#wind powered engines on a ship is just

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

in other news,,

[nasa]

ALT: This video shows blades of grass moving in the wind on a beautiful day at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. In the background, we see the 212-foot-core stage for the powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket used for Artemis I. The camera ascends, revealing the core stage next to a shimmering body of water as technicians lead it towards NASA’s Pegasus barge. Credit: NASA

The SLS (Space Launch System) Core Stage by Numbers

Technicians with NASA and SLS core stage lead contractor Boeing, along with RS-25 engines lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, are nearing a major milestone for the Artemis II mission. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage for Artemis II is fully assembled and will soon be shipped via barge from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once there, it will be prepped for stacking and launch activities.

Get to know the core stage – by the numbers.

Standing 212 feet tall and measuring 27.6 feet in diameter, the SLS core stage is the largest rocket stage NASA has ever built. Due to its size, the hardware must be shipped aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge.

900 miles

Once loaded, the barge – which was updated to accommodate the giant core stage -- will travel 900 miles to Florida across inland and ocean waterways. Once at Kennedy, teams with our Exploration Ground Systems team will complete checkouts for the core stage prior to stacking preparations.

18 Miles + 500 Sensors

As impressive as the core stage is on the outside, it’s also incredible on the inside. The “brains” of the rocket consist of three flight computers and special avionics systems that tell the rocket what to do. This is linked to 18 miles of cabling and more than 500 sensors and systems to help feed fuel and steer the four RS-25 engines.

8.8 million

Speaking of engines… Our SLS Moon rocket generates approximately 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch. Two million pounds come from the four powerful RS-25 engines at the base of the core stage, while each of the two solid rocket boosters produces a maximum thrust of 3.6 million pounds. Together, the engines and boosters will help launch a crew of four Artemis astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft beyond Earth orbit to venture around the Moon.

733,000 Gallons

Achieving the powerful thrust required at launch calls for a large amount of fuel - 733,000 gallons, to be precise. The stage has two huge propellant tanks that hold the super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that make the rocket “go.” A new liquid hydrogen storage sphere has recently been built at Kennedy, which can store 1.25 million gallons of liquid hydrogen.

Four

The number four doesn’t just apply to the RS-25 engines. It’s also the number of astronauts who will fly inside our Orion spacecraft atop our SLS rocket for the first crewed Artemis mission. When NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen launch, they will be the first astronauts returning to the Moon in more than 50 years.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[theauthorandtheartist]

I had a dream the other night that i can't stop thinking about, where a new LOZ game was released in a similar vein to TOTK, except instead of collecting sages like in that game, there was a series of dungeons/temples that were directly tied to other LOZ games, and at the end, you gained the ability to summon the avatar/ghost of the hero from said game -like the TOTK sages- to help on your quest (and get a fun power up). All of the links would have stilted dialogue with you at first, but as the game goes on they get more friendly and at the end of the game theres a cutscene where they all "move on" and it's super emotional cuz by this point they're all brothers (player-link actually emotes during this cutscene, the only time he does so, for an extra punch in the gut). I don't remember all of the details, but what I do remember was:

A Palace of the Four Sword dungeon where you gained the Link(s) from FSA. FSA Link was the simplest in terms of abilities, the avatar would split into 4 and distract enemies/fight alongside you. Pretty sure this was the first one/tutorial temple. Later on this link gives you a sidequest after which you gain the Four Sword as a weapon (its the second strongest in the game behind the master sword).

A Tower of Winds dungeon where you got Minish Cap Link to tag along. He allows you to shrink for short periods of time to get through locked doors/escape danger. Don't remember much about this dungeon except that there's a timer to get through it before yiu have to start over.

Forest temple/great deku tree/kokiri forest type place where Oot/MM link joins up with you. He allows you to rewind time for a little bit (basically the recall ability but on everything including you). Later on He gives a sidequest that results in obtaining the Fierce Deity Mask (best armor in the game).

Arbiter grounds dungeon where you get TP link. He's basically a glorified horse; you ride him around.

Tower of the Gods dungeon where you get WW/PH Link to tag along. He's like Revali's Gale and Tulin's gust in one.

The dungeon to get the Master Sword is like the Skyview Temple, and to be allowed to draw it you must beat SS Link as the final boss of the temple, After which he joins you on your quest. He allows you to do skyward strikes with any one handed weapon.

A secret, optional dungeon that you only unlock by falling asleep on this random island. It's kohohlit. The only avatars/ghosts that you can access here are OoT/MM Link and WW/PH Link (because PH was a dream and MM was an alternate reality). By the end, You get Alttp/albw/LA link who can put enemies to sleep for a time. Later he gives you a sidequest to get ravio's bracelet, which opens up a few easter eggs and secret loot.

Other links/games were included as easter eggs but they don't stick around. BOTW/TOTK Link is a recurring ghostly NPC who you can find in all the weirdest places, offering seemingly nonsensical trades that change every time you see him (10 frogs for 13 bombs, a ruby for an apple pie, 35 monster parts for a single ancient arrow, etc). There's a few places around hyrule where you see two-bit LOZ1/LOZ2 Link just vibing. ST Link takes the place of Purah or Robbie as the eccentric scientist/engineer who will upgrade your stuff if you bring him materials, and he can also upgrade your ghost-Link-friend's abilities as well since he's -y'know- Hero of Spirits.

There's murals in the castle from Cadence of Hyrule, and there's "ancient history books" about HW and AoC. Throughout Hyrule you'll meet various NPCs claiming to be from different countries here to see "the birthplace of the hero of Holodrum/Labrynnia/Calatia."

Various Zelda's would show up too. You get a sidequest where you have to sneak aboard a ghost pirate ship. It's Tetra's. There's a mysterious sheikah warrior who repeatedly accosts you on your travels to loredump and test if you're ready to fight the big bad. She only ever brings you down to half heart, at which point she makes a disappponted comment and leaves. you aren't able to beat her until near endgame, at which point she reveals herself as sheik, has a brief conversation with Oot/MM Link, gives you some cryptic foreshadowing advice and a few fairies, and dips. BOTW/TOTK zelda is similar to her link since she can be found all over the place, but she deals exclusively in ancient materials and dragon parts. TP Zelda gives lore/exposition when you finally make it to the castle, right before the big bad fight.

Big bad is an amalgamation of all ganons/ganondorfs/big bads across the timelines. He telegraphs attacks via shifting forms to look like various bad guys (forms tentacles like bellum and Majora (at the same time) before slam attack, gets blue pig face before charge attack, long purple vaati hair and bat wings before AOE gust attack, scales up his arm and X on face before big AOE lightning blast, and big fuck-all sword and gerudo features before slashing. 2nd phase has it split into like 5 separate beings to fight you and all your friends at once (each one has different features: one is similar to bellum/majora, one is more beast-ganon, one more demise, one Vaati-esque one, and one Ganondorf-like one). The music is harsh and disjointed, cobbled together from many other games, and the noises that the beast makes are screeching and painful.

By the end of the game, there's a big deal made by SS link that you are the final Link in the cycle, that it's over, that you finished what he couldn't. There's a sense of hope, but also of sorrow, since all your new friends are leaving now. They're ghosts, they're dead, they've done their duty and it's time for them to rest. Before they go, though, each one gives you one last gift (the ability they've been helping you with this whole time) and one last sidequest (one for each of them) for you to accomplish: find their treasures, keep them safe.

Post game is you running around without the ghosts (FSA Link's ability duplicates you now, giving you 3 buddies to fight with, but they can't give dialogue and they last like 30 seconds so it's not the samel), doing mini-dungeons and fetch-quests in order to obtain major key items (all old and unusable anymore) from the Links' adventures, (the Beetle, goddess harp, spinner, shards of the fused shadow, deku/goron/Zora masks, gnat hat, various kinstones, pictobox, deku leaf, LA instruments, Ocarina of Time, wind waker, etc) and some from games not mentioned previously or not from your gaggle of links, (Harp of ages, rod of seasons, silver arrows, a doppel, ST panpipes, a revival doll, Cadence of Hyrule Lute, HW blue Scarf, old and broken Terrako, champion's tunic, BOTW champion's picture, trirod, etc). In post-game, there are new NPCs to replace the links/zeldas that used to fill those niches, but it's not the same. They're gone. It's a bittersweet feeling.

After you finish all the post game and get all the treasures (basically 100%ing the game), you get an achievement called "archive of the ages" and a special cutscene where Player Link sets the Master sword down on the side of his bed, looks out the window of his house at the brilliantly setting sun, smiles, and falls asleep. You may no longer play on that save file anymore. The adventure is over.

Basically I dreamt up a game that was a love letter to the entire series, and I'm sad it was just a dream. Logically i know this will never happen because that would mean tying up LOZ and it's too much of a cash cow for Nintendo to ever stop making, but it was a wonderful dream to have for a little while.

[animatedjen]

The Mantis door had been left open. Even from the engine room, Cal could taste the salty, Force-stained air of Tanalorr drifting through the ship. It mingled with leftover pyre ash clinging to his vest and boots – he couldn’t bring himself to wash just yet. Any form of penance felt justified, no matter how small.

Cal hunched over the workbench, cleaning dried mud from his saber’s emitter (again) trying and failing to distract himself (again) when the click-whirr of BD’s scanner broke the silence.

“You found another bogling ‘gift?’” Cal muttered. BD chirped negative! from somewhere under the table and emerged with a small, foil-wrapped square.

Bracca. Despite years of dust, Cal immediately recognized the meal bar sold to double-shift employees. This one was dented, shoved deep into a pant pocket to be saved for a day without any other options. BD announced that the square’s interior might be edible, but it didn’t match any food descriptions in his current databank.

“It was barely food,” Cal said. “I’m pretty sure the droids ate better than we did.” Removing the caked-on dust revealed an Echo of rusted iron and rain, the shuffling of hands and goods under a dingy Guild banner, and the desperation of a young Scrapper hiding his last bit of food.

This was from his first night on the Mantis. Cal saw himself there on the cot, a trembling scrap rat of a kid with wild eyes and a broken lightsaber. Sensing echoes from his own memory was rare; psychometry draws upon the experiences of other people. But Cal had a strained relationship with the Force these days – and a strained relationship with himself. Another penance. He found himself drifting towards the bed.

The echo of Cal stripped off his drenched poncho and examined the blaster hole on its sleeve. His gaze darted around the room, then towards the hallway, where Cere’s voice murmured faintly over the hum of the engine. “I shouldn’t trust her,” he exhaled, wringing his Master’s saber in his hands. “She could still turn me in.”

Cal settled next to his younger self. The wind outside was stronger now, dragging purple leaves and glittering flecks across the floor. He sighed and leaned back against the bulkhead.

“She– Cere– she will give everything for you,” Cal whispered. His jaw trembled, and he fought through the grief swelling in his chest. “She’s going to save you over and over. And sometimes you’ll be mad about it, because you think she’s being too cautious. Sometimes her teaching will seem too simple, and you’ll act like you know everything, but you don’t. And when she walks away–” the words caught in his throat. “She walks away and you won’t understand why. And you’ll keep fighting, and you won’t know how to stop, and eventually you ruin everything.”

He tasted salt on his lips. The lights on the ceiling blinked on and off, and on and off.

“So I should leave?”

Cal turned to his own echo, now staring directly at him. 

“I’ll leave,” the younger Cal repeated. “Right now. Make them drop me off on Nar Shaddaa, find work, and go back into hiding. Then none of this will ever happen, and no one will get hurt.”

Five years of sorrow washed over Cal. It was an empty promise from a boy who had not yet experienced the full power of the Empire. But maybe, a quiet voice offered, maybe everyone else would have a better chance without you.

The echo (or whatever the Force it was) glanced past Cal. Somewhere outside, Greez was calling to Merrin. Her reply made Kata laugh, and their distant voices melted into the breeze. “Who is that?” the younger Cal asked.

Cal dragged his boot across the floor. “Family,” he finally replied. “Your family. If you stay.”

“Are they worth it?”

“Yes.” The sharpness in his own voice surprised Cal. Despite everything that went wrong, all the pain he caused, and all the lives lost. You two are the best thing that ever happened in my life, Greez had once said, sitting on this very cot. For all of Cal’s failures, he had somehow been given the best people in the entire galaxy.

And if they chose him, no matter what happened, then maybe Cal could too.

The younger Cal walked to the doorway, hovering at its threshold. “Do we actually do it?” he asked timidly, clipping the broken saber to his belt. “Do we rebuild the Jedi Order?”

Cal met his gaze. “You make a difference. You save people. Not all of them.”

“Is it still worth trying?”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

His echo nodded and disappeared down the hallway. A moment later, Cal heard himself tentatively playing Cere’s hallikset. Then came footsteps and a familiar voice–

–and the memory was gone. Cal stood next to the Mantis couch and stared at the empty space where Cere should be sitting. He pried his fingers from the foil wrapper clenched in his hand and dropped the misshapen lump of Bracca on the table.

“What’s that?” Kata asked as stepped inside. Merrin followed behind, her eyes darting from the meal bar to Cal's pinched eyebrows. A purple leaf had lodged itself inside the fold of her jacket hood.

“Something BD-1 found under the workbench,” Cal shrugged. “It smells weird.”

Kata crouched at the table, poking the foil with one finger. BD hopped up next to her and reiterated his initial findings, but clarified the food item was long expired and no attempt at eating it should be made.

Cal pulled the leaf from Merrin’s jacket, and she in turn brushed a piece of ash from his shoulder. Kata gingerly opened a corner of the foil and immediately made a face. “This is really bad,” she confirmed. “Like nekko barf. Can we show Greez?”

“Lateros smell things differently than we do,” Merrin explained, her expression deadpan. “He will find it pleasant.”

“No way,” Kata teased, but she and BD were already out the door and halfway down the ramp. A moment later, Greez’ yell of disgust echoed across all of Tanalorr.

[imabeautifulbutterfly]

Hello friend! I'm in love with your writing!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

Idk if your requests are still open but I'd like to request something if you don't mind!

I LOVED the hurt/comfort/whump fic you did for Hunter. Could you possibly do something like that for Tech x Reader?

Maybe Tech and the reader are on a mission together or maybe they've crash landed somewhere or something. The reader is badly hurt and Tech has to take care of her and treat her wounds and save her and comfort her in his own special Tech way 😂😍

Oh @arctrooper69 what can I say? I mean ... I think a thank you is just not enough. You have made my day with this request, so I took my time to give it the proper respect it deserves. I hope you like it. If it wasn't exactly what you were looking for I do apologize.

Please note that you are always welcome to send in requests. As this is a special request, it will be stored in my One Shots & Mini Series Master List.

The story got a little away from at 1400+ words, but I hope it's close to what you wanted.

And who doesn't love Tech. I love this adorable nerdy man.

Love oo,

His Promise

Warnings: Snow, injury, blood, explosions, crash, grief, fear, anxiety, hurt, fluff, near death, feelings of being a burden, getting in the way, I think that's it. If I miss any, please let me know.

Please note the explanation of Snow, Tech gives, was taken from the National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

AO3 Link   |   OS & MS Master List |   Main Master List  

The wind was picking up, as the snow piled down and was doing everything in its power to keep you and Tech from being rescued. You looked at the snow as it came down in sheets outside the entrance of the cavern he found, mesmerized by its beauty. 

“It’s beautiful and so calming …” you said slowly, your body already weakened from your injury and loss of blood.

“What are you talking about?” Tech did his best not to let the slowness of your breathing or even the breathless way you were speaking affect him. His anxiety was already high, and his fear of losing you was nearing his breaking point. 

“The snow…” you kept watching the soft flakes float down as they gently landed on the ground, piling on top of one another, almost as though they were unable to survive without the comfort of those around them. 

Tech glanced up to see the blizzard which prevented you both from leaving. As he watched the speed of the wind, he calculated it would’ve been nearly impossible for Hunter to bring the ship close to them. As he looked at the used bandages already soaked through with your blood his fear only grew. You needed immediate medical attention, more than he could provide at the moment, or it would mean certain death for you to be out here any longer.

Frankly, he couldn’t stop picturing the way you lunged forward as the ship crashed. He was helpless to watch you, as your body fell forward against the console, as a piece of the console broke off and jabbed you in your abdomen. It all happened too fast and somehow in slow motion. He could still hear your scream piercing his ear as he pulled you off the console.

He tried to stop the bleeding right away, however when he went to look for the med kit, he realized only too late that it had fallen out of the shuttle when the engine and the side compartment blew. All he had left were his emergency bandages and gauze and they weren’t nearly enough. 

At that moment, he couldn’t care less about how beautiful the snow was or how calming the blizzard looked from inside a cavern, that he only had to find because that piece of osik shuttle decided to have a fuel leak, catching on fire. 

Within seconds he had needed to drag you out of the relatively warm and safe shelter you both had, grabbing what supplies he could before the ship blew up. Thankfully, he had been able to send a message to Hunter when the shuttle crashed initially. So it was only a matter of time before the Marauder showed up, but …

His eyes fell back to the bundle of used gauze, his anxiety climbing as he knew you needed more first aid than he could provide at the moment. You needed the Marauder, you needed his med kit that he carefully stocked and kept safe on board the Marauder. At this point in time, he didn’t care about any kriffing snow.

“Snow is an accumulation of packed ice crystals. The condition of the packed crystals determines a variety of attributes, such as colour, temperature and water equivalent. As weather conditions change, the packed ice crystals can change as well, and this affects the characteristics of snow.”

You chuckled at his ability to pull forth information like it was nothing. Unfortunately the chuckle turned to coughing. Only causing you to dribble more blood out of your mouth, you wiped away what you could. He didn’t need to see that, “Tech …” you coughed again, “turn off your brain for two seconds, don’t think and just look. Just watch.”

He pulled the heater closer towards you, “Stop talking and try and warm up.”

“Tech…” you held his hand, “just look.”

His eyes drifted up your body, till he locked eyes with you. They were pleading for him to listen and to just have him appreciate what you found mesmerizing. He tried to follow your advice, focusing on the snow, but all his mind kept drifting back to was this blizzard that was preventing you from getting the medical attention you needed, so desperately. 

He shook his head focusing back on your abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. Trying his best to keep you with him. 

“Tech,” you gripped his wrist “… stop …”

“No.”

His tone was firm and full of anger, why did he agree to let you come with him? If he used his brain instead of allowing his feelings for you to dictate his actions, you wouldn’t have been here. You wouldn’t have gotten hurt. Why did you always insist on following him? Why didn’t you just stay behind on Pabu? Simply because you wanted to see the galaxy, and he was excited to show it to you? It was his fault you were here. It was his fault you were in danger. It was his fault he … was going to lose you.

“Tech …” you squeezed his wrist. He removed your hand from his wrist, placing it off to the side as he focused on your wound. He didn’t deserve your touch, he didn’t deserve to have you comfort him. It was his fault you both crashed on this force forsaken planet. 

There was nothing you could do as you watched Tech pull away. 

From the moment you met him on Pabu, the way he worked with Phee as he helped rescue the villagers when the rogue wave was rushing towards the island, and the way he helped make everything more ‘efficient,’ you couldn’t help but fall in love with him. You wanted to learn from him, to listen to him go on with regards to anything and everything. Only problem was you never had the courage to actually utter the words you were dying to. Phee told you time and time again, ‘later’ was never a guarantee, and now as you lay on the cold floor of the cavern you were in, bleeding out of your abdomen, you realized how little time there was left. 

  Tears welled up in your eyes, as you realized you needed to unburden yourself. You needed to tell him what had been pressing on your heart before you didn’t have the strength to, it didn’t help that you were feeling weaker with each passing second. Also didn’t help that you could tell he was angry, actually a more accurate description would be infuriated, more than likely at you.

“I’m sorry.” You offered the only apology you could. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden, even now.” You took in a shuddering breath as Tech stopped moving his hands for two seconds as he focused on your face. “I’m sorry for always pestering you to teach me,” you offered, your voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry for not listening,” a tear slid down your cheek, “I’m sorry for putting you in this position. To have to feel responsible for someone like me.” 

He shook his head, his teeth clenched as his anger, grief, fear, and sadness overwhelmed him completely in that moment. He pulled off his helmet and placed it beside him. 

“Stop.” It was his only command.

“Please, I …” you coughed again, trying to not cough on him. “I just want … I need to …”

He cut off your speech as his hand cupped your cheek, “Cyar’ika …” tears welled up in his eyes, “you were … are never a burden.” He couldn’t believe that’s what you thought of him… that’s what you believed he felt for you. He shook his head again as he pressed his forehead to yours. “I have loved every second we have spent together. I made a point to record every moment with you, because they were more precious to me than breathing.”

You held on to his bicep, keeping him close as tears streamed down your cheek, “Tech … I … I don’t want to go… I want … I want to stay here with you…”

“You’re not going anywhere. I just got you …” his tears landed on your cheeks, mixing with your own, “you’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Hold me… please… just hold me until…I can’t feel your arms anymore.”

“I’ll hold you longer than that,” Tech pulled you into his arms, lifting you off the ground as he felt your body grow weaker. Your eyes were closed, your body was growing pale. He was so focused on you, he didn’t hear the voices calling out to him, at least not until he felt Hunter’s hand on his shoulder. He didn’t wait, there were no more seconds to lose. He rushed towards the Marauder with you in his arms, he wasn’t going to lose you. He promised. He was going to bring you back.

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[saphronethaleph]

Wooden Ships and Obscure Disney Films

The RLS Warrior was three days out of Montressor, sails full of the solar wind, and her commander closed his eyes and felt the Etherium around him.

For a number of reasons – not least his old ties with Admiral Amelia – Jim had been heavily involved with the design of the ship, as well as the tradeoffs involved. For all that he wasn’t even twenty-five, yet, the ship was built as much to his ideas as to those of anyone else in the Navy, and after three days he was really starting to get a feel for her.

And he was proud of the work.

The yards had done right by them, and no mistake. She sailed the winds as sweetly as the old Legacy, and if that was partly due to her studdingsails to give her extra sail area – they’d calculated it out a dozen times, even getting Doppler involved, and every time it had come out that the sails were worth the hassle. And the engines sang a fine note, while the treated timbers making up her hull were finely seasoned and showed no sign of weakness or wear.

“Captain?” a nervous voice said, then the voice’s owner corrected herself. “I mean – Commander?”

“Captain is preferred,” Jim replied. “Can’t have more than one captain on a ship.”

Then he opened his eyes, and grinned at the young woman who was nervously clinging to the ropes around the mainmast crow’s nest. “But since there doesn’t seem to be anyone else up here, you can call me Jim if you want.”

“I couldn’t do that!” the woman said, astonished, and her ears flicked down. “You’re – you’re the Captain! And you’re a hero of the Second Procyon War…”

Jim chuckled.

“Midshipwoman Brooks, ten years ago I was a complete tearaway,” he said. “So, did our other midshipmen and women put you up to coming to ask the scary captain about his past? Or is this you personally with a question?”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind either way, I’m just curious. And come on, sit – it’s good you’re comfortable in the shrouds, but there’s no reason to hang there while we’re talking.”

“Right,” Brooks said, still sounding nervous, and clambered into the lookout spot.

For a long moment, there was silence.

“It was just me,” she said. “I was… I suppose I wondered about something, and – I wanted to ask, but it feels like a silly question now.”

“Take it from me, sometimes a silly question is just the question that needs asking,” Jim replied. “Or answering.”

The Warrior shivered a little as they came about, turning six degrees port and adjusting their vector four down as the helmsman pointed them at a different star.

“Well-” the midshipwoman said. “I… why are we on a ship like this?”

Jim raised an eyebrow, something he’d been practising, and Brooks flushed.

“I don’t mean that as a criticism,” she added. “It’s a good ship, of course! I’m just thinking of…”

“The ironclads?” Jim replied.

“The ironclads,” Brooks agreed. “I know they were important in the Procyon war. I also know the Procyons lost, but… the ironclads were so difficult to damage. It feels like even sailing ships like these is a strange choice, let alone building new ones.”

Jim nodded, doing a quick assessment of the girl.

She was… definitely less delinquent than he’d been. She sounded curious, and… realistically speaking, this wasn’t going to stay a secret for long anyway.

It was his decision, and… in this case, he was going to nurture the young officer.

“You’re not wondering anything that we didn’t,” he said. “I was heavily involved in the discussions, actually… perhaps we will end up building the same kind of ironclads as the Procyons were building – I wouldn’t be involved in those decisions, because they’re going on right now and I’m not exactly there.”

He stood, and looked out over the sails of the Warrior. They glowed with inner fire, both directly propelling the ship by catching the wind and also providing the power that let her engines burn at high power for long periods of time.

“I’ve already given you the answer,” he added, glancing at Brooks. “Your academy scores show you’re a bright young woman, midshipwoman – what do you think it is?”

Brooks frowned, and her tail twitched as she thought.

“I think…” she began. “You said… the same kind of ironclads. What other kinds of ironclads are there?”

Jim patted the royal mast, the highest of the four huge cylinders making up Warrior’s mainmast.

“You’re sailing on one,” he answered.

Brooks looked confused, then stood up herself to look down at the sails.

“...how?” she asked. “Ironclads – they don’t look like this!”

“What makes an ironclad?” Jim asked. “It’s the iron, that’s what�� experiments showed that it’s actually helpful to have the iron backed by wood, that makes it more resistant to attack. So that’s what Warrior is. She’s a test ship, all right – an ironclad cruiser, with the masts and sails to travel long distances on patrol in a way the Procyon War ironclads never could, and with armour that’s almost as strong.”

He tilted his head, a little. “Midshipwoman, have you ever used a solar sailer?”

Brooks looked a little thrown by the sudden change of topic.

“...no,” she admitted. “I’ve sailed a cutter before, but those have a proper keel and mast… solar sailers seem too dangerous to me. They’re not much more than a board, an engine and a sail, aren’t they?”

“That’s right,” Jim agreed. “And they’re very able to manoeuvre, in ways you can’t even manage by just welding an engine directly to a board. The key is the sail – you’ve done vectors in your classes, the key point here is that you can combine the vectors from the sail and the engine, and the transverse resistance from the sail if you push it to go in a direction against the one it’s meant to go. You can pull some incredibly tight turns.”

Brooks was frowning, clearly processing that information.

“That sounds like it’s personal experience, Captain,” she said. “You’ve done that?”

“I’ve done both,” Jim agreed. “And I’ve captained wooden ships against ironclads… ironclads struggle to turn fast, because they only have differential thrust, and they struggle to move quickly as well. And the former is what let us run circles around them… and strategically, they were dependent on covert support ships carrying fuel. Do you think the Warrior is the same?”

Brooks shook her head.

“No,” she replied, then frowned. “So you’re saying that… the sails are an advantage?”

“They might not be forever,” Jim conceded. “Maybe some day all our line warships will have to be full ironclads, where even the risk of mast damage is too much. But I think even then there’ll be a place for cruisers to have sails, for some years longer.”

He clapped her on the shoulder. “And maybe we’ll both see that day – but right now, if we ran into an ironclad from the Procyon Wars, I’m sure we’d clean their clock. Because this is the finest ship and crew I’ve yet seen, and I’ve seen a few crews.”

Then he looked slightly awkward. “Admittedly, my first one had about ninety percent of it be pirates…”

“Pardon?” Brooks asked. “Was that during the war?”

“Before,” Jim replied. “During my misspent youth. Though… you may as well tell the others this, Miss Midshipwoman – I think I’m going to have all of you young officers, and perhaps the rest of the crew, have at least one go each on a solar sailer. I believe there’s four in one of the holds, and it’s a useful skill… once you’ve flown one, not much else can scare you.”

The feline midshipwoman looked at her captain, still not sure how to take the oddly informal conversation.

“Should I be worried?” she asked.

Jim shrugged.

“That’s more BEN’s department than mine,” he admitted. “He flat out refuses to come up to the crow’s nest, though, so I’ll have to ask him on deck…”

[the-golden-vanity]

Is there anything that’s stood out to you as different or unexpected the first time you went sailing? Especially if you’ve ever spent long trips out at sea. I’m writing a seafaring character and I’d love to hear any firsthand experience about it 👀✨

Hello, shipmate!

Firstly, I'm honored to be asked such a question. I'm far from an expert, but I suppose crewing a tall ship on the open ocean is an experience few are lucky enough to share in this day and age.

I signed on to the Pride of Baltimore II for a voyage up the coast with the idea that after reading so many books about pirates, whalers, explorers, and other seafarers, and after watching so many movies and TV series set during the Age of Sail, the only way I could feel truly complete was by experiencing the Age of Sail firsthand. I think I told more than one person on Boat Tumblr that this would either fix me or it would make me worse.

...I'd like you to guess which one happened.

Much of what I encountered on the ship was familiar to me from history and fiction. However, what reading and watching movies can never quite capture are the physical sensations. Here are a few:

The ship makes noise. All the time. It's very rhythmic and predictable, and it is constant. Timbers creak, ropes strain; if the wind is variable or unfavorable, the sails flap loudly. Some of my fellow guest crew were bothered by this, but I loved it. At the end of a watch, especially one where a lot of work needed doing, the rhythmic noises and the rocking motion of the ship were just what I needed to fall asleep for the next seven hours, or until I was called up for standby. I understand now what it means to be "rocked in the cradle of the deep."

If your vessel is well-ventilated, your vessel is sinking! When you are belowdecks, you are essentially in a wooden box. If it's warm on deck, it is oppressively hot and stuffy below, and although my berth had a door, I kept it open most of the time to catch what little breeze came through the main hatchway. The temperature cooled down as we sailed north, and was eventually pretty decent, except when the auxiliary engines were on. I can only imagine in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with steam-powered auxiliary engines, it would have been even hotter!

No one knows what day it is on board. Everyone's on watch on a "4 hours on—4 hours off—4 hours standby" schedule, so you're on duty for 8 hours total, split between opposite sides of the 24-hour day, so "days" don't really have much meaning. This would probably also explain why I saw several of my shipmates wearing an outfit multiple days in a row–it just didn't occur to them that it was a different day.

Before you get your sea legs, you will spend a lot of time stumbling around, falling on your ass, holding onto things for dear life. This, I think, is pretty common knowledge. What I don't think is common knowledge is the fact that once you get your sea legs, land feels like it's moving under your feet. While you're fully awake, it goes away pretty quickly. However, I was waking up for days afterward—like, 4 or 5 days afterwards—convinced that my room was rocking like a ship. Deeply strange, but absolutely worth it, since it meant I had been at sea.

That's what I can think of right now! Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm always happy to answer them.

[kastalani123]

Tbh I think Leo, Hazel, and Frank could've had such an interesting dynamic that was thrown away in favour of a love triangle because,,,,, heteronormativity, IG.

Think about it!

Hazel and Leo's powers are beautiful and beloved by their mothers — Marie partially due to greed, yes, but do not tell me she did not cup her daughter's tiny hands and tell her no stone could shine as bright as her, just as Esperanza cupped her son's chubby face and told him no fire compared to the one in his chest.

And yet, they are curses, ones that fell the ones that loved them so dearly.

Frank and Leo are the embodiment of their mothers' deaths — war, ever-shifting and unpredictable, and fire, flickering and explosive. Both deadly, so unbelievably deadly, but unavoidable and romanticized, the subject of so many paintings and songs and novels, of unhealthy fascinations that often end with death.

And yet, both their mothers fell in love with those very things, and of that love they were born, bonfires of potential.

This is not be the basis for a friendship, of course — especially not in the context of the story.

Hazel needs to remind herself: this is not Sammy. He looks like him and he acts like him and he laughs like him, but it is not him. She observes him closely to pin down the oddities, to help her differentiate them enough that she stops choking every time she must speak to him.

This is not a friendship.

Frank needs to remind himself: this is not the enemy. He will not fire a cannon at him, will not leave him to fend for himself in a fight, will not clutch his life tight and watch it crumble to ash. He observes him closely to never let him get too close, to prevent him from getting a chance to burn him, accidentally or not.

This is not a friendship.

This is not a friendship, but it is an understanding — when Leo uses a blowtorch rather than his own fire, when Hazel hurls glittering garnets at the walls and off the ship with a wail, when Frank breaks a mirror and falls apart at the sight of his bloody hands.

What is a friendship is this:

Hazel learns Leo's humour and she learns how to fit into it — not like with Sammy, never like with Sammy, but fit nonetheless. They learn to feed off each other, to encourage each other, to let loose and menace the others with maniacal laughter because they can, here on this ship, with kids no better than them. And when they're done, when they wind down and calm down, content and satisfied with working out their anger at the world — then, Leo learns to keep the engine room door open, to keep a pile of blankets and pillows in the corner, and Hazel learns to make her way into the hull of the ship, to make a nest of blankets and pillows. And he brings his schematics and tools, and she brings her sketchbooks and tools, and they work: she, humming songs from bygone days; he, rambling with no desire for an answer.

This is a friendship.

Frank learns Leo's tics, what makes him flare up or clam up or cheer up, and Leo does the same in return. They learn to work around each other, to fit together just so so as to cooperate without stepping on each other's toes. And when they finally do that, when they're not flinching or jumping or bursting at each other — then, they learn to sneak into the training room, to learn to fight in a more traditional and proper way together, to learn how to incorporate their own styles and preferences into that. And Leo brings tea and light snacks and headache medication, and Frank brings bandages and cold compresses and soft spare clothes, and they spar: he, with hammers and knives and too-sharp screwdrivers; he, with arrows and claws and daggers. After, they sit against the wall, looking over each other's scratches and bruises, coaxing each other to eat and drink a little more.

This is a friendship.

It may not be a close one, it may not be one where they check in on each other every few days after parting, it may not stay unchanged for years down the line — but it is one, and it is theirs.

[physalian]

Creating Tragedy Through Human Error

One of my favorite sci-fi movies is Sunshine (07). In it, a team of highly skilled scientists is sent on a mission to our dying sun to essentially nuke the core to restart nuclear fusion and keep the star alive. They are aboard the Icarus II, the second attempt by a slowly-freezing Earth to attempt this hail mary, after Icarus I was lost. When the team stumbles upon the Icarus I’s distress signal, they have to make a choice: Detour to potentially save survivors and get double the payload (a second chance if they miss or it fails), or waste more time that Earth doesn’t really have straying from their mission.

They decide to detour, reward worth the risk, and when the ship changes trajectory, part of it becomes exposed to the intense heat of the sun outside the ship’s solar shield, and catches fire, burning up their only way to refresh their oxygen. Now, they have no choice to find Icarus I both for the payload and any chance of making it home, and chaos ensues for the rest of the movie.

The whole inciting incident for this chaos isn’t detecting the Icarus I’s signal, it’s the failure on part of the flight engineer to properly account for shifting their solar shield when they change course. It’s a simple, yet catastrophic human error, and he takes it incredibly hard—if the mission fails and they all asphyxiate before the payload can deliver, he will have killed Earth’s last chance for survival. All because he did some math wrong.

—

There’s something brutally tragic about a disaster that comes not from without, but within. Sunshine would have had the exact same stakes if the solar shield had simply malfunctioned and it was fate or the power of god that had killed them. Based on the name for their ship—Icarus—one can assume that human error, human overconfidence, flew them too close to the sun.

Sometimes shit just breaks. Sometimes the tech doesn’t work. Sometimes the bullet misses in a freak gust of wind. It’s a random fender bender on the highway. Not saying these plots are wrong at all, and having a character feeling like fate and the universe are against them is a compelling enough premise on its own.

But some of my favorite tragedies are tragedies because it all could have been avoided if one character made a different choice. One of my favorite TV shows has a climax where everything they’ve been working for, everything they’ve fought for all boils down to successfully inputting a code into a thing for a Sunshine-esque world revival. They’re winning the race, gaining ground, they’re at the console, the villains have lost. Meanwhile, the lone team member back home coordinating everything chooses to ignore a phone call from their allies because he’s busy and thinks they’re far less important. The villains then take these allies captive and hold them hostage—hand over the code or the innocent bystanders die right before their eyes—and the heroes balk, the consequences of which are devastating.

Had this one character stopped, thought, and not dismissed their allies’ call for help, none of this would have happened. Sure the villains could have shown up out of nowhere with them with zero buildup and just said “we caught them offscreen, uh, doesn’t matter how” and the choice would have been as agonizing to watch, but knowing it all happened because one character couldn’t be bothered makes it so much worse.

—

Some things to consider about doing this:

Try to avoid deus and diablos ex machinas. The latter tends to receive less backlash, because shit going wrong for no reason is less story-ruining than shit going right for no reason, but you can do better

This is high above a character simply forgetting about a macguffin or forgetting important information or something conveniently breaking or failing to turn on at the last second for no reason other than to be dramatic, this is something that the audience might not see coming before it happens, but understands immediately once the damage is done.

If you’re going to make it a fault of a character, make sure it’s a fault that character already has, a choice they would realistically make, instead of randomly making them an idiot to further the plot

Up to you whether you want the characters to realize the human error in all this. In Sunshine, that was the whole point, in the tv episode, I don’t think they ever connected the dots, but we did as the audience.

Typically, these are tragedies, and the choice that was made is irreversible. The character who makes it either dies regretting everything, or has to live regretting everything, but there is no quick fix. It’s not a quick “oops let me correct that,” it’s devastating.

Hope this helps, now get writing!

[moonlightsolo]

yawnyewla | broken-hearted

summary: the tipani clan, located deeply hidden in the jungle, the people are perhaps the fiercest warriors amongst the extrasolar moon— and you are one of them. you’re an indigenous na’vi, who has recently wedded her best friend, eyturi— but all in one day, everything you’ve ever loved is snatched right out of your hands. on a leisurely flight with your mate, you’re ambushed by the rda, and separated from your ikran and eyturi, causing you to free fall into the jungle below you, right into omatikaya territory; the one place you do not want to be.

pairing: neteyam sully x fem!na’vi reader

warnings: mention of character death, blood, violence, injury, arguing, overall sadness :’( #sorry

note: i’m starting anotha series for y’all <3 u better read it and leave feedback my ego is starving

the bond between a na’vi and their ikran is unlike any other. never to bond with another na’vi, they are like a swapxì- a family member.

to fly is to be free; to be free is to be connected to the all mothers spirit. 

the wind flows through your hair, and the beads that adorn your braids rustle from the gust. you let out an ecstatic laugh, leaning back with your arms extended away from you; mimicking the wings of the bird beneath you. 

your gaze drifts over to your companion soaring beside you, the wide smile on your face mirrors the expression of your mate— eyturi, that is. 

the tipani warrior has been your best friend since the beginning of time. once you both became of age, the na’vi man swooped in to court you before any other man could. resulting in him bonding with you alongside eywa—making him your lifelong mate. 

you have never been happier in your life.

eyturi points at the floating mountain you’re growing closer to. he sends a wink your way as his ikran gains speed to cut in front of you, soaring directly under a waterfall cascading off the island. 

his ikran flaps it’s large striped wings, sending a mist of water directly over your head. the coolness of the liquid chills your heated skin, but you gasp from the shock of it nonetheless. 

your mate peers down at you from above, cackling as he holds his stomach from his laughter. your eyebrows knit in the middle with a determined smirk, “you will pay for that!” your grip tightens on the reins as you fly upwards to him. 

his eyes gawk at your beauty as you ascend in the air, a proud grin on his chiseled face. even knowing you his entire life, your beauty is still extraordinary to him. 

you admire his armor, made from the shell of the mighty txursum, “are you just going to sit there and stare, ma tìyawn?” he questions sassily with the nickname that makes your knees go weak. 

just as you’re about to respond with a witty comeback, something dark emerges from behind one of the islands in the sky. your bloodstream runs cold— the sky demons, they’re here. 

eyturi notices the change in your demeanor, following your gaze to the target that has taken your attention away from him. the sound of the powerful engines of the aircraft grows louder as it barrels toward the both of you. 

“we must fight!” he shouts, “eyturi! it is too dangerous!” you cry out in distress, “we must for our people! for pandora!” he hollers and yips, as he pumps his weapon into the air and takes off toward the gunship. 

you let out a vicious hiss directed at him, “aaah!” frustrated with him from not listening to you. you reach behind your back to slide your bow in front of you before taking off to follow him. 

“yi-yi-yi-yiaah!” you cry out piercingly, eyes squinted menancingly. 

eyturi swoops in upside down over the top of the gunship, taking out the passenger pilot with an arrow. 

his ikran glides down the side of the ship, and disappears behind the side of the mountain to dodge the bullets flying at him. he appears over top of the rocky side, sending another arrow at the sky demon. it hits the one wielding the side gun and pierces the demon right in the chest. 

you soar right on his tail, eyes peering into the inside of the ship as another sky demon replaces the dead one. the gun cocks as it reloads, his finger freely presses against the trigger to send multiple rounds at the two of you.

eyturi circles the plane, dodging one of the engines as the pilots attempts to squash him into the rocky side of a mountain. he’s thrown off guard by the sudden movement, twirling around the ship to the other side. 

you dodge the fire coming from the other side of the ship, twirling and darting through the air frantically.

the ship takes its attention off of you as eyturì bolts beside it with his bow loaded with an arrow. you spin your ikran around to head back and help him, but it’s too late. 

a dreamwalker reloads another round into the gun, the loud click rings in your ears. a devilish smirk is plastered on their face as he the bullets fly right into the chest of eyturì. 

“no! no, no, no!” you cry out in pain as your eyes witness each bullet tear through his torso. his cold eyes trail over to you as he slips off the side of his ikran, breaking the bond with his animal. you let out another heart wrenching shriek as his body tumbles into the jungle below. 

the banshee beneath you whines from your shared pain, screeching and chittering. hot angry tears stream down your cheeks, the droplets smear the red and black war paint drawn onto your skin. 

before you’re able to properly mourn, the ship turns to beeline straight towards you, “come on, keyè! we have to go!” you sob at your banshee. she squaks and darts the opposite way. 

the whirring engines grow closer, and you can hear the shouting of a foreign language coming from demon bird. you drop down under the floating mountains, skimming the tops of the clouds. you swivel your waist to turn around while keeping your knees forward. 

plucking your last arrow from the sack hanging on your shoulder, you notch it into place against the string. sucking in a sharp fearful breath when the gun points downward at you from above. 

it’s now or never— you let out a guttural, bloodcurdling scream as the gun unloads rapid fire shots at you, and the arrow is released from your grip. 

keyè barrel rolls in the sky in order to take the full damage of the bullets to protect you, using her own body as a shield. your throat releases another pained howl as your sister is shot, feeling the burning pain inside of your own chest. 

the banshee releases the bond with you as she plunges toward the ground, “no! keyè!” you cry out after her, scrambling in the air as you free fall 

an explosion lights up the sky above you, sending a wave of heat over your descending body. your eyes stare in shock as the fireball engulfs the side of the mountain, sending shrapnel and debris down to chase you. 

you did it— you hit the engine…

the air whips beside your ears powerfully as your body is helplessly pulled to the ground. you must try your hardest to focus on grabbing the branches, it’s your only hope, but it’s harder than it seems. 

once you pass the treeline, your body is repeatedly striked by splintering wood as you tumble through the branches. your hands scramble to grip onto something to soften your blow, but you’re falling too fast. 

panic ensues when your brain quickly realizes you failed to break the fall. the ground is suddenly closer than it seemed, and your body slams into the ground with a loud crack, landing on your side atop of a log. 

your lungs punch out a pained wheeze, and a raspy sob. your sight fades in and out, but you can see the firey debris barreling towards you. 

with a loud shout, you slide your weak body off the side of the log, landing in a bed of plush grass with another painful thud. it’s a pain you’ve never felt before; it’s blinding, and inconsolable. 

you’re gasping for air as the pain sizzles at your nerve-endings, obliterating your muscles and bones. the debris from the ship lands beside you, barely missing your body— but somehow, you don’t seem to care if you were to be impaled. 

you can feel your consciousness slipping away from you, “eywa… please let me die a warriors death. let me join eyturi…” you manage to shakily murmur before you succumb to the darkness. the grip on the grass loosens as your hands fall limp 

—

“come on! we shouldn’t be out this far! dad is going to have us by our necks!” kiri whines in protest, but still continues to follow her brother and her human friend through the foliage.

“bro, we have to…” lo’ak’s voice fades as he steps a foot over a log. his eyes spot the familiar blue skin of a na’vi laying asleep in the small clearing of grass. you’re surrounded by shards of metal from the gunship that exploded, the one their dad specifically told them to stear clear of.

“dude… is that a na’vi?” spider mumbles from behind him, almost in shock as he looks over his two friends anxiously. 

lo’ak creeps forward slowly until he is fully over the log. the boy approaches your body apprehensively, his head twisting as he examines you, “no lo’ak!” kiri hisses at him, “you have to call it in to dad!” 

the sully boy squats down to your level, leaning forward to get a closer look. he admires the spiked hard-shelled armor that is formed to your shoulder, and travels across your chestpiece. he takes note of the striped paint that is now slightly smeared over your body. 

“i’ve never seen her before. she is definitely not one of us…” one of his hands reach out to press on a point under your jaw to seek out your pulse. 

“wait- she’s alive!” he calls out, his round eyes dart over the two standing off to the side. his other hand rises to his throat, pressing on his comm device to activate it. “dad, we found a girl… not one of us, but she’s hurt.” 

“is she alive?” his father answers, jake sully, the olo’eyktan of the omatikaya clan. 

“barely.” lo’ak huffs as he monitors your breathing. 

“where are you?” jake sully questions with a harsh tone. 

lo’ak shakes his head and takes a deep breath before replying, “just outside of camp… in the forest.. under hallelujah mountains.” lo’ak murmurs, his ears droop when his dad sighs in his ear. from obvious disappointment of lo’ak not listening to his previous orders to stay out of the area.

“wait, father! i’m close to his location, i’ll go.” lo’ak’s older brother, neteyam, joins in on the conversation. 

“alright, boy. go, and bring them all back to camp.” jake mumbles, and the conversation is cut. 

lo’ak’s shoulders slouch in annoyance as he stands up, “neteyam is coming.” he grumbles as he keeps his eyes trained on you.

kiri and spider decide since you’re unconscious, it should be safe enough to join lo’ak in the clearing with your body, “the paint… i’ve never seen anything like it. what clan is she from?”

“i don’t know, but i know she doesn’t look like you guys.” spider laughs almost nervously, and scratches the back of his head. 

kiri is squatted down beside you, one hand perched in the grass between her legs to steady herself. she leans forward, almost nose to nose with you as she admires the art on your skin. 

“and the armor. we don’t have anything like this.” her fingertips gently pokes at one of the spikes protruding from the shoulder plate. 

the loud flaps of a creatures wings stir up the brush of the forest, indicating neteyam has arrived. lo’ak is leaning against the trunk of a tree, crossing his arms over his chest as he waits for his brother to come to the rescue. 

neteyam sully, the eldest of the sully siblings. (otherwise known as the golden boy and the mighty warrior) he swiftly lands the ikran in the vegetation beside the clearing, leaping off of his animal to jaunt over to the others. 

he stops in his tracks as he absorbs the scene in front of him, “for some reason, i didn’t actually think you were being serious.” he stifles a chuckle in his throat as he takes a few steps toward you. 

he leans over, placing his hands on his knees as he analyzes your face, “she’s pretty beaten up. are you sure she is alive?” he asks as he slides himself between you and kiri. 

“yeah, bro. she’s alive. i checked.” lo’ak rolls his eyes, and unsheathes his knife to play with the tip of the blade in his fingers. 

neteyam continues to reach down to seek out your pulse to double-check his brothers work. the faint beating of your heart pumps against his index finger, “alright… okay.” he huffs out as he nervously talks to himself. he bends down fully, experimentally shaking at your shoulder to see if you were somehow just asleep. 

he admires your face for a moment, glancing over your skin and a cut that cuts into your cheekbone and through your eyebrow. you seem as if you’re around his age, so you must have made iknimaya… so where is your ikran?

when he tries for the third time, your eyes continue to stay shut. he decides to pick you up, and he slides an arm under your knees. his other arm supports the back of your neck and shoulders as he hoists you into up with a grunt, “i’m heading back to camp. you guys need to get out of here, we don’t know if there’s any thing else out here.” 

“fine.” lo’ak bites back, and storms away in the direction where he left his ikran. kiri gives neteyam a sympathetic look as she passes him, and spider nervously eyes you in his arms as he follows close to kiri. 

neteyam sighs into the warm air before making his way back to his ikran. the animal chitters softly, which causes your muscles to flinch in his hold. he stops in his tracks to look over your body, making sure you’re really unconscious before climbing onto the saddle. 

once you’re laid in his lap, one of his hands wrap around the leather string of the reins, “come on, let’s go home.” he mumbles to the animal, making its wings expand to take off. the banshee flaps his wings to gain momentum as it ascends into the sky, breaching the tree-line as it travels farther into the blue sky. 

the ikran coasts through the air, drifting around other floating islands as she makes her way back home. 

the feeling of cool air whipping past your face makes you smile, but it’s soon turned into a grimace from the pain that awakens inside of your body. you let out a soft groan as you wiggle against something sturdy, yet still soft underneath you. 

your eyes flutter open, instantaneously blinded by the brightness of the sky. maybe, you’re still falling to your demise, or maybe you’re still riding on keyè… through your blurry vision, a pair of round amber-colored eyes meets yours; a male na’vi, but you can’t make out their identity. is it eyturi?

“it’s okay. i’m going to help you.. stay with me!” his deep voice is soothing to you, but it rings deafeningly in your ears.

with the last bit of your strength, you raise your hand to cup his cheek, “ma muntxatan…” your voice croaks out. 

neteyam freezes from the nickname, shocked to his core. something flutters in his abdomen as he takes in what just happened— you called him your husband, your mate.. he almost catches a smile on your paled lips before the darkness clouds your vision, and your body goes limp in his arms once again. 

“ah shit- come on, tawmi. let’s go! yah!” he shakes the reins, urging the ikran to go faster. 

the high camp is located in a cave system that is only accessible to ikran’s through a crevasse in the rocky floor. the animal lands inside with a loud screech, alarming the people that neteyam has arrived with you. 

his father, the olo’eyktan, is standing off to the side speaking to a group of na’vi before turning his attention to the arrival of his son. 

“neteyam!” he shouts out as he strides over to the boy who is already walking up to him. his eyes look over the badly bruised and cut up body in his arms, “woah… okay. gimme her. we gotta get her to norm.” he opens his arms for neteyam to transfer you over to him. 

you whine in your sleep from the pain of being moved, which makes jake rush off even quicker towards the med bay. 

neteyam strides just as quick on his fathers heels, taking a step back when you’re laid down in an empty cot. “norm! over here!” he calls his friend over who rushes to your side with his modern equipment. 

the sully boy stands off to the side, his worried eyes taking in every little thing. he grimaces at the needle being stuck in the crook of your arm, and watches when medicine is pushed through the tube connected to you. 

jake works on unlatching your constricting armor pieces, which reveals even more deep bruising and cuts. norm is handed a retractable tablet from another na’vi, that opens up into a handheld x-ray machine. he scans over your body once you’re rid of your armor, examining your bones that show up on the screen. 

“her top left ribs are definitely broken, and i don’t see any internal bleeding. she just took a nasty fall. most likely has a concussion…” he puts down the x-ray to open your eyelids and shine a light into them, “but no obvious signs of brain injury.” 

“what can you do for her?” neteyam steps forward, his eyes flitting between his father and norm. 

“wrap it and ice it. give her some pain meds and hope for the best.” norm replies as he glances at jake. 

neteyam sighs in disappointment, wishing there was something else he could do for you; for some reason, there’s a little voice inside of his head urging him to protect you. 

“neteyam, go find your brother and sister. make sure they get home safe, ‘kay? your grandmother is coming, so we got this handled here.” jake shoos his son outside of the medical tent. 

the boys tail flicks out of his frustration and his ears flatten on the side of his head. he doesn’t understand why he is forced to go seek out lo’ak, kiri, and spider. they were the ones stupid enough to not listen, and he knows they’ll make it back on their own. 

the boy huffs and turns on his heel to walk out of the medical area. on the way back to his ikran, neteyam runs into his mother and grandmother walking together towards the tent, “mother!” he calls out and jogs to meet her halfway. 

“oh, neteyam.” she looks over her son for any injury before telling the tsahìk to continue on, “what is this girl that i am hearing about?” 

“lo’ak found her in the forest with kiri and spider,” his mother hisses at that sentence, obviously angry from her youngest son disobeying orders, “i was already scouting nearby, so i went to help him. she’s alive, but barely.” he shakes his head stressfully, running a hand over his face. 

“maitan…” she hushes her son, and places her hands on his shoulders, “who is she?”

“i don’t know. she is from a different clan, but she’s wounded, mother.” neteyam gulps anxiously. 

“your grandmother is a skilled tsahìk, she will heal her in no time-.” neytiri is cut off by a loud guttural scream coming from the med bay. 

neteyam and his mother rush back toward the tent, the sound of crashing metal and screaming worsens as they get closer. 

“hey, hey! calm down! we’re not going to hurt you!” jake sully has his hands up in the air as surrender, his eyes widening as he dodges another flying object aimed at his head. 

“you must calm down! be quiet!” mo’at yells at you from the side of your bed, but her voice falls upon deaf ears. 

“no! you are dreamwalker! a sky demon! get away from me! leave!” your voice screeches loudly as you chuck another item at norm’s avatar, “go! get outta here!” jake screams at his friend, who practically shits his pants and sprints out of the tent past neteyam. 

neteyam and his mother watch from the archway in shock from your feral demeanor. 

you leap up from your spot on the cot, squatting like a rabid animal as your wild eyes search for your weapons, “where am i? where are my things?!” you shriek. 

“bring me back to my people!” you grasp a fallen bowl from the tsahìks healing ritual to use as a weapon. you eyes dart over the people around you, chest heaving with exertion with your arm raised; ready to bash anyone in the head with the stone bowl who dares to come near you. 

then you see him. the bright-eyed boy from your dream, the one who saved you. 

the memories from before whirl back into your brain, sending a wave of nausea over your body, and the adrenaline is sucked from your body. your mate, your ikran… 

your balance falters slightly from your legs trembling under your weight. you topple back onto the bed with a sob, rolling onto your side as you painfully weep, “no, no… eyturi…. keyè…”

everything you have ever known has been torn apart in the span of a few hours— now to you your life is meaningless. why must eywa bring you back to pandora? why couldn’t she grant you a warriors death like you prayed for? 

neteyam watches as his grandmother pricks a sharp object at your skin, which somehow sedates you for the time being. your cries slowly fade away as you’re overtaken by sleep; he will never question the tsahìks ways, but it always confuses him. 

neytiri rushes to her husbands side to make sure jake is okay, checking him over as she angrily scolds him. 

neteyam takes a step inside the chaotically strewn room, minding his step as he weaves through the various pieces of equipment that litter the floor. 

“she is hurting very deeply. she has suffered a great loss, neteyam.” his grandmother softly breathes out as her watchful eyes gaze over your sleeping body. 

“what happened?” he pries slightly, eyeing his grandmother through his peripherals. 

“i do not know, but she is mournful. she needs guidance to seek her lost spirit.” she murmurs. 

neteyam watches how your muscles twitch as you come back to reality. how your nose scrunches up when you softly sniffle, and your body that begins to writhe on the rough fabric of the cot. 

you hiss, weakly baring your sharp fangs at the intimidating na’vi that surround you. then your eyes are back on his. 

the hardened expression on your face softens when you see him, turning glossy as more tears fall from your eyes. 

“i’m the olo’eyktan of omatikaya. i swear to you, that we are only trying to help.” he steps forward with his palms facing you, a sign of peace. 

“om-omatikaya..?” you answer as if you’re confused, “you are toruk makto?” you question with a wince. 

“yes, toruk makto!” jake exclaims with a grin, “that’s me.”

“i must to go back to my people.” you wheeze out as you grasp at your side, pawing at the darkened spot on your ribs. 

“you have to heal yourself first. we can do that here, but we need you to cooperate- to trust us.” jake steps toward you hesitantly. the memory of  how you were throwing things at his head still replays in his mind. 

“how will i trust you if i’m surrounded by dreamwalkers and demons?!” you hiss, which makes you grimace and your breath hitch from the pain. 

“they’re our friends. they’re not bad people.” jake tries to reason with you, but he’s met with an angry growl. 

“the tipani do not trust them. we do not engage in any sort of relationship with them.” your voice grows softer before you let out a hoarse cough. 

“the tipani..” neytiri speaks up as she steps forward, sliding around her husbands back to stand in front of him. 

“your people are great warriors…” her strong voice fades out as her mind works to put everything together— the armor, the paint, and the healed scars that litter your blue skin, “known to be the fiercest hunters.” 

you smile from her words, a genuine grin as your eyes flutter back over to the sully boy in the doorway. neteyam feels his chest heat up from your eyes on his, but he pushes the feelings down just as quick.

your body goes lax as you’re suddenly consumed by sleep, eyes fluttering shut. another symptom of whatever his grandmother pricked at your skin. 

“we must let her rest. everybody leave her here with me, i will take care of her.” mo’at looks over your resting body from beside your bed, but nobody makes any movement to leave.

“now! leave!” her voice demands, making everyone scatter out of the room like mice. 

“neteyam, one moment.” she calls to her grandson, making him stop in his tracks to turn her way.

“i see that she trusts you, more than any of us. once she awakens, you must look after her. to make sure she doesn’t…” her hands motion to the mess in the room, “…do this again.” 

neteyam sharply inhales through his nose and curtly nods at the tsahìk, “of course, grandmother.” 

“good. now go to your parents, i need to finish here.” she pats his upper arm as he passes her. 

neteyam walks out of the hut, glancing back one last time to peer at your sleeping form. the boy sucks in a worried breath before disappearing around the corner. 

his legs take him towards home, to his family’s hut in the middle of the camp. when he nears the entrance, he can hear his parents arguing, but it’s more like a disagreement than anything.

movement over to the side startles him, making him squint at the darkness beside the hut. he spots his siblings off to side eavesdropping, “neteyam!” his little sister tuk whispers harshly and motions with her hand for him to come. 

neteyam’s forehead crinkles in confusion as his eyes dart from his siblings and then to his parents inside. neteyam almost falls to the ground when his father abruptly looks his way, but he rolls to the side out of sight. 

small hands belonging to tuk attempt to help him up as he stands to his feet, “you okay?” kiri whispers from behind the little girl.

“yeah, yeah. i just hope he didn’t see me.” his voice is quiet as he breathes heavily. he boldly peeks around the side of the hut to look inside, only to see his parents are still busy talking to each other. 

“jake! my mother, the tsahìk, knows what she is doing! you should trust her!” neytiri hisses at her husband. 

“honey, i do trust her! it’s just that i don’t think we should be harboring this.. this girl. we should give her back to her people, to her clan! they’re going to come looking for her!” jakes voice raises, making his wife snarl in annoyance. 

“you do not listen!” her strong voice rumbles as she paces, “she is hurt, ma jake! she needs us—the omatikaya…” she speaks more softly to him, “we don’t even know where her clan is. they disappeared when those demons returned.” 

neteyam listens closely to his parents conversation with his eyebrows knitted together. 

he wonders why his father wishes for you to leave; maybe it’s because of your behavior, and how you threw multiple objects at his head. he knows his dad is protective, especially when it comes to his family. 

“let’s find neteyam. see how he feels about it.” he hears his dad speak out his name. his ears flatten and his eyes dart frantically over his siblings, “go, bro! or they’ll find us too!” lo’ak ushers him quietly from behind kiri, before stepping up and pushing him forward into the opening. 

just before jake starts to walk out of the hut, neteyam strides inside like he wasn’t just listening to their conversation. 

“um- everything okay? do i need to leave?” he questions stupidly as he busies himself to rummage for fruit in a basket. 

“yes, maite.. everything is okay. your father just wants to ask you something.” his mother speaks with her arms crossed over her chest, obvious frustration on her features. 

the woman motions with her head for jake to continue.

“your mother and i were talking about the girl your brother found, and i’m not entirely sure if it’s safe to keep her here.” jake stands tall with his hands on his hips, his eyes nervously dart between his wife and son. 

“well, grandmother seems to trust her.” neteyam points out, which makes his mother puff of a small bit of air through her nostrils— almost as if she is amused with his answer. 

her eyes stare daggers into the side of his fathers face, which just makes neteyam mentally laugh, “and she put me in charge of her once she is awake.” he takes a bite of the fruit in his hand.

both of his parents swiftly turn their heads to look at him with wide eyes, “she, what?” his mother is the first to speak. 

“she told me that the girl trusts me or something… i’m not sure.” he trails off as he chews, and crosses his arms over his chest as he looks over his parents. 

“well, if the tsahìk says so…” neytiri sharply eyes jake from her peripherals, “then your duty is to look after her.” neytiri curtly nods at her son, but jake let’s out an exhale. 

“do you think her people will come looking after her? will she put us in danger?” his father continues. 

“it may be a possibility, but she’s hurt, sir. you even saw that. she’s badly injured, and we can’t let one of our own out there by herself in that condition.” neteyam tries to calm his dad’s worries, but it seems to send him into a spiral. 

“do you think she had anything to do with that explosion earlier?” jake continues to ask questions, and neytiri scowls and slaps her hands down on her thighs out of annoyance. 

something clicks in his brain, as if a lightbulb turned on and shined a light over the subject, “yes, possibly… when i was bringing her back here, she said something to me about a mate, and then she passed out… again…” neteyam’s eyes look off to the side as his mind works through every scenario.

“because if she had something to do with it, that means the rda are getting closer to us and-.” jakes rambling is cut off by neteyam’s voice. 

“look… father, i’ll speak to her and see what i can get without upsetting her too much, and whatever i hear i’ll bring directly back to you.” neteyam nods softly, and stands up straighter with his shoulders pushed back. 

“okay, boy. yeah, that’s a good idea.” jake rubs his temples with one of his hands over his forehead, “go get some rest, i’ll go find your siblings. it’s gettin’ late and we all need some sleep…” 

jake takes a step towards the exit, and suddenly the group appears around the corner. all three of them yawn in sync as they shuffle inside as if they weren’t just eavesdropping. neteyam sees right through their facade, trying his hardest not to laugh at them.

tuk walks up to neytiri, while the other two tiredly wave and scurry into the pods that branch off from the main living area. 

neteyam takes that as a cue to head to bed to avoid any more questions from his parents. 

all he can think about is you— how badly wounded you are, and the cuts and bruises that litter your skin. he prays to eywa that his grandmother works her magic to heal you. he feels torn between whether to help heal his father’s mind, or to help you… 

the boy tosses and turns throughout his sleep, unable to find a comfortable position— or maybe it’s just his restless mind. he can’t stop thinking about how the previous events of the day played out, and he can’t stop picturing you in his head. 

he swiftly sits up out of his hammock and presses his feet to the floor; he must go see you. the sully boy silently sneaks out of his pod, and creeps toward the exit. he pushes back the drapes of fabric to duck beneath them, stepping outside. 

he takes a sharp breath of fresh air as he slithers throughout the silent village, but when he grows closer to the med bay he hears muffled sobs. 

neteyam peeks past the entrance, only his eyes visible if you would look his way. the first thing he spots is your back faced towards him, and notices that your entire torso is wrapped in a white bandage. you’ve been stripped of your jewelry and armor; the gauze covers your entire chest, even your breasts. 

his grandmother must’ve sedated you enough to allow norm to wrap you up— he wishes he could have seen your reaction when norm came back, oh to be a fly on the wall. he makes a mental note to ask him about it later. 

the light in the tent is dim, casting a golden hue over your trembling body. his own heart tugs at the sight before him, wishing he could go up and comfort you— but he doesn’t want to scare you. you have obviously been through a lot. 

neteyam takes a step back from the entrance, but runs right into a pile of crates stacked behind him. he attempts to rebalance himself, but his legs trip up and sends him hurtling towards the ground. 

your soft sniffles halt, the sound of the cot squeaks under your weight as you move, “who is there?” your shaky voice calls out. 

the boy sighs loudly, mentally cursing himself for being so clumsy. he pushes himself up from the ground to stand to his feet, his ears droop in embarrassment as he rounds the corner. 

you’re now sat up in the bed, with one arm wrapped around your side, gripping the spot where the pain thumps at your ribs. 

your fierce gaze softens when you see the omatikaya boy, “oh… it’s you.” you breathe out as your eyes examine his stature in front of you, “what are you doing here?” 

neteyam clears his throat and stands awkwardly in the doorway, “i’m just making sure you’re okay, but i seemed to have- uh.. gotten lost back there and tripped.” he admits with a chuckle, and scratches the back of his head as he glances to the side. 

your eyes can’t help but run up the expanse of his lean body when his arm raises, admiring how the skin stretches taught over his chiseled muscles. your eyes are quick to dart away from him when his eyes turn to you. quickly, you lay back down in the bed from your sat up position, letting out a pained breath as you lower your back to the cot.

your eyes stare up at the weaved ceiling, tracing each fiber that interlopes with each other, “i’m fine, but i appreciate you for coming to check on me.” your voice bites back in response. 

he takes a few more hesitant steps toward you until he is an arm length away from the bed. his eyes look over the smeared paint on your skin, and the multiple cuts that seemed to have been stitched intricately.

“do you need anything?” he asks softly, his eyes run down your torso before worriedly settling on your face. 

your eyes shift to stare at him, an unreadable expression on your features. you’re unsure why this boy cares for you so much— you are a stranger, an intruder to the omatikayan people. 

“i wouldn’t mind a blanket…” your soft voice breaks the silence as your eyes refuse to acknowledge your request. 

a grin breaks out on neteyam’s face and he curtly nods.

his round eyes search over the room, before spotting the corner of a brightly colored knit fabric. he scurried over to the other side of the room to pull the blanket out of a container, not caring as the lid tumbles to the floor. 

neteyam hurries back over to you, and your hands outstretch to recieve it. he tsks, and shakes his head, “no, no. you need to rest. let me.” he hushes as he carefully drapes the fabric over your lower half and torso, and tucks it underneath your arms. 

he can see the tip of your tail wiggling underneath, which almost makes him chuckle. “there ya go.” he grin proudly for himself as he looks up at you. 

a soft flit of light flickers over your expression, which fills his chest with hope that you’re warming up to him— but it disappears just as fast, and your eyes return to the ceiling. 

“thanks.” your voice exhales out. 

“of course,” he clears his throat before continuing, “if you need anything else, i’ll be back in the morning.” 

you almost let out a laugh at his words, but you stop yourself. you wonder why is this boy so kind to you; you’ve done nothing, but try to attack his people, and insult everyone in the room. you decide to hum and nod in response, instead of laughing. 

you have absolutely no energy to speak to him, mentally and physically. your thoughts are consumed by memories of eyutiri, keyè, and the events that led to your life falling apart before your eyes. 

neteyam takes your silence as a cue to leave, giving you a soft tight-lipped smile— which you, unfortunately, don’t pay any mind to. he turns on his heel, and ducks under the entrance.

it feels as if his mind is even more clouded than before he decided to check up on you. he assumed coming here would help, but it seemed to do the opposite. 

somehow, neteyam feels even more determined to break down your hard exterior; to make you feel at home, to help you along your healing journey, and to finally get to the roots of what happened to you.

he wants to know everything.

-

tags: @rannjlkttrt @mazzycherub @lilly12lesry

[melkyt]

Imagine a Claustrophobic!Law after having to spend however long in that small chest. He does fine on the polar tang, that's his safe space and all in all, it's pretty big, he chooses to go in it and has gotten mostly used to it. Plus it's metal, not wood, a small difference but it is enough for his mind.

There are moments when emotions are high that there is a lingering panic if he has to go check on the engine or anywhere that proves a tight squeeze. His crew knows and usually handles it for him. 

Though on other ships, Law absolutely refuses to go under the deck or anywhere where there is no clear view of the sky. Where there is only the creaking of the wood and the pulsing fear left from that night.

Part of him was dreading going on the straw hat ship even though they were going toward his goal, it was still a ship. Made out of wood, and a place where he will be trapped on the ocean for weeks, lots of ways to get his panic to surface.

It's fine for the first few days, he stays on the deck and even when he doesn't go down to eat, they don't force him, just Sanji brings him food without a word. Luffy would bring it but they all know he would eat it all on the way.

Luffy still runs up with his own plate to hang out with Traffy. However, he gets bored of that quickly and just moves their lunches or dinners up to the deck. Moving around Law instead of forcing him to adapt to their schedule, not that they have one in the first place.

Law did not expect them to adjust that way. Usually, in places where he is a stranger, he just deals with what he has to do to avoid an attack and then recover at home if he has to miss sleep or meals.

It's all fine until there is a storm, a big one. Law still is set on staying on deck. He gets under the mast but it does not help with the wind.

Luffy is out there because he wants to play in the rain until Nami yells that they will both get sick and they need to get inside.

Considering Law feels sick just looking at the door leading inside. He decides to take his chances outside.

Luffy is about to go in but looks back to see that Law hasn't moved. So he plops down under the mast, yelling to Nami that they will go in later, this is too much fun. He turns back to Law. "Why don't you like the Sunny?" A pout, and a gaze that seems to see all the way through Law.

"The ship is fine, I just like the rain" Law shifts his weight, putting his sword between them as though it is a shield.

"The sunny's a lion but she won't eat you, she's nice" Luffy slides closer, peering under the brim of Law's hat. He takes note of how white Law's knuckles are over the sword. "We can go to Zoro's room, can still see the sky"

"I'm fine here" Law hunches down, he will still be able to know that he's trapped by the glass. He could always use his power to get out but that takes concentration and the rising panic never helps.

"Then I'll stay with you Traffy" Luffy slumps against him, stretching out on the wooden bench.

"No, we have a fight, getting sick is a waste of time." Law grumbles, he knows he should listen to his own advice.

"Then we should go in, how about the aquarium, it's like your ship" As in, most of it is metal outside the glass looking in on the fish.

Law bites his bottom lip. Luffy is not about to give up, and he is starting to get cold. "Fine" He huffs, getting up.

Luffy grabs him by the hand, dragging him into the ship. Law is careful to keep his eyes down, and not register that the walls feel as though they are getting smaller around him. He forces his lungs to move in a steady controlled rhythm.

Luffy drags him up the stairs, each step making his breath catch, Law has to squeeze his eyes to keep the walls from closing in.

It is not any better in the somewhat open space that is Zoro's room and crow's nest.

The storm makes the room look smaller than it is, darker. Flashes of lighting illuminate it every few seconds but it is not enough. Law swallows, he feels that his legs will give out any second. "Strawhat... Luffy," His voice shakes, making him sound weak. He hates it. "I need to get out of here" Law lifts his hand. "Room" The bubble spreads out, and he searches for anything that he can switch spots with to get outside. This was a bad idea.

That tightness in his chest, the gasps for breath, weakness in his knees. "Sham..." His voice breaks, and he feels his throat tighten. His powers won't answer him. 

"Traffy, hey hey" Luffy places his hands on either side of Law's face. His hands are surprisingly soft for someone who constantly fights, not a single callouse on his palms. "Look at me, I'm here, it's me" His smile is as bright as always. 

Law squeezes his eyes shut and then opens them focusing on Luffy. "It's dark, I can't do this again" He huffs, the memories of that night refuse to fade. He can see the inside of the treasure chest where he was trapped. Luffy's joy can only just barely push away his pain. His fingers shake. He tries to find his voice again, only to fail, he tries again. "Shambles." This time his power fails him, "He died while I was trapped, I can't be trapped, I can't be here, not in this cage" Law would be franticly looking around the place, if not for Luffy holding onto him. He would be pulling away if the touch was not so comfortable if it was not the only thing that grounds him. 

Luffy bites his bottom lip, thinking for only a brief moment. He drops his arms to wrap them around Law's trembling shoulders, falling back, taking Law with him. They fall in a sprawl of limbs. Luffy only just manages to keep his head from hitting the wall. 

Law is too paralyzed by his panic which is getting worse with every passing second to even complain about it. 

"Sanji, Nami, and Robin are also afraid of small rooms, like you Traffy" Luffy brushes his hand across the wall until it comes in contact with a lever. "Franky made this to help" It was Chopper's idea, something that would help if they couldn't go outside with all the storms in the grand line. "Look, look" 

Law shakes his head, he has his fists clutching at Luffy's shirt. Not looking is better. He is starting to calm down, just has to still his heart enough for his powers to react. 

"You trust me right Traffy?" Luffy massages the base of his skull. "It's pretty, like you shishishi" He brushes Law's cheek where he knows one of the smaller pale spots is. 

It takes a minute but Law gives in to the insistent nudging. When he looks up his breath is taken away, and his panic fades almost as quickly as it came. They are no longer in a stifling closed room. No, above them is a bright swirling sky with stars as far as the eye can see. "What is this?" 

"The sky!" Luffy points at a cluster of stars. "That one is my favorite because it looks like meat" He wraps an arm around Law as the man turns to rest his head on Luffy's chest. "And that one there looks like a heart, so when I miss you I came here to look at it" 

Luffy continues to point out all the constellations that he finds fun, making most of them up on the spot. 

Law does not say anything, listening to the even drone of Luffy's voice until he can breathe normally again, he listens until he falls asleep, and even then, his dreams are pleasant. Something that never happens after his claustrophobia flares up. It has been a long time since he has felt safe anywhere but the polar tang, yet now that is what Luffy gives him. Safety and a peaceful night, and the love that accepts him as he is no matter what. 

[thealienfantasy]

Alien Fantasy-File 8: The giant that gives us water.

(It's been a minute since i've uploaded. I've been focused on my new job and i've also been suffering a bit from writers block. I can't say it's been fixed. But hey, i got something out. hope ya'll enjoy it.) the Chlorovian Research team wandered about in their makeshift settlement. This research squad, literally the size of ants, crash-landed in this weird place full of giant plants about a month ago. And using whatever they could salvage, they were able to create a small camping site that served as their home until they could repair the ship and return home.

Commander Zeno gazed up at the towering plants surrounding them. his leaf-like appendages rustled as they gathered around a particularly interesting specimen - a small tree that stood out from all the massive ones in the area. This one was roughly the size of the trees back on their home planet. if not slightly larger.

"Fascinating...." Dr. Phyla said. Her iridescent wings fluttered with excitement as she pointed towards the tree.  "Look at this specimen! It's so much smaller than the others. Do you think it will grow to match their size eventually?"

The group turned their attention from the small one to the big trees. These were so big. Almost bigger than the biggest mountain on their home world. and there were several of these. She suspected they were behind the mass amount of oxygen on this planet. 

As they continued admiring the gigantic trees, Scout Pol slid up to the group, munching on a small piece of the red fruit he just gathered.

"You know, I wouldn't mind staying here. Have you seen the size of the fruit? It's incredible! Way bigger than anything we have on Chlorovia!" He said, taking another munch. "The other day, I saw a green sphere hanging from one of the plants down there. It was easily twice the size of my house! And the flowers! Some of them are big enough to house our entire colony!" He said with excitement. 

"It's not just the plants." Phyla said. "Have you noticed the creatures that fly around? They're massive compared to us, with wings that create gusts of wind as they pass by. And don't get me started on those eight-legged monstrosities that build sticky traps between the plants!"

A collective shudder passed through the group at the mention of the multi-legged monster. They're the reason why they were now one squad member short.

As they chatted, Commander Zeno's attention was drawn to the enormous structure looming over their base. His gaze fixed on the transparent section. It was definitely a window. Much larger than the ones on his home planet. but a window nonetheless. 

"I wonder what lies beyond that clear barrier.." Zeno mused aloud.

"Well, We've sent rovers to investigate, but they never last long inside." The engineer said. They had gleaned precious little information from their ill-fated expeditions into the structure.

"From what we've gathered," She added. "giants inhabit that building. Beings of unimaginable size and power."

As if summoned by the mere mention, a massive shadow suddenly loomed behind the window. 

"They're back! Everyone, back to the main plant! Now!" Zeno commanded. The entire squad scrambled towards their crash site, seeking shelter among the leaves.  They watched  as one of the giants emerged from the structure and began approaching the plants. This particular giant was taller than the others they had caught a glimpse off, with hair on the lower half of its face. In its massive appendage, it wielded a strange device that seemed to dispense water.

The squad huddled together, some cowering in fear while others watched anticipation as the giant moved from plant to plant, dousing each with a torrent of water.

As the behemoth approached their plant, the aliens held their breath. Some ducked under leaves, while others pressed themselves flat against stems and branches as the giant loomed over them. Suddenly, water cascaded down upon them, flooding their makeshift home. The squad clung desperately to whatever they could grab, fighting against the raging current that threatened to sweep them away. Just as quickly as it had started, the rain ceased. The giant moved on, leaving the drenched aliens in its wake.

"Is everyone alright?" Commander Zeno called out, doing a quick headcount of his team. A bunch of affirmatives rang out, followed by a series of relieved sighs. Then, unexpectedly, a moan of delight pierced the air.

"Oh, by the great deity of chlorophyll!" exclaimed one of the scouts, his body practically glowing.  "That was... incredible!"

"Speak for yourself." grumbled one of the members, shaking his antennae. "I nearly got washed away... again! We really need to find a way to secure our equipment against these floods."

Commander Zeno watched thoughtfully as the giant continued its watering ritual with the other plants. Questions swirled in his mind: Did this enormous being know of their presence? Was this act of watering an attempt at communication? A gesture of kindness? Or simply the incomprehensible behavior of a creature beyond their understanding?

As the squad regrouped and began the process of salvaging their waterlogged equipment, while soaking in the giant droplets left behind by the titan, Zeno couldn't help but wonder...What would it be like to establish contact with these giants. 

Maybe they could come to an agreement. Maybe they could get along? Maybe the giant would give them a whole ocean?

"Oh, for the love of {{Redacted}}! One of our rovers got destroyed again!" 

...Of course, it was just as likely that they would dispose of them the same way they've been disposing of the rovers.

..Maybe it was for the best to remain confined to these plants for now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Donnie stepped back from the last plant, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he set down the watering can. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, taking a moment to admire his handiwork.

The garden was his pride and joy, and it always filled him with delight to see it it flourish. It was an activity that always seemed to calm him down.

His eyes lingered on the bonsai tree, a recent addition to his collection. It had been a surprising challenge to keep it healthy, but the results were worth the effort.  Though come to think off it, he recalls hearing of his kids go on about how they saw something glowing near the bonsai every night. Maybe it was just fireflies. who knows?

 "DAD?! WHERE IS THE FLY SWATTER!?" A young voice shouted from the house.

[carionto]

It's smaller on the Inside

I find myself going down the Warhammer 40'000 route of scale for this verse I'm apparently building. It's silly, and I like it that way. I don't want to give myself a ceiling for anything I might throw in here :p Continuation of this

__________________________________________

From the outside, the Human ships are astronomically massive. Most, we guessed, doubled as population centers, something akin to a floating colony fleet. With their planet as hostile as they come, we had no doubt most of Humanity had moved into orbit.

"Hmm? Oh, no. The colony ships aren't ready yet. They'll be bigger than even the Dreadnoughts. I'd say the entire Space Force has around 300'000 active members. The Space Teamsters Union has about 8'000 members, and us science ships house just under 2'500 employees. There's maybe a few thousand unlicensed folk out and about, no doubt that number will skyrocket once we get some trade routes going with you guys, or, err... you know. Sorry, just a common expression."

Captain Knoslark explained. This didn't make sense. The Coalition delegates were informed Earth was home to 12,3 billion Humans. By reasonable estimates, their current fleet should easily be able to accommodate at least half that.

Okay, fine. The revelation their reactors were stupidly massive would drop that to around 3,8 billion, but still! What were they using all this room for?

Perplexed, the Captain itemized:

"Well for one, armor plating accounts for between 20 and 45 percent of the total mass, depending on the ship. For that you need sufficiently strong engines, plus reactors to power them, so there goes another 15 to 35 percent of mass and upwards of 50% of space. Military ships tend to go for extra everything minus luxuries, so taking that and all their additional weapon systems, a Dreadnought has maybe 0.7% of its displacement left for personnel."

The delegates just couldn't. What? Why? Nobody is even pretending that Human ships aren't vastly superior to everything in known space. Even halving all their bulk and power, no-one could take them on.

Sheepishly, the Captain answered:

"Well, yeah... I guess I can't disagree since you're saying it yourselves. But what about the unknown space? What if someone comes up with something better? We're doing that constantly. I mean, that's some of the reason why we have the science ships like the one we're on."

"But I can see your point. If safety protocols didn't demand all these winding bulkhead hallways and modular room structure and all that other stuff, something like a standard issue 3km Cruiser could house a crew of 45'000 instead of a maximum of 1'400."

(continued)

[trekbait]

Kirk's most unbelievable log entries!

Kirk’s logs while in command of the Enterprise are considered some of the wildest and most outlandish entries submitted to Starfleet. They have been the most queried of any set of logs but given Kirk’s status as a hero they were rarely challenged. Yet many today question the authenticity of his records. Some outright wonder if he was high on snakeleaf at the time or was covering up other activities. 

What we can say for certain is that he was not following protocol and recording his records at the time, but filling in gaps much later and backdating them. For example, listen to this: "Captain's Log, Stardate 1672.1. Specimen-gathering mission on planet Alfa 177. Unknown to any of us during this time, a duplicate of me, some strange alter ego, had been created by the transporter malfunction." I’m sorry, if no one knew about it at this time, how are you recording a log about it, Kirk? Clearly, he slipped up there. Do you think this is an isolated case? Let’s jump to 1704.2: "Captain's Log, supplemental. Our orbit, tightening. Our need for efficiency – critical. But unknown to us, a totally new and unusual disease has been brought aboard." 

So let’s go through and see which of Kirk’s bizarre log entries are most likely to be stretching the bounds of plausibility.

They stole his what?

Alien women overpowered the Enterprise crew by unknown means (that happens a lot, it sounds like a security failure being passed off as “there were 20 guys! No, 50! Big ones! 100 big guys with guns!”) and “stole Spock’s brain” to be their new supercomputer. Kirk chases down the thieves with Spock walking like a toy drone. 

McCoy manages to use alien knowledge to “put Spock’s brain back in” as if nothing had happened (perhaps nothing did happen?). Conveniently, McCoy promptly forgets all this knowledge and the whole process hasn’t so much as ruffled Spock’s hairdo. What?? I’m sorry, where are the receipts for all this.

Greek gods?

Kirk claims that a “giant green hand” in space grabbed the ship then an image of the “ancient Greek god Apollo” appeared. This god could crush his ship, call lighting from the sky and grow to an immense size. In the end, he just wanted a girl and worshipers (Lt Palamas weirdly throws her Starfleet training to the wind to accommodate the first). 

Now sure, we’ve encountered a lot of powerful aliens before, but are you seriously just expecting us to have you rewrite a huge chunk of history without so much as some pottery shards to elaborate? What about the other pantheon of gods? Or Klingon gods? Did one of your officers really sell out humanity that fast? Don’t leave us hanging!

Abraham Lincoln in space?

Kirk claims the Excalbians sent a giant vision of “Abraham Lincoln floating in space”, and then to walk around and chat on the ship, for the sole purpose of asking him to beam down to the planet. Why the convoluted form of invite? Kirk never really elaborates. It’s almost as if he’s making the log up as he goes along. 

Once on the planet, Kirk explains, they meet another recreation, this time of “Surak”. The Excalbians don’t seem to have a concept of good and evil and want to test it (is the emotionless logic that Surak brings the most effective example of this?). Ample philosophical literature in the Enterprise’s databanks that would be very insightful is not suggested. Instead, a battle to the death. Drawing from Kirk’s knowledge the Excalbians have them fight “representations of evil”: Colonel Green (legit), Kahless the Unforgettable (racist much?), Zora of Tiburon (niche choice, Kirk. I had to look her up), and Genghis Khan (a rather reductive assessment of his legacy). This sounds more like a scattergun of names from the library databanks than a judgement on the representation of evil.

Prescription strip club?

First up, let’s talk about how Kirk claims that the reason they were found in a strip club was that Lt Commander Scott “became a misogynist” because a female engineer “caused an accident”. McCoy then “prescribed” a visit to sex workers (which also needed the Captain to attend for emotional support) to “cure” him of his misogyny. As if encouraging your chief engineer to view his female staff as sexual objects would help in that regard.

Given this log was recorded immediately after Scott was found over the body of a murdered sex worker with a bloody knife in his hands, I guess A for effort on rapidly coming up with your cover story, Kirk! But then for it to turn out that this whole murder was because Scott was possessed by “the spirit of Jack the Ripper”. Well, that’s one way to keep Starfleet’s reputation clean. And yet again the only evidence that any of this happened was scattered across space while Kirk gets credit for “solving” multiple cold cases.

A planet of Nazis?

Kirk’s “logs” here say that the planet of Ekos had become a “duplicate” of Earth’s Germany under the rule of the totalitarian "Nazis". Apparently, Dr John Gill violated the prime directive to “help” the fragmented planet and drew on Nazi Germany as an example of the “most efficient state Earth ever knew.” Now someone like Dr Gill would know that Nazi Germany had resources and prison labour but was far from an example of “efficiency”. Certainly not if you intended to do it ethically. And why the costumes? The race purity? Sounds more like Kirk spinning a tale based on his very fragmented understanding of that era of history. Does Kirk just get bored reporting planetary survey reports and wants to spice them up; or is this the best cover story he had for why Dr Gill returned home in a photon tube? How did Gill really die?

Prime Time Rome?

Ekos wasn’t an isolated case, but at least that was externally influenced. Planet 892-IV is one of many “alternate Earth’s” (which are, oddly, rarely encountered by any other ship). This planet not only had a copy of Earth’s Roman Empire, but its 20th century US TV culture and Human Christianity. But at least they weren’t “reciting the US Constitution” like they supposedly did on Omega IV. Does Kirk just have a spinning picker wheel of Earth history to pick from when he’s making up these logs? What’s next, a planet of 1920s Chicago gangsters? Oh, wait…

The devil is just a cool guy?

On stardate 1254.4, while exploring the centre of the galaxy to see a matter-energy vortex (sorry, I thought we went there more recently and found god?), the Enterprise was thrown into another dimension which they discovered runs on the principles of “magic”. It was from here that “witches” on Earth came from. 

Their number apparently includes the mythological figure of the “devil”, Lucifer, who Kirk describes as charming and affable. Lucifer aided the crew while on “trial” by the witches for the crimes of humanity in their persecution of their people. Kirk later takes credit for “saving” the devil. While future visitors became welcome, no one has been able to corroborate any of these reports on subsequent surveys (including Kirk it seems).

---

Have you ever lied in your duty logs? Let us know in the comments why and if you got away with it.

[lexosaurus]

The Phantom Martian: Chapter 1

Huzzah! I am here to provide a fic for Invisobang 2023!

This is a crossover between The Martian and Danny Phantom. You do NOT need to have read or watched The Martian to understand this fic (though, I recommend it because it's amazing!)

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Summary: When Astronaut Mark Watney went to Mars, he knew there was a chance he'd never come home. Now, though, he's determined to last long enough for NASA to save him because this whole dying for science thing is not as fun as it sounds.

Meanwhile, Danny Fenton is just trying to keep his identity a secret amidst a potential crisis with his powers. Seriously, what's up with that weird current under his skin? Why is he having so much trouble controlling it? And why does it feel so familiar...?

In a fit of determination (and possible stupidity), Danny goes to Mars to save Watney, only to add to both their crises when he arrives and can't get home. Will NASA save them? Will Danny have a home to return to if they do?

Chapter WC: 6,186

Fic Tags: Danny Fenton & Mark Watney, Canon Divergence, Ecton AU

Art by @pompomqt (it's so freaking good AHHHH!) Art by @friendzoned61 (screaming sobbing this is amazing)

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I am going to be updating a chapter each day of this posting week, and then I'll settle into a normal weekly/biweekly posting schedule.

I go into more detailed thank yous on AO3, but quickly I'd like to extend a hugeeeee thank you to @armed-with-knitting-needles, @bibliophilea, @lexiepiper, and @underforeversgrace for aiding in this fic. Between sitting on discord with me for hours doing math, betaing my infamous spelling habits, and in general providing much needed support in the form of memes, graphs, and good humor, these people are all AMAZING and I am forever in all of your debts 🙏

Since I'm not posting the chapters themselves on Tumblr, I put a preview excerpt under the cut! Enjoy!

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It had been a day since the news about the disastrous Mars mission was released.

NASA's website where satellite images of the Ares 3 camp were published had gotten so much traffic that the server went down for twelve hours.

Everyone wanted to see it. The wind storm. The camp in ruins. 

The aftermath.

Of course, NASA wasn't pointing their satellites at Ares 3 anymore. There was no reason to now that the surviving five crew members were well on their way back to Earth in the Hermes . 

God, what Danny would give to see the inside of that ship. If it was on Earth, the temptation to fly down to Cape Canaveral and invisibly peek inside would have easily won him over. But unfortunately, the Hermes has never been to Earth. It wasn't powered by regular rocket fuel, it was powered by ion engines — whatever that meant. 

All Danny knew was that the Hermes needed to be assembled in space instead of on Earth. It was shipped up chunk by chunk to the International Space Station where it was put together in orbit.

Which was just rude. 

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Ok y’all it’s time for a grishaverse world-building rant (mainly linked to soc/ck) and there’s a good chance this is gonna turn into a long and rambling post but bare with me.

*CONSISTENT GRISHAVERSE SPOILERS AHEAD*

In the Netflix show, why did they replace Alby’s lion toy with a toy train? I wanna talk about the absence of the lion, but also of all things why did they choose a train?

The train really stuck out to me when watching season 2 and at first I wasn’t my sure why, and just struck it up to the fact that I was expecting a plush lion. I think it’s absolutely notable that they exchanged the lion for a different toy, because the TV show didn’t give us as much opportunity for the foreshadowing surrounding Alby Rollins’ existence as we had in the book, since Van Eck is the key to a lot of the passages that foreshadow Rollins having a child. The fact that Kaz was able to present the lion was what served as “proof” for his attack on Alby, and is one of the best scenes showcasing Kaz’s incredible intellect. Since Kaz had never seen Alby, in fact had no concrete evidence of his existence whatsoever, he based the entire presence of the toy lion on Pekka’s pride in his gang, the Dime Lions. But since the show doesn’t have the opportunity to explain the gang culture of Ketterdam in as much detail as the books, which is obviously understandable and it’s the kind of thing I would expect to be lost in the transition from source to adaptation, they can’t make the assumption that the audience will associate the lion with the Dime Lions, particularly since they haven’t explored the gang tattoos (as a side note the meanings behind the tattoos are just *chefs kiss* but anyway-) So unless they were making specific effort to try and include more references to the lions earlier on, it makes sense to change the toy. It also leaves open the option for later in the show (fingers crossed, I’m praying for good news right now) to bring the lion in for different schemes and to create more anticipation and build up for the absolutely iconic Inej move of replacing the lion with a crow in the last chapter of Crooked Kingdom. So I understand the choice to change the type of toy that Kaz takes from Alby, especially since we already know that it’s Alby being used as the threat in this scene and in the books we didn’t, but of all the options why would they choose a toy train? My best guess is that it’s a nod to the Conductor and the train across the fold in season one, but it kind of annoys me because, other than the train that was added for the show and the tank in ck that is explained as amongst the first of its kind, THERE ARE NO MECHANICAL VEHICLES IN THIS UNIVERSE YET. None!!

We have to remember that the development of a constructed world is based on its needs and it’s understanding of it’s resources, not on mimicking the development of our own world; so although some people are probably thinking ‘well they recently developed flying vehicles, it makes sense for trains to exist before that’ I would genuinely argue that in this world it makes no sense whatsoever. We know from explanations in soc and ck (in Retvenko’s chapter mostly, but also in Joost’s and a few other references) that there has been no need to develop engines for boats because the winds can be calmed or summoned by Squallers; they fill the sails or fend off storms to keep the ships moving, there is no need for development thus far because grisha possess the natural resources to maintain the power they need. But in Ravka the presence of the shadow fold meant it became necessary to develop other options, so progress came about and Nikolai developed the Hummingbird. But it’s very important to note that (to my understanding at least, if you happen to know I’m wrong please feel free to correct me) the Hummingbird is still entirely dependent on Squaller power to maintain its flight, because development is always based on the previous model. Similarly, the tanks being the first motorised vehicles we’re introduced to makes perfect sense in the world we’ve come to know and understand, especially since we’re learning from the perspective of mostly Kerch-born or Kerch-living characters. Jesper tells us that there are very few carriages on the streets of Ketterdam, that horses are a luxury because the space to keep them is a luxury, not because they open up further modes of transportation - this is also emphasised by the knowledge that one of the greatest signs of prosperity in Ketterdam is a house with its own dock. This is because canals are the main way of moving, and since the boats and their squallers are a time-proven method of travel there’s no current need to develop engine mechanisms for boats, and cars aren’t needed because no-one would use them to travel. I’d also like to add that I realise not everyone has access to Squaller power, but the rich of Ketterdam do and they live in an incredibly classist society. In the Barrel, most of the boats are moved by rowing and/or punting, as is made clear at the end of soc when the crew row to meet Van Eck and he is brought by Squallers, and the theme is continued throughout ck.

The most likely place for cars to crop up first, based on what we’ve seen of the different countries, is probably Ravka; the country is a hub of innovation and the fabrikators there are the most free to practice their craft. However, Ravka is also a country that has been at war since it was founded, there is no room for any type of development that does not further their chances of survival against Fjerda, Shu Han, or their own civil war. Other places we might have expected to see motorisation pop up faster could be the farming provinces of Kerch and Novyi Zem, since they could be utilised for tractors and ploughs. But most innovation in Kerch is centralised around Ketterdam, where the engines are currently unecessary, and although I don’t know enough about Novyi Zem to argue either way the auction in Crooked Kingdom may imply that their government’s budget is lower those of Kerch, Fjerda, and Shu Han. (But again, we don’t have bundles of information about the Zemeni government so I’m not super confident there). We do, however, know that Jesper was the only one other than Matthias who already knew what a tank was when they got to Fjerda, and so it’s fair to predict that there’s been at least some development in that area in Novyi Zem, or at least enough interest for news of them to reach the gunsmith Jesper worked with. But let’s assume that the invention did come from Fjerda itself, at least for the time being. This makes perfect sense!! It was mostly likely developed, unbeknownst to Matthias, by the parem-drugged fabrikators being held at the Ice Court. Now that they have access to this power, Fjerda achieves all of the same tickboxes to be the initial place of engine development as Ravka does. Of course, Fjerda is also at war or under threat of it, but I think it’s important to remember that the Fjerdan government doesn’t really see war with Ravka as a threat at all. They see it more as an opportunity to prove themselves, to properly cement their position in the world economy and as a global power, which we know Kerch - or at least the general population of the country, if not the government - does not currently see it as. So it makes sense that their developmental focus would not be on ease of travel for the majority of its people by developing cars or flight machines, but on engines that can be used for dominance: tanks.

I’m hoping I’ve kind of got my point across here even if in a slightly convoluted way, but I want to add Inej’s quote from the scene with the tank to really cement the idea that this was development on a scale they had never experienced before: “They were moving - and not a horse in sight!” Someone who has seen a train at any point in her life, or who has any understanding that trains exist and work, is not going to be absolutely blown away by the concept of moving without the aid of horses. So why pick a train??? I don’t know, I’m clearly thinking far too much into it but I just… I dunno, it bothered me, there were so many other things to choose. I didn’t really mind the train in season one because it was set up like a one-of-a-kind contraption, but the idea of there being toy replicas of steam trains implies a very different level of development in a world clearly implied to be pre- its industrial revolutions.

Anyway, thanks for reading my mad ramblings! I have SO MANY thoughts about world building and structure in the Grishaverse, and world building as a browser topic as well, so if you want to hear anything more please let me know!