#checkeredmice asks

Alas, a difficult question. Languages can be beautiful the Galaxy over, and of course they can be beautiful simply because of the sentiment someone is trying to convey.

I think that my favourite would have to be a Romulan word. Mnhei'sahe - it literally translates to the Ruling Passion and is often rendered by the Universal Translator as honour. Such a banal description is hardly accurate. Mnhei'sahe is more than honour, it more than duty, it's also spirituality and patriotism. It is the weary balance between a person's personal duty to themselves and their family, their duty and sense of patriotism and of course their spiritual duty as well. It's often an intricate and complex concept - one that, in navigating, has lead to the deaths of many wayward souls that misstep on its path. Mnhei'sahe is so complex because everyone's duty is different and everyone's priorities are different.

If you take my life as an example - yes, I betrayed Starfleet, but I did so in an act to protect the Maquis. On this occasion, my duty to protect the civilians of the DMZ outweighed my duty to Starfleet. My honour would not permit to see those people suffer due to the ill-advised actions of the Federation Council. Of course, Captain Sisko would argue that there's no higher calling than to the uniform, but sometimes there is the duty, not only to one's conscience, but to mercy as well. I may have sacrificed my career and therefore my honour as a Starfleet Officer, but I maintained my duty to Rebecca and the other colonists.

I admit, the current state of affairs in my native Texas, as well as other places around my country, have left me in need of wisdom from some of my heroes.

Thanks so much for the love and for the tag! 🥰

Another tag game: Post a snippet from a current WIP of yours. The lovely @checkeredmice tagged me like a bajillion years ago and I’m just now getting to it ‘cause… well… I ain’t really been workin’ on my WIP. This is from my Gorzsasz/Zsaszlepot Gotham Viking AU thingie, The Raven and the Wolf on AO3.

I’m inviting anyone who wants to play along to play along. Just poke me and lemme know if you did so I can peep your WIP! 👀🤗 I love you guys!

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As Vígnir rouses, his gaze gradually focuses on the rays of morning sun piercing the darkness of the longhouse. For the first time in months, his sleep was deep. Restful. He didn’t spend half the night pacing or waking with a terrible start, met with Ǫssurr’s large, sympathetic eyes and attentive soothing. This morning, Ǫssurr lies curled beside him, sleeping soundly.

Vígnir gently drags his fingertips along the curves and dips of Ǫssurr’s body, now clean of the blood from his secret rituals and vision journey the night prior. Ǫssurr was so exhausted, he surrendered himself to Vígnir’s care, allowing Vígnir to bathe him in the springs and help him back to the longhouse while Sól watched on amidst the burning sky.

Vígnir absently fingers the runes scored into the enamel of the wolf fangs dangling from his leather cord around his neck. Though its subtle weight is still unfamiliar, it is already oddly comforting against his chest.

“All of Midgard will tremble in fear of you,

Hel’s wolf on earth, Úlfhamr.”

Ǫssurr’s soft sigh returns him to his senses and the lateness of the morning. His animals cannot tend to themselves. Vígnir silently gathers his breeches and strokes Ǫssurr’s soft black hair, a corner of his mouth subtly rising when Ǫssurr bores further into the warmth of the bed.

Vígnir slips into his calfskin boots and tosses a tunic over his shoulder, fastening his breeches as he heads for the door. The moment he emerges from the longhouse, he stops at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Hello, Vígnir.”

Vígnir forgets the closure of his breeches and blinks, finding himself face-to-face with Jarl for the first time since his attack, back when he could barely sit up in own bed unaided. He regards the future earl, so much closer now than when Vígnir and his pack looked out from the ceremonial platform the night before.

Last night, Jarl was too far away to properly appraise among the nobility and their honored guests. They were the last to emerge from the main hall, where Jarl stood alongside Harði and his betrothed, Earl Elof’s daughter. Now, Jarl stands mere inches away in his embroidered finery, his golden hair shimmering in the morning sun. Vígnir swallows at the subtle but familiar ache in his chest when he meets those bright blue eyes as endless as the sky overhead.

“Jarl.”

Though Jarl knew of Vígnir’s dramatically altered appearance with his return to the village, he is still struck by it. The impish glint in Vígnir’s eyes has sharpened to something darker and penetrating, unyielding. Vígnir's mop of dark ringlets is now shorn to his scalp, where some bald patches are now visible. Jarl’s gaze dips past the curve of Vígnir’s lips and jaw, to his scar-riddled torso, where his musculature is considerably more defined. Vígnir's recovery is nothing short of miraculous.

His thoughts are interrupted by Vígnir's voice, which has an edge of suspicion.

Tagged by mi sobrina rusia @checkeredmice 💖

Works Published: 21

Word Count: 446,663 (Holy crap that’s a lot for someone who just started writing a few years ago!)

Hits: 31,477

Bookmarks: 303

Most Popular by Kudos: To the Victors Go the Spoils (Explicit) (YAY! My first fic/smut/pwp —which should probably embarrass me but really doesn’t ‘cause I’m a child! 🤣)

Most Hits: Boxcutter (Explicit) - collab with @filthycasualfanfic

Longest: Safe Word (Explicit) - continued collab with @filthycasualfanfic

Shortest: Phloem Kaya (General Audiences)

Most Comment Threads: Safe Word

Fic that made me cry: Yeesh! Pretty much anything I collabed with @filthycasualfanfic (e.g., Boxcutter and Safe Word) because that’s what filthycasual does: makes me cry from all the fanfic angst! 😭😭😭 🙌🏽🤣👏🏽

Fic that made me smile: These are always hard to answer ‘cause I can’t ever pick just one. The ones that tickle me the most are Short Skirt, Long Jacket, What the Cat Dragged In, Chorizo, Truth or Dare, and Honey Pie.

Gifts: I’ve received three, including Take the Stage (And Deliver) by fiveisarat, The Problem With Captain Bullock by the all-time great and my other fanfic half, Filthycasual, and a A Little Death by TheDVirus. Most of my fics I’ve actually gifted to people, including my one lone lesbian smut: An Echo, A Stain (Explicit).

Collaborations: The Dick -n- The Ass Series with Filthycasual

Events: I think I did the What the Cat Dragged In as part of a Gotham Big Bang thingie but… it’s been a hot minute so I don’t really remember.

Coming in 2023: I really wanna return to Long Skirt, Short Jacket, and The Raven and the Wolf—not only to finish, but because it’s part of a larger series idea I’ve got lots of ideas. I’d really like to work on a couple more Barry fic ideas. I mean, I’m happy with my Cafe Con Leche, but there is just not enough NoHo Hank & Cristobal Sifuentes stuff out there!

Hey, love! So sorry for the delayed reply. I have been battling a terrible cold and am just getting back on the mend again.

Short Skirt, Long Jacket? I really, REALLY hope so. 2022 was an absolute sh!t show for me personally, so I just haven’t been able to create anything since I’m still struggling with my son’s death. I had plans to do a few more chapters but… they just haven’t coalesced into anything this year—but I refuse to abandon this fic! I wanna do more with it and make the gift I intended for my dear friend and monster talent, ifnot_winter on ao3. So please. ANYONE reading this? Please cross your fingers, arms, legs, and eyes for me that I can get my mojo back.