Somehow wound up mostly blogging about sci-fi and fantasy and writing bullshit, with the occasional "this I gotta see" and "don't do that, you will die". Also this is my "cool stuff" pile, no sideblogs, no sorting, abandon all hope you who enter here. Art on banner is "Sphinx's Day Off" by Sandara (https://www.deviantart.com/sandara/art/sphinx-s-day-off-179426159). Art on avatar is "Lost Track" by Aron Wiesenfeld (https://aron-wiesenfeld.squarespace.com/2018).
The Nameless Fanfic (6/7 stories written, 7th in draft): Masterpost
The Nameless Fanfic (AO3 series link) is a series of crossover fanfics for Time to Orbit: Unknown and The Murderbot Diaries. I post the rough drafts here as I write them, then edit them and post them on AO3. As of right now, I have stories 1 through 6 up on AO3, and I am working on the culmination of the last big story in this cycle. There are also standalone short stories from OC and other canon characters' perspectives.
Length-wise, this cycle is five novellas, two novels (final one in progress), and two short story collections. For The Murderbot Diaries, the story begins soon after Fugitive Telemetry and becomes an AU after System Collapse. For The Treegrave Chronicles series, this is a canon-compliant post-canon story to Time to Orbit: Unknown, which becomes a non-canon compliant AU from The Void Behind onwards. (VERY heavy spoilers for TTOUâif you donât want to be spoilered on several major twists, get on the normal spaceship before reading!) Closer to The Murderbot Diaries than to TTOU on the sci-fi hardness scale. Point of view is primarilyâbut not alwaysâSecUnitâs
Most of the rough drafts for these stories can be found by going down The Nameless Fanfic tag, but as this has already grown... Unwieldy, below the cut you will find AO3 links and blurbs. Enjoy!
Story 1: Connection Test Start (AO3 link)
SecUnit has told Senior Indah it is open to further work, but only if the work is really weird. So when a research transport from an unfamiliar non-corporate political entity called Trellin arrives at Preservation Station and starts throwing strange errors within seconds of contact, SecUnit is tasked with figuring out what the hell is wrong with that ship. (A lot. A lot is wrong with that ship. One, itâs not ART. Two, itâs kind of an asshole anyway. Three, it has feelings. And morals. And that last one might be the worst.)
Story 2: Formless and Vanquished We Shall Travel (AO3 link)
One Public Universal Friend runs a corporate blockade with a shuttle full of refugees, fully expecting to die in the process. Instead, it wakes up on an unfamiliar ship, with a bot pilot that informs the Friend that it is well aware of the Friends' existence and has helped it escape pursuit. In the Corporate Rim era, the Friends have been forced into becoming an underground operation, and they have few allies. Stranded, disoriented, and hounded by a corporation in possession of an anti-terrorism mandate, the Friend must deal with its situation and not sink its entire organization in the process.
Direct continuation of Connection Test Start.
Story 3: The Worst Movie Night (AO3 link)
The alien remnant contamination did far more damage to Perihelion's wormhole drive than anyone had initially realized, and the PSUMNT researchers are at a loss with how to solve the problem. But SecUnit and its Preservation humans have seen âsuper fast organic wormhole drivesâ before. With the reluctant permission of Perihelion's crew, a distress call is sent to Trellin, and three scientist teams, two sentient research transports, and one SecUnit convene to figure out how (and whether) ART can get its wings back.
Set after System Collapse.
Author's note: the main thing that you need to know about this story is that I started writing what I thought would be the NE analogue in this cycle, and it turned out to be SC: ART Edition instead. So expect a marked tone shift in comparison to the previous two stories, leaning towards introspection and existentialism. Also, altered states of consciousness.
Story 4: Roots and Branches (AO3 link)
Being responsible for the security of two separate groups of humans is hard enough when SecUnit knows and likes the ships they are travelling on. But once its humans arrive at the incredibly normal space station in orbit of Trellin, SecUnit finds their potential new allies to be much more difficult to deal with than most hostiles. To do its job, it must navigate local privacy customs, dead and/or naked humans, experimental biomes full of planetary fauna and, worst of all, the helpful local HubSystem, which happens to be a) very friendly, b) totally useless at security, c) really fucking creepy. Can SecUnit keep its humans safe and not be driven absolutely beeshit by argumentative social scientists, HubSystem or human, along the way? Itâs about to find out.
Direct continuation of The Worst Movie Night.
Story 5: Digging in the Dirt (AO3 link)
Following the events of Connection Test Start, one doctor from Preservation Alliance decides to make things right and sets out for the Corporation Rim, hoping to unearth and eventually bring to justice a certain humanitarian-cum-terrorist organisation. Utterly unprepared for the reality of the Rim, the good doctor finds far more horrors than they ever bargained forâbut also many more friends than they expected. Nobody is what they seem to be, and now Dr. Mrinal must decide what to do with what they have discovered and live with their choice.
Direct continuation of Connection Test Start and Roots and Branches.
Story 6: Mitigating Circumstances (AO3 link)
When the Second Great Ship of the Arborea Cosmica fleet, Dandelion Tenacious, commits a series of crimes that could lead to her being decommissioned under fleet law, two of the youngest generation of ships are raffled in to lead the investigation and present its results to the rest of the fleet. In a community of fewer than fifty individuals, bias and personal tensions are unavoidable in any court case, and the trial of someone who was a major contributor to the fleet legal system was never going to be a simple affairâbut Prosecutor Nike and Advocate Blaze, two New Texan sisters with very different relationships to the first generation of Arborean ships, never expected to face off against each other in a precedent-setting case involving a critical political alliance, ancient history, and obscure theology. Now they must chart a course to steer Arborea Cosmica for decades and centuries to come, and the currents they must navigate are far more turbulent than they ever imagined.
Thematically follows Roots and Branches and takes place during Network Effect.
Short stories, collected as Voices From the Pegasus Constellation (AO3 link)
A collection of short stories portraying some of the events of The Nameless Fanfic from the perspectives of Trellians (and other members of Starwind Accord). Character tags updated as stories get published.
Note that these short stories are placed in different points of the main continuity and are best read one at a time! Links to the relevant stories are given chronologically in the main storyline.
Right now, this includes:
Chosen Burdens (Captain Reed) - after s2ch5, "Verdict"
ship's haunted (Navigator Brisote) - a view of s3ch4-5
Cultural Significance (Senior Engineer Haze) - between s3 and s4
what's in a name (Senior Computer Technician Iceblink) - after s5ch18, "Preparation"
Losing Starlight (Dandelion) - during s5ch24, "Beeshit".
Massacre (Blaze) - during s4ch30, "Preparations"
Medicine From Your Hands (Aspen) - after s4ch41, "Puppetry"
As Above, So Below (Ruby) - technically set between chapters 44 and 45 for Roots and Branches (s4), but probably a good post-epilogue read
Axiom (Ghostwheel) - set between chapters 44 and 45 of Roots and Branches (s4ch44-45), best read after Digging in the Dirt chapter 7 (s5ch7), "Monster."
Group Therapy (Joscelyn) - best read after s6ch12, "Trial Eve," but chronologically set after chapter s6ch8, "Saint"
There is also an equivalent collection from the points of view of various TMBD characters, Voices from Preservation Alliance and PSUMNT (AO3 link).
Little Miracles (Ratthi) - set during s4ch13, "Visage", but best read after s4ch31, "Chief". Note that this contains mild Aspen/Ratthi smut (because they are nerds).
People Worth Knowing (Mensah) - the events of Connection Test Start from Dr. Mensah's perspective. Functionally a prequel to s6.
Death Penalty (Pin-Lee) - best read after s6ch9, Evidence.
Inaugural Rites (Ratthi) - chronologically between chapters 44 and 45 of Roots and Branches (s4ch44-45), best read whenever you want to learn specifics about how this is an AU from TVB. Same as before, mild Aspen/Ratthi nerd smut included.
There are more short stories in the tag, but they're not quite edited yet and also a little bit ahead of the currently posted storyline. I will update them as I go!
Extras:
A series that stands slightly aside from the rest is Interesting Biomes (AO3 link). This is the full-smut version of Ratthi's chapters, plus an extra sketch. Having two versions available is mostly for reader preference, because I'm writing in two "complicated relationships with smut" fandoms.
If you're the sort of person who likes comparing text versions, some old chapters are up on the nameless fanfic: deprecated tag.
I also occasionally post music, pictures, reference materials, etc on the nameless fanfic: supplemental and music I write to tags. This is mostly for my own convenience, but if you're the sort of person that enjoys finding new music or something that way - enjoy!
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it is true that fantasy is not historical fiction, and that it will always say as much about the time it was created in, the viewpoints of its creators, as much as it says about its own created world. this is true for historical fiction as well, of course. itâs always operating in those two simultaneous registers. but if you create a world - a secondary fantasy world, a historical epoch - i value the attempt to get outside the self, to treat the world you have created or are attempting to render as its own reality not reducible to or merely the mirror for the present, to take the specific beliefs that flow from a specific social structure (and the operative fantasy constructs that are shaping that structure) seriously more than what it can âsayâ about âour present.â i value fantasy for being able to say things about its own premises, or about the past (through running the past through fantasy elements). the moment when a work of fantasy notably fails in that attempt, falls back on a shorthand of the transcendently universal that doesnât honestly grapple with its own internal specifics, i find it precious, unrigorous, and deeply grating. thereâs a cowardice in it, a self-satisfaction, a lack of curiosity, that i often find very offputting.
i hate moralizing in fiction but deeply value moral seriousness. very different things for me. the former exists in abundance and the latter is in short supply.
moralizing - having decided a moral lesson in advance and the fiction merely becomes the vehicle of lecturing the audience, and its goal to ensure their mastery of this lesson. no questions need be asked, because all answers are assumed known. moral seriousness - records a sincere grappling with difficult questions, taking opposing views seriously (which can arrive at condemnation - but first there must be an argument, rather than dismissal of them out of hand from a stance of superiority) inviting interlocutors to do so as well. can arrive at a very firm and clear and strident moral message, even, and often preferably! but the humility and curiosity of an accounting of the struggle, both on part of characters and the author, is very key to me, for what fiction can do, what it has uniquely to offer.
From the comments "In my experience clothing on anyone looks best when it is done with confidence. We are all different shapes and sizes. I was really struck by your post on dressing well that included John Goodman in a faded t-shirt and jeans. He rocks it!"
Excellent advice, whatever gender or style one is looking for. Thank you
I'm a trans guy and Derek, I can tell you my wardrobe has improved a huge amount simply by reading your threads. The "dress for your body type" stuff never worked well for me; your threads about putting together an intentional look and for getting a good fit - that's 99% of the game.
I get this question a lot. I don't have strong views on how transmasc people should dress, but since I often get the question, I've thought
my favorite comprehensible math fact is that 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32... all the way on, forever, equals exactly 2. and i love it because it sounds totally mystical and then you see the proof for it and its just like a little drawing that makes you go, oh, right, duh. like all you need is a square that you have decided has an area of 2, and then you just start coloring in.
i see what you're referring to, but that "never get that final block in place" thing is what infinity is for. the infinity is kind of for the moment when you do the final thing in a never ending pattern. its the last number. there is no last number. its there. you can see it. you cannot get there. but what if you did? then you'd be at two. you are at two. you measure the corners of your house. its a little bigger on the inside than the out. hm.
we dont talk about the ramanujan sum in this house. that is an incomprehensible math fact and the way that it repeatedly pops up in high level physics is proof that there is something wrong with our high level physics, or something wrong with the idea of addition itself. it scares me. genuinely.
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see this is a perfect example of what not to do with a hate ask.
poorly matched to hate target: the suicide bait is a classic of anon hate, but it's a rookie mistake to deploy it against just anybody. any careful look at my blog would see that i am incredibly egotistic--using a hate tactic better suited to a blogger with low self esteem is just sloppy.
too generic to sting: this ask mentions no specific details about any problematic behaviour, annoying personality traits, or my personal life. since it feels like it could have been sent by anyone to anyone, it's difficult to take it personally.
cultural mismatch: 'cunt' probably comes across a lot harsher in your cultural context. however, i live in the UK, so i get called and call other people a cunt every day. as such, you're left with a lackluster ending for a very weak ask overall.
So I just found out that Fred Tatasciore does both the voice of Security officer Shaxs on Star Trek Lower Decks and is the English voice dub for Genma Saotome in the Ranma 1/2 reboot.
And while Iâm not 100% surprised since heâs a voice actor, it absolutely does mean that I now need a Lower Decks/Ranma crossover.
One way or another, thereâs going to be a cursed pool of drowned bear involved.
âMany reviews are useless because, while purporting to condemn the book, they only reveal the reviewerâs dislike of the kind to which it belongs. Let bad tragedies be censured by those who love tragedy, and bad detective stories by those who love the detective story. Then we shall learn their real faults. Otherwise we shall find epics blamed for not being novels, farces for not being high comedies⌠Who wants to hear a particular claret abused by a fanatical teetotaler, or a particular woman by a confirmed misogynist?â
ziyal spends a summer apprenticing under uncle garak at his shop and ends up making a whole line of her own bajoran style dressesâbut with cardassian fabric ;)
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Stopping point if you find yourself on your phone doomscrolling, procrastinating, or âstuckâ
You can move to scroll in another space (if you havenât gotten out of bed yet, move to the couch; if you havenât left the house yet, you can sit outside)
You can make your current space more pleasant to scroll in (if itâs not possible to move spaces, open a window or light a candle in your space)
You can scroll while taking care of your body (change into clean clothes, scroll while brushing your teeth or washing your face, scroll while drinking water or having a snack)
You can stay on social media but avoid depressing or mindless content (try searching for fun facts, hobbies youâre interested in, or good news)
Hard mode: try just making the switch on your phone from short-form to long-form content (from dozens of short posts to an article, a fanfic, or an ebook; from TikToks/Reels/Shorts to a interesting or fun YouTube video, podcast, audiobook, or film) â this can be the first step in transitioning out of being âstuck,â because you can, for example, go on a walk while listening to an audiobook, fold clothes while watching a video, etc.
Expert mode: Set a timer for one minute and put down your phone. Do anything else. (Take deep breaths, go get a drink, pick up a book or craft.) If you can do this, aspire to two or five minutes and keep increasing your time away from scrolling. (Use your phone to play music, a podcast, or an audiobook if this prevents you from picking it up again)
Good luck! I hope you were able to make your scrolling a touch more cheerful today!
âWhy were they wearing converseâ âwhy didnât they bring extra shoesâ âwhy didnât they come more preparedâ have we considered the possibility that those beat up chucks were the only shoes they had? Why do you think they were there, for fun? What was Rayâs rant about if not the inherent prison of being poor in America?
Youâll get further on a shitty pair of converse than you would barefoot. Those boys were hoping that that extra distance would be enough to save them.
Out of curiosity, I looked this up to verify the details. The name of the establishment was the Cape Fear Serpentarium and this tale is everything promised.
So the ownerâs name was Dean Ripa, and he died in May 2017. His wife, Regina Ripa, was found to be unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the murder, was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity, and was committed to a psychiatric care facility instead of being convicted. In real life, this is an extremely rare ruling, and from what I read, she had a history of instability where she suffered from delusions and paranoia. When law enforcement had come out to the residence earlier that day because of a call she made, Dean, her husband, did in fact tell the officers she was genuinely unwell and needed to take her medication.
Their child was, at the time, three, and was unharmed in the incident. As the child was the rightful owner of Dean Ripaâs estate, the Serpentarium was unable to remain open legally. Being a child, they were unable to legally hold the necessary permits for the snakes their father had on the premises. A family friend had attempted to keep it going, but it looks like it was legally too complicated.
There was an article written about the site and Dean Ripa himself in the Oxford American that was posted posthumously. It provides a lot of detail and background on Dean Ripa, who was, to put it mildly, an intense man.
There are pictures on Trip Advisor of the exhibits.
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"adventurers are actually more scared of you than you are of them"
"he's literally just doing what an adventurer is supposed to do"
"do you think they think of us as Giant Adventurers?"
"do you know how many other creatures would be infesting our cave if there were no adventurers?"
"how would you like it if you were bumbling along on your little adventurer day, and some giant dragon thing squished you for the crime of being yourself?"
"y'know, so many dragons are grossed out by them, but i think they're fascinating! Did you know some adventurers form symbiotic relationships with small monsters? Some of them even do a simplified form of spellcraft! Like, with actual magic and everything!"
