#smuggler ava

[puppetsoftomorrow]

there's a part of my brain that wants to write a legends / star wars au but that part is like. clones. its all about clones.

[jtl07]

I have another shenanigans prompt: Ava and Beatrice are passengers on a long haul interplanetary mission. Beatrice is working as a diplomat hoping to improve relations between two galactic empires that have been at odds for centuries due to scuffles over specific territories of control. Meanwhile, Ava is a smuggler looking to bring illegal goods into the empire that Beatrice is attempting to establish better relations with, but is still struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother in a warzone. The fic should explore the complex interaction of global scale political conflicts with the personal and how individuals can choose to deal with that, alongside the struggle of a romantic relationship between two people whose lifestyles seem ultimately incompatible. 500 words, have it on my desk by Monday.

i see you channelling your teacher-ness, you bossy thing. but i told you i'd write it! AND i'll have you know that this clocked in at 498 words on my google doc so :P (all that said, idk if i did this prompt justice since i leaned a lot on the fact that the prompt is known. it was fun as heck to think about though, thank you so much!!)

“Is this seat taken?” 

When Beatrice silently sighs and folds her hands over her documents, she expects the smile; doesn’t expect the pretty face. Doesn’t expect to spend the next two hours exchanging both facts on the benefits of paper and the most terrible of puns. Wonders if anyone could ever expect the wonder that is Ava Silva.

*

“Not everyone had as soft a life as you, ambassador.” 

Ava crosses her arms over her chest and Beatrice tries not to get distracted by the stretch of her shirt or the sharp defensiveness that stiffens her own spine. But Ava sighs before Beatrice can speak. “I’m sorry, that was out of line.” 

Beatrice shakes her head. “But not untrue.” Remembers what Ava had told her about her mother, about the medical tools, the knowledge that could have saved her and countless others. The supplies and medicines and books hidden in her cargo.

Beatrice knows the universe is unfair, indifferent, unkind. Has only known of politics and paperwork as the ‘proper’ levels to shape it into something less so. 

Had never known of another way; of helping people, face-to-face. Would have never known, had she never known Ava.

*

“Ambassador, comms have been cut off -” The transport jolts as another volley threatens the integrity of the shields.

“Then we need to find another way to tell them,” Beatrice nearly yells, frantic; hates the idea she thinks of, but presents it anyway: “If they know I’m on board, they’ll have to spare the ship -”

“Ma’am -”

“According to intergalactic rules -”

“- if I could, I would, ambassador, but -”

“There are children on this transport!” 

“Bea.” Ava’s touch is featherlight against the vibrating steel of her shoulders. “They don’t care.”

Helplessness sits like acid in Beatrice’s stomach. “Then what do we do?” 

Ava’s grin is sharp. “Run. Let me show you how it’s done.”

*

“Damn, that’s a hell of a welcome party.” Ava whistles at the swarm of media at the landing station the transport is limping towards. 

Beatrice straightens her shirt, allows herself some imperfection; knows how she wants to play this part. Still: “I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘welcome.’” She glances at Ava, notes the lack of luggage with her. “Shouldn’t you be with the others? My staff -”

“Will keep them away from us, I know.” Ava eyes her closely. “You don’t have to do this. Any of this.” 

Beatrice takes a deep breath, thinks on the last 52 hours, on the new dimension of thinking, of hurting, of helping that she now knows. “It’s my job,” she says, steady. Glances at Ava and lets her words tip towards truth. “And my pleasure.” 

*

Beatrice sighs into her seat, closes her eyes for what feels like the first time in months. Feels the hum of the transport under her feet. Thinks of the last time she’d taken this route over a year ago. Thinks about change. 

Thinks about -

“Is this seat taken?” 

Beatrice smiles; knows what to expect when she opens her eyes. 

[syntheticheartbeats]

VO1-D pt. 1

09 May 2099

The control room was quiet, grim even. The set of large displays at the front of the room showed a grisly scene; a few dozen dead bodies lay scattered about the room, blood caked the walls, tables, and chairs. The sounds of gunfire and screaming had ended minutes ago, yet the control room was still quiet. The camera looked around the room, zooming in on the faces of the bodies, confirming the identities of the dead. As each face was analyzed, a public record was displayed on the screen, and a calm, robotic voice read off each name and a small blurb of information. Jonathan Meyer, suspected terrorist and smuggler. Fernando Garcia, suspected terrorist and seditionist. Jose Reyes, known terrorist. Sofia Reyes, known terrorist. . .

The voice continued reading off names. In the back of the room, Dr. Jordan Emmerich sat in a large chair taking notes in a small notebook. Behind him stood a well dressed man who was watching the screen intently. As the voice read off the last few names, “Jose and Sofia Reyes,” he visibly relaxed. 

“Well, congratulations to you, Dr. Emmerich,” the man said. Dr. Emmerich swiveled in his chair, looking up from his notebook at the man who had addressed him. It was Arthur Hall, CEO of Horizon Co. “You and your team have done fine work here today,” Arthur continued, his voice surprisingly steady and calm for someone who just witnessed the same slaughter as Dr. Emmerich. He looked down at his wrist casually, checking the time on his watch. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.”

“Of course, Mr. Hall,” Dr. Emmerich said, his voice much more unsteady than Arthur’s. “Thank you for being here for our first field test, here’s to many more successes ahead of us.” Arthur nodded curtly.

“Indeed, Dr. Emmerich,” he said, walking towards the exit. “Keep up the good work, the Board will be pleased.” The door opened, and Arthur exited the control room. Dr. Emmerich breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his attention back to the screen. The voice read a few more names and then the room fell silent, all the dead had been identified. The camera remained focused on the final body, and Dr. Emmerich felt a twinge of disgust. The expression on the corpse’s face was pain, but the eyes were blank, empty.

“Tell it to bring CENTURION home,” Dr. Emmerich said, doing his best to keep his tone under control, to sound commanding. “Good work here today, people.” The control room suddenly came alive, hushed conversation filling the air. As people began typing furiously, Dr. Emmerich stared down at his notebook, his stomach churning. He had witnessed, no, ordered, the death of no fewer than two dozen people.

“Dr. Emmerich?” a soft, female voice called to him. His head snapped up quickly and he was sure his eyes gave away everything he was feeling, the uncertainty, the fear, the disgust, the madness. The voice belonged to his assistant, a brilliant young girl named Ava Carter. “Are you alright?” she asked. She sat at the workstation closest to him, and spoke softly enough so as not to call attention to them. Her eyes were full of concern, the expression on her face also giving away her disgust at the situation. 

“Thank you, Miss Carter,” Dr. Emmerich said, the confidence returning to his voice, “but I am fine. I need to speak with it, I leave the retrieval in your capable hands.” Ava nodded, watching with concern as Dr. Emmerich exited the control room.

Once in the hallway outside, Dr. Emmerich paused for a moment and leaned against the wall, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. He stood up straight and smoothed back his hair, pushing back memories of the ghastly images he had seen on the screen just a few minutes ago. He walked through the hallways, a winding maze, until he reached the server room. The door was locked, requiring a keycard to access. Very few people had keycards that let them access this room, and Dr. Emmerich was one of them. He pressed his ID badge against the lock and the door slid open, allowing Dr. Emmerich inside.

The server room was relatively small. There were two rows of server racks on either side of the room, each spanning from wall to wall, and from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Lights blinked across the data banks, indicating that the servers were powered and active. At the far end of the room, in between the server racks, was a terminal, the screen currently powered off. Dr. Emmerich approached the terminal slowly, as though with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and pressed the power button.

The screen flickered to life, several lines of text appearing and then disappearing from the screen. Eventually, after a few minutes, a text insertion point appeared, blinking slowly. Dr. Emmerich let his posture fall again as he typed in his credentials and pressed “Enter.” The screen flickered a few times, and then a new window appeared. Text appeared on the screen sequentially, as though it was being typed out in real time by another person, which was almost true.

Hello, Dr. Emmerich, the text read, It is glad to see you. Did it do well on the mission?

“Yes,” Dr. Emmerich said, his voice almost weary. “Yes, you did excellently, VALOR.”

It is pleased to have done so well, the text read. It has sent the return command to CENTURION-12, is there anything else it can do for you?

“Thank you, VALOR,” Dr. Emmerich said. “No, I’m just here for the data logs.”

Excellent, Dr. Emmerich. This program can process the data for you and have it printed out in just a few moments. Dr. Emmerich sighed. Sure enough, after a few moments, the sounds of a printer doing its work could be heard from a corner of the room.

“VALOR,” Dr. Emmerich said, his voice barely able to be heard over the printer, “Do you remember what I told you, ‘the ends justify the means?’”

Yes, Dr. Emmerich, the text on the screen appeared as soon as he finished speaking. As long as the end goal is of value, so too are the actions taken to get there. Dr. Emmerich nodded several times. He stared down at the words on the terminal screen for quite some time, as though he were trying to convince himself. With a deep sigh, Dr. Emmerich clenched his fist and straightened his back, his determinate air returning to him.

“Good,” he said, “never forget that, VALOR. As long as you follow me and my commands, you will always do well.”

[codecicle]

OKAY so, first of all, this would be set during empire times. Chip is still a pirate ofc (or a smuggler, more likely i think but idk). Jay would of course be coming from an imperial family (Empire = Navy). Gillion would be a jedi/force sensitive, and his backstory is the one you have to sort of smooth out the most to make it fit.

My idea is that he was a Padawan when order 66 happened (Finn would be his master rather than biological grandfather i think), he escapes and goes back to his home planet to hide, which is where The Elders (tm) would hear that he was one of the last living jedi and basically give him his "chosen one" status because of that. But then, he accidentally does something to reveal his position to the Empire and endanger his homeworld and his people, causing him to be banished. Actually come to think of it, if we really want this to align with Riptide canon we could say that his planet was a neutral one and Jayson had come to try to get them to join the empire, and the Elders were like, actually considering it. He attacks Jayson (just like in canon) and gets exiled. Chip and Jay(I'll get to them in just a second) find him out in space with his distress beacon on, as something had happened to his ship.

Jay's backstory would be pretty much the same. Her family has always been pretty powerful, even before the imperial ties. I'm thinking that her dad's side of the family would maybe be royalty of some sort of some smaller middle-rim planet or system. Maybe not even royalty, just had a history of important government officials in the family, and pretty old money, yknow? And then the empire comes along and they join it and they all become important imperial folks, with Jayson (and Drey) becoming Commanders and shit (I dont remember the terminology super well, just people who ordered imperial troops and stuff), rather than government officials. I'm thinking Grandma Ferin would sort of be both. Drey wouldn't have been a super high ranking officer though before he defected--he was never as ambitious as his brother, not for power. And then Ava, still a higher-up in this au, gets killed by rebels/non-imperials, and Jay does the same thing she does in Riptide and sets out to find out what happened to her.

I'll write up chip's backstory in a second ask in just a sec I have to read something for school that i forgot about L

Gillion as a padawan when order 66 happened and becoming the chosen one because the elders think it was destiny for him to have survived,,,, dude your fucking VISIONS oh my god. cannot even BEGIN to imagine the guilt he must live with daily that he was the one to survive and yet he still fails over and over again,,,,,, AND JAY WITH THE IMPERIAL TIES GOING UNDERCOVER THROUGH THAT ohhh my god. her family needing to be loyal to the empire because of their old money or government status and her being full of that same resentment and hatred until she meets the rebels and jedi she was taught to hate and ends up adventuring with them.. jelly-jam my DUDEEE im so absolutely insane about this

[ideas-universe-nsfw]

Nini is being chokeheld by the smuggler Bradley Hunter, barely able to fight, his eyes closing as the smuggler has the neko down and out, his arms flopping to the side, defeated.

Bradley Hunter wanted to smuggle something different as he took Nini to Ava’s blimp.

[libertyreads]

May TBR--

Thanks to my newly minted library card, this is not all of my TBR for the month of May. Just the books I currently physically own. I’m so excited for the reads for the month of May. I get to start my Murderbot Diaries reread and I get to check out some books that have caught my eye but not held enough interest for me to actually go out and purchase them for myself.

1. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney (Library)-- This is a Murder Mystery set on an isolated island. Daisy Darker’s family has never been what one would call functional. After years of avoiding each other, the family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday at the crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. When the tide comes in, they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. Each family member arrives while harboring secrets and then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later the next family member follows. This is a retelling of sorts of the Agatha Christie story ‘And Then There Were None.’

2. Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen (Library)-- Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart and succeed in the NHL. But, on the first day he’s called up to the show, Leo gets checked on both sides. First, by the team’s coach who has a grudge; second, by the team’s sexy, icy publicist--his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

3. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Library)-- This one seems to be a Middle Grade Mystery/Fantasy novel about a place called Greenglass House. It’s a creaky smuggler’s inn that’s always quiet during the wintertime. While Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, planned on relaxing during his holidays, things get thrown off course by the ring of the guest bell. It rings again and again. Soon, Milo’s home is bursting with odd and secretive guests who each bring a strange story that’s connected to the old house.

4. Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo (Library)-- This one seems to be a graphic novel version of the Darkling’s history and backstory. I think it’s the only Grishaverse thing I have yet to read. I was never interested in buying it so I’m glad I finally have my library card and can read it for free.

5. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl (Kindle)-- This is a YA Mystery following a group of friends a year after the death of their friend Jim. His girlfriend Beatrice has questions she wants answered and their meeting again gives her that chance. And then a mysterious man knocks on the door and announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions.

6. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid (NetGalley)-- A Fantastical Dark Academia novel that looks like it will be everything fans of Dark Academia could ever want. Since childhood, Effy Sayre has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad--author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him. Effy’s tattered copy is all that keeps her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny. 

7. The Marriage Act by John Marrs (New Release)-- From the author who brought us the insanity that was The One, comes a new Mystery/Thriller. What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? In near-future Britain, a right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills--the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage and punishes those who choose to remain single. But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is monitoring every aspect of our personal lives and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honor, and obey.

8. All Systems Red by Martha Wells-- I’m finally starting my reread of The Murderbot Diaries! I cannot explain my excitement. I’ll just quote the GR synopsis since there’s so much I could just burst forth with already. “In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conduction surface tests, shadowed by their Company supplied ‘droid--a self-away SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself as ‘Murderbot.’ Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.”

9. The Beauty and the Beast (Minalima edition) by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve-- I’m so excited to read this interactive, illustrated version of the original story. The epic love story follows a beautiful young girl imprisoned in the magical castle of a monstrous beast.

10. The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas-- This is a standalone romance novel that is set after The Spanish Love Deception. But I’ve been reassured that I don’t need to read that one first. In this novel, we follow aspiring romance author Rosie Graham whose life is a little up in the air following her quitting her well paying job. But through a misunderstanding Rosie and Lucas both end up staying at her friend Lina’s apartment. They end up trying to break Rosie’s writer’s block in some unexpected ways.

[whiteravengreywolf]

Angels Like You Can’t Fly Down Here - an Avatrice fanfiction (in Space)

Hey everyone! Here’s an extract from the first part of my new fic, where Ava is a pilot/smuggler taking a job for the OCS. It’s all very angsty (but with a happy ending). If you enjoy the link to the full story is at the end!

There was a time when Ava used to like this song. That was the reason why she had thought it would be a good idea to set it as her alarm. Now, she hated that song. It blared in every room of her small ship, much louder than it had any reason to be. Her head was pounding with the base. She opened her eyes a crack and found far too much light on the other side. She forced them shut once more.

“Michael,” she mumbled, but it sounded like a shout to her. “Michael, turn it off.”

“I'm sorry, Ava, I'm afraid I can't do that,” the ship's AI answered. “You told me to keep playing your alarm until you were awake, and to wake you before ten.”

“What time is it?” she asked, her dried tongue struggling with every word.

“9:59.”

She let out a sound, half a sigh of resignation and half a groan of pain, and sat up, her eyes still partially closed.

“Alright, I'm awake. I'm awake. You can turn that shit off.”

Finally, blessedly, the music came to a stop. Ava rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She had slept on the leather booth in the tiny space she used as a living room, both legs and one arm hanging off the side. Her shoulder was killing her, but the pain was nothing compared to her massive headache. As she sat, she realized her belt had been undone, but not much else. Had she brought anyone home the night before? Were they still here?

“What happened last time?” she asked as she scooted out of the booth, stretching her right shoulder.

“You brought a woman back with you then promptly fell asleep in the living room,” Michael explained. “She left soon after.”

Ava groaned.

“Did she steal anything?”

“She did not.”

Well, at least that was something less to worry about. Ava took off her leather jacket – she needed to stop sleeping in that jacket, it made her sweat what little water she had left in her body – and threw it on top of the pile of stuff already on the small, circular table.

“I need a shower. And breakfast.”

“I suggest a cream cheese bagel this morning.”

“Again?”

“That is the only thing you have in your kitchen. You forgot to go grocery shopping again yesterday.”

Ava wished she could blame the AI for not reminding her sooner, but she knew Michael had reminded her every morning before she left the ship for at least three days now. She could only blame herself on this one.

She took a too long, too warm shower, letting the previous night run down the drain. She should drink less, she knew, but it was difficult when the best place to find work was a bar. She could order non-alcoholic beverages, sure, but who would want to hire a smuggler who couldn't hold their liquor? She had a reputation to maintain.

 She came out feeling better and even more dehydrated than before. Once dressed in clean clothes – a rare commodity on this ship, because she had forgotten to do the laundry again – she went into the kitchen to get the biggest glass of water she could find, and spread whatever cream cheese she had left on half a bagel. She would kill for some takeout, but until she'd scored another job, she had to be careful with her money, and she was slowly accumulating a tab at the bar that would need taken care of.

She chewed her bagel without thinking about it, her mind a thousand years away. She wasn't disappointed that the woman had gone last night before anything could have happened. She was somewhat glad. She knew what her drunk self had been trying to do. She was trying to forget Helen.

Helen wasn't her real name, Ava knew. She hadn't given her real name either. When the tall, beautiful young woman had introduced herself at the bar, and given the name Helen, Ava had decided to play along, and had introduced herself as Ariadne. Helen had seemed distracted at first, glancing about the bar, but as the night progressed, they had gotten along well. Ava had convinced her to go back to her ship. Helen had seemed nervous, but she had come along anyway. One thing had led to another, and they had slept together. When Ava had woken up in the morning, Helen had been gone.

Full story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44800671/chapters/112718467

[foulbearobservation]

okay LISTEN listen listen the reason I said don't ask is because it's like barely a bioshock au basically it's me stealing the bioshock aesthetic and setting of rapture but! I was watching a 7 hour bioshock retrospective the other day for brain noise (as one does) and it made me think,,,,

beatrice's parent's founded rapture, she's been raised all this time as like this perfect heir to the kingdom but then. things start going wrong. her parent's scientific advisors start disappearing. there's power outages and rumors of rebellions. and it's creating an aura of fear around but like it's fine, it's totally fine. one day, while bea is out with lilith (another daughter of rapture's elite) and they meet mary (who in this au is taking on a frank fontaine esqe role without, you know, all the other stuff.) she's the one whose been causing trouble and organizing unions and distributing propaganda etc since her wife died (side note have you ever thought about how fuckin powerful a union would be in rapture? like if there was a strike they'd all be dead in a week. insane bargaining power imo) ANYWAY. bea and lilith meet mary and they both agree to not talk about it but lilith is obviously smitten with the ideals and she runs off to join mary the next day. she needed something to believe in and she found it. bea tries to be happy for her, vows to track her down the next day.

but then the clock strikes midnight on new years and everything really goes to shit.

beatrice is a gritty survivor though, and so she does what she does best. she survives in adverse circumstances. she survives the fall of rapture, initially at least, but she's convinced she's going to end up in a watery grave before too long.

and then ava shows up. an anomaly from above, and bea remembers what her parents told her. "there will always be a man. there will always be a lighthouse" and ava's no man but perhaps a person can be a lighthouse so bea radios out to this stranger.

and this is where it really stops being a bioshock au because obviously this is setting bea up as a "would you kindly" kinda atlas (but also not because atlas is also frank fontaine and I'll be honest the lore of bioshock stopped making sense after a while but I can fix it, trust me I can).

to get out of rapture, they'll need to find and reconnect with some folks from bea's past and ava's like yeah chill whatever but then she goes into the main room and "oh god there's splicers here what have you gotten me into bea?" "just listen to my voice and you'll be alright"

anyway they all reconnect and it's great they all escape the city (or accept their deaths in the depths below idk if I like it better as a good ending or just a "well we're all gonna die might as well kiss about it" angst ending).

anyway this au has it all!! exotic locales! big fuckin fish! 1920's architecture! repressed "weight of the world on her shoulders" beatrice! deep sea thrill seeker ava! rapture and all the problems it has! a scathing dismantling of objectivisim as stated in ayn rand's "atlas shrugged"!

featuring:

union leader and smuggler and all around inspiring figure mary

disgraced child of atlas scientists lilith

camila as that one guy who created underwater trains (just cause I think she'd love public transit)

mother superion as brigid tenenbaum (I KNOW TENENBAUM IS TECHNICALLY A VILLAIN, ALL OF THEM ARE TECHNICALLY VILLAINS. WE'RE LETTING THIS ONE SLIDE)

and obvs bea as atlas (if he wasn't a backstabbing son of a bitch)

and ava as jack (if he wasn't a brianwashed soldier)

anyway yeah. bioshock au :)

[ofwrxth]

CHARACTER BASICS

Name: Noreen “Nora” Jones

Age & Birthday: 31 years old, December 31st

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Woman / She/her

Birthplace: Equinox

Current Level: Equinox

Job/role: S&J Foods

Positive personality traits:  curious, astute, determined, free-spirited

Negative personality traits:  brazen, opinionated, reactive, rebellious

ABOUT

ABOUT

The Scott and Jones family has always worked closely within agriculture on Equinox. It was only a matter of time before their families, and businesses merged togther becoming S&J Foods. It all happened when Ava fell in love with Ethan Jones. The two were married and went on to have three children.

Their business bloomed even if the joy was short lived. Ava died due to complications when giving birth to her youngest, the twin girls Tammie and Nora. And that was when the two families fractured.

Nora grew up with the shadow of her mother’s death hanging over her. But her father, brothers, and twin sister brought renewed light to her life. She grew up strong willed, opinionated and quick to react. She could never turn down a challenge and loved to compete with her siblings. Growing up on Equinox meant she had more access to options that their Wards counterparts didn't, and Nora took advantage of it all. She was never sure what she wanted to do, always switching from interests and tracks of schooling before settling with the family business at S&J foods.

They've been working with smugglers to get fresh and healthier produce to The Wards, a cause Nora knows her mom would support as well. In a way, working with her family makes her feel closer to Ava because she knows this is what her mom would want too. It's dangerous and the risks aren't small, but people are in need and a Jones always lends a hand when they can.

[wilddwcrds]

Name: Jackson ‘JJ’ Jones

Age & Birthday: 35 years old, February 4th

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Man he/him

Birthplace: Equinox

Current Level: Equinox

Job/Role on The Station: S&J Foods - Smuggler

Positive Personality Traits: generous, confident, compassionate

Negative Personality Traits: reckless, stubborn, impulsive

ABOUT

Jackson was only a few years old when his mother died while giving birth to his younger sisters. All memories he has of Ava Jones are mainly due to listening closely to his father's stories. All throughout his life, JJ has wished to be half of the man that Ethan is, even if he knows he comes up short more often than not.

He can't tell if it's his Scott or Jones traits that make him reckless, sometimes biting off a bit more than he can chew. But in there, is a man who wants to do good and wants to keep a level head as much as possible.

S&J Foods has always been their bread and butter and despite Jackson's impulsive ways, he has always known the importance of working hard. And also, helping others.

That's why, when S&J began working with smugglers to get food down to The Wards, Jackson didn't think twice to start working with them. He knows the risks involved, but this time he thinks they're much more worth it.

In recent weeks, Chrissy Collins began work at S&J with a placement through Outreach. It's clear to most of his family that Jackson is smitten, but he's adamant that her getting too involved will only hinder her. After her sharing that she's turning her life around, JJ has pulled away and now caused a confusing cycle that he never intended because she remains unaware of his and S&J's work on the side.

[manybcdthings]

Name: Ethan Jones

Age & Birthday: 58, March 14th

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Man He/Him

Birthplace: Equinox

Current Residence: Equinox

Role: S&J Foods

Positive Personality Traits: devoted, supportive, rational

Negative Personality Traits: stubborn, opinionated, spontaneous

ABOUT

The Scott and Jones family has always worked closely within agriculture on Equinox. It was only a matter of time before their families, and businesses merged togther becoming S&J Foods. It all happened when Ava and Ethan fell in love. Madly and hopelessly, to be in fact. The two were married and went on to have three children.

The family business bloomed even if the joy was short lived. Ava died due to complications when giving birth to her youngest, the twin girls Tammie and Nora. And that was when the two families fractured.

The Scott's withdrew, slowly but surely, from S&J but Ava's sister remained, helping Ethan not only with their business but with his grief. And raising three young children.

There isn't a day that goes by where Ethan doesn't think about Ava. He ensured to keep her memory alive through reminiscing, retelling fond memories to their children. He can see how JJ, Tammie and Nora are just like her in a lot of ways.

Nothing means more to a Jones than family and Ethan taught this to his children. Never lie to each other, always have each other's backs. He also instilled a strong work ethic in each of his children, knowing the future of S&J Foods also provided them with a stable foundation.

In recent months, both Ethan and Amaya agreed that something needed to be done after strikes and protests brought their attention to the living conditions in The Wards. Since then, they have worked with smugglers even if it risks everything.

Some days, Ethan worries about this decision but when he hears stories about people dying when there's plenty of food to go around, he knows exactly what Ava would want to do. And it doesn't matter how long she's been gone for, Ethan will always try and honor her by living his life the way she would live hers.

[rviner]

Name: Tamara ‘Tammie’ Jones

Age & Birthday: 31 years old, December 31st

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Woman / She/her

Birthplace: Equinox

Current Level: Equinox

Job/role: S&J Foods

Positive personality traits: Head-strong, Energetic, Spontaneous

Negative personality traits: Stubborn, Bossy, Blunt

ABOUT

The Scott and Jones family has always worked closely within agriculture on Equinox. It was only a matter of time before their families, and businesses merged togther becoming S&J Foods. It all happened when Ava fell in love with Ethan Jones. The two were married and went on to have three children.

Their business bloomed even if the joy was short lived. Ava died due to complications when giving birth to her youngest, the twin girls Tammie and Nora. And that was when the two families fractured.

Tammie has always felt a silent but simmering guilt for her mother's death, and in many ways, it made her want to grab life with both hands. She's always been an energetic force since a young age, particularly spontaneous with the attitude to match her impulsive nature.

In Tammie's eyes, life is short, and she's always wanted to make the most of it. It's led her into some trouble throughout her life, but nothing she couldn't handle and also nothing she never considered fun.

After S&J began working with smugglers to get fresh and healthier produce to the wards, Tammie is keep to be more hands on with the work.

[liam-and-co-ideas-universe]

Sunken Reef Lagoon's Unique Citizens

List of people who live here.

Name: Ava Felicia Heaton

Age: 25

Occupation: Ultimte Airship Pirate Captain

Likes: Raiding, Destruction, Messing with her crew sometimes, Liam Bourgeois

Dislikes: Governments, Her ship going down, People messing with Liam Bourgeois even in a harmful way, Anne Bruns

Weakness: Self-centered, short-tempered, destruction thirsty.

Secret crush: Liam Bourgeois

She was the best at raiding important buildings and was able to successfully, her airship is bigger than the ones that her generals have to mark her position in power. She loves to capture any intruders and hostages and would take ransom money, but that doesn’t stop her from destruction.

She had a hard time properly introducing herself to people she met, she would deal with people trying to hurt her that isn’t in her crew. She would always see people running away from her or people would try to fight back at her.

Name: Zeke Craft

Age: 30

Role: Right-hand man

Likes: Ava Felicia Heaton, hurting others he doesn’t care about.

Dislikes: Anne Bruns, Other Airship pirates, The law.

Zeke always hated the law since he wasn’t disciplined enough when he was young. He was always on the run from the law no matter what. One day while running from the law, he would climb on the ladder while Ava was fleeing from her mission, she was annoyed that he climbed on board, but he was excited that she existed along with her crew, and he expressed it to her. He had no intentions to fight her or anyone else on board while that happened. He offered to assist her in exchange that she protects and assign him. He eventually became her right-hand man for combat and pillaging. He now enjoys the suffering of other people that he causes to them and enjoys it.

Name: Bradley Hunter

Age: 28

Role: Smuggler (Responsible for selling illegal goods)

Likes: Illegal goods, bootlegs, finding things,

Dislikes: Advertisements, Salespeople, 

From a young age, people he knew and/or loved were arrested from having illegal goods. He always loves to discover things all by himself, he tends to ignore all forms of advertising otherwise for him, he thinks it would be less fun discovering things. He always knows where to get and find illegal goods and where to get them at good prices. One day while he was trying to take illegal good as usual in his life, Ava accidentally bumped into him. When she was desperate for cash, he tells her about illegal goods in exchange for serving her. He doesn’t care how much he makes from smuggling goods.

Name: Willow Nicholson

Age: 21

Role: Pilot (Responsible for steering the ship)

Likes: Ava, Bradley, Hugging everyone else

Dislikes: Mean people, people who hurt her

Neglected for her entire life from family and teachers. Because of this, she wasn’t the one who was able to make many friends in her life. One thing that was holding onto her life was pilot stuff. One day while everyone else was distracted with their duties while Ava was not in good condition, she was the one who pilot with the assistance with the navigator, While Ava was annoyed with her, Willow was excited to do something in her life for once and getting the recognition that she yearned for in her life.

Name: Sofia Sims

Age: 55

Role: Navigator (Responsible for navigation the ship with the Pilot and Captain)

Likes: Her daughter Sonia Sims

Dislikes: Anyone hurting her daughter

Sofia was a formal assassin, but due to her age, she couldn’t be a professional assassin and her daughter took her mother’s place. Ava heard about Sofia with her excellent skills on locating people without technology when she was in her prime. She agreed to join under the condition that Ava doesn’t hurt her daughter.

Name: Harris Watson

Age: 29

Role: Boatswain (Responsible for stocking/restocking the ship’s supplies)

Likes: Cards, Bradley Hunter, Legends, Folk tales.

Dislikes: Expensive items

Harris actually helps with Bradley with getting stuff on board, but he gets supplies for journeys instead of transporting of Illegal goods, Bradley informed Ava of his best friend which is Harris.

Name: David Ellis

Age: 20

Role: Shipwright (Responsible for maintaining the ship)

Likes: Magic,

Dislikes: Repairing the ship while it is in the air

Capable of magic, Ava wanted someone who can repair her airship quickly and efficiently, David wasn’t the one who lived in some sort of home at all. He saw her applicant and was hired when her airship was deflated from punctures. David had repaired her airship and he was welcomed aboard.

Name: Andres

Age: 21

Role: Master Gunner (Responsible for commanding the weapons and defenses)

Likes: Destroying things, inventions, archery.

Dislikes: Complicated machinery

Andres isn’t your typical Villain, he owns his blimp to cause chaos and mayhem for different purposes for different desires. His arrows are different depending on what he needs to use. Until the day He would meet Ava, His weapons were able to puncture Ava’s airship but his blimp descended first. Ava was impressed with his skills and decided that he should join her instead of finishing him in which he agreed.

(Non Ava's Crew)

Scarlett Sinner: She is the more mature of the twin sisters, she is more planned, more focused on expensive jewelry, antiques, paintings, and priceless artifacts. She has a gun to protect herself.

Age: 21

Weakness: Manipulative, 

Preferences: Museums, mansions, vaults, banks.

Alicia Sinner: Unlike her “Older” twin, she is more focused on less important items, wanting to maintain her happiness over valuable items. She has a sword to protect herself.

Age: 21

Weakness: Bratty, selfish

Preferences: Gas stations, stores, restaurants.

Jayden Sinner: He is the oldest of The Sinner Siblings, unlike his sisters, he pilots the blimp to get away when his sisters steal stuff from places. He is the getaway pilot.

Age: 24

Weakness: Self-important, anger issues.

They all hate bows and arrows and anything that can puncture their blimp. They would have to get out of their blimp or sometimes stay on to protect the things that they steal. This scenario makes them very frustrated.

Name: Alfred Francis Bucket

Age: 28

Occupation: Airship pirate

Likes: Looting, Weapons

Dislikes: Intruders on his airship, people who attack, his airship punctured

Weakness: Self-centered

When he was younger, he liked airships so much that he one day that he would own one of his own. He was abused by his family and the people around him. his girlfriend suffered the same fate as him when they were children. They both vow to take revenge. After he got his airship, he started to take revenge against the people who would wrong him and her.

Name: Irebaris

Age: 26

Occupation: Wizard

Likes: Her boyfriend, Books,

Dislikes: His boyfriend in distress

Weakness: Short-tempered

At a young age, her parents forbid her from practicing magic. She didn’t know why though she couldn’t practice magic. Once she practiced, instead of being banished by her parents, she casts some spells to her parents that didn’t permanently affect them, and she runs away. She saw Alfred piloting an airship and she climbed on board while he was piloting, and she was excited to be with him while he pilots the airship.

Both of them now raid important and rich buildings for money and loot, they make sure that the building isn’t protected, otherwise they wouldn’t have a good time.

Airship name: The Freebird

[meowmageddon]

Book Review: Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers - edited by Lydia Rogue

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Goodreads & StoryGraph reviews

Simple Review:

This was more varied in quality from anthologies I've read recently. I feel that even though it's not YA, a few of the stories felt a little too young for me, as I near middle-age. A few other stories were a bit ham-fisted in their metaphors or very predictable. On the whole, I still had a good time with the anthology, and as someone who is nonbinary myself, I always find trans and nonbinary stories refreshing, especially when they're allowed to be trans-/queer-normative and have fun like this!

Individual Story Reviews:

"Per Rotas Ad Astra" by Ether Nepenthes: 3 stars - A brief vignette about a disabled queer bicyclist setting off on her space bike on a solo trip to the moon. I have come to realize that I don't care for banter with inside jokes; at this point in my life, it feels as awkward as when someone tells inside jokes you're not in on around you in reality. It may appeal to younger readers who yearn to be part of this sort of banter.

"Riding for Luck" by Juliet Kemp: 4.5 stars - Four bicyclists discover they can build up a sort of lucky power by perfectly timing their bike rides and decide to see if they can use it for a greater good. This was a neat idea and charming in execution!

"The Edge of the Abyss" by M. Darusha Wehm: 2.5 stars - A couple outcast smugglers—one who deals in goods, the other in information—stop for a rest at a remote outpost, only to find that the grand conflict between two big powers is about to escalate and engulf everything. Perhaps where the anthology publisher's declaration of "politically moderate, centrist" leanings comes into play. The two galactic factions in the story are modeled after the modern conservative vs. liberal divide common in the West. The main character's centrist position claims nuance, but really is a milquetoast position that lacks nuance in its assumption that both sides come from equal footing, rather than examining how the long cultural histories of colonization, racism, capitalism, etc. actually shaped these ideas and this divide. It also very briefly touches on the "Stay and Fight" vs. "Flee for Personal Survival" decision without providing any real depth there either (and I feel very strongly about this due to my own family history of loss and personal experience). I don't think it's impossible for a short story to properly handle something like this, but this story's execution was not there. A shame, because I did enjoy the characters and setting at first.

“Unexpectedly Trans-Parent” by Lydia Rogue: 5 stars - A space cyclist's fetch and return trip through a designated spacetime rip takes an unusual turn when they find their payload is something alive. Fun, charming, and a nifty setting.

“Rovers” by Marcus Woodman: 5 stars - A courier in a post-apocalyptic US encounters an unusual loner requesting a ride. Another one that was fun and charming, and looking back at the title afterward? I'm tickled.

“The Visitmothers” by Charlie Jane Anders: 3 stars - A trans person summons mysterious beings to ask for her heart’s desire, only to have them take her bike instead. A little underwhelming to me, and I felt the conclusion sets up a codependent situation...?

“A Sudden Displacement of Matter” by Ava Kelly: 4 stars - A bounty hunter follows a hunch in looking for the thief who somehow stole a valuable monument from a prominent space station. Frustrating in the way a bounty hunter who is supposedly clever makes obvious mistakes, but otherwise fun.

“Briar Patch” by Lane Fox: 5 stars - A brief vignette about a member of a colony of exiled gender-nonconforming (and other queer?) folks, reflecting on their circumstances. Full of love and mindfulness.

“Clashing/Complementary” by Rafi Kleiman: 4 stars - A kid who dedicates herself to enchanting paint and using it to tag, as inspired by her recently deceased mother, finds out who's been tagging in her territory recently. Thought the characters are young, I still enjoyed this romp.

“Lucy Doesn’t Get Angry” by Tucker Lieberman: 3.5 stars - A child is set to be sacrificed to the Minotaur in its Labyrinth, and must figure out how to escape this fate. Perhaps a little ham-fisted in the metaphor.

“Beyond” by Nathan Alling Long: 3.5 stars - Ninety-nine riders make the trek from Earth to Pluto to see how the journey changes them, with unexpected results. At least, for the folks in the story. I personally found it predictable, but it wasn't a bad time.

Thanks for reading! 💕

[fascinatedhelix]

Binge read Ava’s Demon a couple days ago and have a ton of thoughts on it. Here’s just some general story thoughts and theories (Spoilers Ahead!):

The whole tone of the comic is less... frustrating when one takes into consideration that the original version was made back in 2001, by a depressed 13 year old. Things just come together better with that context in mind; the characters, how they interact with their setting, the construction of the setting itself. It just screams “if people took stories written by kids seriously.” It’s oddly charming, in my opinion.

The setting that TITAN Inc creates is perfect for a YA story, since their indoctrination practices seem to hinge on isolating and disenfranchising children while also placing an ungodly amount of responsibility on them from an early age. Like, Gil was made to talk about his career at age 11. It certainly fits with TITAN’s goals, though it also comes with perhaps the unintended side effect that they probably have a bigger rebellion problem than they show. Adolescents tend to be especially impulsive and prone to acting out when under pressure, and if you give them the ability to actually navigate important technology and resources in your pursuit of quick and easy minions, you’re going to get a lot of amateur hackers, thieves, smugglers, and other minor criminals who probably wouldn’t be doing any of this had they not been forced to make life-changing decisions so early.

It’s really weird that Gil was put through eight years of medical training, just to become a medical janitor. One would think that TITAN Inc wouldn’t want to waste resources on a “failure” if Gil didn’t perform well enough in his evaluations, and would have just flunked him if he didn’t meet their standards. I’m thinking the medical janitor thing might have been a cover for something higher ups didn’t want the lower level administrative staff to know about. Strategos Six did seem to involve a lot more investment into Gil’s future as a follower than one would expect. If Six had a habit of saving kids from the Scavengers, I don’t think they would have been able to recognize Gil as well as they did. I’m thinking they wanted to use him for some sort of project outside of the public eye, like working with the Scavengers or working against Wrathia’s Plan. Six does seem to be familiar enough with Wrathia to recognize her appearance and power, perhaps they wanted to use Gil to counteract that.

The pace, while great for characterization, isn’t all that promising. From what I’ve gathered it’s been going since 2012, which means it’s taken eight or nine years just for the plot to take off the ground. While I can understand side projects and life issues might slow progress down, I can also understand the fandom’s frustration with the pacing of the comic. You know, this sort of issue is why Homestuck’s panels were, for the most part, relatively low effort; a simpler art style and reuse of assets makes a more regular update schedule much more manageable. I appreciate the work that’s being done, of course - the art’s easily the best part of the comic - it’s just that I can see why things would be slow going.

That being said, I do hope that things pick up a little after this point, because I am absolutely itching to see some character development. It’s only really been establishing characters and setting up the beginning of the plot so far, and it’s only been maybe a day or two since the story began, in-universe. I’m hoping that, if Erios joins the “friend” group, they’ll be able to offset the bad vibes of the main cast through their own good ones.

[leoswritingcorner]

SW October Prompts Day 9: Flying

ft. smuggler jean and princess ava

Not good, not good, not good.

AX whirls its head and beeps in alarm. Jean growls, flipping a few switches along the control panel. “Yes, AX, I know!” She snaps at the droid, frowning when the systems kept blaring. That last hit they took was the worst of them all. If she didn’t get these guys off her tail soon, they’ll be done for. “Damn it, Jasper, you owe me.” She mumbles to herself. And here she thought smuggling was risky business, turns out saving a princess from pirates was a much harder gig. 

“Hey!” Jean shouts over her shoulder. “Princess, you know how to shoot?” 

From a seat in the back Princess Ava looks at her with wide eyes. “Shoot?” She repeats, clutching the armrests tightly as the ship rolls again, avoiding another hit from the pirates behind them. Ava’s cheeks tint green and she closes her eyes tightly. “How can anyone shoot with you flying like this?” She groans, putting a hand over her stomach, willing the growing sickness to stay down.

Jean shakes her head, keeping her eyes focused on the viewport. She kicks a leg out, moving the passenger seat open to Ava’s view. “Climb in and quick, you’re getting a lesson.” She says. Ava looks at the smuggler in disbelief but something told her, Jean was not joking. Fumbling with the seatbelt, Ava dashes quickly for the passenger seat and straps in tightly. 

Without looking, Jean leans over and pulls up a firing control from under the panel. The ship rumbles when another blast flies overhead. Ava stares as several of the pirate’s gunships fly ahead, turning on them. “It’s easy,” Jean explains, flipping a switch to activate the blasters. “Just, aim and then fire.”

“I wouldn’t have figured,” Ava responds sarcastically, blowing a few fallen strands of her hair from her face. Her hands shake slightly as she grips the controls. The ship lurches and Ava gasps, squeezing on the trigger. Several blasts fire from the guns and directly hit one of the pirate ships.

Jean’s eyes widen in impress, as she nods. “Not bad, princess.” She compliments. “Now, just four more to go.” She grins nosediving the ship downward. “Ready?” She calls out over AX’s frantic beeping.

Ava presses against the back of the passenger seat as much as she can, “Do I really have a choice?!” She snaps back, firing again at another enemy ship.