#sickbay saturdays

[sickbaysaturdays]

[ID: Futuristic font reads “sickbay saturdays” over an image of an empty Star Trek TOS sickbay /ID]

Welcome to Sickbay Saturdays!

What is it?

A weekly(ish) event to explore and celebrate unique possibilities for writing futuristic medicine! Run by @withalittlebitofwhump. Not just for Star Trek!

This is first and foremost a whump and hurt/comfort event, but we’re also here for futuristic medicine, cool leaps in medical science, body-focused SF, and transhumanism in fiction, especially that informed by and inclusive of disabled people.

How does it work?

Tag new posts "#sickbay saturdays”. We’ll reblog a selection of these posts, but this will also let participants find your content, even if we don’t reblog it.

For your older posts, either reblog and tag us, or send submissions or asks.

We’ll mainly post on Saturdays, EST, but there’s no strict cut off for participation! We plan on posting (automated) prompts Friday nights and monitoring tags on Saturdays.

How do I participate?

All formats are welcome! Consider:

Giffing your favorite scenes

Sharing video clips

Recommending favorite on-theme fiction or fanfiction

Posting excerpts and quotes from whumpy books

Sending asks ala TAT

Writing fanfiction 

Posting your own art

Or anything else that doesn’t violate “Tumblr good citizenship” guidelines. (No re-posting, don’t tag us if you know the OP doesn’t want to interact with whump blogs, etc.)

Please make sure to use the tag “#sickbay Saturdays” so that participants can find your content even if we don’t reblog it.

Interested in helping out? Drop us a message!

Focus / restrictions:

We have a futurism/sci-fi focus. Please don’t clog up the tag with unrelated works!

Please tag common triggers and consider putting works with strong/many triggers under a read more. All explicit content should be clearly marked (N/S/F/W, "lemon”, “explicit noncon”, etc are all acceptable) and should either be under a cut or be a teaser linking to the content. Please refer to this post for other things you may want to tag for.

While the focus is on “classic” whump (action adventure / environmental as opposed to captivity/conditioning), anything with appropriate tags / warnings is welcome. To help folks keep track, action adventure / environmental whump will be tagged “purple whump” and captivity / conditioning as “orange whump”, based on OP’s tags. "Orange” and “purple” tags are arbitrary tags we use to help community members that suits their preferences without implying morality.

We’re unable to reblog everything -- we’ll reblog a selection of what’s tagged every week. If we don’t reblog or post what you send, it’s probably because it slipped through the Tumblr cracks, we’re trying to control the amount of posts, etc. You can find the rest in the #sickbay Saturdays tag!

Upcoming Themes:

February 11: Pan-sci-fi warm up week (anything SF-med goes, but Ari will mostly be offline so this blog will run on a queue/a bit late)

February 18: Sickbay [official kick-off!]

February 25: Desert Planet

March 4: Android

March 11: Side effects of space travel

March 18:��Healing pod malfunction

March 25: Kidnapping

April 1: Field medicine

April 8 (Genre Focus): Cyberpunk

April 15: Futuristic Drugs

April 22: (no event)

April 29: Cryosleep

May 6 (Fandom Focus): Star Wars

May 13: Field medicine

May 20: Torture

May 27: (Medical focus): Disability in Science Fiction

[ilovedthestars]

Sickbay Saturday: Murderbot Fic Rec List

Hey it's the first @sickbaysaturdays!! I might try writing my own fic for this in the future but I didn't have time for that today, so I thought I would make a list of some other people's very good fics that go with the Sickbay theme!

If you haven't read The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, go do that. (At least read the first paragraph and then tell me it doesn't sound incredible.) TMBD has some really excellent sci-fi concepts that lend themselves very well to whump, hurt/comfort and fascinating sci-fi medical problems, like "what if your brain was infected with malware that caused unbearable hypersensitivity?" or "how do you save a sentient bundle of code that's almost torn itself apart?"

This list will run more on the hurt/comfort side of things, because that's where my tastes lie. If you like a little more pain and despair, @specialagentartemis made a rec list of some excellently horrifying fics focused on cubicle technology! (I'm also stealing her formatting, since I've never made a rec list before.)

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite fics that explore the possibilities of sci-fi medical issues/treatment in the Murderbot universe!! (These are all fairly short oneshots, gen, and rated for either general audiences or teen and up.)

MedSystem by fireworksinthenight

2,273 words, General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Murderbot POV.

Relevant tags: Friendship (don't tell Murderbot), Swearing, Physical Pain, Emotions

ART’s MedSystem is top-notch. None of its crew ever complained, right? Nor did the SecUnit it calls its friend. It’s not like SecUnit wouldn’t bother to tell it if something was wrong.

The fic I was thinking of when I decided to make this list! Our beloved part-robotic, part-organic, all-sarcasm protagonist Murderbot has the ability to adjust its own pain sensors, but we've seen times in canon when that isn't effective, including when it's receiving MedSystem treatment from ART. This fic touches on the differences between how SecUnits and humans receive medical treatment--both in terms how SecUnits are objectified and mistreated and their actual needs. It also has some wonderful "your friends care about you, idiot" energy.

it has turned into a scar, just the same by ampquot

1,171 words, General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, ART POV.

Relevant tags: Medical Trauma, Angst, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort

Even when repaired by a good MedSystem (and Perihelion’s MedSystem was very good), a human body that has been damaged is not completely restored to its previous integrity. Was SecUnit any different? Perihelion’s scans had surprisingly revealed no evidence of past physical traumas.

Or: ART confronts the way its friend's body gets broken and made new again.

Yes, futuristic medical technology that can replace missing body parts and repair major injuries in a matter of hours has countless benefits, but this fic also explores the fridge-horror implications. If any amount of physical trauma or injury can be erased, then it's easy to gloss over the fact that SecUnits were built to be thrown into harm's way again and again. In this excellent fic, ART has some emotions about that.

Hypersensitive by tocautiouslygo

2,147 words, No Archive Warnings Apply, Teen And Up Audiences, Murderbot POV.

Relevant tags: Hurt/Comfort, mostly hurt tbh, Whump, Rated T for swearing, Sensory Overload

Murderbot deals with a malware attack that causes unbearable sensory hypersensitivity.

Malware has SUCH angst potential with characters who are part organic, part machine. (I am a certified Malware Fic Aficionado. Malware is so fun.) One of the most angsty applications of this that I’ve seen in fic is the potential for malware to cause physical pain (or in this case, painful hypersensitivity). This fic is very vividly written whump, but as it's not physical injury-related it's great for those of us like me who don't have much stomach for gore, and it ends with some relief. Deliciously painful :')

Stumble by ProfessorAerii

1,953 words, No Archive Warnings Apply, Teen And Up Audiences, Ratthi POV.

Relevant tags: Missing Scene, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Missing scene from Chapter 8 of Exit Strategy; Murderbot may have glossed over forgetting how to walk but uncontrolled falls to the ground tend to be loud.

This fic elaborates on a throwaway line from that one time Murderbot almost deleted its brain. That whole section of the fourth novella, Exit Strategy, has perfect vibes for Sickbay Saturday, but this fic fills in more detail around Murderbot's slow recovery and shows how its humans friends took care of it during that time. This one is more on the comfort side, and I love Ratthi's concern and gentleness and Murderbot's uninhibited blurting of the feelings it usually won't admit to.

pick up the pieces and try again by CompletelyDifferent

4,875 words, Major Character Death, Teen And Up Audiences, ART POV.

Relevant tags: Character Study, Hurt/Comfort, POV Second Person

The Perihelion attempts to reassemble some corrupted code.

I will be vague about this fic because the character death warning is for a canon character death that's a pretty major spoiler for a later book in the series (Network Effect), but this is a fix-it fic where that death is undone. It's a soft and painful and tender story about nursing a character back to health who doesn't remember who it is and lashes out dangerously, but it looks a little different because the character is a fully digital being. This might not tecnically be a sickbay fic but I think it fits the spirit of "sci-fi medical treatment," and it's too wonderful not to include.

In conclusion: The Murderbot Diaries are great and we have lots of excellent fic. We also have a discord server that's full of fun analysis and discussions where lots of these amazing ideas were born!! If you'd like to join us there, you can message me or another server member and we'll get you on the queue for an invite! Join usssssss

Other Murderbot fanfic enjoyers, please feel free to reblog with your own favorites! I'm sure I missed some good ones. :)

[specialagentartemis]

Top 5 Most Horrifying Cubicle Stories: A Fanfic Rec List

For @sickbaysaturdays, this seems like SUCH a fun event. Something the Murderbot Diaries fandom does very well is exploring the inherent horrors of Being A SecUnit, and part of that is dependence on cubicles for medical treatment. It's sort of a sickbay, but more dehumanizing! (De-person-izing?)

So here are some of my favorite horrifying cubicle repair stories.

-

Cubicle Cough by Skeletalcat

1,172 words.  OCs, no canon characters.  Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings.  Corporation Rim employee POV.

Relevant tags: Sick Character, Despair.

All the secunits did it. They walked their strict, stoic patrols in perfect harmony, only ever interrupted by a quick uncomfortable clearing of their throats. Their helmets muffled the little noise into a sharp huff. None of my co-workers seemed to mind. I began thinking maybe constructs always did it, I just had never heard it over the chaos of my old contract. It was a shame, because, besides the coughing, the only other sound was blissful white noise.

The PINNACLE of the Despair December form, in my opinion.  Short, sharp, horrifying in its implications.  The SecUnits all catch a disease through the cubicle.  One tech decides to do something to fix that.

-

2. Repair by Alex van Gore (avg)

1,887 words.  Teen and Up, Graphic Depictions of Violence Cubicle Repair.  Cubicle POV.

Relevant tags: Medical Horror, Robot gore, Identity issues, Body Horror, Body Modification.

A cubicle tries to fix what does not want to be fixed - a SecUnit, newly rogue, not yet Murderbot. 

Screaming internally forever about this one.  The cubicle is trying so hard to repair this SecUnit that’s not reading right!  The visceral descriptions, the poetry of the gore, the pain of being put back together, the way the cubicle is so earnestly helping and believes itself to be safe.  Horrific!  Beautiful!  The gore is real!

-

3. Trapped by Skits

397 words.  General Audiences, Major Character Death (OC).  SecUnit OC POV.

Despair December 2021 #3: Locked in a Cubicle It was getting colder.

Perfect sad little ficlet.  A cubicle is supposed to be safe… and isn’t, necessarily.

-

4. Release by Alex van Gore (avg)

1,060 words.  Teen and Up, Graphic Depictions of Violence Cubicle Repair.  Cubicle POV.

Relevant tags: Rogue Cubicle, Blood and Gore, Medical Procedures, robot gore, Body Horror, Body Modification, Cubicle is trying its baby best

A cubicle is tasked to fix something it doesn't understand, and in trying to help the incomprehensible becomes rogue itself.

Less horrifying.  Not not horrifying, but less.  Sweet, almost cute, in a messed up way.  (Still messed up in a very fun and creative way.  Still Medical/Body Horror.)  Cubicle wants to HELP. Cubicle knows what clients do to SecUnits :(

-

5. Hard Reset by Skits

2,538 words.  Teen and Up, No Archive Warnings Apply.  Murderbot POV.

Relevant tags: Memory Loss, Memory Alteration, Body Horror, Non-Consensual Body Modification.

Company technicians attempt to wipe the memory of a SecUnit that was involved in a war crime.

It resists.

Okay, most of the repair here isn’t actually done by the cubicle, but 1) a cubicle features and 2) it’s real good and DEEPLY creatively horrifying, so it counts!

Takes place in Skits’s “Reclaim the Sky” AU, but except for a few lines, reads as pretty canon-compliant as well, and does REALLY interesting things with SecUnit repair and how Murderbot might have been put in a position to hack its governor module in the first place.

-

Bonus: Unwound Assumptions by Thylacine_Wishes.  Doesn’t actually take place in a cubicle at all (instead, it’s in ART’s MedSystem), but oh my GODDDDDDDDD the gore! The horror!  The pain!  EXQUISITELY done in the most disturbing and horrific way possible.  I had to read this through my fingers like I was watching a horror movie and I mean that as praise.  Graphic depictions of violence, Major character death, Medical horror to the highest degree.  Three isn’t sapient and ART is going to prove it.  I’ll let the tags speak for themselves: “Vivisection, Body Horror, to prove this machine isnt a person ill simply take it apart, Hurt No Comfort, okay but what IF other constructs arent sapient.” 

-

Happy Sickbay Whump Saturday!

[comfortingcatharsis]

For the inaugural @sickbaysaturdays Saturday, here's some of the first-aid/medic/field medicine wookiepeedia pages I've looked at recently that might be helpful or interesting for Star Wars fic writers of a whump/hurt/comfort bent:

Medpac- A medpack usually contained diagnostics such as medisensors and also could provide flexclamps, synthflesh, irrigation bulbs, bacta, kolto, spray-bandages, bacta patches, spray hypos, bone stabilizers, antiseptics, medical drugs, coagulants, stimulants such as stim-shots, and other essential medicines for the treatment of wounds.

Shock Cloth- The Shock Cloth was an emergency anti-shock blanket. It was a thermal blanket that had hundreds of tiny injectors and a small supply of medical chemicals. When it was connected to a datapad or medical scanner, it could inject medicine to specific parts of a patient's body while stabilizing the body temperature.

Antisepsis field- Antisepsis fields were a type of energy field umbrella that killed microscopic fungi, mold, bacteria, and spores, developed in the last decades of the Galactic Republic.

Bacta patch- A bacta patch, also called a bacta bandage, was a disposable patch of bacta used to heal skin punctures or damages in other parts of the body. Though not as effective as a full immersion in a bacta tank, bacta patches were much easier to transport and sufficed as a quick and convenient medical healer.

Grav-press bandage cuff- Grav-press bandage cuffs were used to stop bleeding in limbs. They used micro-repulsor fields to stop arterial bleeding.

Med-splint- The med-splint was a repulsor transport model created to carry an injured being from the location of the injury to an ambulance. It was composed of a flat surface with an attached engine, and a small force-field generator to immobilize broken limbs.

Field cauterizer- A field cauterizer was a sixteen-centimeter-long device shaped like a stylus with a button on the end. It was used to burn wounds shut, disinfecting and cauterizing, by emitting a low-frequency laser beam.

[mysticalsoot]

reconciliation and forgiveness

part 2 of 'peer pressure and canned beer' // bs au

➸ note; so- it's not Halloween themed but it is a fic I've been procrastinating finishing for five months (basically no motivation for it-) but it's now complete and I have some more wips for this au that I'm working on!! i couldn't keep it to myself any longer so- yeah here I am!! also!! please let me know if you want to be added to the bs au taglist or my main taglist

➸ pairing; bs!au wilbur gold/soot x gn!reader

➸ summary; after convincing from your other crew trainer and a couple weeks of a break; you finally decide to talk it out with wilbur on what happened that night (can be read as standalone but context from part 1 would be good as well!)

➸ warning; angst, hurt/comfort, I easily forgive Wilbur, that's my own problem, kissing, mentions of being drunk/hungover, probably swearing, tension but not good tension

➸ age-rating; 15+

➸ wordcount; 2.9k

part 1

main masterlist

---

Your hope somehow turned into a manifestation, and thankfully, Wilbur got stuck in sickbay--after Grace had dragged him there, of course following a very very long drawn out lecture that he most definitely deserved. You wanted to lay in bed and rot, you didn't want to talk to anyone, speak a single word or even open your eyes. You managed to get away with that for the first half of the day, and you hummed when you felt the bed dip beside you. Your dad was here.

"Kiddo.. how are you feeling?" You open your eyes, watching as his lips curl into a solemn smile.

"I'm not the one with a hangover." Your tone is flat and dry, you could care less for inflection at this moment. You'd rather be left alone to wither away to dust, but your dad is insistent. He isn't going to let go, he'll want to be there for you, and he always has.

"Yeah, well, when he's out of sickbay I'm going to have a talk with him and then his parents," He pats your knee, sighing before looking down and folding his hands in his lap.

"Is he.." Your voice falters as you take a deep breath and curl onto your side, "Will he get in trouble?"

Your dad shrugs, looks over at you and let's a soft smile curl on his lips before speaking, "A bit. He did break curfew, sneak out and consume alcohol. But I do know him, and I know it wasn't his idea. I'm not going to punish him as if it was his idea."

"You know it was- It was them, right?" Your father nods at your inquiry.

"It was obvious that it was, this isn't the first time they've pulled such a thing," he pauses, thinking for a moment, he rubs your hair and then sighs, “I think you should go ahead to breakfast, yeah?”

He stands up, nodding at you, bidding to see you later before leaving the room. You groan in annoyance before standing up and heading to your dorm to change. It doesn't take you longer than a few minutes to do so, not bothering with your hair before shutting your dorm door and hurrying down the stairs.

It's a Saturday morning, at least lucky for you. And perhaps for Wil too. He stays in sickbay and doesn't miss any classes. You don't have any classes to attend and you can just flee back to your room to rot, like you intended to.

Your mind sort of shuts down on the walk over to the cafeteria, numb of thoughts and feelings as your eyes drop carelessly. It's relatively bare of students, which isn't a surprise for eight in the morning on a Saturday, most kids wake up around nine or ten and don't bother to eat until lunchtime.

Unlucky for you, you're a morning bird and so is Andy. So even if you didn't sleep in his and your father's dorm, you'd still wake up to have breakfast with him.

The moment you step into line, grabbing your tray after you sanitized your hands, your mind then fell to thoughts of Wil. Mornings where you'd both stand in line and talking about everything and nothing while grabbing your food and sitting down together. Laughing and smiling and going about your days together. Something you can't quite do now, and you aren't sure if you even want to. Do you even want to be around him?

It's a valid question that you asked yourself, although you're sure in a week you'll have forgiven him and forgotten about last night. But for the moment, you feel more hurt and angry than he's ever made you. Maybe it's the fact he let himself get pressured, or maybe it's that he didn't stop May from kissing him or the words he used when you tried to help him. It was probably a combination of things, but lucky for him you can't seem to be angry at him for long.

Your tray fills up, or at least somewhat. The star hashbrowns and the pancakes shaped as moons seem to be your choice for the morning. You find a seat at your usual place, staring out the large windows and watching students and teachers walk by. Some museum guests too, admiring the newly remodeled Pathfinder. It only took them four or so years to get it fixed, so might as well admire their work.

What feels like miliseconds but was probably minutes passes by, and Andy fits a seat in front of you, smiling softly with almost a hint of sadness to it.

"How are you feeling?" He speaks so gently, like you were a kicked puppy completely incapable of doing anything.

"Why do people keep fucking asking me that? I'm fucking fine," You seethe, and you catch a glimpse of Andy almost flinching and then his mouth curves down into a frown, "Sorry," you mumble the simple apology, looking down and sighing.

"I'm just worried about you, kiddo. Y'know? We all are," He almost reaches forward to rest his hand on yours, but he holds back realizing it may not be the best idea. Words will simply have to do.

"Everyone heard, huh?" you scoff, rolling your eyes at the thought as you mess with your pancakes, not bothering to eat them quite yet.

Andy nods gingerly, "The whole floor probably."

"That's my fault, I shouldn't have provoked a drunk guy," you put down your fork, glancing up at Andy as he gazes at you, worry etched on his features.

"It's no one's fault, okay? It happened and things will be handled accordingly. Your father and I have a meeting with Evan and Cati, and the trainers for that other team. Hopefully we'll come to an agreement on what happened before we get leadership involved," He takes a bite of his own food after speaking, hoping that it'll somehow indirectly encourage you to eat. It's worked before, so why not now?

"Keep dad in check for me, yeah?" A soft smirk plays on your lips at the thought, your dad can be decently protective of his kids and sometimes gets a bit heated. He's a good teacher though, and Ethan is the same way. Cati and Andy have a handful today.

"I'll do my best, lucky for me, he's short and easily containable," He pauses, sucking in a breath as his eyebrows raise, "Mostly."

He keeps quiet for a while, watching you every now and then as you slowly eat your breakfast. Your mind wanders where it shouldn't, dabbling in thoughts that should never see the light of day, but yet they do.

Thoughts and regrets bubble up, swirling together in a dangerous concoction. Maybe you should have just kept your mouth shut. Or perhaps it would've been best if you fought him on going. The mature thing to do is to talk to Wilbur, get it over with and come to a kind agreement. But what you want to do is never speak to him again. You know you're probably being overdramatic. That it isn't worth your breath to ponder over it or be so pissed off about the situation. It wastes more energy than it's worth. Yet you can't help it, you're hurt and you're angry and all you want to do is scream at the moment.

"You should go visit Wilbur, talk to him," Andy finally speaks up, his tray already taken care of and the team's teacher binder set in front of him.

"I don't think it's a good idea," A deep sigh slips past your lips as you chew on a hashbrown you grabbed a moment ago.

"You'll never know if you don't try," He pauses, hesitating and thinking over whatever he has planned to say next, "It may be your last time to see him in person for a while. He's probably going to be suspended."

You weigh the thought in your mind, considering his words and your own thoughts and worries. It takes you a few minutes before you nod, surrendering, "Okay, fine," you let out a gentle breath, playing with your food again.

Andy smiles, nodding before standing up and taking his binder with him. He begins to walk away before stopping beside you, resting his hand on your shoulder to encourage you to meet his eyes. You do.

"I love you, kiddo. Remember that," His lips curve up softly, a warm smile meant for you. The intention meant to solidify his words. He loves you, and you're thankful of that.

"I know," you smile softly, nodding as you keep your gaze up at him, "I love you too."

He nods again, patting your shoulder before walking away and then you're left with your thoughts yet again. Letting them run wild won't do you much good, even if wallowing and rotting seems the most appealing, it isn't the best plan of action. So you take a deep breath, and stand up, walking over to take care of your tray. You run your fingers over the concrete walls, letting your mind numb itself for the walk over to sick bay.

You pray and hope this isn't a bad idea, that Wilbur won't be against seeing you. That he won't view you in the way he seemed to last night. That he'll hear you out for once and perhaps rectify what he messed up. You have responsibility in the matter as well, and you have every plan to apologize yourself. Where you can, at the least.

It's fall now, the chilly air filling your lungs and what leaves have changed now fall from selective trees. Alabama Octobers are like that, selective in its weather and what leaves fall, and what trees turn. But it's nice, it's relaxing and it gives something different even if it's annoying.

You pass underneath the Pathfinder, gazing up at it as you venture through the courtyard it's placed in. There's not many students out today, or at this hour at the least. But a few wander the campus, speaking amongst one another. A few couples make out behind bushes or behind aircraft. You turn into the covered opening, pushing the door open and entering sick bay.

A younger nurse sits at the desk and looks up at you, "What can I do for you, hun?" Her smile is sweet and soft, it's welcoming and she seems decently spry for how early it is.

"I'm here to visit Wilbur Gold?" Your voice lilts at the end, raising in question as you fidget with your fingers.

"He's over there, bunk two," she smiles and nods and you make your way over, knocking on the walls separating the bunk areas.

"Hi," you whisper, eyes glancing down at Wilbur where he sits on the bottom bunk. He looks up at you, eyes widening in a combination of shock and worry.

"Hey," he mumbles in return, putting down the textbook he had in hand and shutting it.

You hold your breath for a moment, mind wandering for a few more seconds as you wonder what to say and then it slips out, "I'm sorry, about last night."

You step into the small bunk room, fingers wringing together and tapping your fingertips together. He shakes his head, a wry laugh let out at your words.

"It's not your fault," 

You stop him short, "but I did antagonize you."

For some reason that you cant quite place, you don't have it in you to be angry, and instead you're just in a state of guilt. You should have stopped him from going, even if it wasn't your job to protect him.

"So? I was the drunk asshole who kissed another girl. I'm sorry, y/n. It's my fault." He pats the spot beside him, pulling his legs up against his chest to make room for you on the small bunk.

You keep quiet, not sure what else to say as you take a seat on the other side of the bunk, keeping your gaze on the wall. Wilbur mirrors your silence, chewing on his lip, his eyes boring into the side of your face.

"I'm only getting a two week suspension," he finally breaks the silence, trying desperately to grasp at something, anything with you.

You nod softly, taking in a deep breath, you turn to him yet don't make eye contact, "Good," you stop again, standing and beginning to walk out.

"I forgive you, but- I need a bit. if that's okay?" You step through the doorway, over the threshold and turn the corner. Wilbur doesn't respond, he just lets the vacant sound of your footsteps retreating out of sickbay.

He doesn't know what he'll do with himself when he's gone, yet he's sure some wallowing will be involved.

You, on the other hand, spend the rest of the day hiding away in the Davidson center. Wilbur is on the other side of campus, packing for his two week suspension back at home. You're sure his parents had a few colorful words for him once they were called and that you were right about. His father had more things to say than his mom, of anything his dad wasn't as aware as her on how susceptible Wilbur could be to peer pressure. Wil wasn't sure if his dad even knew him anymore, and sometimes you wonder if you would have felt the same, if your dad hadn't adopted you. Maybe Charlie feels that way.

You kept to yourself for the following two weeks, talking with your sister and some of your friends but mostly keeping to yourself. You spend so much time to yourself that you're ahead with your work, which isn't too out of the picture since you mostly are on track but with the extra time to yourself; you get ahead.

As usual, your dad is proud of you, showing that outwardly but also keeping his worries to himself, watching you closely and almost acting as if you'll break if he breathes too hard. And maybe you will, you're not even sure yourself. 

Sometimes you feel like a live fuse, ready to burn and implode, but other times you just feel numb, unsure on how to process things. Yet as the day he comes back crawls closer, you find yourself growing at peace with your situation, still missing him but almost forgiving him through his absence. You kept in contact with him, but it was far and few between given your schedule with school and him sort of being a bit grounded. He did explain that was his father's doing, it made sense to you how it was.

You woke up that morning, reaching for your phone just to see the excited messages he left for you. How he was finally looking forward to seeing you again, and the plans he had for you both.

You knew he had apologies attached and that he only wanted to mutter them in person, for that, you were thankful.

You managed to go about your day quietly, tidying up your bunk before heading over to the library on campus, returning a few books you borrowed for a project, and then walking back over to the main museum. Wandering through the halls and exhibits, admiring them as if you don't pass by them hundreds of times a day. It kept your mind off everything.

Somewhere between them and now, you'd walked back to your dorm, turning into the room only to see Wilbur unpacking. You stop in the doorway, watching him make his bunk and put away his bags.

"Hey, Wil," you finally speak up, greeting him and he immediately turns to face you, smiling happily at you.

"Hey," he whispers, walking over to you and offering a hug, which you gratefully take, falling into his arms and hugging him tightly around his waist.

"I'm glad you're back," you mumble against his chest, holding yourself tighter against him, reveling in his warmth; something you didnt realize you missed so much.

"Me too," he breathes, kissing your cheek before pulling back to look down at you, "I'm sorry, genuinely. I shouldn't have let her kiss me, and I sure as hell shouldn't have snapped at you how I did. You didn't deserve any of that, and so I'm sorry."

a small smile creeps up on your lips as he speaks, rambling at a speed faster than what should be humanly possible. so once he takes a breath, you lean up to press your lips to his, letting his mold to yours as you kiss one another, the exchange beginning to build in tension. he holds his hands on your hips, pulling you flush against him as you reach your fingers to sift through the curls on the back of his head. soft whimpers and hums are shared between your mouths, his grip getting tighter as you lift yourself higher on your toes.

you take a few more moments before you both decide to break for breath, eyes meeting before you both smile and laugh, "so, am I forgiven?" he whispers against your lips, pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth before swiping his thumbs over your hip bones.

"mmm.. yeah, I think so," you giggle, standing back flat on your feet before you begin to tug him towards the door.

"where are you taking me?" he speaks through soft laughs, quite happy with how things turned out, even if he got his ass handed to him.

"our spot."

he smiles at the mention, nodding as you drag him away; most likely to make out. regardless, you're both happy with how things turned out and are sure to move forward from here. you forgave him, so all that needs to happen is for him to forgive himself.

main taglist; @lcvejoy @lillylvjy @ella-fella-bo-bella @lotusanonymouse @willgoldszn @whos-nicooo @zebonos

bs au taglist; @lillylvjy @lyssys

(send an ask to be added to either list!!)

[videoworm]

get the cheese to sickbay saturday

[deannaroxannewrites]

Tropetember Day 8 - 5+1 / 3+1

You're in my sickbay again...

Pairing: Leonard McCoy x GN!Reader

Fandom: Star Trek (I was writing it as AOS but pretty sure it works for TOS as well if that's your jam)

Rating: Teen and up

TW: Mentions of torture, mention of injuries

AN: Day 8 of @tropetember. Not a massively in depth fic, more like snapshots of situations that occur through the relationship.

3 times Dr McCoy didn't want to see you in his medbay and 1 time he did

Find this story on Ao3 here.

Word Count: 1.3k

1

While you hadn’t been expecting to be beamed directly into the quarantine suite in the Medbay of the USS Enterprise, after three months working with Captain James T for Trouble Kirk, it wasn’t totally surprising either.

Kirk had been invited to a celebration feast in a system you were exploring, but had only been allowed to bring one guest. As Chief Security Officer or CSO, you had been volunteered for the position.

You had done everything you could to keep the Captain away from anything questionable. Sadly, conversations with him usually went something along the lines of:

“Jim, no”

“Jim, yes”.

It was something you regularly discussed in your sessions with the ship's newly appointed counsellor.

Since quarantine procedures were only instigated when the transporter detected an anomaly in the crew members being transported, and assuming it was due to Jim, you just sigh to yourself and shake your head.

“I told you to watch him closely!”

The southern drawl didn’t soften the accusation, even deadened as it was by the plexiglass divider that separated Quarantine from the rest of the medbay.

“I did! I don’t understa…”

You trail off as you have a sudden realisation and groan.

“I found him with his tongue down the Princess’s throat.”

Dr McCoy gives a long suffering sigh.

“I’ll have to run tests on both of you. The transporter team couldn’t definitively tell if you both have it.” He pauses and looks you up and down. “I expected better of you Lieutenant Commander”

“Yeah, cos you’re so much better at this than I am. It was Orion herpes last time, wasn’t it?”

The CMO just smirks and tells you to stop pointing fingers before sauntering off towards the storage cupboard. You respond by flipping him off. And you maybe watch his ass a little.

Turning to the Captain, who has been uncharacteristically silent until this point, you channel your inner McCoy.

“Goddamnit Jim!”

Jim decides that you and Bones are spending too much time together.

2

When Scotty had called to warn Dr McCoy of an incoming victim of an explosion in engineering, he had not expected it to be you.

“You’re in my sickbay again sweetheart.”

He uses a sing-song tone that he doesn’t employ with the rest of the crew. Nurse Chapel, who is at the other side of the bed, takes note to check in with the Captain as to the state of the betting pool. She believes she may have lost.

You nod in response to the doctor’s enquiry. You’re in far too much pain to think of anything more complex than that in response.

“What were you even doing in Engineering?” he grumbles to himself, moving around in the space to grab hypos, bandages, burn salve and a dermal regenerator. “You’re almost as bad as Jim and Spock.”

You try to focus on him but you’re struggling to stay conscious. It’s not aided by the painkillers he dumps into your system.

McCoy gently moves you to be laying on the bed. He’s concerned at the extent of the damage done and the nerve trauma to your arm. To ease your pain, he hits you with a sedative and you’re out like a light.

-------

You groan as you come back to consciousness, the light of the medbay hurting your eyes.

“Welcome back darlin��” you hear.

Smiling despite yourself, you squint in Leonard’s direction.

“I was helping with the repairs on the lower decks. I assumed it was safer than an away mission. Apparently I was wrong.”

Surprised laughter bubbles from the grumpy doctor as he agrees.

“Well, get yourself rested up. I’m serious this time. I don’t want to see you back in my medbay.”

“Sure” you agree, both of you knowing it won’t last for long. Occupational hazard. “Dinner and a movie on Saturday if the mean Doctor lets me go?”

3

It made a change for a mission to go wrong due to something Spock did but in a culture that valued feelings as much more important than logic, it was not that surprising.

Most of the crew had made a successful escape but yourself and Dr McCoy had been taken hostage during the initial skirmish. You’d been thrown in a cell together and that had been that.

Or at least, so you’d thought.

You’d been dragged from the cell, questioned and beaten in front of McCoy in an attempt to find out details of the Enterprise and it’s crew. You hadn’t broken, but by the time you’d been rescued, you definitely had at least a couple of broken ribs, a black eye and various assorted cuts and bruises.

Len was quiet as he helped to repair your injuries. Where you were black and blue, his torture had been psychological. He couldn’t get your screams out of your head.

Noticing his distracted state you grasps his jaw gently, disguising the wince it bring when it pulls a little, and raise his eyes to yours.

“This isn’t your fault.”

His eyes dart away but you stay firm.

“I am trained for this, Len. I’d do it again to protect you. But you’re going to need to let the guilt go.”

He sighs heavily.

“I’ll try.” He pauses to run the regen unit over your upper arm. “You’ll need to do me a favour though.”

“Anything.”

“Go on a date with me?”

Mr Spock had been on his way to apologise for the consequences of his actions but is distracted by the fact that he has won the betting pool. He better inform the Captain and come back later.

1

You’re still not sure how it happened. As CSO, your main responsibility was the Captain and when things went wrong, his safety was paramount. You couldn’t check on everyone else. You just had to trust that your team was doing their job.

You hadn’t even realised Len had been hit until you landed on the transporter pad.

There had been so much blood.

Now, you were pacing outside the OR. It had been hours since the beam out when finally M’Benga pops his head out.

“He’ll be ok. He won’t be working for a few weeks but he’ll be ok.”

Your knees give out from under you and you land heavily on the chair behind you. Tears of relief escape without your permission and you drop your head into your hands.

M’Benga gives your shoulder a squeeze, letting you know where Len is being moved to and giving you permission to stay with him, before heading off to finish cleaning himself up.

You take a deep breath and approach Len’s bed. His larger than life presence is softened in sleep and you can’t help but notice how fragile he looks.

Taking his hand, you place a kiss on his knuckles and then rest your head against the mattress. After nearly 36hrs awake, you’re out like a light

-----

You wake to the feeling of fingers running through your hair which you automatically nuzzle into. It’s nice. Comforting.

It takes longer than you’d ever admit to orient yourself, but when you do, you raise yourself and meet Len’s eyes. He has a soft smile on his face that you can’t help but mirror.

“Sorry for dropping in, I know you didn’t want to see me in your medbay.” It’s a cheeky comment but it widens his smile into a grin. You pat yourself on the back for lightening the atmosphere.

“I’ll let you off this time.” His voice is a bit scratchy from lack of use but it sounds like the finest music to your ears. How could you have been so close to never hearing it again? He continues, “care to join me for dinner? I’m afraid there’s only jello.”

You laugh at the silly grump of a man in the hospital bed. Your best friend. Your favourite person. The love of your life.

“I’d love to.”

[swaps55]

Fic Back Friday (Saturday edition)

@nug-juggler tagged me to do a Fic Back Friday. Thank you!! I was in bed for most of Friday with a migraine, so I’m doing it today instead. 

Tagging @shadoedseptmbr @theoriginalladya and anyone else who would like to spotlight an older fic! 

I’m going with one of my favorites, which I’ve made references and callbacks to in many stories, including Fugue.

It’s a Joker & Dr. Chakwas friendship fic. I was really, really drawn to a comment Dr. Chakwas makes in ME2 about Joker needing her help. What got me is how she calls him Jeff, then corrects herself and calls him Joker. That suggested something meaningful to me, and I wanted to poke at it. The result is 1600, in which I walked through Joker and Dr. Chakwas’ interactions during ME1 and into the beginning of ME2. This is basically canon across all of my fics in any universe. :)

1600  

The first time Joker winds up in Dr. Chakwas’ sickbay, it’s because of a broken toe. He’s put off seeing her for as long as he can, but the Normandy’s goddamned stairs finally get the better of him. Addison Chase finds him halfway between decks with one white-knuckled hand on the railing and a runaway crutch standing on end near the bottom of the steps. A red-hot blush creeps up his neck as she helps him the rest of the way down, escorting him to the medbay without a word.

To Joker, doctors are a dime a dozen. Within minutes he usually knows everything he needs to about them. He’s either a science project or an inconvenient problem, with little middle ground between the two. He’s not sure yet what side of the scale she’s going to fall on, but he also doesn’t care.

Dr. Chakwas looks too perfect, too sterile, her accent too British. She holds her slender arms across her chest, chalk-white hair tucked neatly behind her ear. She’s more of an asari matriarch than most asari matriarchs. Joker doubts she’s ever heard of dirt, and certainly wouldn’t know what to do with it if she found some.

The subtle age lines of her otherwise smooth complexion deepen with mild reproach. “Why in the devil did you wait this long to see me?”

“I was waiting for the inevitable harassment,” he replies.

“I don’t enjoy harassing uncooperative patients.” She uncrosses her arms and digs through a supply cabinet for an imaging scanner. “You can’t help people who won’t help themselves, so I’ll save my efforts for those who don’t actively try and sabotage their health.”

Joker raises an eyebrow, trying to ignore the throbbing in his toe. At the very least, this is not how his first conversations with a new doctor usually go. “And how do you know I’m uncooperative?”

Gently she cups his heel with her hand and raises his foot, sliding off his boot and running the scanner across his toes. “I have read your file, Mr. Moreau. You’ve left a litany of disgruntled physicians in your wake. In fact, Captain Anderson personally warned me you’d be a chore.”

“And I thought I’d won him over with my wit and charm.”

Ao3 | Original tumblr post

[aion-rsa]

The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3qfxnii

[guylty]

Armitage Weekly Round-up 2019/46

Armitage Weekly Round-up 2019/46

Hello and greetings from the make-shift sickbay. In case you noticed my conspicuous silence here and there – after the last word on Friday from the coughy house, I completely folded in on myself on Saturday. I’m still feeling a bit woozy and have a stuffy nose, but it was just so boring in bed, I have decided to get up and distract myself a little bit with the overdue round-up. It just doesn’t…

[sickbaysaturdays]

Topics for Sickbay Saturdays, April and May 2023

Featuring: genre weeks, fandom weeks, “meta and medical” focus weeks, May the Fourth, He Who Controls The Spice Controls The Universe, Wilderness Medicine on the Final Frontier.

As always, you can participate by lurking, dropping prompts or favorite tropes in the inbox, recommending favorite instances of whump, writing meta, tagging us in gifsets, writing original or fanfiction, making art, or whatever else floats your boat elevates your hovercraft.

April 1: Field medicine

April 8 (Genre Focus): Cyberpunk

April 15: Futuristic Drugs

April 22 (Medical focus): Disability in Science Fiction  

April 29: Cryosleep

May 6 (Fandom Focus): Star Wars

May 13: Field medicine

May 20: Body horror

May 27: Torture

[warpcorewarrior]

Private Message

@thebestparisyouhave 

Good morning Tom. Thank you so much for the lilies. I was down in my office for only a minute grabbing yesterday’s reports and was half out the door when I heard the transporter. Wow, I guess it has been exactly one month, hasn’t it? 

Maybe we should actually start planning our wedding. Or maybe we should just elope. Your mother asked me if we were married yet. She asked me several things, actually...  

I’m sorry for fighting last night, and for not going to sickbay. Did you make an appointment with the Doctor for Saturday yet?

Tom? Is our relationship volatile? Do you think we’re a good match? 

[thebestparisyouhave]

Tom’s TO DO List

Secure Holodeck Time

Chakotay

Doc

Tuvok

Talk to Harry

Extra shift in sickbay

Transfer 3:1 hours to Doc

Hope that Tuvok doesn’t ask me for anything last minute

Finish Chak’s program for KJ

Farmhouse

Walking path

Cornfields

Finishing touches... Horses/farm dog, what else?

Pick a bathroom

Sunset/Sunrise

Does he need dinner programmed too?

Finish MY program

Restaurant

Beach

Dinner

Waitstaff

Ambiance (lilies, lighting, waves against the pier...)

Fireworks

Band

Check time of sunset

Other Sat night stuff

Check my suit

Replicate new dress socks

Polish the ring (don’t forget the damn ring)

Get my ducks in a row re: Captain Proton and how to get her there!! (cause if she doesn’t show you’re stuck, dumbass)

Sneak in and make sure she still has that dress in her closet

Schedule Friday 0800 - 1600: Helm (see if I can get off to work on Chak’s program) 1600 - 1700: Break, work on Chak’s program 1700 - 2000: Sickbay  2000 - B’E falls asleep:  Movie B’E falls asleep - until it’s done: Finish my program

Saturday 0800 - 1600: Helm 1600 - 1800: Nap AFTER I make sure B’E will play Proton later 1800 - 1830: Get ready (DON’T FORGET THE RING) 1830: Fire up the program, double check everything, have a drink, try not to throw up 1900: Go time! Sometime after 1900: Don’t screw up the proposal, then kiss her cause she’s gonna say YES!

[infraredmag]

TELOCH VOVIN: New York Black Metal Act To Play Virtual Concert With Malignancy And Sickbay This Saturday

TELOCH VOVIN: New York Black Metal Act To Play Virtual Concert With Malignancy And Sickbay This Saturday

photo by Jessica Roberts New York City-based ritualistic black metal coven TELOCH VOVIN will perform their second livestream virtual performance in several months this Saturday, May 8th. In conjunction with Armageddon Productions, The Springtime Holocaust virtual concert will see TELOCH VOVIN joining Sickbay providing support for headliners Malignancy. The show is pro-filmed on multiple cameras…

[nataliesnews]

4th and 5th day of incarceration

Friday, Saturday

 I have walked 20 k. in the last two days in my room. Somehow the time has passed. One of the women whom I met at Balfour has said that she will speak to a member of the Knesset about what is happening here but I decided to wait. I had supper with two women this evening which passed the time.

 This is what my cousin, Susan, wrote to me. I think there is a lot of similarity beween those who support Netanyahu and those who support Trump. The difference being that those for support the former are very  much in the majority here. And the police and army very much on his side.

 “Terrifying firsthand accounts coming out today from journalists. This one from NYTimes photographer Erin Schaff: "They saw that my ID said The New York Times and became really angry. They threw me to the floor, trying to take my cameras. I started screaming for help as loudly as I could. No one came. People just watched. At this point, I thought I could be killed and no one would stop them. They ripped one of my cameras away from me, broke a lens on the other and ran away. After that I was hyperventilating, unsure of what to do. I knew I needed to get away from the mob and hide my broken camera so I wouldn’t be targeted again. I ran into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s suite, but people were vandalizing her office, so I kept moving. Walking out to her balcony facing west toward the National Mall, I saw a mass of people covering the inaugural stage. I found a spot to hide my camera in there, then stood watching the crowd from the balcony and filming from my phone, which was all I had left.

“This will be the start of a civil war revolution,” a man next to me said.

At that point, the Capitol Police had started deploying pepper spray or tear gas, and I knew I needed to find a place to hide. I didn’t know where I could go since I no longer had my congressional credentials. I ran to the third floor, opened the first door I saw and hid in a hallway. I called my husband, who told me to stay calm and find a safer spot.

But then the police found me. I told them that I was a photojournalist and that my pass had been stolen, but they didn’t believe me. They drew their guns, pointed them and yelled at me to get down on my hands and knees. As I lay on the ground, two other photojournalists came into the hall and started shouting 'She’s a journalist!'"

 Holocaust-denying neo-Nazis among the Trump supporters who stormed US Capitol

White supremacists join Washington rampage, with experts saying the violence was stoked by far-right conspiracy theories like QAnon

https://www.timesofisrael.com/holocaust-denying-neo-nazis-among-the-trump-supporters-who-stormed-us-capitol/

 Last night I unwittingly caused a panic amongst my friends. I was told by the social worker that I could have  lunch/supper with two other women who also have received results of the latest check that we do not have Corona. I read that sentence and more and more feel that my freedom has been taken from me. Not that physically I cannot leave my room. Though come to think of it I have not gone downstairs to see if physically the people at the desk would stop me or have locked the doors. Anyhow after I had had two people phoning me and was uncomfortable as I know that it is a nuisance I put the phone on airplane mode which was a bad mistake.

 I was there for about three hours and when I came back to my room there was suddenly a knock and two of the nurses from the sickbay were there in full Corona regalia. It seems that various friends had been looking for me and…and this I never thought of…..did not know that I had been able to go to other friends for the meal. They started phoning me on both home and cell and when after an hour or so I did not reply got worried. I have friends who often do that but I guess I know they have families so that though it is sometimes annoying I never worry. And in most cases I have phone numbers of their family or friends whom I can contact to ask. So that is the last time I will switch off like that

 In the meantime I am very angry but holding myself in check. The first time when I came back from South Africa and we were incarcerated in our rooms I accepted it even though it was very hard for me as I am claustrophobic. But then no one knew really what was happening or how to act. Now we have been having checks every week and after the two cases of carers  (why is Google doing a spelling block on this word) and their employers were found we were again checked. And we are confined to our rooms .

 Later: We were now sent a whatsapp that the results of 30 people were not clear. As someone wrote why are more than 200 people kept captive. Some times ago I met at the demonstrations a woman who has connections with a parliamentary member who is in charge of what is happening in the retired  homes and I have spoken to her. Yesterday I told her I would wait but after receiving on a whatsapp a message that we are confined to our rooms until Monday and not receiving an answer as to this was the decision of the director or of the Ministry of health,  I asked her to find out if this is by order of the Ministry of Health or a decision by the director of the house the man who wags his tail. The latter used to be the director and brought Pollak in  and still makes the decisions here. This after we just had elections and out of eight people there was only one other who got less votes than he did. Uberbottled. I already am regarded as a trouble maker so may as well be one to the bitter end.

 So it looks as if this night I will not be going to Balfour as I do not want to tighten the rope too much but I am not happy about it. Of course the BBs managed to get attention…I think they were inspired by the happenings on the Capital. High Noon! Nicely orchestrated BBs

 Netanyahu said rushed to secure room at residence during recent anti-PM protest

Incident reportedly occurred last week but was only revealed now, leading to accusations Netanyahu trying to equate between his opponents and mob who stormed US Capitol 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-moved-to-secure-room-at-residence-during-recent-anti-pm-protest/

 And if you  have any thoughts about the lockdown being political…..read this

Judges delay Netanyahu’s 2‎nd appearance in court for his trial, citing lockdown

PM was to attend Jan. 13 ‎hearing; indefinite postponement renews claims he is manipulating virus response to suit his needs; AG gives defense team required papers on opening probe

https://www.timesofisrael.com/court-delays-netanyahus-2‎nd-appearance-in-court-for-his-trial-citing-lockdown/

And watch this video to see how the army spokesman lies without blinking…..you have to see how the soldiers were in no danger and in face stood around as if enjoying the show

 IDF: Shot that paralyzed Palestinian wasn’t aimed at him, troops were in danger

Army says another rioter grabbed the soldier's gun as he was firing into the air, a claim that has been disputed by Palestinian eyewitnesses -- who say IDF has yet to contact them

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-shot-that-paralyzed-palestinian-wasnt-aimed-at-him-troops-were-in-danger/

And on that happy note shabbat shalom

[missmeikakuna]

So, Apparently, I Find Fairies Hot Chapter 4

Rated: T

Fandom: Original Fiction

Relationship type: Male/Male

Description: You know those movies and TV shows in which an effeminate gay character has a crush on the popular jock? Strike that, reverse it.

Daniel is technically popular at school but fades into the crowd. After an injury at footy (Australian football) practice, he is forced to focus on improving his grades, starting with English. Luckily, the new kid in school knows a lot about Shakespeare and is willing to tutor him. Now if only this new guy wasn’t so attractive.

CONTENT WARNING: Homophobic slurs are used. Also, there are some sexual references but nothing too graphic.

Chapter 4: Is it gay to defend a gay guy?

Daniel did something as he entered homeroom that caused everyone to stare in disbelief- he had a big smile on his face. Pearly whites and everything. As he sat and looked across the room, his smile lowered a tad. Eddie wasn’t there.

Daniel waited and waited, not noticing how his back was straight like that of an obedient student. Or a dog.

Mrs Meek’s words drove a silver stake into Daniel’s heart. ‘Eddie’s sick,’ she said as she glanced at the roll before moving on to the next student like it was nothing.

The pearly whites hid under Daniel’s pursed lips. James stared at him. ‘You okay? You’re acting weird.’

Daniel’s shoulders jolted up. ‘Y-yeah! I’m fine! Totally fine.’

James rolled his eyes. ‘Faggot,’ he said with a smile. His eyebrows shot up when he saw Daniel’s hand shaking. 

When recess rolled around, James took Daniel aside and spoke to him outside. ‘Okay, dude, usually I don’t give a fuck about whatever you’re doing. Your business is your business. But… why are you being so weird? I mean, I still don’t get why you invited Eddie to hang out with us. He’s not a good fit for us. No offence to him, of course. So, are you two… you know… doing it?’

Daniel’s eyes burst outwards like someone had put explosives in them. ‘No! What the hell!? You know I’m not gay. He’s just helping me with English.’

‘Really? Cause you kind of act like his bitch.’

‘No, I don’t! Don’t be stupid.’

James shrugged his shoulders. ‘Then you should be fine if you stop inviting him to hang out with us. It’s honestly kind of awkward hanging out with him. I’ve got nothing against gays but does he need to shove his gayness down our throats?’

‘He’s just being himself,’ Daniel mumbled.

‘See what I mean? You’re totally his bitch. And what’s up with that fake name? I don’t see why a guy with such an edgelord name has you wrapped around his finger.’ Daniel’s knuckles tightened enough to hurt. ‘He’s not even that good looking or anything. Hell, I bet other gay guys don’t want him. Maybe that’s why he’s trying to turn a straight guy like you-’

Daniel’s fist put a crater in James’ cheek. Hot pain seared through his knuckles faster than adrenaline could suppress it.

James immediately pushed Daniel’s shoulders back with all his might. Daniel reached around James’ torso and threw him to the ground.

Students gathered and cheered but some yelled at them to stop. James held Daniel down and punched him, his knees digging into his legs. Everyone heard a crack.

Daniel screamed. ‘My leg! You broke my fucking leg!’

‘Oh, come on, you wuss!’

‘I’m serious! I’m gonna have to go back to the hospital because of you!’

The crowd glared at James, silent as a graveyard. James looked around him, sweat dripping down his neck. 

‘W-well, maybe it wouldn’t have broken again if you weren’t so obsessed with that faggot.’

The students glared harder. ‘What the fuck, James?’ one girl asked. Another girl grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and hauled him up, a few others joining in to help.

Daniel’s eyes and face were so tear-struck that the water blocked his ears and he couldn’t answer his helpers’ questions.

He was taken to the sickbay, where he once again couldn’t answer any questions. All he could do was cry. The nurse tried to tend to his leg in the hopes that he would eventually feel less pain and therefore stop crying. What she didn’t realise was that Daniel wasn’t crying because of that.

That night, Daniel’s tongue searched for a taste as he chewed on the gravy-covered steak. When he found none, he sighed and pushed his dinner aside, grabbing the tiny cup of fruit in jelly.

James hadn’t shown up. Then again, neither had Eddie.

This thought made Daniel rip off the lid much harder than expected, causing some of the juice from the fruit to spurt out.

‘Shit,’ he hissed.

‘Honestly, Daniel, that’s what you get for skipping right to the dessert,’ A mature woman’s voice said. Daniel looked up at his mother and scowled at her. ‘I was kept up at work,’ she explained. ‘You should be used to that by now.’ Daniel placed the jelly cup back down, trying with all his might not to slam it down. ‘Has anyone visited you?’ Daniel shook his head, looking down at his food without eating it. His knuckles turned from bruise purple to icy white.

His mother slowly inhaled and exhaled with the loudness of a smoker’s breaths. ‘Nobody at the school explained what happened. They just said you got in a fight. Why?’ Daniel was silent. ‘Explain to me everything or else you won’t be going to footy training again. Seriously, you only just got out of the hospital and what did I tell you? It sure as hell wasn’t ‘hurt your leg again so your dear old mummy has to pay the medical bills and twiddle her thumbs until the rebate comes’.’

Daniel growled with his mouth closed. ‘James called my new friend ugly.’

‘You must be joking. James insults people all the time. He insults you in front of me.’

‘But… he insulted Eddie.’

‘Who?’

‘The guy who’s been tutoring me. You met him, remember?’ He sighed at his mother’s confused face. ‘Eddie didn’t deserve that. He wasn’t there to defend himself. He… he… he’s so…’ The flood in his eyes raged destruction on his cheeks and nose, where snot began to drip. ‘He’s so nice… and he accepts how different we are and… he’s so happy and… and…’

His mother stared at him with one eyebrow and one side of her lips up. Daniel continued, and would likely continue whether she was there to listen or not. ‘I’m so confused. What’s wrong with me? Why did this guy have to walk into my life?’

‘Confused? You mean sexually?’

Daniel grit his teeth, cursing his mother’s habit of blunt language. ‘I just… I want… I don’t know what I want. I think… I might be... bisexual or something. Argh, why did this have to happen to me?’

‘Well, you did say you were confused. You’re not bisexual, Daniel. Calm down a bit and think things through before you give yourself a label like that.’

Daniel nodded and wiped his face with his arm. His eyes widened and he looked side to side. Everyone in the room must have heard. Oh God, they must have all heard. He looked down at his dinner and finally resumed eating. He had to do something to return normalcy to the situation.

He pushed what his mother said about labels to the furthest corners of his mind as he ate, once again focusing on trying to find a taste in what he was made to consume. 

Another day, Daniel turned off the television and sighed. It had been three days and still no Eddie. James’ usage of the word ‘bitch’ played in his mind every hour or so like the most aggravating cuckoo clock in existence.

‘Oh my god, how are you feeling?’

Daniel’s heart came back to life. He grinned, holding back his tears. Eddie put a teddy bear on the table beside the bed, one with a nurse’s cap and fairy wings.

‘I’m good.’

‘Phew. Sorry for being so late. I had to make sure I got over my cold before coming here. Hospitals don’t allow sick visitors, do they? Oh, speaking of which, you absolutely have to get better. My dad got me two tickets to Black Blues’ concert next week. They’re this rap metal band that mixes its rap metal with influences of… I just think you’ll like them.’ Eddie handed Daniel one ticket. ‘Dad thinks I’m going to give it to a date but I’d honestly rather give it to you.’ He chuckled when Daniel stared at the ticket like it was some newly discovered ancient trinket. ‘No homo.’ He put on an old man’s voice. ‘That’s what the kids say these days, right?’

Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t think ‘no homo’ works when you say it.’ Eddie giggled. Daniel reached out to Eddie and brushed his fingers against his arm.

‘So, uh, what exactly happened?’ Eddie asked.

Daniel remembered the interactions with his mother. ‘I’d rather not talk about it. Let’s focus on this band you want me to see. Lecture away.’

Eddie beamed from one temple of his head to the other. He spoke about Black Blues for a good hour, though not without tangents into industrial metal and jazz, both of which were apparently related to this band.

Eddie made sure to visit Daniel every day that week, giving him homework from the teacher as well. He would often bring his iPod to play music from Black Blues and put one earbud into Daniel’s ear. Daniel’s cheeks always heated up when his face became so close to Eddie’s.

On Tuesday the following week, Eddie had an idea. ‘Hey, how about I tutor you here? You’ve still got the essay to do so you should be prepared for that before you leave the hospital. Speaking of which, when do you expect to leave the hospital?’

‘My operation’s on Saturday morning.’ Eddie frowned. Daniel looked at the ticket on his bedside table, which said ‘Saturday 7 PM’. He looked back at Eddie’s face and felt like a homeless person trying to cheer up a millionaire. ‘I’ll be at the concert. I promise.’

‘You sure?’

Daniel looked away and put his hand on Eddie’s. ‘Of course.’

Daniel’s hand became cold as Eddie’s hand slipped out from under it. Eddie continued talking, though Daniel couldn’t concentrate on his words.