#madeline-posting

(Which I've spent way too long thinking about, probably, I've got loooong explanations I could give for these. But I can't help it. Hyperflexible mythologies for analyzing and sorting characters make my brain go brrrrr)

I'm a Knight of Space and Madeline is a Seer of Mind!

Small Selfship Ask Game

Thank you, Lee!

🌸 — Who is more friendly to strangers when out and about?

Madeline! We both tend to keep to ourselves when we're out, but she's much more used to being personable around people she hasn't met, having stayed in academia long enough for her doctoral thesis and managed a weapons development facility and all. (So partially a thing of her being higher-masking than me, but I also do think she's slightly less introverted than me. Slightly.)

That reminds me, though! I've had a thought that I want to be a friendlier person when I'm out, because I want to be the kind of person that brightens people's days when I bump into them! Admittedly, I haven't done that as actively as I could, just saying hi to a few extra people and checking in on a couple people at the gym. Maybe thinking of Madeline supporting me could be a good motivator!

🍥 — Who is more giggly after telling their own joke?

Me. I'm so guilty of this, I'm such a goober.

(And Madeline teases me—and loves me—for it.)

🪻 Comfort and Care F/O Ask Game 🪻

Thank you, Lucifer! I answered 🍁 here already, but I'll answer it again!

☀️ Your F/O surprises you with a gift after noticing how hard you've been working lately, and they need to express how proud of you they are. What's the gift?

Madeline gives me a drawing she made of my pet alien-kitty Journey as a maneki-neko to go with my collection by my computer setup! She says she hopes it'll remind me how fortunate she feels to have found herself at my side, and to keep up my efforts to find work opportunities to build a life for myself—for both of us.

And then I give her a dozen kisses, because oh my god. ;w;

🥞 What does your F/O admire about you? It can go beyond physical traits!

I've spoken a bit before about her love of my enduring compassion and curiosity despite the state of the world, so here's another thing: she admires my dedication to doing the things I set out to do! It's a bit hard for me to see sometimes, since lots of long-term creative projects of mine have either fizzled out or been put aside for now… But she can see the amount of thought and work I put into every step, and she's very proud of me for that even if they never see the light of day! (And if they do, like the writing events I've participated in, even better!) On a related note, she admires my creativity a lot, too.

🍁 How does your F/O help you when you can't sleep/can't stay asleep?

Something else she'll do is ramble to me about something that's been interesting her lately until we drift off together! She's like an endless encyclopedia, I could listen to her talk all night about topics I never knew I'd be interested in!

It'll often be something related to engineering or natural sciences. Recent subjects have included animatronics, art installations utilizing robots, how different animals survive the winter, and aquarium upkeep!

(Which is to say, in real life, I'll read up on or watch videos about these things and imagine I'm getting immersed with her~ I haven't tried doing that at night to help me sleep yet, but I should now, it sounds lovely!)

🪻 Comfort and Care F/O Ask Game 🪻

Thank you, Van!

🪷 How does your F/O comfort you when you're feeling insecure/self conscious? If they prefer to comfort using words, what do they say? If they use actions, what do they do?

Whenever I'm feeling down about who I am—whether I'm thinking I'm not smart or kind enough, or that I'm too passive or socially clueless—Madeline always has reassurance at the ready to remind me that I'll always be enough for her. Scientifically-minded as she is, she'll bring up counterexamples to anything negative I have to say about myself, and if I have made a mistake, she'll help me reason through what I could do about it now and how I could prevent it from happening again.

Then she'll remind me of all the things she loves about me… Saying things like: "I promised you I would stay by your side, always. I gave my word knowing who and what you are, and that I love you." Oh, my dear Lin, I love you too~

And if what I'm feeling self-conscious about is my body, then she'll lavish attention and praise on any part of me that I need help liking. Lots of petting and slow kisses involved. Imagining her being kinda obsessed with my body sure helps shut up any insecurities of mine!

💜 Name a time (or multiple) when your F/O was your unwavering rock and solace. Only if you're comfortable with sharing, what were you going through? How did your F/O support you?

Well, there's the time where we were in hiding as the only humans left alive on the Bottle Ship, which Madeline saw as being all her fault…

(Feel like I bring that up a lot in these ask games, but I mean, it is the only time we see Madeline in canon.)

She was honestly incredible then. All the reason in the universe to just break down completely, but her responsibility to protect me overrode all that. She'd find somewhere for me to hide while she looked for the safest way forward or handled one of the bioweapons on our tail, she let me cling to her and hold her hand and helped calm me down even when she was on the verge of breaking herself, she told me over and over not to blame myself and that she was going to get me out of there alive no matter what…

Yeah. If she could be my rock through all of that, then I trust her to support me through anything.

🍁 How does your F/O help you when you can't sleep/can't stay asleep?

She'll notice that I'm still reading on my phone late at night in bed, whether as part of an anxiety spiral or just that I'm really engaged and want to read about just one more thing, and she'll take the phone out of my hands and put it away to charge for the night. The old "sleep, now" maneuver.

If it was an anxiety thing, she'll hold me and tell me that I'll be safe for the night, that I can figure it all out in the morning with fresh eyes and a rested mind. And if it wasn't, she'll let me sleepily ramble about whatever had caught my interest until we fall asleep next to each other.

To my favorite assistant, my sweet pea;

I'm not always the most vocal in my appreciation of you, I know. So let me start by saying that I do appreciate your presence in my life. With everything we've gone through, with Melissa and her… rampage on the Bottle Ship, the aftermath of all that… we've both had a very tiring time of it the last few years, haven't we? But still, even when the guilt weighs heavy on me, or I find myself feeling saddened and afraid, I can turn to you for support, and it's like all my worries float away the moment you pull me into your arms. I can't tell you how grateful I am for your willingness to stay by my side, though I know I've asked a lot of you in our time together. May the future be brighter with you, my binary star.

-Madeline

(Aaaaa thank you so much for this, Jace @gem-ships! Tumblr doesn't look like it's letting me tag you for some reason, so I hope you see this! You have a happy Valentine's Day, too~!)

Oh, Lin…

You're right… It's all been a lot for anyone to bear, hasn't it? Sometimes, I wonder whether that's even right for me to say, since we were the lucky ones who survived. But I know I wouldn't have made it without you, and for that I'm truly the luckiest human in the galaxy. And I don't just mean in the literal sense of you saving my life all those times on the Bottle Ship, either, but in how you've been my guiding star all my life, my loving place where my singular perspective doesn't feel so small and everything in this chaotic universe just makes sense.

Maybe our relationship has asked a lot of me, but it's nothing I haven't been willing to give. You're a truly incredible person. Nobody ever truly knows the future, but I know that I'll stay in your orbit forever, and I'll love you every moment of it.

Happy Valentine's Day, Madeline—our first one truly together. I love you so, so much.