moved to suninks!

ANDROMEDA ROGUE ☆ a wip by @chayscribbles

           - or, “muddy roads & foxgloves: the space AU”

☆ GENRE | new adult, sci-fi

☆ POV | third person limited, alternating

☆ THEMES & TROPES | space quests | funky space plants | pseudo-scientific futuristic bullshit | the complexities of blood family | the delights of found family | the exploitation of nature and its consequences | cover ups and conspiracies | begrudging crewmates to reluctantly mutually pining idiots | aces in space

☆ WARNINGS | mentions of war | mentions of death | genre-appropriate violence (to be updated)

☆ SYNOPSIS 

over twenty years after an interplanetary war over a plant with extraordinary properties–used both for healing and destruction–ended with the signing of the Neo-Interplanetary Alliance Treaty, the planet nations of sector 021 live in relative peace under the supervision of the Alliance Council. 

on the planet of Sayntagnesia, a brilliant young aspiring xenobotanist, Petra, snags her very first gig with the Alliance-sponsored Interplanetary Environmental Research Association: leading a small expedition to the less explored corners of the sector to study unfamiliar plant forms. however, she finds herself at the head of a mismatched, unqualified team, with ex-conman Finneas reluctantly serving as the pilot; the eccentric daughter of an Alliance councilor, Azami; and Petra’s own clingy younger sibling Valyan stepping in as a last minute replacement.

as Petra struggles to make the best of what she is given and fulfill her duties to the IERA, it soon becomes clear that there may be more to this expedition than simple research, and she, as well as the rest of the team, must set aside differences and personal convictions to get to the truth–and stop a growing threat to the Alliance’s era of peace.

☆ CHARACTERS

PETRA LACROYE | 21, she/her. the inquisitive and hardworking mind placed at the head of the expedition, Petra is always prepared for a challenge, especially in the name of science–but what she’s willing to do in the name of truth has yet to be tested.

FINNEAS BECKER | 22, he/him. a former criminal with exceptional piloting skills, Finneas is dragged into serving the IERA to escape a worse sentence and must keep his unwanted plant-based powers hidden from those who might seek to use them.

AZAMI BLACK-MIZUHARA | 20, she/her. with two high profile public figures from vastly different planet nations as parents, Azami is desperate to flee the suffocating expectations set on her–and this trip might be just the place to do it.

VALYAN LACROYE | 19, they/them. behind that ever-present smile, Valyan is secretly terrified of being separated from their older sister and gladly steps in to fill a last-minute vacancy, but their cheerful façade is threatened in the face of new trials.

We filed into the living room. There were plants everywhere—hanging from the ceiling, propped on the windowsills, on their own stands. Massive, glorious plants, with leaves the size of my face. The room was almost cluttered with them. Uncle Mitchell’s Christmas tree also stood proudly in one corner. It was sparsely decorated, but it was alive, and there was a lovely red velvet cloth beneath it to catch the needles. The whole room smelled woody and fresh. 

But hadn’t she told me, in her journals? That disastrous guilt she always talked about, never quite revealing its root… I had assumed she was simply being hard on herself. I had knelt before her in the dirt and found a way to believe she was the idyllic, brilliant woman I could aspire to become one day. As I sat there in Uncle Mitchell’s homey little living room, I gazed my human need to believe in the face. What I saw filled me with horror.  

The strange thing about Addie was that even when things were tumultuous, I could look at her for a while and feel a little better. Sometimes it was a nearly imperceptible improvement, but that night, it was real and drastic. We looked at each other. She raised a brow in a coy challenge for me to smile. I let my lips curl into a small, slow grin.

“There she is,” she said.

I looked away, still smiling. Just like that, she plunged her hand into the void and plucked me from its depths. And I knew, then, that regardless of how dark the woods might become, we would always save each other. It was a pact, sacred as blood, ancient and holy as the Frasier firs standing like guardians beyond the window. 

never thought this would happen but essentially there’s a lot of stuff going on right now and i will not be online for the most of next month!! this break can last from anywhere within a few days to the end of january, i don’t really know for sure. i’m tagging a few mutuals off the top of my head, please signal boost!!

The land of Faerie was vast.  Islands upon islands of different biomes and terrains.  I… wasn’t expecting anything like it.  Each court had it’s own pros, each had it’s own cons.  The Winter Court was set in complete cold and snow for Spirit’s sake!  It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before…

Mountains held together by vines, towns inside and around cliff sides, training ground bustling with faeries of all different species.  Each town was different than the last.  Some had homes made of clay, others were as tiny as the palm of your hand and made of flowers, and some were simple huts near the sea.    I could go on and on.  The people were as different as the cities too.  Some had wings, other’s had cloaks of scales.  Each faerie seemed to belong to the environment itself.  Of course, there were different ones, like me, but there was never too many.

I visited each Court, but even then there was so much.  People talked of a lost Court, a lost place not accessible even here in another realm.  There was also talk of an old abandoned island.  The Ghost’s Descent, they called it.  Never had the balls to go see what was up there. 

I do wonder though.

- Deirn, a traveler who accidentally wound up in Faerie.

hi.

this took me three hours.

Former title: LET NO ONE SAY I WAS AFRAID

Aesthetique: dark academia

Progress: 58k/75k (second draft)

Technical info: alternating first person past and first person present (I know, just roll with it.)

Margot Carmichael has grown up reading her Aunt Greta’s journals. Chain-smoking vegetarian Greta wrote at length in about an unwinnable game that pushed her to suicide in autumn of 2000. Now, it’s 2005. Thirsting to understand what really happened, Margot chooses to attend upstate New York’s Hobson College, Greta’s alma mater and the scene of her death.  

Margot’s new roommate, Addie Hugo, pledges to help her uncover the truth. They come across Adam Wilton, a professor who claims to have control over the modern version of Greta’s game. He considers telling Margot the truth about Aunt Greta, but in order to prove herself, Margot and Addie must uncover other students’ secrets and reveal them to key people. When one of the victims commits suicide, Margot struggles to understand who she has become and what she is capable of. 

Margot is left with a choice: continue betraying those around her about in order to solve the mystery of Aunt Greta’s death, or find some other way to conquer Wilton and his web of blackmail and betrayals.