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thefandomlesbian · 3 months

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37 + wilson for the ask game :)

OUCH we're going right for the throat, huh--

This is probably going to be utterly incomprehensible and I am not responsible for any ramifications that arise from answering this question. Allow the word-barf to commence!

#37: What they really think about themselves:

This is such a difficult question to answer because Wilson is a man shrouded in layers upon layers of hiding. This is someone who constantly begs the people around him to be vulnerable with him, to trust him, while simultaneously refusing to ever offer his own vulnerability. And he's good at it. He's good at passing himself off as being close to someone while they never know he has a brother.

House is all walls topped with barbed wire fences and he makes no claims otherwise. Wilson on the other hand is a shimmering oasis. He's fresh water in the desert with shade and fruit. He's nothing but a refreshing illusion. Wilson can be incredibly human while simultaneously more detached than anyone knows. This is aided by the fact that he's a social chameleon, matching whoever he's with, and a natural conscience mirror for the people around him. House calls him out on this multiple times in S5, specifically for being a chameleon who meets the environmental needs of everyone else socially; House asks him, "Who are you at your core?" and then goes on to assert that he thinks Wilson has no core, that his locus of identity has been completely erased in his desperation to meet the needs of others.

Even in S6 when House demands that Wilson choose something to place in their home that he likes... he picks something he knows House likes. "You asked me to tell you who I am, and I am someone who loves you. This is the only answer I know how to give." That's typically the fandom read, but it's important to recognize that this attitude is not unique to House coming from Wilson. He does the same thing with Amber, with Grace (the cancer patient he cares for), with Cuddy during the Rachel adoption arc, with Tucker, with Sam. His existence pivots on his service to other people.

His desperate need to be needed, as House calls it, has a flipside: Wilson can't need anything. From anyone, ever. He can't be vulnerable, which is why he hides himself so effectively. To unveil weaker parts of himself, it would require his loved ones to serve him, to help him, and Wilson cannot cope with the idea of inconveniencing the people in his life. I have written meta in the past on the whole cast's gross mistreatment of Wilson during the Tritter arc. He has no money, no car, living in a hotel that presumably expects weekly payments, no way to buy food or keep himself housed. Everyone attacks him when he finally folds, but none of those people were there to support him, even though his situation was exclusively caused by House lying to and manipulating him. But the thing is... Wilson wouldn't have let them help him. Think of his friendship with Cuddy, how she reveals that she treats him as a confidant (she told him and only him that she slept with her father's best friend) and trusts him not to repeat things to House--but when he arrives to work late from riding the bus, she didn't even know his car was impounded. That sort of friendship is the type you can call to come get you! You don't need to take the bus! Wilson would never dream of reciprocating the relationship she has with him. He's incapable of inconveniencing someone, even to ask for a ride to work or to spot him a five for a sandwich in the cafeteria, even from people he's very close to.

And this all comes to a head in the cancer arc. Wilson is incapable of being needy to the point that he's ready to undergo high dose chemotherapy alone in his own home in a nonsterile environment with no one to monitor him or check on him. In his words: "I am not going to die slowly in a hospital bed under fluorescent lighting with people stopping by to gawk and lie about how I look. Even a small chance of that happening is too big a chance for me." It's funny that later in this episode he says that he wanted a wife and children to care for him, when we know he wouldn't ever allow himself to be so weak in front of his loved ones. House acknowledges this in the same episode.

Wilson's need to serve and his fearful avoidance of being vulnerable all point to an incredibly abysmal sense of self-worth. He says that House doesn't like himself but admires himself, and I don't even think Wilson does that much--as he consistently tries to lie on the sword for everyone around him. RSL says Wilson is the saddest man in New Jersey, and I would agree with that. Wilson has deep-seated issues with his self-esteem. As a wise YA novel once said, we accept the love we think we deserve, and the only love Wilson ever accepts is House's. In S3 after House upends his entire life, it takes one genuine apology to buy him back, because House's love is the only one Wilson knows how to handle. It's the only one he can take without feeling unworthy. All coming to the S8 conclusion: House makes the ultimate sacrifice for Wilson, and Wilson (in spite of having just lambasted House publicly for ostensibly ditching him) argues against it. Wilson says he's not worth the sacrifice. He would rather die alone than have House give up his life for him.

(I could delve into a whole follow-up wrt Wilson's romantic relationships as a gay!Wilson truther, but I've already gone too far and made this unnecessarily long.)

so in short: I wouldn't say Wilson hates himself explicitly, he would consider that vain and self-centered, but he cannot exist outside of serving others. If his utility is gone, he is pointless. I already wrote a long meta on my take on Wilson's suicidality, but that line of thought follows here, too. Wilson thinks his value as a person stems from his ability to care for others and will die sooner than become someone who needs to be cared for.

#house md #james wilson #hilson #meta #spencer speaks

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chimaerakitten · 5 months

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Malaria, Sickle-Cell, and Dragons in the Temeraire Universe

so I've been thinking about sickle cell all day because of the very cool real-life FDA crispr treatment approval news, and also I'm just about done rereading empire of ivory so thusly it is time to write the sickle cell/malaria/dragons/benefits of human-dragon mutualism breakdown I mentioned ages ago.

Standard disclaimer that I am not in fact anywhere near an expert on this, this is mostly recall from ANTH 102/215 classes I took five years ago, the info is very simplified and possibly somewhat out of date. I'm doing some quick checks and I write this but only enough to make this an appropriate fantasy novel fandom post, not enough to make it actually reliably informative. I do have a couple citations, but mostly for the parts I'm lifting straight out of a class assignment I wrote, and they're a short documentary hosted on YouTube and the textbook for the class. also none of my links are live because I want this fandom post to actually show up in the fandom tag lol.

second disclaimer is I'm starting at the basic obvious stuff because I genuinely have no idea how much most people know about this and better safe than confusing.

Intro and Background

So the first thing to know about any of this is that human genetics for the most part to not operate on mendelian inheritance. So the punnet squares in high school biology that did human hair or eye color as basic dominant/recessive one-gene traits were totally lying to you. Like they're a teaching tool for a very simple model that works well enough but they're not accurate. Most human phenotypes are way way more complicated genetically than that.

That said, there are exceptions. Mendelian traits (Characteristics that are influenced by alles at only one genetic locus) do exist in humans, a number of them being related to genetic diseases. The list in the ANTH 102 notes I just dug up was: Wet (dominant) or dry Earwax; Albinism; Brachydactyly (dominant); Blood type (ABO, not the positive/negative part); Hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome (BRCA-1, BRCA-2, unknown genes); Huntington’s disease; Lactase persistence (dominant); and Sickle-cell disease (recessive).

So the sickle cell punnet square looks like this for two parents who both have one copy of the sickle cell gene:

Sickle cell is a very painful and life threatening disease, (That's why the FDA approving a crispr treatment for it allowing patients to be their own bone marrow donors is very exciting.) and from an evolutionary perspective, one that very often prevents people from reproducing. It's also not strictly dominant/recessive, in that people heterozygous for sickle cell can have some symptoms like the possibility a sickle-cell crisis triggered in low-oxygen situations (high altitudes, intense exercise, etc).

So one might think that Sickle cell would be a vanishingly rare disease, since having it can be deadly and even having the trait can in some cases cause problems. Only it's not rare by genetically inherited disease standards, not at all.

And to make a long story very short, the reason is malaria.

Malaria

People who are heterozygous (possessing one sickle cell gene and one normal gene) for sickle cell anemia are resistant to malaria. In areas of the world without a high incidence of malaria historically, there is a strong selection against the sickle cell gene, (Biointeractive Malaria and Sickle Cell Anemia, 9:33) but in areas with malaria, both having sickle cell disease (homozygous HbSS) and not having the trait at all (homozygous HbAA) are selected against. People with sickle cell were historically less likely to reproduce, and people who were not resistant to malaria were more likely to die of malaria and also not reproduce. Because being heterozygous with sickle cell is selected for, the gene persists in the population.

The implications of that are best summed up from this map that I just stole from Britannica.com:

I dunno if the percentages on that second one are accurate tbh, other infographic maps I'm looking at give different ranges. but sill, you get the gist about how common it is in equatorial Africa. In the modern United States Black children are much much more likely to be born with sickle cell than white children—the genes don't just go away when the threat of malaria is removed. (And yeah, that's a historical consequence of the slave trade.)

There's some other stuff wrapped up in here too about bio-cultural evolution: There's indications that malaria was not a “significant problem until humans abandoned food foraging for farming” (Haviland, W. A., Prins, H. E., Walrath, D., & McBride, B.). Humans cleared away the forest, which had kept the soil absorbent. Without the vegetation, more water built up on the surface, forming stagnant puddles which were a perfect environment for malaria-causing mosquitoes to thrive, thus creating the conditions for sickle cell anemia to be advantageous. Farming creates caloric surplus which is great for humans, but it also changes the environment in ways that can be detrimental. Malaria is one way, creating the conditions for other epidemic diseases to thrive is another, etc. etc.

But if you've read this far you're probably going "Chi, you promised this would be a fandom post but so far this has been a serious and kind of sad post about disease. when are you going to get to the dragons?"

The Dragons

So the first time malaria comes up in the Temeraire books is in Throne of Jade, when a bunch of the sailors on the Allegiance come down with "malarial Fevers."

Jane, I must ask you to forgive the long gap in this Letter, and the few hasty Words that are all by which I can amend the same now. I have not had Leisure to take up my pen these three weeks—since we passed out of Banka Strait we have been much afflicted by malarial Fevers. I have escaped sickness myself, and most of my men, for which Keynes opines we must be grateful to Temeraire, believing that the heat of his body in some wise dispels the Miasmas which cause the ague, and our close association thus affords some protection. But we have been spared only to increase of Labor: Captain Riley has been confined to his bed since almost the very first, and Lord Purbeck falling ill, I have stood watch in turn with the ship’s third and fourth lieutenants, Franks and Beckett. Both are willing young men, and Franks does his best, but is by no means yet prepared for the Duty of overseeing so vast a Ship as the Allegiance, nor to maintain discipline among her Crew—stammers, I am sorry to say, which explains his seeming Rudeness at table, which I had earlier remarked upon.

I do not know enough about what people thought about malaria in the 19th century to be 100% sure that this is actually malaria, but I think Novik wouldn't want to confuse her readers by calling something malarial that isn't you know..malaria. So I'm going to assume thats what it is. Google is not giving me figures on malaria survival rates before modern medicines for it which is driving me kind of nuts and means I can't say how lucky Riley and Purbeck were to survive with apparently no complications, but that's not the point here anyway. The point is the comment about the aviators not getting sick.

And not only (mostly) not getting sick, but not getting sick even though they aren't actually always near Temeraire. Laurence for example has been working watch shifts near constantly because he's the only one left on the ship who knows what he's doing. That means probably less read & cuddle time than is normal for him and Temeraire, and yet—no malaria.

We modern readers (and Novik) know that malaria is not caused by "miasmas" but by parasites carried by mosquitos. And lo and behold when we get to Empire of Ivory we get:

Mosquitoes sang happily as dusk drew on, though they did not come very close to Temeraire; the flies were less judicious. The shapes of the trees were growing vague when Temeraire woke with a start and said, “Laurence, there is someone coming, there,” and the grass rustled on the opposite bank.

So yeah, the dragons are keeping the mosquitos away. I know fuck all about why—it's probably not heat since you know, mosquitos like warm blooded organisms, but maybe it's an oil or a chemical or some artifact of the way some of them can breathe fire that's present in all dragons or something, they're described as smelling weird a few times, so who knows. If it's a substance like an oil in their skin that could explain why the aviators don't get sick even when they're not nearby, since they could have some on them from contact, but that's just speculation. The point is not the mechanism, just that it's happening.

The Point

This whole post grew out of a throwaway comment I made about the benefits of mutualistic symbiosis with dragons from the human perspective in that one post about how the series has some interesting stuff obviously going on psychologically/biologically. The point of going in-depth on malaria and sickle cell is to show how this is really impressively solid worldbuilding in relation to the Tswana.

See, Empire of Ivory describes locations that seem like they're in modern day Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, regions which will have had long-term problems with malaria-causing mosquitos. That's not the densest area for sickle cell, but still definitely in the region where malaria would have exerted selective pressure.

Selective pressure which, in a universe where just being around a dragon is going to drastically reduce malaria rates, is going to leave dragon-friendly populations a lot healthier than dragon-unfriendly ones. A community that has a dragon stay every night and work alongside humans during the day is going to have a lot less malaria even without the sickle cell resistance than a community which has no dragon. And considering that malaria is bad enough that sickle cell genes persist despite it also having a high chance to cause a deadly disease, whereas a dragon that's a fully prosocial member of the community is not going to cause more death and instead will probably help with defense and create more caloric surplus (at the cost of consuming most of that surplus) a dragon is just obviously the better option. From there, it's extremely easy to see how the Tswana in the series could develop such a dragon-centric culture and have it be so wildly successful. The dragons provide fertilizer, the dragons allow for fully domesticated elephants, and the dragons render malaria—one of the deadliest diseases in history—nearly a nonissue. Of course they're family.

Citations:

Biointeractive. (2014, August 26). Malaria and Sickle Cell Anemia - HHMI BioInteractive Video. Retrieved October 3, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsbhvl2nVNE

Haviland, W. A., Prins, H. E., Walrath, D., & McBride, B. (2017). Anthropology: The Human Challenge (15th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning.

#Temeraire #it’s more bio-cultural evolution #wikipedia claims that malaria may have killed 50-60 billion people through history but I do not trust that citation AT ALL #regardless its still one of the deadliest killers ever #the kitten rambles #malaria #sickle cell anemia #Artemis if you read this I am sorry for the butchering I made of some anthropology concepts

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bestworstcase · 1 year

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you can’t solve the Problem of Salem by banishing her to the ever after to make her ascend; ascension doesn’t work that way, and the locus of her problem is external—it is the inescapable and immovable expectation that she is a monster who cannot be reasoned with. if a forced ascension occurs and succeeds to any extent it will be by reawakening salem’s hope that the world’s expectation can be changed, but that is a dangerous outcome for the heroes because salem conceives of hope as wrath, quite explicitly. ascension offered out of compassion—with recognition of the external forces that warped and are still warping her—ironically makes ascension itself unnecessary, because doing so breaks the circle. the problem is not that salem is grimm, the problem is that she’s dehumanized and there is no amount of introspection or personal growth salem can undertake to remove the dehumanization if people are unwilling to see her as a person. ascension could only solve the Problem of Salem if salem had complete agency in creating the problem, which she does not; left to her own devices she lives alone in a cottage at a remove from civilization, miserable but not doing harm to anyone but herself. the Problem of Salem arises in large part from ozma’s determination to cast her as the Sole Evil and apparent belief that every grimm on the planet is a mere extension of her will. she cannot ascend her way out of that except by utterly destroying who she is, and there is every possibility that the god of light would still seek to persecute her even then—he has doubled down every single time she tried to ameliorate her own suffering, the ultimatum occurred in direct response to her transformation in the grimm pool. salem of course is at least two hundred million years old and has had endless time to ruminate on her predicament; even if she doesn’t know of ascension yet, she will readily make these connections when she learns. there is no shortcut around contending with salem as she is now.

bluntly, ‘the brothers are assholes!’ is a meme but the vast majority of the fandom does actually agree with their position that the conflict is fundamentally about salem’s moral and emotional deficiency, represented by her (notional) failure to grieve ‘properly’ or ‘move on’. even more bluntly, if you think “all this endless death, just because something bad happened to you once upon a time?” is an accurate assessment of salem’s motivations, you’re on team light no matter how loudly you call him an asshole.

#i do want her to talk to the blacksmith real bad though

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anonymousewrites · 1 year

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Logos and Pathos (Book 2) Chapter Twenty-Eight

Spock x Empath! Reader

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Emotions Revealed

Summary: Spock and the Enterprise Crew work against time to save (Y/N) from the evil empaths

Mouse Note: Thank you all for all the support on this book! I hope you guys enjoyed this final chapter. You guys have really made my day and made me so happy seeing that even in such an old fandom that people are still out there loving Spock, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to work on my writing with such a supportive audience. You guys are the best! I can't wait to see you either in the next installment of this series or on another series of mine.

As illogical as it was, Spock could have sworn his heart stopped when (Y/N) collapsed to the ground unconscious. In an instant, he was fighting towards them, even as the Novisans forced pain through him. Every Vulcan and human instinct within him demanded he get to his t’hy’la’s side and protect them.

“Keep him down!” ordered Caesarius.

Honoria turned her powers on Spock as well, and he gritted his teeth as he was forced to his knees by the twists of pain coursing through him. Spock fought against the Novisans, but with their powers enhanced through (Y/N)’s, he too was reduced to pain. He and the landing party struggled valiantly, but they were subdued.

“Take them to the jail. Ursula, Paschalis, keep watch!” ordered Honoria.

Spock, Kirk, Bones, Uhura, and Chekov were dragged to the prisons and locked into a cell. Finally, they were released from their pain as the aristocrat empaths left to keep watch.

“Captain, what are we going to do?” cried Uhura. “We can’t let (Y/N) marry that madwoman!”

“It wouldn’t hold up in court, would it?” questioned Chekov.

“It doesn’t matter if it would or wouldn’t,” said Bones grimly. “They are able to manipulate people with (L/N)’s abilities, somehow, and with that, they’ll be able to get whatever they want. The marriage is just to create legal trouble if we try to help (L/N).”

“We have to stop it, then,” said Chekov forcefully.

“Yes, we do, but we have no phasers and can’t fight them,” said Kirk, pacing. “Bones, Spock, how can we stop them from using (L/N)’s favor? How are they even using it in the first place?”

“I suspect it has to do with the potentiate stones they wear,” said Spock, his voice clipped and sharp. His mind was running through every scenario, every possibility, every opportunity to help (Y/N). “It likely links the wearers’ psychic abilities together into a ‘locus’ they can all draw on.”

“So if we get that ring off (L/N)’s hand, the Novisans won’t be able to use their empathy?” asked Kirk.

“I don’t believe so,” said Spock, crossing his arms. “But getting to them does present an issue.”

Kirk’s eyes softened at the obvious worry and distress on Spock’s face. It was subtle, but Kirk was his friend and knew his habits well. Not to mention, he knew how Spock felt for (Y/N), so guessing what was going through his mind at that moment was easy.

“Spock, we’re going to save them,” said Kirk.

“Captain…You can’t know that for sure,” said Spock, his voice hoarse as logic dictated a possibility he didn’t want to admit.

“Yes, I can,” said Kirk, gripping Spock’s shoulders. “Spock, (L/N) is strong. They’re fighting right now. They’re pushing themself to their limits to get back to you. And I know you. You won’t rest until they’re safe. You won’t stop until they’re saved. Between your determination and their strength, there is no way you won’t make it. I know it. So, all we need to do, is get to them. They aren’t giving up, and neither are we.”

“No, Captain. We are not,” said Spock.

(Y/N) felt like they were floating. Their mind was a cloud, and they were just drifting along, completely at the mercy of the Novisans directing them. (Y/N) grasped at any bit of power they could find, but each time their consciousness breached the fog of blank emotions the Novisans were forcing into them, the gentry pushed them back.

The ring on their finger glowed sickeningly violet, like poison seeping into the very air around them. The purple contrasted starkly with their golden eyes, further demonstrating how out-of-place it was on them. The entire world was dictating the wrongness of the situation.

(Y/N) hated that they couldn’t do anything but watch themself be decorated in jewelry like a doll. Dafni and a new woman, Kleio, had to do their hair and prepare them for the wedding. (Y/N)’s heart broke for both women. They were forced to work by the empaths, manipulated just like (Y/N). If they could help the non-empaths, they would, but they were in the same position.

“Oh, you look lovely,” cooed Honoria.

(Y/N) wanted to cringe away from Honoria as her hand skimmed their face, examining them. It made them sick, and they wanted to lash out and scream that they weren’t a puppet, they were a person just like everyone else they used and tossed to the side. But (Y/N) couldn’t. Honoria’s power pressed down on them like an immovable weight.

“Kleio, Dafni, put them into their wedding dress,” ordered Honoria.

Of course, she’s just going to sit there and make sure I can’t break free, thought (Y/N) ruefully as Kleio and Dafni guided them to a closet.

They pulled it open, and (Y/N)’s stomach dropped as they saw the dress. It was beautiful, yes, but all it was to (Y/N) was a sign of the gilded cage they were being forced into. Every moment the Novisans’ control seemed to deepen in them. It was getting harder and harder to think freely as the fog of emotionlessness rolled over them.

Spock…please…save me.

“Doctor, it is no use. The bars will not bend, no matter how much you try to force them,” said Spock, pacing back and forth.

Bones huffed and stepped back. “Well just because you are just ‘thinking’ and not ‘acting’ doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“I can assure you, Dr. McCoy, if there was a way to act, I would,” said Spock, clipped and annoyed.

The more logical and cold Spock became, the more worried he was. It seemed counterintuitive as a Vulcan, but that was the truth. And Spock was becoming dangerously logical as his concern over (Y/N)’s safety mounted.

“Let’s not start fighting.” Kirk sighed. “It won’t solve anything.” But even he was growing restless, and he wasn’t a patient man to begin with.

“But Captain, time is running out!” said Uhura. “We need to help (Y/N)!”

“The marriage could occur at any moment. Russian weddings take some time to prepare, but even this is starting to cut it close,” said Chekov.

“He’s right,” said a new voice.

The landing party whirled to find Elias standing before them. He had a platter of food in his hands, but he put it down as he approached.

“The servants are all talking about it. It’s going to start soon,” said Elias.

“You have to help us leave,” insisted Kirk instantly. “I know you’re afraid of the empaths, but (L/N) is kind, and she’s our friend.”

“The royal family will only grow stronger if you don’t help us,” said Spock, stepping forward. “It is in your planet’s best to help us.”

“We know,” said a second voice. Prince Regulus walked into the room. The landing party tensed.

“You! What the hell do you think you’re on locking us up and hurting (L/N)?!” cried Bones.

“It’s alright,” said Elias. “He’s not an enemy.”

Spock, Kirk, Chekov, and Bones blinked in confusion. Uhura, in her ever-present wisdom, stepped up. “Ah. I see.” She smiled.

“See? What’s there to see? Old Princey here is manipulating Elias!” said Bones.

Uhura sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re dating.”

Kirk’s head snapped to look at Elias and Regulus. “They’re…What?”

“We are,” said Elias, taking Regulus’s hand. “And that’s why we’re going to help you.”

“We’ve always hidden our relationship,” said Regulus. “The dichotomy of Novis, between empaths and non-empaths…it keeps us apart. I knew what my family would do to Elias if they found out. I thought…”

“We thought,” interrupted Elias, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand. He looked at Regulus. “Don’t put it all on you. We both agreed to this relationship, and we both decided to keep it a secret. For your safety as well as mine.” Regulus’s eyes softened as his love continued. “We didn’t think anything could ever change. We thought Novisan culture was the only one that could exist, that empaths and non-empaths had to live separately.”

“But seeing you all together,” said Regulus, “…it showed us things could be different. It showed us that empaths and non-empaths can live in harmony. The way my parents and their parents and every generation of Novis royals have ruled is wrong. There is another way. And I want to bring peace to Novis.”

“And that starts with saving your friend,” said Elias.

Regulus pulled a key from his pocket. “I managed to knock out Paschalis and Victorius. But the biggest threat is my family. They’re drawing on (L/N)’s power. They’ll be strong.” He unlocked the cell door, and the Starfleet Officers walked out.

“How are they using (Y/N)’s abilities?” questioned Spock.

Regulus gestured to his earrings. “Potentiate.” He sighed. “The truth is, although the aristocrats here on Novis are extremely proud of their empathic abilities, none of us are really that strong.” He nodded to Uhura. “It’s like you described: we can only really understand the strong emotions of people close to us. The potentiate we harvest from the Vitality Locus acts as a link between our abilities. It’s like a pool of power we can all draw on.”

“They added (Y/N)’s to it when Theresia forced the ring onto their hand,” realized Spock, crossing his arms.

Regulus nodded. “Yes. Without their power, my parents will be easier to handle. Still dangerous, but not like they are now.”

“So we just need to get the ring off of (L/N), like we thought,” said Kirk.

“Hate to say it, but how are we supposed to get near them while the royal asses still have (L/N)’s abilities at their disposal?” asked Bones.

“We could distract them,” said Chekov.

“You’d be running right into danger,” warned Elias.

“For (Y/N), I’d do it,” said Uhura determinedly.

“It’s possible that making them spread out their use of (L/N)’s power would weaken each of their individual abilities,” said Regulus. “Like stretching it too thin.”

“Alright, then. We’ll do it,” said Kirk. He looked at Spock. “We’re going to save them, Spock. We’ll distract the Novisans; you get to them.”

Normally, Spock would argue this plan was reckless and put them in too much danger. But when it came to (Y/N), all the usual rules went out the window. He just wanted his t’hy’la safe and back with him.

(Y/N) couldn’t quite figure out what was happening. Everything was fuzzy, faraway. Why were they in this room? Who was the woman standing across from them? What was happening?

They furrowed their brow—or, they tried to (or were they just imagining it all?)—as their head ached. (Y/N) couldn’t focus on the words floating through their head.

Something soft enveloped their mind. It lulled the ache, letting them rest in a cloud of numb uncaring. It whispered to them to let go, stop struggling, just go along with everything.

The remnants of (Y/N)’s mind tried to break the surface, but with every moment it was getting tougher. Their emotions were drowning.

“What the—How the hell did you escape?!” cried Ursula, her eyes widening as the landing party and Regulus approached. She raised a hand and furrowed her brow, clearly prepared to use the power she had to cause them pain.

Regulus was quicker. His earrings glowed, and he countered Ursula’s power. Narcissa attacked next, but Kirk threw her over his shoulder as Regulus blocked her psychic force. The two aristocrats were strong, but with the royal family monopolizing (Y/N)’s power, they were handled.

Bones threw the throne room doors open. Inside, the curtain was pulled to reveal the Vitality Locus, a large purple stone glowing with the amassed psychic power within. Spock’s hands curled into fists knowing (Y/N)’s empathy was trapped in it as well.

His eyes traced past the aristocrats gathered for the sham of a wedding to where (Y/N) stood on a dais before the Vitality Locus. His breath caught. They were beautiful. A golden gown floated around them, offsetting their golden eyes. They were a pure beam of light, the warm ray of sun he chased.

Their radiance was contrasted by the violet glow of the ring on their finger and the blank look on their face. The ring was a shackle; the emotionless expression sickeningly wrong on (Y/N). Spock felt a swell of emotion rise within him. He wouldn’t leave (Y/N) like this.

“Regulus! What do you think you’re doing?!” cried Caesarius, outraged at the interruption of the ceremony.

“What someone should have done years ago!” declared Regulus. “This is wrong, Father! Let the officer go, and we can figure out how to live peacefully!”

“This is our ticket to power,” hissed Honoria. “You will not mess it up!” She snapped her fingers. “Courtiers…handle these fools! Theresia, finish the ceremony!”

Chaos broke out. The royal family was proud enough to not let (Y/N)’s power leave their hands, which made their council weaker. The Starfleet Officers, motivated as Regulus supplied them with what little protection he could against the cruel empaths, pushed forward, fighting to help (Y/N). Unfortunately, the combined abilities of the Novisan gentry forced pain through them. Even Regulus was forced to his knees.

But Spock…Spock pulled his Vulcan strength and shielded his mind against their attacks. He could feel the pain trying to force its way in, but he was determined to get to (Y/N). His friends were counting on him, but more importantly, (Y/N) was.

“(Y/N)!” He surged forward and grabbed (Y/N) from Theresia. His brow furrowed as they didn’t react.

“Too late. I wouldn’t be surprised if all their emotions are gone at this point,” jeered Theresia. Her necklaced glowed, and pure pain jerked through Spock.

Spock’s hand curled into a fist, balling in (Y/N)’s gown as he gazed at them. Pushing himself through the agony, he reached for their face. Closing his eyes, Spock tried to sense their consciousness with a Mind Meld. His heart twisted and anger rolled over him when he felt…nothing. There was barely anything left, just twinges of emotions trapped within (Y/N)’s mind.

“(Y/N)…You must fight this,” said Spock. Nothing. No change, no response, nothing, nothing, nothing. They needed something strong to bring them back.

“Just let go! We win!” cried Theresia, her necklace blindingly bright. “You stupid Vulcan! You can’t help an empath!”

Spock gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t let them win. He wouldn’t let them take (Y/N) away. “Yes. I can.” In one fluid motion, a final burst of strength against the psychic attack, Spock reached down, pulled the ring from (Y/N)’s finger…

…and kissed them.

Spock poured every emotion he felt for (Y/N) into it. His hand intertwined with theirs, Vulcan and human kiss equally passionate. Spock made them feel all the love he had for them, for the warmth they had brought to him, for the light they were in his life.

I love you, T’hy’la.

A flood of warmth coursed through their mind. The cold emptiness of the fog was helpless against the pure light of love filling them. (Y/N) felt alive with the beautiful truth of the emotion filling them.

Their eyes opened to the world again. They could feel the sunlight on their skin, the softness of their clothes, the chaotic emotions around them. But so much more, (Y/N) could feel Spock. They could feel his hand in theirs, his lips, his love.

(Y/N) gripped his hand tightly, reached up with their other hand, and pulled them deeper into the kiss.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

(Y/N) pushed the love they felt for Spock into every moment. They could nearly cry with how strong everything was, how deeply their heart beat for him.

Spock and (Y/N) drew apart from each other, breathing deeply.

“Spock…You came…” They nearly sobbed for joy.

“I would not leave you,” said Spock. He spoke plainly as he always did, but the truth of his words were still significant.

(Y/N)’s brow furrowed. With Spock’s hand cradling their cheek, their minds were connected, and they could feel the Novisan empaths pressing pain down on him. (Y/N)’s hand curled into a fist. They stepped away from Spock and faced Theresia, who stared at them uncertainly, unsure of what they were planning.

(Y/N) knelt, picking up the fallen ring Spock had freed them from. Standing tall and straight, they glared at Theresia. “You tried to control me.”

The aristocrats and royal empaths froze as their voice rang out. Kirk, Bones, Uhura, and Chekov quickly grabbed their phasers back from Ceasarius, who had confiscated them when they were thrown in jail.

“I—We—We needed the power,” said Theresia.

“You want power?” (Y/N)’s head cocked, and their eyes blazed with golden light. “Here.”

(Y/N) held up the ring in front of them. Narrowing their eyes, they focused on the shard of potentiate. It shone with purple light before being taken over by gold. The aristocrats gasped as they felt (Y/N)’s pure psychic power run through them. The potentiate jewel shattered, unable to contain (Y/N)’s full strength. The Novisans flinched at the display.

But (Y/N) wasn’t done.

The Vitality Locus shone gold behind them as their power built up again. The Novisan empaths grabbed their jewelry as they felt psychic energy build up.

“You steal your powers! You abuse your abilities! You lord empathy over others!” declared (Y/N). “This is a gift, and you’ve squandered it! You don’t deserve the power given to you!”

The Vitality Locus exploded into golden light. Each shard broke apart in the jewelry of the gentry. Each fragment left was dull, holding no more power to tie their abilities together. The Novisans were left with just what they were born with—weak empathy.

“Learn to use what you’ve been given,” said (Y/N), looking down at them. They were words of guidance, but a warning rested below the surface. (Y/N) had shown their power, and the Novisan gentry were afraid.

Their expression softened, and they gestured to Regulus and Elias, who was opening the door alongside other servants to see the outcome of the fight. “Look. There are ways for you to live in harmony.” Regulus and Elias held hands, gripping them tightly in comfort as all eyes turned to them. “We’re all people,” said (Y/N). “Empath or not, we all deserve respect. Let go of your prejudices, your fear of being seen as weak. They—” (Y/N) pointed at the men “—are stronger for their love.”

“We are,” said Regulus, looking right into his parents’ eyes. “I’ve never felt more self-assured or certain in myself than by Elias’s side. We can live in peace.” He looked around. “I want Novis to be a planet of harmony and joy. We can only have that if we learn to exist together.”

“But we’ve taken the first step,” said Elias. He gestured to the shattered Vitality Locus. “Yes, you won’t have the power you once had. But that’s for the best. It’s time for Novis V to change.”

“And we will change for the better,” said Regulus. He turned to Kirk. “Captain, I trust you’ll report that more Ambassadors and guides will be needed for Novis V? I want to start the transition to peaceful relationships to begin as soon as possible.”

Kirk smiled. “Of course.” He bowed playfully. “Your highness.”

(Y/N) relaxed. Regulus was taking charge. The Federation would send people to help with the transition. Everything was going to be alright.

“Are you sure you want to change out of that?” said Uhura as they walked back to their quarters for some well-deserved rest.

(Y/N) looked down at their golden gown. They chuckled. “Well, I don’t really think it’s regulation.” They paused before their door and glanced back at Spock, their gaze shy after what had happened between them. “What do you think?”

Uhura, realizing they needed a moment (she needed them to get together, finally), continued on. (Y/N) and Spock were left together.

“I…You remind me of old human paintings,” said Spock. (Y/N) cocked their head in confusion. “You are what my logic cannot explain. You are…art.”

(Y/N) breath caught in their throat. They had been called attractive many times and in many ways. Spock’s version was the best. “Spock…” they breathed, unsure of their words. “I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“You do not have to thank me for honesty,” said Spock.

“Then at least let me thank you for saving me,” said (Y/N). They shifted uneasily. “The Novisans…They were drowning me in emotionlessness.” They shivered. “I hated it.” Their gaze met his. “And you brought me back.”

“You would have fought your way out,” said Spock. “You demonstrated your power is quite formidable.”

(Y/N) laughed nervously. “I guess I did go a little crazy there.”

“Well, I cannot say it was particularly logical,” said Spock. There was something impish in his tone that told (Y/N) he was teasing them.

A full grin broke out on their face. “No, it wasn’t. It was pretty emotional, wasn’t it?”

“It seems emotions were necessary today,” said Spock.

“They certainly were,” said (Y/N). Taking a risk, they brought up what had happened. “Without them, you wouldn’t have saved me.”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” agreed Spock.

(Y/N) took a deep breath and burst out, “Spock, were those really your feelings for me?”

Spock’s gaze softened. “Yes. I apologize if they are unwanted, but I needed to bring your mind back. I was willing to try anything.”

(Y/N) burst out laughing. “You idiot!”

“ ‘Idiot?’ ” questioned Spock.

“Yes, idiot. I’m in love with you, Spock,” said (Y/N). “I have been for a very long time.”

Spock’s heart could have stopped as emotions overwhelmed him. He cleared his throat, trying to remain composed. “Well, then, I suppose the next thing to do is to go on a date—”

“Spock,” interrupted (Y/N).

“Yes?”

“Shut up and kiss me,” said (Y/N) with the most adoring look in their eyes.

A small smile appeared on Spock’s face. For once, he didn’t think and just acted, pulling (Y/N) closed and kissed them. (Y/N) pressed two of their fingers against Spock’s. Pulling back slightly, (Y/N) leaned their forehead against Spock.

“I love you, Spock,” said (Y/N) with a wide smile and adoring eyes.

“I love you, too, T’hy’la,” said Spock.

“ ‘T’hy’la?’ ” asked (Y/N).

“Beloved,” translated Spock.

“I like it,” said (Y/N), curling their fingers around Spock’s.

“Good. I don’t plan on changing in,” said Spock.

“I wouldn’t have you change anything,” said (Y/N), leaning in to kiss him again.

And Spock returned it lovingly.

Logos and pathos were opposites; the heart and mind were parallels, but (Y/N) and Spock were two parts of a whole.

Taglist:

@a-ofzest

@grippleback-galaxy

@genderfluid-anime-goth

@groovy-lady

@im-making-an-effort

@unending-screaming

@h-l-vlovesvintage

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ebookporn · 2 months

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Locus Is a Lifeline for Writers in the Margins

"Locus" plays an essential role in the SFF community, connecting writers and fans from all over the world.

It was 2010 when I first started writing fiction in my native language, Greek. There weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for artists in Greece, although many talented people exceled in various artistic mediums, so I decided to try writing in English.

This came with an array of challenges to overcome, such as improving my reading and writing skills in English. Those were obstacles I had anticipated. But others, such as the lack of peers who wrote in English (with a few exceptions) or a sense of belonging to the US writing community, I had not.

That’s where Locus comes in.

There are many writers like me out there. Not just writers who live far away from North American conventions, but even those who live in small US towns, those who can’t afford to travel to a convention, those that face accessibility issues, those who have many obligations and can’t carve more time to become actively involved in the science fiction and fantasy community. For all of us out there, Locus provides an insider’s eye into the happenings of the community: It covers a wide array of books and magazines as well as many industry events, both in-person and online.

Locus as well as the source of this article, Reactor, are vital to the science fiction and fantasy literary community and to it's fandoms. These resources must be protected.

#science fiction #writerscommunity #literary criticism #book publishing #genre authors

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vanlegion · 22 days

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Lost in feelings... about Faces

So like, I'm just kinda feeling a little out of sorts. Kinda sad. Kinda meh. Kinda introspective.

Back when the Freelancer Arc was first airing, I had held hope that this was all a test run for us getting Canon Face reveals of our main teams by the time the show ended. Double that when S14 came out and showed us Felix and Locus. Triple that with all the new animations in the following seasons.

But then I guess Bernie said there wouldn't ever be Canon faces for the main rvb charatcers. . . But yet we got one for Church and Tex. (Technically*)

And I guess it was to not like overstep the fandom... but like, the Fandom is either gonna accept it or keep their own idea.

Like people are already basically saying they will not acknowledge the retcon of 15-17 (rightfully so) because of all the amazing things it gave us. Things people have been begging for for yeeeeaaaarrrs. All the beautiful animations, small inside jokes... A Red Finally Advancing/Getting A Plot and it was Grif and Donut of all people!

Donut vs Doc fight!? Like holy shit I never knew I needed that in all my life?!

But anywho... You're not gonna make people sad/mad by revealing Canon faces of the rest of our favs.

Like, I am happy for but also envious of the people whose favorite charatcers like Tex, Church, Locus, Felix and others got faces. It makes them so so so much more human. Me being able to see the faces, see the animations for the Freelancer arc... it made me connect to them in a way I haven't and won't ever get to connect with the core charatcers I love more than anything.

It keeps me up at night.

SO then I guess the best thing I can ask is this:

Do we have any interviews or podcast in which some of the VAs give their own headcanons for how their charatcers look? Has Geoff or Gus or Mike or anyone ever imaged what their charatcers look like?

Of course I have my own headcanons.... but for me, having knowledge of a Canon or semi-canon face idea is more rewarding.

#rvb #red vs blue #rvb simmons #rvb tucker #rvb caboose #rvb grif #agent washington #rvb church #*Cause we got to see a clip of Alison and Leonard's face so to me that's their faces- that's real #And sure headcanon is fine and great #But sometimes the reveal of the real thing and seeing how close we got it right are a HUGE payoff feeling #Plus also I just wanna know how Simmons eye is suppose to look #How is Griffs scar? How long is his hair?#What's Tuckers hair look like?#Washington never got revealed at all but Carolina did line wtf?#I dunno I'm just moody and sad

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freyjas-musings · 9 months

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So I posted a funny reel about Feyre and Lucien returning to Night after destroying the spring court on my IG (she was pretty clever in the way she executed the entire thing anyone who wants to argue can do so with the wall)

This one moral police came into the comment section about how I have "Forgotten" the injustice that was done to the civilians of spring court.... I have deleted the comment but it had me thinking ...

Here is the deal and I want everyone to please pay attention .... " Spring Court" isn't REAL .... TAMLIN isn't real .... FEYRE AND LUCIEN ARENT REAL

These are fictional books with fictional scenarios.... don't be a weirdo who judges real people based on humorous takes on fictional characters and situations unless its a social issue which affects real people ... And no I am not offended or frustrated ... I am amused ... It takes a lot more than that to affect me ... the locus of my identity is interior to me ... 😅😅

I see this with other things too.... If you dislike Azriel you are a feminist ... Nope, not true at all especially if you are an Elain apologist at the same time ... You can empathise with Elain and her behaviour towards Lucien and Nesta based on her trauma while simultaneously disregarding Azriel's unresolved childhood trauma of 500 years and the affect its had on his behaviour?...

That's not Feminism that's just an ordinary stan who doesn't like Az ... Please feel free to leave the word Feminism out of it ... Hate Az for the character traits and own it as a personal preference... its not going to make it any less relevant ... That's totally justifiable (don't attach pro women agenda thats when it becomes weird and politically incorrect)

"Choice" is another famous word in this fandom ... I don't know how young you kids are but as someone who has had multiple relationships before settling in with my husband I can tell choices change for different reasons ... so the entire discourse on choice at a given time is already a failed concept... That isn't Feminism and most certainly not when the same bunch weaponize another character's SA ... you are just an ordinary toxic child throwing a tantrum trying to manipulate your way into making your point 😅

Don't use fictional nonsense to judge real people its stupid and borderlines on delusional

#acotar #acomaf #acosf #acosf theory #Feyre #elain archeron #nesta #Azriel #shadowsinger #fandom BS #gwyneth berdara #pro gwyn #lucien vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #pro nesta

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robotnuts · 7 months

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are there any rvb fics you still think about all the time? like i dont think a week goes by without thinking abt qed and how it def changed me on a molecular level, do you have any fics like that?

oooh good question. the most important fic is at the bottom of this post so just scroll to the final paragraph if you only want one, true recommendation of the only rvb fic that really matters.

QED is fantastic though its more of @shotgunslap's thing than mine. the partner to that is also obviously QoQ, the only rvb fic ive been able to make almost all my friends read. i think about the south/north characterization every day of my life. caboose and carolina mean so much to me, etc etc. thats a pretty easy pick though so im cracking into my ao3 bookmarks to look for more niche picks.

i know there was actually a lot of rvb fic that was just posted to tumblr that i think ive gone back and tried to reblog at some points but i never organized it, i should have archived it, people who wrote good femslash and rvb women liked to just post it under a readmore on their tumblrlog and you have to go digging through decades old tags to find it now

okay. the big one i actually do still think about all the time forever and ever is saltsanford's stuff about epsilon/wash's relationship. this is the big one i still think about that centers on their backstory, but also, put my guns in the ground, which is one of the Big fandom tuckington longfics, also has such good washpilon stuff in it and they're so fucking juicy. when tucker asks wash how many times he's broken his ribs and he says four and epsilon says "actually it was five" before realizing How Bad of a Move that would be. Hello? Hello?????? i want them to be forced to reimplant and have weird mind brain trauma sex SO BAD sorry im normal. this is another one that takes place during/after the chorus era

on the spectrum of fics that i actually dont yet feel ashamed reccomending, primtheamazing, who wrote QoQ, also wrote some other good stuff. i am a HUGE fan of this fusion fic, the punchline to the tucker/caboose fusion is HYSTERICAL. this one where grif forgets who simmons is due to temple shennanigans and flirts with him is also very like. trope-y but i like that shit so this goes here too

ok. now onto the stuff that it is actively embarrassing for me to be recommending. but. prim's logrimmons fic is hysterical and was the stepping stone to creating the lolixgrimmons mind palaces with my friends so its worth it just for that. but also its really fucking funny. so is the one where locus has to listen to them have sex and gets himself caught

the truly embarrassing one for me to have here is the piece of softboy grimmons content i participate in. sadly i do enjoy s15 content sometimes for the softboy grif sensitive emotions exploration i will admit to being a hypocrite there and i really liked that one and reread it frequently (just realized this is written by the QED person so! you might already know of it)

and then finally. the most important red vs blue fanfiction of all time, guns are for shooting. it has it all. sarge. washington. sarge again. kismesisitude. grif and simmons acting like rosencrantz and guildenstern (are dead). locus being invisible and getting caught by lopez with a bag of flour. it's written by the person who wrote QED. You want to read it right now. Read it right now. READ IT RIGHT N

wait no the cute bit about sarge declaring war on gravity and upending a bag of flour onto lopez isnt in guns for shooting. what fic is that from

#its mainly mx qed relationshipcrimes and mx qoq primtheamazing who are my favorite writers it seems #so anything there is pretty good #oh on the cute grimmons level i also like 'What kind of trash dragon'#which.. might be written by prim? i know they have a few orphan fics floating around out there #including uh. green is a shade of red which i havent read but know is a good red team locus fic that they wrote and then orphaned

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snowyaika · 3 months

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pairing: felix x rebel!reader

summary: you and felix became close when he joined the rebellion. when he’s gone from a mission longer than he should be, you set out to find where he really is.

word count: 2.2k

warnings: season 6 chapter 10 spoilers, swearing, symptoms of a panic attack but not actually stated, brief mention of suicide(but not acted upon), pain pain pain!, kind of an open ending, all lowercase, gn!reader, follows plot of show

notes: whew! put a lot of prompts into this one, gotta make it sting a little! keep in mind this is my first work for this fandom and for…well, anything! please please please comment your thoughts on it, hope you all enjoy :)

“felix, rendezvous back at the ship, it’s time to let them end their war once and for all.” the radio goes quiet for a moment, the other side contemplating their choice of words.

“tie up your loose ends.”

the line cuts off with static, locus supposedly getting ready for the attack on the federal army.

it’s quiet, until a long sigh breaks through the empty room. “fuck.”

it’s no question that felix and you have a… special relationship. ever since he joined the rebellion, it’s as if you two just clicked.

you were one of the best in the rebellion, although you didn’t have much competition. because of your superior skill, or well, the inferior skill of others, you had trouble connecting with the other soldiers.

when felix showed up, everything changed.

like a flipped switch, you were never alone, always by each other’s side. of course, other than when he went on his own missions and when you had your own duties to attend to on base.

you two did everything together. training, dining, hell— even chores (although, he was more so just keeping you company as you were on dish duty).

eventually, things started to take a turn. training sessions and missions suddenly turned into late night walks and deep conversations in your quarters.

of course, this soon led to more… intimate moments between you both.

soon after, everyone could catch on that you two had something going on.

… or maybe it was after felix beat up a new recruit to the brink of death when he found out the poor guy was flirting with you.

nevertheless, things were going fine— perfect even. as fine as things can be during a civil war.

until everything wasn’t.

“felix? i thought kimball sent you out to scout the feds?”

you’re in the back of the weaponry, sharpening your knives (gifted by a certain someone) and preparing your other guns for an upcoming mission when you spotted him walking up to you.

“oh god, please tell me she doesn’t want me to tag along. i don’t know how many more bullets i can take for you.”

he let out a soft chuckle as he stood in front of you, staring down at you seated on a crate.

“oh please, it was one time. and you didn’t even get shot, it grazed your leg.” his eyes flicker down to the knife in your hand, his chest puffing up smugly.

he’s weird that way. seeing you use the knives he gifted you gave him a sense of possessiveness, as if he was staking his claim on you. you always called him a creep when he brought it up.

neither of you brought up how you never denied it.

“as much as i’d love to have you on this next mission, no, she didn’t tell me to come get you.” he clears his throat before continuing, “i just… wanted to you to see me off.”

you pause your work, staring up at him with a confused look. of course because of the helmets, he doesn’t see it, so you both stare at each other in awkward silence for a moment.

“...okay, i’ll bite. why?” you set your weapons to the side so you can stand face to face with him. “you don’t plan to die on this one, do you?” your tone has a tint of humor to it, but your body is clearly tense.

“darling, please. look who you’re talking to. you think some weak federals can kill this awesome bod? i’m offended.” he makes a pose of showing off his arm muscles, causing you to just scoff and lightly shove his shoulder.

“right. i forgot i was hanging with the strongest man on the planet,” your tone drips with faux praise, glancing behind him at the lingering soldiers giving you both cautious glances.

“i’m serious though. i just wanted to see you before i left.” he steps closer, his hand reaching for yours, his fingers brushing against your wrist. your helmet clinks gently against his like a childish kiss. everyone already knew about you two, but it’s nice to keep some professionalism in public.

“how long will you be gone?” you whisper softly, as if raising your voice would shatter the intimate moment between you two.

“not long. intel says it’ll be quick. i should be back in a few days.” he responds just as gently, all humor in his voice gone and replaced with a tone you would never hear him use with anyone else.

“okay, be safe.”

it’s been two weeks since your last conversation with him, and it’s safe to say you were… on edge.

you’ve been going around the base non-stop asking the same questions, where is he, what do you know about the mission he was sent on, and at some point during it all kimball summoned you herself after you snapped at one of the rookies.

“what the hell were you thinking, pulling a gun on a fucking rookie? have you lost your goddamn mind?!”

kimballs voice is loud enough to echo throughout the whole base, yet you remain unphased as she throws words towards you that are intended to hurt. you tune her out, completely uninterested in what she has to say.

your mind hasn’t been the same since he left. you can handle when he goes off on his usual missions, but when he doesn’t come back two weeks after he said he should’ve?

it’s logical for you to get a little high strung.

you let her hurl a few more insults towards you before interrupting. “it won’t happen again. am i dismissed?”

she grinds her jaw to restrain the next string of curses about to be let out, and huffs. “look, i know you’re stressed that felix is gone. shit, i don’t know where he is either, okay? but you need to get your shit together. i don’t want to see another fuck up like this again, understand?”

you only nod, turning on your heel and walking out of the building. as you make your way towards your quarters, you overhear the galaxy's greatest heroes (a bunch of lazy idiots if anyone were to ask you) talking about some sort of rescue mission to save the rest of their team.

you tense up. maybe felix was sent to go after them and got captured himself? you were willing to take the chance to find out.

pausing, you contemplate the risk of asking to join them. not because it would be betraying your alliance to the rebellion, but because hanging around with them will surely lower your chance of survival.

waving away your doubts, you walk into the building they were in. they notice you immediately, instantly becoming tense. “oh… hey there,” the yellow (orange, he always corrects you) one says.

“i want in on your little rescue mission. it’ll be wise for you to bring me along.”

they all share a look, before the teal one speaks up, “uh… sure. but why?”

oh my god, they��re fucking idiots.

there is absolutely no possible explanation as to how the five of you have made it this far, and you don’t plan on questioning it, instead thanking whatever god is up there that you haven’t blown your own brains out from the frustration of having to deal with their idiotic antics.

you don’t think about it any longer once they reunite with their team, your disappointment evident when you don’t see felix being one of the people among them.

for fucks sake, where could he have gone?

your question gets answered shortly after.

“...felix?”

you stand amongst the other soldiers, staring at him with a confused expression. your heart stutters in what you thought was relief, but you should’ve known better.

once the fight broke out, you were so confused. you had no idea what to do. do you shoot at him? what if it was just a huge misunderstanding? why was he with locus? there was too much going on. before you even knew it, one of the soldiers, you’re assuming one of the heroes allies, teleports your team away.

you were left behind.

following your instincts, you fucking book it and run, away from whatever the hell just happened and whoever the hell was chasing you.

not long after, because your training wasn’t that good, you’re worn out from running away, deciding to take cover behind one of the many rocky pikes surrounding the base.

you drop your gun, your hands shaking too much to hold it steady. “fuck, fuck, fuck!” you hear footsteps running past you, and you try your best to hold your breath. you didn’t know what to do, you weren’t cut out for this, you weren’t cut out for this war.

your breath is shallow as you rip off your helmet, taking large gasps of air and clutching your chest tightly to help ease the pain forming there. you couldn’t feel anything, your chest was hurting so much it numbed the pain in your legs from running.

trying to steady yourself, you count your breaths, praying that you can just calm down and keep running.

“i knew i’d find you here.”

your heart drops, and you raise your head to look up at the person approaching you. you take a deep breath to try and focus.

“felix, i thought you- what the hell is going on?” you stand up straight, starting to walk towards him. you’re so confused and you need to know if it's really him.

before you can even take a step, his gun is aimed straight at your face. “stay where you are.”

your body instantly freezes, a sudden chill shooting down your spine. “felix.. what are you doing? we can leave before they find us, stop messing with me and put the gun down!”

he doesn’t seem to listen, his gun following your head as you try to move slightly out of its range.

“you know, from the day we met, i knew i’d hurt you eventually,” he lowered his gun, starting to pace slowly in front of you.

the radio in his suit buzzes, most likely containing orders to the soldiers nearby to eliminate you immediately, but all he does is switch it off.

“i was surprised, really, how easily you opened up to me. i mean, come on, trusting a mercenary? i thought i taught you better,” he keeps the gun lowered, but you know the threat is still prominent, “and then you had to go and fall for me. you sure gave me trouble finding ways to report to command without you being on my back all the time.”

your brain lags, trying to piece together what he’s saying but you’re so deep in denial. “felix i- what are you even saying?”

“do you remember the first time we met?” he cuts you off, taking a step closer. “the first conversation we had?”

when you don’t respond, he takes pride in answering his own question, “i told you not to get too close to me. kimball said it herself– i was hired to help you guys, what makes you think you and your little crush on me could ever change that?”

it’s like a wave of ice water washes over you, and you finally come to your senses. it really is felix, and he really is betraying you.

your gaze slides down to your previously dropped gun, and as if reading your mind, he lifts his gun again towards you, “i don’t think so, darling.”

what once was a nickname that made you smile giddily, now makes your body tingle in a new feeling of discomfort.

“what is this, a lesson in not trusting people? god, spare me the act,” your words leak with newfound hatred, glaring at him as if looks could kill. “just get it over with and say you never loved me.”

your brain yells at you to not be so hostile, to start begging for your life, but you’re stubborn.

just how he taught you.

your comment takes him by surprise, the grip on his gun faltering slightly. he quickly recovers, tightening his grip and aiming it at you with a new sense of justification. “don’t make me kill you.”

you let out a scoff, “what, going to shoot me? go on, do it.”

after a moment of silence between you both, and still no sound of a trigger, your eyes narrow at him, “don’t have the balls to do it? you don’t need me to call locus over, do you?”

he lets out a low growl, but still makes no move to pull the trigger. letting out a sigh, you lean back on your heels. if you were going to die now, you’d at least like one of your questions answered.

“what was going through your head when i told you i loved you?” you try to sound like you don’t care, like him betraying you didn’t feel like a fucking train wreck, but you can’t help the unsteadiness in your voice.

“that i wish you never had trusted me.”

you see his finger twitch on the trigger, and you look up to the sky.

as much as you hated the feds, they had a pretty damn good view.

#rvb felix #rvb felix x reader #felix x reader #red vs blue #rvb #rvb x reader #red vs blue x reader #x reader #rvb locus #rvb tucker #rvb grif

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locusfandomtime · 1 month

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big news! not only do we now have the sequel to “anyhermit”, but Joe just said on stream that he got the idea from his daughter watching my little pony and realising he can replace words with “hermits”… so this is quite literally inspired by “everypony”

#the gentlehermits in question were etho and xb #going insane over this he really saw “everypony” and went. i should steal that #hermitcraft #joe hills #locus fandom time

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prophecydungeon · 1 year

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i'm watching rvb11 again so here's a running list of everything i love about this season

contact, my beloved

a nice recap intro for anyone who is new (why...) or got lost in the sauce during 9/10!

"i'm a cyborg, you wanna bow down to me?"

grif's bit about them always holding their weapons never fails to land for me

the way that tension is built throughout this season is so good. SO fucking good. this season is all the lighthearted BGC-ness that the show had been missing for a chunk of seasons and the way that the "something's not right here" gradually grows and grows is so fucking good.

specifically, we see locus for the first time at 31:10 (i'm watching the complete one on yt) listening to wash's mayday. at 34:30 sarge uses a sniper to scope out what the reds are doing; at 46:58 we see the blues through a sniper's scope again shortly before grif and sarge bust into the blues' conversation, and then sarge hops out of the warthog without a sniper rifle on him. it's not till 53:10 that we see locus again up on the cliffside.

d: can i get a heck yeah? s: hell no. d: close enough!

the dead body as the camera pans around the refueling station... chef kiss. what an introduction to locus.

felix's intro isn't as juicy as locus's but i love the way it comes right on the heels of locus murdering a dude over wanting to tell people about the crash -- of course someone else might have found out!

the way that wash is framed so ominously when he's fixing caboose's helmet is so great too; the cracked screens on the wall mimicking the room we first see him in in 6. fantastic.

felix's massively dramatic pearl-clutchy oscar-winning introduction to the reds getting utterly wasted on the two lopezes is SO GOOD especially in light of how hard he stroked his ego over his good acting

"you're going to want to sit down for this story, it's about 20 hours long and i only enjoy telling it in five-minute intervals" is one of my all-time favorite jokes in this entire series and i manage to always forget it's from this season

wash's apology to caboose for not being there for him (or tucker) is one of my favorite wash moments in this whole arc, if not my favorite. it's such a lovely and touching moment, and it also makes me all the more furious that epsilon a) came back at all and b) was a horrific dick to tucker in particular

felix and locus snapping at each other is, again, all the funnier When You Know because felix is so transparently enjoying "riling up" locus and locus's "shut up and be glad i missed your head" is so transparently genuine

g: holy shit, did you see that? c: NO! WHAT HAPPENED? PLEASE DESCRIBE IT TO ME.

the fucking orange juice gag

💛 aggressive, paranoid, and a little melodramatic 💛

the ongoing gag of everyone thinking they had someone to do with the crash is also so fucking good

"no, i'm a freelancer. NO, I MEAN, I'M A MERCENARY-"

again, When You Know: the implication that felix murdered the three people he came to the crash site with! delicious!

caboose's radio breaking in the middle of his speech is SO funny

"man, you are just cryptic"

ugh! ugh! the reconstruction theme coming back when wash changes his armor! gets me every time!

and with donut's line i'm immediately reminded of how fandom apparently chewed itself to pieces over thinking that wash is black/gold not steel/gold lol

(H4 wasn't kind to simmons either but w/e)

dos.0 attacking and felix immediately going "this isn't right" is, yet again, so transparent in hindsight

this is also a very fun and well-done machinima battle

rocket hog my beloved

pan across the canyon my beloved

reconstruction theme again! my beloved!

tucker's reaction to finding out that wash, sarge, and donut didn't make it is also so good. his character arc on chorus is Just So Good.

and so is kimball's intro with felix -- especially in how she exerts authority over him immediately ("you're not getting paid the full amount") and we see over time just how much felix has worked to make sure that she thinks that's what their relationship is

man. kimball. my beloved.

"you just need to try."

in conclusion: still my fave season of the chorus arc, probably

#red vs blue #rvb11 tag #i've watched this season sooooo many times and most of them in a very unserious/background noise way #and it's been a long long time since i sat down and paid attention to how it was written as opposed to looking for AU fodder #and the conclusion is still that this season is Fucking Good Actually

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minnowtank · 4 months

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God I fucking hate Sidon the Zora so fucking much holy shit. Holy shit, every frame he's in, every cutscene, every gif, every jpeg, he's got this painfully vacant, stupid as shit, fuckass look on his stupid shark face. Absolutely no part of his ugly as sin piece of shit character design is endearing. His stupid fucking leg fin skirt? Who the hell makes a fish guy with leg fins like that. His dumb flaily fucking twig arms? His shitty, lumpy bastard hammerhead-head? The three thousand percent unnecessary dumbass shitass fucking PINK “NOSE” that no anthropomorphic fish has EVER FUCKING HAD IN tHE HISTORY OF GOD'S GREEN FUCKING EARTH? God, I hate him. I hate him so much. So FUCKING much. Every time I see a stuffed toy Sidon or a Sidon gif or a shitty goddamn TikTok edit, it ignites my primal rage response and I'm overcome by the need to punt this shitty little homunculus into the fucking sun. "Bhurr blur, I'm Sidon the fuckshit fish fucker, I love my empty no-homo void of a wife". Fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you. You look like Bruce from Finding Nemo summoned a patronus. Your dumb fucking fishtail hair makes your whole shitty head look like an anvil with a tumour. I hate your dumb fucking nonexistent pink nose and your stupid, half-hidden eyes and your over-the-top goofy ass upbeat asshole personality. Any scene he's sad it invokes all the wrath and fury of a spoiled child having a meltdown over a chocolate bar in a w*lmart checkout line. And I know its irrational. That's the worst part. I know he's just a shitty fucking side character in a stupid fucking children's video game, I know it doesn't matter, I know I shouldn't care. But that's part of the problem. The part where no matter the might and fury of my hatred, the locus of my homicidal intent is altogether inconsequential. I find myself laying awake in the dark in the early hours of the morning consumed by the spirit of Wrath itself, all the force and might of a flaming hurricane directed at a bottle of piss in a ditch by the highway. The absurdity of it all burns me to my core. What better things could this energy be directed towards? And yet my disdain for this stupid, useless, insubstantial failure of sexy character design utterly eclipses the intrigue of all other pursuits. I hate him. I hate him on a level of my mind reserved for the worst of the world's array of sinners, and I can't even begin to justify it. Shitstick the shark dick is, for all intents and purposes, the animated corpse of all of humanity's saccharine pretenses- every condescending, passive-aggressive statement of meaningless fuckable video game side character fandom wank distilled into a single, hateable form. The fucking. Fuck. I have no words. There is no cuss or epithet in any language that can encapsulate the height of the emotions I am experiencing. God, I hate him so much. I hate him so, so fucking much. I want to light his ugly dumpster body on fire. I want to graphically beat him to death with his own stupid fucking tail head. I want to punch him to death. You know that weird feeling you get, when you see a picture of something so cute you find yourself overcome with the bizarre, inexplicable urge to squeeze it? It's EXACTLY like that, except instead of cuteness it's disgust. The wordless knowledge that his existence as a fictional work is evidence of all the failures of mankind. I find myself possessed by the will of a Holy Angel gone rogue with the belief that God has made a mistake, and I alone must correct it. This is the trial by which Samael himself fell from grace. This wild, meaningless rage. A thousand blades of shining steel cast with inhuman force in the direction of a plastic grocery bag floating on a breeze. What horrors must I have committed in a past life to be plagued by this torment now? I must Unmake this fictional fish.

#copypasta #🐟#totk #botw #loz #LMAO sorry for tagging #totk salt #totk critical

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hawkfawun · 2 months

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12, 20, 23 for Berserk?

12. An unpopular character you like and why more people should like them?

Ah an opportunity to ramble about Serpico and Farnese. I adore them! Their backstory is great, it feels like the dark shojo vibes returning to berserk. They have some amazing parallels to other characters, I eat that kind of thing up. (I need to post more of that) They keep my interest in the story at some points where it starts to drag.

I love Serpico, especially for being the only character in the rpg group who doesn't automatically trust Guts, but who Guts respects. Guts mentions how strong and clever he is a lot and how bad he wants to fight him while Serpico is like ^_^ ... I'm going to kill you!

Then the "I too was affected by that heat" when he finally gives Guts another duel... 👀

I'm condensing a lot- I really should do more Serpico posts.

Also, his relationship with Farnese is so interesting to me. I heart codependency. I really hope we get to see them confronting their issues in canon.

I pick him because I don't think Serpico gets talked about in fandom basically at all except for theories that he's going to betray the group (I really don't think so. Not unless Guts gives him a damn good reason too anyways. )

No one talks about Farnese much either though and I love her too. Her and Casca's relationship I find sweet, and I love her personality in the conviction arc. I found myself caring about her right away.

20. Part of Canon you found tedious or boring?

Sadly a lot of post-conviction arc. The shift into high fantasy was not very welcome by me. The gang futzing around and growing unreasonably large in numbers was frustrating. The boat arc overstays its welcome especially, but some scenes drag on and on before they get on the boat too. Just god PLEASE I don’t CARE about Isidro flirting with the girl mermaid. The PLOT. THE PLOT PLEASE. WHY IS AZAN HERE.

Not to say I dislike all post conviction arc, when berserk hits it hits hard, there are still plenty of scenes in that time that I absolutely adore with characters I love.

23. Ship you’ve unwillingly come around too?

Hmmmm. None sadly. 😔 I do have some ships I'm minorly interested in but wouldn’t consider an otp like Farneseca, Serpiguts or Griffguts though. Here's some:

Griffith/Locus ⭐️

Corkus/ Judau

Zodd/ Guts

Zodd/ Griffith

Judau/ Casca

Judau/ Serpico

Skullkight/ Zodd

Some of these sillier and more nonsensical than others, but if someone drew or wrote any of these, I'd take a peek. I also could be interested in G*tsca in very very specific ways. Sadly ways I don't think fans of the ship enjoy it.

Thanks for the ask!

Choose Violence Ask Game

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twwpress · 3 months

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Briefing #83: January 21st - January 27th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from January 21 – January 27. Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote or know of one we’re missing? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

@thefinestmuffin and @JessBakesCakes are hosting the 3rd Annual Josh/Donna Rom-Com Fest. Anyone can prompt or claim, and the fest reveals on February 14. Details here.

This Week in Canon:

Welcome back to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 13: Take Out the Trash Day aired on January 26, 2000.

Season 2, Episode 12: The Drop-In aired on January 24, 2001.

Season 6, Episode 13: King Corn aired on January 26, 2005.

Season 7, Episode 12: Duck and Cover aired on January 22, 2006.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from January 21 - January 27:

Allison Janney posted a screenshot from Deadline about her upcoming role in Miss You, Love You.

Allison Janney posted a screenshot from Variety announcing her role in season two of Netflix’s The Diplomat.

Allison Janney posted photos of herself from a recent photo shoot. Bradley Whitford posted a poster for a Natalie Morales and “The Night Crew” event he will be appearing in at the Lodge Room on February 3.

Dule Hill posted photos and a supportive message celebrating POC actors nominated for Oscars this year.

Dule Hill posted an image announcing his nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for the NAACP Image Awards.

Mary McCormack and Melissa Fitzgerald posted photos of themselves with Allison Janney and an announcement about their upcoming book about The West Wing, called What’s Next? which will drop in August and is now available for preorder. (Allison Janney, Dule Hill, and The West Wing Weekly also posted photos promoting the book.)

Rob Lowe posted a video of himself and Kevin Bacon talking for his podcast, Literally.

Donna Moss Daily: January 26 | January 27

Edits/Artwork

#joshlyman: boyfriend material by @nacejisbon [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice:

We’re skipping recommendations this week. We’ll catch you with more great stories next week!

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own.

Josh/Donna

Locus Amoenus by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

like a kennedy when camelot went down in flames by MarvelousAvengfulSlytherin | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Joey Lucas/Sam Seaborn | In Progress

Come Back, Be Here by MatthewsMary | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete [Editor’s Note: While this fic is listed on AO3 as complete, it has continued to update and appears to be a WIP]

Taking Care of You by wootcanal | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

where time of our lives is all we have by flowersinapril | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Surprise Suprise by Shonio | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Fairytale Ending? by Tyrols | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

everybody talks (it started with a whisper) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

CJ/Danny

oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun by Luppiters | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | Complete

Make the Leap by onekisstotakewithme for daylight_angel, miabicicletta, Luppiters | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | Complete

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

A Different Life by PreppyPrincess5103 (JAG crossover) | Rated M | Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie/Sam Seaborn | In Progress

And the Silence Haunts our Bedchamber by unseenacademic | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete

written in red ink by helsinkibaby | Rated G | Will Bailey/Kate Harper | Complete

Multiple Pairings

What Sons Do by kcat1971 | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Helen Santos/Matt Santos, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young | In Progress

War & Peace by miabicicletta for krazykitkat, onekisstotakewithme | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Interpreting by ladyemma42 | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Joey Lucas/Josh Lyman, Joey Lucas/Donna Moss, Donna Moss/Kenny Thurman | Complete

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: [email protected]

Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

#the west wing #tww #tww fandom #tww fic #west wing #josh lyman #donna moss #cj cregg #sam seaborn #toby ziegler #joshdonna #cjdanny #tww rare pairs #weekly press briefing

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lemonsrosesandlavender · 17 days

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More Writing Chat!

Adopted tag game from @commander-krios - since I’ve been going wild with the tags lately, I’ll restrain myself from tagging anyone in particular but please do pick this up if you want (I did!) and tag me in your post! <3 On with the questions:

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

13, though it should be 14. (I have a short WWDITS fic from a couple of years ago, originally published in a zine, that I keep forgetting to archive!)

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

132,892

3) What fandoms do you write for?

BG3, Ambition: A Minuet In Power, Hades and What We Do in the Shadows

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Sharp Teeth, Rolan x Tav, E

2. Après Theâtre, Guillermo x Nandor, T

3. Sharess’s Sundries, Rolan x Tav, E

4. Planar Tears, Rolan x OFC, E

5. Tail and Tongue, Rolan x Tav, E

5) Do you respond to comments?

HELL YES. Every time, with the rare exception that if someone’s left six in a row within like one day on the same fic, I might only respond to half of them (although if they’re in depth, you bet I’m responding to every single one). It’s second nature to me: comments just give me such an amazing warm glow and I feel compelled to share it right back <3 I honestly have to stop myself from replying too quickly if I happened to be checking my email in the moment a comment came in. If you’ve ever thought ‘Jesus she’s fast’… I probably wanted to reply even faster. Lol.

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Honestly, I haven’t written any with angsty endings. I guess I like my fluff, in fanfic. I’m working on an original novel that will eventually have a bittersweet/open ending I think. But that’s going very slowly.

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Ooh, good question. Maybe Sharp Teeth. They saved the world, after all. Tav goes from impending death, and Rolan from precarity and abuse, to love and a happily (grumpily) ever after.

Ribbons also ends with Yvette and Ludovico living their blissful, unconventional happily-ever-after in Rome. So maybe that too.

8) Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! I don’t think I’ve ever written for pairings that are a locus of that kind of attention. The closest I’ve ever got is spotting a comment in the fanfic subreddit that I’m 95% sure was complaining about the ear licking in Sharp Teeth specifically lol. Which amused me greatly.

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! M/F mostly, though I’ve also written a bit of F/F. And mostly kinky, lol. The list of kink stuff I want to explore is LONG.

10) Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not against it, but haven’t had one occur to me yet.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. I think I’m too small a fish for that!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

See 11), haha

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Currently co-writing a very goofy Shane/Farmer & Krobus gift fic with my girlfriend for our flatmate! This reminds me I need to work on it. Purely a private fun gift exchange - she knits us socks <3

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

This doesn’t super work as a question for me, because it’s usually whatever I’m currently obsessed with. But from the sheer number of times I’ve read the book, and watched the 1995 BBC series - Elizabeth and Darcy? (Otherwise I’m just going to say Rolan x Steel Weave Tav. Catrin’s in the doghouse for being difficult to write rn)

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Hades fic, ‘Family Gatherings’. I have a fun lil plan for Zag hanging out with each of his surface family in turn (sometimes in pairs/trios) and seeing how Meg/Than feel about it. And it is really fun and sweet - but unfortunately I started writing it at the tail end of my Hades obsession, so whilst I think it’ll get a couple more chapters at least, I’m not really motivated to finish.

I also want to finish my Yvette/Ludovico smut fic Britches, which has a pegging chapter that its audience of like 3 people have been waiting for for years - but since that’s half-written, it will definitely happen eventually!

16) What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm. I think I do characterisation well, particularly in dialogue - I try to imagine the characters speaking their lines to check that what I’ve written works. And sometimes I write really neat descriptive lines.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

White room syndrome for sure. I tend to hone in on the characters a lot and ignore the surroundings. Connective tissue - moving from one scene to another - can be a bit janky. Sometimes I can overdo facial expressions, and I rely on ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ a lot to describe all manner of feelings.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

This is a rogue q, haha. I have done it - Guillermo’s mum talks to him in Spanish - but my Spanish is secondary-school level so it’s not great. I did pre-emptively warn about it though, haha.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

As a kid, thinly-veiled Star Trek isekai that went nowhere. As an adult, WWDITS.

20) Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh my god. Too hard to choose. I love all my fics. With that said (and with significant recency bias), Sharp Teeth. I’m so proud of writing my first novel (ish) length fic, and it brought me such joy to write.

I’ll also forever love my first fic, Après Theâtre. I re-read it recently for the first time in a while and honestly laughed so much at my own fucking jokes. I think I really nailed the tone of the show and that makes me so happy!

#cabbage writes #fanfic #tag game

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