m a Sucker for a Wild Boy by jinlinli (complete | 9,897 | T)

Steve is a vampire who’s never met a werewolf in his life before. Bucky is a werewolf who doesn’t even know vampires exist. Naturally, neck biting means two very different things to them.

In which Steve goes for a midnight snack and accidentally gets himself werewolf married.

The Very Heart of It* by merryofsoul (restricted, oneshot | 17,743 | M) *graphic violence

In which Captain America adopts a dog from Bucky and they become friends — and then more.

A Piece of Silly Affection by Reccea (restricted, oneshot | 11,687 | E)

Steve looked good, He looked hale and hearty and uninjured in his leather jacket, too-tight shirt, and jeans. He got off the motorcycle and his movements were graceful and fluid - no obvious signs of injury. He took off his helmet and --

Oh.

Steve had a beard.

Bucky’s mechanical hand spasmed oddly.

Life of the Party by AggressiveWhenStartled (complete | 21,689 | E)

“You know, kids,” Steve heard from the backyard, “one of the most common threats a superhero has to face is inside an active volcano! We’re going to have to work on your evasion skills, so for the next five minutes, the floor is lava!” This was met by a sudden spike in both volume and pitch from the small children as they scrambled onto every raised surface they could find and immediately launched themselves right back off.

“I’ve never seen actual lava in my entire life,” Steve said, vaguely offended.

“You got a superhero impersonator for The Falcon’s niece’s birthday party,” Sam said, incredulous. “The Falcon, who is an actual superhero.”

#TweetMeDaddy by StarSpangled (Senforza) (oneshot | 4,127 | T)

Coulson, for his part, stares up at Bucky with such a betrayed look of frozen horror that Natasha actually goes the extra step and presses another button, capturing the moment and airdropping the photograph to her phone for posterity. When he speaks, his voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. “Why…?” He swallows and starts again, trying for some semblance of normality. “...Why would you tweet something like that?!”

“If you must know, sir,” and somehow he manages to make ‘sir’ come out with the same inflection most people reserve for ‘motherfucking son of a bitch’, “it’s because I have a difficult time doing my job when my job involves monitoring the man with the best fucking ass in the United States of America.” He slowly lowers himself back into his seat until he’s at eye level, making extreme eye contact with Coulson until Coulson turns away to make mortified eye contact in Natasha’s general direction through the one-way glass. Natasha would take another picture, if she weren’t too busy catching Steve’s red-faced sputtering. “Sometimes, I vent to my Twitter followers. Sometimes, it’s about hot men with washboard abs. Can I go now, or do you need a graphic description of how I pleasure myself at night?”

Bad Moon Rising by spacebuck (complete | 57,533 | E)

Bucky Barnes is a lot of things:

- a nurse - the owner of a dorky dog that's too big for his own good - a lot older than he looks (by a lot more than you’d guess) - one of the last born-werewolves of his generation (namely due to point number one)

He's also one of the most powerful werewolves in New York City, not that he uses that power for more than keeping up with his work and playing with his dog.

But, when the once-in-two-hundred-years lunar event known to wolves as the Triple Moon comes along, Bucky's more than a little peeved to get to Central Park to find cloud cover blocking the majority of the power the moon is supposed to be giving him.

And then he finds an unconscious man in a clearing.

He doesn't connect the two, though in retrospect he should have - witches are sneakier than they appear.

much tattoo about nothing by Deisderium (oneshot | 14,579 | E)

Steve Rogers gets a lot of email requests, but never one like this: James Barnes wants to use his healing factor to practice tattoos.

Turns out tattoos give Steve boners.

April

My Arms Were Made To Hold You by portraitofemmy, rainbow_marbles (oneshot | 55,101 | E)

Tired of being kept awake at night by a screaming baby, Bucky decides to take matters into his own hands. Mostly he wants a good night's sleep, but what he gets is a beautiful baby boy with big blue eyes, a lonely father trying to move on from tragedy, and a chance at a family he never expected to have.

Part 1 of Never Let You Go

Coming Up Aces by greenbergsays (oneshot | 1,771 | E)

Bucky Barnes is a charismatic, flirty asexual man that lives with his awkward pansexual best friend, Steve Rogers.

Part 7 of Tumblr Ficlets

Don't Let the Tide Come and Wash Us Away by alittlewicked, hey_you_with_the_face (oneshot | 10,039 | E)

There was a man standing in the shop. A man with Steve’s leather jacket wrapped tight around him – or at least a jacket that looked like his seal skin.

Anyway.

A really beautiful, young man with a strong build and broad shoulders was standing in the doorway. His wispy brown hair framing an expressive face with beautiful pouty lips, an adorably cleft chin, and steel grey eyes that remembered Steve of the stormy seas of Ireland, of his ancestors’ home.

Steve was unabashedly staring (sue him, it was his shop).

Or: the one where Steve, the selkie with a coffee shop like they wished they had at 2 Broke Girls, gets accidentally selkie-married to Bucky, the dryad who just came back from an extended tree time, and they are both just idiots in love at first sight.

The Roommate by layersofart (layersofsilence), Niitza (complete | 28,632 | T)

In which Steven G. Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, gets a roommate. Who rapidly turns into his "roommate"—in the euphemistic sense of the word.

It takes SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers an absurd amount of time to notice.

Make My Wish Come True (all i want for christmas is you) by chicklette (complete | 27,516 | M)

Steve's spent his whole life pining for Bucky Barnes. Why should this year be any different?

A Holiday fic that begins on New Year's Eve and wraps up on Christmas Day.

Cause & Effect by Avaaricious (complete | 25,810 | T)

When Bucky falls from the train in the Alps, Steve will do whatever it takes to mount a rescue mission, consequences be damned.

One possible outcome continued from my fic P.O.W.

Part 2 of Fixed Points

And So It Goes by Avaaricious (oneshot | 9,267 | not rated)

Life goes on for Steve and Bucky as they enter a new century, but there are fixed points in the universe; things that are destined to play out a certain way no matter what.

Part 3 of Fixed Points

come as you are by silentwalrus (WIP | 10,897 | E)

Steve comes back to the States. He pursues truth, justice and the American way. Bucky comes back too. He pursues inebriation and intercourse.

Part 3 of Bucky Barnes Gets His Groove Back & Other International Incidents

Just This Once (The Everybody Lives Remix) by Dira Sudis (dsudis) (oneshot | 6,808 | T)

A way it could have happened.

Ain’t Gotta Hide This Heart of Mine by yourekindof_weird (oneshot | 3,882 | G)

“Uh, so listen, Steve,” Rebecca says. She seems nervous now and she’s biting her lip, “I don’t want to, uh, come across as rude or anything, but I don’t think a relationship between us would work out,” Rebecca fiddles with the straw wrapper from her cranberry juice, “Mr. Stark sort of sprung this on me and I agreed because I was sort of startled,” she makes eye contact with him, “but I’m actually pretty gay, so…” Steve can’t stop the sigh of relief that makes its way out of his mouth. ... Steve has been dating Bucky Barnes, an ER nurse, for over a year. None of the Avengers (excluding Sam) know about this. It leads to the Avengers (mainly Tony) trying to set Steve up on dates.

Kiss Me Once Again by ShowMeAHero (oneshot | 1,171 | T)

Steve’s quiet for a moment, then says, “I’m sorry, Buck.”

“Why?” Bucky says. “It’s been half a minute for me.”

Blood Is Thicker Than Carpet Cleaner by Alexicon (oneshot | 5,872 | T)

Just because it had been a joke didn’t mean it was a bad idea. Steve opened the phone book to the business section and searched fruitlessly for the right entries for about six minutes until he finally came across ‘Cl’ by sheer luck when a few pages stuck together as he turned them.

For some reason, his eyes were immediately drawn to a small, bleak ad in the corner, with only a few words, a phone number, and a thin black border.

The ad’s content:

“Winter’s Cleaning Services. Fees paid half up front. Specializes in blood removal.”

Well. That was. Specific.

Steve Rogers is Captain America, a superhero. Bucky Barnes is the Winter Soldier, an assassin. Steve needs someone to clean his apartment. Bucky shows up to a meeting with a potential client. Neither of them got quite what they expected.

Part 7 of marvel works

May

before we can breathe easy by belovedmuerto (oneshot | 22,052 | T)

No one touches Steve.

Bucky sets out to do something about that

Check, Mate? by talkplaylove-art (talkplaylove), wearing_tearing (oneshot | 1,938 | T) (reread)

A notification from Check, Mate? blinks back at him. Steve’s heart speeds up when he opens the app and then his face breaks into a blinding grin when sees what’s waiting for him.

James likes him back.

Part 1 of endgame

Part 5 of Happy Steve Bingo

Check, Mate! by talkplaylove, wearing_tearing (oneshot | 13,097 | E)

Bucky gasps and stares down at his crotch, sex-addled brain making it harder for him to focus on what the fuck is going on. Steve himself takes a second to realize what the fuck just happened, but when he does, well.

“Did you just fuckin’ knot me?” Steve asks, eyes wide and voice loud with shock.

Or the one where Steve and Bucky meet on a dating app, and everything happens way faster than anyone expects.

Part 2 of endgame

You Will Meet a Stranger by spitandvinegar (restricted, oneshot | 3,061 | M) (reread)

When the mask falls off Steve recoils.

He'll never forgive himself.

Idioglossia by hotelmichelle (oneshot | 20,434 | M)

“James and Steve. If I have to tell you one more time to stop talking, you will be separated. Do you understand?”

Bucky stares up at Mrs. Wheatley with the face that gets him out of trouble when his ma is in a good mood. Steve becomes suddenly fascinated with his correction work. It would have been convincing enough, if their papers weren’t blank.

Or: Steve and Bucky make up a secret language

Part 1 of secret language 'verse

My Arms Were Made To Hold You by portraitofemmy, rainbow_marbles (oneshot | 55,101 | E)

Tired of being kept awake at night by a screaming baby, Bucky decides to take matters into his own hands. Mostly he wants a good night's sleep, but what he gets is a beautiful baby boy with big blue eyes, a lonely father trying to move on from tragedy, and a chance at a family he never expected to have.

Part 1 of Never Let You Go

Don't Let the Tide Come and Wash Us Away by alittlewicked, hey_you_with_the_face (oneshot | 10,039 | E)

There was a man standing in the shop. A man with Steve’s leather jacket wrapped tight around him – or at least a jacket that looked like his seal skin.

Anyway.

A really beautiful, young man with a strong build and broad shoulders was standing in the doorway. His wispy brown hair framing an expressive face with beautiful pouty lips, an adorably cleft chin, and steel grey eyes that remembered Steve of the stormy seas of Ireland, of his ancestors’ home.

Steve was unabashedly staring (sue him, it was his shop).

Or: the one where Steve, the selkie with a coffee shop like they wished they had at 2 Broke Girls, gets accidentally selkie-married to Bucky, the dryad who just came back from an extended tree time, and they are both just idiots in love at first sight.

Super Soak That Ho by silentwalrus (oneshot | 1,434 | T)

It all starts with them going to a movie. “Let’s see this one,” Steve says, pointing to the listing for ARRANGERS: RAGE OF MEGATRON. “It’s supposed to be based on a true story.”

“Fine,” Bucky says. They go to the movies.

This is crack, guys. Expect no redeeming features here.

liquid measure by silentwalrus (oneshot | 2,594 | M)

Just a normal domestic afternoon with two supersoldiers.

sneeze disease by silentwalrus (oneshot | 5,540 | M)

Bucky starts to believe in a vengeful god on May the twelfth, year of our Lord two thousand and fucking eighteen, because that’s the day he makes fun of Clint Barton for carrying around a dainty little packetful of tissues in his pocket and honking into them like a congested donkey every fifteen minutes. “Fucking polleb,” Clint swears, wiping at his watering eyes. “Fucking claritin. Fucking zyrtec. Fucking bastards, all of dem.”

“What’s happened to your pokeymen now?” Bucky asks distractedly, not looking away from where Natasha is very slowly setting the last Joker on her vast, exquisitely balanced house of cards.

“Dat’s not - dey’re not pokémon,” Clint says, aggrieved. “Dey’re drugs. And dey don’t work for me.”

couples therapy by silentwalrus, skellerbvvt (series, ongoing | 19,275 | E)

“You can be rougher,” Bucky says. “If you want.”

They’re about four minutes post orgasm and Steve is still trying to figure out where his legs are. “Muh?”

snackfic by galwednesday, silentwalrus, skellerbvvt (series, ongoing | 12,300 | G-T)

Convenience series for my off the cuff ficlets, largely unrelated to each other or my other works unless stated otherwise

death of an artist by silentwalrus (oneshot | 2,237 | G)

our intrepid heroes take a day trip to sunny, idyllic Giverny.

ain't really quaint by quietnight, silentwalrus (complete | 44,045 | M)

Natasha stops by on a Tuesday, early enough in the morning that it would have been late by Steve’s old standards. Now, though, it takes him nearly three minutes just to limp to the door, yawning, and when he opens it he has to lean heavily on the doorframe.

“Hi,” Natasha says, over the beginnings of birdsong. She’s not alone. “Can we come in?”

Part 1 of farm hell

You Sure Are Looking Good by Defiler_Wyrm, the_genderman (oneshot | 7,002 | E)

When your boyfriend’s a werewolf, some roleplay scenarios just fall into place so naturally. Bucky’s got some fancy lingerie, a danger kink, and a Red Riding Hood roleplay brewing up. Steve’s ready, willing, and eager to play his Big Bad Wolf.

at first chance i'd take the bed warmed by the body by spacebuck (oneshot | 8,238 | E)

This close, Steve can see exactly how beautiful his hands are. He’s never really noticed before, or at least he’s never really had a reason to notice, but the man’s hands are large, tanned like he works outside all day. There’s an endearing callus on the heel of one of his palms, and Steve can’t quite work out when calluses became endearing.

Steve pauses the video. Swallows hard. Casts his eyes around for anything that’ll keep his mind off the hands on his screen, off the words inked into those hands, the delicate shape of a bird’s wing, the curling edge of a vine.

He looks down. The name of the channel is right there, blaring the man’s name right into Steve’s brain until it feels like he’s known it all along.

Bucky Barnes.

OR: the one where Bucky's a youtuber who solves puzzles on camera, and steve's smitten and horny

Chlorophyll by Plumcot (series, ongoing | 19,095 | T)

Steve Rogers doesn't have time for your fancy relaxation. He doesn't have time for your comfy pillows, or your body wash, or your chamomile tea that tastes like plant matter with a side of "why". Steve Rogers only wants one thing in life; to work until the end of days, because at least then he can say he didn't waste his time on Earth doing nothing.

Bucky Barnes has flowers in his hair and chlorophyll in his skin, and he doesn't have time to be stressed. Why would he, when there's rain to dance in, sun to bask in, and philodendrons to talk to? So he is, understandably, very worried about his (sadly) human neighbor who wouldn't stop and smell the roses if he faceplanted in a flower bed. Obviously something must be done.

Steve isn't all that happy when a green-skinned stranger shows up at his door and tries to give him a plant.

June

get it together by silentwalrus (oneshot | 2,089 | T)

“You wanna go out?”

Boeuf Mystère by galwednesday (oneshot | 1,230 | T)

“Quick question,” Bucky said.

Steve looked up, but didn’t stop moving passports and stacks of cash into a nondescript blue duffel, his mind busily ticking through logistics. He’d grab the glock taped behind the hidden drawer in the desk on their way out, and they could buy new clothes once they got across the border into neutral territory, so they didn’t need much else, apart from whatever Bucky wanted to bring. One duffle should be enough. “Yeah, honey?”

“What the fuck.”

Part 12 of Tumblr ficlets 2018

Part 1 of Steakout au Poivre

The Sins of Our Fathers* by inflomora, noirhound (complete | 33,943 | M) *graphic violence

His family called him Bucky.

The arenas in Athens called him the Winter Soldier.

The Spartan Brotherhood calls him Iakov. He defends the light from the dark that once coursed through his veins.

When the location of the Tesseract—a powerful Piece of Eden—is made known to the Brotherhood by a pair of Assassins from Athens, it is up to Iakov and his men to secure it before the Order of Hydra does, and it will take the cooperation of both Bureaus to succeed. His job is not made easier when he finds himself falling for his commanding officer, a certain blond Athenian Assassin who hides a powerful secret.

But they are not the only ones after the Tesseract. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a dangerous enemy looming unseen over their shoulders, and nobody left to trust, they must find and bring the Tesseract to Athens before it falls into the wrong hands—that is, if they manage to survive the trip.

Part 1 of Death is A Debt (We All Must Pay)

might never be normal again (but who cares) by napricot (complete | 51,540 | E)

The beginnings of a plan took shape in Steve’s mind, as clear and simple as a tactical frontal assault. He’d prove to Bucky that this was it, he was staying: Steve was retired from the fighting game, Steve wasn’t going to let anything keep pulling them apart. Maybe then when Steve finally told him he loved him, Bucky would believe him.

All things considered, Steve thought he’d handled the whole Thanos killing half the universe thing and the ensuing bitter, desperate quest to defeat him pretty well. Sacrificing his super soldier serum to use one of the Infinity Stones wasn't a problem either, not when it meant getting back the half of the universe they'd lost, and especially not when it meant getting Bucky back. But retirement and finally confessing his feelings for Bucky? Those were proving to be more challenging.

can't hardly weight by stevergrsno (noxlunate) (oneshot | 3,760 | T)

When Steve Rogers woke up in the future he was given a phone and shown how to use social media.

Well, no, in all actuality he was given a two week crash course entitled The Future And You, a six hour sensitivity course, a brand new id, and a credit card.

In which Steve gets a crush on an instagram gym thot and laments over it a lot to the intern stuck with him.

The Art Of Cooking For Two by littleblackfox (complete | 92,761 | M) (reread)

“Any questions?” “Uh. What the fuck am I doing here?” Bucky offers.

I just met you (and this is crazy) by littlesystems (complete | 41,784 | E)

After Steve gets outed by a grainy cell phone picture, it takes the media less than 24 hours to discover Captain America’s secret relationship with James Barnes: classical musician, teen heartthrob, and son of a former president.

The only problem? Steve has never met James Barnes in his life.

Part 1 of I just met you (and extras)

All of Your Love is Sunlight by canistakahari, WarlockInTraining (complete | 22,657 | E)

Sometimes the path to happiness involves bad timing turned good, a butt plant, and a little everyday magic. For Steve and Bucky, it's all that and more.

Dirty Pics by lillupon (oneshot | 3,117 | M)

There’s this one guy Bucky slept with three months ago who still sends pics of his ass whenever Bucky asks. What can he say? Grant’s got an ass that just won’t quit.

Hey, Asshole! A New York City Love story by bunnymaccool (oneshot | 14,818 | T)

Bucky's running late for the bus and he's stuck in line behind some ridiculous shoulder to waist ratio bastard who's too busy flirting with the baristas to get his frickin' order in. After he tells the dude off, completely in his rights he feels, the damn oversized puppy-faced ass keeps following him around and trying to apologize. And okay, dude is hot like burnin', but Bucky just doesn't have the time or patience for soothing the wounded ego of some gymrat wannabe with an obsession for dressing like he's hiding from the mob and .... why are you laughing, Sam?

Part 1 of New York City Assholes

Snapshots by layersofart (layersofsilence), newsbypostcard (oneshot | 18,579 | M)

Steve picks up the picture to be sure of what he saw, but there's been no mistake. "It doesn't even have a Navy stamp," he says, turning the photo toward her. "What is this?"

"Are you asking me?"

"It looks like a pin-up."

"Yes," Natasha agrees. "It does."

---

Post TWS: Steve is trying to find Bucky. Instead, he finds the sexy Navy "propaganda" Bucky somehow never mentioned he modeled for before the war.

I Wished On The Moon For You by stevergrsno (noxlunate) (oneshot | 14,581 | T)

“Holy shit,” Sam says, and then delighted, “Holy shit. You look like my nana’s dog. This is incredible.”

“Yeah, funny that, when they gave him the serum it only really worked on the human bits.” Bucky, whose reaction to Sam thus far has been standoffish at best, and like a wolf whose territory has been invaded at worst, sounds amused, the asshole.

Steve growls a little.

Or rather: A story in which Steve Rogers is the littlest werewolf who could and Bucky Barnes comes in from the cold and makes him his home.

Love in a Time of War by cleo4u2, cobaltmoony (complete | 20,775 | G)

James Barnes is a world renowned opera singer who has dreamed of performing in an opera composed by Steve Rogers. When his dream finally comes true, he quickly regrets what he’s always wished for. But while Steve can’t stand James, Bucky can’t stop wishing they could have some kind of future together. Will Steve realize he’s wrong about Bucky? Or is the damage from their first meeting too much to overcome?

Brooklyn by togina (oneshot | 8,749 | T)

"Captain America, what's your stance on gay marriage?"

Everyone knows that, by now. Everyone but Bucky.

I [Heart] You by writeonclara (oneshot | 1,138 | G)

“Steve’s been hit with a curse,” Natasha said. She said it calmly, so Bucky didn’t immediately go flying out of the apartment to tear apart the Tower in search of Steve. Then again, Natasha would probably be calm if New York City spontaneously burst into flames. He lowered the coffee pot and squinted at her.

“Of course he has,” he said. He felt, abruptly, exhausted. “What is it?”

“The witch kept ranting about sexual repression and archaic moral principles,” she continued blithely.

“It’s not like you to prevaricate, Romanov.”

Natasha pressed her lips together. For a moment, Bucky thought she might start laughing. “It might be easier just to show you.”

OR: Steve’s been hit with a rather telling curse.

Ruff Day by ellebeesknees (umetnica), emptydistractions (complete | 20,570 | M)

Bucky's life is a mess: The US government's been breathing down his neck ever since his trial, the Avengers are a constant pain in his ass, and putting his brain back together hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he fled Hydra.

He's doing okay, but what he doesn't need is any extra stress. And what he definitely doesn't need is for Steve to tangle with an amateur sorcerer and end up a massive, overly friendly, eighty-pound, shedding, slobbering dog. That Bucky's now responsbile for. For the foreseeable future.

But hey, silver lining. At least now Steve can't talk him to death.

This Side by brideofquiet (restricted, complete | 35,321 | T)

Bucky Barnes restores antiques for a living. Steve Rogers saves the world. Bucky has no reason to believe their paths will ever cross, right up until they do.

Or: the Notting Hill AU.

Behold, a Man by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) (oneshot | 9,296 | T)

At sunrise tomorrow, Bucky knew he was going to turn into a rooster. He wasn't sure if it was better or worse knowing it was coming. What he did know was that it didn't matter where he slept: his room, Steve's room, Stark's lab—it was going to happen. The curse of the were-cock had struck and there was no escaping. As the elevator carried them back down to their floor, he started chuckling.

Steve gave him a look of concern.

Bucky waved it away. "Just thinking. Curse of the Were-cock'd probably make a lousy movie."

Steve snorted, then said thoughtfully, "I don't know. Maybe it depends on what sort of movie you're making."

Rusted Gate by hafital (oneshot | 19,677 | E)

How many times has he replayed this scene? The young private, the forest path, the rusted gate. Steve and him. This last chance to tell him. He knows what’s about to happen. Why can’t he tell him? How many times has he tried to change how it ends? Maybe this time, he can get it right.

Honestly, Fuck Brooklyn by stfustucky (iwillpaintasongforlou) (oneshot | 8,243 | E)

So, aliens are attacking and have shredded Brooklyn to smithereens, which pretty much makes it a typical Tuesday afternoon in New York. Bucky Barnes, long time Brooklyn resident, has Been There and Done That. What's less typical is the redhead who breaks into his apartment to rescue him, the underground bunker he's stashed in, and the sudden appearance of masked superhero Captain America kissing Bucky breathless and calling him baby. Good thing Bucky knows how to throw a punch.

((Or, the one where it takes yet another apocalypse for the somewhat oblivious Bucky Barnes to figure out that his dorky artist boyfriend Steve is actually Captain Goddamned America. Whoops.))

I saw you there, I saw you then by cleo4u2, xantissa (oneshot | 19,320 | E)

An accidental slide of a thumb brings Steve and Bucky back together.

Art Nouveau by voluptuous_panic (oneshot | 12,246 | E)

Steve's on the worst date of his life. At least the bartender's cute.

No One Wants Your Opinion by thepinupchemist (oneshot | 5,600 | E)

Wherein Bucky loves to cuddle Steve Rogers, Steve comes out on national television for the sole purpose of spiting conservative politicians, Tony sees things he wishes he hadn't, and Pepper doesn't know why she even bothers.

July

Honey Honey*  by justanotherStonyfan (series, ongoing | 544,594 | E) */others, past but explicit

The kid is maybe, oh, twenty years younger than him? Clean-shaven, and looking out of the corner of his eye at Steve in the same way Steve feels he must be looking at the kid – i.e., like he wants to do any number of unmentionable things to him.

Because boy does Steve ever want to do unspeakable things to this kid.

AKA, the Accidental Sugardaddy!Steve AU I always wanted.

Through The Woods by alby_mangroves, VenusMonstrosa (complete | 64,082 | E)

There’s a legend in Mansewood, nearly as old as the town itself, about a pack of werewolves that once lived in the forest. They say only one survives; a monstrous and snarling beast with fur like a blizzard and fangs the size of daggers. They say it guards the lands and all creatures in it, and no hunter has faced it and lived to tell the tale.

Steve doesn’t care about any of that. He only wants to know if it prefers T-Bone or ribeye, and would it please stop tracking dirt through his house? He just mopped the floor.

Part 1 of Through The Woods

streamlined by nickel710 (series, ongoing | 56,248 | G-M)

In which Bucky Barnes, Iraq war veteran and bicycle enthusiast, streams Overwatch on the side for fun under the handle President15, and one day his friend-of-a-friend FalconKnight introduces a new player to the crew, THECapRogers. It would be totally absurd for the actual Captain America to hang out in his stream and argue about baseball, right? ...right?

BuckRogers vs. the Internet by galwednesday (series, complete | 5,642 | T-M)

“Remember what I said about internet trolls?”

“Don’t feed the trolls.”

“Exactly. Did I not say the same thing to Barnes?” Tony asked rhetorically. “Were those not my exact words? I could have sworn they were, and yet.”

“Bucky’s feeding the trolls?”

“He’s throwing a goddamn seven-course troll banquet. Every time someone on Twitter asks if your relationship announcement is real, he replies. Colorfully.”

Steve opened his mouth to ask what “colorfully” meant, then caught the gleam in Tony’s eye and put two and two together. He blushed. Colorfully. “Oh.”

(Steve and Bucky announce their relationship in a very dignified press conference. Bucky then replies to every goddamn tweet asking him to confirm it with a different dirty euphemism. Things escalate from there.)

Just About Half-Past Ten by rohkeutta (oneshot | 1,978 | T)

But as he reaches Madison Avenue, Stark Tower a mere block away, the skies open with a whoosh, and he barely manages to duck under the construction scaffolding perched over the sidewalk. Thunder rumbles overhead, and Bucky frantically checks every compartment of his bag for an umbrella he knows is there.

It’s not. He does find some loose glitter, though, and a lipstick he wore for Pride and had thought he’d lost, plus a spare MetroCard he can’t remember buying.

He also gets a crystal clear flashback of leaving the umbrella under his desk to dry yesterday morning, and never picking it up again.

Leave Those Umbrellas At Home by rohkeutta (oneshot | 2,441 | T)

Bucky watches the watery snow come down and thinks about it, his mood deflating steadily. He imagines Steve going home the next morning, sitting down at his desk and opening his Super-Secret Sexcapade Journal and writing Bucky’s name in next to a carefully-thought Preparation & Performance Grade.

B+ for the effort to look nice naked, C- for being embarrassingly vanilla and wanting to do it face-to-face so he could scritch his fingers through Steve’s beard and hair. Not worth a repetition. Kinky Grade: F.

Bucky’s being uncharitable and he knows it, but Hangry Barnes can be a sad sack of shit when he wants to.

Page One Rewrite by thedoubteriswise (oneshot | 3,008 | T)

World War II enthusiasts and film geeks rejoice! Much like the Sentinel of Liberty himself, a few reels of missing Cap footage have been brought back to life.

We're All in the Gutter, but Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars by chipofftheoldblock (complete | 45,045 | M)

I’m sorry, sir,’ he said, and Maria looked a little appeased, though now she was gesturing for him to get off stage. And then he smiled real big and wide and sincere and said, ‘Guess I’m just real fuckin’ tired of everyone treating me like an idiot. To answer your question, ain’t a lot I really miss. Polio was pretty fuckin’ awful, and so was the food, and the racism and homophobia and hatred so many folks had for one another for dumb-as-shit differences was so goddamn stupid -’

Maria was suddenly on stage beside him, pulling his microphone away and grabbing his arm with a steel grip. Steve just leaned over to Nat’s mic with a shit-eating grin on his face and said, ‘Thank you so much for your time.’

Steve's tired of the world treating him like he doesn't know a damn thing about the future. Bucky's tired of not knowing a damn thing about the past.

They meet somewhere in the middle.

when he gets older, he might be the one* by cobaltmoony, CoraRochester (complete | 32,398| E) *underage

In which a freak run-in with the Cosmic Cube ages Steve into his fifties, and Bucky— still trying to figure out who he is after decades of brainwashing— decides it’s time to come home.

Part 1 of when he gets older, he might be the one 

crowding the hitter by rooonil_waazlib (complete | 12,917 | E)

But the trash monsters are coming closer, and Bucky’s going to be pissed if he has to get his grate replaced tomorrow.

He turns off the panini press, heads into his bedroom, and pulls his college baseball bat out of the closet, pausing only to pull on the slacks he’d just taken off. He’s going to go defend his shop, and he’s not going to do it in his underpants.

Nobody Likes Unsolicited Dick Pics (Except When They Do)* by Blondie_Bluue (complete | 21,864 | E) *chose not to warn

When Bucky Barnes accidentally sends a dick pic to a wrong number while looking for a little action, he never expected to get a positive response.

Feelings are caught, drama ensues, things work out in the end

i'm a ghost, you're an angel (one and the same) by voxofthevoid (complete | 31,133 | E)

“You fucked him.”

Bucky licks his lips and nods. Fury lets out a deep breath and leans back in his chair in a movement that’s terrifyingly controlled but spills danger out the edges.

“Twenty years,” Fury says slowly, taking special care to imbue each word with his personal brand of bone-chilling judgement. It used to make Bucky quiver in his boots back when he was a baby S.H.I.E.L.D agent with two functional arms. “In that time, I have asked, threatened, coaxed, and damn near begged this man to work for us, or at least with us, and what finally gets it done is your dick?”

“Ass.”

“Excuse me?”

“Listen, I’m not saying any part of my anatomy is what persuaded Commander Rogers to agree to this, but hypothetically, if that’s what did it, let’s just say he would have found my ass far more persuasive than my dick.” Bucky pauses, secretly relishing the sour-lemon look on Fury’s face. “It still hurts, in case you’re wondering.”

- Steve tries to seduce Bucky over to the dark side. But the Avengers are more grey than dark, and it’s still a paler shade of grey than what S.H.I.E.L.D’s got going nine times out of ten. Bucky really should be more concerned about the seduction part.

Part 2 of i'm guilty of treason (i've abandoned control)

turn me up when you feel low by faerietell (oneshot | 13,891 | T) (reread)

Steve Rogers is a man out of time, in a city that used to be his home, a city he no longer recognizes. Through charming radio host, Bucky Barnes, he relearns his city, adopts a dog, and falls in love.

August

A lot of Good Omens reading happened in August.

When the Season Comes Around by theheartischill (oneshot | 34,447 | T)

The other problem is that Steve loves him, and Bucky isn't sure he remembers how to love.

Despicable by TheVagabondBoy (series, ongoing | 8,450 | T)

Bucky Barnes just wants to scavenge spaceship-wrecks and get a nice payday for it. He really wasn't planning on finding a survivor on his latest wreck.

The Joy of Little Things by obsessivereader, Sealcat (complete | 29,744 | E)

"Do you want me to eat you?"

“No, but—” Steve broke off his instinctive response. All his life, he’d believed in doing what was right… he was not about to stop now. Wincing at the prickling pain in his feet, he straightened up to his full height. “Yes. If it means you’ll leave this place.”

"But you don’t look very filling." The tip of the dragon’s tail twitched. "I don’t suppose you’re a virgin?" he asked hopefully. "I’ve heard they taste better."

Steve gritted his teeth and refused to answer. The dragon could very well find that out for himself. He stared at the dragon. The dragon stared back. Then the dragon got up, turned around, and went back into his cave.

"Well? Come on, tribute."

or, how Steve ends up working for a dragon with a very odd sense of humor

Quench by AidaRonan (complete | 9,417 | E)

This guy, he had never met. He definitely wouldn’t have forgotten it if he had. Shaggy dishwater blond hair run through with natural golden highlights, a thick brown beard, and a body like a Mack truck made out of ribeye.

“Fuck me,” Bucky gasped.

“Excuse me?” Or the one where archeology intern Bucky Barnes meets actual archeologist Steve Rogers and reaches levels of thirst scientists once believed to be theoretically impossible.

haha, jk by relenafanel (oneshot | 13,523 | T)

(A tale of Not Unrequited Love)

Steve: I love you. Bucky: oh no. (and other fallacies)

Bucky learns to never say never when it comes to the effect his best friend can have.

Like Real People Do by 2bestfriends (complete | 67,777 | E)

Seven years into an isolated retirement after the Battle of New York, Steve has carved out a place for himself in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. He has a best friend (his dog, Lady), a frenemy (a local black bear named Rufus), and a cabin in the middle of the woods, an hour's drive from the nearest town. As November comes to a close, he heads into town to pick up supplies and ends up with a stowaway.

Bucky hasn't had much luck over the past seven years. Disaster caused his family to move from New York to Indiana, and his life has steadily fallen apart ever since. After one too many heartbreaks, he decides to hitch his way back to the last place he remembers being happy: Brooklyn. He's in the homestretch when he finds himself stranded in a half-empty tourist town in the Catskills and decides to take a chance crawling into the back of someone's truck.

--

AKA the "Lumberjack Steve/Twink Bucky" fic of our hearts. Bucky spends so much time thirsty as hell.

Part 1 of All That You Are to Me

Pod Bless America by Deisderium (complete | 6,13 | T)

Bucky can't believe his favorite podficcer recorded his newest fanfic AU of the show Commandos. He's even more surprised when the customer who busts him listening to fic while he's working in the office supply store turns out to be that podficcer.

* The guy—maybe bi_shield?—took his phone, looked down at the screen, and smiled. "Yeah, that one's mine," he said with no evidence of embarrassment. "It was a good one." He handed the phone back to Bucky.

"I wrote it," Bucky croaked.

Thunder and Ice* by Quarra, TrishArgh (complete | 18,027 | E) *tagged rape/noncon for mentions of sex pollen

Bucky is back with Steve in Avengers Tower and recovering well from his time with Hydra and the Avengers are working together better than ever too; but Steve still feels like something is missing in his life. At the urging of his loved ones, Steve takes up creative writing in his free time to help him regain a sense of happiness and purpose.

And his favorite subject to write about? Having sex with Bucky.

It turns out that other people seem to like what he's writing about too. So much so that Steve picks up a pen name and becomes a published romance novelist. But how long can Steve's secret smut writings stay secret, especially given who he's writing about and how public it becomes?

Be Careful What You Post on the Internet by itshysterekal (oneshot | 19,117 | E)

Bucky just wants to get on to the next mission, but the therapist he's forced to see insists he take up a hobby. Cue his writing of highly explicit Avengers RPF to make fun of Stark and his headlong dive into social media. He never expected a hobby to change his life.

September

THE Steve Rogers PROBLEM by relenafanel (series, ongoing | 85,015 | T-M)

Meet SSA Bucky Barnes: Hostage Rescue Team member extraordinaire. He loves his job, his body, and hooking up. He hates civilians and local enforcement officers trying to do his job and fucking everything to shit.

Meet Bucky Barnes: fan of the television show The Howling Commandos extraordinaire. He loves writing fanfic, creating fanart, and staring at Steve Rogers' ass. He hates the long journey of doing the necessary physical therapy on his arm (and also that no one told him he knows Steve Rogers).

Meet Bucky Barnes: Steve Rogers' boyfriend. He loves Steve. He hates the idea of that being his sole identity.

Green (Heart)-Eyed Monster by TheIntelligentHufflepuff (oneshot | 1,822 | T)

He shakes his head, tries to turn away. But his eyes rove back, insatiable. Steve is spinning Sam, goofily. Sam stumbles, and Steve instinctively grabs Sam to his chest to keep him up.

For a wild, petty moment, Bucky wishes he'd just fall.

[Post-Endgame, except an Endgame where nobody died. Bucky gets drunk and jealous at the after-party, but makes up with Sam and gets together with Steve the next day]

Love's Just a Feeling by fadefilter, Mystrana (complete | 26,359 | E)

Not Without You is on tour, and the lucky fans at their sold out shows are always treated to the best show: great music and excellent entertainment, courtesy of Steve and Bucky, who can't seem to keep their hands off of each other—both onstage and off.

The tour's almost over, but Steve's got a bit of a problem. Despite constantly reassuring the rest of the band that neither of them will develop feelings...

...he's pretty sure he's developed some feelings.

No Retreat, Baby, No Surrender by itsnotbleak (complete | 39,792 | T)

"You think your old army buddy is working at Subway?”

“Of course not,” said Steve, trying to sound like he thought the idea was ludicrous. “Bucky died in 1944. I just...” He didn’t know what to say, so he slapped on his best lonely soldier face and lied. “It’s just it’s nice to pretend for a bit, you know?”

“No,” said Natasha. “It sounds deeply unhealthy, but you do you.”

In which Steve finds a man that looks a lot like Bucky making sandwiches in a Brooklyn subway. Except Bucky died seventy years ago, and this guy shows no sign of remembering Steve.

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves) (restricted, complete | 21,980 | E)

“Holy shit,” says Steve. “I’ve been knocked out twice by the same guy.”

Introduction to Fake Dating Your Best Friend 101 by crinklefries (oneshot | 24,627 | T)

Bucky stares at his best friend as though he’s absolutely lost what’s left of his dumbass mind.

“Excuse me?” he asks dumbly.

Steve sighs and sags back onto the couch, covering his face dramatically with one large, well-manicured hand.

“Dean Coulson thinks we’re dating. And gay. But like, for each other. And now I need you to fake date me so I can convince the Chancellor to fund my research.”

or;

Steve and Bucky are a pair of professors who have to fake date for academic purposes and are real dumb along the way. It's not so much a forest of pine as a whole landscape of it. It turns out fine, probably.

Beyond the Yellow Book Road by crinklefries (complete | 30,057 | T)

Before he was Captain America, he was Steve Rogers, knobby kneed and wild-eyed, with scrapes on his knuckles and a book in his hands.

In 1942, he leaves for war and eventually crashes the Valkyrie.

That's only the beginning of his story.

In 2011, Steve's body is dragged from ice off the coast of Greenland.

In 2015, he meets a bookstore clerk.

This is what happens when a superhero loses his way home and the only way back is through the Yellow Book Road.

October

In The Next Life We'll Be Good by Nori (series, ongoing | 83,018 | M) (reread)

Steve is resurrected 500 years into the future. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, hostile aliens are clawing at the door, and the only thing standing in the way are Guardians. Figuring out how, exactly, to be a Guardian doesn't come easily for Steve, no matter how much he wants to protect the innocent. Luckily for him, he has friends who're more than willing to show him the way.

---

Breaking your hand doesn’t actually help in any way,” a voice says from behind him. Steve twists at the waist, less surprised than he probably ought to be.

“Hey,” Steve says, feeling a smile breaking over his face. “You’re all about clandestine meetings, huh?”

“Maybe I wanted to be a spy in my last life,” the scout replies breezily, drifting like a shadow to stand adjacent to Steve.

Far Strayed* by eyres (complete | 18,344 | M) *chose not to warn

They’re not going to stop coming after me,” Bucky tells Steve, somewhere in the air above Siberia.

“Let them come,” Steve replies, furious still.

After Siberia, instead of seeking refuge in Wakanda, Bucky and Steve go on the run.

The Biggest Part of Me* by Anna_Heyward (complete | 69,992 |E) *chose not to warn

Newly divorced single dad Steve Rogers moves his kids from the suburbs to Brooklyn to start their new life together, and becomes captivated by the young man who works at the coffee shop downstairs from Steve’s apartment.

Bucky Barnes is 25 years old, working part-time in a coffee shop and still living with his mom. When a handsome single dad in a pinch offers Bucky a job as his nanny, Bucky takes him up on it.

(AU of the movie The Rebound.)

Part 1 of The Biggest Part of Me 'verse

Knit One, Purl Two, Is How I Say "I Love You"* by Ignisentis (oneshot | 4,636 | T) *chose not to warn

Bucky looks up from the book he’s reading at the sound of the familiar gentle clacking of the wooden needles Steve has always preferred to use when he’s knitting. He used to knit back in the day whenever he wasn’t drawing. He said it helped calm him down, that he liked making things, especially for Bucky, that it made him feel like he was contributing more since it was hard for him to hold down a regular job.

Bucky thought it was all of those things but also that Steve Rogers was never the kind of man who could keep his hands still.

He used to knit Bucky socks and hats and scarves whenever he could get his hands on some yarn. He’d always wanted to make a sweater but never could get the same kind of yarn in sweater quantities.

Now, though. Now Bucky has a handful of sweaters that Steve’s made for him: a cable-knit fisherman’s sweater with a shawl collar; a simple pullover; a replica of Steve’s WWII dancing monkey sweater he wore on stage that Steve gave him with a smirk; a chunky Tweed cardigan with elbow patches; the lightest, most sumptuous cashmere henley-style pullover; even a Fair Isle with the Ghostbusters symbol worked into the yoke. Fuck, but Bucky loves that movie. And the sweater.

i just called to say i love you* by brideofquiet (oneshot | 7,895 | T) */others

Both times Steve makes a fool of himself in front of the soccer coach, it’s mostly an accident.

Grass, Fire, Water? My Only Weakness Is You! by powercrow (complete | 52,725 | E)

Steve first notices Bucky at a Pokémon GO raid at the local Target.

He’s immediately intrigued, but interpersonal relationships have been a real struggle since his mother’s death. Bucky’s not without his own bullshit after the disastrous end of a prior relationship. PoGo somehow brings them together anyways, and they become friends, catch lots of Pokémon, deal with their issues, and eventually fall in love.

November

You can't hurry love by obsessivereader (oneshot | 8,547 | E)

“Jesus!” Steve hurries forward. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Before he’s even halfway into the room, the man’s already on his feet and turning around. He has a face as perfect as his ass. High forehead, square jaw, pink lips with a hint of a natural pout. Short, wavy, dark brown hair. His wide, deep-set eyes are a clear and luminous gray. Those eyes widen as the man takes in the sight of Steve staring at him.

Something about that wide-eyed, slightly nervous look catches at Steve’s memory. “Bucky?”

Steve remembers a shy, sweet teenager, with soft round cheeks, eyes too big for his face, and a wild head of hair. If this really is Bucky, some time in the last few years, he grew into his face and is now so gorgeous that Steve’s having a little trouble breathing. The lean, toned body beautifully displayed by a black shirt and gray pants don’t help the breathing situation either.

“You… have a beard now,” Bucky says faintly.

or, Bucky finally gets to do something about his decades-long crush on his best friend's older brother...

Part 1 of Happy Steve Bingo!

Stay with Me* by em_dibujsb, maikurosaki (complete | 79,903 | E) *graphic violence

When Bucky Barnes accompanies his family to a ceremony dedicated to George Barnes' activity, he expects free food and drinks, the occasional boring speech, and watching his dad blush furiously as he gets to finally meet his childhood hero. What he doesn't expect is saving Captain America's life and getting shot in the process. What follows is a slow road to recovery, eating hospital food (still disgusting), making new friends (Avengers!!! Seriously, the Avengers!) and pining over Captain America (he won't comment on that). It sounds simple, but it really isn’t!

Anything You Ask by thepinupchemist (oneshot | 6,187 | E)

A skinny blond kid appears in Bucky's candy store, and when her frantic father comes looking for her, Bucky doesn't realize he just met his mate. Over the course of several months, he falls in love with Steve Rogers and his daughter. Fortunately, they love him right back.

Poppies of the Field* by kaasknot (complete | 63,417 | M) *chose not to warn, temporary major character death

"Thank you for purchasing a StarkTech Companion 'Bot! Please state your name for licensing."

Wherein Bucky is a severely agoraphobic combat veteran, and Steve is the android he buys out of loneliness.

So Alive by GottaSaveBucky (Cosmic_Entity_1of4) (complete | 108,978 | E)

A man wearing a light denim jacket over a dark blue shirt came into the shop, a box tucked under his right arm. Despite it being late afternoon, he was wearing sunglasses with bright blue lenses, and his long, dark hair was pulled back in a messy little bun. A few strands had escaped, framing his strong, unshaven jawline. The man looked into the café, smiled widely, and waved in Clint’s direction as he kept walking into the bookstore, and Steve’s mouth went completely dry.

Beautiful, was the only word to describe that smile; straight, white teeth framed by full, lush, red lips, bracketed by laugh lines and an adorable dimple in his right cheek, a charming little chin cleft just visible under the light stubble—Steve was struck literally speechless. And that was before he got a glimpse of the man’s backside. Slim hips and a round, firm-looking ass led to long, lean legs that were encased in snug, dark blue jeans.

“Guh,” Steve said, watching the dark-haired man continue on to the back of the store.

__________

A bookstore AU starring our favorite OTP, set to the song “So Alive” by Love and Rockets (from their fourth album “Love and Rockets,” 1989).

** COMPLETED **

Part 1 of Brooklyn Heights Books

backs treat boys by rohkeutta (oneshot | 2,570 | M)

“What? No, you’re not boring,” Steve protests, bless his heart. “It’s just—I have this kink in my back, probably from work or the gym. It’s hard to get comfortable.”

“Where?” Bucky asks, looking back down at his tablet and swiping to the next slide. He took a beginners' massage therapy course at the community college last summer to keep himself from doing something dumb, like fucking his way through the city because he was bored while Steve was on a work thing in Europe. Missing his best buddy was perfectly okay, but even Bucky, a self-proclaimed Cheerful Thot, felt it might be a little excessive to go on a one-night-stand binge just because his pal was out of town for a few weeks.

Part 9 of a pocketful of mumbles

Metallurgy by eyres, TheFriendlyPigeon (complete | 22,129 | M)

he battle quieted for the moment, the great metal giant turns, at last, and sees Steve. Dark, almost human hair frames a sharp, steel face - but, Steve is caught by its eyes. They’re bright silver, sparking in the sunlight, shot through with gray and blue, visible even at this distance. Something about them nags at Steve, calls to him, reminds him of…

Instead of making the Winter Soldier, Hydra transfers Bucky's consciousness to a metal body, locking his mind within a prison of steel and programming. However, Bucky is stronger than they could've ever imagined.

Press Play to Start by layersofsilence, talkplaylove-art (talkplaylove) (complete | 31,502 | M)

Steve still doesn’t understand; and then he does, or he thinks he does, in a burst of clarity that he immediately wishes he hadn’t gotten.

The thing is that it’s not possible. James shifts his position ever so slightly; his shoulders shift smoothly under his tac gear, and it’s not possible that Steve could be programming another human.

CA:TWS AU - in which Steve Rogers, SHIELD agent, finds out that HYDRA is not so old and defeated a foe, and that the Winter Soldier is more than a whispered rumour.

Something that Feels Like Hope by BeaArthurPendragon (oneshot | 7,669 | E)

Captain America, feeling gloomy around the holidays and exhausted from hobnobbing with the rich and famous at yet another charity gala, escapes into an empty room for some peace and quiet.

Army veteran James Barnes is the founder of the Gulmira Project, which provides high-quality prostheses to civilians injured in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, and needs to find a place to practice his speech.

You'll never guess what happens next.

Eight Invitations* by alby_mangroves, RevolutionaryJo, Speranza (oneshot | 3,345 | E) *chose not to warn

Part 15 of 4 Minute Window

December

Cute Stitch Witch Discount by stevergrsno (noxlunate) (onesoht | 3,089 | T)

He’s barely finished with his drink when Bucky appears in front of him, a cup in hand. “Our famous cocoa,” He says, setting it onto the little table next to Steve, “On the house.”

Steve plucks the cup up off the table and cradles it close, inhaling the smell of chocolate and cinnamon. “Thank you,” Steve says, and then, “I can pay though, really.”

“Call it the cute stitch witch discount,” Bucky says with a wink before he’s turning away and disappearing behind the counter to take care of another customer.

In which Steve has magic, meets Bucky 70 years later, and as always, falls a little bit in love with him.

Part 24 of Happy Steve Bingo Fills

How to Woo the Winter Soldier* by writeonclara (complete | 21,566 | G) *chose not to warn

“I think I’m ready to date again,” Steve said.

“What,” Natasha said.

“What?” Clint said, lowering his binoculars. He blinked at the dumbstruck look on the Captain’s face, then followed his gaze to where he was staring dopily at—at the Winter fucking Soldier.

“Steve, no,” Clint groaned.

Or: Steve courts the Winter Soldier.

Ever Mine, Ever Ours by hitlikehammers (oneshot | 2,914 | E)

Steve goes back to return the Stones, for the sake of the universe.

The extra Pym Particles he palms when Bruce isn't looking, though? Those are for the heart he has now and the heart he took into the ice; those are for the loves he's known and held and lost and found, those—

Those are for the sake of his soul.

Avengers: Endgame Fix-It.

Gone, Baby, Gone by crinklefries (complete | 38,943 | M)

An entity known only by the name LEVIATHAN finds each of them, sending, initially a solitary text: Our name is LEVIATHAN. We have a job for you. You have three minutes to decide.

Well, what’s a group of bored, reckless thrill-seekers with very specific skills and long criminal histories to do? They needed the money and, well, it sounded fun.

[ or;

Steve is the head of a new criminal crew, Bucky is the getaway driver, Sam wears a LOT of bold outfits and gold jewelry, and the rest of the Avengers help too.

There's heists and fast cars in a neon-noir setting, but most importantly, Bucky wears a crop top that says be gay do crime and he is, in fact, gay and he does, in fact, do crime. ]

Home Is Wherever I'm With You by cydonic (complete | 88,570 | E)

This is what happens when you buy a house to flip having only seen the online images: you get more than you bargained for. Bucky Barnes brings all the tools to handle a dilapidated home, but he's hardly prepared for a smart-mouthed child (with poor aim), a crying baby, and the hottest dad he's ever seen in his life living right next door.

That House-Flipper!AU.

Part 1 of Flowers in our Eyes

Caramel Macchiato by littleblackfox (complete | 15,450 | E)

"You ate my bees," Bucky says. Because his own tongue fucking hates him.

Empires Fall, but Not Us by AidaRonan (oneshot | 21,611 | T)

When Steve was ten, he met a boy with a clockwork heart.

A cyberpunk tale of friendship, love, loss, and reunion; framed by the battle to bring hope and joy back to a City drowning under Hydra's rule.

No More Shame by thepinupchemist (oneshot | 3,287 | T)

“I think the Winter Soldier is going to our synagogue,” Billy said, apropos of absolutely nothing.

Or: Billy Kaplan helps Bucky Barnes find his way.

No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Pine by galwednesday (oneshot | 16,466 | T)

"Agent Rogers. We have to stop meeting like this." The Winter Soldier crouched in front of where Steve was slumped against the wall, hands and forearms glued to the stone behind him by some kind of sticky polymer. "Comfortable?"

"No," Steve lied. "My blood circulation has been cut off. I've lost all feeling in my hands."

"Oh, so I should probably cut you loose," the Soldier deadpanned.

"It's a medical emergency. You don't want to be responsible for me losing limbs, do you?"

"Tell you what, if you lose your hands, I'll make you some new ones." He held up his metal hand, smallest finger crooked. “Pinkie promise.”

Secret Agent adversaries-to-lovers AU where the Winter Soldier keeps tying Captain America to walls and sticking around to chat. Shut up, Natasha, it’s not flirting, okay? (It’s definitely flirting.)

Part 2 of The Adventures of Captain America, Not-So-Secret Agent

Proprietary Information by notlucy (complete | 85,141 | E)

Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.

Part 1 of Additional Information

you, the moon by dirtybinary (oneshot | 2,339 | T)

Stimulus. The sight of one Bucky Barnes, age seventeen, best friend, roommate, favourite nuisance, coming home after work. Subject’s Response. A swoop of the stomach, like when one pointed one’s bike down that steep hill beside the church and pedalled really fast, but without the inevitable sprained ankles and bloody scrapes.

Steve likes Bucky. Bucky likes food and cats and girls and maybe, just maybe, Steve.

Steve deals with this very well indeed.

Local Raccoon Befriends Angry Chihuahua by charlesdk (oneshot | 15,314 | T)

Rogers was a tiny man. Bucky was sure he easily disappeared in a crowd and became invisible. He was tiny and short and skinny and didn't look like much. But his fists were clenched to his sides in anger, his jaw was jutted out, his boney shoulders were square, and his voice held more power than his body looked like it did.

Screaming and yelling and swearing like a damn sailor and asking for a fight, Bucky found him breathtakingly gorgeous. Like a tiny ball of energy and rage and justice that shined brighter than the fucking sun, punching his way through the evil and disgusting trash of the world.

Bucky never believed in love at first sight and the way his heart warmed and pounded at the mere sound of Rogers didn't really change his mind. But it did make him stop and stare, desperately reaching out for the feeling he felt when he looked at him because it was good and Bucky hadn't had good in his life in years.

OR – in which one armed veteran, suffering insomniac, and grump extraordinaire Bucky Barnes gets turned into a puddle of goo by the tiniest, angriest, most wonderful guy in the entire universe.

Stop Dragon My Heart Around by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) (oneshot | 15,127 | T)

All Bucky had wanted was gold. A few jewels. Not a king's riches, not a prince's fortune, just enough he'd never have to worry about anything ever again. It was what had sent him racing to the dragon's cave when he'd overheard the news that the Prince had killed her.

But he should have known better. Nothing good ever came from eavesdropping, and nothing good ever came from listening to men in pubs, and now instead of gold, instead of jewels, he had an egg. A dragon egg, and no idea how he was going to keep it alive.

The dragon egg wasn't all he had, even if he didn't know it. He also had a full-grown dragon on his trail, one who'd sworn he'd find the egg--and the human who stole it.

I Know the Drill by castiowl (oneshot | 4,869 | T)

Bucky says some explicit things to his dentist while under the influence of anesthesia following a wisdom tooth removal. The rest is (embarrassing) history.

Our Broken Parts (Smashed on the Floor) by This Girl Is (non_sequential) (oneshot | 11,702 | E)

Steve is sent undercover to catch an elusive Russian assassin. He didn’t want to do it in the first place; he’s damn certain he won’t be asked again.

great whales of the sea by canistakahari (oneshot | 3,002 | T)

“Whales make sounds,” says Bucky, shocked.

“They sing,” Steve says absently.

show me your insides, show me your secrets (show what you wanted, so i can be it)* by voxofthevoid (oneshot | 8,731 | E) *chose not to warn

They took down a lab full of mutated animals today. It was normal enough at first, James with his metal arm and Steve with his shield, the two of them armed to the teeth with guns and knives. But then the creatures kept coming. Steve wrapped himself around a horse-sized something that might have been a wolf in another life and broke every one of its bones with a single, heaving squeeze of his limbs. James punched through the chest of a biped taller than him with his flesh arm and ripped its heart out for good measure.

There was no pretending after that.

James smiles at Steve, a small, heated thing.

“I want you to fuck me until I can’t talk."

“And if I say no?” Steve asks.

James shrugs, and the gesture is nonchalant, but Steve can see the tension underneath.

“Then I will be very disappointed, and I will leave and take my whiskey with me.” James tilts his head to the side, an animal-like motion that’s a strange cross between predatory and adorable. “But somehow, Captain, I don’t think you’ll say no.”

- Captain America and the Winter Soldier are assigned a joint mission by their respective masters. They are strangers until they're not.

Part 1 of lay your heart into my perfect machine

Yours is the Only Ocean by seapigeon (oneshot | 6,256 | T)

"Sirens aren’t monogamous. She’s free to mate with whoever she wants.” Steve turns his head, and for the first time, he looks tentative. “So am I.”

It takes Bucky almost a full minute to understand.

“Oh,” he says, going warm down to his tailfin.

A Puppy Dog's Tale by roe87 (oneshot | 1,630 | T)

Bucky finds a lost puppy running around in the park, but who does the pup belong to?

Part 24 of Steve/Bucky modern au's

a modern feast (from one-hundred-and-two feet) by Spacedog (oneshot | 3,061 | E)

steven grant rogers is a good neighbor. he vacuums at times that aren’t ten-thirty at night. all his parties end at nine on the dot. and when he brings someone home, he’s cool about it. which makes it even more a shame that 106, the guy living across the hall from him, with the big, blue eyes and the adorable chin dimple and the ass steve can bounce quarters off of, is practically a thoughtful, neighborly, ghost.

luckily, when steve needs something from the local bodega, he strikes an agreement that 106 is more than willing to oblige.

(or: alternate universe, neighbors to hookups to lovers.)

some of them want to use you (some of them want to get used by you) by voxofthevoid (oneshot | 14,136 | E)

He’s dragged forward, his thrashing not doing a thing against the hydra’s shocking strength. At its widest, his tentacle is as thick as Bucky’s wrist. It tapers off towards the end. It’s subtly textured, not slimy like expected, but no less terrifying for it. The hydra pauses once Bucky’s under the cave’s opening, halfway between Pierce and the darkness on the other side.

“Johann is dead,” says the hydra. “I killed him.”

The words mean nothing to Bucky. But when he twists around to see, Pierce’s face is bloodless.

It’s the first time he’s seeing true fear on Alexander Pierce’s face.

“The deal you made with him is null and void, Alexander Pierce,” the hydra says. “And your people shall be better off for it.”

Pierce’s face tightens further.

“But you,” the hydra says – no rumbles, his voice making the water tremble. “You, not so much. I don’t appreciate this sacrifice.”

- Bucky is chosen as his shoal's annual sacrifice to the hydra that lurks in their territory. Things take an unexpected turn when the monster that greets him in the dark turns out to be a wholly unfamiliar beast.

Discord and Rhyme by velvetjinx (oneshot | 9,148 | E)

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are werewolves. They have feelings for each other, but are too busy pining to notice that they both feel the same way. Their inner wolves have had enough, but will that be sufficient to bring them together as humans?

Rose-tinted Glasses by Niitza (oneshot | 11,215 | T)

It all started because of Becca.

All I Want for Christmas by Pineau_noir (oneshot | 8,377 | M)

We're gonna live like it's 2012! Everybody lives at the Tower and they're all happy! All the domestic fluff!

Steve is retired from action, living his best life, helping with the Avengers and gently flirting with his favorite art store employee, Bucky Barnes, at Christmastime.

Written for the incredibly kind and talented TrishArgh who won my 2019 FTH auction.

The Last Contract* by xantissa (oneshot | 29,681 | E) *graphic violence

The world was dying, at war for years with alien invaders who were slowly and methodically wiping out humanity. Steve’s hope for the future was nearly gone having fought a losing battle for so long. In what little free time he had, he looked for the dragon sleeping under an old castle that his mother had told him stories about. He knew it was just a fairytale, but at least it was something to do. He never expected to actually find a man locked in a cave filled with magic. Nor did he expect to agree to some strange bargain with him. Steve had expected him even less to actually be a dragon. In a world all but destroyed, can Steve survive the consequences of his own actions?

Once More With Foresight* by galwednesday (complete | 7,317 | T) *polyamory

Bucky left the towel draped over Steve’s head and pulled his phone out of his pocket when it chimed with a new text from Natasha. She’d sent him a picture of Sam asleep, his legs sprawled over the shield on one end of the couch and his head in her lap on the other. Bucky snorted and tilted the screen so Steve could see.

Steve shook his head, mock scandalized. “Captain America for five minutes, and he’s already using the shield as a footrest.”

“I know for a fact you scrambled eggs in that thing.”

“That was to feed my team, Buck. It was my sworn duty as field commander.”

“It was a dare from Jones.”

“So it was two things,” Steve said, and ducked out of Bucky’s half-hearted noogie attempt, pulling the towel back to use as a defensive barrier. Bucky sat on the couch beside him and leaned into Steve’s shoulder. It was sharper than Bucky remembered; Steve had lost weight since last week. Since five years ago.

If Only In My Dreams by odetteandodile (complete | 28,317 | T)

Bucky is a highly successful cooking and lifestyle blogger, the gay New England Pioneer Woman if you will. He writes all about life in his Connecticut home with his D.H. (darling husband). Only problem? It’s all complete fiction. He actually lives in a shitty Brooklyn apartment, is single as hell, and has visited Connecticut exactly one time at the age of eight.

When his agent Sam informs him that he's been offered an exclusive sponsorship deal with Stark Media and a three book contract to go with it, Bucky's forced to fess up to Sam, who's predictably...displeased. But Sam's also convinced the deal is too good to miss—even if they have to put on a little bit of a show in order to get it.

So Tony and Pepper descend on Bucky and Sam's fake home for Christmas with a devastatingly handsome War Hero in tow, and their already complicated plan quickly gets even more complicated as Bucky finds himself falling head over heels for Steve. Can he keep it together just for the holidays? Did he ever have it together in the first place?

Not Without You* by SevereStorms, wreckingthefinite (complete | 94,402 | E) *graphic violence

Six months earlier, Bucky would have said the prospect of dying back home in Brooklyn sounded like a dream. Now, faced with his own imminent demise in a Brooklyn that is almost unrecognizable, it’s decidedly less appealing.

Honestly, it’s just sort of bizarre. Survive Afghanistan and come home to die in the pseudo-zombie apocalypse. Can’t make this stuff up.

Servitum by justanotherStonyfan (complete | 42,745 | E)

Steve appears in the hallway, and James turns his head to look at him, doesn't move otherwise. Steve’s in pale blue jeans and a white button down with the four buttons open and his tag chain visible beneath, which is sexy as fuck, but it’s even sexier when he towers over James like this.

"James?" Steve says, and he's not worried, James can tell. He's on the edge of it, sure - he's bemused, and prepared for something to be amiss - but he's not worried yet, so James closes his eyes for a moment.

"Help," he says, and then looks up at Steve. "I've fallen and I can't get up."

Part 28 of Honey Honey

Wenceslas by dragongirlG, mcl4r3n (complete | 17,915 | M)

Steve is a short, skinny Brooklynite with a very stable, predictable life, which he built after losing his memories in a traumatic accident six months ago. He works from home on a steady stream of art commissions, goes to weekly trivia nights with his superhero friends the Avengers, and tries not to get bothered by the constant feeling that something is not quite right.

When Steve invites a homeless man with one arm to take shelter in his apartment during a December snowstorm, both of them enter a dreamscape that unravels the fabric of their memories and reveals the truth about their identities—and their relationship to each other.

A wintertime fic featuring dream-sharing, identity porn, and Steve in the 21st century, inspired by the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the musical composition Wenceslas Suite by Bob Chilcott. Now complete!

Scenes From A Marriage: Captain America At Home by alby_mangroves, lim, Lunate8, RevolutionaryJo, Speranza (complete | 19,239 | E)

Welcome to the 4 Minute Window Advent calendar for 2019! As always, my goal is to tell a little bit of story in this universe each day (knock wood) between the Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Explicit eventually, the rest as it comes. This year there's loads of multimedia, as you might glean from the list of contributors. 

Part 16 of 4 Minute Window

[coldtomyflash]

I know your prompts are closed at the moment, but I've just had a light bulb moment that now just won't go away. I hope you'll put this out into the world anyway in the hopes that other writers might take a crack at it since you've probably got the wi(l)dest and most active coldflash reach that I can see. Please consider: Coldflash Firefly AU with Len as Captain Malcolm Reynolds. I have no idea where Barry will fit in with/sans powers but I JUST HAVE A BURNING NEED PLS HELP THANKS

Hmm okay Len as Mal? 

If we make Barry the classic love interest in-universe, that puts Barry as Inara? But honestly I feel like we’d make Barry the doctor. What’s his name - Simon? River’s older brother.

Okay, so setup for those who haven’t seen Firefly, or haven’t seen it recently: it’s a space western in which mankind has colonized... nearby star-systems? Not the whole galaxy I don’t think but like, there’s a lot of planets? The Core Planets or whatever have basically this level of imperial control, and more resources etc - they’re the rich and powerful. The border planets are a bit lawless and like the wild west, though technically under the same jurisdiction as the Core.

Len (Mal) is Captain of Serenity, a spaceship that essentially is a transport vessel for small runs between border planets. He was part of a failed separatist rebellion against the core, and since half his business is illegal smuggling and some casual thievery, he does his best to stay away from the military and Core police-ships, etc.

Okay actual plot - there’s Len, the Captain. His sister, Lisa, who acts as First Mate, and who’s married to the navigator, Cisco. Caitlin, the ship mechanic (trust me, it actually fits), who is pretty much the only one that their violent mercenary muscle Mick doesn’t get at odds with. 

Then we’ve got the more lawful members. In this world, there’s a rather respected and elevated position called a Companion, who is a sex worker but who also provides a great deal of companionship and works for predominately wealthy clients. Her presence on board gives the ship some respectability. I feel like the role of Companion in this AU is best suited for Iris, given the character’s grace and beauty, but also struggle with that for reasons I’ll get into in a sec.

So enter the inciting elements of the narrative: The Serenity is looking to take on passengers for a trip and they have some hot cargo they’re hiding/transporting, and part of the point of taking on passengers is to legitimize the trip and hide that cargo.

They take on a Doctor and a Shepherd (Reverend? Pastor? I legit don’t know the difference between these religious roles).

So by age and process of elimination the Shepherd goes to Joe, but I also think it honestly really fits, in the sense that the Shepherd is a secret badass who’s always dropping wisdom and has a history with the military that’s shrouded in mystery. Having Joe take up this role in the AU as a sort of father figure to the ship members makes a lot of sense.

Then we’ve got Barry! Finally. 3/4 into this answer and haven’t discussed Barry.

Barry’s a doctor from the Core. What’s this fancy-pants doing all the way out here, what’s with his weird ass cargo, and why’s he so goddamn cagey? Why’s he so jumpy when they run the risk of being boarded by the military? What’s he got to hide - isn’t he just a doctor? 

Len does not like Barry showing up on his ship and shovelling lies in his direction and almost getting his ship boarded and his cargo found out and - that could have all been a goddamn disaster and clearly this guy is more trouble than he’s worth and Len’s had it up to here.

He opens Barry’s cargo.

Barry’s cargo, in which the cryo-frozen (still alive, just asleep) body of his sister is naked and waiting. Len gets the wrong idea. Barry gets punched. Barry is forced to explain - 

It’s his sister. She was more or less abducted by the government. No one would believe him. He spent years saving her, and now they want her back. He doesn’t know what they did to her, but he knows it wasn’t good. She means everything to him - he’ll give up anything he has to protect her.

You can imagine why this pulls on Len’s heartstrings.

And - you can hopefully understand why I’m so torn on where to put Iris in this narrative. The Companion - the beautiful ingenue who Len holds a candle for even though she’s way out of his league, who is smart and sharp and capable? Or the most important person in the world to Barry and the one he’s doing all he can to protect? His best friend and a person he sees as a sister (blood relative or not, she means the world to him). Not to mention a super badass who everyone on the ship adores.

Best alternate options for the role of Companion on the ship seem to be Hartley and... I’m not even sure? Someone’s favorite Rogue? Just pick one, basically. Alternate options for River (the sister/friend/person Barry is seeking to protect and who he’s been smuggling around in cryo-freeze until right now) don’t seem to be forthcoming. Nora, possibly, or if you stretch in an interesting way then Wally? But I just have a hard time looking beyond people sees as super close and ideally familial to get at that connection.

So that’s where I’m at. Someone should write the thing. Play around with Firefly canon. Focus on the gvt more than the reavers but just like - get into it. Get into the space western of it all. Focus on the overarching plot and not the episodic ones and just take liberties with it all, but go hard and have fun.

Someone pls write the thing.

(Did I mention that the Captain and the Doctor argue a lot and that when I watched the show like a decade ago, I definitely shipped them? Because I definitely shipped them. City boy out of his depth in the west, but earning the Captain’s respect over time. The Captain threatening him but then slowly realizing that the Doctor has become part of his crew and thus part of the people he cares about and trusts? Gah!)

[mrneighbourlove]

Red Typhoon: Ch 2. Fellowship of the Sea

Bakura Saibot mediated in the cave. For the past seven years, he carved the ice out, making a sanctuary to collect his thoughts, and looking to the spirits for answers. He had done his best to catch up as a father for Liz and Lex, giving them everything he could, but the girl's hearts wouldn't rest until they found Seer. Adda needed to be found, and when she was... what would Bakura do? All these years, all this anger, and yet he couldn't shake her smile. It haunted him of what could have been.

As Bakura meditated, looking to the spirits for guidance, he felt a murmur, a gentle wave float in his mind. He concentrated, relaxing and letting go of his outward distractions, and focused inward. He heard loud arguing, gunfire, and ships sailing. He saw the snout of a crocodilian man, and a man with a red tie. All these images didn't make sense, until each one repeated over and over, and they linked into an image of Adda and Seer sitting a top a bungalow. Bakura opened his eyes in shock and came back to, the last sound that rang through his ears was the cry of a whale.

"Hey Bakie, don't mean to interrupt your thinking and all, but it's time for supper." Rat's voice echoed into the cave. "Liz is home, and everyone is gathering at mine and Borgie's place." He had little Trygve on his shoulders, his son's arms rested on top of his head. "I'm sure she'd be happy to see you there."

Bakura stood up, catching his breath. "...I saw him."

"...? Eh? No one's in here except you, Bakie."

"I saw Seer and Adda."

"What?" Rat was not following Bakura's words. "You saw them? Bakie, it must have been a dream, they're not here."

"My mediations. It finally paid off. The spirits gave me clues to Seer and Adda!"

Rat never understood mediation and he was never really big on spirits. Though, Bakura seemed pretty hyped. Was it actually possible that he had the location to Seer and Adda?

"I... think you need some a-food, Bakie. And if you do have the location then... eh..." Rat told the assassin. "Forgive me for sounding skeptical, but how can you be so a-sure?"

"Because I want to be. I want to have hope." The three of them headed back to the Kanisa's house. Inside, Revy was proudly describing her successful hunt with her mom and Boof. Liz sat next to Halvar, just content to relax after her long journey, and Lex was chatting it up with Kerugan, asking him if he had a handle on any of the girls his age, and pro tips to make girls comfortable.

"Rat? I thought we were all meeting at your place?" Kanisa asked. "I'm bringing rabbit stew, do you need me to bring something else?"

"No, that's not what we're here for." Rat set Trygve down on his feet. "Bakie thinks he knows the location of... of Seer and Adda."

"Bork?" Boof tilted his head at the mention of Seer's name. He had not see the man in a long time.

"Seer?" Vidar repeated. "It's been seven years, Rat. Corsaire has combed pretty much every inch of the seas and has come up with nothing. What makes you think Bakura knows?"

"Hey, if he has an idea, at least let him share it." Rat shrugged his shoulders. "It could be a-good or a-bad."

Liz and Lex stopped what they were doing and focused their current attention on Bakura. Lex was shocked, and a little excited. "Daddy?"

With all eyes on him, Bakura took a breath. "I had a vision in the cave. I saw a link that lead to Adda and Seer. First was a reptilian pirate with a golden eye. Than a man in shadows with a red tie. Following this, I saw Adda and Seer, clear as day."

"... a reptile pirate?" Vidar was trying to keep a straight face. "Sure you weren't puffing on something?"

"Vidar." Kanisa gave her husband a look. "Be nice."

"Do you have any idea how absurd that sounds?"

"Vidar!"

"Hey, hey, we can at least ask Cap'n if he knows of any reptile pirate." Rat was trying his best to be supportive of Bakura. "Cap'n knew a lot of pirates back in the day, still does."

Liz's mind raced. She thought to all her studies of Adda's known accomplices. Her mother had an army that spawned many loyal to her, with many being creatures and monsters. Some had laid low in infamy to keep a low profile, while others, such as the Dragon Onslaught, had gained a monstrous reputation for raiding military vessels in Adda's name. At her dad's description, she went through her mental list. "I know who he's talking about."

"You do?" Rat actually looked surprised.

"What about the man in a red shadow with a black tie?"

"It was a black shadow with red tie."

"Whatever."

"I don't know. Some pirates hide in shadows more. But they tend to know the location of one another. I think..." Liz stood up, analysing in her mind this development. "I think Dad's vision is telling us an order. If we find the first captain, we find this man in shadow, and from there we find Adda."

Revy stood beside both her moms, with Scarlet having a hand placed firmly on her daughter's shoulder. She regretted not knowing where to find Seer sooner. The paradise island Adda was most likely hiding him on was magic in nature, and slowly moved across the oceans undetected. The old location she gave didn't give Corsaire his friend back.

"Who's this crocodile captain than sis?"

"A captain by the name of Eltontor."

Now it was Lex's term to be excited, and, without a word, she dashed to her house to grab something.

"Okay, we know the 'who' but we still don't know the 'where'." Rat was trying not to let too much hope rise in his chest. All of them had been disappointed before and he did not want that to happen again. "Or what to expect."

An air of silence went through the room, despair leaving its mark. How many times had they hoped before in finding Seer? Every lead they came up with before had dried up. Suddenly, with a force to dispel the sad environment forming, Lex kicked open the door. "Holy crap! We got it! We got it by the balls!"  

"Lex, we a-talked about this language." Rat said dryly. "A proper lady doesn't---"

"Just tell us what you have." Vidar interrupted the man.

"Well, through MY hard work, I've been getting information from sailors and travelers. Including some navy officers. And using that information, I've documented every bit of information regarding mom, or any pirate for that matter!" Lex put down charts she had been making for the past two years. "This includes maps, names, and routes. I've triangled many pirate hot spots. And the name of one Captain Eltontor was described to me two weeks ago! He was last seeeeen... HERE!" Lex tapped specific map coordinates. "Right here!"

"Uh..." Rat looked at the charts and then frankly said, "I don't want to know, do I?"

"Okay, I hate to burst a hole in your bubble, but two weeks means we don't have a prayer of catching to wherever he is now." Vidar had to be the one to say it. "Look, even if he is still in that area, he won't be for long. That, and how can we get from here to there in an adequate time? It takes 3 months to sail from here to Hyrule. Danjur is nearly twice that."

"Well, I'm going." Liz stood up, a fire burning in her.

Revy was taken by surprise at how soon Liz reacted. "But Liz, you just got here!"

Bakura nodded in agreement with his daughter. "So am I."

"We can't go without a proper plan." Rat told the Liz and Bakura. "Adda's forces are a-large and vast over this sea. We's going to have to be careful. That, and we need a ship... or more like ships."

"We have a plan. And we have the navies of Uncle Corsaire to back us up." Liz was adamant about going. "If we go in small, we could be undetected an track down these other pirates before we amass on Adda herself."

"You have a plan, Liz, we have to talk this out with Cap'n and be rational." Rat was firm about this. "If we rush, Seer could get hurt. We have no idea what we're going to face with that giant lizard of hers or the number she has behind her. Let's talk to Corsaire, draw up a plan, and then... this old quartermaster might just have to call up his old mates for another sea journey."

"Than what are we waiting for. Let's go to him now." Liz grabbed her coat off Halvar and stomped out the door to be the first to leave the house.

Revy quickly grabbed her coat as Bakura and Lex followed after.

"H-Hey wait! I'm coming too!" Halvar chased after Liz.

"Bork!" Boof followed after Revy, loyal as ever.

"Eh, looks like the celebration is going to have to wait until Seer gets home, Kanisa." Rat said his goodbyes and then followed after the troupe, dragging Bakura with him. "Come on, Bakie, we's gots to get you suited up for a sea voyage."

Scarlet grabbed Rat, unable to stop Revy. "You can't be serious in letting our daughter go."

"Scarlet, it's not a matter of letting her, she's an adult now." Rat told the Iron Knuckle. "She wants to be there to help her best friends. If Borgie was going, wouldn't you want to go with her?"

"I don't want her getting killed! She can't go out there!" Scarlet tried to go past him.

"Scarlet!" Rat stopped her by the shoulders, and gave her a hard look. "Reveka knows what she's doing. Besides, do you not trust me? This 'mousa' as you called me knows how to watch after our little girl. Don't make Revy stingy to you cause you're not wanting her in danger."

"But I..." Scarlet's shoulders sunk in defeat. "She can't get hurt. I should at least go with her, shouldn't I?"

"That's up to you, Scarlet." Rat then gently reminded her. "You don't have to if you don't a-want to. We both know this isn't going to end well for Adda."

"I... I don't know if I can face Adda again. But I have to watch over my little girl. I made promises to myself that I'd never abandon her again."

"You do know that if you go you's... you's going to be against Adda." Rat was not going to sugar coat it. "This isn't going to be a reunion for you two, it's going to be a fight. I may not be your Voe, but I's still caring about you, all of us do. Borgie, Reveka, Trygve... we's your family now."

"I know... she was a sister to me. Someone I loved. But I have you all in my heart now." Scarlet took a deep sigh, trying to not crumble. "We should get going if we want to catch up to them."

"We's all going to understand if you don't want to go. You make up your mind while we prepare, okay?"

"I... I understand." Scarlet walked over to the couch by the fire and sat in contemplation.

~

At the hotel Corsaire was staying at, he was quickly startled awake just as he was getting an early sleep. It didn't take long for Bakura and his daughters to explain the plan they had in saving Seer from the clutches of Adda.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, one at a time! One at a time!" Corsaire had to yell over the multiple conversations. "Look, I understand you're all eager to leave right now, but the ship isn't ready yet. We need to finish restocking, chart a course, and most importantly, alert Hyrule and Danjur to Adda's location as soon as possible. We're going to need to send word with Stra'tuso's family that delivers cargo to Hyrule and Danjur, it's the only way that's possible."

"Stra'tuso's sister and brother leave tomorrow since they just dropped off cargo a few days ago." Rat told Corsaire. "Not to mention, we's going to have to figure out a way 'round that... Wind Chime thing of Adda's."

"Wind Waker."

Liz took a breath, hoping to come across as clear. "Adda's Wind Waker is one of a kind, and is on her person. When we get that bridge, we'll cross it. First, we need to find someone that knows the location of her secret, hidden island."

"I believe my vision tells me that the man in the red tie will know. And this Captain Eltontor can lead us to him."

"Captain Corsaire, if our target doesn't know an exact way into Adda's island, we have mages in Hyrule and Danjur that could possibly know spells to disenchant Adda's protect dome, right?"

"It's possible, depending on if another mage made the dome or if an ancient artifact made the dome." Corsaire knew little of magic, but his wife Orana had taught him a little. "We have three problems as of the moment. The dragon under Adda's command, the Wind Waker, and the unknown number of ships she has. We're going in blind unless this red tie gentleman can give us more information." The captain grimaced. "One of the first rules of war on the sea is to know exactly what you're up against. We have no clue."

"So that's the a-bad news, what's the a-good?"

"The good news is Adda's arrogance came back to bite her in one way."

"Oh?"

"Remember that sail we made a deal for all those long years ago?"

"Aye."

"Let's just say that this captain might have been collecting the rest... and took down one of her old ships with the last sail, a month ago."

Liz was ecstatic. "Really?! We got them all?!"

"What do you think Hyrule was building me that new, big, fancy, ship for?" Corsaire had to snicker a little at Liz's outburst. In some ways, she was still just a kid. "It took me a long while, but I finally have all of the sails. So that's one surprise Adda will not know of, however... we're not sure what's going to have more of an advantage; the sails or the Wind Waker."

"The Wind Waker for a large scale battle." Bakura thought about the future, and the war that would happen. "We can use this specialized ship to hunt down our targets that will lead us to Adda, and also get in close to Adda herself. If we disable her and her tool, we can stop her from controlling nature. That will even the playing field."

"This might seem like a dumb question to you, but how do we even dismantle this Wind Waker?" Rat asked Bakura. "From what Reveka says, it's damn old and dangerous."

"Well, Dad, according to Hylian legend, its just a baton. If its not in someone's hand to physically wave around, all the spells the current user did should stop, and no one can cast anymore magic. Just, get it out of her hand."

"We can always cut her hands off." Liz offered.

Lex quickly interjected, disturbed by any talk of maiming her mother. "Or we just smack it out of her hands and quickly subdue and arrest her."

"So our first objective is to get the Wind Waker away from her," Corsaire held up his hand to stop the sisters from any further argument. "That way we can get closer. Once that's out of her hands, the second objective is to keep her busy while a few of us find Seer. Last, but not least, we have to make sure that there's an exit. Just because we get in doesn't guarantee us an out."

"You know that there will most likely be casualties. When we reach Adda, we will be at war. At most, her people won't fight. She's already formed an army out of others, so we most likely won't have to kill a lot of Gerudo." Bakura rubbed his hair, thinking about the inevitable reunion. "And Lex, when we face Adda, you have to understand, anything can happen."

"But, we aren't savages. Right? We aren't just gonna assassinate her, right?"

"Either way, once we arrest her, Adda has a death sentence." Corsaire frowned. "You know Hyrule and Danjur both have a warrant for her arrest. Once we bring her to the courts, it will be a death sentence in Danjur due to her shooting Queen Annuciata's brother, Dario. He's very sore about that eye he lost." He then added. "In Hyrule, the best we could hope for is life in prison, but I doubt that is going to be the case."

"I.... I know." Lex looked sad, not meeting anyone's eyes. Bakura gave her a hug. He wouldn't say it outloud, but he understood her feelings.

Liz looked to Halvar, concerned about his well being. "You've never left Uskar before Halvar. Are you certain that you are up to this?"

"This concerns Uskar just as much as it does Hyrule and Danjur." Halvar reminded Liz. "Adda fired upon innocents and some of our people died. We never did a thing to her, and she attacked us outright. Besides, I'm not letting you go alone." He turned slightly red in the cheeks and said sheepishly. "Direnors don't leave their loved ones to fight alone."

Liz processed his answer, and she took his hand. "Ok..."

"I'll get in contact with me old crew mates, have them meet us. Otherwise, once we have any slight idea what we're up against, all that is left is getting more ships and drawing out a battle plan."

Scarlet knocked on the door, peering in. "Captain Corsiare?"

"Yes, Scarlet?" Corsaire stood from his chair. "We're leaving tomorrow as soon as the ship is restocked. I assume you want to talk to Rat and Reveka?"

"Yes."

"If you need me, I'm going to be getting some sleep." Corsaire said goodbye to Rat and the rest of the group before returning to his room.

"Scarlet?" Rat looked at the Gerudo and then at Revy. "What did you decide?"

"Mom. You ok?"

Scarlet sat across from them, taking a sigh. "I worry about you Revy. I know that you're older now. I know that you're strong and smart too. But this task ahead of you... I can't stop worrying."

Revy had her hand taken by her mother. "Revy... I love you. I wasn't there for you for the first era of your life. Now I want to protect you. But even I know that its not my place to protect you forever. And I can't stop you from going. However... will you let me look after you one more time? Please?"

Revy gave a small smile, trying to not let her warmth for her mother overwhelm her. Moving closer to hug her, she nodded. "Of course. I'd feel so much better with you and Dad by my side."

"We's all going to have to be careful and look out for one another." Rat told the two girls and then hugged them both in his huge arms. "First things first though. Scarlet's going to need to go over the basics of a ship with you Reveka, and I's need to find me old guns."

Scarlet felt so happy hugging them both. It felt like the family she could have had, if she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life.

Revy hugged them both back. "We've been sailing before dad."

"Yes, but being on a war ship is different. And I doubt you ever had to work on a ship. In the morning, I'll take you out. Ok?"

"Ok mom."

The three hugged each other once more, hoping that they'd all return once their journey was over.

"Let's get some dinner and rest before our big day tomorrow."

~

Onslaught clicked his claws as he sat in the dark, reading the report from the Eastern Front. It seemed that the navies of Danjur and Kikai had gathered together recently to fight off raids. It was disappointing the Kikai Empire had cancelled negotiations with the Collection. Adda had insisted on calling her armies simply, 'her forces'. No name or organization in it. It maddened Onslaught. In time, their forces had grown radically. And as their power increased, Onslaught often wondered if he'd need Adda anymore. Unfortunately, she held respect of many. And most importantly, she held the Wind Waker. As long as she had that, and showed no notable weakness, she held an advantage over him. How could he fight a force that could ground him and send him hurtling from the sky? So the Dragon decided to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

One of the other major lieutenants, code named King Crimson, waited nearby in the shadows. "Onslaught. We need to discuss our most recent hits. Hyrule is allowing dragons to nest on the Charlie and Delta islands."

Onslaught narrowed his eyes. "Unsettling. But not impossible to deal with. We can bomb the islands to drive them off. Do so after they hatch the chicks. They will rather flee forever than risk their young being hurt. We can retrieve our smuggled goods than."

"I understand. Captain Adda wants to know if your fortress can be used to store the cache of diamonds and gold that was recovered from Termina."

"Yes. Of course. I can have my crews airlift it up. Anything else to discuss?"

"No."

"Good. Then go into hiding and gather information on this gathering of Danjur and Hasai."

"Understood."

Now that this meeting was over, Onslaught starred back into darkness. He felt a shift in the air, and felt a feeling in his gut that change was going to take place in the near future.

[metalotaku-da]

Ryan and Lance week 5 mermaid au

i’ll probably do more of this later on ao3. but the first part is already 12 pages.

“Everybody up! We got to move now! Up! Up! Get your gear.” James yells tearing down the narrow hallway below deck. Slamming on the doors to the rooms to wake people as he passes. A few people falling from their bunks to the floor.

 Ryan is up on his feet in no time pulling on his clothing quickly. Once his pants and shoes are on, he grabs a shirt off the wall and his camera bag from his cubby and heads into the Hall. Nadia is seconds behind him hoping on one foot at time to get her shoes on. “What the hell is going on. We just hit the hay a few hours ago.”

 “3 hours and 38 minutes ago.” Ina says calmly leaving her shared room with Nadia.

 “Ok yeah, well close enough. It's the middle of the night. What the hell is the emergency?” She huffed falling a few places behind Kinkade to give him the arm room he needs to get his shirt on. Even if he doesn't button it.

 “Don't know we just need to be prepared.” Ryan answers pulling his camera bags strap over his head to secure it before digging out his waterproof video camera just as they get to the stairs to get on deck.

 Once Ina is on deck with her own bag on and waterproof tablet in hand she takes a cursory glance at the sky and down to the horizon. “We have changed course and have increased speed since retiring for the night.” The three ignored the other crew members stumbling up behind them to head for the bridge.

 “Why? I thought we were going to follow the current with the migrating shoals till we spotted a pod?” Nadia asked as Ryan continued to lead the way now filming as he went. His camera's auto balancer working perfectly as he ascended the stairs nearly two at a time with his long legs.

 “About time you lot got here, hurry up and gather up cadets.” Iverson yelled as soon as the door opened. Already packed around the high-tech holo-gps table was captain Iverson, Sam and Coleen Holt their son Matt as well, first mate Adam west, navigator Veronica McClain, and their marine biology specialist Slav. The one who stood out the most to Ryan was their ships medic Coran also being at the meeting. That was never good. Before their trip could complete the trip to the table James comes bursting in behind.

 “Everybody is up and getting to stations sir. All hands should be on deck shortly.” James Sames with a halfhearted salute to the captain who has a soft spot for his old military protocol.

 “What is going on? Are we sinking or something?” Nadia asked annoyed at having been woken up so abruptly.

 “There is an emergency, but not our own.” Colleen said gently before Iverson could snap at her impatient.

 “We got a call from a nearby coast guard vessel.” Iverson said looking around the table. “They intercepted a poaching vessel.” He paused. “In the middle of a hunt.” The room exploded with questions.

 “Everyone quiet and wait. See if your questions are answered after he gets out the pertinent information.” Adam shouted over the group till the ceased.

 “The coast guard was unable to engage the ship in time to prevent them from harming one of their targets. The good news is they seemed to be after live specimens. The bad news is, they were targeting mers.” Iverson gave a second for that to sink in. As that was exactly the target of their ship, but for research and study in the wild. James had been brought in specifically to collect video for a documentary for added awareness and generate funding for their ongoing research to the public. “And from what the coast guard described of the pod. And their doubt of their own observations. The pod that was attacked is believed to be subject group ap27v, Voltron.”

 There was a clatter as Matt dropped his tablet. “Voltron? Poachers found and cornered our legendries?”

 There was a groan from Veronica. “they aren't Pokemon Matt.”

 “You right I could log on to pogo out here and catch something. They are rarer than Pokemon. They are like finding the lochness monster. We've only had the first-hand privilege to witness them 4 times in 4 years. And the handful of sightings by other vessels is shoddy at best. We can't even get close enough to tag any members.”

 “To a seedy bunch of poachers, they probably didn't notice or care about how odd the pod was. They saw a small easy target of variety. Good easy money.” Ryan spoke up his mouth pulled slightly in anger. “It's just about a quick buck.”

 Ina carefully placed a calming hand to Ryan's back. Knowing how much her friend hated poachers. Specifically, mer poachers.

 “Yes, and we are going to take this opportunity to tag one of the pod.” Iverson said once Ryan was done. “After we have contained and corralled them. We have permission from the government to seize and relocate members of the pod as we deem necessary, though if that does not pan out.”

 “What? Why? How?” Nadia asked in confusion. They hardly ever took in living specimens and the mers in particular we're highly protected under international treaties and the U.N.

 “The pod's alpha male was severely injured by the poachers. The pod managed to free him, when the coast guard arrived. But there was a lot of blood. They don't know what other injuries we're incurred by the pod. But the male orca breed was observed to be missing an arm from the elbow along with other lacerations. He was also not swimming well on his own the pod was keeping him at the surface and pulling him along as they swam.” Colleen gave the run down from her notes on her tablet.

 “We also want all hands-on deck not just because we are cornering injured mer to sedate for medical treatment. Possibly multiple. If it's not treatable on site, we will have to move pod back to the coast for rehabilitation. The unique make up and study of this pod has allowed is this opportunity. Even if our goal should be immediate release. If anyone mer won't survive their injuries above a 90 percent.” Iverson looked to Ina to make sure she made notes on her tablet. Which she was. As that call would most likely fall to her and Slav. “We are to collect them all, till they can be rehabbed and reintroduced.” he gave out a long sigh and then gestured to James to finish for him. Having been the one he first called when the transmission came over. And had caught the tail end and most unbelievable part of the report.

 “The other reason is…” James looked around the table at everyone with the most serious of looks he could. “They had advanced weapons.”

 “Well of course they did James. They are poachers of mer. Sure they have top of the line instruments of torture.” Nadia sassed at him.

 “Yeah seriously.” Matt answered.

 “No, the pod did.” James stated back. His tone and eyes showing the seriousness of the information and that he was not joking.

 “Like they stole from the poachers?” Coran asked with a twirl of his mustache. Though his tone was curious his face gave way to his worry.

 “A wet gun isn't going to fire.” Veronica pointed out.

 “No.” James said again rubbing his eyes in exasperation. “Their own they made. The descriptions were vague. But...” He looked around the table at the shocked and agape faces of the team. “The pod got members of it on board the ship to free their member. They were witnessed dragging him over the side and engaging the crew of the ship with primitive projectile weapons. Including firing on the coast guard ship when they tried to corral the pod to hold for us.”

 Ryan nearly dropped his camera at that information. Matt dropped his tablet a second time. “That's not possible.” Sam said in his shock. “mer have only ever been observed with basic tools, a coral club, or a sharp shell used for cutting a sharped bone spear. Maybe a shark’s tooth imbedded in a wood handle for the most complicated. You’re talking about…”

 “This odd mix matched shouldn't be natural in the wild pod is…” Matt said. “Evolving. If not experimenting and inventing. Like…”

 “Humans.” Ryan said in pure shock. This was new. This was ground breaking. This pod alone was unique and ground breaking based on no two subspecies was the Same. It was a mixed pod. and had funded this crew for many years now when they were first spotted. If they could get proof of this, show just how much more human these creatures were. They would not only stun and enlighten the scientific community but maybe even get more funding for protection for these creatures. Or communication. Ryan and Ina's own side project and theory. In attempts to learn their complex languages. “This is..”

 “Amazing.”

“Exciting.”

“Ground breaking.”

“Dangerous is what it is. All you little nerds get the stars out of your eyes and buckle down.” Iverson said annoyed. “They attacked the coast guard, who was trying to help and only contain.”

 “We will be engaging in a closer and more direct nature. If the reports on the weapons is true. They could use them on us, not understanding we are trying to help.” Adam tried to sober up the group of scientists. “So, we need to proceed with caution. We are headed just ahead of their last know location on the direction they were seen headed. It’s dark, and we have a lot of unknown variables. We have 7 different species of mer to prepare to Capture, subdue, and asceses. And they are already stressed, and in the middle of their fight or flight instinct, and possibly we now have the added danger of distant weapons. We need all hands-on deck sharp and alert. This isn’t going to be easy.” Adam relayed for the group.

 “I’m not having anyone die on my watch. The rich bill payers don’t tend to like that. And it looks bad on my record.” Iverson had to get in the last word a wry smile on his face. “So get some coffee and get to your stations. We should be in the strike zone in an hour so long as they didn’t change directions. You are dismissed.”

 James grabbed his team on the way out. “Kinkade, can you set anything up for night filming with Ina? I know it’s last minute.”

 “It is, I have one camera we can…” Ryan started.

 “I’ll have the program ready for it within the hour limit.” Ina answered.

 “I’ll switch it to a mount with an auto leveler on the front of one of the go ships.” Ryan finished.

 James jerked at that. “I don’t know if i want you on a go boat. That’s, that’s a risky spot if the information is true.”

 “Uh griffin, this is like the kind of discovery that makes names. Gets you in a college textbook, maybe even a high school one.” Nadia quipped back. “If you don’t think Kinkade is going to make sure his camera is on the first ship to intercept the pod. You are delusional.”

 “She’s right.” Ryan said with a smirk.

 “I don’t like it. But if you are going to do it. I want you dressed in full gear. Your thick wet suit, the white one so we can see you if you go over.” James said with a sigh. “Ina, I want…”

 “I’ll collect live feed from all camera’s Ryan sets up, and catalog as much data as I can from the feeds before bringing the mers into the slings. That way Slav has adequate data for tranquilizers based on preliminary data to lower risk.”

 “Yeah that.” James said with a pout. “I’ll let you to get on what you need to do. “Nadia, coffees, for everyone. We meet back on deck once Ryan and Ina have all the gear they need. And we set up whatever they need help with. We are kind of useless till the mers on in the slings. Then we move fast. If… and only if we really feel they need greater medical care, will we transfer then to the tank. If that happens this trip is over, we head back immediately to the aquatic reserve facility.”

 ***************

 “Alright we are close to the estimated area the mers should be in. keeps yours eyes peeled, and the sonar drones have been dropped along with two ariel drones with heat signature detection. Once they have been spotted, we will deploy the net boats to secure then and lead them back towards our main ship for tranquilizing and medical assessment. No sling leaves the water unless Slav or Ina gives the go.” Iverson said as he stood in his old military position in front of the crew on deck. “We need to look alive people and keep alert, we don’t know what to expect, this is anything but a routine bag and tag. Watch each other’s backs. The safety of this crew comes first.” Iverson then gave the floor to James.

 “The pod we are looking for is the Voltron pod. It consists of a large alpha male orca whale type mer who was the one reported with the most severe injury. He is also the largest. He’s estimated at 30ft long. He’s been named Shiro. The female alpha is an 27Ft long oarfish type. She is the second largest in the group. Named Allura. Next in size we have a female coelacanth, the largest one ever recorded, and it’s just an educated guess based on photos at 15ft. She is the slowest and cataloged as shay. Then we have on second most dangerous after the orca. A bull male elephant seal he is 12ft long, and huge. One of the largest we’ve seen. We believe him to be Over 7,000 lbs. and if he feels like it, he can get around on our ship if we aren’t careful called Hunk. Third dangerous is a crossbreed. Mako, and bull shark mer cross breed. He’s 10ft long. Male. he’s got the speed of a Mako and the most aggressive in the pod. He’s also been recorded with a large black coral knife in every sighting. So, keep an eye out. He’s going to be the hardest to predict. The shark mers are usually solitary or pair. And this one is not. And is normally protective of his pod. Attacking ships that get to close. With the recent attack and alpha male injured he’s going to be worse he’s been named Keith. The smallest female is an octopus type. So, another who will be able to get around on deck easily. She’s also pretty young based on her size. She’s 9ft long if she’s streamlined. She has reach and can be kind of aggressive too. Matt stupidly named her Pidgeot, we call her Pidge. Lastly is a young male, who appears to be a lancetfish type, or at least a crossbreed of one. We just don’t know what with, or if he is a new species. He has a frill with barbs that can extend down his back. He will be the easiest to spot Out here in the dark, he has bioluminescent spots and stripes that flash. He’s just longer than the shark, 11ft and originally named lance. He’s also sometimes seen with a spear. Our goal is to collect them quickly with the least amount of stress. It’s going to be tough. But I know we can do this. These mers are counting on us.”

 Matt took over next. “Alright I’m calling out teams for the net runners. I want you sitting pretty and waiting for the drop. Ryan will be joining one of the lead boats with his camera, so he’s just an extra body.” Matt then began calling out the four groups.

 *******************

 More ships, more humans. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone. The pod had had to slow down. When their leader Shiro had lost consciousness. Pidge had done her best to stop the bleeding from his stump of an arm, tying a band of seaweed around it. But while they had been resting trying to catch their breathes and gills at the surface the next boat of humans had shown. Larger even still than the first two. Then it had broken up into many. 4 smaller, louder boats had come towards them. They had tried to flee. They couldn’t dive with Shiro like this. He’d drown. But they weren’t fast enough pulling his large mass along with them. The humans in their unnaturally quick boats had gotten ahead of them. Encircling their family with a net. It dropped to deep for them to go under even if Shiro could dive and he couldn’t. Keith was becoming more agitated if that was even possible. Slashing at the net with his knife, his claws his teeth even. It wouldn’t break though. And with each passing wave the bigger ship drew closer to them. Allura drew her long body up protectively around Shiro at the sight. Shay holding his head. Pidge i tried tugging on the top of the net to push it down so maybe we could swim over it. We were having very little luck. Then in his frustration Keith slashed one of the hard jellyfish at the top of the net with his knife. It shrank in size and that part of the net dropped lower in the water. Pidge puffed up at the sight of it excitedly. And I flashed my tail. I waved Hunk over placing his hand to my throat I made the vibrations that went with my lights and the words with my hands, so Hunk would know what we wanted. Pidge making the Same gestures a few more with her tentacles pulling at the net Too. Hunk dove down just enough to build some speed then cleared the surface enough to land on the top of the net with his body. I took my last arrow from it’s hold and flashed at Keith. The two us began to slash the jellies on either side of Hunk to get the net to lower more. Pidge darted quickly to shay and Allura to help them guide Shiro out the deepest part above Hunk. I flashed another pattern to Keith, so he knew to go help them. Then i joined Hunk in swimming down holding the net.

 ********************

 “Are you seeing this?” Matt said excitedly to James as they watched the feed from the boats laying and tying off nets while their ship pulled them in.

 “Yeah I am. And as cool as it is, to see their tools and problem-solving abilities in person. They are going to get out and we are going to need a new plan to catch them.” James complained. “Can we real the nets in any faster?”

 “A little.” Nadia “But we can pull it.” She snapped her fingers. “See if Iverson or Adam can reverse direction. Put tension on the net make it narrower.”

 “On it.” Sam said with a smile calling up to the bridge.

 They watched the net jerk on the video feed just a few seconds to late, most the mers getting clear outside the net, the seal getting the net pulled out from under him like a rug falling to the outside of it. But under him was an unbroken buoy. Once his weight was removed it added to the lift of the net. Leaving only one mer the lancet trapped inside. His weight to light. Flinging out of the water and a few feet back from the net seemly stunned for a minute before he dived under. The shark disappearing from the surface along with the octopus and seal.

 “So, we got one at least. Even if his pod flees I don’t think they’ll go far, do you?” Nadia asked.

 “We don’t know how they will behave. Oar and lancet leave week and injured behind. Sharks eat them. So, we don’t know what they will do. This pod already defies all we know about mers. Anything could happen.” Ina said looking at an underwater feed of the scene.

 *********

 I swam up to the net and watched sadly as Keith once again frantically attacked it with everything he had Hunk pulling on it and pidge trying to analyze it. I have them a sad smile and at them to go. I was trapped. Shiro was injured. They needed to flee before the human’s big ship was to close. Keith shook his head and tail violently in the water eyes sad and terrified. It’s ok I signed him. Along with escape. Later. Shiro. safe. I reached my hands through the net Hunk and pidge each taking one. Hunk let out a mournful wail into the water. Pidge signing, they will come back. For me. Not leaving. Back. soon. Keith reached threw the net to grab my head and pull it forward pressing the bridge of his nose to the top of my head, so I could feel the small pulses. Back. safe. Not leaving. Not alone. I flashed my lights back. Love. family. Safe. ok. Go. go. Go. I fight. We pulled away from each other and the net. I watched my pod swim away. To safety to freedom. Then turned to face the big human ship. I had lost my arrow. Only had the bow left draped across my chest. But I still had my teeth, my claws and my barbs. I would fight. To give my pod time at least to get away.

 ********

 “Ryan did you see….” Ina asked after having witnessed the underwater scene thanks to the lights of the ship coming closer to the net and mers.

 “Yeah I did.” He said his own small feed on this tablet of all the camera’s. His words tinged with sadness.

 “But they still left him.” Nadia said sadly.

 “I… I didn’t think they were going to after that.” Colleen said a hand cupped over her mouth. The small group on deck watching as the sad lone mer began to frantically move about the shrinking space shoving at the enclosing net. Bright lights on his body flashing randomly. Suddenly shining like a light bright with its paper pulled back to just some twinkling lights. Or pulsating down his body. Intermittently when a boat would get to close he’d flare his spines and flash his teeth. His world slowly shrinking.

 “Saddle up team. We still have a job to do. I know it’s hard. Ina assessment.” James sadly got them on tract.

 “Subject named lance, untagged, estimated length 11ft long male lancet. Coloring brown, blue white. Gill breather self-pumping. Estimated weight 225-250 pounds Warm blooded. Scale density estimate 6mils back. 2-3 stomach area. Appears to have several fresh lacerations, and a piece of harpoon embedded in his back just under his dorsal ridge between his shoulders. From his movements I believe it to be embedded in the skins connective tissue. I don’t believe it’s in his spine. Due to agitation level, he needs to be tranquilized through the softer underbelly before slinged. Or he could break off spines in it with his thrashing. Or dig the harpoon in deeper putting his spine at risk.”

 “Good call.” James patted her on the back. “you’ve got the assessment Slav. Start working on some tranquilizers for him. We’ll hit him once the net is tight enough to control his movements more.”

 “on it. right away.” Slav called to him with a thumbs up. Loading the cartridges from his station near the platform.

 ���Ryan can you get back to the ship? I’d like to get more shots from the platform when we bring him up. If that’s alright.” Matt asked. “his lights and the display look controlled a little bit. And maybe we can get a better identification on his subspecies.”

 “sure.” Ryan said. His boat already heading back to the main ship as the others helped guide the mer closer as the net closed in.

The slings were dropped down just before the mer was corralled above it. a mere 10ft ring. Not even enough room for it lay flat at the surface without touching the back of the ship and the net behind him. His thrashing becoming worse. They didn’t have a clear shot though for the tranquilizer. And then the creature started ramming the net. Getting a few spines stuck on the netting. Tearing a few of his fins. As the sight of the pooling blood building in the water, Ryan had had enough of the mer’s fear in his viewer. He grabbed a rope off the deck floor and tied it to this belt. Then set down his hand-held camera. Only his small go pro still clipped to the front of wet suit.

 “Kinkade what are doing?” James asked once he saw Ryan set down his camera. Then he saw the rope a second of shocked panic before he rushed his friend. “don’t do something stupid Kinkade!” however Ryan jumped into the net with the panicked thrasher mer before James could get to him. He grabbed the rope to tie off to the deck though to keep him with in reach. “Ryan! You idiot!”

 “what is he doing?!” Nadia screamed running up to James to try and help him pull Ryan back towards the ship. Ryan popped up at the surface directly in front of the mer it had turned at the splash.

 The creature charging him as Ryan held his arms to brace himself. The mer grabbed his arm unable to get any moment built to throw him. Ryan bit his lower lip hard to hold in his own yell of pain as the mer clamped down hard on his forearm. Its sharp teeth piercing threw the thick wet suit and into his flesh. Claws cutting deep into the suit to shred it. but the thick fabric giving his arm some protection. His pain almost drowning out his friends shouts of fear and worry from the ship. But Ryan could feel the mer’s full body tremble threw his arm clamped tight in the creature’s mouth. Like it was to afraid to let go. But didn’t have the energy left to tear his arm from him. Barely had the strength to flail it’s tail about. It is catching and pulling on the too close net. Ryan carefully and slowly brought his free hand up to the side of the mer’s head and neck the back of his hand brushing the area up and down. Just like he had recorded the sea lion mers in California do to their young. Fingers and nails curled away from the mer’s face and sensitive eyes. The mer flinched at the touch but opened his eyes to look up in shock at Ryan. Mouth still clamped tight. Then Ryan opened his mouth and began to chuff, moan and warble the tune he had heard and memorized from watching the recordings over and over again with Ina to catalog. To his and everyone on the ship’s amazement the mer froze at first and just watched. After a few seconds with the growing silence of the people around them, the only sound from the machines. the mer released the hold on his arm with his teeth. Ryan didn’t stop his ministrations or the sounds he was making, keeping his eyes locked with the mer.

 “what the hell is he doing?” James whispered to Nadia hoping she had a clue. She shrugged in response.

 Ina however answered. “it’s a call sound sea lion mers in California use to calm their young. Along with the hand motion. It was used by 87% of the observation group. With very small variables in the sounds. It also included the hand motion and touch.” She kept her voice low.

 “he’s not a seal type mer.” James grit out. “why would he take a risk like that? How does he know it’s even working? That it’s not just confused at the dumb human touching him and is going to snap any minute.”

 “there is a seal in their pod though.” Matt whispered back joining the group by the rope to quickly tug him back should the mer snap out of his trance. James just rolled his eyes.

 “can anyone get a shot with the tranquilizer?” they heard Adam ask as he joined them down on the deck. Iverson must have sent him down after seeing the shit show it was turning into.

 “no! god no!” Nadia growled out. “trying to get him killed. It takes a minute to work. In that time, he could rip Ryan apart.”

 The group watched as the mer brought it’s face closer to Ryan’s before clicking its teeth hard enough for the sound to echo around. Its mouth shaking and teeth rattling. The lights on it’s tail starting to pulsate is a slow soft pattern lighting the waters. Its brows started to scrunch up mouth pausing when Ryan kept up his tune. The mer jerked it’s head up sharply lowering its self in the water before grabbing Ryan’s hand that was on his neck and pressing it in the Same position to the exposed column of his neck with the back of his hand. The mer’s grip nearly bruising on his hand despite it being much slimmer and smaller than his own. The action so fast it freaked out Ryan’s friends jerking on the rope pulling the two a little closer to the ship positioning them over the submerged sling before they realized it wasn’t attacking Kinkade. The mer then repeated the light pulse pattern and the clacking of its teeth.

 “I’m sorry.” Ryan whispered careful not to move to much and startle the mer. “I don’t understand.” He kept his eyes locked with the mers. Though he could feel the vibrations threw the hand pressed to the mers throat. The mer stopped again before it looked even more frustrated. It dropped both of hands and surged forward. To grab his head. Pressing the bridge of his nose to the mer’s forehead. However, that didn’t seem to sway the crew on the ship.

 “no!” James had shouted at first pulling on the rope again at the initial surge with his team. Once he realized the mer wasn’t trying to rip Ryan’s head off, the group relaxed a bit again. “oh my god. I’m going to kill you when you are back on this deck Kinkade!”

 Ryan ignored his friends to carefully place the back of his curled hand to the mer’s face and neck again. Making the calming seal song again. The pressure on his nose growing a bit as the flashing became faster and once again a bit frantic. Claws of the creature digging in ever so slightly to his scalp before backing away.  The mer was trembling again.

 “Ryan, Ryan you need to get out of there. It’s not working anymore. It’s going to attack.” James said to his friend bracing himself on the lip of the deck to pull as soon as he needed too.

 “he won’t. some one get me a fish. Slav put the tranquilizer in the fish.” Ryan paused in his tune to instruct the others. He poured as much calm certainty into it as he could into his words. Though he was fairly certain the mer wouldn’t. it was just frustrated and scared. Slav stumbled on the deck in his bid to do as asked. The pulsating stopped the water going dark for a few seconds before it started again at something more reminiscent as a throb if Ryan had to put a word to it. the mer took one hand off his head releasing some the pressure on his nose to press the hand once again to the mer’s neck. As it tried to make clicks and sounds it wasn’t capable of producing. Ryan stayed still in the water and repeated the seal song again while they waited for the fish.

 The human was singing Hunk’s song. It knew seal. It knew at least some seal. But he couldn’t make the Same sounds. He tried, he tried so hard to get the human to understand. The human who didn’t attack him even when he had lashed out with the last of energy to bite him. The human who was telling him it’s ok. You are safe little one. He didn’t understand. The humans never talked to them. They made loud indescribable noises. Angry ugly faces at them. Some smiled and waved their arms. But none ever spoke to them in one of their languages. Till this human. This human who couldn’t understand him. As he begged for help. Begged to be freed. The other humans around them had their eyes locked to him, but they didn’t attack. Unsure if it was because they worried of harming their own or that he would attack the strange human if they did. None of it Matter. This human spoke like Hunk. Hunk who was so mournful at having to leave him behind. But Shiro and the pod needed Hunk. They’d come back for him once it was safe. Just like they had for Shiro. This human was trying to make him feel safe. Even if he was anything but. He’d hold onto the that for as long as he could. Till these humans cut him to pieces or jabbed him with their barbs that made their kind sleep. That’s all that was left to do was wait. And hold onto this what little bit of peace this human was offering him. Letting him pretend it was Hunk singing to him and consoling him.

 My eyes catch movement behind the human. We’ve drifted closer to the big human ship. The human bumping into the ridge that sits in the water. Another human was leaning over to hand the seal human a fish and make some noises at him. The seal human took the fish with the hand I had injured. I could see and smell the blood flowing from it. mingling with the water and my own. All my injuries from the previous humans starting to burn and ache the more tired I got. It felt like torture. The seal human slowly moved the fish between us to just in front of my mouth. He stopped speaking while pressing the fish to my lips.

 When the merman locked eyes with him again pulling away enough to look at the fish and sniff it before locking eyes with Ryan again. Ryan smiled at the mer sniffing the fish exaggerated the noises a bit of it. and pressed his lips around it like he was eating it before pushes it back at the mer till the mer took to understanding the gesture of him wanting the terrified thing to eat the fish. The mer closed his mouth around it and Ryan pulled back that hand once more. Giving the mer some space as it moved away a bit to hold the fish and bite of cHunks chewing and swallowing it much slower than Ryan expected. Once the mer had finished eating Ryan once again continued to caress the mer’s cheek and sing to him till he slowly drifted off in his arms. The tension of the team around him dissipating with each in the creature had sagged till, he could hear the collective sighs.

 “Jesus Christ. Raise the sling. Please somebody.” James said with a head falling back sigh. “on three we hoist this idiot back on deck.” He said to Nadia and Matt who waited for his countdown to pull Kinkade back on the deck. Once he was within reach of the rail Ryan grabbed it with his good hand to help pull himself up.

 Adam was there drag him over and start cutting away the shredded wet suit around his arm. Coran coming up behind with his medical kit ready. “do I need to tell you how much trouble you’re in now or should I wait?” Adam asked.

 “wait.” Ryan answered with a snort.

 “yes at least until I finish treating this wound. Though it’s not nearly as bad as it could’ve been. You are one lucky duck there Kinkade.” Coran said getting to work cleaning the wounds for bandaging.

 “I call dibs on strangling him first.” James said. “that was immensely stupid.

 “it worked.” Ryan answered.

 “it did. That video will help with proving our theory on communication skills and intelligence of mers.” Ina said looking at Ryan’s go pro.

 “yes, because your theories are worth dying for.” James spat back. “whatever. Get cleaned up and below deck Kinkade. You’re off this deck till Iverson or I say otherwise.” Then he stormed off.

 “give him a few hours. He’ll calm down.” Nadia said with a smile and a shrug. “you scared the shit out of him. He was worried you were going to die. And he’d have to watch.”

 “probably would’ve blamed himself too. Since it’s his operation.” Matt said.

 “yeah. I owe him an apology coffee.” Ryan answered. But he wasn’t looking at any of his friends. He was watching the mer being taken out of the ocean and moved with the crane to the holding tank. His mouth fell into a heavy frown.

 “the mer tired himself out. Even if we treated his injuries and released him now. His pod is to faraway. He’d be stranded alone, and likely wouldn’t make it unless his pod found him. It is better to contain him, treat him and allow him time to rest.” Ina informed him.

 “yeah, plus what good is it to release him to catch him again. We need to get the rest of pod for treatment too. Specially the orca.” Nadia said. “they kept one of the drones on the pod as it left.” She informed him at the look of confusion.

 “he’s not trapped.” Ryan said with a breath of relief.

 “no. he’ll be ok.” Matt said with a pat to his arm.

 “and so, will you lad. Now that you are all treated. Better listen to the deck master’s orders. Chop chop below.” Coran teased helping Ryan to his feet with Matt. Matt grabbed the camera Ryan had dropped and took it with him to walk Ryan back down to his room.

[starsailorstories]

Positions on an astraea spaceship

I refer all the time to characters with all of these jobs but haven’t really explained what they do. Not every single ship will have all of these. On a really large or specialized ship most of these people will have a group that works directly under them.

The captain - in terms of actual daily activities is mainly the liaison between the ship and her commissioning body (the business/individual/institution that paid for the voyage) and her destination, as well as between the leaders of different parts of the crew. It’s actually more important for her to be a good listener, a clear communicator, and a good logistical strategist than it is for her to know a lot about the craft of flying a spaceship, although if you say that to any experienced captain who hasn’t skated through her career on other people’s bail she’ll probably laugh and go “yeah, sure, until something goes wrong.”

This degree of specialization, though, is indicated by the fact that as in the American and British navies “captain” and “master [mariner]” are two separate titles, the former of which is given to anybody in command of a voyage and the latter of which indicates some high rank or other within the voyage’s commissioning institution. In the case of, again, particularly big or complicated undertakings, the captain and master (the altamaian word is magisteria, I...translate it as master because I want to maintain the connection to the nautical term and because as doctor who well taught us “mistress” IS the proper gender swap but man does it ever have Connotations) may be two different people, and in the case of short or relatively unimportant voyages staffed by low-ranking personnel, the captain may just be a captain.

A note here: Most of my spaceship stuff is based on 18th century British naval stuff, but the thing they had of ‘master’ and ‘navigator’ being basically synonymous is different for technological reasons. Navigators do have to have specialized knowledge but not really a whole career’s worth, and they’re communicating the nitty gritty of it mainly to the pilot.

ANYWAYS, other warrant officers:

The boatswain - is in charge of basically everything going on not on the bridge or in the engine room. Boss of everybody who works on the sail deck and/or propulsion system and in charge of coordinating the timing element of FTL travel between the engineer, pilot, and deck crew, as well as the lighthouse operators. In the intergalactic age this is mostly done using radio, but they used to use these huge drums to signal with which are still kind of a symbol of the profession.

The pilot - combines the role of a helmsman and quartermaster i.e. working the instruments that maintain the ship’s direction, which in this case means the mass system (controlled by what honest to god looks like a sailing ship’s wheel poking half-out of a control panel) and the various rockets. The pilot also has to throw the final switch to fire the engines, although she depends on other departments to get them ready to go. Relatedly it’s the pilot’s job to coordinate with the navigator (who is acting on orders from the captain), engineer, boatswain/deckhands, and, if it’s a combat situation, the gunner, to determine what direction the ship needs to be going and to get her going there.

The medical officer - identical to what it is Star Trek.

The engineer - as the name would imply, mainly concerned with the ship’s engines and all the other mechanics of her powered flight. Also kind of fills the role of a ship’s carpenter i.e. has to make sure the ship herself as a device is adequately maintained and repaired. Powered space travel, much less FTL space travel, is relatively new, and it takes a lot of on-the-fly tweaking to prevent stuff like stress on the casings, overheating, etc.

The gunner - oversees all of a ship’s weapons’ systems. Often a much more managerial position than it sounds like, and accomplished naval military leaders are preferred, although below a certain size of ship/level of mission importance this is one ex-gangster in a turret with a single plasma cannon that she uses to write “fuck off” in loopy cursive on the hull of enemy vessels. Or maybe I’m just extrapolating that from the Revelator’s situation.

The purser - no difference here really from the actual age of sail counterpart; this is someone who goes along on the voyage to handle all the financial concerns, particularly the issue of necessary supplies to the employees. Sometimes for astraeas this is just handled by admiralty/shipping company representatives at the ports (since ‘necessary supplies’ for them just means like, equipment, medical stuff, etc) or by the captain. She also keeps detailed reports of everybody’s job performance so that (as per the Andromedan economic system) the boss can decide who gets what pick of her favors (which generally include housing etc). Certainly the most murderable of all officers, but also will be zealously protected if she ever dares to prioritize the needs of the sailors over the company budget.

Petty/inferior warrant officers:

Officers’ mates - are usually the delicitas of the warrant officers, though they may just be less experienced specialized workers commissioned for the voyage. They’re assistants/seconds in command to the warrant officers. This is also true for first mates etc. with respect to the captain.

The navigator - definitely the most important of petty officers, although, because direct understanding of the grunt work of the ship is fairly required, one of the most likely to be recruited from among lower-class sailors. In charge of reading all the positioning data (calculated by sophisticated mechanical engines back in Lux’s day, computers more recently) and interpreting it and condensing out what the pilot needs to know.

Midshippers - are educated sailors who are in training/gaining the experience to eventually fill other warrant officer roles but don’t have specialized knowledge yet, or else they don’t much care what they do as long as they’re on the career path to be a captain someday. A lot of times the captain will assign them administrative tasks and they’ll report directly to her. (Cepheid was hustled into being a midshipper because it’s the lowest naval rank whose credentials are considered “transferable” back to the other branches of the military.)

Ships’ stewards - are in charge of the ship as a living space. They oversee the staff that keep everything clean, change the lightbulbs, keep the atmosphere recirculation system running. This is actually a really important job in space as there’s simply nowhere else to go so the general habitability of the ship is a matter of life and death. Ships’ stewards also report directly to the captain despite not being involved in the main mission objective. Also: if lux units are working on a ship, the steward will probably be their boss.

Everybody else is just a sailor (or sometimes a rated sailor, which in the current climate is akin to being hired on by whoever commissioned the voyage rather than being a temp) except for:

Cabin maids - who are basically like flight attendants, although they also do cleaning and maintenance. At one point they would be lower-class teenagers Paying Their Dues before being hired on as full-time sailors, but by the time of the story they’re almost always clones.

[theculturedmarxist]

On 13 October 1806 a young German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, had an encounter with world history. En route to their annihilation of the Prussian forces 24 hours later, Napoleon and his army were marching through the East German university town of Jena. Hegel couldn’t disguise his terror that in the ensuing chaos the recently completed manuscript of The Phenomenology of Spirit might get lost in the mail. But neither could he resist the drama of the moment. As he wrote to his friend Friedrich Niethammer, ‘I saw the emperor – this world-soul (Weltseele) – riding out of the city on reconnaissance. It is indeed a wonderful sensation to see such an individual, who, concentrated here at a single point, astride a horse, reaches out over the world and masters it.’

Two hundred years later, in rather more sedate circumstances, the Berkeley historian Daniel J. Sargent, addressing the American Historical Association, also evoked the world spirit. But this time it came in the person of Donald Trump and he was riding not on horseback, but on a golf cart. Trump can be compared to Napoleon, according to Sargent, because they are both destroyers of international order. In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon wrecked what was left of the legitimate order of Europe. Trump, in turn, has apparently ended the American world order, or, as Sargent prefers to call it, Pax Americana.

Sargent’s is an extraordinary suggestion, even though overenthusiastic historic comparisons have now become commonplace. Early in 2017 I was among those who thought they were seeing the end of the American century. But, even then, in the early days of the Trump administration, it seemed crucial to draw a distinction between American power and American political authority. Two years on, that distinction seems more important than ever.

The idea that Trump is a wrecker of the American-led world order rests on three claims. First, he is manifestly unfit for high office. That such a man can be elected president of the United States reveals a deep degeneration of American political culture and permanently damages the country’s credibility. Second, his capricious and crude pursuit of ‘America first’ has weakened America’s alliances and instigated a departure from globalisation based on free trade. Finally, he has triggered this crisis at a moment when China poses an unprecedented challenge to Western-led globalisation. Each of these claims is hard to deny, but do they in fact add up to a historically significant shift in the foundations of America’s global power?

No question, Trump has done massive damage to the dignity of the American presidency. Even allowing for the personal and political failings of some previous incumbents, he marks a new low. What ought to be of no less concern is that he has received so little open criticism from the supposedly respectable ranks of the Republican leadership. Similarly, American big business leaders, though sceptical of Trump, have profited from his administration’s tax cuts and eagerly assisted in dismantling the apparatus of environmental and financial regulation. He has been applauded by the section of the US media that caters to the right. And a solid minority of the electorate continues to give him its wholehearted support. What is worrying, therefore, isn’t simply Trump himself, but the forces in America that enable him.

Of course, Trump isn’t the first Republican president to evoke a mixture of outrage, horror and derision both at home and abroad. Both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were accused, in their time, of endangering the legitimacy of the American world order. The cultural conservatism and overt nationalism of the American right is fiercely at odds with bien pensant global opinion. This culture clash has historical roots in America’s domestic struggles over civil rights, the women’s and gay liberation struggles, and in the worldwide protest movement against America’s brutal war in Vietnam. Since the days of Nixon and the ‘Southern strategy’, the Republicans have been progressively digging in, consolidating their grip on the white electorate in the South and Midwest. By the 1980s the Republican Party was an uneasy coalition between a free-market, pro-business elite and a xenophobic working and lower-middle-class base. This was always a fragile arrangement, held together by rampant nationalism and a suspicion of big government. It was able to govern in large part owing to the willingness of Democratic Party centrists to help with the heavy lifting. The Nafta free-trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada was initiated by George H.W. Bush, but carried over the line in 1993 by Bill Clinton, against the opposition of the American labour movement. It was Clinton’s administration that righted the fiscal ship after the deficit excesses of the Reagan era, only for the budget to be blown back into deficit by the wars and tax cuts of the George W. Bush administration.

Meanwhile, the broad church of the Republican Party began to radicalise. In the 1990s, with Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove setting the tone, the battle lines hardened. With the Iraq War going horribly, and the Democrats taking control of Congress in 2006, the right became ever more dominant within the Republican Party. In 2008, in the midst of the financial crisis, the Republicans in Congress abandoned the Bush administration. The financial crisis-fighting of Hank Paulson as Bush’s Treasury secretary and Ben Bernanke at the Fed relied on the Democrats for congressional support. Elite leadership of the Republican Party collapsed. John McCain chose the shockingly unqualified Sarah Palin as a running mate in the 2008 election because she was hugely popular with the Republican base, who revelled in the outrage she triggered among liberals. Barack Obama’s victory in that election only exacerbated the lurch to the right. The Republicans in Congress put up a wall of opposition and indulged the populist right in openly questioning his legitimacy as president. The defeat of the centrist Mitt Romney in 2012 caused a further, decisive slide to the right, opening the door for Trump. In 2016 no major corporation was willing to sponsor the convention that nominated Trump as the Republican presidential candidate: their brand advisers were too worried that Confederate flags would be waving in the convention hall. His is the voice of the right-wing base, energised by funding from a small group of highly ideological oligarchs, no longer constrained by the globalist business elite.

A cynic might say that Trump simply says out loud what many on the right have long thought in private. He is clearly a racist, but the mass incarceration of black men since the 1970s has been a bipartisan policy. His inflammatory remarks about immigration are appalling, but it isn’t as though liberal centrists would advocate a policy of open borders. The question – and it is a real question – is whether his disinhibited rhetoric announces a disastrous slide from the hypocrisies and compromises of the previous status quo into something even darker. The concern is that he will trigger an illiberal chain reaction both at home and abroad.

At G20, G7 and Nato summits, the mood is tense. The rumour that the US is planning to charge host governments ‘cost plus 50 per cent’ for the military bases it has planted all over the world is the latest instance of a stance that at times seems to reduce American power to a protection racket. But for all the indignation this causes, what matters is the effect Trump’s disruptive political style has on the global power balance and whether it indicates a historic rupture of the American world order. How much difference does the US being rude to European Nato members, refusing to co-operate with the WTO, or playing hardball on car imports really make?

This is not merely a debating point. It is the challenge being advanced by the Trump administration itself in its encounters with its allies and partners. Do America’s alliances – do international institutions – really matter? The administration is even testing the proposition that transnational technological and business linkages must be taken as given. Might it not be better for the US simply to ‘uncouple’? Where Trump’s critics argue that at a time when China’s power is increasing the US should strengthen its alliances abroad, the Trumpists take the opposite view. For them it is precisely in order to face down China that the US must shake up the Western alliance and redefine its terms so that it serves American interests more clearly. What we are witnessing isn’t just a process of dismantling and destruction, but a deliberate strategy of stress testing. It is a strategy Trump personifies, but it goes well beyond him.

In October 2018 the giant Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman unexpectedly pulled out of the Eastern Mediterranean, where its planes had been bombarding IS’s positions in Syria. It sailed into the Atlantic and then suddenly and without warning headed north. Aircraft carriers don’t do this: their itineraries are planned years ahead. This was different. The Truman and its escorts headed full steam to the Arctic, making it the first carrier group to deploy there for 27 years, backing up Nato’s war games in Norway. The consternation this caused delighted the Pentagon. Unpredictable ‘dynamic force employment’ is a key part of its new strategy to wrong-foot America’s challengers.

The Harry S. Truman is a controversial ship. The Pentagon would like to scrap it in favour of more modern vessels. Congress is pushing back. The White House wants more and bigger carrier groups; the navy says it wants 12 of them. The Nimitz-class behemoths commissioned between 1975 and 2009 are to be replaced by a new fleet of even more gigantic and complex Ford-class vessels. All have their priorities, but what everyone in Washington agrees on is the need for a huge military build-up.

*

The resignation of General James Mattis as defence secretary at the end of 2018 sparked yet another round of speculation about the politicking going on inside the Trump administration. But we would do better to pay more attention to his interim replacement, Patrick Shanahan, and the agenda he is pursuing. Shanahan, who spent thirty years at Boeing, is described by one insider as ‘a living, breathing product of the military-industrial complex’. Under Mattis he was the organisational muscle in a Defence Department with a new focus, not on counterinsurgency, but on future conflicts between great powers. Shanahan’s stock in trade is advanced technology: hypersonics, directed energy, space, cyber, quantum science and autonomous war-fighting by AI. And he has the budget to deliver. The Trump administration has asked for a staggering $750 billion for defence in 2020, more than the spending of the next seven countries in the world put together.

Declinists will point out that the US no longer has a monopoly on high-tech weaponry. But that is grist to the mill of the Trump-era strategists. They recognise the threat that great-power competition poses. Their plan is to compete and to win. In any case, most of the other substantial military spenders are American allies or protectorates, like Saudi Arabia or the European members of Nato. The only real challenges are presented by Russia and China. Russia is troublesome and the breakdown in nuclear arms control poses important and expensive questions for the future. But Russia is the old enemy. Shanahan’s mantra is ‘China, China, China’.

The ‘pivot’ in American strategy to face China was initiated not by Trump but by Obama in 2011, under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Even then, despite their far more tactful leadership, it caused some crashing of gears. The problem is that containing China is not what Washington’s system of alliances is designed to do. From the early 1970s, the days of Nixon and Kissinger, China was enrolled as a US partner in keeping the balance of power with the Soviet Union. Given half a chance, Trump would like to essay a reverse-Kissinger and recruit Russia as an ally against China. But Congress and the defence community will have none of that. Instead, the US is doubling down on its Cold War alliances in urging both South Korea and Japan to increase their defence efforts. This has the additional benefit that they will have to buy more American equipment. If the Vietnamese regime too were to veer America’s way, Washington would surely welcome it with open arms.

None of this is to say that Trump’s version of the pivot is coherent. If containment of China is the aim, America’s Asian partners must wonder why the president scrapped the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment deal within days of taking office. That elaborate package was the foundation of Obama’s China-containment strategy. But for Trump and his cohorts that is muddled thinking. You cannot build American strength on the back of a giant trade deficit. Washington is no longer willing to pay for military co-operation with economic concessions: it wants both greater contributions and more balanced trade.

In Europe the Trump administration is proceeding on the same basis. Trump’s antipathy towards the EU and its political culture is disconcerting. But the problem of burden-sharing has haunted Nato since its inception, and until the 1980s, at least, the Europeans were significant contributors. Until 1989 Germany’s Bundeswehr was a heavily armoured and mechanised force of 500,000 men with a mobilisation strength of 1.5 million. Though its loyalty to the Federal Republic wasn’t in doubt, it was unmistakably a descendant of Germany’s military past. The break following the end of the Cold War was dramatic, not just in Germany but across Europe. Spending collapsed; conscription was abolished; Europe’s contribution to Nato’s effective strength dwindled. There were also deep disagreements between Germany, France and the US over strategic priorities, particularly on Iraq and the war on terror. But differences in threat-perception are no excuse for the dereliction of Europe’s security landscape. If Europe really feels as safe as it claims to, it should have the courage to push for even deeper cuts. Instead, it continues to maintain military establishments which, taken together, make it the world’s second or third largest military spender, depending on how you add up the Chinese budget. But given that it is spread across 28 poorly co-ordinated, undersized forces, Europe’s $270 billion in defence spending isn’t enough to buy an adequate deployable military capacity. Aside from its value as a work-creation measure, the only justification for this huge waste of resources is that it keeps the Americans on board.

The result is a balance of hard power that has for the last thirty years been extraordinarily lopsided. Never before in history has military power been as skewed as it is today. For better or worse, it is America’s preponderance that shapes whatever we call the international order. And given how freely that power has been used, to call it a Pax Americana seems inapposite. A generation of American soldiers has grown used to fighting wars on totally asymmetrical terms. That for them is what the American world order means. And far from abandoning or weakening it, the Trump administration is making urgent efforts to consolidate and reinforce that asymmetry.

How can the US afford its military, the Europeans ask. Is this just another instance of America’s unbalanced constitution? Isn’t there a risk of overstretch? That was certainly the worry at the end of the 1980s, and it recurred in the fears stoked during the Bush era by critics of the Iraq War and budget hawks in the Democratic Party. It doesn’t play much of a role in the current debate about American power, and for good reason. The fact is that for societies at the West’s current level of affluence, military spending is not shockingly disproportionate. The Nato target, which the Europeans huff and puff over, is 2 per cent of GDP; US spending is between 3 and 4 per cent of GDP. And to regard this straightforwardly as a cost is to think in cameralist terms. The overwhelming majority of the Pentagon’s budget is spent in the US or with close allies. The hundreds of billions flow into businesses and communities as profit, wages and tax revenue. What’s more, the Pentagon is responsible for America’s most future-oriented industrial policy. Defence R&D was one of the midwives of Silicon Valley, the greatest legitimating story of modern American capitalism.

If Congress chose, defence spending could easily be funded with taxation. That is what both the Clinton and Obama administrations attempted. The Republicans do things differently. Three of the last four Republican administrations – Reagan, George W. Bush and now Trump – combined enormous tax cuts for the better-off with a huge surge in defence spending. Why? Because they can. As Dick Cheney declared, to the horror of beltway centrists: ‘Reagan showed that deficits don’t matter.’ US Treasuries will be a liability for future American taxpayers, but by the same token they constitute by far the most important pool of safe assets for global investors. Foreign investors hold $6.2 trillion in US public debt, 39 per cent of the debt held by investors other than America’s own government agencies. US taxpayers will be making heavy repayments long into the future. But they will make those payments in a currency that the US itself prints. Foreigners are happy to lend in dollars because the dollar is the pre-eminent global reserve currency.

The hegemony of the dollar-Treasury nexus in global finance remains unchallenged. The dollar’s role in global finance didn’t just survive the crisis of 2008: it was reinforced by it. As the world’s banks gasped for dollar liquidity, the Federal Reserve transformed itself into a global lender of last resort. As part of his election campaign in 2016, Trump undertook an extraordinary vendetta against Janet Yellen, the Fed chair. But he was more restrained after he took office, and his appointment of Jerome Powell as her successor was arguably his most important concession to mainstream policy opinion. Needless to say, Trump is no respecter of the Fed’s ‘independence’. When it began tightening interest rates in 2018 he pushed back aggressively. (As a man who knows a thing or two about debts, he prefers borrowing costs to be low.) His bullying scandalised polite opinion. But rather than undermining the dollar as a global currency, his interventions were music to the ears of hard-pressed borrowers in emerging markets. The same applies to the giant fiscal stimulus that the Republicans launched with their tax cuts: despite rumblings of a trade war, it has kept the American demand for imports – a key element of its global leadership – at record levels.

The world economic order that America oversees was not built through consistent discipline on the part of Washington. Discipline is for crisis cases on the periphery, and dispensing it is the job of agencies like the IMF and the World Bank. Both have been through phases of weakness; in a world in which private funding is cheap and abundant even for some of the poorest countries in the world, the World Bank is struggling to define its role. But the IMF is in fine fettle, largely because the Obama administration pushed the G20 to add $1 trillion to its funding in 2009. So far the Trump administration has shown no interest in sabotaging Christine Lagarde. Over the latest bailout for Argentina, the Americans were notably co-operative. A key issue will be the rollover of the crisis-era emergency funding; from the point of view of international economic governance that may prove to be the most clear-cut test yet of the stance of the Trump presidency.

A stark illustration of the asymmetrical structure of American world order came in recent months in the use of the dollar-based system of invoicing for international trade to threaten sanctions against those tempted to do business with Iran. This outraged global opinion; the Europeans were even roused to talk about the need for ‘economic sovereignty’. What they are upset about isn’t the lack of order, but America’s use of it. To many, Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement is another indication of American unreliability and unilateralism. But why is anyone surprised? It took extraordinary political finesse on the part of the Obama administration to secure backing for the Iran deal in Washington. It was always more than likely that a Republican administration would repudiate it. That may be disagreeable but it can hardly be described as a rupture with the norms of American world order. The system is hierarchical. While others are bound, America retains the sovereign freedom to choose. And that includes the right to revert to the cold war it has been waging against the Iranian Revolution since 1979.

The same harsh logic applies when it comes to the Paris Agreement on climate change. Clearly, it is a disaster that the US has pulled out. But Congress and the George W. Bush administration did the same to the Kyoto Protocol at the beginning of the century. Moves like this should not be interpreted as a rejection of international order tout court, let alone as an abdication of American leadership. The Trump administration has a clear vision of an energy-based system of American leadership and influence. It is based on the transformative technological and business breakthrough of fracking, which has broken the grip of Russia and the Saudis on oil markets and is turning the US into a net exporter of hydrocarbons for the first time since the 1950s. Liquefied natural gas is the fuel of the future. Terminals are being built at full speed on the Texas shoreline. Fracking was originally a wildcat affair but big corporate money is now pouring in. The oil giant ExxonMobil is back (after a weak commercial patch and Rex Tillerson’s humiliating stint at the State Department), investing heavily in huge new discoveries in Latin America. All this will be horrifying to anyone convinced that the future of humanity depends urgently on decarbonisation. But again it is unhelpful, if the aim is to grasp the reality of international order, to conflate it with a specifically liberal interpretation of that idea.

*

If Republican policy is just Republican policy, American military power is waxing not waning, and the dollar remains at the hub of the global economy, what exactly is it that is broken? The clearest site of rupture is trade, and the associated geopolitical escalation with China. The US is engaged in a sustained and effective boycott of the WTO arbitration system. But the WTO has been ailing for a long time. Since the Doha round of negotiations became deadlocked in the early 2000s it has made little contribution to trade liberalisation. In any case, the idea that legal agreements such as those done at the WTO are what drives globalisation puts the cart before the horse. What really matter are technology and the raw economics of labour costs. The container and the microchip are far more important motors of globalisation than all the GATT rounds and WTO talks put together. If in the last ten years globalisation appears to have stalled, it has more to do with a plateau in the development of global supply chains than with backsliding into protectionism.

In this regard the Trump administration’s aggressive attack on America’s regional trade arrangements is more significant than its boycotting of the WTO. It is in regional integration agreements that the key supply chain networks are framed. The abrupt withdrawal of the US, in the first days of the Trump presidency, from TPP in the Asia-Pacific region and TTIP in the Atlantic, was a genuine shock. But it is far from clear that either arrangement would have been pursued with any energy by a Hillary Clinton administration. She would no doubt have shifted position more gracefully. But the political cost of pushing them through Congress might well have been too high.

In spring 2017 there was real concern that Trump might abruptly and unilaterally cancel Nafta – apparently the hundredth day of his presidency had been set as the occasion. But that threat was contained by a concerted mobilisation of business interests. Once the negotiations with Mexico and Canada started, the tone was rough. In Robert Lighthizer as his trade representative, Trump has found a bully after his own heart. But again, if you look back at the history of Nafta and WTO negotiations, tough talk is par for the course. In the end, a replacement for Nafta emerged, in the form of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). Apart from minor concessions on dairy exports to Canada and intellectual property protection for American pharmaceuticals, its main provisions concerned the car industry, which dominates North American trade. To escape tariffs, 40 per cent of any vehicle produced in Mexico must have been manufactured by workers earning $16 an hour, well above the US minimum wage and seven times the average manufacturing wage in Mexico. Three-quarters of a vehicle’s value must originate inside the free-trade zone, restricting the use of cheap imported components from Asia. This will likely induce a modification but not a wholesale dismantling of the production networks established under Nafta. Though it was not endorsed by US trade unions, it wasn’t repudiated by them either. As the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations commented, the effect will depend on how it is implemented.

The auto industry was at the heart of the Nafta renegotiation and it is the critical element in simmering US-EU trade tensions too. Let there be no false equivalence, however: the incomprehension and disrespect shown by the White House towards the EU is unprecedented. It isn’t clear that Trump and his entourage actually grasped that America no longer maintains bilateral trade deals with individual members of the EU. Trump’s open advocacy for Brexit and encouragement of further challenges to the coherence of the EU has been extraordinary. The use of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to investigate car imports from Germany as a threat to American national security is absurd. Such things mark a bewildering break with previous experience. That said, Trump’s obsession with the prevalence of German limousines in swanky parts of New York does highlight another painful imbalance in transatlantic relations: the persistent European trade surplus. Of course America contributes to this imbalance with its disinhibited fiscal policy: the better off Americans feel, the more likely they are to buy German cars. But as the Obama administration repeatedly pointed out, Europe’s dogged refusal to stimulate faster growth is as bad for Europe as it is for the world economy. The scale of the Eurozone’s overall current account surplus is highly unusual by historical standards and is both a vulnerability for Europe, leaving its producers hostage to foreign demand, and a potential source of global shocks.

*

Europe’s freeriding may undermine the global order, but the EU does not mount a direct challenge to US authority. China is different, and that is what truly marks out the foreign relations of our current moment as a break with the decades since the end of the Cold War. No one, including the Chinese, anticipated how rapidly the Trump administration would escalate tensions over trade in 2018 or that this would evolve into a comprehensive challenge to China’s presence in the global tech sector. The US has been putting pressure on its allies to cut the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei out of their plans for 5G, the next generation of internet technology. But here the US – and its allies – are in reactive mode: the original shock was China’s unprecedented growth.

China alone was responsible for a doubling of global steel and aluminimum capacity in the first decade of the 21st century. Its huge investment in R&D transformed it from a ‘third world’ importer of Western technology into a leading global force in 5G. As the likes of Navarro and Lighthizer see it, it was the naivety of enthusiasts for an American-led world order in the 1990s that allowed China’s communist-run state capitalism into the WTO. What the globalists did not understand was the lesson of Tiananmen Square. China would integrate, but on its own terms. That could be ignored in 1989 when China’s economy accounted for only 4 per cent of global GDP: now that figure is close to 20 per cent. As far as the American trade hawks are concerned, competition within an agreed international order is to be welcomed only so long as the competitors agree to play by America’s rules, both economic and geopolitical. This was the lesson Europe was made to learn after the Second World War. It was the lesson that Japan was taught the hard way in the 1980s and early 1990s. If China refuses to learn that lesson, it must be contained.

America retains some huge advantages. But it would be dangerous, the argument goes, simply to count on those. Sometimes American preponderance has to be defended by a ‘war of manoeuvre’. The emerging American strategy is to use threats of trade policy sanctions and aggressive counter-espionage in the tech arena, combined with a ramping up of America’s military effort, to force Beijing to accept not just America’s global preponderance but also its terms for navigation of the South China Sea. In pursuing this course the Trump presidency has a clear precedent: the push against the Soviet Union in the early 1980s by the Reagan administration, which deployed economic and political pressure to break what was perceived to be a menacing phase of Soviet expansion in the 1970s. Despite all the risks involved, for American conservatives that episode stands as the benchmark of successful grand strategy.

The reason the attempt to apply this lesson to present-day China is so shocking is that US business is entangled with China to an immeasurably greater degree than it ever was with the Soviet Union. If you are seeking a component of the American world order that is really being tested at the present moment, look no further than Apple’s supply chain in East Asia. Unlike South Korea’s Samsung, the Californian tech giant made a one-way bet on manufacturing integration with China. Almost all its iPhones are assembled there. Apple is an extreme case. But it is not alone. GM currently sells more cars in China than it does in the US. America’s farmers converted their fields wholesale to grow soy beans for export to China, only to find themselves cut out of their biggest market by Brazilian competitors. And it isn’t just American firms that are caught up in the escalation of tension. Important European, South Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese businesses have staked huge wagers on China.

Given these investments, one might have expected more pushback against Trump’s China strategy from US business. So far there has been little. The radical decoupling of the Chinese and American economies may be so horrible a prospect that business leaders simply prefer not to discuss it in public. They may be lying low hoping the row blows over. Or it may be that American business itself buys the increasingly pessimistic diagnosis of the US intelligence and defence community, who argue China’s persistent protectionism and economic nationalism may mean that it presents more of a threat than an opportunity. Even top ‘China hands’ like Steve Schwarzman and Hank Paulson have warned of a chill in the air.

The hardening of attitudes towards China is not confined to America. It was the Anglo-American intelligence consortium known as ‘Five Eyes’ that raised the alarm about Huawei’s capability to build back doors into the West’s most sensitive telecommunications networks. Canada and Australia are deeply concerned about Chinese penetration. The new pessimism about Sinocentric globalisation isn’t confined to security policy hawks, but shared by many mainstream economists and political scientists in US academia, the think-tank world, and journalists and commentators on Chinese affairs. The liberal version of the American world order is deeply influenced by strands of modernisation theory, the up to date version of which is encapsulated in the doctrine of the middle-income trap. Very few large countries have managed to grow beyond China’s current level of income. Those that have done so have kitted themselves out with the full set of liberal institutions and the rule of law. On this reading, China is in a precarious position. Xi’s authoritarian turn is a decisive step in the wrong direction. Further frequently cited signs of Chinese weakness include ethnic tensions and the ageing of the population as a long-term effect of the one-child policy. There is a belief, held well beyond the administration, that the tide may be turning against Beijing and that now is the moment for the West to harden the front.

This would indeed constitute a break with the narrative of globalisation since the 1990s. But it would hardly be a break in the American-led world order. To imagine the American world order as fully global is after all a relatively recent development. After 1945, the postwar order that is generally seen as the non plus ultra of American hegemony was built on the hardened divisions of the Cold War. Where China is concerned, the issue is not so much America’s intention to lead as whether others are willing to follow. Building the Cold War order in Europe and East Asia was comparatively easy. Stalin’s Soviet Union used a lot of stick and very little carrot. The same is not true of modern-day China. Its economy is the thumping heart of a gigantic East Asian industrial complex. In the event of an escalation with China, particularly in East Asia, we may find ourselves facing not so much an end of the American-led order, as an inversion of its terms. Where the US previously offered soft-power inducements to offset the threat of communist military power, backed up by hard power as a last resort, in the next phase the US may become the provider of military security against the blandishments offered by China’s growth machine.

But this is premature. As of today, two years into the Trump presidency, it is a gross exaggeration to talk of an end to the American world order. The two pillars of its global power – military and financial – are still firmly in place. What has ended is any claim on the part of American democracy to provide a political model. This is certainly a historic break. Trump closes the chapter begun by Woodrow Wilson in the First World War, with his claim that American democracy articulated the deepest feelings of liberal humanity. A hundred years later, Trump has for ever personified the sleaziness, cynicism and sheer stupidity that dominates much of American political life. What we are facing is a radical disjunction between the continuity of basic structures of power and their political legitimation.

If America’s president mounted on a golf buggy is a suitably ludicrous emblem of our current moment, the danger is that it suggests far too pastoral a scenario: American power trundling to retirement across manicured lawns. That is not our reality. Imagine instead the president and his buggy careening around the five-acre flight deck of a $13 billion, Ford-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier engaged in ‘dynamic force deployment’ to the South China Sea. That better captures the surreal revival of great-power politics that hangs over the present. Whether this turns out to be a violent and futile rearguard action, or a new chapter in the age of American world power, remains to be seen.

[belevine-blog]

BRETT LEVINE, who strongly resembles OLIVER STARK, is more commonly known as HYPERION. They are a 30/??? year old VRIV’AMT (alien) and they have been in the city for 20 YEARS. HYPERION have been known to have SUPER STRENGTH, SPEED AND FLIGHT. While they are not HYPERION, they are working their day job as FIELD COMMANDER in INNER SANCTUM. They are known to be CONFIDENT & IMAGINATIVE and DEVIOUS & IMPRACTICAL. 

Hey, friends and fam.  Swae here with a very long introduction for the man known as Brett Levine (and the Vriv’Amt known as Prince Le’Vrie-Em).  Like legit warning, this is a very, very long introduction and I do apologize for the length - I like to be incredibly thorough.  Hopefully, if you take the time to read it, you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  If you want to skip out reading it, hit me up and I can give you a super-condensed version so we can get to plotting it out!  

Thanks for your time and I can’t wait to meet and plot with all of you!

Swae, out.

Vriv’Amt, a history.

The Alien race of Vriv’Amt - pronounced vrai-vham - is one that was originated from a planet called Vriv’Alandra.  This is located in the Vulranpry System, in the Kr’riet Region in the Mid-Sector, bordering the edge of the Outer Rim.  Unlike a majority of this system, Vriv’Alandra lacked a molten core.  Instead, the planet has a conglomerate large, rocky tunnels and caves that have been flooded with water to help sustain the center of the planet - an ancient tale states that the center of the planet houses its strongest creature, the water level lulls it to sleep keeping it into its deepest slumber.

Originally, Vriv’Alandra had been the home of the Elder Saastucheal people - for those more familiar with Earth terms, the Saastucheal people are creatures with reptilian skin that shimmers an orange hue in the sunlight, faces like humans with a longer snout that mimicks that of a possum.   The Saastucheal people have never been known to be friendly and were considered to be one of the most hostile creatures in the galaxy.  The Saastucheal people had participated in the trade of people from different races across the galaxy.

The Vriv’Amt people were born during the intermingling of species in the Saastucheal holding cells.  It was rumored that a single human and an unknown mixed alien had consummated their “love” in their holding cell and the first Vriv’Amt was born.  

The first Vriv’Amt, L’rekyp, had brought the Saastucheal people to an end.  L’rekyp had grown up in captivity and learned the ways of the Saastucheal people.  As he grew, the turmoil of his people fueled the strength within him and he rallied the rest of his people bred in captivity to rise up against the Saastucheal.  With the strength of the Vriv’Amt and the rest of the captive races, they were able to start a revolution and take over the planet for their own.

The Vriv’Amt were a quick race to populate a planet.  Its people gained a reputation for being quick to adapt and advance - this ability earned them much hostility from neighboring planets and ambassadors.  Though they tried to placate these hostilities, their neighboring planets sought out treaties and alliances against the Vriv’Alandra.

In the year 213 OPM, Vriv’Amt had joined the Galatic Republic and had lent the strength of its people and its planet to help this democratic party govern the galaxy.  

In the year 289 OPM, the reigning King of Vriv’Alandra, Urig’Nyanda, made the mistake of falling in love with the Princess of Nuu’Tal and she made the same mistake with him.  This union was rejected by the rules of Nuu’Tal, but the Princess and Urig’Nyanda did not care for their rejection.  She was stowed to Vriv’Alandra and the two were married in the planet. 

That union was the start of the end of the people of Vriv’Alandra.

Nuu’Tal and the other six neighboring planets and their people launched an assault on Vriv’Alandra for this unapproved union.  It was a relentless assault that even with the abilities of the Vriv’Amt, they were unable to survive the battle.  These Seven planets had built all of their weaponry with the Kyungr’Lo Stone - this stone has the ability to negate all of the abilities of the Vriv’Amt people and render them as common as the average human. 

The Vriv’Alandra did not survive this assault.  This assault decimated the entire population of the Vriv’Amt ...with the exception of one.

What are Vriv’Amt?

Vriv’Amt are an alien race that began on the planet Vriv’Alandra.  Their physical appearance is similar to that of humans with the exception of their bright red eyes during battle.

The race was created by a human (rumored to be a mutant) who mated with with an unknown alien.  To this day, the alien’s race and identity have been muddled.  Throughout the history books of the Vriv’Amt, the alien’s race is often guessed or omitted.  However, this alien’s race had granted the Vriv’Amt the following abilities:

Superhuman strength 

Superhuman speed

Flight

Superhuman vision (including x-ray, microscopic, telescopic and infrared)

Super durability - immune to conventional firearms, but enough military grade artillery could very much kill him

Healing factor - all Vriv’Amt can heal with the power of water.  It’s rumored that if a Vriv’Amt was close to death, one could easily throw the body into water and they would be healed.  Perhaps it’s something to try later on.

Heat Vision

There is an unconfirmed rumor that the creature that lived in core of the planet had been what the mutant had mated with.  However, with the planet left in pieces and core destroyed, there has never been an conclusion.

The Vriv’Amt are a strong people but they are not invulnerable.  The below are their known weaknesses:

The Kyungr’Lo Stone - this red crystal has the ability to drain the life out of a Vriv’Amt.  History states that the Kyungr’Lo was created by a scorned galactic witch to punish the Vriv’Amt;  the witch did not realize it would be the death of its people.

Dehydration - Vriv’Amt get dehydrated very easily and are in constant need of water.  If a Vriv’Amt does not get enough water, they will wither away into nothingness.  They need to drink 10x the amount of water a human needs in one day or they will die.

Military Grade Artillery - common and conventional firearms will not harm Vriv’Amt but the higher military grade weapons can kill him.  If you empty an entire AA12 Atchinson Assault rifle into him, even with his abilities, he won’t be able survive that.

Any attacks at that puncture their hearts will lead to instant death.

Brett Levine, a History.

>> Brett Levine was originally Prince Le’Vrie-Em, the son of King Urig’Nyanda and his bride, Queen Leesa-El of Nuu’tal.  During the attack on Vriv’Alandra, the King had stowed him away into an escape vessel and ensured his safety from the assault.  The moment his escape vessel left the planet, King Urig’Nyanda had hit the switch to launch the final assault into Vriv’Amt to end its people.

>> The vessel that the young prince had been placed in had originally been aimed at one of their allied planets.  However, after accidentally stumbling into an unclosed portal between galactic systems, he was transported into planet Earth.  He landed in the middle of the Levine Cattle ranch outside the of Ceres Centropolis.

>> He was found by Edmund and Layla Levine, a farmer and his grieving wife.  The pair had recently lost their son to a cattle stampede.  Layla swore that the Heavens answered her prayers when this vessel came into their farm.  She bestowed the name Brett Levine to the child.  Edmund had been wary of accepting the child into their family at first but he stepped into the father role immediately.

>> Brett’s history was kept locked away from him.  His parents raised him as a normal boy.  He went to school, helped out as a farm hand and did everything as American as apple pie.  When he started high school, that’s when things got complicated.  He wanted to play sports and that was the constant argument in the household - his abilities made him a liability to all of the other teenagers who were to play with him.

>> Eventually, Brett won the argument but had to show great restraint in every sport.  He could have easily won everything, but to appease his parents, he held back and played as normally as he could.  Though, it wasn’t unexpected for him to make the winning play every time they needed it.

>> Brett originally went into community college in their rural farming town.  He attended it for two years until he transferred to Ceres Centropolis University when he was 20.  After that, every thing that he thought he knew changed.

>>  He attended CCU to focus on acquiring a Bachelor of Film and Television Production - he and his father argued about this also (”It’s a useless degree, Brett.  You should do something worthwhile with your time.  Be a doctor or a veterinarian, not a director!”).

>> During his time in college, Brett took on the mask and became Hyperion.  He donned a white hood and finally began to use his powers for good.  There was finally no need to hold back.

>> At this point, he graduated from CCU.  However, instead of pursuing a career in his degree field, he went into working for Inner Sanctum.  Originally starting off as an agent but eventually becoming a Field Commander.  He enjoys working with the agent directly and being able to join them in the field.

>> At the moment, he wants to do his best to help Inner Sanctum succeed in every way he can and will not hesitate to volunteer himself to do the right thing, even if no one wants.

Fun Facts.

>> He drives a Honda CR-V because it’s one of the safest cars in the planet.  At least, according to the television and his parents.

>> He lives in a studio apartment in the middle of Ceres Centropolis.  He has a bad habit of flying into the window every time he finishes a mission as Hyperion.  He does this so often that his land-lord suggested that he install a security camera to see who keeps breaking into the top floor.

>> His favorite food his shabu-shabu.

>> He still visits his parents outside of Ceres Centropolis.  Especially during the holidays.  His mother cannot stand the city’s traffic during then, so Brett’s the one who makes the drive there.

>> He tried to adopt a dog once, but he wasn’t home as often as he liked.  This lead to the dog never realizing who he was and would constantly bark at him.  The dog loved his mother, so he gave her the pup.

>> Though he is currently not directing, Brett likes to make short videos about his daily life and the people in it.  He uploads it on his Facebook account so his mother doesn’t think he’s dead and believes that he’s currently living a normal, every day life.  Not running around as one of those “masked hoo-haws that think they need to save the world” (her words, not his).

>> His favorite film directors are Francis Ford Coppola, Stanely Kubrick, David Lean,  Miloš Forman and Akira Kurosawa.

>> If you ask him about his childhood, he will tell you about the time that he help birth a baby calf in the middle of the night.  It’s boring.  Don’t ask him.

[j0gs]

Davenport timeline pt.1

Lots of headcanons ahead, probably canon compliant but...  Phew.  Format:  [Age range of the start of the phase]: [Description of phase]  [Alignment of phase, because why not I guess]

~13-15: Sets off from home to sail with his older siblings and cousins.  They do mostly river deliveries, guides, and crossings.  Comes out as trans.  True neutral.

~19-20:  Starts traveling in larger vessels with people he met through his cousins, then people through them, and so on.  Not all his time is spent on the water:  He spends several years touring docks and other big cities to get a better feel for the options.  Starts transitioning; hormones only, never feels the need for surgery.  In this time he starts training as a rogue (arcane trickster subclass), learning basic fighting with knives and the basis for his illusion magic.  Gets most of his piercings during this time.  Spends a lot of time getting into trouble and finding loopholes in laws to avoid serious consequences, and over embracing more negative gnome stereotypes.  Chaotic good.

~30:  Gets bored with the above.  Starts going after bigger things, gets sloppy to up his chances of getting caught, etc.  Goes from prankster to outright adrenaline seeker.  Starts getting tattoos, starting small.  Finally does get caught for something he can’t brush off, is sentenced to military service in the navy.  Chaotic neutral.

~40:  Back on the ocean.  Serves on a series of ships testing boundaries and trying to decide if it’s worth it to stay stubborn and ‘true to himself’ as he’s come to think of himself, or to adapt and get by a little better.  True neutral.

~42:  Lands on the privateer ship Orion, where he’s taken under the wing of the Polyamorous captain and her two first mates.  From Rigel he learns that a captain can be a leader, someone to look up to instead of hating.  Bea helps him learn how she does it, and her own tricks as the first mate.  Bisben helps reawaken his love of stars and astronomy, sparking goals he had largely been forced to forget in his earlier years.  He would not forget them again.  First larger tattoos.  Neutral good.

~50:  Leaves the Orion to chase the stars again, starting with building the more responsible reputation he had started gaining a decade before.  Purposefully drops most of his names and starts avoiding any and all gnomish stereotypes.  He climbs ranks:  The first ship he is the captain of is the Blooming Wind; a very mixed success, if it could be counted as one at all.  Continues to change missions, ships, and crews, gaining experience, building his reputation, starts actively looking for places that can help him learn more about astronomy and the planar systems, begins teaching himself from books.  Lets most of his piercings close.  Lawful good/neutral.

~65:  Hears about the IPRE and applies immediately.  Is accepted conditionally because of his criminal record.  Throws himself into various academics:  Astronomy, relationships between planes, engineering and physics.  Starts getting tattoos again, spreading out to cover more area; never gets longer than elbow-length.  Looks into loopholes in rules for fun but rarely takes advantage of them himself.  Starts visiting his family again, but still works to maintain distance from gnomish traits.  Lawful good.

~80:  The light comes to the two-sunned world, is quickly taken in by the IPRE, boosting progress.  Pushes for an interplanar expedition, is made one of the heads of that project and is absorbed in working to make it happen and be part of the crew.  Ends up as the captain of the experimental ship later named the Starblaster.  Lawful neutral.

[mst3kproject]

804: The Deadly Mantis

Dear Janet from Devil Fish: I'm sorry I called you the world's worst paleontologist.  That was mean and entirely undeserved – you are a much better paleontologist than Dr. Jackson from The Deadly Mantis.  You at least realize that sharks are a type of jawed fish, while Dr. Jackson seems to think they're a type of plant.  I would send you chocolates or something along with this apology, but you got strangled by a man with a concrete face.  Too bad the same thing cannot be said of Dr. Jackson.  Yours sincerely, the MST3K Project.

The Deadly Mantis begins with Newton's third law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  For example, if a volcano erupts in the South Atlantic, that'll cause vibrations in the Earth's crust, which in turn trigger iceberg calving at the north pole, thus allowing a giant mantis to thaw out after millions of years in the ice!  Clearly.  QED.

I guess I could describe what happens in the movie. I could tell you about the buildings and vehicles destroyed, and the scientists and military who try to solve this mantis problem, but I don't think there'd be any point.  The Deadly Mantis is another paint-by-numbers movie, kind of like The Mole People, where it feels like the producers made a list and checked stuff off.  Monster?  Check.  Hero?  Check.  Scientist? Check.  Girl?  Check.  The whole thing comes across as perfunctory and we never really care about what's going on.  The Deadly Mantis is almost entirely filler.

Despite that, I do kind of like this movie.  It's very bad, but it's not rage-inducing like some others I could name.  It's mildly racist in that everybody in it is white as WonderBread (except the Inuit in the footage borrowed from SOS Eisberg), but there's nothing explicitly offensive.  It takes the time to show us what's going on instead of just telling us, even though what's going on is dull.  And there are a number of little oddities that give The Deadly Mantis a surprising amount of personality.

For example, there's our first non-map sequence – seven minutes or so spent educating us about the network of RADAR that covered North America during the Cold War.  You see, the quickest way between the US and the USSR is over the north pole, so the airspace above Canada had to be carefully watched to make sure nobody was attacking anybody else.  The arrangement caused Canada considerable anxiety, but since nobody ever listened to my suggestion that we relocate to the Moon, we were stuck with it.  We just had to sit there and hope you guys would have the sense not to bomb each other, when we could have been eating Moon Poutine and watching moose try to deal with one sixth gravity.

This RADAR sequence doesn't feel like it's part of the movie.  It feels like an educational short film that might have turned up on MST3K in its own right.  Narratively, the purpose of this sequence is to tell us what our first batch of mantis fodder is doing staring at RADAR screens way up in the arctic, but I don't know why they couldn't have established that with some dialogue or a sequence in which the mantis is mistaken for an incoming Soviet bomber before vanishing off the screen or something.  The only answer I can come up with is that the military gave them some money for the movie, on condition that they include a bit about how awesome these RADAR fences are.  That would make the sequence the Rocket Attack USA of product placement.

Then there's the rest of Act I, which tries to create a sense of mystery.  Other monster movies have done this.  The Beginning of the End has the town of Ludlow destroyed, with nary a clue by what.  Monster on the Campus tells us that something terrible has happened to Dr. Blake, but although we can guess what it is we must wait to find out exactly.  Godzilla, King of the Monsters begins with the sinking of a ship, and then the same fate befalling the second vessel sent to investigate.  You know what these movies have in common?  They're not called The Giant Locust Invasion, Ape-Man on the Campus, or Godzilla, Giant Fire-Breathing Dinosaur.  In The Deadly Mantis we already know what the monster is, because it's the damn title!

Movies where we already know what the monster is can still create suspense.  In the opening of Jaws we know the shark is creeping up on the swimmer, and it is the anticipation of the attack that makes the suspense.  In Alien we have no idea what the creature is capable of.  Hell, in The Amazing Colossal Man the suspense comes from wondering what Glenn's despair will drive him to do and whether the scientists will be in time to save him.  The Deadly Mantis, with its POV shots and footprints in the snow, behaves as if we're supposed to be wondering what on Earth is causing this chaos, even though we already saw the words The Deadly Mantis over an image of said insect frozen in ice!  As a result, the first half of the movie, before the mantis actually appears to attack the arctic base, feels like we're dawdling around waiting for the characters to catch up with us.

Another oddity is the character of Marge, who acts like she's supposed to be a hardboiled reporter despite the fact that she works for a monthly museum magazine.  Everybody probably gets a copy when they pay admission, and I bet most of them find it in their bag a few days later and just throw it away.  As a result, Marge comes across as slightly deluded, as if she once aspired to write for a major newspaper but this was the only media job she could get, so now she's trying to make it as much like her dream career as she can.

There's the weird bit about how there are no women at the arctic RADAR bases.  This is supposed to be funny but ends up making us worry that the stammering, socially inept corporal will do something like stuff and mount Marge's skin and charge the other guys a buck each to view her.  I think she agrees to dance with him in the hope that he'll be satisfied with that and spend the night jerking off in his room instead of lurking outside her window. I don’t remember if the movie gives him a name.  I think of him as Corporal Gein.

And of course there's Dr. Nedrick Jackson, the movie's supposedly brilliant scientist who cannot tell his own ass from a hole in the ground, or an ant from a beetle.  Let's take a look at some of his statements.

('Nedrick' is apparently a real name.  The closest thing I can find to a famous bearer of it is Nedrick Young, the real name of screenwriter Nathan E. Douglas.  He wrote The Defiant Ones and Jailhouse Rock.  I'm gonna assume he changed his name because people reacted to it the same way Mike and the bots react to Dr. Jackson: “Nedrick?!”)

While examining the Mantis claw, he says it appears to be made of 'gristle or cartilage' rather than bone.  First of all, 'gristle' and 'cartilage' are the same thing.  Second, an insect's exoskeleton is not made of cartilage, it's made of chitin, which is a totally different protein.  This is hardly specialized knowledge – I remember learning it in high school biology.

Then he announces that the claw can't be from an animal, 'because every known species of animal has a bony skeleton'.  Never mind that he just identified the claw as cartilage, which is only found in animals.  Never mind that animals with skeletons have cartilaginous parts, like the cartilage in your knee that allows the joint to move freely without bone scraping over bone, or the cartilage that gives your nose and ears their shape.  And never mind that he goes on to list things without skeletons as including 'worms, snails, insects, gillfish'... all of which are clearly animals. The fact that he feels a need to mention that birds and reptiles have bony skeletons suggests that he's using the word 'animal' to mean 'mammal', which is a thing laypeople sometimes do, but a scientist would not.

'The ant inside this amber is at least ninety million years old', he says, showing us a stag beetle encased in acrylic, like those keychains you can buy at the Museum of Natural History. I used to have a computer mouse like that, with a little scorpion in it. It lit up. I wonder what I did with it.

The female praying mantis, he tells us, 'invariably destroys her mate after he has fulfilled his function in life'.  This does happen, but we don't know how often.  It seems to be something the female does when she is under undue stress, and having humans or cameras hovering there watching tends to stress her.  Like Schroedinger's Cat, the male mantis is both eaten and un-eaten until somebody looks... and then he generally gets eaten.

'A geological world [in which] the smallest insects were the size of man!'  No they weren't!  In the Carboniferous there were indeed giant insects, but that two-foot dragonfly was about as big as they got. Anyway, the oldest-known fossil mantis is only about a hundred and forty-five million years old, while the giant dragonfly, Meganeura, is over twice that old.  Meganeura was able to grow that big because there was far more oxygen in the Carboniferous atmosphere.  Mantises, which evolved in the Jurassic, have never been much bigger than they are now.

'The deerfly goes six hundred [miles] per hour'.  The deerfly is indeed among the fastest insects, able to reach a top speed of ninety miles per hour.  Also, fuck you, Dr. Jackson, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Maybe that's why I like this movie – it makes such absurd assertions with such a straight face.  Maybe it's because the actual mantis puppet is really pretty cool.  Or maybe I'm just fondly remembering the MST3K episode, which includes space country radio and such timeless gems as tell the Eskimos I deeply respect their culture but they're also very delicious and of course the immortal but I've got a mantis in my pantis!

[marginalgloss]

palpable depth

I read The Letter of Marque by Patrick O’Brian alongside Eric Hobsbawm’s history of the revolutionary period of the early nineteenth century, and it gave me much to think about. In that era we see how market capitalism and state interests overlap, and how they are supported with what analysts today call ‘power projection’. The line of battle ships back then were the most sophisticated weapons of their time, handled by a combination of manpower and machine which was uniquely specialised. But the ships and the men who sailed them stood on the shoulders of giants, and what it is harder to find in any character study is the full shape of that giant.

There’s a tendency today to look at naval warfare of the time as being all spectacle. But considering the immense efforts and expenditure that went into launching these vessels, the actual business of fighting made up only the tiniest portion of what went into putting all those men out there. Tens of men might die on a voyage but how many died, how many suffered, before they could even leave port? And yet those short, incredibly violent engagements between over-crowded, over-engineered floating fortresses could have consequences far beyond the range of their guns.

You might think that the new context of a private military endeavour might enable a certain amount of commentary on what has, until now, been a relatively settled state of affairs. But for Jack Aubrey, the transition from public servant to private master is remarkably smooth. Perhaps that in itself is the commentary, but for the most part the author’s focus is on the incidental details that mark him out as a mercenary: the differences in livery, discipline, and so on. As ever, O’Brian seems outwardly admiring of all these efforts, though determinedly equivocal with regards to their wider benefit.

The story of The Letter of Marque follows on without a breath from The Reverse of the Medal. Captain Jack Aubrey has turned privateer, with his old friend Stephen Maturin stumping up the required cash to buy the Surprise and to pay his crewmates to come along. Stephen’s contacts in the intelligence world have given them a secret mission to South America, but the main substance of this book concerns a couple of exploratory ventures that are partly intended to restore Jack’s reputation and build up his fortune again. The first involves a Spanish ship full of quicksilver; the second a daring raid on a French frigate moored in an unfriendly port.

This is Aubrey’s first taste of success without a sting in the tail for a very long time. There’s still a lingering bitterness that comes from being an outsider to his beloved service — initially, this is described as a certain ‘sealing off…[that] had turned him into a eunuch as far as emotion was concerned.’ (It’s a fairly startling image; apart from anything else it is not altogether clear what a potent male model of emotion in O’Brian’s work would look like.) But since his victories bring sudden popular acclaim, his upset soon seems like more of an inconvenience than a threat. As so often is the case, for the most part he is simply too busy to worry about it very often.  It’s difficult to see at this stage if that seal will linger. Even the sudden death of his father gives him little cause for grief here.

Stephen, meanwhile, is concerned in part with intelligence matters; but mostly he’s thinking about Diana, his estranged wife. An opportunity has arisen to visit her in Sweden, where she has been living for the last few books with Jagiello, who we met way back in The Surgeon’s Mate. But it won’t be till the end of this story that they meet again, and we get to find out exactly where they stand now in relation to one another. 

In the mean time, the book is full of incident. It is all good-natured, upbeat stuff, even though it is peppered with strange nuggets of darkness. There’s the offhand revelation that the new cook is an actual devil worshipper, for example, or the sad fate of the French agent who aided Maturin at the tail end of the last book. I like O’Brian’s scheme to wean Maturin off his long-standing addiction to opium. His servant Padeen begins stealing it from his cabin, and making up the absence in the flasks with brandy. Being that Padeen is so large and somewhat slow, nobody seems to notice him walking around stoned on the stuff. There’s a sort of dark poetic irony in the situation of Maturin effectively offloading his own addiction on the poor man, even if he doesn’t entirely know what he’s doing. Padeen is bearing the load that Maturin hardly imagined he was even carrying; one has to read into these things to tease the politics out of O’Brian.

It’s a strange thing: even as these books go on — and become in many ways more colourful, more enjoyable — the author’s aversion to anything really difficult becomes more pronounced. Emotion is difficult; confrontation is difficult; settled routine and lasting relationships are difficult. Looking at the circumstances of one’s condition is worst of all. Better to sail onward. Better to break it all up, with violence if you have to.

But this book also does something strange and new for the series. There is throughout this recurring image of a hot air balloon. It’s partly an object of Stephen’s fascination, a little like the diving bell was previously, but in this case it seems to come up in spite of him as well as because of him. Apparently people are talking about balloons all the time in 1812. A balloon begins to feel like an animating spirit of the book. Second-hand reports of the experience feel like dispatches from another world:

‘“…But what I had not derived from his account was the extraordinary intensification of living, the palpable depth of the universal silence, and the very great awareness of the light and colour of this other world – an otherness that was made all the stronger because through an occasional gap in the clouds our ordinary world could be seen, with silver rivers very, very far below and the roads distinct. Yet in time that changed to rock and ice, even farther below; and in my keen delight there was mingled an undefined sense of a dread as huge as the sky itself; it was not merely a fear of being destroyed, but worse; perhaps that of being wholly and entirely lost, body and soul…”’

There’s a peculiar richness to these moments that is quite unlike anything seen before in these books. It is a deeply reflective quality; the author’s descriptions of the natural world touch upon it, but here more than ever before the imagery is bent towards the service of expressing the psychology of the characters. That ‘dread’ suggests an invocation of the romantic sublime; but though for the reader it’s tempered with our knowledge that nothing really bad can happen to the characters, it still has a personal, transportive effect on them. There is simple, penetrating imagery here that has all the feeling of a Magritte painting:

‘…now he was living with time in the sense of duration once more, for he knew with dreadful certainty that they had been rising for hours on end, that they were now rising faster still. And as they soared towards this absolute purity of sky so its imminent threat, half-perceived at first, filled him with a horror beyond anything he had known. Diana was wearing her green coat again and at some point she must have turned up the collar, for now its red underneath made a shocking contrast with the extreme pallor of her face, the pinched white of her nose and the frosted blue of her lips. Her face showed no expression – she was, as it were, completely alone – and as she had done before she held her head down, bowed over her lap, where her hands, now more loosely clasped, held the diamond, very like a sliver of this brilliant sky itself…’

There’s something quite French in that use of ‘time in the sense of duration’ — the Proustian durée, I suppose. But there’s also something terribly English in the musical hesitancy of the way the phrases fit together. Think back to the first book in this series and it seems inconceivable that something so otherworldly could have a place here. But as time goes by in these chronicles, it’s fascinating to see the author toy with the possibilities of the form so openly; time is constrained, condensed in an impossibly long 1812 to serve the machinations of the plot; but now time also proves endlessly malleable in the service of consciousness.  

[sheri-s-incredible-journey-blog]

May 29, 2017

Another two weeks have flown by with the schedule becoming routine although that will change in another two weeks.

We have had consistently filled schoolship days with kids anywhere from 8-17 on board doing the Inland Seas program. And what a program it is. Their goal is to educate kids to become stewards of the Great Lakes and thoughtful, ecologically minded adults. They have docents who set up "stations" on the boat and teach different aspects of the program. They trawl for fish, trawl for micro plastics, take soil and water samples, identify plankton and other life, test for oxygenation and acidity of the water, learn a bit on seamanship, raise sails and generally have an experience of being on a sailing vessel doing scientific research. And real research it is, all the findings go to the community that oversees the health of the Great Lakes. Most of the volunteers are retired and educated folks in the fields of science (biology, ecology, and engineering) and do an unbelievable job of getting the kids to understand how important it is for all of us to participate in the wellbeing of our planet.

Those days for me consist of cooking breakfast for the crew, lunch for crew and educators that do both morning and afternoon programs and then dinner for the crew. Mondays we have no schoolship so that is my provision day in-between cooking meals. The crew is awesome as far as helping me get everything on board, stocking me with ice and general assistance. I am by far the oldest cook they have ever had and allow me the privilege of asking for physical help whenever I need it.

Let me tell you a little more about the crew: Captain Brett has been on the boat since 2010, beginning as a deckhand and making his way up the ladder (so to speak), becoming 2nd mate, chief mate and then captain. Most people in this world do it just this way. In order to get a captain's license you must have sea time (along with a written test of course) and that is accrued by paying your dues and learning the ropes along the way. He is also a fabulous artist and marketing guru and designs all promotional material for the boat. He is about to be married in two weeks and will have his rehearsal gig on the boat for a sunset cruise. He is a very bright, funny and thoughtful man and it is a joy to work with him.

Lily is our chief mate and our new captain. She received her license over the winter and will drive the boat on Brett's day off. This is the first time I have worked with a woman mate and it is interesting to watch her interact with her crew. She is strong, tough and fair with an intensity about her that is sometimes palpable. She is very stoic but the more I get to know her she is warm and caring as well.

Last week I came down with a miserable cold and Monday I was really feeling it. After breakfast the captain and mate came to me and said if I wanted to take the day of I could... what!?? That has never happened before and I declined at first because it is my busy getting ready for the week day. I provisioned, made lunch and did all my stuff and by 4pm I was wiped. So I decided to take them up on their offer, ordered pizza for supper (which of course to the crew was a treat) and went to bed. No repercussions or recriminations. They even ate their pizza in midship area so they wouldn't disturb me! How is that for thoughtful consideration?

Ryan is our 2nd mate, which means he is first mate when Lily drives or is otherwise off the boat. He is a "real" sailor and has taken to this life... well like a fish to water! He plays the mandolin. He is serious and a rule follower and he has kicked my ass in every game of cribbage we have played so far! He is also thoughtful and caring and does all his jobs incredibly well.

Sasha is next... he is our youngest right now at 19 (we have a new deckhand starting next week who is 18) and is new to the whole sailing world. He is a professional ski instructor in Montana and also a professional organ player along with several other instruments. He was adopted by his parents from a Russian orphanage when he was 2 months old (along with 3 other adopted kids) and is a good natured young man. Always willing to help, always in a good mood and takes a lot of ribbing from the captain.

Harriet came on board two weeks ago and she is 24. Her past experience has been on Navy ships as a non-military sailor. She has travelled all over the world and this is her fist schooner experience. She is very sweet and insecure but is finding her way and fitting in quite well. Harriet also plays instruments and I'll tell you I come into conversations with these three young people and they are talking Bach and Beethoven and different fugues and such... last week I said to them, do any of you even know who Led Zeppelin is? Sometimes I feel like I am in some time of time warp, it’s weird!

Then we have Amber who is the new captain of Scout (a 42' sailing yacht also owned by Dave) and lives and eats on our boat. She is from Key West, is 29 and is the person I socialize with more than anyone else. Both Brett and Lily live off the boat, so there is no socializing there, they have their own lives. The other three don't have anything in common with me and their time off is different than mine. Amber and I go out to eat and have a couple of drinks once a week. It is fun to go out with someone instead of alone and I enjoy her company. Her boyfriend is a captain on a boat in Alaska this summer and she has worked schooners for the last 4 years.

That is it for crew, we have the owner/captain Dave who just turned 53 the other day and comes on the boat most days for lunch. He is from Jersey, is plain spoken, smart, a good businessman and appreciates his staff! Wendy is our office manager, works hard, is incredibly efficient, also comes on board most days for lunch (always at my request, neither "have" to have lunch on the boat but you know me, the more the merrier!) and was the cook on board for 3 years in the late 90's.

Dave’s 16 year old daughter will be joining us as soon as school is out to be a PT deckhand along with the young man who starts this week. I think that pretty much covers everyone.

Today is Memorial Day and I am off! I didn't even know I had it off until last week when I saw there were no trips today. So I provisioned yesterday (in the pouring rain), got the galley all set and have an extra day off this week, yay! I will meet up with Amber this evening for an early dinner and have a short week filled with trips.

I go to my friends Deb & Dave on Friday night to help facilitate their daughter’s graduation party on Saturday, looking forward to it!

That’s it for this installment of Sheri’s Incredible Journey, stay tuned for more… be well my friends and until the next time~ xo

[barbariccia]

cheer up, liara, you aren’t the only one who’s at the mercy of galactic side-glances.

Liara: But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise.

Shepard: Promises are easy to make, but hard to keep.

we get the chance for the first time to chat with liara and find out what her deal is. she’s not really hiding much, not like some of our other crewmates: she’s just a young archaeologist who gets excitable when the protheans are mentioned.

come to think of it...

i’ll freely admit it here and now: i’ve never cared much for liara. being the blue-skinned babe, she naturally rocketed to being the poster girl and ‘canon’ romance for the series above tali or ashley (let’s not even talk about how femshep didn’t have a canon appearance until the very last game in the trilogy), and i can understand why: unlike ashley, she’s not abrasive from the get-go and finds shepard interesting right off the bat, albeit from a scientific standpoint before a humanist one, and unlike tali, you can see her face.

still, the insistance that there is a canon for the series, despite being rife with lots of little choices that ultimately don’t effect the ending but do effect instead the journey you take getting there, things that make any shepard’s journey personal to the player, makes me uncomfortable, in some very vague and undefined sense - as does the way that liara is pressed upon you in a manner that screams to me as “me, me, pick me, pick me!!”

i don’t care to be rude to liara for choices that weren’t hers to pick - nevermind that created characters don’t exactly have agency of their own not being real and all that - but for what it’s worth, i do always feel bad shutting her down so sharply. ah well.

we get the chance to ask about asai culture some more and hear it from the mouth of an asari, though. let’s look.

Liara: Although we seek to understand other species, it seems few of them seek to understand us. The galaxy is filled with rumors and misinformation about my people. Most of the inaccuracies are centered around our mating rituals.

Liara: Mating is not quite the proper term. Not as you understand it. Physical contact may or may not be involved, but it is not an essential element of the union. The true connection is mental. Our physiology allow us to meld with other beings. We can touch the very depths of their minds. We explore the genetic memory of their species. We share the most basic elements of their individual and racial identities.

love to hear it from the mouth of babes themselves that there’s an unhealthy hangup across the galaxy with another species’ mating act!!!

again, i understand that this is clearing up for the player rather than the character, but it still feels very... strange that in your very first conversation with someone who’s arguably the least qualified to be aboard the normandy (at least in terms of credentials, because this is a military vessel; tali would be a close second in this regard) that you can bring up sex when asking about a different race. fraternization isn’t quite the right word for it, but it seems very othering to me.

that this is brought up by liara rather than shepard and could very well be seen as simply oversharing, or wanting to clear up misunderstandings before they blow out of hand, is definitely a read! and shepard’s questions do lean more toward a general instead of personal sense.

we do get to ask if liara knows who her ‘father’, for lack of a better term - and god i wish asari linguistics were explored because this is a culture that would be rife with interesting nongendered terms - is, and liara tells us that benezia never told her who that was. and here we come to the second part i’m iffy about.

Liara: I am what is sometimes called a “pureblood”, though no asari would ever be cruel enough to say the word to my face. It is a great insult among my people.

Liara: It is possible Benezia’s partner was embarrassed by their union. She may have been too ashamed to publicly acknowledge me as her offspring.

so this is loaded!!!!!!

asari-asari offspring are explored a little better in me2, where we see what the implications of single-species union mean for the genetics (spoiler: it’s a sex thing), but this in itself raises some interesting questions that the series never addresses. at some point, even the asari weren’t able to leave their own planet or system - at some point they were the only race to have discovered the citadel and claimed its initial knowledge. so what the fuck were the thoughts on single-race offspring at that time? at what point in the asari’s history did it become culturally unacceptable to mate with another asari?

unless, of course, they’ve always melded with non-asari species, even if they aren’t the aliens that we know and are familiar with today. the equivalent of bestiality, except... because melding can be pulled off without a physical union, it’s considered okay? the offspring is laways another asari, the product of the individual and racial combination of both asari and the second parent’s experiences and culture, so it’s not like there’d be any weird asari-dog hybrids walking around.

i appreciate this got weird quickly, but the idea is so open and broad and only really discussed in an “ooh sexy we’re compatible with everyone and because we’re neither male nor female that means femshep can get in on this as well without having to be held to the same standards of lesbianism that isn’t aesthetically pleasing” manner. tldr, fuck you, bioware, this is my country now and i intend to plunder the land for all of its minerals no matter how weird they are because you didn’t strip it fully and left these nuggest behind for me.

so i was discussing this with one of my closest friends. i typically have a big problem consuming depictions of mother-daughter relationships within any sort of media, no matter how they’re displayed, because of personal trauma, but the realisation struck me as this line played - i don’t remember having any sort of problem with the way that liara and benezia’s relationship (and estrangement) were displayed the first time i went through this game, and i don’t expect it to have much of an affect on me now.

not that my personal experiences and trauma count for much as far as whether or not a piece of writing is good, but it doesn’t strike is as... realistic, i suppose is the right word.

no explanation on why liara hasn’t spoken to benezia in however long, or any indication of when benezia might have turned to saren’s cause or even why, but i’m sure it’ll pop up later. we’ll be taking liara to one of the planets for that extra dialogue.

[entergamingxp]

A Love Letter to the Fantasy Airship • Eurogamer.net

There’s a joke that does the rounds on Twitter every so often that somewhere around 2015 or 2016 we slipped into an alternative timeline. One of the bad ones where your cuddly best mate wears an eyepatch and jackboots and everyone’s suddenly got sinister facial hair. This would, in a way, be a comforting notion, except that it can easily be disproved with one simple look to the sky. If this really were a parallel world, even one of the bad ones, the sky would be filled with the silent, graceful shapes of airships gliding serenely back and forth. Nothing says ‘parallel universe’ like an airship. From Fringe to Doctor Who, from Wolfenstein to Bioshock Infinite, if you want people to know they’re on the path not taken, bung a Zeppelin in the sky and, to be honest, you may not even need the evil goatees.

I’ve had a bit of a thing for airships since I was in my teens. I loved – and love – all airships, but it was the great steampunk contraptions of wood and cloth and wrought iron that had me most under their spell. Where the ‘ship’ is taken literally and a creaking old galleon is slung implausibly and enchantingly beneath bulging balloons. Games love them too – they’re most associated with JRPGs, although I think it must have been in Super Mario Bros 3 that I first encountered them. But the airship that really sparked my love affair was in a much more obscure place. Does anyone remember the Fantastic Worlds expansion pack for Civilization 2? Anyone remember the airship units? I do. For some reason that unit captivated me. I loved it, in all its tiny, pixellated glory. I couldn’t find a picture of it. Sorry. Take my word for it, though: that was a good airship.

The history of fantasy flying machines goes back further than you might think. Both the ancient Greek playwright Euripides and the historian Herodotus give the vengeful sorceress Medea a flying chariot drawn by dragons, which she uses to escape Athens after murdering her children.

By the early first millennium AD, the assortment of tall tales that had grown up around Alexander the Great gave him a variety of fantastical vehicles and devices appropriate for a globetrotting, monster-fighting hero. As well as a submarine used for fighting sea-monsters in Alexandria’s harbour, he was also reputed to have constructed a flying machine powered by griffins, which he used to travel high into the sky and look down on the earth below, before becoming scared and hurriedly returning to terra firma. The Russian folk-tale ‘The Fool and the Flying Ship’ gets us closer to the familiar steampunk airship we’re familiar with. In 1894 this was printed for British audiences in The Yellow Fairy Book, one of Andrew Lang and Leonora Alleyne’s popular series of children’s fairy-tale collections.

Unsurprisingly, the nineteenth century is when things really hot up for fantasy airships. The first hot-air balloon flight had occurred at the end of the eighteenth century, the novel was finding its feet as a literary genre and fantasy for both children and adults was everywhere. We often think of Jules Verne when we consider steampunk vehicles and Victorian science fiction-fantasy, and he certainly did offer his share of airships – notably in 1886’s Robur-le-Conqurant. But Verne was only one of a long list of late Victorian and Edwardian writers excited by the dawning of the age of flight. Another Frenchman, the journalist and pioneer of science-fiction illustrator Albert Robida, is particularly fun. His imagined future in 1882’s Le vingtime sicle and its sequels offers future-Parisian skylines filled with airships.

Of course, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also saw the hydrogen-fuelled rise of the real airship. In 1875 Jean-Pierre Blanchard crossed the Channel in a powered balloon with flapping wings and there was a failed attempt to build a military blimp as early as 1812 to defend Russia against Napoleon’s invading armies. By the end of the century several successful flights had been made by motorised dirigibles, and the beginning of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the age of the Zeppelin.

We all know how that ended up.

The Hindenburg Disaster and the conspicuous failure of the commercial airship cemented its position in the world of fantasy and alternative history. For a few decades airships plied the skies, demonstrating their near-viability, but when all that was cut short the airship never had the opportunity to become a mundane part of our everyday lives. Not only that, but the imagery of the flames licking around the Hindenburg’s swastika-emblazoned tail meant those mighty Zeppelins remained inextricably linked with the Nazis, who were soon to become their own staple of the alternative history genre. Two roads not taken intertwined in popular imagination. It’s no surprise, then, that the rigid dirigible, the realistic Zeppelin-style airship, tends to be associated in popular culture with timelines where something’s gone awry, with totalitarian rule and military might.

Even before the rise of the Nazis, though, the airship lost its innocence in the First World War, when Zeppelins took part in German bombing of European cities. When games and other media have wanted to portray the airship as a force for good, associated with optimism, adventure, freedom and exploration, they’ve tended to focus on the fantastical whimsy of Victorian and Edwardian fiction, before harsh reality came along and ruined everything. It’s worth remembering that in the 80s and early 90s, when video games were coming of age, real airships would still have been within living memory of many older people. But their fictional counterparts were safely in the world of historical literature, abstracted from the mundane world as much by time and the passing of generations as by their intrinsic fictionality.

A lot of this early airship fiction comes from Europe, especially France. But video games – and their love affair with the airship – blossomed in Japan. We probably shouldn’t underestimate the importance of Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli films in bringing airships – and the ‘sky-fi’ sub-genre in general – to Japanese audiences at a critical juncture. 1984’s Nausica of the Valley of the Wind features airships that are effectively gigantic planes, their aesthetic drawing heavily on the technology of the first half of the twentieth century in a way that’s now often called dieselpunk. Even more influential is 1986’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky. As well as more dieselpunk aircraft, we now have a wonderful array of airships. From Zeppelin-like liners to grim military dreadnaughts and ramshackle pirate ships of cloth, wood and whimsy.

These are the roots of the Mario airships, the Fantastic Worlds one, and the skyborne galleons of Skies of Arcadia. No series is more associated with this approach than the Final Fantasy series – especially the early entries. The first game in the series came out only a year after Laputa and the Ghibli influences are pronounced throughout 90s Final Fantasy. The airship was a staple of the series, with particularly notable appearances in 4 and 6, but its wood-and-cloth airship obsession reached its apex in the sublime Final Fantasy 9. Airships abound in this game, every one a love-letter to the fin-de-sicle fiction that inspired it. The airship-filled city of Lindblum is like Metropolis by way of Robida, a strong contender for the capital of dirigible aviation in gaming.

Particularly in the 80s and 90s, Japanese games’ airships found their comfort zone between the two intermingled aesthetic styles evident in the Ghibli films. Victorian-flavoured wood, cloth and steam on the one hand, 1940s and 50s dieselpunk juggernauts on the other. Often the goodies tended to skew towards the former and the baddies to the latter, like in Skies of Arcadia, where you take airborne sailing ships up against airborne battleships that could have been drawn straight out of the Second World War (not an airship as such, but obviously we have to mention the influence of Space Battleship Yamato here). The boundaries were never absolute, though. The scents of wood-polish and engine oil were always mingled. And perhaps the most dieselpunk airship of them all is a hero vessel – Final Fantasy 7’s Highwind, which from its gleaming aluminium hull to its glamorous pin-up nose-art, thoroughly converts the classic fantasy airship to the aesthetics of 1940s and 50s aircraft.

Barring the exuberant throwback that was Final Fantasy 9, the Highwind is something of a turning-point for Final Fantasy’s airships. The traditional outline of a boat-like gondola slung below a gas-filled lifting body was still there, as were the propellers and guy-ropes. But the heroes’ airship was being pushed towards something more modern. Later Final Fantasies have almost all subverted the traditional idea of the airship in some way, from the spaceships and flying universities (!) of Final Fantasy 8 to the Star Wars-influenced fighters and flying fortresses of 12. By Final Fantasy 15, the old-fashioned dirigible has been almost entirely lost in the brutalist sci-fi troop-carriers and late-game airborne concept-car that are its take on the airship idea.

That’s fine, in its way. I guess there are people out there who love those for their sleek coolness. But for me, it feels a bit like something’s been lost. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 90s and I’m getting to an age where, as much as I love science fiction, spaceships and the futuristic, I can’t quite escape the pangs of nostalgia for the dying days of the analogue world. Nifty as exotic flying-machines held aloft by exotic glowing energy or unseen magitek are, for me they lack the sense of tangibility you get from a wooden gondola creaking precariously below a bag full of hot air. The sense of wonder and adventure to be had when you stand by the bowsprit with the headwind billowing out your greatcoat and streaming back your wonderful 90s JRPG hairdo just so. Where you can hear the chunner of a grimy old engine that runs on oil, coal and the promises of a grubby bloke with goggles and a spanner. Where an unlikely number of propellers whir to keep you aloft, and a thrilling musical theme accompanies your flight over the rolling hills and seas of the fantasy world below.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/a-love-letter-to-the-fantasy-airship-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-love-letter-to-the-fantasy-airship-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[swipestream]

Superversive Review: Star Trek Discovery, Season 0.5

It’s basically a given at this point that any entry in a long running franchise is going to generate a lot of emotional turmoil. Some of us are happy to return to a beloved universe. Some of us are angry that people would dare. Most of us are afraid of how they’re going to screw up the beloved franchise. Most of us, I think, want our franchise to move forward, and the people who are in charge of those franchises are determined to play it safe– or what they perceive as safe. Prequels, prequels everywhere! Brave persons of color! Womyn in charge! Shamelessly mine the canon where you need to, toss it out where it constrains you!

As a kid who grew up with Star Trek, the initial announcement of Star Trek Discovery thrilled me. We’ve had our ups and downs, the franchise and I, but the sight of that Starfleet arrowhead filled me excitement. And then… nothing. Nothing for a very long time, beyond rumors of trouble. When the first glimpse of the ship came through, it was an idea that’s clever on paper (What if we took the unused Ralph McQuarrie redesign of the Enterprise and made that our ship?) and just… didn’t work. Star Trek’s leading ladies have always been the ships, and they’ve almost always been beautiful, but Discovery made the NuTrek Enterprise look graceful. When “plot” details were revealed, they were basically things like “We have a gay couple!” and “Our lead is a woman of color! The first black lead in a Star Trek series!” (She’s not.) Things started to look worse and worse, and then CBS made the decision to release it on Netflix everywhere except the US, where we’d have to pay for CBS’ streaming service…. Well, I decided to ignore it.

Until CBS offered the service free for a month. Nine episodes and a month to watch them? No problem.

Star Trek Discovery follows Michael Burnham, a foster child of Sarek and Amanda, raised on Vulcan, now a Starfleet officer. When the series opens, she’s the first office aboard the USS Shenzou, under the command of Capt Phillipa (Michelle Yeoh), when they run across Klingons for the first time in decades.  Burnham tries to convince Phillipa to lead by opening fire on the Klingons (which the Vulcans did for centuries after their first disastrous encounter), and when her Captain refuses, she uses the world’s least effective nerve pinch (Maybe because Burnham is human? Maybe because Michelle Yeoh is awesome?) to incapacitate the woman just long enough to start her mutiny. Long story short, war with the Klingons starts, Phillipa’s killed, Burnham is sentenced to life in prison, and most of the survivors of from the Shenzou are reassigned to the Discovery, a research vessel.

Discovery is a testbed for a new sort of FTL, a “spore drive” that uses the spores of some sort of transdimensional fungus to jump instantaneously from place to place, and for reasons of plot, her commander, one Capt. Lorca, wants Burnham onboard to help weaponize both it and a giant, transdimensional space tardigrade that feeds on the fungus spores when it’s not busy slaughtering people who are trying to slaughter it first. It goes without saying that the the ability to jump to any point in the universe is highly useful in a war, and Discovery, despite being a nominal research vessel, becomes the keystone in the Federation’s offensive. (But let’s be honest: Starfleet is always spouting that “We’re not a military” BS when every single one of their ships is armed to the teeth.)

“I’m a homosexual Lego man! How diverse are we!”

So how is the show? I’ll be honest. I was prepared to hate it, and the part of me that was hoping for some schadenfreude is kind of disappointed to find out that I don’t. The show is not without its flaws. It really bugs me that this Starfleet visually looks nothing like the Pike-era Starfleet, despite being roughly contemporary. It bugs me that the Klingons were redesigned as much as they were, even though it’s not the first time that’s happened. It bugs me that we had to give Spock a foster-sister, who is so Vulcan that Sarek, of all people, has to chide her for her lack of courtesy. There’s a random F-bomb in one episode; Klingon nipples in another.  Harry Mudd shows up, but he’s more of a sociopath than a lovable con-man. Michelle Yeoh was underused. Captain Lorca is kind of unhinged.  The actor who plays one half of the aforementioned gay couple is actually really fantastic, but the other actor is ridiculously off-putting, with fewer points of articulation than a Lego man, and seems to have been hired for his ability to give off “I’m gay!” vibes. And, irritatingly, a lot of these issues (at least the story ones) could be fixed by making Discovery  post-Voyager, or by doing things like having Burnham fostered by a different Vulcan. It really didn’t have to be Sarek.

In spite of all that, I found myself surprisingly entertained. I’m not bothered by the silliness of the spore-drive: Star Trek likes to pretend it loves science, but it really just sort of smears itself with science jelly as a sort of mating ritual. The fact that the spore drive doesn’t appear anywhere else in Star Trek just suggests to me that something is going to go horribly awry with it (and the midseason finale certainly points that way). The story told is compelling in spite of the occasional times it shouts, “Then this happened, because of plot!”

Doug Jones, as always, does a fantastic job when decked out in 7,000 pounds of makeup; the man is the practical effects version of Andy Serkis. Discovery herself isn’t entirely hideous (although the spinning saucer section during spore jumps is ridiculous). The story of what I can only assume is a ultimately fatally flawed super weapon in the hands of the good guys, vs. the Klingon superweapon (cloaks), is at least interesting enough to carry us through multiple episodes. I’m not bored by it.

Weirdly, I feel like Discovery hasn’t completely lost the soul of Star Trek (Though The Orville remains the Trekier Trek). There’s a trick I use for making Star Trek Voyager‘s adventures in incompetence palatable: Not every ship in the fleet is the Enterprise. Not every captain is competent. Voyager was the story of a ship that disappeared and provided an adventure of the week for Picard or Sisko in the form of investigating its disturbance. A similar construct seems to have formed in my head for Discovery: Not every captain is a good man. Discovery is the story of a captain who is eventually going to go rogue, and provide the adventure of the week for Kirk, when he has to fight a famed and decorated former Starfleet officer.

Star Trek Discovery is balanced on the blade of knife, and it could fall any way. It could give in completely to the modern love of grimdark subversion; or it could struggle its way out from under the weight of its the less than stellar hand its creators dealt it to become something genuinely good– you can see hints of a great show here and there. (Notably, the episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” and in particular, the last five minutes of it.) One thing I have to wonder is if this show had been named anything else, if the Federation had been “the Republic” and the Klingons “Snorfblats,” if it might not have been a much more highly regarded show. The name might carry power, but with that power comes expectations.

I’m still pretty ticked about not having it on Netflix, though.

Joshua M. Young is  an underemployed theologian, sci-fi author (featured in Tales of the Once and Future King, Forbidden Thoughts, and author of the forthcoming novel Do Buddhas Dream of Enlightened Sheep) and blogger at Superversivesf.com. He can be reached on Gab.ai and Twitter @BadgerSensei. If you enjoyed this, we’d love to have you visit our main site!

Superversive Review: Star Trek Discovery, Season 0.5 published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi

[belevine-blog]

BRETT LEVINE, who strongly resembles OLIVER STARK, has made Ceres Centropolis their home. They are a 30/?? year old VRIV’AMT (ALIEN) and have been in the city for 25 YEARS. They have been known to have SUPER STRENGTH, SPEED, FLIGHT, HEAT VISION, ETC. They are known to be CONFIDENT & IMAGINATIVE and DEVIOUS & IMPRACTICAL.  If you’re lucky, you may catch them working at INNER SANCTUM as a DIRECTOR.  

Hey, friends and fam.  Swae here with a very long introduction for the man known as Brett Levine (and the Vriv’Amt known as Prince Le’Vrie-Em).  Like legit warning, this is a very, very long introduction and I do apologize for the length - I like to be incredibly thorough.  Hopefully, if you take the time to read it, you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  If you want to skip out reading it, hit me up and I can give you a super-condensed version so we can get to plotting it out!  

Thanks for your time and I can’t wait to meet and plot with all of you!

Swae, out.

Vriv’Amt, a history.

The Alien race of Vriv’Amt - pronounced vrai-vham - is one that was originated from a planet called Vriv’Alandra.  This is located in the Vulranpry System, in the Kr’riet Region in the Mid-Sector, bordering the edge of the Outer Rim.  Unlike a majority of this system, Vriv’Alandra lacked a molten core.  Instead, the planet has a conglomerate large, rocky tunnels and caves that have been flooded with water to help sustain the center of the planet - an ancient tale states that the center of the planet houses its strongest creature, the water level lulls it to sleep keeping it into its deepest slumber.

Originally, Vriv’Alandra had been the home of the Elder Saastucheal people - for those more familiar with Earth terms, the Saastucheal people are creatures with reptilian skin that shimmers an orange hue in the sunlight, faces like humans with a longer snout that mimicks that of a possum.   The Saastucheal people have never been known to be friendly and were considered to be one of the most hostile creatures in the galaxy.  The Saastucheal people had participated in the trade of people from different races across the galaxy.

The Vriv’Amt people were born during the intermingling of species in the Saastucheal holding cells.  It was rumored that a single human and an unknown mixed alien had consummated their “love” in their holding cell and the first Vriv’Amt was born.  

The first Vriv’Amt, L’rekyp, had brought the Saastucheal people to an end.  L’rekyp had grown up in captivity and learned the ways of the Saastucheal people.  As he grew, the turmoil of his people fueled the strength within him and he rallied the rest of his people bred in captivity to rise up against the Saastucheal.  With the strength of the Vriv’Amt and the rest of the captive races, they were able to start a revolution and take over the planet for their own.

The Vriv’Amt were a quick race to populate a planet.  Its people gained a reputation for being quick to adapt and advance - this ability earned them much hostility from neighboring planets and ambassadors.  Though they tried to placate these hostilities, their neighboring planets sought out treaties and alliances against the Vriv’Alandra.

In the year 213 OPM, Vriv’Amt had joined the Galatic Republic and had lent the strength of its people and its planet to help this democratic party govern the galaxy.  

In the year 289 OPM, the reigning King of Vriv’Alandra, Urig’Nyanda, made the mistake of falling in love with the Princess of Nuu’Tal and she made the same mistake with him.  This union was rejected by the rules of Nuu’Tal, but the Princess and Urig’Nyanda did not care for their rejection.  She was stowed to Vriv’Alandra and the two were married in the planet.

That union was the start of the end of the people of Vriv’Alandra.

Nuu’Tal and the other six neighboring planets and their people launched an assault on Vriv’Alandra for this unapproved union.  It was a relentless assault that even with the abilities of the Vriv’Amt, they were unable to survive the battle.  These Seven planets had built all of their weaponry with the Kyungr’Lo Stone - this stone has the ability to negate all of the abilities of the Vriv’Amt people and render them as common as the average human.

The Vriv’Alandra did not survive this assault.  This assault decimated the entire population of the Vriv’Amt ...with the exception of one.

What are Vriv’Amt?

Vriv’Amt are an alien race that began on the planet Vriv’Alandra.  Their physical appearance is similar to that of humans with the exception of their bright red eyes during battle.

The race was created by a human (rumored to be a mutant) who mated with with an unknown alien.  To this day, the alien’s race and identity have been muddled.  Throughout the history books of the Vriv’Amt, the alien’s race is often guessed or omitted.  However, this alien’s race had granted the Vriv’Amt the following abilities:

Superhuman strength

Superhuman speed

Flight

Superhuman vision (including x-ray, microscopic, telescopic and infrared)

Super durability - immune to conventional firearms, but enough military grade artillery could very much kill him

Healing factor - all Vriv’Amt can heal with the power of water.  It’s rumored that if a Vriv’Amt was close to death, one could easily throw the body into water and they would be healed.  Perhaps it’s something to try later on.

Heat Vision

There is an unconfirmed rumor that the creature that lived in core of the planet had been what the mutant had mated with.  However, with the planet left in pieces and core destroyed, there has never been an conclusion.

The Vriv’Amt are a strong people but they are not invulnerable.  The below are their known weaknesses:

The Kyungr’Lo Stone - this red crystal has the ability to drain the life out of a Vriv’Amt.  History states that the Kyungr’Lo was created by a scorned galactic witch to punish the Vriv’Amt;  the witch did not realize it would be the death of its people.

Dehydration - Vriv’Amt get dehydrated very easily and are in constant need of water.  If a Vriv’Amt does not get enough water, they will wither away into nothingness.  They need to drink 10x the amount of water a human needs in one day or they will die.

Military Grade Artillery - common and conventional firearms will not harm Vriv’Amt but the higher military grade weapons can kill him.  If you empty an entire AA12 Atchinson Assault rifle into him, even with his abilities, he won’t be able survive that.

Any attacks at that puncture their hearts will lead to instant death.

Brett Levine, a History.

>> Brett Levine was originally Prince Le’Vrie-Em, the son of King Urig’Nyanda and his bride, Queen Leesa-El of Nuu’tal.  During the attack on Vriv’Alandra, the King had stowed him away into an escape vessel and ensured his safety from the assault.  The moment his escape vessel left the planet, King Urig’Nyanda had hit the switch to launch the final assault into Vriv’Amt to end its people.

>> The vessel that the young prince had been placed in had originally been aimed at one of their allied planets.  However, after accidentally stumbling into an unclosed portal between galactic systems, he was transported into planet Earth.  He landed in the middle of the Levine Cattle ranch outside the of Ceres Centropolis.

>> He was found by Edmund and Layla Levine, a farmer and his grieving wife.  The pair had recently lost their son to a cattle stampede.  Layla swore that the Heavens answered her prayers when this vessel came into their farm.  She bestowed the name Brett Levine to the child.  Edmund had been wary of accepting the child into their family at first but he stepped into the father role immediately.

>> Brett’s history was kept locked away from him.  His parents raised him as a normal boy.  He went to school, helped out as a farm hand and did everything as American as apple pie.  When he started high school, that’s when things got complicated.  He wanted to play sports and that was the constant argument in the household - his abilities made him a liability to all of the other teenagers who were to play with him.

>> Eventually, Brett won the argument but had to show great restraint in every sport.  He could have easily won everything, but to appease his parents, he held back and played as normally as he could.  Though, it wasn’t unexpected for him to make the winning play every time they needed it.

>> Brett originally went into community college in their rural farming town.  He attended it for two years until he transferred to Ceres Centropolis University when he was 20.  After that, every thing that he thought he knew changed.

>>  He attended CCU to focus on acquiring a Bachelor of Film and Television Production - he and his father argued about this also (”It’s a useless degree, Brett.  You should do something worthwhile with your time.  Be a doctor or a veterinarian, not a director!”).

>> During his time in college, Brett took on the mask and became Hyperion.  He donned a white hood and finally began to use his powers for good.  There was finally no need to hold back.

>> At this point, he graduated from CCU.  However, instead of pursuing a career in his degree field, he went into working for Inner Sanctum.  Originally starting off as an agent but eventually becoming a Field Commander.  He enjoys working with the agent directly and being able to join them in the field.

>> At the moment, he wants to do his best to help Inner Sanctum succeed in every way he can and will not hesitate to volunteer himself to do the right thing, even if no one wants.

>> Brett moved up from Field Director to Deputy Director and eventually Director of the Inner Sanctum.  Brett had intended to change Inner Sanctum from a hidden organization to one that people could proudly turn to and reach out to for any problems, especially ones connected to power.  He believed that transparency was important, especially when it comes to saving the world.

Fun Facts.

>> He drives a Honda CR-V because it’s one of the safest cars in the planet.  At least, according to the television and his parents.

>> He lives in a studio apartment in the middle of Ceres Centropolis.  He has a bad habit of flying into the window every time he finishes a mission as Hyperion.  He does this so often that his land-lord suggested that he install a security camera to see who keeps breaking into the top floor.

>> His favorite food his shabu-shabu.

>> He still visits his parents outside of Ceres Centropolis.  Especially during the holidays.  His mother cannot stand the city’s traffic during then, so Brett’s the one who makes the drive there.

>> He tried to adopt a dog once, but he wasn’t home as often as he liked.  This lead to the dog never realizing who he was and would constantly bark at him.  The dog loved his mother, so he gave her the pup.

>> Though he is currently not directing, Brett likes to make short videos about his daily life and the people in it.  He uploads it on his Facebook account so his mother doesn’t think he’s dead and believes that he’s currently living a normal, every day life.  Not running around as one of those “masked hoo-haws that think they need to save the world” (her words, not his).

>> His favorite film directors are Francis Ford Coppola, Stanely Kubrick, David Lean,  Miloš Forman and Akira Kurosawa.

>> If you ask him about his childhood, he will tell you about the time that he help birth a baby calf in the middle of the night.  It’s boring.  Don’t ask him.