#onward!

My name is Ruri Maruyama, and I am the Ultimate Captain! I am a master of naval expertise and an experienced sailor!

I am a member of the Academy for Gifted Students, and I take great pride in my work. My dearest friend is Gonta Gokuhara! I will do whatever it takes to ensure that there are no fatalities. I am five feet, ten inches, can operate a cannon, and have some expertise in cooking and survivalism. Let's all become trusted allies of one another!

Hi! mod Muffy here. Let's set some ground rules!

1. Absolutely no NSFW. I'm not a minor, but it still makes me very uncomfortable. This will result in an instant block! 2. Both I and Ruri use she/her! Ruri is straight. 3. I block freely, I don't really have a specific DNI criteria. Just don't be a creep, and don't be a jerk. 4. Ships are fine, but I primarily ship her with Kaito Momota.

TAGS #Onward! - Ruri speaks! #Point north! - Ruri answers! #Speak freely! - Ruri interacts with classmates!

Onward!

Hello there! Are you looking for the Token Human series, featuring a spacefaring veterinarian during her time working on a courier ship? I post weekly short stories with this tag, and there’s a masterpost that’s up to date as of April 7th, 2025.

Also! I post early on Patreon if you’d like to spend a few bucks a month reading sci-fi shenanigans before the general public. (There’s a free tier too, if you want the stories emailed to you every Monday with no strings attched.)

Also-also, I write novels! Like this one that takes place after the courier era, when Robin is working as a vet on an alien planet (dealing with a crisis of escaped rabbits and troublemaking space poachers). And other books about completely different main characters. Sometimes I put together anthologies with friends.

And then there’s the rest of my blog, which is full of writing-related things, sci-fi, fantasy, Fun Facts and interesting nonsense, and general Tumblr tomfoolery.

I’m having a great time, and I plan to bring everyone else with me.

Part Thirteen found here.

"Howie," Tommy said, nodding at the Howie on his left and belatedly remembering the new title as he looked to the one on his right. "Captain Han," he said, nodding again, not wanting to leave the second Howie out. "I'm just, uh, just gonna see if Panikkar could use another hand."

He jerked a thumb in Ravi's direction, ignoring the suspicious looks Cap and the Howies were giving him as he discreetly swiped a spare Halligan off of the 118's rig.

"Kinard—"

"Here to help, right?" Tommy called out over whatever Cap was about to say. Probably something annoying like 'stop' or 'stay put.' Striding over towards Ravi, he veered off at the last second and made a break for the front doors of the building.

Running was the last thing his body wanted to do at the moment—tired, aching, broken—but it was the only way he was going to get to Evan. Ignoring the shouts behind him, Tommy put on a burst of speed and kept going, one frantic foot after the other, through the doors and the smoke until he found himself up on the first floor.

Ripping off his mask, Tommy immediately puked all over the landing. His throat burned, eyes streaming as he coughed up what felt like half a lung, and he stumbled back against a wall.

"What the hell are you doing, Kinard?" Cap shouted over the radio. "Get your ass back out here!"

"Gotta find Evan," Tommy muttered at his mask as he struggled to fit it back onto his face.

"Kinard!"

He jolted, fumbling for his radio to answer. "On my way to find Buckley, Cap," he said. "Stand by."

"Stand by—stand BY? Kinard, I am going to—" Cap's blustering cut off and Howie's voice came through, although Tommy couldn't tell if it was Howie One or Howie Two. He should work on that.

"Tommy, it's not safe," a Howie said. "You have to evacuate. It's okay. Buck's going to come out too."

That wasn't right. Tommy frowned, squinting through the smoke as he tried to remember why. Evan was...was stuck. That's why Tommy was here. To find him.

"I'll find him," Tommy said into his radio. "S'okay, Howies. Don't worry." Bracing a hand against the wall, he made his way off the landing and into the hallway. "Evan! Evan, call out! Make noise!"

Tommy paused, ears straining to hear something, anything...

Bang, BANG, bang.

The sound echoed faintly, coming from the floor above. Tommy followed it, back out and up, heavy feet dragging themselves every step to the second floor.

This hallway had a touch of flame to go with the smoke, licking its way along the ceiling as it traveled down from the third floor.

Tommy spent so much time in the air these days, he'd almost forgotten how beautiful fire could be up close. How bright, how powerful...

Bang, BANG, bang.

And how dangerous. Danger Evan was right in the middle of.

"Evan!" Tommy yelled. "Evan! Keep making noise!"

Bang, BANG, bang. Bang, BANG, bang. Bang, BANG, bang.

"Good boy," Tommy breathed out, following the sound. It had to be one of the units down at the end of the hallway. But which one?

The Mechanicsburg Solstice Festival, that is!

(The first page of “A Mechanicsburg Solstice Story” was posted on Monday, November 30, 2020.)

This illustration of a flying train isn't specifically Solstice related, but it is snowing in the picture. And it isn't specifically a Girl Genius image, although it is certainly Girl-Genius compatible. Add in the fact that this was released as part of a large, mostly Girl-Genius-related wallpaper collection along with a lot of other winter-holiday-themed images, and I think that's reason enough to post it now. It's also a really cool drawing by Phil with a great coloring job by Cheyenne!