A Warrior Does Not Let A Friend Face Danger Alone

For personal context, before I went to the '98 Burning Man festival, one of the things I'd read from a couple different journalists was that "everybody" runs around naked. Which, fine by me, I'd already spent a lot of time in clothing-optional spaces, I'm not fanatic about it but it's nice.

So I got there early and set up a public shade structure on one of Black Rock City's main roads and spent most of each afternoon just watching the crowds go by. I don't remember seeing more than one actually naked person the whole week. I think a topless woman passed by my intersection maybe every half an hour, sometimes once an hour. So why in the hell were people, normally pretty smart and observant writers, coming away with the impression that everybody was naked?

Then I remembered an unrelated passage from Joel Garreau's great book about the history of the outer-ring suburbs, Edge City. Mall developers told him flat-out that they tried to keep the crowds in their malls less than 5% black. Not because they themselves were racist, but because they had determined, experimentally, that if more than 5% of the people in the mall are black, the median white shopper will wrongly describe the mall as at least half black, as mostly black. And not a few of them would describe it, at 6% black, as a mall where "only black people go." Why?

Because, emotionally, they were still upset over the last one when the next one came into view.

the specialist: this author has a favorite kink or trope and has written 80% of the content in that tag. you know exactly what you’re getting. they have A Brand™️. no matter what other traits they display, dedicated rare pair authors belong here.

the chocolate box: essentially the exact opposite. this author will try anything once. they have 80+ works in the fandom with no discernible pattern. the shortest one is 268 words and the longest is well over 100k. this breed of author may or may not be related to:

the renaissance fan: they’ve written three things in your fandom: your favorite fic, your notp, and a bizarre crossover with a show you’ve never heard of. you hit “expand fandoms list” on their author page and have to scroll down twice to reach the bottom. whenever you curse the fact that you can’t legally commission fic writers, this is the author you’re thinking about.

the horn dog: they’re here for one thing and one thing only. if someone’s dick is not in another character’s mouth within 500 words, they apologize for it in the author’s notes. they have one (1) g-rated fic.

the rookie: this writer is usually young, new to fandom, or just got a beta-reader for the first time. their fics are a little all over the place, quality-wise, but you’re excited whenever their name pops up because their unique voice gets stronger every time. you feel a personal investment in their development, like you’re an old man reading the local high school sports page and saying “this kid’s the one to watch.”

the live streamer: the most prolific author in the fandom. their works are all over the front page when you sort by kudos. you have no idea how they generate this much work, and have seriously wondered if they have access to an extra-dimensional time portal. their stories are usually un-beta’d and the characterization varies wildly, but their best works are inspired and you’ve read them 30 times.

the cryptid: this one comes out of nowhere every two years, drops the best fanfic you’ve ever read, and disappears. fifteen months after you left a three paragraph comment about how they changed your life, you get a message in your inbox that just says “thanks.”

the novelist: we talk about “filing off the serial numbers” when someone reworks their most popular story to pitch it as an original novel; this author somehow does the reverse. their fics are excellent, usually long-reaching multi-chapter AUs that have almost nothing to do with the on-screen characters except their names. i’d like to extend my personal thanks to this breed of author because it’s the closest i get to reading an actual book.

the reunion tour: this author wrote some of the most popular works in the fandom, but either moved on to k-pop or burned out when canon took a turn for the worse. they put out one new thing a year, often an old draft that’s been haunting them from under the floorboards. their last six author’s notes all say they never thought they’d write this pairing again and “this will probably be the last time.”

RUPERT GILES & BUFFY SUMMERS

watch legends of tomorrow for coldwave.

Happy Pride!!!!! I knew I hHAD to do a SFA Pride Month drawing,, this series has been so incredible and so queer and I love it so much <3333

Timelapse and closeups under the cut vvv

and the link to the pin if ur on pinterest and wanna save it!

Reminder about an upcoming fic event:

The turbolift shudders, screeches, and shears to a halt. Two characters are left staring at each other, wondering how long they're about to be trapped, what they're supposed to talk about, and/or how they're going to get out of this one. Who are they? Spin the wheel to find out!

Event details can be found here on Tumblr or here on a03.

Any genre, pairing, or rating welcome. Will we get a tender heart-to-heart, a tense escape, steamy sex, or something entirely different? Totally up to you, and of course, the wheel. All Trek is welcome.

To participate, please select your characters by July 1, 2026 and post your fic by August 1, 2026. Works completed as part of the collection will be shared on Tumblr and Discord!

This event is hosted through the U.S.S. Athena, a Starfleet Academy discord server full of cool people who like Starfleet Academy. Even if you don't want to take part in the event, feel free to join us. :-)

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In the meantime, check out the awesome fic that has been posted to the collection so far:

Going Places, Going Nowhere by luckpushedme (Jay-Den/Kyle)

Jay-den and Kyle go to a party. When the party's done, they have to find somewhere private.

Have We Met? by luckpushedme (Darem & Tarima)

Three times Darem and Tarima got trapped in a turbolift.

Turbolifts and Other Calamities by M_Sosotris (Genesis & Lura)

Part of the "Stuck in a Turbolift" collection. Genesis and Lura get stuck in a turbolift. Nonsense follows!

Touch the Sun by SophCat (Kelrec & Tarima)

There might be worse people to be trapped in a stalled turbolift with than Chancellor Kelrec, although Tarima is struggling to think of any.

And when you've been avoiding a conversation for months, a couple of hours is a long time to be stuck together.

Standards of Excellence by The_Buzz (Darem & Genesis)