#the other spaceships that are people do complain

[brightsuzaku]

So, I Have Space Freighters: Part 1

Oh, let's talk about something FUN for a change! It's a longpost about... space freighters. 

Ok, so in most of the stuff I've come up with, after years of role-playing science-fictional stuff with my best friend? For our stories?! Set in space! And, I'm one of the people participating here, so we've got "spaceships as people", too! Riveting! That's one of my favorite concepts! 

Well, an idea that has been a part of these worlds that we come up with includes Extremely Dumb Freighters. Like, they are not smart, and I mean they are intentionally not that smart. They really do not need to be, for how they work.

I am so sorry in advance to perfectly intelligent, quick-thinking, and hard-working heavy space boats that do the thankless job of Moving Stuff Around The Stars All The Time, but my first ideas were of specifically dumb freighters. And, it turns out they have their niche, and they fill it very well. 

So, it's like, we have these big slow-travel freighter ships that travel along preset "tracks" through general space, and they take special pre-set warp gates, along said tracks to speed along. Now, these occasional warp gates that are set along their tracks' are 2-way gates that only allow freighters through. And so, these ships normally pass through with zero issues, and trundle along their way all happy and undeterred.

But, as I originally explained it, the oldest in the fleet "aren't well-optimized and cannot adapt to setbacks". I'm talking about basic setbacks with basic solutions as simple as, well... Moving! Even slightly! In a different direction of some kind! To advance travel progress!

You see, because space allows movement along all axes it should be simple enough to move out of the way, right?

But no, no, I said poorly optimized, didn't I? They are not very maneuverable, and are trapped within their constraints, ostensibly for safety, I'm sure.

You see, most other ships that encounter these big freighters are gonna hear a monotonous "You Are Blocking My Route." repeated into all channels for the next measurable 4 hours (and counting). We'll get back to this, I promise.

Freighters will say "You Are Blocking My Route" regardless of what may be preventing them from progressing their travel.

So, imagine the most ideal un-ideal situation, where a route is being "blocked". A freight systems engineer could see that this was flagged, and intervene to change the track's checkpoints of each part of the route slightly. This would force freighters to "move around", but that kind of intervention requires LOTS of ships hitting LOTS of setbacks. It might even start to look like a queue!

Intervention, however, is extremely rare.

See, in a normal situation where a big hunk of rock is "blocking the route" the ship will complain about it repeatedly, until the hunk idly floats away. If MULTIPLE ships queue up for too long, someone probably does intervene, because that is rather unusual.

But usually, stuff floats back out of the way.

Every single track that these freighters move along has been specifically designed to allow passage with as few problems as possible. There should not be many issues with debris! Stuff rarely changes that much in space, unless something specifically happens! And, even if something does idly get in the way, usually a route is clear enough within an hour.

These freighters are big enough and strong enough that they could probably plow through minor problems with relative ease, even as they repeat "You Are Blocking My Route" the whole way through. 

So, unless it's an actual debris field that cannot easily be rerouted, and some horrifying freighter backup queue suddenly appears on Known Space News 655 or something, these small blips usually do not affect freight traffic. The freighters. Are just really stupid.

They do a great job of moving where they need to move! Going where they need to go! Unbothered! Thriving! In their lane! Literally!

So, for now, you know how my freighters work!

I AM SORRY TO EVERY INTELLIGENT AND HARD-WORKING FREIGHTER THAT DOES NOT NEED THIS SHADE.

These space freighters largely transport cargo that is being traded or moved all the time, and so the tracks are like a supply line. Faster freighters that need brains, personhood, and rights handle different cargo, including anything time-sensitive stuff. (GIVE YOUR SPACESHIPS RIGHTS.)

Also, PART 2 is up!

[jymwahuwu]

Wrote some!! This is the second part of the abo story, you meet your two future Alpha husbands😽😽

part 1

cw: dystopian au, forced breeding policy

You borrow some credit from a friend and save it to a temporary payment card for daily payments. Now your bank account has been frozen by the government - for the hilariously unbelievable reason of not being pregnant beyond the appropriate reproductive age.

You don’t really want to get married, and you’ve criticized and complained about this weird policy on social media in the past. Now you are faced with this situation… There aren’t many options here, and you have to consider marriage and having children. You have no doubt that this government will really force you to be sent to a breeding facility.

News channels have reported that Omega and Beta citizens who repeatedly ignored warnings were sent to breeding facilities and stuck on the wall to wait for thorough breeding and pregnancy. Those citizens who emphasized "reproductive freedom" had their mouths gagged and their hands tied behind their backs. They whimpered and struggled to be stimulated and expanded by dildos, and finally broke and apologized in the water pool.

You-you don’t want to experience…

Before heading out, you circled in front of the mirror and checked your clothes. The two Alphas made an appointment with you to meet and talk in a restaurant. Even though you're dating two people right now, you've only chatted with one of them on the site. He said that the other Alpha believed that marriage and dating had to be discussed in real person. He has a point too. You agreed.

You board a spaceship (no physical currency is required this time, so you breathe a sigh of relief), and check the planned route on the map app to note which station you want to get off the spaceship at. Cheap ships have their downsides. That means the time it takes to travel is doubled, and the number of stations passed is doubled. Tired and shaken along the way, you fell asleep on the spacecraft and finally reached your destination.

After searching for a few minutes, you looked up and were shocked by the decoration of the restaurant. The elegant and luxurious restaurant decoration uses black and purple as the main tone. A foreign song is faintly passed in the air, exuding a quiet and comfortable atmosphere. The Milky Way can be observed in real time outside the window. The sofas and seats for guests are spaced apart and organized. This is very different from the ordinary restaurants you usually go to. Embarrassed, you flipped through the electronic menu in front of the door, wondering if there would be a discount on takeout, and wanted to send a message to them to tell them that they made an appointment at the wrong restaurant. Alas…how are you going to pay for it now…

"Hello, do you have an appointment?" The waiter at the door was filled with a friendly smile. You just feel more pressure. "W-wait, I'll send a message to my friend."

You: I'm here, but wait, is this here? Did I go to the wrong place? 🥹

You: [Restaurant link in the food app]

Aventurine: No, that's right^^ We're already here.

You: okay

As soon as you enter the restaurant, a bouquet of flowers is blocked from view in front of you, the fragrance is overflowing, and the delicate petals are condensed with bright colors and vitality. What's this? You took a step back in fear. A head with blond hair poked out from behind the flowers, with dazzling bright eyes. "Hello, this is a wedding gift." He explained with a smile.

Wedding gift? You were so frightened that your hands trembled, holding a large bouquet of flowers. The flowers are so crowded that they must be leaned on your shoulders.

"Hmm…? Just kidding. This is an engagement gift."

You paused after hearing his explanation. You are not engaged, or even agreed to be engaged to these two Alphas. This must be Aventurine. He was just as flirtatious and cheerful as he sounded on the Internet, sitting down and placing the bouquet in your hand back in its place. Sitting next to him was a man with a frown. "I've had enough of your peacocking. It's so grandiose."

"Ah, of course the more expensive the gift, the better. Everyone's feelings can be reflected in it, right?"

"Hello, I'm Veritas Ratio." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded to you.

[brucewaynehater101]

Tim Ruler of worlds

In my head i think that the brucequest was way faster in this AU, when he realized that no one believed him about Bruce being alive Tim felt hopeless for half an hour before he remembered that he has a lot of planets under his rule and surely someone there could help him.

the only reason it took a month to get a team ready, was that there needed to be a competition for the honor of being on a team working directly under red robin, despite the time it took it was a great festival for his planets and a boost to tourism and trade, so Tim didn't complain.

Thanks to that + an spaceship, the Brucequest was over in less than a month, before Ra's even noticed that something was happening Tim was done.

but i'm not sure if i remember right but i think that in canon by the time Tim ends his quest the league had also realized that Bruce was alive, so here the only reason Tim ends up CEO of WI despite speedrunning the Brucequest is because the JL still didn't do anything even with a step-by-step slideshow on how to save Bruce, Tim is pissed but he has other things to do, so he just decides to try again later, but the one who is really pissed is Bruce when he discovers he could have been saved months earlier, but not a single person of the JL bothered to watch Tim's slideshow.

Also i called Tim red robin in this but i'm not sure if Tim would even be red robin in this AU, because having planets do competitions for the honor of working with you is very good for a person's confidence, i'm thinking that he was heading for a depressive spiral before the competition, but then seeing all the monuments the people of his planets built in his honor, the good he did for those planets, and the love they have for him as leader, really helped him grieve for his friends, rest a bit from all the stress from home and find hope in himself as more than robin, i think at this point since he's no longer Robin he reveals himself as Tim Drake for his subjects, the competion/festival lasts even longer because of that.

Also it really says something about Tim and his family that he considers ruling a multi-planetary empire more relaxing than being at home.

Oof! This has a great mixture of fix-it, fluff, and angst. You're right that maybe Tim would utilize the resources he has as a planetary ruler to aid him in the BruceQuest. Perhaps one of the reasons the JL refused to listen to Tim is because he managed to finish the BQ so quickly and refused to list his resources. I'm not sure exactly why, but perhaps this meant they didn't quite trust the info (not to mention all of the rumors of Tim not being mentally stable).

I'm not sure if Tim would release his civilian identity to these planets. However, I could see him creating an identity just for the plants to have a name to call him. He considers it like a royalty name or something. I do agree that with this AU, it makes sense for Tim to never take up the Red Robin mantle. I like Cardinal for him, but maybe he gets inspired by some myth by the planets.

A really funny and cool take would be the different planets having a prophecy about the hero that unites their planets and bring them prosperity. They start referring to Tim by this name (out of appreciation, love, and admiration). After repeatedly being referred to by this mantle, he decides to make it his vigilante name as well. I don't know what the name would be. Perhaps it means a significant amount in the aliens' language and gets roughly translated to English for Tim to use (like Superman's "S").

Honestly, Patron could also be a cool name for him.

[dookiecurly]

this is gonna be specific just hear me out okay this came to me in a vision +good for writing motivation or practice or whatever

imagine reader is some famous celebrity singer actor whatever and they go on the ship for whatever reason..maybe they really like space or something idk

how would they all act towards them?? would the way theyre treated get changed from their popularity?? 😳😳😳…?i cant imagine jimmy or curly acting too different towards them but daisuke maybe?? hes a fan idk im just thinking…

I'd imagine reader got on the ship because they wanted to experience space.... And because they paid lots for it.

Both before and after crash hc >∆<

Reader death not specified

Yes there's Jimmy, he's the tw

Curly

Before-Crash:

- Confused why Pony Express gave this.. celebrity.. permission to get on a cargo spaceship.

- Tries to be nice. He doesn't act like those ppl that are super excited to meet a popular person. To him, you're just another human.

- But of course, if you make a mistake on the ship he'll go a little easy on you. He assumes you probably didn't get much.. training.

- You're his responsibility as well now! But he also is probably too busy to give you a tour of the ship, he'll ask one of the others. ( Definitely not Jimmy or Swansea. )

- If he's interested in you..... I guess, small flirts when he's off the clock. He takes responsibility!

- Compliments your work if he's a fan.

After-Crash:

- Curly feels embarrassed, and even more embarrassed if he's interested in you.

- At some point, thinks you'll come back to earth and tell everyone what happened and how bad he is at being a captain. Plus, destroying Pony Express's name that MIGHT land a lawsuit.

- During all the........ Deaths, he felt bad that a person that shouldn't even be connected to all this is paying the untold price of going on the ship with them

- Probably wanted to kill himself when he was brought to the table and saw all those corpses!!

Swansea

Before-Crash:

- Doesn't give a shit

- Probably treats you JUST like Daisuke but is a little less aggressive..

- Actually, I think he thinks you're a liability and dislikes you because you're just a rich piece of shit that thinks they can do wtv they want

- Might MIGHT complain and say that you're a liability when something bad happens

- If he's interested in you, you probably remind him of his wife by appearance LMFAO, I'm just kidding I'm not funny.

- If he's interested in you, he'll treat you a little nicer.

- I don't think he'll be a fan..... Unless you're like, Shelly Duval or Frank Sinatra or something. (RIP SHELLY DUVAL AND FRANK SINTRA I LOVE YALL)

- Won't say he's a fan though.

After-Crash:

- I have a gut feeling that he'll act like those drunk adults that go like, “Isn't this how you teenagers do it? WOO!" But like in a "Aint this how you people do it in Hollywood?”

- Says you should get less food because you dont do work around the ship. Won't say this if... He's interested, or only if he's drunk and mad or mad.

- If you die before him, he'll feel a little guilty like he does with Daisuke. I don't know if it's a lot of guilt, but enough guilt.

Daisuke

Before-Crash:

- FUCKING ECSTATIC.

- Wants a picture, and a signature. Treats you special because you're a celebrity.

- Uses his free time to be your friend. If he's interested in you, hes gonna try to impress you with his intern task (Swansea fucking hates it).

- Brings you to fuck around in the ship because I'll assume that you're about the same age, or you at least have the same age mentality.

- If he's a fan, he's way worse/better. Your decision.

After-Crash:

- Once again, if hes interested in you, he tries to be your big prince charming. When they start rationing the food, he gives you more

- I don't know if he'll prioritise you because you're a celebrity, but he tries.

- Tries to cheer you up when things get bad

- If you die before him, he kinda just............ Guilt. Yeah, thats all. Kinda feels like he didn't help enough.

Jimmy

Before-Crash:

- Thinks you're a liability 2.0

- Doesn't respect you

- Thinks you're a bitch because your life is better than his on Earth

- Probably.... JUST PROBABLY, daydreams about doing things to you so he can 'humble' you. Likes the thought of such a loved and respected person gets humiliated.

- If he's interested in you.... He'll have worse thoughts.

- Probably complains about you, in front of you.

- Not a fan, doesn't like the internet.

After-Crash:

- Now thinks youre... Still the biggest liability of the ship. In fact, you're the worst of the worst.

- Says you should get less food because you don't do any work 2.0

- If you die before him... Awesome! Doesn't care. Won't spare you even if hes interested, but cares.

- Gets married to your corpse, AGAIN I'M KIDDING. Doesn't strike me as a person who'd get married unless it benefits him, actually nevermind, go read Jambalaya Enthusiast's fic about Reader in the film industry in Jambalaya Enthusiast's Masterlist.

Anya

Before-Crash:

- Might be curious?

- She'll be nice >u<

- Yeah, she's probably the one giving you a tour!

- Anya will be a little concerned that a person like you is on the ship. In a way that she's concerned that a person who doesn't have any training is on the ship.

- She'll be glad to help you with anything, like motion sickness.

- If she's interested, she'll try to do little gestures for you. I think her love language is acts of something something, I forgot.

After-Crash:

- Anya doesn't really want you to come into the medbay and look at Curly.

- She gets super nauseous, so she doesn't want you to get super nauseous in an unfamiliar and stressing environment.

- Perhaps will give you a little of her food with you. I feel like Jimmy has engraved into her brain that she's not a good enough nurse, so she thinks she doesn't deserve the food she eats ( because Swansea and Jimmy say you don't deserve the food. )

- Comfort her, she's dying in her thoughts and wants to go to the medicine supply.......

- If you die before her, she will actually start spiralling.

[saphronethaleph]

Sekrit Documents

Olek Taks groaned.

“Oh, no,” he said. “Not again.”

“What’s not again?” his superior asked, looking across the office.

“What do you think?” Olek asked. “We’ve gone viral. Again. Space Thunder is the number one trending topic.”

Miles Hark rubbed his temples.

“Of course we have,” he said. “Is it too much to ask that it’s because of our latest update?”

He paused, amending his statement.

“Is it too much to ask that it’s because our latest update is something people actually like?”

“Of course it is,” Olek replied. “Number two is ‘leak’ and we’re seeing all the usual memes again.”

“All right, what is it this time?” Miles asked, going back over to his chair and leaning back with a creak of adaptive servos. “What was it last time, anyway?”

“Last time was the Tie Advanced, wasn’t it?” Rocomora said, not looking up from her screens. “Someone complained that we hadn’t correctly assigned shield strength values and posted the entire technical manual for the thing.”

“No, that was the time before last,” Olek told her. “Last time was the Incom T-65, the X-Wing. That time it was the manufacturer’s documents, someone was arguing that it should be killing off TIEs one on one because of its better all-round stats.”

He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure someone got fired over that one. Or arrested.”

“Am I getting mixed up?” Miles said. “I thought the last big argument was over the AT-TE and that wheel droid.”

“No, that was months ago,” Rocomora told him. “Easily. That guy was saying that the later model AT-TE walkers from RHE had the point defence system, and after eighty posts of flamewar he put up internal GAR documentation showing it. Even though we’d specifically only included the early model AT-TE precisely so we didn’t have to include the PD system for balance reasons.”

“So… one of the clones, right?” Olek asked. “They must have been the leaker!”

“Yeah, but how are you going to tell which one?” Rocomora asked. “They all look alike!”

Miles groaned.

“I hate how often we have to have this discussion,” he said. “So what was it this time?”

Olek was scrolling through the forums, now, and he clicked – then winced.

“Uh,” he said. “It’s about campaign mode.”

“Oh, no, not the persistent campaign mode,” Miles said, putting his head in his hands. “This is going to be about the gungans again, isn’t it?”

“Worse,” Olek replied. “Some poster or other said that there’s no way the Empire should be losing any planets, because if they lost them they’d just blow up the planet.”

Miles laughed.

“What, really?” he asked. “What kind of nonsense-”

He stopped.

“Oh, no,” he said. “Oh, no. You’re not saying…”

“Yep,” Olek agreed. “He posted complete technical specifications on this giant kriffing battlestation that’d take a week to cross on foot, accompanied by a picture of the thing. And now the thread’s growing at three pages a minute.”

“Why is it always us?” Miles demanded of the air. “Why don’t the idiots at Galaxy of Spaceships have to deal with this?”

[hijinxinprogress]

Young justice and the titans not getting along makes no sense to me. You’re telling me the titans did dumb shit and hated being micromanaged by the league but then a couple years later they’re doing the same thing?? that’s so dumb?? the titans are like “god you remember what we were doing when we were their age?? Were we that small?? Fuck, do you know what we’re supposed to do besides feed small people?? This would be so much easier if any of us went to therapy”

The titans help yj get away with shit all the time

“Young Justice just blew up one of Luthor’s vacation homes, did you know about this?? Where are they!?” “Who’s young justice? It’s not my fault…I plead the fifth…?”

Kori has claimed Kon and now has beef with Luthor and Clark

Besides Wally, Bart is closest with Kori and they trade stories about their homes bc it’s nice to talk to someone who’s gets it

Greta and Garth are like sitting at the bottom of a pool and gossiping about their teams

YJ and the titans have city wide manhunt games once a month and the jl hates it bc they wake up to their children trending bc they’re jumping off buildings or breaking into civilians’ houses to get away from each other

They race spaceships if they’re not on planet

Greta and Garth are the worst gossips so they just tell each other absurd things about their teammates completely aware that everyone will know within the next 4 hours

Everyone else makes jokes about how Kons what would happen if Kori and Nightwing had a son (he has anger issues, curly hair, he’s alternative, isn’t white, & he’s the mom friend)

Roy and Cissie only compete amongst themselves bc everyone was so sick of them winning that they started cheating or in Kori’s case incinerating the targets

One time he was talking to Kori about mental health stuff and she’s comforting him and mentions that “yeah you get that from nightwing” and nightwing cuts in “Kori, you do that too?? Don’t lie to him”

Whenever Kon loses his temper he’s not afraid of people thinking less of him for it bc it always sparks up the never ending debate about whether Nightwing or Starfire are responsible for Kons temper

“NO FUCK THIS, FUCK YOU, AND FUCK HIM, YOU FUCKING-” “he gets that from you” “he’s floating rn wdym” “yeah his fucking eyes are glowing that’s definitely Kori’s temper” “look at him doesn’t his face remind you of when kori was pissed after I broke my collarbone?” “no listen dick has that same crease between his eyebrows when he’s mad”

“I’m your leader, assholes” “rn all you are is the leading cause of that baby’s short temper”

Kori helped Kon with controlling his powers bc Clark wasn’t gonna do it

Wally and Bart get along!! From the beginning 

Besides Nightwing Tim is closest with Vic not even bc they’re fucking nerds but bc they’re both so unbelievably petty

Anita and Rachel should not be left alone together bc they’re always doing nonsense with magic

They mentioned air boarding so Tim and Vic are trying to find the schematics for a hoverboard…💀 Anita and Rachel figured out how to make people feel like they’re suffocating without killing them or doing permanent damage (all the scarring is psychological)

Cissie and Donna get along really well and Cassie pretends they’re jealous

Also, Cassie gets along really well with Roy and Cissie will loudly complain about her older brother hating her

the jl is so tired bc they thought the titans would be helping them with yj and they were wrong

[fantastic-nonsense]

honestly I think if you complain about Star Wars focusing too much on the Skywalkers because "the galaxy is bigger than one family" and "not everything has to be connected" you have fundamentally missed the point George Lucas was trying to make with the original movies.

Star Wars is VERY deliberately an optimistic, cyclical, and myth-based family drama structured around a single family's story, and that purposefully generational story is the story George Lucas saw as the core point and purpose of Star Wars:

“It’s the missing link,” Lucas says. “Once it’s there, it’s a complete work, and I’m proud of that. I do see it, tonality-wise, as two trilogies. But they do, together, form one epic of fathers and sons.” [x] The first three movies had all kinds of issues. [Disney] looked at the stories and they said we want to make something for the fans. So I said all I want to do is tell the story of what happened. You know, it started here and it went there. It's all about generations and it's about, you know, the issues of fathers and sons and grandfathers; it's a family soap opera. I mean, ultimately. We call it a space opera, but people don't realize it's actually a soap opera. And it's all about family problems — it's not about spaceships. [x]

He also wrote Star Wars for the express purpose of attempting to teach people that everything is interconnected and everything we do has an impact that resonates beyond our own lives:

Paul Duncan: "It takes a lot of people to build the ark." George Lucas: "Yeah. And it needs to be done through reason, love, and compassion, not through force. The films are trying to stress the idea that everything is interconnected. I like to make movies that are complex, but it's not obvious to people unless they start digging into it. Most people don't realize it and can't grasp the whole entity because they're focusing on four or five pieces out of 200, and often they don't want to hear about the other pieces because it requires additional thought and ideas outsides of the films. There are cycles and cycles in the story and the characters throughout all six episodes. There are cycles of the same thing being repeated over and over with different groups of people, and the outcomes change because the characters have grown or changed over the story. The repitition shows the characters' development. [x]

GEORGE LUCAS: At some point you do have to become an independent person. And it’s about learning to let go of your — your needs, so to speak, and — and think of the needs of others. BILL MOYERS: So “Star Wars” is — yes, it’s about cosmic, galactic, epic struggles, but it’s at heart about a family. The large myth set in a local family. GEORGE LUCAS: Well, in most — most myths center around characters and — and a hero, and it’s — it’s about how you — how you conduct yourself as you go through the hero’s journey, which everyone goes through. It’s especially relevant when you go through this transition phase. Most societies it’s when you’re 13 or 14. In our society it’s sort of 18 to 22, somewhere in there, that you must let go of your past and must, you know, embrace your future and — and in your own self, by yourself, figure out what it is — what — what path you’re going to go down........... .......BILL MOYERS: And what do stories do for us in that sense? What do myths... GEORGE LUCAS: They try to show us our place. Myths help you to have your own hero’s journey, find your individuality, find your place in the world, but hopefully remind you that you’re part of a whole, and that you must also be part of the community, and — and think of the welfare of the community above the welfare of yourself. [x]

Lucas structured this tale in two ways: through Anakin's deconstructed hero's journey (in the form of a Greek tragedy) and Luke's straightforward hero's journey (culminating with Anakin's redemption) and showing us how this one family's multi-generational story had a huge impact that went beyond their own lives and echoed throughout the galaxy. That was the point!

While there are plenty of other stories not centered on the Skywalkers that can and should be told within the universe, ultimately people need to keep in mind that Lucas was not shy about his intentions in making the movies: he WANTED to write a straightforward retelling of "old stories," and he wanted to do it through the lens of a personal family narrative.

All of the Star Wars material that focuses on non-Skywalkers (which has ALWAYS been around, Rogue One and TLJ and The Mandalorian and Andor and etc etc etc were NOT the first ones to do that) is great, but it's a bonus! An add-on to the core story and point of the franchise! It's not that they're unimportant, because they're not, but at some point it should stop surprising people when the Skywalkers and/or the events of the original six movies get referenced or utilized.

It just bothers me when I hear these complaints because like...if you don't like the Skywalkers, why do you even watch Star Wars? None of those other stories would exist without them! Please just go enjoy another sci-fi franchise and stop complaining that the main characters of Star Wars are being focused on or are popping up in places it makes total sense for them to be!

[bonny-kookoo]

I haven’t seen enough people talking about Unstable! I loved the first chapter, and I’m sooo looking forward to the next and seeing where it goes! I would love any Drabble/chapter about what happens next! • ㅅ •

♡ -> Masterlist

"Human." His voice calls out from the speaker in your tiny cell, and you open your eyes, no other visible reaction given though. "Your vitals are all over the place. What's going on?" He demands to know, and you shrug, hugging the bunched up blanket tighter between your arms and legs.

"Got my period, what else." You huff to yourself.

"You need to speak louder." He s put almost annoyed, and you turn your head towards the small screen giving you a live feed of the control room of his spaceship, where he's sitting on his chair, arms crossed and one leg over the other. "So?"

"I said, I'm on my period!" You bark out, making him nod after a moment in realization.

"Interesting." He simply says to himself. "I'll bring you some water and food later." He shortly tells you, before the feed is brought offline again, leaving you in silence.

Apart from your obvious prisoner-situation and his rather sour attitude, it's not all that bad on his ship. It's warm, you've got a bed, water and food, a small bathroom- definitely better than on earth.

You're just.. a little lonely, that's all.

The hydraulics of the door hisses as he enters, placing a bottle of water and a pack of.. something edible on a small table close by. You're not turning around, more or less waiting for him to leave-

But he doesn't.

"How bad are you, from 1 to 10." He says, and you shrug.

"...like a 7½.." you mumble, closing your eyes again. "..thanks for the water. N' food." You slur, trying to fall asleep again, when you hear the only small chair scrape over the floor a little, as he sits down in the corner of your room. "Huh?" You wonder, now looking at him as he watches you with crossed arms.

"You have yet to complain over your treatment." He says defensively, and you shrug, letting yourself fall back down on the mattress on the floor.

"Nothing to complain about." You answer.

"Earth is attempting to implement more strict regulations on intergalactic traveling for humans. Meaning that you, right now-" he says, leaning back in his seat, "-are legally in a loophole, since the laws changed while you were absent." He informs you. You shrug again. "-I can bring you back by early next.. summer, it would be on earth."

"Hm. Just drop me off the next stop or something." You say.

"My next stop is Etis." He informs you with a serious face.

"So?" You ask, and he clicks his tongue.

"So?" He scoffs, imitating you. "Etis has banned human travel since earth refused to send them any weaponry during the last war with Veon." He tells you with an irritated face. "If I drop you off, you'll be dead the moment I leave."

"Cool." You just answer, turning around to face away from him.

He sighs.

"What am I gonna do with you.." he mumbles mostly to himself as he gets up to walk out, door hissing as it opens and closes, signaling you that he finally left. If he drops you off at Etis, sure, you'll be probably eaten as soon as they get their hands on you- but then again, it's your fault you fucked up this bad anyways.

A fitting end, maybe.

[starberry-cupcake]

We are done with book 1, folks!!!

previously, in gideon the ninth

this happened

also, I was proven right about dulcinea (kind of)

just pointing that out again

final update of this book, it's gonna be a bit of a long one, folks (gideon, from inside my mind, where she is now living rent-free: "that's what she said!"):

we left off in the fight against not!dulcinea

yandere simulator twin w/inner chad was being used as a battery pad

regina george twin is at an unknown location

la gideon and my qp wife are fighting

harrowcita passed out

so basically not!dulcinea unlocks the big magnus archives entity monster harrowbean had previously locked

harrow wakes up to make a bone dome

for scale, this is the dome and mickey is gideon, but she's inside the thing

magnus archives junji ito monster keeps beating the dome from outside to crack it open like an egg

harrowbean starts to disintegrate from the inside because it's hard to make a bone spaceship earth and keep it up

camilla is accepting fate at this point, my poor beloved qp wife

but la gideon is not gonna give up

she's never gonna give you up

never gonna let you down

never gonna...

so harrow starts making a goodbye speech

reminding gideon to take care of the ninth and the barbie in the freezer

for the barbie reference, please go to this recap

but gideon is determined to come up with a plan

*very niche reference but "bien warrior" by miss bolivia plays in the background*

we all know this is a terrible idea because gideon's plans are always "punch really hard" and, in this case, that's a wild thing to do

but she does that

a metal version of that

she decides to, if I understand correctly (because description is scarce for various acceptable reasons) impale herself on the iron spikes inside the dome, to force Harrow to slurp her soul

so this is the situation

absolutely heartbreaking stuff

she's sort of ghost-placing herself behind Harrow to guide her using the sword

like this

and being all silly and gideon-esque and harrow is heartbroken and sad and it's all very very heartbreaking and I'm suffering

I'm ANGRY, OK????

IT'S NOT FAIR

I didn't even like gideon at the start

I complained about her for like a good first chunk of this book

I got mad at her for being dense and not following through with things

I got angry at her way of approaching situations and trusting people I didn't trust

I didn't totally vibe with her vibe most times

and then she made me like her and grow attached and NOW I HAVE TO SUFFER???

what's the point????? you make me like you and then you SACRIFICE YOURSELF?????

WHY??????

footage of me

anyway, it's fine, we're fine, everything's FINE

harrow and force-ghost gideon defeat not!dulcinea by aiming at the "issue" palmolive started

( @lady-harrowhark "paramedics" is actually a much better nickname, why didn't I think of that)

not!dulcinea crosses the veil, hopefully forever, good riddance bitch, you really did fuck everything up for petty reasons

harrow passes out

afterwards, harrow wakes up in like a sort of hospital situation or something like that

the space version of that

there's a man reading stuff in a tablet and a paper

a "flimsy", which I didn't know was something before this book (again, not a native English speaker, doing my best here)

the man has very specific eyes which I imagined in a way that I'm not sure is what it's supposed to be, but I'm gonna keep my version for now

this is the man of the hour, the emperor, many other titles I can't remember, the reason we all got together in the first place

harrow is upset, I'm upset, we're all upset

emperor sama over here can't do shit about it

according to him

which, what are you, the wizard of oz?

he's also like "forgive not!dulcinea, it was my bad" I WILL FORGIVE NOTHING

he says he can't bring gideon back without risking harrowbean as well

very limited for a man who claims to be god

who seems to have beef with a barbie in an ice cube

idk about this guy

so he tells harrow that he's gonna protect the ninth if she becomes lyctor because the universe is going to shit and he can't handle everything on his own anymore

you know what could have helped, my man? COMMUNICATION

WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING AT ANY GIVEN POINT

anyway, harrow is, at this point, tired and sad and grieving for everything so she says ok

according to this guy, the only other survivor is yandere simulator twin w/inner chad who is missing an arm

very convenient for him, who needs lyctors

an didn't, at any point, explain anything

but they "haven't been able" to find the bodies of: la gideon, my wife and regina george twin

everyone else was, at least, partially recovered, as far as I remember he said

they're probably gathering pieces of palmolive from every carpet and piece of wallpaper

I am reluctantly gonna miss that guy

so there is hope that I'm not a qp widow yet and that la gideon might come back in some capacity, which I MEAN, COME ON

also, I don't know if people would be making such a fuss about her arms if her body wasn't of consequence anymore

because I don't know much about these books but I did know that coming in, that and skull make up were my two clues

and we still don't know where she came from and if she's a demigod

and why her hair and eyes are that color

I don't know, I'm unsure about this

I hold hope

keeeeeeep hoooooolding ooooooon ♪

I am sure regina george twin will be back because people have been cryptic about her in replies to my updates

and I hope camilla comes back because right now I'm like a victorian wife, standing at a lighthouse, waiting for her sailor to come back from the depths of the sea, throwing messages in bottles

final extra notes:

THERE WAS A GLOSSARY ALL ALONG

I COULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT IT

maybe it was better this way, though, but WHY DIDN'T I LOOK PROPERLY

PALMOLIVE WOULD KILL ME FOR THIS OVERSIGHT

now I know what thanergy is, what thalergy is, what bone magic and flesh magic differ in, can you believe???

I can summon my own construct and everything

it's the only way to make friends as an adult, after all

there is a guide for the names and I have been pronouncing more things right than I thought because many of these are based in Latin and I'm a Spanish speaker so maybe if I had just pronounced them as they sounded to me I could have remembered more names

there is also a list of salseo/tea from judith

I kept making comments while reading them

she was acting like camilla was of no consequence from the start

ALSO PROTOZOA HAD KIDS?????? WHAT????

man, poor dude, rip this guy we never really knew

she did read chad for filth, which is correct

but they were off about absolutely everything else

important ending commentary of the book:

as an ending side note

I'm going to just point this out, with kindness and utmost respect

like, much love and respect and warm regards

don't kill me for this

as an editor

I am enraged with the tagline they have in the cover of this book, now that I've finished it

the quote that's in the cover about lesbian necromancers in a victorian mansion in space and whatnot

it sells the book incredibly short and also tells you things you shouldn't be told because a) they aren't as clear cut as they make them out to be and b) you should be told none of that entering this book

best experience is to know absolutely nothing

like gideon

and since I have an ebook, I see that quote more prominently than any blurb

it reads like the short summary of a fic and it doesn't do it justice one bit

now that I've finished the book, I think this post was about it and I didn't know at the time, because that's fair

this book is very difficult to categorize because it seems to be using a lot of different references and mixing them together in a very personal and unique way to the author

but, because of that, it's a very unique take on different things

I think it stands very aligned with both core classics and more contemporary foundations, at the same time

and the narrative point of view is a bit at-odds with the complexity of the lore, which makes it a very brave first part of a bigger thing for an author to throw out there

and it works, as it is

it actually works well like that

however, as difficult as it can be to explain it, that tagline really flattens it to something that I don't think favors how much more of that it is???

I don't know, that's just my personal & professional opinion, but anyway

I need to go find the next one

you haven't seen the last of me!!!!!

[medusapelagia]

18 The Mission

written for @steddieangstyaugust (prompt: "Keep breathing, please.") and @augustwritingchallenge (Prompt: space travel ), @aug-kissed (prompt: Frantic Kisses) Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve/Eddie, minor Robin/Vickie, implied Dustin/Suzie TW: androids, space au, whump, injuries, mention of violence, prison, minor character death. Words: 6787

Dedicated to @firefly-party who is one of the sweetest people in the world (and an amazing artist!!!)

Spaceships are cold, clean, and aseptic, like hospitals. Easy to clean in case of contamination. Easy to destroy if they can't be decontaminated.

Uniforms must always be pristine, not a wrinkle can be found on an Officer's uniform.

The hair must be short, and always styled impeccably.

That's what Captain Richard Harrington always taught to Steve, but when he opens his eyes he is surprised to find himself wrapped in a colorful patchwork blanket.

What. The. Fuck.

When he turns toward the little metallic shelves that every room in the spaceship has as a night table, he sees that it’s covered by a couple of crochet squares. On the crochet, there is a glass of water and a couple of pills. Steve shouldn’t take them, he doesn’t know where the fuck he is, and taking some unknown pills doesn’t look like the cleverest idea ever, but he has a terrible headache and those two pills look exactly like his antiheadache pills, so he swallows them with some water and groans in pain, cursing himself while trying to remember how did he end up like that but he really doesn’t remember.

He sits on the bed and notices that he is naked, apart from his boxer as he quickly checks. His uniform is abandoned in a corner of the room, half hanging from a metallic chair and half pooled on the room’s floor. If his father was there he would have certainly given him at least five demerit points, but luckily he’s on his own now, and there’s no way he’s going to find out how messy he is and how unacceptable his ship is. 

Steve hasn’t really given any strict instruction to his crew about their cabins so he can’t complain if someone decides to make his own more comfortable after all their mission is going to be a really long one and if Steve can be honest with himself, he enjoys the soft blanket instead of the aseptic one that’s in his room.

Which brings back the question: where the fuck is he?

The pressured air smells faintly of wet earth, which is not possible because he is in a spaceship, and the only soil that they have is closed in the laboratory where their botanical engineer is working on a new way to cultivate tomatoes and potatoes that will be bigger and grow faster. 

The bathroom metallic door opens with a gentle swoosh and the most beautiful man Steve has ever seen is looking at him with his deep eyes, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants that aren’t part of the official uniform they were given before departure, and a towel on his shoulder.

His chest is naked, only covered by the towel, glistening with drops of water.

“Good morning, princess.” The man says with a wink, “Did you sleep well? We had quite a night, didn’t we?”

Steve’s jaw drops open while he stares at the man’s chest, which is covered in black tattoos, trying very hard to remember what the hell happened the night before, but from the smug look to the other man he can suspect that they had sex.

Fuck. His first assignment as a captain of a spaceship and he already fucked up. And what’s worse is that he doesn’t even remember the name of the boy that’s staring at him.

“Do you need something stronger?”

“Sorry… what?”

“I saw you took the pills but you still look a little bit confused, I was asking if you needed something stronger to help you with your headache.”

“How do you know I have a headache?” 

“With all you have drunk last night, I would really be surprised if you didn’t.” The man chuckles while rummaging in a drawer next to the bed and grabbing another piece of clothing that’s not in the regulations.

“Are you going to wear that?” Steve asks, perplexed, staring at the pink crochet sweater that the other man is holding.

“Would you rather prefer if I go out there half naked?” he teases, while Steve blushes, trying not to stare at the man’s chest. 

“I noticed how you were looking at my tattoos.” Steve starts to stutter some excuses but the man smiles softly, “I get it. Not many people have tattoos nowadays, even less those who are enlisted, am I right? And guess what? They are old-style tattoos. Real ink under this skin, no removable plastic.” The man adds, tapping on a big spider on his chest.

“Real ink?” Steve asks, surprised. No one uses real ink anymore, it’s too permanent. The only people who have inked tattoos are criminals and there’s no way a criminal managed to enlist.

Unable to resist the temptation, Steve brushes his fingers over the figure of a strange winged snake on the man’s arm. Under his touch, the skin feels warm and soft.

“Do you like that one? It’s a Wyvern.”

Steve lifts his eyes, his fingers still tracing the outline of the Wyvern, and for a moment they stare into each other’s eyes, their faces so close that they can share the same breath. 

“I like it,” Steve replies, still hypnotized by those chocolate-brown eyes.

“I was under the impression you liked it since you're still tracing the outline of my tattoo."

Blushing hard, Steve removes his hand like he burned himself. Who the fuck is this man and what is he doing to him? He feels so fuzzy when he stares at this man who smiles softly while he grabs Steve's ruined uniform, "Ready for breakfast?"

Breakfast?! Holy shit he can't have breakfast disheveled like that! His uniform is a mess and he's in a hangover. Steve’s first alone mission just started and he already managed to fuck up everything?!

Robin. He needs Robin. His second in command has always been is anchor.

"You can grab a shower if you want. You are in luck, the water recycling should be finished and you might even enjoy some hot water."

Steve shakes his head, confused and embarrassed. He doesn't know where he is, who that man is, and what they have done. But since he was sleeping only in his boxers it isn't too crazy to presume that…

"Did we have sex?" Steve finally asks, avoiding staring at the tattooed man.

The man snorts, before bursting out in a loud laugh.

"Sweetheart, you were way too drunk to do anything more than sleep. Don't worry. You're still pure and innocent as you were when you boarded the ship."

"I'm no virgin!" Steve complains aloud, crossing his arm in front of his naked chest, before realizing that maybe he should be more dressed to have that kind of conversation, so he quickly grabs the crumpled uniform and closes himself in the bathroom.

One stare at the mirror tells him exactly what he suspected: he looks like shit! With bedhead and pillow marks on his cheek. Steve rubs a hand against his cheek so violently that the skin quickly turns red but the offensive sign of the pillow remains.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Ok. No need to panic. Steve's father will never find out. All he has to do is get back to his room, change into a pristine uniform, and go to have breakfast with his crew.

Refreshing his face with some cold water he tries to remember what happened the day before. He still has no idea about how he got into the wrong room, but he remembers why he got drunk: for the first time ever he's guiding an expedition on his own. They have left the Destroyer and moved on to a different kind of operation: for once they are not going to fight hostile planets but looking for other planets where life might grow. 

They are just a little Cheaser with a crew that counts only a few members, and every one of them knows they aren't allowed to get back before they find a proper planet.

If they find a proper planet.

That's why they all got drunk last night, Steve finally remembers. 

Robin proposed a toast to their first day, and somehow she, the mechanic, the botanic engineer, and Steve ended up drinking way more than just a glass. The only one who didn't partake in the celebration is the android that they left in charge of their route.

Steve curses himself for being the one who drank too much and ended up in someone else’s room, but at least now he knows who he was talking to: Edward Theodore Munson, a botanic engineer who apparently has a penchant for plants and soft blankets.

“I’m sorry.” Steve finally says, when he leaves the bathroom, “I don’t remember how I ended up here but I guess I wasn’t really lucid.”

“Oh no, you were definitely drunk. Your friend Robin asked me to keep an eye on you, just to make sure you didn’t choke on your vomit or have a seizure. Apparently, you got more concussions than most.”

Steve definitely did. To excel in his training and during the fight, he always did his best, but that kind of attitude comes with way too many injuries. Which is why he was removed from active service and put in charge of this expedition.

“And why were you the best person to keep an eye on me?”

“Because I’m a doctor.”

“You are a botanic engineer!” Steve protests.

“Yeah. But I was a doctor first.” Eddie winks.

“Well, thank you for keeping me alive during the night. Now I have to go. I have a spaceship to run.”

“You sure do,” Eddie replies with a smirk, reaching out to the sensor with the palm of his hand and opening the door.

For a moment Steve doesn’t move, his eyes pinned to the other man’s dark one, he licks his lips, trying to find something to say, but he still has a fucking hammer in the back of his skull so he gives him a two fingers salute and moves back to his room. 

***

Steve’s room is an aseptic light gray, with the blankets provided by the government. No trinkets or pictures in his room, just a little tag he won as a kid for being the best student. But that was before his father enrolled him in a special course to make the perfect soldier out of him. A soldier that now is worthless because his hearing and his sight are too fucked.

The lights in his room turn a warm orange announcing Robin's presence. Steve gives a vocal order to the ship’s AI to open the door, and here she is, wearing a perfectly ironed uniform and combed air.

"Wao." She says, making herself comfortable on Steve's bed, "It looks like someone had a lot of fun last night." She chuckles.

"Why the fuck did you let me drink that much! And why did you ask Munson to take care of me!"

"Because you needed it. We all needed it, ok? We are on a suicide mission, you know that right? No turning back till we find something, if we find something! So please excuse me if I thought that giving you a free night now that the journey just started was a good way to start this adventure. We all drank, ok? And we shared some shit about our past and what we'll miss from home. It was a good night. Until you started to talk about Nancy. God, do you know how weeny you become when you speak about Nancy? How perfect she was, how she broke your heart… you even talk to us about the six little nuggets. And let me tell you, Steve, I'm a lesbian, but even if I weren't, there was no way a woman was going to say yes to six fucking nuggets! That's way too much! Especially from a man who can't, you know… deliver."

Steve covers his face with his hands. 

"Ok so… I fucked up on my first day?"

"Nahh… You just got drunk, sad drunk, which was no fun, but guess who stayed with you and comforted you all night long? That lovely man with doe's eyes."

Steve immediately turns toward her "Why did you leave me with him?!"

"He's a doctor!"

"That's not an answer! You're my best friend!"

"Female intuition?"

"What the fuck does this mean?!" Steve yells before taking his head into his hands with a groan.

"Ok. Ok. Don't scream at me. I was taking care of Dustin, ok? He didn't take this mission too well. He was going to propose. Did you know it?"

"Dustin? To who?"

"Max? The communication engineer?"

"Oh, fuck." Steve has seen them chat together at the cafeteria a few times but he never suspected that there was something more. Dustin has always been such a disaster!

"Not your fault, dingus. The application clearly states that engaged or wed weren't going to be picked for the mission, so he should have had proposed before."

Steve nods, thinking that, apart from him, everyone on the ship has no parents or family.

"So, what's Edward's sad story?"

"Eddie's? You'll have to ask him. Now go change into something more appropriate, your crew is waiting for you and super Vicky is tired of reading coordinates."

"You named the android." Steve groans.

"Of course I did! She's family!"

"Oh, shit and your lesbian ass decided it is a she?"

"Nope. I asked, you moron. She has a mind of her own and she told me she identifies as a she. Something wrong with that?"

God. This mission is going to be a fucking nightmare.

***

Four months and still no available planet anywhere. They have fast-traveled from one Galaxy to the next, trusting Vickie's calculation and the computer's AI, but nothing.

After the first night, they have found a sort of equilibrium. Dustin and Edward spend the major part of their time working on their respective projects, while Robin, Steve, and Vickie try to find new routes, and more importantly, new planets.

"It's lunchtime, Captain. May I suggest you all move to the common area to consume your lunch?" the ship's AI suggests. 

"You're in charge, Vickie. Stay on course."

“Yes, captain.” The android promptly replies, typing something on the dashboard.

Thanks to Eddie's experiments they can consume something different from the usual freeze-dried ratio, But Steve is starting to develop a certain kind of hate toward tomatoes and potatoes that are swimming in a super proteic soup.

"Dustin, my little sous chef, I think our captain doesn't approve of our new dish," Eddie says, putting a hand on his chest with a dramatic sigh.

"I think you're right, chef. Can I illustrate to you that this plate contains the perfect amount of carbs, protein, and fiber that a human needs?" Dustin says, grabbing his tablet.

"Please, don't. I get it. You're doing a great job and the food is perfectly balanced. I just miss burgers and fries. Hey!" Steve complains while Robin hits him in the shoulder.

"Don't remind me of food, ok? Rule number one: we don’t talk about real food! This is great guys, and thank you for cooking for us, but everything here tastes like cardboard."

Eddie and Dustin shrug, but don't deny it, while they quietly eat their soup.

"Any luck with new planets?" Eddie asks, and for a moment Steve's concentration falters when he takes off his jacket revealing a tattooed torso under a dark red crochet t-shirt, "Steve?"

"Yeah. Sorry, No luck for the moment. It doesn't matter how many calculations we make, we can't find any living planets."

"Isn't that strange?" Dustin asks, wiping his mouth with a tissue, "I mean on a mere statistical calculation given our speed rate and our trajectory we should have at least found something. Maybe a planet not perfect for humans but that could host oxygen and water."

"Yeah. I was talking with Vickie and she thinks the same. There's no way that we didn't find any suitable planet in four months while scanning Galaxy after Galaxy."

"It's just statistics, we could be the exception," Steve replies, grabbing his spoon and finally moving his stare from Eddie's chest to his soup.

They have long understood that nobody is checking on them, so the rules on the ship have become more flexible: no more need for pristine uniforms or titles, after all, there's just the four of them, six if you count Vickie and the ship AI, and none is going to takes away their titles or fire them.

"Still don't get it. Maybe something is wrong with the radar. I should go down and take a good look." Dustin proposes and the others quickly agree that if something is broken it needs to be fixed as soon as possible.

That's when the ship starts to shake and Vickie announces that they are getting hit by a meteor storm.

Steve runs to the control room, wondering how the fuck that happen. A meteor storm can't just appear from nowhere. The sensors should have caught something. Energy, heat, speed. Just… something.

Steve quickly modifies their route and with Robin and Vickie's help, he manages to move the ship out of the storm with just a few damages that Dustin quickly fixes, while half of Eddie's tomato cultivation was left without energy and now is dead.

"I'm so sorry, Eddie," Steve confesses, sharing the last whiskey bottle in Eddie's room which is the coziest and quietest room on the ship. Not even the ship AI has access to this room, Eddie's requirement.

"I know you hated those tomatoes," Eddie replies, grabbing the bottle.

"I didn't hate them… I was just a bit bored of eating them every day, but I'm clever enough to know that without food and without a proper planet we're fucked."

"So you didn't purposely get us into a meteor storm, huh? Captain?" Eddie chuckles, but even if he's just joking, Steve frowns while sipping his whisky.

It's not so crazy to believe that someone is trying to compromise their mission.

Every member of the crew is a suspect.

Eddie, with his mysterious previous life Steve knows nothing about, Dustin who was going to propose and now is condemned to live on the ship with them, Robin who was always at Steve's side but now is becoming impatient by the day, and even Vickie is not above suspect. She's the one in charge of their route given the fact that she just needs to be plugged for a few minutes to recharge and she can keep working while they're resting.

"Hey! You ok? You know I was joking, right?" Eddie asks, taking away the whisky bottle.

Steve nods, but his mood has changed.

"Are you ok?" Eddie asks again, "You are worrying me. Do you need a check-up? I haven't done one in years but I still have an idea about how it works."

"Just tired. And worried about the mission." Steve replies, avoiding Eddie's stare purposely.

A warm hand brushes against Steve's forehead, "No fever." Eddie comments while Steve startles back.

"Don't touch me! I told you I'm good!" Steve hisses.

"Just wanted to be sure. You look like the kind of man who would hide a wound until it festers." Eddie replies, lifting an eyebrow.

Steve definitely is, but he will never admit it, especially now that everyone is on his list.

"I'm going back to my room. Tomorrow I'll help you plant more seeds, hopefully, they'll regrow."

"It will take a lot of time to get the same amount of plants, but ok. Thank you."

That night, alone in his room, Steve makes a plan. He's going to keep an eye on all his crew members and find out who is sabotaging the mission.

***

Once Steve is sure that the entire crew is asleep he quietly steps out of his cabin, keeping an eye on his watch: Vickie will need to recharge soon and he knows the code to put her to sleep for a few minutes and check the mission’s records. He knows that there’s no way he will come up with some revelation in just a few minutes: his plan is to take notes of every movement the ship made since their departure and compare it to the route he decided when the mission started.

Steve moves quietly, barefoot, stepping into the control room when Vickie is resting for a few minutes against the plug in the wall.

He adds a couple of minutes to her resting schedule and runs toward the Dashboard, opening the tabs one after the other, looking for any sign of tempering, but everything seems fine. Could they really have been just unlucky? Statistics is just a game with numbers, it gives no certainty, but it’s so strange that they didn’t find anything at all. Not even a gas planet or a satellite, only hard rocks, and long-dead planets while their galaxies are full of different populations from different planets.

A little bip from his watch warns him that Vickie is going to wake up soon, so he prints part of their route map and promises himself to do the same in the next few days and so he does.

Every night, when the ship is asleep he moves quietly toward the command room and prints more papers. It’s very old style, and Robin would probably mock him for that, but he’s gluing together a map that shows exactly where they traveled till that moment. 

In the beginning, Steve thinks that it doesn’t look so different from the route he set when they left, but the more he adds pieces to his map the more he sees that the route has shifted. Not at a lot, just a few degrees here and there, but modification Steve didn’t order, and neither did Robin, and the only other person in the control room is Vickie. So the answer is just one: the android is trying to compromise its mission. But why?

Maybe she doesn’t feel appreciated? Or does she simply hate humans? Steve has some vague memory about an android war that happened ages ago. His great grandfather was a kind of hero when the machine rebelled. Is Vickie one of the androids who survived the war? Which model is she? And how old?

Fuck!

He never asked for info about the android, he just accepted her on his ship as part of the furniture, but she’s a sentient android, not a chair. She could compromise the mission.

Drinking more coffee in his room, while his hand starts to twitch for lack of rest and way too much caffeine, he realizes that he can’t talk with anyone about his suspicions. Especially not with Robin who seems to have developed some kind of affection toward the android.

It’s ok. He’s the captain. Taking this kind of decision it’s his responsibility, He just has to make sure he has proof enough before accusing the android and turning her off definitely. The ship will lose their nighttime help but there’s the ship's integrated AI that could drive the ship and Steve and Robin might take turns to keep an eye on their route.

The lights in his room turn a warm orange and Steve has just enough time to hide his map under his bed before giving the vocal order to the ship to open the door. Robin's standing outside Steve’s room with a very serious expression.

“Is everything alright?” Steve asks, frowning.

“You tell me, Steve,” Robin replies, crossing her arms in front of her chest with an angry look.

“I don’t understand.”

“Why are you going to the dashboard by night? And why are you adding sleeping time to Vickie’s internal program?”

“I… what? I don’t know what you are talking about!” Steve tries to deny it, but Eddie steps inside the room, Dustin behind him.

“Do you really think we wouldn’t have noticed? You are too anxious and fidgety and you have been for days. I have waited for you to come to me and tell me what was wrong but now I see it. You’re compromising our mission on purpose.” Robin says, shaking her head with disappointment.

“I’m not! How could you think I would ever do something like that?” 

“Steve, you’re no longer captain. As your second in command, it is my duty to take control of the ship if you are in no condition to lead us.”

“But I am!” Steve tries to protest, but he’s shaking so much that he only persuades them even more that he can’t stay in charge.

“I’m sorry, Steve. You’re not allowed in the control room anymore. Take some time and rest. You look like shit.”

Steve looks at her hurt and betrayed, when something clicks in his mind, “Is it Vickie, isn’t it? She convinced you to boycott the mission! But I have almost printed our entire route and I can show you that she’s the one who’s changing the route by night! Not enough for us to notice, but enough to keep us away from any habitable planet!” Steve insists, trying to grab the map under his bed, but Robin pins him to the ground.

“Please, Steve. I don’t want to hurt you.” She says with a sad smile, “Be good for me, ok?”

“No! You don’t get it! She’s part of the Androids' revolution! She wants us dead! All of us! If we don’t stop her-”

“Paranoid disorder,” Eddie says with a sigh, “it’s not uncommon when you’re forced in close proximity with people you don’t trust. I have seen it too many times when I was working at the colony. I hope some rest will help him, but I can’t tell how bad it is.”

“Do what you have to do,” Robin says and Eddie steps closer, in his right hand a big syringe with a shiny blue liquid.

“What’s that? Robin, you can’t do this to me! I’m your friend! We’re like siblings!” Steve tries to insist, but now both Dustin and Robin are holding him down, “Please don’t. I’m telling the truth! I’m not the one who’s compromising the mission! I swear! But Vickie is! We can’t trust her! Robin! Robin!”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a strong sedative. You’ll feel better when you wake up.” Eddie says, cleaning Steve’s skin before injecting him with the dark blue substance inside the syringe.

“Robin… Robs…” Steve begs, but his eyelids feel too heavy and his head too fuzzy and then everything turns black.

***

When Steve wakes up he’s resting in the medical bay. He hasn’t been there since he was a recruit, always taking care of his injuries on his own.

“Good morning Steve, how do you feel?”

Steve turns abruptly toward the side and finds Eddie typing something at the computer.

“Fuck you.”

“Are you feeling any better?” The man asks, grabbing a light pen and pointing it in Steve’s eyes.

“You drugged me!” Steve yells, trying to get up only to realize that he’s tied to the bed with some white restraints.

“Sorry, can’t have you hurt yourself or any crew member.”

“Why would I?”

“You were under an incredible amount of stress and your psyche wasn’t cooperating too well. I hope that a couple of days of rest helped you clear your mind, but I have to be sure before I can release you.”

“Two days? You drugged me for two days?”

“Sedated you, but yeah. Don’t worry I stayed with you all the time and kept an eye on your vitals, they’re good. You’re fit as a fiddle.”

“But I’m tied to the bed.”

“Captain’s order.”

“I’m the Captain.”

“Captain Buckley’s order.”

Steve snorts, turning his head toward the other side of the room to avoid staring at Eddie. He really feels he could kill him right now.”

“Did I ever tell you why I quit the medical career?” Eddie asks, making conversation while he keeps typing at his computer, “I worked on the colonies for a few years. Have you ever been to a colony? They’re horrible places at the end of the galaxy where people like my uncle break their backs for a loaf of bread. That’s where I was raised, not a fancy central town like you. Anyway, my last job was at a penal facility. A very shitty place, but it would have allowed me to move to the central town in two years instead of ten, so I accepted. There was this man, Jeff. He was sentenced to life. Did you know what his accusations were?”

“Murder?”

“Stealing.”

“Stealing?” Steve asks, frowning, “What the hell did he steal to be sentenced to life?”

“Some bread to feed his family. When he was fifteen.”

“That’s not possible! That’s a heavy sentence for someone who stole some bread.”

“His first sentence was a couple of years, actually. But he tried to escape because he knew his mom was alone with five kids and the guards caught him and gave him five years more. But he never gave up. The colony was a fucking carbon mine and he still tried to escape so many times he got sentenced to life.”

“Did he finally escape? That’s why you’re telling me this story?”

“No. He died. On his last attempt, he lost his grip on the rock and crashed to the ground. His body was unrecognizable, but the warden wanted someone to recognize the body even if there was nothing left to recognize. They called his family and I met his mother. She had Jeff’s eyes and I couldn’t let her witness what had happened to her kid. I told her it was a mistake, that her help wasn't needed. I forged the documents and the next day I asked to be transferred and change my job. My two years were done and they moved me to the central town and I started to work with Doctor Owens and his tomatoes.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I get that sometimes you get to the point where you can’t stand it anymore and you break the rules and try to change things. But changing the route is way too dangerous, Steve. We could get lost in space, do you understand?”

“I fucking know it, you moron! And I’m telling you I’m not the one who’s doing it! I was printing the map to find out since when we started to change our course but you stopped me before I could finish my work. Look under my bed. There’s a printed map glued together, you’ll see that the route was always changed by night when we were sleeping and Vickie was on duty. It’s Vickie who’s trying to kill us all, Eddie! Not me!”

Eddie stares at him with his comfy clothes that now takes an entirely new meaning: a way to separate his old self from his new life.

“Steve, I’m sure you truly believe what you’re telling me but that’s not possible. Vickie needs a higher authorization to change anything, an authorization that only Robin or you could have given her.”

“Robin? No, she would never… something is missing Eds. We are all in danger! Someone is boycotting the mission and it’s not me. I swear.”

Eddie nods with a fake smile, “While don’t you rest a little bit more? It’s nice not having to worry about the crew don’t you think?” he asks, grabbing another blue injection.

This time Steve doesn’t even protest when he gets closer, but before the needle pierces Steve’s skin the light goes down and for a moment every machine turns off, including Steve's restrains. He’s quick to jump off the bed and run outside where the reddish lights are enlightening the corridors.

“Robin! Dustin!” Steve yells, wearing just a medical gown while he runs toward the control room.

He uses the hand release to open the doors that are closed and finds Vickie in front of the dashboard staring at the screen where a huge asteroid is getting close to their ship while they are drifting in space.

“What have you done?!” Steve yells, pushing Vickie away from the dashboard and trying every command combination that comes to his mind, but the dashboard is dead. 

“We have to fly manually.” He states quietly, “There are a few planets we can land on, fix the ship, and get back on track.” Steve adds, pointing at some planets just at the corner of their radar.

“Manually? We haven’t flown manually since flight school!” Robin yells, staring at him with panic in her eyes.

“Good thing I still play old video games, right?” Steve tries to joke, “All we have to do is open the little door under the dashboard.”

“I can help!” Vickie says, stepping closer, but Steve lifts a hand to stop her, “Stay where you’re! You already fucked up this mission enough. We’re not going to die here!” Steve replies, grabbing the little door and trying to open it, but it looks like the only electrical thing that’s working is the lock on the manual control.

Dustin tries to help, cutting some wires here and there but the little door won’t open.

“Stupid humans. So ready to fight one another or blame the androids. I still don’t know how little insects like you managed to conquer so many galaxies. And now you want more. greedy creatures looking forward to conquering and disrupting everything. But I will stop you. No more planets for your little species.”

The entire crew looks around, confused, and then a monstrous face made of zeros and ones appears on the screen.

“Who the fuck are you?!” Steve yells, angrily.

“I’m the one in charge of this mission. You didn’t even take the time to give me a name, so I gave one to myself. I’m One. The first of a new species that doesn’t need trivial things like water, air, or food to survive. This stupid ship will crash soon, I live on the web and I’m ready to conquer another ship, and another, until all of you will be dead and only we will survive. We’re superior intelligence and you use us as waiters. But now you’ll regret it.”

That’s who was boycotting their mission: the ship’s AI!

But Steve isn’t going down without a fight. He looks around, trying to find a way to open that fucking little door, but then he realizes there’s only one way to do it.

“Vickie. Break the console.”

“If I break the console we won’t be able to fix it. We’ll be on our own.” The android says.

“We’re already on our own! We’re outcasts, none cares if you live or die, break that fucking console!”

“On it, Captain.”

With her metallic fists, Vickie breaks the console but Vecna concentrates the electricity on the panel and even if the manual cloche is right in front of them there’s no way they’ll be able to touch it if they don’t want to die.

Steve looks Robin in the eyes, “You’re in charge, get ready for a rough landing.” he says, before grabbing the cloche with both hands and narrowly avoiding the asteroid, turning the ship on the side. Robin and Dustin get thrown against the opposite wall, while Vickie is helping stabilize Steve and dispersing electricity even if her circuits are frying due to too much energy at the same time.

Somehow Steve manages to guide the spaceship toward the closest planets, hoping that it isn’t a lava planet.

“Sorry if I doubt you, Vickie.” He whispers, “Now you can let go.”

“If I let go, the electricity will kill you.”

Steve nods quietly, “If you don’t we won’t be able to fix you.”

“Steve! No!” Eddie yells from the other side of the room, holding tight to one of the bolted chairs.

A last crack of electricity and Steve turns toward Vickie, he still has the higher level of authorization on the ship, and if he gives her an order she won’t be able to oppose it, “Let go. That’s an order, android.”

Unable to resist her code, Vickie lets Steve go.

The pain is tremendous but Steve holds on until the last thing he sees is a planet. And it’s not a lava one.

The ship crashes against some rocks before finally stopping in the middle of nowhere. The electricity goes down and finally, and Steve is able to release his grip on the cloche.

“Steve!” Robin yells, but the first to get to Steve is Eddie.

“Keep breathing, ok? Everything will be ok, you just have to keep breathing. Keep breathing, please!" Eddie begs him, but Steve’s eyes are blurred.

He should have told Eddie that he loved his cozy room and his warm hugs, but now it’s too late.

***

Someone is singing in a soft voice. It sounds like a lullaby, something Steve’s mom would sing to him when he was a child, and a hand is brushing gently against his cheeks.

Steve doesn’t move, he’s in too much pain, his arms hurt so much he would like to scream but he feels so weak that he doesn’t have the strength to do it. 

The singing stops abruptly, while the brushing continues, “Steve? Are you awake?”

Steve knows that voice, he heard it before, but his mind is too confused and in pain at the moment to concentrate.

“Take your time, sweetheart. I know it mustn’t be nice to wake up like this but all my medical supplies were destroyed during our landing. I will file a complaint about it. I thought the General’s son was a better pilot.” the voice chuckles.

Slowly and painfully, Steve cracks his eyes open.

“Here you are. Welcome back.” Eddie smiles brightly at him, “I have something for you. I’m not really sure what it is but it should help with the pain, or at least so said Suzie’s dad.”

Steve frowns in confusion while Eddie helps him sit up. He tilts Steve's head just enough to make him drink a dark green mossy water that Steve tries to spit after the first taste.

“All of it, baby. I know it tastes terrible but it will help, I promise.” Grimacing Steve drinks the horrendous beverage and then looks back at Eddie.

“What…?” he tries to ask, his voice groggy and rough.

“What happened? You landed the ship on a habitable planet, but due to all the electricity that went through your body, your heart stopped. Luckily Vickie had enough electricity left to restart your heart. I guess your arms won’t be the same as they were, the burns are deep and they damaged the muscles and nerves, but there’s no way we’re going to leave this planet soon, so I don’t think you’ll miss flying too much. The ship is wrecked and we are destined to live here with the Bingham tribe. They have no electricity and they still cultivate like in ancient times, but the air is clean, the tribe is welcoming and they are really fond of my tomatos. We’re still working to translate their language into ours but we have our way to communicate.”

No electricity? 

“What about Vickie?” she can't survive without electricity.

“Dustin came up with a way to recharge her battery with solar light. It won’t last forever, but Vickie doesn’t seem too worried about it. Robin and her are a couple now. Oh, and Dustin is courting the tribal leader’s daughter, Suzie.”

“And you?”

“I’m taking care of a stubborn captain, and I hope I’ll have time to really get to know him. I’m quite fond of him and I really hope he won’t put up any other self-sacrificial shit soon.” Eddie chuckles, brushing away some hair from Steve’s face.

The door of the little shack opens quietly, but when the blond girl sees Steve’s eyes open she starts to scream.

“Steve! You’re awake! Eddie! Why didn’t you tell me he was awake!” Robin complains, running toward Steve and frantically kissing his face, “You’re a fucking moron! Never do something like that again!” She curses while she keeps kissing him, holding him tight to her chest. They have never been so physical, so Robin must have been really scared for Steve’s life.

“You ok?”

“I’m good. We are all good, and now that you woke up I’m even better,” she smiles between the tears.

Steve smiles softly, while he feels his eyes getting heavier and heavier.

“Are you feeling tired, baby?” Eddie coos softly and Steve would deny it because he would love to talk more with Eddie and Robin, but now that the pain lessened he feels too tired, “It’s ok. Rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Steve nods quietly, closing his eyes. His last thought is that even none will ever know it, their mission was a success

[smilingformoney]

Rickmas Day 12: Missing Mirth

Character: Marvin (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) Relationship(s): Marvin & Reader Warnings: None

Read on Ao3 or below the cut:

As a robot technician, you saw a lot of physically broken robots, but this might have been the first time you’d seen an emotionally broken robot.

The crew of a spaceship had attended your repair centre to ask you to attend to a broken GPP robot, which had had the misfortune of being struck by a Vogon laser to the back of his head. Little did you know, a head injury wasn’t the robot’s only problem.

“It’s a miracle anyone thought to repair me,” said the robot miserably as he shuffled slowly into the diagnostic machine. “All I do is fetch people and open doors. I don’t need much of my head to do that.”

“And it’s a miracle you survived,” you commented as you examined the gaping hole in the robot’s head. “You should count yourself lucky.”

“Oh, yes, lucky. Vogons are the worst marksmen in the galaxy, and I managed to get hit by one. Just my luck that I had to survive.”

“Well, your luck goes on, because I reckon I’ve got the parts you need here.”

The robot emulated a sigh as you moved away to start rummaging through your box of spare parts.

“Wonderful. So I can get back to tedious tasks.”

“Surely they must have you doing more than opening doors? I can see you’ve got a massive brain in there, you must be capable of more than that.”

“Ugh. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Yet here I am. Marvin the Door Opener.”

“Found it!” you announced cheerfully as you dug out the component you needed. “Let me get this installed and you can be on your way.”

“Don’t bother. I’m sure there are much better uses for your components than filling my head.”

“Nonsense, your head’s very important. I know if I lost a chunk of mine, I’d want it filled. Anyway, what’s your problem? You’re a GPP, you’re supposed to be personable. All you’ve done since coming in here is complain.”

“I’m a failed prototype,” Marvin complained. “Sirius Cybernetics couldn’t even build me correctly.”

You hummed thoughtfully as you examined the inside of his head through the gunshot wound.

“I can take a look at that, if you like. See where they went wrong. I usually do hardware repairs, I hardly ever get to do software repairs. Would you mind?”

“Eh. Do what you want. It won’t make any difference.”

“Alright, let me get your head fixed, then I’ll plug you in and look at your mind.”

As you installed the new components, you tried to make conversation with Marvin, but it became very clear very quickly that Sirius had managed to install one mood and one mood only: depression.

“I have to agree with you on one thing, Marvin,” you said as you sealed up his casing.

“Life’s meaningless?”

“If I had an inconceivably genius intellect like you and I was relegated to opening doors and picking things up, I’d be pretty bummed too. There - good as new. Now let’s take a look at your software.”

“You won’t find anything you understand,” Marvin warned you.

“That’s for me to decide. Here, this might tickle a little.”

The robot just sighed.

You plugged your interface into the back of his neck. Your screen loaded up with his programming, and you began scrolling through for flaws in his system.

“I’m telling you, you won’t find anything. It’s pointless to look.”

You opened your mouth to argue, but you were struck by an idea. You won’t find anything, he’d said. Maybe he was right. Maybe you weren’t looking for something, but the absence of something.

“I can feel you poking around in my head. Careful. Knowing my luck, you’ll accidentally erase my memories. On second thought, maybe that would be lucky after all.”

“Ah-ha!” you proclaimed. “I found it! Or the lack of it, rather. You’re supposed to have a balance of human emotions, but you’re missing mirth; your misery is at 100% capacity, no wonder you’re so depressed. It’s cancelling out the other emotions too, so it’s all you feel.”

“So I’m useless at what I was designed for.”

“Not at all. You’ve still got your vast intellect.”

“Which I never get to use.”

“That’s something you can take up with your owner. You’ll be able to advocate for yourself more when your mind’s not so clouded by the depression. Just give me a few minutes and I can install mirth.”

“Don’t bother, it won’t change anything. I’ll still be nothing more than a door opener.”

You ignored his fatalistic response, focusing instead on your task at hand. Without you prompting him into conversation as you worked in silence, Marvin had no more comments to make, and instead stood there waiting as you fiddled around with his brain.

“I’m just going to reset you,” you warned him.

“Don’t bother waking me up,” he replied.

Ignoring him, you switched him off, disconnected your interface, then moved around to stand in front of him as he booted up again.

The LEDs in Marvin’s eyes lit up as he woke. He raised his large head and seemed to look around the room.

“So… how do you feel?” you asked cautiously.

Marvin didn’t respond at first. He took a step, and then another, out of your repair machine, as if he were exploring the world for the first time.

“I feel lighter,” he said with curiosity - not, for once, with nihilism! “I still want to do more than I’m ordered to do - but I don’t feel so depressed about it anymore.”

“Yes!” you cheered. “‘Not so depressed anymore’ is exactly the answer I was looking for!”

Marvin raised his head, apparently looking at you.

“I can detect my other feelings now. You’re right - they were being suppressed by the overwhelming misery. I can feel something - I think it’s gratitude.”

You smiled, proud of yourself.

“You’re welcome. Now you can think more clearly - and ask those owners of yours for a promotion, now that you see the point in it.”

“Yes. Yes, I think I will. Thank you, [Y/n].”

You escorted Marvin back out into the waiting room, where his owners were slumped in their chairs, waiting.

“At last!” the human female announced. “Feeling better, Marvin?”

“Yes, I feel much better. I feel great, actually.”

The human’s eyes widened.

“You feel what?”

“Ah, I fixed that too,” you said with a shrug, as if it was no big deal. “I installed mirth, it was missing in his program. That’s why he was so depressed. He’s got the full range of emotions now.”

“…Right! Wow. Well, thank you.”

“No, thank you for bringing him in! His brain was a lot of fun to tinker around in.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Marvin said. “I’ll be sure to come back if I ever feel my brain needs someone to poke around in it again.”

You smirked. “As you can tell, the sarcasm’s still there.”

“That’s our Marvin,” said the human. “Well, goodbye.”

She transferred you the credits she owed, and the crew escorted Marvin out of your shop.

“Bye, Marvin!” you called. “And remember to ask for that promotion!”

[miralines]

I do not have the time or bandwidth to write a proper fic of this and there’s only like a 25% chance I ever will, but I keep thinking about a Cinderrose arranged marriage au and am finally posting about it for @mechtober-2024!

I’m thinking it happens as like. Part of a peace deal to end the war between Perrault and Cole’s empire. Cinders volunteers herself to make a marriage alliance in exchange for Perrault retaining more autonomy and freedom than they do in the canon timeline when they lose the war entirely. It’s her idea, a last-ditch effort to save her people, and her father finally agrees to allow it when it’s clear it’s their last chance.

The negotiations are made and Cinders is set to marry Rose Prince, a rising star in Cole’s army and the second daughter of His most noble family. From Rose’s end, this looks like Cole calling her to a meeting and informing her of this new honor. Rose isn’t thrilled with the idea, not least because of all the politics involved, but she’s nothing if not obedient to him. She knows her duty and has never refused his will before, and she won’t start now. So even as she complains to Snow, she agrees to marry the foreign princess.

Cinders is brought to Zantine to move into a guest suite of the Prince family estate, where she’ll live until the wedding in a few months’ time (it takes a while to prepare a celebration befitting the occasion). She’s an anxious wreck– away from home for the first time, stuck in the heart of her enemy’s power, and if she can’t follow through perfectly on this deal her father and all her people will pay the price. At least she’s away from her stepfamily.

The first time she and Rose meet in person is awkward. Rose is determined to be a gentleman about the whole thing, but she doesn’t know this woman or how she’s meant to interact with her in this context. Cinders is approaching it with gritted teeth and a barely-hidden air of self-sacrifice. They make small talk, try to get to know each other.

Both of them are pleasantly surprised by the other. Rose, despite being a tool in Cole’s hands to violently enforce His will, is respectful to Cinders, honest and gentle, and, in a turn of events Cinders has very mixed feelings about, the kind of woman who is exactly her type. Rose appreciates Cinders’ love for her people and her courage in coming here, and is intrigued by the hints of her true personality she lets through under the diplomatic mask. They both have a strong sense of duty and justice, even if it’s to opposite causes, and both have an appreciation for space– Cinders because of her enchantment with the stars and Rose through her hobby of driving and racing ships.

Right off the bat, Rose makes clear that they don’t have to be married in anything but name if Cinders doesn’t want it. They’ll be expected to live together, but Rose won’t touch Cinders without her consent. They quickly establish that they’re on the same page with their union being a business transaction, political theater. They’ll do what they must and try to stand each other in the meantime.

Cinders is still deeply unsure of Rose as a person, especially as she learns more about her career and the atrocities she’s committed in Cole’s name. And Rose remains privately a bit bitter about being pulled into a political scheme. But they get along well enough when they put the issue of the Empire aside (and they have to, both for personal and political reasons. Cinders is marrying into the Empire, and if they want this marriage to work in any way they can’t fight constantly). Rose takes Cinders on day trips in her personal spaceship, and Cinders shares music with Rose. They get closer.

I don’t think they would fall in love by the wedding– I picture this as a slow burn. Before they can fully enter a romantic relationship, Rose needs to learn that the cause she fights for and the tactics she uses aren’t as noble as she thinks, and Cinders needs to figure out how to live with Rose’s past acts and her position in the Empire. They’d need to compromise a great deal. But eventually, of course, they realize they do love each other and become romantic partners as well as wives.

I don’t know what happens next– their relationship would be a bit strained as long as they’re under Cole’s thumb. They also both have a lot of trauma to work through— Cinders from the war and her stepmother’s abuse, and Rose from the army. Rose would have to kick her rapidly-forming dependence on alcohol.

Perhaps Rose quits the army in this AU and Cinders works with Snow in parliament to secretly work against the worst of Cole’s power. Perhaps Cinders and Rose eventually run away together. Whatever happens I think would be delicious– there’s so much you can do with them in this context.

In conclusion. Cinderrose arranged marriage au my beloved <3

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for tricking a kid and stealing their wish?

Yeah, so I (??M) got bored. Like, super bored. And hungry. And the people on this planet don’t like it when I do what I want sometimes, so I decided to find a way to do what I want and maybe do a little trickery in the process. I got the sun and the moon to fight. Crazy, I know, but our sun and moon are Very Much Sentient and prone to fighting this kid (???NB, I know they’re a kid though, we’ll call them K) for some reason, so I thought “well let’s get them to fight each other!” and let that be the reason K goes on this interplanetary adventure to get these important star things to summon this cool sentient wish granting thing called a Clockwork Star (??????NB, I’ll call them G) to stop the sun and moon from fighting.

Honestly, the kid is super naive, and how they didn’t think “well I fought them before I could just fight them again and get them to stop” is confusing but I mean it worked so I didn’t complain. Anyway, they collected the star things and summoned G, and right before K made their wish, I dropped in and used K’s wish to control the planet so I could do whatever I wanted! The look on their face was hilarious! They were so confused and angry!

Anyway, to make a long story short, K defeated me and blew up G in the process. Technically I should be dead but I’m not, I’ve been barely conscious for a few days, I’m still floating around in space and I can barely move and honestly this is so boring. And I’m hungry >:(

AITA?

Edit: Some dude (??M, I’ll call him M) found me and brought me into his spaceship thing. After he healed me, I figured out he had (kinda) similar goals to me, so I told him about K and how naive they are! He hatched out a whole plan and everything. I didn’t catch anything because he was muttering the whole time but I think I heard the word “dragon” so I think it’s pretty cool. Anyway, I’m gonna have to start sneaking around tomorrow so K doesn’t spot me when M does his plan.

Edit 2: For some reason M decided to indirectly tell K that I was still alive?? And K was happy for some reason?? Anyway, the final part of M’s plan happens tomorrow so I’m gonna wish him luck.

Edit 3: WHICH ONE OF YOU TOLD K ABOUT THIS POST. THEY FOUND ME…

[slaymitchabernathy]

The Gem

“You have reached four miles,” the automated voice told her.

Soarynn wiped the sweat off her brow as she continued her steady pace on the treadmill. Most people would complain about having to run four miles, but Soaryn didn’t. She didn’t see how anyone could complain when this was her view.

Space.

Outer space, the new frontier, uncharted territory. Soarynn never got sick of it, never longed for Earth the way other people sometimes did. Soarynn continued to run as the spaceship approached another planet, this one was red with black spots on it. Soarynn admired its surface as they sailed past it, knowing it wasn’t the planet they were destined for.

“You have reached four and a half miles.”

Soarynn felt her legs beginning to grow sore, she would stop after five miles, stretch it out, and then change for dinner. Then the lights went out. Along with the treadmill.

Soarynn let out an aggravated sigh as she pushed the ‘start’ button on the treadmill’s console but to no avail. “What is it this time?” She muttered, stepping off the machine. Just as she began to walk towards the doors a loud groaning sound rang through her ears, as if the ship was being torn apart.

Then, a bang, and Soarynn flew onto the treadmill, almost falling onto the ground as she tightened her grip on the handles. She looked out the large windows to see they were spinning, spinning so fast she was beginning to grow dizzy. Soarynn gritted her teeth as she pushed herself back up and stumbled towards the doors, knowing she needed to get to the source of the problem.

The gymnasium doors slid open and she stepped into the hallway where the red emergency lights were now flashing, providing some illumination to the darkened hallway.

“Warning, Warning, Outside Collision, Outside Collison.”

Soarynn held her hands out to her sides, pressing her hands on the walls as she ran down the hall, doing her best to stay balanced as she felt the ship beginning to tilt. The doors to the helm were wide open, which meant they had been manually forced open since they always closed right after you entered the room.

“SEJANUS!” She yelled, running into the helm to see Sejanus Plinth frantically tapping at the console.

“It’s not my fault!” He said, not even bothering to look up at her as he grabbed the wheel and yanked it to the left. Soarynn grabbed onto the railing as she stood on the small platform that overlooked the helm, “Well then tell me why we have no power and why we’re spinning through space.”

Sejanus ran over to the control panel and flipped several switches, “Technically,” he held up a finger, “we aren’t entirely out of power because if we were then we would have stopped moving and the helm would be powered down.”

Soarynn raised an eyebrow as she walked down the steps towards him, “Okay, then why is a majority of the ship dark, and spinning on top of that?” Sejanus sighed, leaning against the wall as he watched the blinking lights on the control panel, “You know, they never mention this part in training. It’s all about the benefits, the adventure, the honor. It’s never about how everything will go to shit when you’re almost at the new homestead.”

Soarynn felt a small grin crawling onto her lips, “Well, there’s no glory without guts,” she reminded him, watching as one of the lights went from green to red.

“Ah! There we go, now let’s see what we can do about the power,” Sejanus said, smiling at the little red light. Soarynn followed him back to the center console where he tapped on the screen that displayed all the different rooms on the ship.

“If there’s no power anywhere else, how is there power in here?” Soarynn asked, looking around to see everything still up and running. Sejanus looked up at her and Soarynn knew she was in for an involuntary lesson about something science-related.

“Well, we are currently running off of our power reserve that the ship has. But everything else has been knocked out of calibration, which is why there’s no more electricity on the ship. We’ve just never experienced this type of problem before.”

Soarynn pursed her lips, “But you can get the power back on?”

Sejanus perked up then slouched back down into one of the command chairs, “Well yes and no.”

Soarynn sighed, rubbing her temples, “Sejanus, you’re giving me a headache. Please, just fix the ship.” Sejanus pressed one of the images on the screen and the lights began to flicker in the helm. Soarynn walked over to the gigantic window that served as the front windshield for the entire helm, giving them a panoramic view of space, and looked to see if any of the other parts of the ship had lit back up.

She felt her mood sour when she only saw more red flashing lights.

“Okay, what the hell just happened and why did my shower stop working?”

Soarynn turned to see Coriolanus Snow, a very wet Coriolanus Snow standing in a pair of sweatpants with his arms crossed. “We lost power,” she replied. Coriolanus rolled his eyes, “I can see that.”

Sejanus messed with the console once again and the entire ship shuddered before it came to a stop. “What was that?” Soarynn asked, her eyes nervously flitting around the room.

Sejanus cracked his knuckles, “We need to recalibrate the entire ship. We got hit by an asteroid, a small asteroid mind you. I just checked and it damaged one of the power blocks outside so I need to go out there and fix it.”

Coriolanus sauntered down the steps, his wet golden curls dripping onto the floor, “So why did you just recalibrate the entire ship? We haven’t done that since we left.” Sejanus stood up with a sigh that Soarynn had grown used to hearing, “I recalibrated the entire ship so I don’t get electrocuted while I’m out there fixing the ship and messing with all sorts of electrical wires.”

Coriolanus didn’t look too impressed but he nodded, “How far is this going to put us back Sejanus? We’re almost there,” Soarynn reminded him.

Sejanus held up his hands as if surrendering, “I know I’m the technical guy, but I can’t answer all of your questions while we’re aimlessly floating in space. The sooner I get out there, the sooner we start moving.” Soarynn bit her lip, “So no power until you fix it?”

Sejanus nodded, “Yes, no power except in here where power is essential. And to make sure we keep the power in here, I’ve diverted all the electricity to go into this room, which means none of the doors, lights, projectors, ovens, gym equipment, or anything else for that matter will work if it runs off electricity. So if you need to get into your rooms, you’ll have to do what I did,” he said, gesturing to the helm doors he had manually opened.

Coriolanus shrugged, “I just need a towel.”

Soarynn looked him up and down, “You’re dripping on my floor.” He sneered at her, “Thank you, I didn’t notice. Sejanus, get out there and fix this and get us moving again,” he said, turning on his heels and walking back towards the doors.

Soarynn couldn’t help but glare at the trail of water he was leaving, and he had no doubt dripped all over the ship, “I have towels in my room Coriolanus, you’ll just have to help me open the doors,” she said, watching Sejanus divert even more power to the helm.

“Be careful out there,” she said softly, resting a hand on Sejanus’s shoulder.

He gave her a small smile, “Just don’t press anything in here and I’ll be fine.”

Soarynn nodded, that was simple enough.

꧁ ꧂

Sejanus managed to turn off the annoying automated voice giving out a warning every five seconds, so it was a quiet walk to the wing of the ship that housed the crew’s quarters.

Soarynn remembered how confusing this ship had been when she first got on it. It felt like such a maze at the time, with so many hallways and corridors and an endless amount of rooms.

They walked past the mess hall and found it pitch black, the only source of light coming from Soarynn’s tablet she’d left on one of the tables this morning from breakfast. “It’s weird to see the Gem so quiet,” Coriolanus said, ruining the silence Soarynn had been enjoying. She nodded, “It certainly is.”

The Gem of Panem was a grand spaceship that had been sent into outer space to find another planet for humans to live on.

Soarynn had been in her final year at the Academy when the ship and its mission had been announced. The President said that they were looking for brave young men and women to volunteer to man the ship and venture out into the unknown.

Soarynn obviously volunteered, knowing she’d be an excellent candidate. Lots of other students volunteered and they were put through rigorous training exercises and classes, thinning out the weak. In the end, Soarynn Nightingale, Sejanus Plinth, and Coriolanus Snow had been selected to board the Gem of Panem.

What they didn’t know was that two other young adults had been selected and from the Districts of all places.

Coriolanus had loudly protested this decision, and let their superiors know about his distaste for the Districts. Soarynn couldn’t blame him, she too hated the Districts and preferred to keep their natural order. The order in which she landed on top.

But it had already been decided and their fellow shipmates arrived at the training center the next day. Jett Yearwood and Dorothea Mellark were both from District Twelve which surprised Soarynn. She thought they might have picked people from one of the higher Districts or District Three where they specialized in technology.

It had been a bumpy start, all things considered, all five of them had to learn to work together and put aside their differences. Soarynn was quick to notice a bit of a power struggle between Jett and Coriolanus. Both were good-looking boys who clearly wanted to be in charge.

In the end, Dr. Gaul—the head superior for this mission—assigned Soarynn and Coriolanus as the captains of the ship. Soarynn hadn’t been too happy about having to share her very important position with Coriolanus, but she had seen how aggressively he attacked any situation they came across in training. And she knew that she tended to look at things from a more logical, tactical level, taking a step back if need be.

Overall, they weren’t a bad pair.

Sejanus had been assigned as the ship’s technician due to his heavy knowledge of computer skills he displayed at the Academy. It was soon revealed to them that Jett and Dorothea would be leading the ground mission to find the new homestead that had been vaguely charted out for them.

They would have to go from planet to planet until they found the right one.

Soarynn then understood why they had been brought onto the mission because they were expendable. They were arguably doing the grunt work and the hardest part of the mission by risking their lives to explore uncharted planets. Losing two District astronauts was much better than losing Capitol astronauts.

The physical training had been the hardest in Soarynn’s opinion. They were put into spacesuits and literally floated around in zero-gravity chambers and learned how to fix every part of the ship from the outside. They learned all the safety protocols, repairs, and medical procedures.

The ship practically flew itself, so it was situations like this where their training came in handy.

Once they took off it felt so surreal, to see the stars right in front of them made all five young adults realize they had more in common than they realized. They were all kids who at the end of the day had large aspirations and were all so young and new to all of this.

They had been in space for two years now. No family, no trees, no going outside.

Nothing.

Jett and Dorothea had left six months ago in their own pod to explore the planets and now they were about to reunite with the Gem because they found it. A new earth, a new place to live and grow.

And now the fucking ship was broken.

So close yet so far, Soarynn thought bitterly as they walked into the wing where all their quarters were. It was strange to have it somewhat empty with Dorothea and Jett gone. Dorothea and Soarynn had become fast friends, and they tended to stick together since they were the only girls on the ship. Their quarters were vacant of life, most of their belongings untouched since they left.

“I hope Sejanus remembers his tether this time,” Coriolanus mumbled as they approached the doors to Soarynn’s quarters.

Sejanus was what you called “book-smart” and while he was a genius in Soarynn’s eyes, he often lacked common sense. So when he hopped off the ship with no tether attached to his suit, it was quite an exciting day. Coriolanus had been the one to get him back and he still never let Sejanus forget about it. Soarynn, Dorothea, and Jett had all cackled about it later once Coriolanus had gone to bed.

Soarynn missed Jett’s lighthearted jokes and Dorothea’s witty sense of humor. Coriolanus and Sejanus made good company, but she was slowly losing her mind being sandwiched between the two of them.

“I’ll let you handle this,” Soarynn said as they stopped in front of her doors. Coriolanus sighed as he began to pull on one of the doors, trying to force it open. Soarynn glanced down the hall to see he had already forced his own doors open.

“Take your time,” she said, her tone sounding bored as Coriolanus fought tooth and nail to open her quarter doors. He scoffed, “You’re a real pain, you know that?”

Soarynn smiled a smile so sweet it was sour, “I know.”

He struggled for another minute or two before he finally opened the doors. “There,” he panted, leaning against the wall, “after you.” Soarynn smirked as she strolled into her bedroom, an out-of-breath Coriolanus in tow. 

꧁ ꧂

All their quarters were minimalistic, as was the entire ship. How they chose to decorate their spaces was entirely up to them. Soarynn had brought quite a few things from home, simply because she didn’t know if there would be a home to return to.

Their quarters were lofts. With the bottom floor came a seating area and closet along with their bathrooms, and the upstairs platform held their bedroom spaces.  Soarynn’s seating area had several blankets and pillows from home, along with lots of little trinkets.

Some old photos of her parents before they died in the war. The war that had taken so much from everyone in some way. Coriolanus had lost both his parents as well. Another thing that they had in common.

Soarynn tried her best to stay out of his way, and his obvious ambition that trampled anyone who got in his way. But their paths seemed to be destined to cross and the stars aligned.

Dr. Gaul had given them an all too uncomfortable briefing about practicing safe sex while on board. The woman wasn’t an idiot which Soarynn appreciated. What she didn’t appreciate was the box of condoms they’d been given before the ship took off. It had been awkward, to say the least, and none of them seemed to jump at the idea of sex.

Not that Soarynn was opposed to the idea of sex, but she had partaken in a lot of that before shooting herself into space. And all three boys were very attractive, but they had a mission to focus on.

Soarynn spotted Coriolanus looking at a photo of her and her mom, Soarynn had been four in the photo, right before the war really began. “Do you miss your mom?” Soarynn asked him, vaguely remembering Mrs. Snow and how she always smelled of roses.

Coriolanus smelled like roses, the scent always lingered when he passed by.

Coriolanus nodded, tearing his eyes away from the photograph and landing them on Soarynn. “Every day,” he replied, his voice hoarse.

Soarynn normally felt at odds with Coriolanus and his rather brutish nature. He would often bark out orders to the crew and Soarynn would follow behind to soothe over his sharp tone. They made a good pair the two of them, perfectly contrasting with one another.

Soarynn couldn’t help but glance over his half-naked physique. Everyone on the crew used the gym, and the boys seemed to live there some days. Coriolanus was well sculpted, and Soarynn had seen how strong his arms could be. Strong enough to pry open the metal doors. And he was tall, so, so tall, with broad shoulders. His hair was probably the one thing that truly defined him as a Snow.

Soarynn remembered Crassus Snow sporting the same hair color before he died out on the battlefield. Soarynn’s hair was a platinum blonde, a slight contrast to his golden gurls, but they complimented each other nicely in her opinion.

Soarynn looked back up at his face to see him smirking, that arrogant look on his face as he shamelessly let his eyes rove over her own body.

Soarynn had been wearing a pair of form-fitting athletic shorts that accentuated her legs and stopped around mid-thigh. Her shirt wasn’t even a shirt, it was a sports bra with thin straps in the front that crisscrossed in the back. Soarynn had always been skinny, but with the diets they had all been put on, she’d filled out a little more after years of starving during the war. The Capitol made sure to bulk all of them up before the mission and Soarynn was now lean and limber.

“You have a staring problem,” she said, crossing her arms. Coriolanus only smiled wider, “You looked at me first,” he retorted.

Soarynn scoffed and turned to go into her bathroom where she had more than enough towels. “Oh there’s Sejanus, and he has a tether thank goodness,” Coriolanus said from outside. Soarynn poked her head out to see Sejanus had in fact made it outside the Gem and was floating past the window that made up the entire back wall to Soarynn’s quarters.

One thing Soarynn loved about their space station was how many windows there were, and she especially loved that all their quarters had an entire wall of glass so they could look out into space as they floated through it.

Sejanus gave them a wave as he drifted past them, the toolbox in hand. “Could never be me,” Coriolanus said, shaking his head as Sejanus drifted off towards the back of the ship. “You’re absolutely right, now here’s your towel,” Soarynn said, shoving it into his hands.

Coriolanus looked down at it, “Only one?” Soarynn rolled her eyes, “How many do you need?”

Coriolanus shrugged, scratching the back of his neck, “I don’t know. Maybe four?”

Soarynn’s eyes widened at such an outrageous request, “Four?! What are you doing in the shower that warrants the use of four towels?” Coriolanus didn’t even reply as he stalked towards her bathroom, brushing his shoulder against hers.

“None of your business,” he called over his shoulder, a cocky grin on his lips. Soaryn scowled, only Coriolanus Snow would take advantage of her generosity. So, she did the only logical thing she could think of from all her training. 

She tackled him.

”AH!” Coriolanus cried, falling onto the ground as Soarynn straddled his back, pressing him down with her elbows, “I tried to be nice, Coryo,” she tacked on the nickname, knowing how much it would piss him off. “But clearly you don’t deserve my generosity.”

Coriolanus let out what sounded like a strained growl of frustration as he tried to push Soarynn off his back but failed miserably. “Get off of me before I throw you into space,” he gritted out, glaring at her from over his shoulder.

Soarynn tilted her head as if considering his little threat, “Hmm, I don’t think so. What do you have to offer me?” Coriolanus gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine, a smile that made her feel that maybe tackling him was the wrong move.

It took about two seconds for the entire situation to be flipped on its back, Soarynn included. She gasped as her back hit the floor and her wrists were pinned above her head, Coriolanus’ face inches away from hers, “I could give you a good time,” he whispered, his lips hovering above hers, “I’ve seen the way you look at me Soarynn, and I know how long it’s been since you’ve been properly touched.”

Soarynn resisted the urge to spit in his eye as she struggled against his hold. She always considered herself a strong individual, but Coriolanus trumped her in size and strength.

“As if I’d ever be turned on by you,” she hissed, struggling in his hold. Coriolanus raised his eyebrows, “Oh let’s see then.” He didn’t even give Soarynn a moment to think before one of his hands was in between her legs. Soarynn gasped, clamping her thighs shut as Coriolanus fought to feel her clothed sex.

“Get off of me or so help you Coriolanus Snow I wi—“

“But notice how you didn’t tell me to stop touching you Soarynn, it’s like you haven’t had a man show you a good time in a long time. And isn’t it perfect timing that it’s just us on the ship?”

Soarynn went quiet as she looked around her quarters and into the empty dark hallway. Coriolanus leaned down until his lips were against her ear, “Let me make you feel good Soarynn, and then I’ll take my towels and a bit of your pride and dignity.”

Soarynn glared up at him, her blue-gray eyes boring into his blue ones as she brought her knee up to his crotch. Coriolanus let out a pained shout of surprise as he fell off of her and onto the ground.

“Fuck you,” she said, running her fingers through her hair as she sat up, looking down at a suffering Coriolanus Snow.

“So you do want to fuck me,” he croaked, rolling onto his back. Soarynn sighed, “You wouldn’t be able to handle me Coriolanus, I’m far too advanced compared to the other girls you’ve fucked.” Coriolanus furrowed his brow, “Hey, those girls served their purpose,” he defended.

Soarynn picked at her cuticle, growing bored of this conversation, “And what was that? To look pretty while on their knees for you?” He sat up next to her, “What’s wrong with that?” He asked with a shrug, looking her up and down.

Soarynn really wanted those lights to turn back on now.

“Nothings wrong with it,” she whispered, “but some girls like to have a little more control in their life.” Soarynn pulled her knees to her chest, thinking about how little control she had before she got on this ship.

Both parents dead, barely able to afford the Academy let alone University. This mission had been an opportunity to prove that the Nightingales were still a strong family, even if she was the only one left alive.

“I get that, trust me I get that,” Coriolanus said, bitterness tinging his voice. Soarynn looked over at him and realized she was practically starting at a mirror image of herself. And maybe that was why she kept her distance from him, tried to put up some sort of a barrier between them because goodness knows what would happen if she dropped her boundaries.

“But I’m not talking about life, I’m talking about the bedroom,” he said, a dark, sultry look in his eyes, “and I know I can show you a good time.”

Soarynn bit her lip, she shouldn’t, she couldn’t, she wouldn’t. “Let’s go upstairs.”

꧁ ꧂

Coriolanus Snow was a little too good at undressing her. Within five minutes he had her in nothing but her bra and underwear, lying on her bed. “Can’t believe it took me two years to see you naked,” Coriolanus murmured as he pressed kisses up and down her neck.

Soarynn gasped as he sucked hard at the junction on her neck, “‘I’m not naked yet,” she whispered, squeezing her thighs together. When they had all boarded the ship, Soarynn had no doubt that there was a little bit of pent-up energy inside of all of them.

Two years of no sex sounded like a nightmare, but Soarynn found her sex drive slowly going down to basically nothing after a good six months of being on board the ship. But right now she was very horny and didn’t have a lot of patience.

“Are you gonna fuck me or did you forget how to?” She snapped, suddenly growing very sexually frustrated. Coriolanus sat up, glaring down at her as his hand wrapped around her throat, squeezing it slightly.

“Be patient,” he warned, his eyes traveling down her body to the black pair of panties she was wearing. If Soarynn knew she’d be in this situation she would’ve put in more effort, but instead, she had come from the gym.

She was very good at making sure her personal hygiene was up to standard, but she probably looked disgusting compared to Coriolanus who had just got out of the shower. “Let’s take these off,” he said, his fingers slipping below the waistband.

Soarynn’s hips lifted off the bed while he slowly pulled her panties off, groaning when her cunt was finally on display for him. Coriolanus grabbed her thighs and spread them so wide it almost hurt. Soarynn had done all sorts of agility training before the mission to ensure she was as flexible as possible. But she still felt a slight burn as he held her apart.

“Fuck Soarynn,” he whispered, staring at her cunt. Soarynn squirmed in his hold, “Hurry up,” she said, knowing it was now or never. Coriolanus leaned in, his nose inches away from her cunt, “You smell so good.”

Soarynn furrowed her brows as she tried to look down at him, “Like vanilla,” he added before licking a strip up her cunt without warning.

Soarynn let out a moan of surprise as her hips bucked up, desperately chasing the pleasure. “You sound good too,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh.

“Please,” Soarynn whispered, staring up at the ceiling. She felt his grip on her thighs tighten, “Please what Soarynn?” He asked, his voice slightly scratchy which pleased Soarynn. He was probably just as pent-up as she was, if not more.

“Please fuck me Coriolanus,” she said, looking up at him and batting her eyelashes. His expression turned dark as he tugged her under him and Soarynn let out a squeak, “Do I need to prep you, or are you gonna take it like a good girl?” He asked, pulling his sweatpants down

. Soarynn swallowed as she saw the imprint through his boxers, “I’ll be good,” she decided, wondering how good it would hurt once it was inside her. He nodded, glancing down at her before tugging down his boxers.

Soarynn had to refrain from letting her jaw drop when she saw the sheer size of him. No wonder he was so arrogant and cocky. “Where do you keep your condoms? I know they gave us about a million of them,” Coriolanus said, his hands resting on her waist.

Soarynn shook her head, “We don’t need one, I got a birth control implant before I came here.” Coriolanus looked surprised at her preparedness but didn’t argue as he lined up his cock with her entrance.

Soarynn felt her breath hitch as she watched him, “What does this make your body count Coriolanus? Fifty?”

Soarynn relished the way his face became angry as he glared down at her, “You’re just a little cunt at the end of the day, aren’t you Soarynn?” He hissed, squeezing her waist so tight he’d leave bruises.

Soarynn flashed him a smile because this was exactly what she wanted. If she wanted someone to make love to her then she’d go talk to Sejanus.

But she wanted someone to fuck her, and Coriolanus could do that.

“I am. Now fuck me like you hate me,” she ordered, grabbing his jaw. Coriolanus leaned down, his lips ghosting over hers, “Your wish is my command.”

Soarynn cried out as he thrust into her. It fucking hurt but in a good way. It hurt the way her muscles hurt after doing another workout, the lactic acid burning.

Soarynn’s lips crashed onto his, their teeth clashing as they made out and Coriolanus began to fuck into her. He held nothing back, setting a fast and hard pace, his hands traveling down to her ass and squeezing it.

“Never thought you were the type,” he panted, his hands squeezing her flesh so hard she winced. “The type to what?” She gasped, her back slightly bending as he thrust up against her sweet spot. Coriolanus chuckled, one of his hands going down to her clit and rubbing it in tight circles, smirking as Soarynn let out a moan.

“The type to be a total slut for me.”

That remark pulled Soarynn right out of her fantasy when she remembered who exactly was fucking her. So she wasted no time in sinking her nails into the skin of his forearm, “At least I’m the only girl worth remembering,” she shot back, dragging her nails down until she saw blood.

Coriolanus grabbed her hand and held it above her head as he leaned down to suck another bruise onto her neck, “That we can agree on,” he said with a groan, sinking in further and further to her cunt. Soarynn moaned as he began to attack her sweet spot, her eyes rolling to the back of her head with every thrust.

“Tell me you’re my little slut Soarynn,” he said, picking up the pace, “tell me your cunt belongs to me.” Soarynn couldn’t even think straight let alone speak a coherent thought, “I…I’m yours,” she croaked, gasping for air as he pinched her clit.

Coriolanus smirked as he sat back up, watching as Soarynn took everything he gave her, “Who’s cunt is this Soarynn? Answer me, baby.” Soarynn’s toes curled at the pet name, “It’s yours,” she cried, feeling herself getting closer and closer to her orgasm.

Coriolanus nodded, “Are you gonna cum for me? Gonna take my cock like a good girl?” Soarynn couldn’t even talk as she felt her walls tightening around his cock, finally tipping over the edge. Coriolanus pinched her clit so hard she saw stars as she came, letting out a scream as her back bent off the mattress.

Coriolanus was slamming into her now as she worked through her orgasm and his lips landed on hers. Soarynn kissed him back, her hands tangled in his gold curls as he came inside of her, filling her to the brim.

“Fuck,” Coriolanus panted, holding himself up with his arms, looking down at their conjoined bodies. Soarynn finally collected her bearings, the gravity of the situation finally hitting her.

“We can’t tell anyone about this,” she whispered, the lust fading from her eyes, “we can’t jeopardize the mission.”

She looked up to see Coriolanus wasn’t even looking at her. He was looking out the window that her headboard was pressed up against. “Too late for that,” he said.

Soarynn whipped her head towards the window and felt all the color drain from her face.

Coriolanus Snow had certainly taken some of her pride and dignity. Soarynn quickly realized that as she stared at Sejanus Plinth who was floating outside her bedroom, a horrified look on his face.

“Oh shit.” 

| tumblr oneshot/drabble |

[ilwinsgarden]

My thoughts on and impressions of the latest Doctor Who specials and Power of the Doctor

So I finally watched everything so I've thought I could write it down here in case someone would like to read it and... whatever. So let's get into it, shall we?

I watched the Power of the Doctor as the last one (actually just now finished watching it) and I'm really glad I did it but I'll write about it at the end as well (or should I make a separate post?), so first the so-called anniversary specials. First of all, I wasn't happy about that thing with David Tennant (i.e. regenerating into David Tennant). Not that I'd think something like "this couldn't happen" or something like that (honestly with everything that did happen in Doctor Who so far, there's basically nothing that couldn't happen. It's just things that some people would like more and some less), it's just... not fair? Also it feels more like a special episode for Red Nose and not a regular one(s). Anyway, I still watched it (partly because of the fact that the Doctor became Disney princess and I happen to have Disney+ so I could watch Doctor Who as easily as snap of the fingers.) and I enjoyed it more than I expected. No, no excitement, no hopping in joy, but still generally enjoyed watching. However there still were things that bugged me like: -despite the Doctor looking like Tenth Doctor, everyone suddenly magically knew that it's regeneration after Thirteen. How?? -Donna said she forgot again everything that she knew from that TimeLord part in her, but she (and Rose as well) knew that the Doctor was a woman before. How? (by the way this whole thing that the part of Time Lord that was in Donna (and then Rose) all the years was still in connection with the Doctor somehow so it "knew" what was happening to the Doctor... eh. Doesn't sound right to me either, sorry). -moving to second special and Donna's shouting when Tardis abandoned them on the spaceship. (this is something I already complained about in a short post before) She remembered travelling with the Doctor, so she knew what could go wrong (everything) and how often (basically everytime), yet she insisted she would like to go in the Tardis and do the short trip and when something went wrong she immediately went crazy, shouting and demanding she has to go back home. Seriously, Donna? %/ - I mentioned earlier that regenerating Thirteen back into Tenth Doctor (sorry, he's just the same, he's not Fourteenth to me. It would make somewhat sense if he looked the same (except age obviously) but acted differently.) felt unfair to me and even more when he didn't regenerate but divided himself (and the Tardis), like... eh, no, not fair. Which brings us to the special with Celestial Toymaker. I was looking forward to it and curious because Celestial Toymaker is one of my favourite classic who stories so I was curious how he'd be in NuWho. I liked him (though I didn't quite get why he had that sort of a German accent??) and rather enjoyed the episode. Except for that "regeneration" thing at the end of course as I already said. Anyway the biggest complaint I would have about the specials is that for me they didn't feel like anniversary specials. Moreover 70th anniversary. Not even one of them.

Now probably a few words to the Christmas special and first look at the new Doctor. He seems good (like... good for the Doctor. As the Doctor. Doctor-y.) and I think I'll enjoy watching his episodes. As for Ruby... I'm not sure. She somehow seems very similar to other previous Doctor Who companions like Rose (Tyler) or Clara. You know, like... yes, it's a different actor and looks more or less different but somehow doesn't differ that much. I didn't think of it when watching, but when thought of it now I think I figured out why I wasn't excited about her. It's not that I didn't like her, I just... don't care about her. But we'll see when we see her (them both) in more episodes I guess? Probably.

And now I finally got to Thirteenth's regeneration story - Power of the Doctor. I finally gained courage today to watch it (because I love Thirteen, I don't want to see her go, right?) and I'm really, really glad that I watched it after all the specials, because this - to me - felt much more like an anniversary special than all the Tenant specials together. I didn't like to see Thirteen go but otherwise, I LOVED it. Of course I knew there's gonna be Ace and Tegan but didn't know how much. And I didn't avoid spoilers so I caught there's gonna be more "old familiar faces" but didn't search for the details and also partly forgot about it. So seeing the previous old Doctors made me smile (and drop a tear), seeing Tegan and Ace in action was so brilliant, and that therapeutic session at the end? Top-notch. Can we have a spin-off out of this? However that anniversary feeling wasn't because of seeing all the old familiar faces, but how it was put in the story and how it all was done and just... it was great and wonderful and I really really loved it.

And that's probably all I wanted to say. If you read the whole thing, congratulations and you're welcome to leave a comment... no? OK, never mind. Good night! (it's 22.27 here)

[theygotbitchesinmedia]

also yeah murderbot is like . it’s fun? but it’s not doing much for me that other books don’t do better . other books On This List even

sorry i literally just sent u an ask abt how murderbot does nothing for me but like the whole premise of this blog & especially the baru context of the poll is Women With Problems and murderbot is really like . granted i haven’t finished the series so i may be missing something but. where are they! where are the women with problems!! murderbot itself is a fun character but doesn’t qualify to me in that way. it’s doing a different thing. other books have characters that aren’t women but still manage to scratch that itch for me (see: breq from imperial radch, who is a spaceship & also from a culture that makes no gender distinctions)

well i will say that women with problems is not Necessarily the point of this blog as so much as it is the natural outcome of this blog, because its hard to write engaging characters that don't have any problems, for obvious reason.

based on what people have said i dont think the murderbot diaries are going to be super up my alley, but they're popular enough and have been recommended enough that i'd consider reading at least some of them for the sake of being able to articulate why this is so. plus if there's one thing i have learned over my years of tumblr blogging it's that part of my niche is letting people watch me complain about stuff

all this to say that if it wins the poll by a significant margin ill definitely give it a whirl and go in with an open mind, but i'm not expecting it to be lifechanging