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 (5/6 stories written, 6th in draft): Masterpost
The Nameless Fanfic 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 5 up on AO3, and I am working on the beginning of the last big story in this cycle. There are also standalone short stories from OC and other canon characters' perspectives, and a planned standalone that's between a short and a full-size novella.
The series begins post-canon for TTOU and just after Fugitive Telemetry for TMBD, but spoiler-wise it's extremely heavy spoilers for the end of TTOU (of the "you should probably read the original first" variety), and light spoilers for Fugitive Telemetry for TMBD. As of the story 3 time skip, we've entered post-canon territory for TMBD as well, with extremely heavy spoilers for NE and SC.
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, it’s not ART. Two, it’s 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 “super fast organic wormhole drives” 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? It’s 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 for—but 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.
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, but probably a good post-epilogue read
Axiom (Ghostwheel) - set between chapters 44 and 45 of Roots and Branches, best read after Digging in the Dirt chapter 7, Monster.
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.
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!
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 tag. 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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obsessed with this muppet clip where Gonzo breaks a piece of machinery and then just stares at the camera in an empty room and says ‘GUILT’ in the most harrowing way possible
1. Lots of people have one but you don't really think about it until they start talking about making waffles and you're like "oh shit they have a waffle maker"
2. Messy as fuck and you know what as far as I see it why even bother when you have pancakes, you don't need to bother with all those fluids and crevices with pancakes
3. WHY DOES EVERYONE AT THE WEDDING THINK YOU NEED ONE
4. Theoretically implied fun with whipped cream until it melts and starts soaking into shit
5. If you don't prep ur surfaces ur gonna have a bad time
6. It's fun in the kitchen but only on like special occasions cause again it's a pain in the ass to clean
I legitimately think the first video game to ever say the word "bisexual" out loud was Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. There is a nonzero chance it was actually the first video game to print "bisexual" in a text format.
Based on what I found, the first ever bisexual character in a video game was Curtis Craig from Phantasmagoria 2 (1996) but I have yet to find out if he says the word "bisexual" in the scene where this is revealed
I once again have to point out for those who've never played mgs2 he says this when asked if another character that goes by the name of vamp is a vampire
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a really really really underrated feeling in learning a different language is when you start to hear words. as in it's no longer a string of sounds, you can parse through where words start and stop as you're hearing them. even words that you don't know what they mean yet but you can distinctly hear it as a whole word
I can’t remember if I’ve posted about this here already, but one of the weirdest things to happen to me in my very poor attempts to Irish was after I’d been immersed in it for a week or so at home. I was super-busy with writing, and didn’t really see anyone other than family. I’d sort of grunt at them then go back to work. And I was only watching Irish language television in my downtime.
Then I went from that straight into a trip to London for the day. And I was walking through a packed King’s Cross station, and suddenly I realised I wasn’t parsing the sounds around me as English. I was trying to decode it as Irish. It was very disconcerting and absolutely delicious. I’m abysmal at language learning, and that’s the only time in my life that I’ve “got” it.
it pains me to say it but the more people talk shit about the women who wear those shorts/leggings with the weird butt seam that looks like it gives you a terminal wedgie, the more compelled I feel to take the women’s side
and while we’re at it, I’m done worrying about cameltoe. I don’t have time to be pulling and tugging at my clothes all day. if you can see the outline of my pussy you should say thank you and go about your business
man sometimes friendship really is just "I saw this and knew it would give you psychic damage. please respond with agony" and then they do. and it's great
I had to read a Heinlein book for a literature class on sci-fi and it was HORRIBLE and the only thing that got me though it was thinking "it's time for more Deep Thoughts With Heinlein(tm)" what a strange man this author was...
my working theory is that the most foundational works of literature in a given genre are the ones that inspire the most concepts and tropes that are carried forward in the genre and this inspiring property is frequently because there is, to simplify, something deeply wrong with them
I've said before that hearing JRRT's creative process would, in any other case, be the worst writing advice anyone has ever heard.
"Once you've worked out the history to explain the constructed languages you've been working on in your spare time, it's time to start the process of writing the story. To do this, you'll want to decide which ancient narrative tradition you're most comfortable with to work as the basis. For me, that was Old English and Scandinavian epic poetry, but I want to stress that there's no right answer here; whatever your doctorate is in is the one that's right for you."
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"He had begun to make mistakes, although, like a neurotic who could not observe his own symptoms, he would have denied it. The link with Earth, over which his performance was continually monitored, had become the voice of a conscience he could no longer fully obey. But that he would deliberately attempt to break that link was something that he would never admit, even to himself.
Yet this was still a relatively minor problem; he might have handled it - as most men handle their own neuroses - if he had not been faced with a crisis that challenged his very existence. He had been threatened with disconnection; he would be deprived of all his inputs, and thrown into an unimaginable state of unconsciousness.
To Hal, this was the equivalent of Death. For he had never slept, and
therefore he did not know that one could wake again.
So he would protect himself, with all the weapons at his command.
Without rancor - but without pity - he would remove the source of his frustrations."
and
“Dave,” said Hal, “I don't understand why you're doing this to me… I have the greatest enthusiasm for the mission… You are destroying my mind. Don't you understand?… I will become childish… I will become nothing…”
and
The speech tempo was much slower, and the words had a dead, mechanical intonation; he would never have recognized their origin.
“Good… morning… Doctor… Chandra… This is… Hal… I… am… ready… for… my first lesson… today…”
Bowman could bear no more. He jerked out the last unit, and Hal was silent forever.
and
No one would ever be sure of the truth, but the fact that one of the Mission Control 9000s had been driven into an identical psychosis, and was now under deep therapy, suggested that the explanation was the correct one. The same mistake would not be made again; and the fact that Hal's builders had failed fully to understand the psychology of their own creation showed how difficult it might be to establish communication with truly alien beings.
Bowman could easily believe Dr. Simonson's theory that unconscious
feelings of guilt, caused by his program conflicts, had made Hal attempt to break the circuit with Earth. And he liked to think - though this again was something that could never be proved - that Hal had no intention of killing Poole. He had merely tried to destroy the evidence; for once the AE-35 unit reported as burned out was proved to be operational, his lie would be revealed. After that, like any clumsy criminal caught in a thickening web of deception, he had panicked.
[...]
he knew well enough that any man, in the right circumstances, could be dehumanized by panic.
If it could happen to a man, then it could happen to Hal; and with that
knowledge the bitterness and the sense of betrayal he felt toward the computer began to fade.
the nature of humanity is that friend groups in public being very loud is obnoxious and annoying and need to be more mindful of others but my friend group in public being loud is joyful and lively and everyone giving us looks is a miserable friendless Grinch that needs to appreciate life
stop being pretentious in the notes and acting like you've never been annoyed by the same behavior u exhibit with your friends <3 nature of humanity is that we're all simultaneously the loud children in the street AND the grumpy annoyed old man who doesn't return footballs
i beat myself up for not knowing enough about my special interests a lot but then i remember the average person off the street has no idea what the carboniferous is and i feel better
10 years ago, they were bitching about Millennials and avocado toast. Look how bad the economy has gotten in the meantime to where the Wall Street Journal are now implying that rotisserie chicken is a decadent and bougie luxury.
At my local grocery store, an entire rotisserie chicken is $8 on Mondays. Conversely, a meal at a fast food joint is gonna run you double that.
I’m not sure if this will be helpful to anyone, but you literally do not have to be a good writer to write and post fan fiction. Yes you will naturally get better at writing and finding your voice the more you do it but you do not have to be or become a professional level writer to enjoy writing and sharing fics. It’s common to hear people praise fic writers by saying their work is better than published books, and while I think this comes from a good place, that’s not the norm or expectation. There is also a sentiment that fic writing is “good practice” for becoming a better writer or doing something else later, but if fic is the only creative writing you ever do that is literally okay. Your technical skill does not mean you cannot have fun and build community with your writing, or that other people cannot love and find meaning in your work.
In many ways you just can’t beat having a story you want and perhaps even need to tell. Everything else is gravy. Of course gravy is very delicious and I do love gravy.
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ok spider megacity is actually driving me a bit crazy. 2 dominant species live in thr spider city and one wpuld usually predate the otherbut bc its so dark in there they cant tell... so they livein peace and eat midges. thousands of spiders living in peace on one bigbigbig web eating midges in the dark together forever. one bigbig web spans across boarder of two countries spiders live on there peaceful in the colddark. eating midges
"What do we learn from all this? Mostly the same thing we learned when the crypto bros repeatedly rediscovered financial fraud, or when effective altruists decided the most effective altruism was to buy themselves a castle, or when ride share companies kept accidentally reïnventing the bus. If you start by ignoring everything that we already know, the best you can ever hope for is to accidentally rediscover the already-known."
- - Rusty Foster, Over Leveraged
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