#mostly Violet Liu thoughts | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

loumauve · 6 years

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some starship iris thoughts

In another couple of months, she might have friends again. [x]

I can’t tell you how much my heart hurts for young Violet. (also for older Violet pre coming into contact with the Rumor crew)

I’m sure we’ll learn more about her history in time, but so far my takeaway is that she’s been feeling lonely for a long time. unable to make the connections she longs for, unable to find people who are as interested in getting to know her as she is in getting to know them. work (and life) on the Iris was isolating, as she told Brian when they talked about Alvy and how he was the only one to make an effort to be friendly with her. and just.. imagine that. you’re stuck out there in a metal bucket which.. sure, it’s a fancy metal bucket but still, and there is nothing but empty space around you, and the few people you could connect with don’t care to. just imagine that loneliness.

and to know that it started long before she ever got on board.. to know how she’s felt like she was never going to measure up (to the other Violet Liu, to her own aspirations) to know that she feels like she’s not smart enough or tall enough or too neurotic.. it just breaks my heart.

and I feel like Arkady and Violet are more alike in that way than they possibly realise. Arkady with her background and her hang-ups about only having an eights-grade education, and about the things she has done and continues to do even though she doesn’t like having to hurt people. I just want them to get to a point where they can accept that they are doing their best to be the best possible version of themselves, and to a point where they learn to communicate and to accept their self-worth, but I’m sure it will be a long time before either of those things happen. (we all know mental health is something that takes a lot of time and effort, and with everything else that’s going on, I’m afraid they don’t have a lot of time or energy to spare. but one day. hopefully.)

but.. and here comes my crappy headcanon about Violet and her home life.. which has no basis whatsoever, and I might be missing snippets of information already canonly publicised bc my brain is crap at retaining information..:

I feel like Violet’s mum or dad (or mums/dads/parents of indetermined gender?? there was definitely a moment when she was thinking about how her family was feeling about thinking she was dead and not knowing she was actually still alive in one of the episodes but the details are escaping me right now) probably were hard-working, kind people; people who would have taught her to always be kind, show humility, always do her best and that the right people would accept her for all of who she is. now, we know that we can hear all this and still feel anxious and have doubts and feel like we’re never going to be good enough. and being an anxious and possibly fretful, painfully shy kid.. life is hard that way. but I think her parents did the best they could to make sure she always had a safe place to come home to.

now.. we know that she moved away from home somewhere before middle school (excuse me for not having the slightest clue of how education works in the US or other parts of the world. it confuses me to no end when there are no simple grades that go from 1 to whatever.. sorry. also possibly part of bilingualists problems??) but I’m unsure about whether or not she moved with her family, or if she had to move on her own to some kind of boarding school - again, I’m sure we’ll learn more about the education system under the IGR in time. but at whichever point she separated from her family and went to live by herself, I feel like her parents would have made sure she never forgot she had people and a place where she was loved.

so.. all that build-up just to throw this tiny little thing into the room - I feel like Violet probably has a patch somewhere that one of her parents gave her that’s some piece of embroidery of violets that they made so she could pin it on whatever she was made to wear, be it school uniforms or uniforms that I imagine the IGR would happily stuff their researchers, and therefore the Iris crew, into. and it’s also my headcanon that when they went to retrieve her stuff and loot The Iris after Violet was onboard The Rumor that’s possibly how they knew which pile of stuff was hers. (or maybe it was just really obvious bc she is pretty tiny and most of the crew was tall people. I don’t know. just.. I like the thought of her having sth personal with her at all times. like.. who even knows. maybe she still had a plushie of some sort left over from her childhood. maybe it was all very soft, very comfy sweaters and thick socks and a home made patchwork blanket. I NEED TO KNOW IF THERE WERE STILL SHEEP ON EARTH WHEN SHE LEFT)

aaaanyway, let’s stop the rambling thoughts there.

PS: even more so than Violet and Arkady, I ship both of them with therapy and softness and gentle care and a ton of healthy communication. also naps. definitely naps. all of the Rumor crew (plus Junior Agent, I forget her name) x naps

#mostly Violet Liu thoughts #and soft headcanons about the harshness of mental illness in childhood and in space #The Strange Case Of Starship Iris #maybe one day when the fandom has grown and more people are contributing their thoughts and hcs this will feel less daunting #bc rn I'm pretty darn anxious about messing anything up. usually I'm all about AUs but I really just wanna get it right and close to canon #there will be time for AUs later

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podcastbigbang · 3 years

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'21 Projects Masterpost

dust and ashes | Unseen

Steven Winstead and Robin Fend make a deal to help each other to get out of Blackstar custody; Steven tries to figure out how to live with himself.

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Another Lazy Day In Pepper Heights | Dreamboy

Dane and Luke have a lazy day together, in which they attempt to talk about feelings, they dye Dane's hair, and watch some movies.

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A Heart for a Heart | Limetown

A "what might have happened" Fic for season 2 of Limetown. Follows Daniel Rassmueller and his journey from saving Emile Haddock to falling for him, and the tragedy of the Bridge.

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Growing Up | Desperado

Now Samar is on her own for the first time in her life, with only the stubborn Belkacem twins for support, as she struggles to find herself s an individual and prove to her ancestors that she's worthy of their return.

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Embers Still Burn | Critical Role

Caleb Widogast has been out of the AM and working to get himself free of their shadow for years now. What will he do when people close to him start to come under their influence?

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Chancellors and Changes of Heart | Stellar Firma

David gets to keep their place. Trexel learns to be a sink chancellor, what it's like to be actually vulnerable, and how to be a slightly better person.

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spite, caffeine, and homosexuality | Kaleidotrope

Coffee, study dates, identity shenanigans, and more. The question amidst this chaos is if Harrison and Drew will ever realize they love each other.

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A Tune Without Words | Kaleidotrope

Prince Harrison never thought he would get a happily ever after. That is until he meets a swan in the forest. A Swan Lake AU

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A Strange New Reality | Kane and Feels

Lucifer Kane spent a long time figuring out who and what he is, and there was a time where he had to figure out who he was. This tells of that time, and other moments of his youth.

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Library Pseudoscience | Kane and Feels, The Magnus Archives

Detectives Kane and Feels investigate the Magnus Institute. Can they face the horrors within, or will the terminally paranoid head archivist convince them to leave before they get the chance?

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i've lost and found you in seafoam and shorebreak | The Adventure Zone

Davenport is a traumatized man after having his autonomy and entire identity stripped away for years. He copes by sailing the old-fashioned way, and letting natural forces, rather than human decision and magical intervention, have control of his destiny.

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say what we wanna do, make it all come true | Strange Case of Starship Iris

Sana, Arkady, Brian and Krejjh are an up-and-coming indie band called Rumor. When they save would-be whistleblower Violet Liu from the clutches of her employers at a gig, they gain a band member - but also make an enemy of a ruthless corporation.

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a rumor of a fight | Strange Case of Starship Iris

a road trip complete with late night, inexplicably space themed diners, hotels with suspiciously few twin beds, and a few gentle interventions.

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You Know Me Well | Welcome to Nightvale

The year is 1811. Carlos is a prolific writer of gothic novels featuring everything from ghosts and spectres to vampires and beyont.

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A Thousand Hours (To Rearrange The Stars) | Welcome to Nightvale

An introspective look into the life and trauma of the beloved radio host of Night Vale, Cecil Gershwin Palmer.

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broken bottle mosaic | Welcome to Nightvale

A fairly introspective little piece about Carlos’ scars, both physical and not, and an exploration about how everyone has flaws or damage from the past, and how those things are not detriments to our whole self but instead a critical part of it.

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take me to the pilot | Wolf 359

What's left of the Hephaestus crew go on a road trip. What could go wrong?

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Funzo 2: It's Back and It's Personal | Wolf 359

Post-finale, the Hephaestus gang gets stuck in Cutter’s old office on the Sol. Things go from bad to weird when they find a certain “Craziest Board Game of 1973” in one of Cutter’s desk drawers.

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a weed usurps a spaceship | Wolf 359

There's an awful lot you see from within the vents. Space Mutant Plant Monster, on her crew, itself, and humanity.

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You Say I Killed You (Haunt Me Then) | Wolf 359

A mostly canon-compliant exploration of the SI-5’s past, and the difference between masks and monsters.

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Misroch Grabbing Chairs | Brimstone Valley Mall

In which Misroch grabs chairs, Trainees are acquired, and Belzagor knows all.

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Throw My Dead Body in the Dumpster Behind Weiner World When I Die | Brimstone Valley Mall

What if Brimstone Valley Mall was the other way around. Wouldn't that be fucked up or what?

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Handle With Care / Not Alone Anymore | Brimstone Valley Mall

Hornblas is gone. Belzagor is only just now registering this.

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falling doesn't feel so bad when i know you've fallen this way too | Brimstone Valley Mall

In which Belzagor and Xaphan are ordained by the heavens to clean up the satanic messes they’ve created in South Central Pennsylvania, and between furby reconnaissance and Chole's day jobs, end up hurtling through some identity crises together in true useless lesbian fashion.

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TBS Projects Masterpost | TMA Projects Masterpost | TPP Projects Masterpost

#podcast big bang 2021 #unseen #brimstone valley mall #welcome to night vale #the adventure zone #critical role #wolf 359 #strange case of starship iris #kane and feels #stellar firma #desperado #limetown #dreamboy #taz #wtnv #bvm

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jaggedwolf · 3 years

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air support, we need you (or: tscosi 2x09)

some bomb dropping, ofc, spoilers below duh

same game, top three things i had feelings ‘bout in reverse order

3. time skip time! Everyone could use a bit of a breather, even if it can’t live up to Arkady’s goat farm dreams

I thought all the planet assignments made sense, even if the completionist in me wanted it to differ more from the split that had already happened this season

ok ok the shipper in me was 50-50 but we’ll address that later

2. my man park!! is back!!!

Showing up with an anti-aircraft missile launcher as a wedding gift. I kept joking that Park would keep up his finale trend of showing up as a surprise being cool (as cool as Park can be anw), and thought it wouldn’t happen till it did!

and him also quietly saying the defector wasn’t Shelly....Park...are you going to talk about this...

narrowly avoided extended crew singing for the third time, will he keep up this success rate?

I would take a mini-episode that just followed Park in the second half of the season (Park: I am an independent man who needs no crew)

1. Arkady attacking Krejjh because she thinks they’re an enemy, AND then McCabe pulling a gun on her to make sure she didn’t run away. Bro. Bro, that shit was a direct hit to the id. Do I even have words for how good that was

Knowing what was about to happen as soon as Arkady said “You” in that tone of voice, ugh

Krejjh saying Arkady instead of First Mate Patel in desperation, and then brushing it off with a :D after

But god, McCabe. They’ve been so compelling this season, and yeah, maybe they’re approaching everything like a nail with the hammer they’ve got that shoots bullets, but the point is, it fuckin works

Arkady buys the threat (the promise of her crew’s safety?) more than she buys Krejjh’s reassurances

(though reading the transcript, Krejjh specifically telling Arkady “Science Officer Liu will never forgive you”, not “forgive us”, is excellent too)

“the only authority figures yet to disappoint me” / “I’m not an authority figure” / “you don’t get to decide that” is just like. embedded in my mind. just McCabe going no, you don’t get to run verbally either.

Do you ever think about how Arkady and McCabe had like, different kinds of fucked up childhoods compared to the rest of the crew. Like obviously McCabe ending up an agent so young and the stuff about their family suggests a pretty secure background, but it feels like the IGR and Dwarnian war starting when they were 12 gives them a kind of cynicism that meshes well with Arkady’s, in a way that’s distinct from how Arkady and Violet’s morbidness mesh, or Arkady and Sana’s pragmatism

ok more character feels under the cut

don’t scandalize the grandparents

A married man!

Impressed he made it through the season with no baddies wrecking his oxygen

Always ready to point out that Arkady is actually as much of a nerd as he is

AKA I didn’t realize it was a Mozart reference till he said so. Arkady defies the jock-nerd chart

okay who of Arkady or Krejjh is gonna tell him about MMA fight outside, or did they do a whole team debrief. For Arkady’s sake I’m hoping not the latter, though I guess everyone else would like an explanation for McCabe’s gun-pointing??

likes solving problems without guns, would prefer solving them by FLYING SPACESHIPS

Krejjh watches McCabe’s gun strategy work on Arkady and goes “do you folks really live like this?? why???”

I do love that their first thought on what to do next is to run a bunch of supplies around, probably between human populations that are going to be a wary at seeing a dwarnian show up. (Eat it, Eejjhgreb)

Kinda wonder if their feelings about getting choked out by their buddy are in fact more complicated than “it’s chill dude, please don’t do something stupid”

The cutest vow

who needs to calm down your crewmates with annoying words when you can just point a gun at them

Seriously where is the human-dwarnian war AU where it lasts longer or happens later where McCabe is the baby sniper posted to Arkady’s unit and they squabble a bunch (and perhaps kiss? When I wrote my third ever ficlet for this fandom never did I anticipate actually being interested in that)

what % of their Mirzakhani choice was thinking “what if Arkady tries to run from the goat farm and no one’s around to point a gun at her” jk jk

Their exclusion of Park from authority figures that didn’t disappoint them is fascinating. Is it that he left hoping for Shelly when it probably wasn’t her, or that he isn’t an authority figure anymore, a combination there of?

Or worst of all, is it that when he didn’t kill Krejjh back in 1x10, that really was a disappointment, no matter how much it might’ve been mixed with relief, and you can’t undo that moment?

What if they and Park talked. But I don’t think Park is going to goat planet, so that seems unlikely.

Their apology to Sana for heightened Martineau security! And Sana reiterating the profound gratefulness bit, gah

mostly read other people’s words and yet sparked consideration of two different OT3s, her power.

you know what, everyone deciding Sana is the best person to read words makes complete sense

There was one specific moment this episode that sent my mind into a tizzy about V/A/S, and it was Arkady going FINE GO ASK THE CAPTAIN THEN at how firm Violet was that Tripathi would be the one driving her, not Arkady.

I need you to understand that my V/A/S OT3 opinions are such that my shipping feels were more set off by that than Sana and Violet telling Arkady they were proud of her for choosing goat planet or whatever, like I don’t even know what dynamic was so captured by that argument, rip at Arkady having to be systems apart from them again

Though ofc my heart was buoyed by Sana’s earnest “Kady, you do more than that”, I want these two to go do a job together again, I miss that

To shift gears, I cannot believe “Lenny” started out as Sana being absolutely furious at the people threatening her crew and has ended up a teasing in-joke between her and Park, my Sana/Park shipping feels were very content. (When does Sana learn that Park didn’t get to hear the long list of fake crimes the Rumor crew specifically confessed to Lenny? This must be fixed. Tell him about the diamonds!)

Campbell said “Park, let me show you where we’ve been sleeping.” and my brain went. Wait. This is actually a good OT3?? Park is already unnerved by Sana’s earnest captaining, he should get unnerved by Campbell’s default magnanimity, please consider this

this is also where I point out that all these major characters have very convenient names for indicating ships solely via letters. V/A! B/K! S/P/C! This may solve my ot3 tagging problem...

get off that cotton candy boat, vi

Haha I loved that line from Doc Robinson she’s so no-nonsense, love Violet agreeing to work with her

Doc also said menders and I thought about this post again and also the team split and ahhh

But no, I very much liked Violet gently crushing Arkady’s goat farm dreams, and the two of them awkwardly discussing the very awkward stage things are at while still getting a feel for how the other operates

These nerds are trying and I’m still fond of them

at some point I was gonna make fun of Vi for not being able to drive before realising 1. she probably didn’t want to deprive the others of a vehicle 2. that would be incredibly hypocritical of me

wait does the igr have excellent public transport when they aren’t bombing it i take back every bad thing i’ve said abou-

*ahem* same question about the MMA fight debrief I had for Brian, it would be so funny if the situation was so rushed that like, Arkady+McCabe explain to Brian on the farm and Krejjh has to tackle everyone else

tick, tock, walking bomb, when it stops, nobody knows

arkady is so whumpable, and this show knows it

Redundant, but love how terrified of herself she is after hurting Krejjh and how strangely reassured she is by McCabe’s gun antics. And how she doesn’t like thinking of herself as an authority figure on the ship even though she literally is as First Mate

is ready to monologue about all major life events and the crew frickin knows it

is trying to help herself and stuff, still grumbling about it. in worse shape this season than last - probably all the constant discussion of the inevitable war just kept building stuff up and she kept ignoring it because haha who wants to deal with this prickly mess of a person haha

did i mention she’s the best

hope she gets her full goat farm dream one day, even if it’s not on actual goat farm

#tscosi #tscosi spoilers #jaggedwolf rambles #real rambling times yikes #mine #tscosi reviews

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tunedtostatic · 3 years

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i’ll be shelter, keep you safe and warm

Arkady wraps her jacket around Violet in the back of a getaway car. Violet returns the favor at a formal reception.

3.2k, Vikady, with cameos by crew and an OC

Also posted at archiveofourown dot org, /works/32625262

CW: weather (hot and cool) and related financial issues, PTSD, scars, anxiety, brief mention of carsickness, canon-typical peril

Title is from “Shelter” by Joy Oladokun

Arkady coming out of a PTSD interlude with a one-liner is inspired by “i am strong enough to let you in” by findyourstars, archiveofourown dot org, /works/18482959

This fic came from wanting to write The Draping Jacket Around Shoulders Trope for Vikady and being unable to decide between an Arkady jacket or a Violet jacket until I realized the obvious answer was BOTH. I wrote most of this a couple of weeks ago (the tone of the end of Chapter 1 has been fighting me but I think I finally worked it out...), so before episode 8 dropped, although I guess nothing in Chapter 2 was really jossed but rather just made more painful? Woof.

Violet slides into the backseat of the getaway car so fast she nearly careens into Arkady’s lap.

“Well hello there, Liu.” Violet can hear Arkady’s grin as she helps Violet disentangle herself, pulling the seatbelt of the seat next to her across Violet’s chest and lap in one smooth motion.

“Thanks! Arkady!” Violet pants, fighting a grin as she takes deep breaths after her sprint to the car. She doesn’t think she was being pursued, but their improvised backup exit strategy didn’t exactly leave much buffer time.

“Anyone on our tail?” Sana calls from the front.

Arkady turns to look out the rear window as Sana steers them out of the IGR building parking lot and back onto city streets. “Not seeing anyone.”

As Violet’s breathing slows, Arkady adjusts her knee so that it isn’t digging as deeply into Violet’s thigh and settles into the awkward backwards-leaning position. “I’ll keep watch for another few minutes.”

“Don’t make yourself carsick, Kady. Remember that time when—”

“No! No, I don’t, and neither do you.”

Violet laughs. The pent-up tension of the last few hours is diminishing now that she’s safe with Sana and Arkady, successful and on their way home to the Iris.

She sinks back in her seat, surreptitiously eyeballing Arkady for signs of injury as Arkady continues her lookout out the back window and Sana focuses on the road. Arkady doesn’t look hurt, and Sana probably would have shot them a “Let Violet take a look at your…” by now if she was.

That Arkady seems cheerful is confirmation enough that Sana is fine, and Violet relaxes a little more in her seat.

They did it. She did it. This plan depended on Violet as much as it depended on any of the other members of the crew, and she has the shaky elation that comes in the aftermath of danger. She did it, and it’s over now.

As they slip toward the city limits, Arkady finally settles into her seat facing forward, and the kneecap poking into Violet’s vastus lateralis disappears, replaced by the warmth of their thighs touching.

“I’ll keep an eye out, but looks like we’re in the clear.”

Sana acknowledges this, and Arkady turns to give Violet her full attention.

“How are you doing, Violet?”

“Fine.” Violet exhales, beginning to grin. “Good. Great, actually. That went well, didn’t it?”

“You were amazing, Liu.” Arkady smiles. “And yeah, aside from one of us deciding the best improvised extraction plan was to steal the most expensive car in the parking lot, it went okay.”

“More than okay.” Violet beams back at Arkady. “And I think it was very thoughtful of Tripathi not to deprive some broke IGR grunt of their family car.” She runs a hand over the seat leather and laughs, feeling a little giddy. “Besides...this car is nice.”

Arkady grumbles something about being happier once they’re back on the ship, and Violet settles back in her seat, used to Arkady’s recalcitrance about celebrating success until they’re well clear of it.

She smiles again. She did it, and it’s over.

Arkady has moved on to muttering about the building security system being tougher than expected and how easily it all could have gone wrong when suddenly she frowns. “Sure you’re okay, Liu? You’re, uh, shaking.”

“Oh.” Violet looks down at her arms. “Oh, um, I think that’s mostly the cold, actually? This air conditioning with this shirt…”

On the parked Iris, with fuel costs keeping the temperature reg no lower than a tolerable 78°F, the gauzy summer top had seemed like the perfect final touch to Violet’s civilian disguise. In the lobby of the IGR building, Violet had been reminded that not everyone had to take similar cost-cutting measures. Apparently that includes the rightful owners of the getaway car.

As though reading her thoughts, Arkady comments, “We should’ve remembered how cold rich people like their air conditioning.” Raising her voice, she adds, “Or, I don’t know, not stolen the 2191 BMW.”

“You know, that lobby reminded me of Harmony. The academic buildings were barely climate controlled, but walking into the admin building was like walking into the arctic.”

Arkady snorts, and they both look at the temperature control in the front, where Sana is now gripping the wheel and swearing.

Violet winces. “I’ll, um, ask her to adjust it once when we’re outside the city.”

Arkady removes a knife from her jacket.

“Uh, I don’t think a knife is going to help—”

Clipping the knife onto her belt, Arkady extracts two more knives and a switchblade, secreting each elsewhere on her person. Shrugging out of the jacket, she wraps it carefully around Violet’s shoulders.

In the dazed glow that takes up the next few seconds of Violet Liu’s life, words don’t really seem to be working for her, but she does manage to make a sound that comes out something like “Aghlf?”

The jacket is heavy around her shoulders, and it smells like Arkady, forming a barrier of safety and warmth between Violet and the rest of the universe. Violet slides her arms into the sleeves, snuggling into it.

“Um, the lockpick wires and emergency razors are still in the hems,” Arkady is mumbling, “so if it feels a little heavy, that’s why.”

“Mmmmm.”

“…Liu, are you listening to me?” Arkady’s voice shifts from sheepish to amused.

“Mm-hm.” Violet nestles her face into the jacket’s collar, breathing in the scents of engine oil and the cheap, supposedly forest-scented bath gel Arkady squirrels away in her room so Brian and Krejjh won’t use it in the Iris’s shared shower.

Arkady sounds like she’s trying not to laugh. “You know, I’m right here, if you’d rather hug the real deal than weirdly snuffle my jacket.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Violet makes sure to speak in a mischievous tone of voice so that Arkady knows she’s fully and completely joking. “This jacket does have a lot of your best qualities. It’s cute, and forest-scented, and really, really warm…”

“But can it do this?” Arkady wraps an arm around Violet, heavy and warm just like her jacket.

She rests her head against Violet’s hair, and Violet closes her eyes, trying to shut out every thought and sensation that isn’t the feeling of Arkady against her.

It’s possible, she concludes, that the aftermath of the con is leaving her a little more shaky than she initially thought.

Alone with Arkady’s voice in her comm but not a single safe person around her is, it turns out, a very real kind of alone. Now that she thinks about it, it might be the first time she’s been that alone since ADVANCE Labs. The museum heist was dangerous, of course, but Sana and Park were present. If Violet wanted to catch a glimpse of Sana’s smile or even the reassuring slouch of Park’s civilian posture, all she had to do was flutter her eyelashes and scan the room.

At the museum, Sana and Park’s presences hadn’t even come across to Violet’s conscious brain as comforting. Instead, it had felt like two more crew members who might meet an unspeakable fate along with Violet if something went wrong, and she had had to carefully control her fear about what it might be like to watch Sana get hurt or worse, or what it would mean for Arkady if neither of them returned to her. This morning as she pulled on the gauzy top and placed her comm in her ear, Violet had felt grateful that the crew member going most directly into danger was her.

She’s still grateful for that. But apparently even the weight of human love isn’t enough to crush the human brain’s instinctive horror at being surrounded by danger alone.

Violet realizes Arkady has been saying her name. She blinks, looking up into Arkady’s concerned face.

“Sorry. I’m okay.” Violet glances out the window. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was okay, but it was all…kind of a lot, I guess.”

“No kidding, Liu. Hey, it’s okay, okay?” Arkady rubs Violet’s arm over the surface of her own jacket. “Everything… Everything did go well. More importantly, it’s over. We’re, um, all okay?” She trails off, patting Violet’s shoulder awkwardly, and it strikes Violet for the first time how rare it is for Arkady to be in the position of offering comfort to Violet that doesn’t come from Arkady’s calm emergency self. “We’re all okay,” she repeats.

“Yeah.” Violet tucks her face into the crook of Arkady’s neck, breathing in the scent of Arkady herself, warm skin and the dream of a forest.

Arkady leans against the top of Violet’s head again, sighing into her hair. Violet closes her eyes, wondering if the part of her that knew there was a real chance she wouldn’t make it back to Arkady is still catching up to the fact that she has.

They embrace for a few more minutes before shifting to a more relaxed position, leaning on each other’s shoulders.

“How are you doing?” Arkady asks, neutral.

Violet considers the question, then nods. “Okay. Maybe not great. But okay.” She looks forward at Sana, then up into Arkady’s eyes. “We are okay.”

Silently, Arkady leans down to kiss her on the forehead, and Violet lets her body rest as the edges of the city whisk by.

The atrium has been strung with hundreds of lights at the top of its columns, and between the lights, the string quartet, and the quantity of jewelry sparkling on everyone around them, Violet is beginning to feel like she’s in a scene from a film. As Arkady gracefully extracts them from one conversational circle and steers them toward another, Violet gives her suit jacket a firm tug, reminding herself that while Violet Liu is new to glittering receptions, the person she’s playing is not.

The part of Violet’s brain that isn’t consumed by keeping up her persona is, she would have to admit, enjoying both the suit and the feeling of Arkady’s hand on her arm as they glide across the atrium together, Arkady’s evening gown and capelet flowing behind them.

The cape was an improvisation. The only gown they’d been able to find on short notice was sleeveless, and while Arkady could have passed off the size of her biceps as her sweet-natured socialite self’s passion for rock climbing, fewer explanations would cover the scattered scars of over a decade of engine burns, knife fights, and the occasional bullet. Sana had fished a few yards of silk out of her fabric stash, and within hours Arkady was trying on a capelet that skimmed her elbows and fastened with a brooch between her collarbones.

Brian had gleefully informed her that it was an opera cape. Sana had been fairly certain that opera capes were longer. Brian had argued that opera capes were a supercategory and “womens’” included any that could conceivably be worn with an evening gown at the opera, and Arkady and Violet had escaped to the kitchen before the debate really took off.

As they glide across the atrium, Violet pushes the capelet debate aside, focusing back on her role as Arkady’s stately financier wife (“What’s a financier?” Krejjh had asked, leading to a debate Violet wasn’t lucky enough to dodge). It’s almost fun to let a hint of swagger into her walk, even if the part of her that’s enjoying the suit wishes that it could be her real name on Arkady’s lips and Arkady’s real laugh in her ear.

“Great, that’s the last of the key intel.” Arkady’s reassuring mutter is so low it’s almost subvocal. “I’m going to bring us to that group of functionaries, see if we can pick up any extra dirt on—”

She is cut off by a muffled boom, and the crowd around them flutters, people looking up and around for the source of the sound.

“Construction on the old library wing,” someone near them is announcing loudly. The crowd begins to settle back into its former patterns like a ruffled bird relaxing its feathers, and Violet turns back to Arkady, expecting her to continue leading them toward the group beside the string quartet, but Arkady is frozen, her body turned as though to shield Violet and completely still except for trembling.

Shit. Taking a calming breath, Violet steps in front of Arkady, filling her field of vision. Arkady is staring past her, her eyes glazed, and oh jesus, this hasn’t happened before, not during the day, not during a mission—

“Ar—” Shit. And she thought she resented being unable to use Arkady’s name a minute ago. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

Arkady unfreezes slightly. “Where…” she mumbles.

A small group nearby is starting to glance toward them. “Everything’s okay, honey,” Violet says loudly. “Why don’t we go get some air?”

“Why…” Arkady echoes. Her breathing is short and shallow. Violet swallows, afraid of what might happen to them if she grabs Arkady and tries to hustle her toward the door and equally afraid of what might happen to them if she doesn’t.

Think, Vi.

A man from the staring group says something to his companions that must be reassuring, because they stop ogling Violet and Arkady, falling back into their own conversation as the man steps away from the group and toward the two of them.

Violet schools her face into what she hopes is a mixture of authority and worry. “My apologies for bothering you and your friends. My wife—”

“The war?” the man asks quietly. His eyes are kind.

Sure. Yes, the war. Violet is halfway through nodding gratefully before she remembers there’s a solid chance it isn’t a lie.

“Anything I can do to help?” The man nods toward a corner of the atrium. “There’s a quicker way to the courtyard through there, if you think she’s ready to walk.”

“Are you ready to get some air, darling?” Violet asks tenderly, hoping the cloying pet names will remind Arkady of the role she’s playing even as she resents herself for having to guide Arkady out of one nightmare and back into another.

Arkady blinks at Violet. Somewhere in her dazed eyes Violet sees the stirring of an expression she’s seen many times before, from a room at ADVANCE Labs to the back of a getaway car, and she realizes that the thing she’s done that has gone furthest toward keeping them safe is letting some of her own fear show.

Arkady reaches toward Violet, and Violet takes her hand.

“You need,” Arkady grits out. “To tell me.”

“Don’t try to talk.” Violet keeps her tone soothing for the benefit of the stranger, hating herself for the real meaning behind her words. “Just walk with me, okay?” The last syllable is an idea. “’Kay?”

Arkady nods, and the three of them head for the door with the stranger leading the way through the crowd. Violet focuses on controlling her own breathing. What would the person she’s playing act like right now? Not much different than Violet. Worried about her wife. Grateful for the help of this stranger.

Would the person Violet is pretending to be be embarrassed for her wife to be seen like this? If so, that isn’t something Violet is going to portray.

The night air is cool when they slip into the courtyard. The man walks them to a bench, stepping back as Violet helps Arkady onto it.

“Anything else I can do?”

Violet shakes her head. “Thank you.”

“Good luck,” he replies gently, addressing both of them, before turning and walking back toward the atrium building. Violet exhales shakily as he disappears into it.

“I still don’t like rich people.”

Violet turns. Arkady is looking up at her. Her breathing is still shallow, but her eyes are clearer.

Violet laughs feebly, sitting beside her. “How are you doing?”

“Well, I’ve been better, Violet.” Arkady wipes a hand across her face. “Did I say—”

“You didn’t give us away, Arkady. You did great.”

Arkady grimaces at the second part, but doesn’t argue aloud.

“Me, on the other hand—” Violet stops, giving herself an internal shake for criticizing herself the way she was just wishing Arkady wouldn’t. “I would have figured something out,” she revises, and Arkady nods. “But…I guess we’re lucky that that guy was the one who noticed us.”

“Yeah, sure, what a teddy bear,” Arkady grumbles. “Big old congrats to him for his grasp of PTSD 101 and basic crowd control, I guess.”

Violet sighs. “Maybe he has friends who fought in the war, or—”

Arkady shakes her head. “Him.”

At Violet’s questioning look, she explains, “When he was walking us toward the door, he took point. Maybe he thought it’d make me feel safer. Maybe just fell into it.”

“Oh.” Violet looks to their right. “Well, ready to get out of here? There’s a path from this courtyard that should take us back to the carpark.”

Arkady raises an eyebrow.

“What? You said memorize the floor plan; I memorized it!”

“I always tell the others that; they never actually—”

Violet grins. “Advantages of a lack of confidence?”

“You seem pretty confident to me.” Arkady leans forward to kiss Violet on the forehead. There are shadows in her eyes, but her words and motions are fluid again, and Violet relaxes a little more even as she again finds herself resenting having to worry about this for any reason other than Arkady’s own wellbeing.

As they stand up, Arkady rubs her arms, and Violet realizes the single layer of capelet probably isn’t much against the evening chill.

“Hang on.” Violet slips off her suit jacket, reflecting as she reaches up to drape it around Arkady that this is one advantages of being chubby; even if her jacket still wouldn’t have fit Arkady’s exceeding muscular upper arms, it does comfortably span her broad shoulders.

Arkady stops in her tracks, staring at the jacket with a bashful smile that Violet realizes is the first actual Arkady smile of the night.

As they head down the path, Arkady reaches for Violet’s hand and squeezes it before letting their hands relax into each other’s, swinging loosely between them.

“Well, at least we got what we needed before that little fiasco,” she mutters. “How’d you like your first obnoxiously fancy soiree since the museum heist?”

Violet thinks about the sparkling room and the soldier with kind eyes, finding herself wondering which side he’ll fight on if the next war is human against human.

“There were…a lot of jewels.” She leans into Arkady’s shoulder. “Existent, even, not fictitiously stolen.”

“Hey, at least Sana can act. Can you imagine if we’d sent Krejjh down there?”

“I’ve been telling you, they just haven’t had a chance to practice! Most of your cons are on humans. I still think they’d make a better actor than you think.”

“Yeah, because you’ve never heard the story of the last time they tried…”

“Guess you’ll have to tell me when we get back.”

As they arrive at the carpark, Arkady bounces her own shoulder against Violet’s. “Hey. Thanks for the jacket, Liu.”

Violet smirks. “I just felt bad for you in that little not opera capelet. Could you even fit your emergency wires in there?”

Arkady looks smug. “They’re elsewhere in the outfit.”

“Of course they are.” Violet rolls her eyes, tugging Arkady’s hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”

#tscosi #the strange case of starship iris #vikady #violet liu #arkady patel #my writing #fic

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iffeelscouldkill · 3 years

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The Strange Case of the Iris Express

[ID: A picture of a tan train car door with the text "The Strange Case of the" in the window, "Iris Express" on a white band of metal below the window, and "enchantedsleeper" on a plate of metal in the center of the image. All of the text is in all caps, dark brown serif, except for "enchantedsleeper," which is edited to look like it is embossed onto the metal plate. The door is very dirty. /end ID]

Summary: Violet Liu, a scientist working for industrial corporation Republico, is travelling on a brand new steam train called the Iris Express when she finds herself sharing a carriage with Kay Grisham - a young woman who says she grew up in the same small town as Violet. But as things start to go wrong with the train, Violet realises that the journey, and Kay, might not be what they had seemed.

Length: 11,583 words

Relationships: Violet Liu/Arkady Patel, Alvy Connors & Brian Jeeter

Read it on AO3!

A/N: Here is my fic for the TSCOSI Season Two Hiatus mini-bang, @tscosi-minibang! I am stoked to have worked with two brilliant artists AGAIN for this fic, @demonic-kitkats (whose fantastic artwork you can check out here) and @caedogeist-rights, who has made a podfic! of my fic!! which you can listen to on AO3! Ae also made the wonderful title card you see above 😍

Innumerable thanks are also due to Ehlana, whose tireless beta work made this fic so much better than it would have otherwise been.

Detailed content warnings and the full fic can be found on AO3, but read on for a small taster!

The brand new steam train was state of the art, or so her supervisor at Republico had told her – a fact that did very little to calm Violet’s nerves as she walked along the gleaming length of the Iris Express looking for an empty carriage. Or, failing that, a less-crowded one.

You might think that the presence of other passengers would have been reassuring, but as she took in the idling, hissing locomotive, Violet could feel the edges of a nervous attack tugging at her, threatening to drag her down, and if that happened she’d prefer to have as few people around to witness it as possible. Especially men making ‘helpful’ comments about female hysteria.

Finally, she drew level with the last carriage – the farthest away from the engine – and was relieved to find it mostly empty, with only a group of elderly women seated in a corner, talking quietly. Taking a last deep breath of dusty air, Violet boarded the Iris Express, gathering up her skirts so that they wouldn’t catch in the doorway. She made her way to the far corner and sat down, placing the leather case the company had entrusted to her on the seat beside her.

They had ten minutes until the train was due to depart. With any luck, no-one else would be getting into the carriage before then. Violet turned her head to look out of the window and tried not to think about the upcoming departure.

Get a grip on yourself, Violet, she thought sternly. Dozens of people have travelled by steam train without any problems. The corporation’s top engineers designed this and certified its safety. What are you afraid is going to happen?

“Hi!” a cheerful voice broke into her thoughts, and Violet did not almost jump out of her skin. She looked up to see a woman of around her age beaming down at her. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb your thoughts – I just wondered if you’d mind some company?”

Violet stared inarticulately at her for a few moments, thrown (and wondering what was wrong with the numerous other empty seats in the carriage), before her manners kicked in. “No – no, please have a seat.”

The woman’s face relaxed into a smaller, almost relieved smile as she sat down across from Violet. She had kind eyes, Violet thought. She was tall, her skin a few shades darker than Violet’s, her dark hair braided and wound into a knot at the back of her head.

“Kay Grisham,” the woman introduced herself.

“Violet Liu,” Violet said.

“So, what brings you aboard the Iris Express, Violet?” asked Kay.

Violet was about to reply when a loud whistle from outside made her jump again and clutch at her seat. The train was getting ready to depart.

“First time on a steam train?” Kay asked knowingly as the train began to slowly move away from the station, thick clouds of smoke obscuring the view outside the window.

“Is it that obvious?” Violet asked, aiming for self-deprecating humour. Her voice only shook slightly, and Kay was gracious enough not to comment on it.

“I know the feeling,” she said. The train was now picking up speed, the whole carriage rattling as it moved over uneven joins in the track, and Violet focused on taking deep, even breaths. Hearing Kay’s voice actually helped – there was something calming about it. Maybe having company wasn’t so bad after all. “I doubt a steam train would come within ten miles of the town where I grew up – it was tiny. More of a village, really.”

Violet smiled. “I was born somewhere like that,” she said. “You either knew everyone else who lived there, or you knew someone who knew them. It was… a little confining, but cosy at the same time. Not a bad place to grow up.”

Kay laughed. “That sounds like Harmony Creek,” she said, and Violet froze.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Have you been there?”

Kay frowned slightly. “Harmony Creek? Yeah, that’s – where I grew up. Well, nearby anyway. My father had a general store on the outskirts of town, Grisham’s.”

“But… I grew up in Harmony Creek,” Violet said slowly. “We’re from the same town?” Her head was reeling slightly at the incredible coincidence – that hundreds of miles from her former home, she could have met someone who grew up in the same small, insular community. And yet – she couldn’t remember ever hearing about the Grisham family, or a general store on the edge of town. Could she? She racked her brains.

A broad grin was spreading across Kay’s face. “I thought your name was familiar!” she exclaimed. “Violet Liu – do you have a younger sister? Juniper?”

Violet’s eyes widened. “That’s right – we’re several years apart in age. Six years to be precise.”

Kay nodded like this had confirmed what she’d expected. “I have younger siblings, too – I think my brother and your sister used to play together. Jack Grisham?”

“Jack…” Violet tried to remember the names of any of Juniper’s playmates, but couldn’t. She’d been at the age where she was far too self-interested to pay attention to what her little sister had been doing, except when Juniper tried to play with any of her toys. “Sorry,” she said, embarrassed. “Clearly my memory is worse than I thought. You must think I’m so rude, not remembering you or your family.”

“No, no,” Kay rushed to reassure her. “It was more than a decade ago – it would be ridiculous to expect you to remember. My family did keep to ourselves – we weren’t heavily involved in town life, aside from the store.”

She paused, and then said with a bashful hesitancy, “I did see you around town once or twice and – think that I might like to talk to you. Ask you for a drink, even. But I never had the courage. Maybe if I had, I’d have been more memorable.”

Violet stared at her, aware that she was blushing fiercely. “W-well – it’s never too late,” she said. “Maybe after we get to the end of this hellish journey, we could… get a drink together.”

Kay looked surprised, and then favoured her with another delighted smile. “I’d like that,” she said. “Is it still a “hellish” journey, then?”

“I—” Violet stopped, and realised that it had been several minutes since she’d even thought about the fact that she was on a train – and the anxiousness that had been pressing against the back of her throat had faded significantly. “I’ve realised there are… some definite upsides to it.”

Read more 1800s gay flirting on AO3

#TSCOSI #The Strange Case of Starship Iris #tscosimb21 #Western AU #Steampunk AU #fic #just a useless gay outlaw and a disaster bi medic flirting on a train #well and also there's a plot but it's mostly there for decoration #Krejjh is an in-universe steampunk cosplayer #also gunfights! and automatons #all things you can enjoy in the full fic :D #mentions of period-typical sexism #but no period-typical homophobia or racism #this is a queer diverse 1800s damnit #also Doc Robinson became a surprisingly cool character in my fic and I dig it honestly

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vhenadahls · 5 years

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‘cause i don’t want you like a best friend

Violet joins Sana on a quiet market run when they find a safe port, and makes a purchase that gets under Arkady’s skin.

“Alrighty then, peaches and keens, we are officially landed and clear on this planet I will not name. The sky is clear, the weather is nice, and it appears to be - market day?” Krejjh leaned forward to see better out of the cockpit. “Or if not, some other day when a whole bunch of humans put up tents on the docks and mill around yelling at each other.”

Sana joined them at the window. “It does look like a market. I wonder what we’ll find out there.” She clicked on her comm link. “Sana Tripathi to Violet Liu.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“I’d like you to come out to that market on the docks with me. How does that sound to you?”

A familiar hesitation crept into Violet’s voice. “Is that safe?”

“As safe as we can be on a planet, at this point.” Sana nodded goodbye to Krejjh, taking a last look at the bustling market setup. The ship’s empty corridors were a sharp contrast. “You could use some fresh air and solid ground under your feet.”

She couldn’t hear it, but Sana could imagine Violet’s anxiety-fueled body language - twisting fingers, bitten lips, and a deep breath before speaking. “Uh, well, what about Arkady? Doesn’t she usually go with you when you’re off the ship?”

“I’m asking you this time, Violet. Meet me at the airlock?”

She’d already made it all the way to the airlock before Violet responded. “Okay, Captain,” she murmured, so quietly Sana wasn’t sure she’d heard anything at all.

“Meet me at the airlock,” she repeated. “Sana Tripathi out.”

As if on cue, Arkady popped out from around the next corner. “I’m ready to go, Captain.”

Sana flicked one hand through the air: a dismissal. “Not today, Arkady. I’m taking Violet out for this run. I need you to take a look at the comm system; it keeps trying to jump signals when we’re making outside calls. You’ll have an easier time of it if you can connect to the local network.” With a flurry of practiced motions, she reached up and adjusted her hijab, punctuating her point.

Arkady blinked, standing far more still than usual. “You do mean the same Violet Liu that I know, right? The one who panics at the first sign of trouble? And you want to take her out, just the two of you, to a pop-up market on a planet in the ass-end of nowhere?” She crossed her arms, defiant. “Does she even want to go?”

Eyebrows raised, Sana leaned back on the wall next to the airlock. “That’s a strong reaction you’ve got there, Arkady. It’ll be fine. We haven’t let slip where we are, so the Regime’s on the back foot for once, and not even any of Brian’s mafia buddies are set up here.” She straightened as footsteps echoed down the hall. “And she deserves a little fresh air.”

Violet chose that moment to appear from around the opposite corner, muttering to herself. Both the muttering and her forward momentum stopped when she caught sight of Sana and Arkady. “Oh, Captain, I guess since Arkady’s here, you won’t be needing me?”

Ignoring Arkady’s pointed I told you so look, Sana waved another dismissive hand. “Kady’s staying to take a look at whatever’s causing the comm system to jump signals on outside calls. You and I can take the hand cart and pick up some things we need at that market.”

Violet swallowed. “Um, okay then. See you later, Arkady?”

“Sure.” She spun and stalked back up the corridor without a backward glance. Sana punched in the airlock code in silence, gesturing for Violet to follow her when it swung open.

---------

Aside from the hand cart’s wobbly left wheel and the vague sense of impending doom that had settled around her shoulders when she’d stepped off the ship, Violet had to admit that fresh air and solid ground were a nice change from the slapdash walls of the Rumor. She followed Sana from booth to booth, watching as she haggled her way into a week’s worth of fresh food and a month’s worth of canned and frozen food for the crew. It was amazing, watching Sana strike up a rapport with people she’d known for all of twenty seconds.

“How do you do it?” she asked, leaving the booth who’d just sold them a slightly ridiculous amount of frozen green beans for half price.

“The haggling?” Sana shrugged. “I don’t really have to try to do it, anymore. Just comes from talking to people a lot, I think.” She patted one of the packages of green beans, on top of the pile in the hand cart. “I’m glad it still comes in handy, though.”

They continued on in silence, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of a portside market day. After the row of mostly food stalls came one mostly full of second-hand clothes, and Sana made to hurry down the aisle and up the next. But Violet drifted towards one of the booths. “It would be nice to have some clothes that didn’t have the Regime’s symbol printed front and center,” she said, gesturing at the arch and stars emblazoned on her shirt.

The person minding the booth laughed, and Violet blushed scarlet, realizing what she’d just said out loud. “Oh - uh, I didn’t - I mean -”

Both the shopkeeper and Sana shook their heads. “Nah, you don’t have to watch what you say about the IGR out here. Take a look, buy yourself something nice.” They turned to Sana and asked about flight paths and prior destinations, giving Violet a moment of relative privacy. Counting breaths to slow her racing heart, she walked slowly down the length of the booth, rummaging through stacks of shirts, shorts, pants, and everything else. Halfway down, a flash of red in a sea of neutral colors caught her eye. Unfolded, it turned out to be a dress, halter-style, with an embroidered pattern of lilies along the bottom hem. It was the kind of soft that indicated many wearings and washings, but not so many that the color had faded.

Violet let herself fall into a daydream - walking into the mess hall in that dress, watching Arkady’s mouth fall open, the speechless one for once. They’d have tea, and Arkady wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes to herself, and maybe after that they’d go back to her room and -

“That would be a lovely color on you,” the shopkeeper said, scattering Violet’s thoughts. “And as far from Regime blue-and-white as you can get.”

Nodding stiffly, Violet ran her fingers over the embroidered lilies, ducking her head to hide her reappearing blush. “It’s a beautiful dress.” She folded it back into the pile, the flowers disappearing under the gathered fabric.

Sana unfolded it again, pressing it back into Violet’s hands with a knowing, almost wicked grin. “Buy the dress.”

---------

Arkady stomped down the hallway, grumbling under her breath. Bad enough that Sana hadn’t wanted her along for the market stop, bad enough that she’d taken Violet instead. But even worse that the excuse of the comm system repair had been true, and that it had taken all of her afternoon and multiple trips back to her room for a different set of tools. She hadn’t even been able to grumble in peace.

Passing the mess hall, she caught the scent of coffee wafting through the closed door. Krejjh and Jeeter were still up in the cockpit, playing cards, so the coffee must mean Sana and Violet were finished with the market - and hadn’t told her? She slid open the door, calling out, “hey, I didn’t realize you’d gotten -” and stopped, both walking and speaking. Her mouth went dry.

It was indeed Violet at the coffee maker, her back to the door, clad in a red halter dress Arkady had never seen before. A tattoo spread over her left shoulder, a tangle of music notes and flowers that matched the embroidered ones along the dress’s hem. She turned at the sound of Arkady’s voice, a soft smile on her lips, and Arkady realized with a start that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Of course not, the rational part of her brain tried to say, it’s a halter dress. But the entire rest of her brain was stuck someplace entirely different, belatedly noticing that her mouth had somehow gone even drier.

“Want some coffee, Arkady?” Violet asked, apparently blissfully unaware of the effect her bare collarbones were having on Arkady’s ability to think straight.

“Oh, uh,” she started, mentally kicking herself. Get it together, genius. “No, I’m good.” She stepped back into the hallway and let the door slide shut. Hurrying away, only vaguely aware that she was going the entirely wrong direction, she tried to put all thoughts of Violet out of her head. What the hell, Liu?

---------

Still in the mess hall, Violet stopped trying to control a flood of almost-hysterical giggles. Okay, yeah, the dress had been a very good purchase indeed.

#the strange case of starship iris #tscosi #arkady patel #violet liu #vikady #sana tripathi #krejjh #otp: just talk to me #logan writes fic

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setmeatopthepyre · 5 years

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Audiodrama recs

So with all the being busy, I’ve been in public transport and walking across town a lot, so I’ve been able to do lots with my new fitness regime, which I all Podcasts & Pokemon. By which I mean that the best way for me to focus on podcasts is when I’m walking, so I started playing Pokemon Go again, and now I’m suddenly getting this thing they call exercise.

Anyway, I’ve been binging a few of them and thought I’d compile a list of the ones I’ve completed or am all caught up on.

- EOS 10 Audiodrama about doctors on a big space station that hosts a variety of alien races (and humans). The main character is Ryan Dalias, who has been transferred to be the head of surgery on an Alliance space station. Here he meets a grumpy alcoholic doctor, a very excitable nurse who is prone to violence and plotting, a hypochondriac deposed alien prince who is usually a big part of said plotting, and a bunch of other fun characters including a super gay space pirate. Fast-paced and funny, scrubs in space meets government conspiracies, lots of plotting, shenanigans and sass, disaster bi & gay rep.

- The Strange Case of Starship Iris I feel like the less you know about the story going in, the more compelling it is. Set as an investigation of sorts that uses recovered tapes to tell the story. The main character is biologist Violet Liu, who is trapped on a research ship after the rest of the crew are killed in an explosion. Long episodes, really character-driven, lots of LGBTQ rep, including trans, nonbinary and bisexual characters in the main cast. There’s some major violence at one point, but there is a warning at the start of the episode (and if anyone needs to skip that bit, let me know and I can look up the timestamp/references/tell you what bit of story you missed).

- Wolf 359 Centered around actual walking disaster Doug Eiffel, who is the communications officer on the U.S.S. Hephaestus station. The story starts off basically following Eiffel’s attempts to relieve his boredom while on the station, which orbits a star, has a tiny crew, lots of empty space, and not much to do.. but shit hits the fan soon enough. Completed story with lots of episodes, including minis and specials. Lots of humor, good character development, conspiracy. Romantic relationships mostly only play a role in the character backstories (and two male characters later on reference being attracted to men).

- Time Bombs Mini story (3 eps) written & created in one week’s time, from the same writer (& a lot of the same cast) as Wolf 359. Shenanigans of a bomb squad on new year’s eve. There’s a warning a the start of each ep about discussions of violence and death, but there’s no graphic descriptions of anything and no one gets killed or critically injured.

Currently listening: The Penumbra Podcast

If anyone has any questions about any of the shows I’ve listened to already (including info about triggers, I’m happy to go back and check things for you), let me know!

I’m also looking for more recommendations for podcasts. I’m loving the scifi stuff, but will try anything. Bonus points if it’s a ‘different gender identities and sexualities are totally normal’ thing, super extra bonus points for bi disasters.

#audiodramas #audiodrama #podcasts #podcast recs #eos 10 #the strange case of starship iris #wolf 359 #time bombs #the penumbra podcast #personal #sorta

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chekhovs-harpoon · 6 years

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Some sci-fi podcast recommendations

As an aspiring scientist and just general nerdy person, I love the sci-fi genre dearly. But tbqh, I find myself loving the genre itself and its concepts rather than the actual stories and media. I find that a good deal of sci-fi stories are written exclusively for, about, and from the perspectives of Cis Het White Men™, which I as a queer Filipino cannot relate to at all. I find it Bothersome that so many stories set in the future erase people like me. And I think that so many of these stories are so emotionally dull and lifeless as they tend to focus on the world and concepts at the detriment of fleshing out characters.

However, I think that mostly applies to mainstream sci-fi, because a lot of sci-fi podcasts are really diverse and inclusive. And I find that podcasts are often a written with a lot more character and emotional depth. I saw someone describe podcasts as being like fanfic cuz of how they are mostly character driven instead of plot driven.

Anyways, here’s my list of sci-fi podcast recommendations with descriptions and my personal thoughts. In no particular order, but I put the smaller ones first cuz i think they deserve more love.The ones with * are the ones with good queer rep (so far, it’ll be updated as needed).

Tides Podcast: It follows biologist Dr. Winifred Eurus, a member of the first manned expedition to Fons, an Earth-like moon wracked by extreme tidal waves due to its orbit around a nearby gas giant. When surveying ocean life her submarine is destroyed, leaving her alone to walk to higher ground before the wave comes back. Along the way, she makes notes about what she finds in the intertidal zone, and gradually realizes that some of the life there is more than what it seems. There’s only one episode out at the time of writing and I’m already deeply in love with this show. The main character is a huge lovable nerd. And in the space of one episode they’ve managed to create a creative, immersive and beautifully detailed alien world. If you’re really into biology like me, I think you’ll love this show.

Girl in Space: Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. This show hooked me from the get-go cuz its atmosphere and setting are grippingly ominous and mysterious. It had me begging for more. The creepy vibes are balanced really well with the titular girl in space because she’s really likable and her ramblings can be really insightful and enlightening, but also really hilarious and relatable.

Empty*: The crew of an intergalactic colonization vessel wake up from cryosleep with no memories, finding themselves the only sentient life in the universe. Like Girl in Space, it has a masterfully done ominous atmosphere and world building that leaves you begging for more. But it has a wholly different tone because it feels grittier and serious. If you like creepy and slightly unsettling space podcasts, like Wolf 359, you should check this out. I can best describe this as space gothic, the same way Alice Isn’t Dead is American gothic. This podcast also uses a lot of hard sci-fi concepts in its worldbuilding, moreso that any podcasts I’ve listened to before.

The Earth Collective: Joseph Crane attempts to record and document the life and culture of the titular Earth Collective: the dying remnants of humanity living on rolling cities on the planet of Oasus, fleeing the malevolent entity known as the Dark This is one of my fave sci-fi podcasts ever. I’ve already gone on so much in this list about atmosphere and world building, but podcasts are just really good at that, and this one especially. The world building in this one is immersive and it feels so real, especially since I love learning about history and culture. Think of this show as Titan A.E but Soft™. It starts slow but it builds up the conflict and tension which fit really well with the atmosphere.

The Falcon Banner*: Two hundred years after the fall of the Terran Empire, humans find themselves the subject race of the alien Amsus Hegemony. Darien Taine, a police inspector for the Terran police kills an Amsus inquisitor in self-defense, a crime punishable by death. He escapes Earth, and finds himself embroiled in a resistance movement and a centuries old plot that shattered the empire. An audio theater dramatization of the novel by Christopher Patrick Lydon. This show is what would happen if someone looked at the original Star Wars trilogy and said, “Hmmm that was good but could be gayer.” This is a high production, high action, epic sci-fi space opera. This show captured my heart with a fascinating universe, well written characters, and a bombastic soundtrack and atmosphere. This is perhaps the most epic Gays in Space™ podcast I’ve listened to. But I feel like I should warn y’all, the series just ends with no conclusion, and it’s been a decade since. But the story continues on in a book series (the podcast adapts the first book).

The Strange Case of Starship Iris*: In 2189, Earth narrowly won a war against extraterrestrials. Two years later, in a distant patch of space, a mysterious explosion kills nearly the entire crew of the science vessel Starship Iris. The only survivor is Violet Liu, an intrepid, sarcastic, terrified biologist. But as Violet struggles to readjust to life after the Iris, questions abound. Was that explosion really an accident? If not, just what is going on? And why does every answer seem to get more bizarre and more dangerous? If Violet and her newfound allies want to untangle the truth, they’ll need courage, brilliance, and luck - and honestly, a couple of drinks. This show shines in having a really well written and lovable set of diverse characters that play off each other really well. Add on top of that some fresh world building concepts and ideas that I haven’t seen done anywhere else. All in all they create an engaging and immersive story.

Inkwyrm*: Inkwyrm Magazine is an intergalactic fashion publication, bringing readers the newest looks from all over the universe. At the head of it all is Annie Inkwyrm, and directly behind her is Mella Sonder, AI caretaker and Annie’s PA. Along for the ride is an overzealous PR director, a perpetually unimpressed physician, and an AI that really needs to learn some ethics. One part sit-com, one part space opera. This show is my comfort podcast. It’s hilarious, cheesy in a good way, and gay which is what I need during such stressful times like now. The characters are likable and play off each other well. It’s mostly a comedy, but it does have it’s serious moments which are well done and hit close to home for me.

Limetown: Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, “What happened to the people of Limetown?” This was one of my first podcasts and it set my bar really damn high. The gripping story drags you in with interesting characters, mysteries and concepts. The pacing is really well done and you wouldn’t even notice how many episodes had gone by. This was a really beautifully done mystery and thriller

The Message*:The weekly reports and interviews from Nicky Tomalin, covering the decoding of a message from outer space received 70 years ago. Over the course of 8 episodes we get an inside ear on how a top team of cryptologists attempt to decipher, decode, and understand the alien message. This was also one of my first ever podcasts. Like Limetown, it has a heart stopping story that will drag you all over place. It set the bar really high too. You’ll be constantly gripped by the ever increasing stakes and tension that conclude on a high note.

Life After*: The 10 episode series follows Ross, a low level employee at the FBI, who spends his days conversing online with his wife Charlie – who died eight months ago. But the technology behind this digital resurrection leads Ross down a dangerous path that threatens his job, his own life, and maybe even the world. This was done by the same people as The Message and it’s just as emotionally intense and immersive as a thriller. But the subject matter is more relatable and hits closer to home, both in that they’re personal issues that a lot of people have to deal with, and it deals with technology that may soon be a thing in daily life. The show has a lot of interesting ideas regarding technology, morality, and personhood, which makes it hit harder for me. (note, it’s on the same feed as The Message)

Eos 10*: The lives two mal-adjusted doctors and their staff on the Alliance space station, EOS 10. Other characters include a hypochondriac deposed prince, an aggressively enthusiastic nurse, and a galactically hated terrorist whom is not what you’d expect. This was also one of my first podcasts. It’s also one of my comfort podcasts. I imagine it as what would happen if Star Trek was a sitcom about doctors. Despite being a sitcom, the wacky sounding characters have a lot of surprising emotional depth and deal with serious issues that makes them really lovable and relatable. They play off each other wonderfully, which makes the comedy and the plot in general hit harder. It has a lot of same vibes as Inkwyrm.

Ars Paradoxica*: When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there’s no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe. This really one of the most intense podcasts I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The characters are all massively compelling disasters that will make you feel so many things. It has so many twists and wonderfully tragic time travel ideas and concepts. I’m not kidding when I say that this is the best show regarding time travel I’ve ever seen. As someone with a love of history and science, I love how hard they play up those elements. Physics ain’t my forte so I’m not sure but this feels like a very hard sci-fi.

Wolf 359: Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the dysfunctional crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought. Tune into your home away from home… seven and a half light years away from Earth… This is one of the most popular ones so I put it last, but no podcast rec list would be complete without Wolf 359. This isn’t just a show, it’s an experience, it’s a life changer. It’s one of the best pieces of art that you’ll ever see.While I do admit it take a bit before it finds its legs, but it gets indescribably good when it does. The characters are all wonderful disasters with a lot of emotional depth and development to them. The story is paced really well, it knows when to get intense and suspenseful. But it also knows when to put in breather episodes and to make the intense parts easier to process with well written comedy. And the plot is unpredictable and plays with a lot of tropes and cliches. But you won’t feel lost because it knows to set the atmosphere and foreshadow. This show is Chekhov’s machine gun.

The Bright Sessions*: follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright. I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts in my life and I gotta say, this is the best one I’ve listened to so far. It’s very well written and well acted. This podcast will make you feel so much for the lovable characters and their struggles as they learn how to people while handling their powers. This show also isn’t just a show, it’s a masterpiece in storytelling that will change your life. Like Wolf 359, it hits hard in the feels department because of how much you’ll care for the multifaceted characters; but this one hits differently because the problems they encounter are one’s you’ll probably have to face yourself.

#wolf 359 #the bright sessions #ars paradoxica #eos 10 #times podcast #inkwyrm #girl in space #tscosi #the strange case of starship iris #limetown #the message #life after #tec #the earth collective #tino talks

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fira211 · 6 years

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Late Nights (A Ship With No Headlights): A Starship Iris Fic

Inspired by Krejjh always cheating at cards (and a shout-out to Vignette 8 which is available to Patreon supporters)

"Hey Krejjh, can I ask you something?"

Krejjh looked up from their controls and grinned. "You ask I answer, our lady Arkady.”

There was a long pause before a long-winded sigh echoed through the ship. "I won’t ask who helped you with that nickname. Honestly, I probably don’t want to know.”

“You probably shouldn’t.” It was Crewman Jeeter. Of course it was Crewman Jeeter. There were few people with enough leftover mental space, and not enough sleep, to spend time on nicknames. Honestly, in the name of fixations, there were worse. At least this one didn’t end in Krejjh mumbling in alien languages they didn’t even speak. “You had a different question though?”

“Why do you always cheat?" Arkady asked.

Krejjh’s face twisted in confusion. “That’s your question?”

“Violet asked about our deck of cards, sans the one card, the one you ate,” Arkady said, and ah. That made sense. Arkady wanted to know for Violet. It’s as though squishy feelings reminded Arkady she was allowed to be curious. It was like watching a plant being watered after a long drought. Confusion, followed by growth.

It was kind of great to watch. A little odd, since it left Arkady stumbling around like a lost baby animal sometimes, but great. Arkady had feelings. Krejjh was never going to forget that.

Speaking of things they’d never forget: “Plastic is not as edible as I had hoped. Still, easier going down than some hot sauce!” Krejjh said.

“I’ll take your word on that,” Arkady said with a dismissive hand-wave, “but it made me wonder, why do you always cheat?”

Honestly, what kind of question was that. "It's fun!" Krejjh replied.

"But, it doesn't seem to help you win?"

"Pfft, that's not the point of cheating." Cheating wasn’t to win. Well, sometimes it was. Mostly it was to make Crewman Jeeter laugh. To make Captain Tripathi hide a grin in her coffee. To make First Mate Patel roll her eyes but also hide a small smile in her tea. Now, too, to make Crewman Liu tilt her head in confusion, but giggle, just slightly. There were many reasons for cheating, few of them for winning. Or at least, winning the game at hand.

"I mean, it's supposed to be," Arkady said.

"Then people are cheating wrong,” Krejjh said.

"You are one of a kind, Krejjh," Arkady said. She even sounded like she meant it.

"I do try." Krejjh said, accepting the compliment. From Arkady, they knew it was a compliment. Even if Arkady didn’t realize.

"So it really is just for the entertainment value,” Arkady said, still sounding disbelieving.

"I mean, yeah, mostly,” Krejjh said.

"Mostly?"

Ah right, Krejjh tended to forget Arkady noticed verbal slips. Worse habits to have, but it did mean she wasn’t one to play poker with. "You really wanna get into this?" Krejjh asked.

"Wouldn't mind,” Arkady said, a little mockingly, “but I mean, seems like the week for feelings. So if you have them, shoot.” She even leaned back against the wall, as if she was willing to wait for Krejjh to tell her.

Sometimes Arkady was a good person. Well, no, she was always a good person, but she was often so bristly, like a scrub brush, that you forgot how helpful she was. Then she’d go around and do stuff like ask pressing questions and offer to listen, and even show how actively she was listening.

It wasn’t surprising that her and Violet were slowly spinning into each other’s orbit. They both needed to be listened to, and they both were really good at it.

“I have at least two feelings,” Krejjh said. They did. Squishy feelings for her future spouzze, and delight at the universe in general. Any other feelings were probably gloomy and unnecessary.

“Two more than me,” Arkady said.

Krejjh laughed. “You have at least two: annoyance and a crush.”

“Bite me. No, not literally. Anyway, this is your talk time.”

“Eshalzo,” Krejjh muttered, then a little more loudly, “I guess it's... three? Three things. It's fun, is the biggest one. I like making everyone laugh. And I guess... I mean, not to get too heavy, but I grew up in a really political household? Like my entire sense of self worth was supposed to be tied up in responsibility and prestige and I hated it from the get go. So I bailed out and did the earth equivalent of 'running away to join the circus'. And I found out what fun was. What life was. And I guess it's just a reminder to myself that even if I'm a pilot for a renegade group. Even when things gets rough, I'm not here because I have to be, and I don't have to be stern and serious. And yeah. So… there’s your daily dose of Krejjh feels I suppose.” They grinned up at Arkady, who rolled her eyes, but nodded.

“Fair, and the third?”

“Ah, well, it’s a bit…” Krejjh wiggled a little.

“I promise not to laugh,” Arkady said.

Krejjh smiled, “It’s not so much funny, as a little morbid? I suppose? But if anyone would understand... So, it's a reminder. Of me. To all of you.”

“Krejjh,” Arkady said, a small catch in her voice. She always did cotton on faster than most, and Krejjh isn’t surprised she gets it.

Still, they continued, “If something happens. If something bad goes down. I'll still be here. If I go out. Or if war happens again. Or if Eejhgreb tattles and I have to disappear. When you replace me, I'll still be here. You'll get a new pilot and they're gonna come in and ask why the deck is missing a card and you'll say ‘oh, that was Krejjh, they were a riot’ and I'll still be here. Like a space ghost! But a friendly one.”

“Krejjh—”

“It's a little silly but it's harmless. And I'm having fun now. And you'll remember me later,” Krejjh said, a little out of breath from rushing it out. Feelings were hard.

“Krejjh. I say this with the most sincerity I can muster. We won't replace you,” Arkady finally said.

“You will. You'll have to.” Not that Krejjh expected to go out anytime soon, but they didn’t have any issues with the thought of it happening. Death wasn't scary. Being forgotten was scary. So they made sure they put reminders in place.

They didn’t think to do that, back home. Who would have thought Krejjh would run away? Even Krejjh hadn’t until they did. They weren’t sure how many people remembered Krejjh. How many were already forgetting Krejjh. Eejhgreb knew they were still alive, but Eejhgreb also sounded like they were going to do their level best to forget that. That’s what scared Krejjh.

“No. We'll... Ugh... You're gonna make me say it. We'll replace a pilot. But we won't replace you. We can't. No one could.”

Krejjh looked up, and Arkady looked away. There was an angry slant to Arkady’s mouth, and her brow was crinkled, but Arkady always got angry about her feelings. That she had feelings about Krejjh was… Well, it was pretty damn cool.

Krejjh gave Arkady feelings. This was the greatest day ever. “I am pretty one of a kind,” Krejjh said, trying not to relish too much in the glory and make Arkady annoyed.

“If you like,” Arkady said, trying to be dismissive, but Krejjh knew, “anyway, that's probably enough emotions for one night. So I'm to bed. Try not to crash us before morning.”

“No promises,” Krejjh said, letting it go. They didn’t need to gloat. Today, anyway. Besides that: “... Hey Arkady?”

“Yeah?” Arkady asked, shoulders going tight.

Krejjh threw them a softball. “I also carved 'Krejjh was here' under the controls.”

Arkady’s shoulders, dropped, then shuddered a little, as though Arkady was holding back a laugh. Win. “... Of course you did. Night Krejjh.”

“Night,” Krejjh said, and then, because they really couldn’t let things go, “and uh, actually though, thanks.”

Arkady waved a hand. “Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't. We're even on emotional vomiting and that means we take this to our graves.”

“I mean the chances of us getting graves...” Krejjh joked. There were few people they could make that joke with.

Arkady chuckled. “Metaphorical graves,” she said, walking out the door.

“Fair,” Krejjh said. “Night, First Mate Patel.”

“Night, Pilot.”

Krejjh grinned and turned back to their controls. If they reached out and traced the words they carved, well, no one could blame them.

They left their mark on this home.

#fira writes #tscosi #starship iris

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kisenth-a · 4 years

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Speed Dating Options ( WIP )

Some more to come! They’re kept fairly simple, but we’ll see if any develop properly over time, or if they just stay random NPCs used for crack threads like the speed dating thing~

Name: Reina Kuroko Age: 19 FC: Hilde ( The Emperor’s Companion ) Personality: Friendly and easy going, Reina was raised in a happy family, and it shows. Still a bit young, she decided that she’ll find a rich guy, marry him, and live an easy life. She can be a tad naive when it comes to certain things, but she does try to properly think things through before making any large decisions. Still, she tends to act a bit more air headed than she actually is. Bio: Her family might not have had much money, but it had plenty of love and warmth. The oldest sibling to three younger ones, she’s always watched her loving parents work hard to provide for the family. It’s something she could never see herself do. She prefers to spend her time doing fun things, and wants to live an easy life. How she plans to do this? By marrying rich! Her hobbies include shopping, playing games, and sewing / altering her own clothes.

Name: Lilimae Chiffon Age: 28 FC: Liu Xuelan ( Darwin’s Game ) Personality: Caring, and normally sensible, Lilimae has a reckless side to her. She doesn’t always think things through properly - despite how she should. It’s things like those which can get her in trouble but, thus far, she’s always gotten herself out of trouble as well. Bio: A commander of the infantry, she is a single mother to a little girl. Originally, she joined as an infantry to fight in the war in place of her more fragile twin brother, switching places with him. Her prowess turned out far superior to what was expected and she rose up to a commander. But her gender got found out in the end. Court martial-ed, it had looked like she’d never be able to return to the army again, but her achievements spoke for themselves, and she was reinstated. While her original goal had been to simply fight in place of her brother who would surely perish in the war, her new goal is to fight to make the world a safer place for her daughter. Her hobbies include training her body and spending time with her family.

Name: Deena Chiffon Age: 7 FC: Kaguya ( Aikatsu Friends ) Personality: Bio: Daughter to Lilimae and an unknown infantry soldier said to have perished in the war, Deena was raised mostly by her uncle, who was at home instead of her mother.

Name: Keiran Chiffon Age: 27 FC: Hatori Souma Personality: Nurturing and gentle, Keiran’s weaknesses are definitely his sister and, especially, his niece: it’s far too hard for him to tell them no. Bio: The younger brother of Lilimae, Keiran was born with a sickly constitution. Regardless, his summon for the army arrived in a time of war. Though he’d been opposed to it, Lilimae had taken his place on the field while he was left behind. Imagine his surprise when she returned home later with a child in her arms? He’s helped take care of Deena ever since, a task he greatly enjoys. Other hobbies include reading and painting, and he often meditates and practices the occasional yoga in the hope of strengthening his body.

Name: Emeria Hakkoiki Age: 22 FC: Violet Evergarden Personality: Timid and withdrawn, Emeria often blends into the background of whatever room she happens to be in. Bio: The heiress to a rich family, Emeria is often pressured by her parents to find a good partner to marry. So far, she’s yet to find her first love and, if she’s honest, she doubts someone as quiet as her ever will. Her hobbies include needlework and reading.

Name: DJ ( Real name: Hiroki Shiba ) Age: 24 FC: Ayato Yuri Personality: Loud and obnoxious, DJ tends to dress flashy, loving attention on himself. He appears quick to lose his temper, but everything is a carefully constructed image he’s pieced together over the years. Bio: As his name implies, he works as a free lance DJ, while working part time at a record shop. A high-school drop out, his entire life is about music. He loves it, lives it. His aim is to be an internationally famous DJ, something he’s worked on ever since dropping out of high school at age 15. Not that his parents agreed to that, but whatever: he doesn’t live with them anymore anyway. Other hobbies include eating good ( preferably cheap ) food and fiddling with his motorcycle.

Name: Meena Einbell Age: 25 FC: Michiko Malandro Personality: Brash and hotheaded, Meena is quick to voice her opinions. She comes across as fearless and, at times, violent. There’s even a rumor she once stared down a bear. Still, she’s not prone to landing the first blow without just cause. Bio: Owner of two dogs, Meena works in an animal shelter. Animals tend to love her, and she loves them in turn. Unable to have children after a surgery, she finds comfort in animals and, while she’s thought about adopting a kid, she’d like to be in a stable relationship first.

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iffeelscouldkill · 3 years

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TSCOSI Week Day 2: Arkady / Hope

Sheer, Stupid Human Hope

A/N: Me: *takes uplifting prompt and writes angst* sfsfsfdsfdfsfg I’m sorry

This prompt just got me thinking about Arkady’s “sheer, stupid human hope” speech to Violet in Episode 1, and I decided to write a sort of Episode 1 coda from her point of view. I mentioned in the Discord recently (where we were discussing Episode 1 from Arkady’s perspective) that I had a fic idea related to Episode 1, and this is it! (It was an idea up until I wrote it down today xD)

I had a few different versions of this fic in my head, but this was the one that made it onto the page, and I’m pretty happy with it? There were versions of it that were both bleaker and more hopeful, but I didn’t want to go too dark in the current circumstances, and I also wanted something that could plausibly lead into Arkady’s drunken line to Sana about being the ‘scum of the universe’.

Some meta-ish thoughts at the bottom!

---

“Stage - three - beginning.”

“Stage - three - complete.”

Violet Liu was in deep stasis now, according to the ship’s systems. Arkady double-checked the Iris’s autopilot on her computer, making sure the programmed flight path had been accepted. Her humming gradually faded away, until everything was very quiet.

That speech to Violet about science, about hope and understanding, had left a bitter taste in Arkady’s mouth. And it didn’t make sense that after all the lies she’d told, this - which had been true, or as close to the truth as Arkady could get while still sounding persuasive - was the thing that she couldn’t stop going over.

"There is no greater expression of sheer, stupid human hope than the study of science. We’re born groping around in the dark but science says, “We can understand this.” It says, “There’s something here to understand and this act of blindly reaching forward is worth it.”"

Maybe it was because of the reminder of how futile it all was. Of how much she wanted to believe it herself - but couldn’t quite get there.

“Hey.”

Arkady jerked around to see Sana leaning against the doorjamb. Which meant that at some point it had opened and she hadn’t even noticed. “Captain. ...How long have you been standing there?”

Sana stepped further into the room, letting the door close behind her. “I didn’t like to interrupt,” she said, instead of giving a direct answer. Which meant: a while. “I was on my way down to see if you needed some help, after...”

After she’d been made. Honestly, one of the Captain’s motivational speeches probably would have worked better on Violet Liu than what Arkady, cynical mess that she was, could offer. But she hadn’t wanted to risk it - to take too long, to overthink things. So she’d rolled the dice on an appeal to Liu’s scientific curiosity.

“It worked,” she said, nodding to the computer screen displaying Liu’s deep stasis status and the flight trajectory. “She bought it.”

“You saved her,” Sana corrected. “Good work, Arkady. I knew you could do it.”

Something about hearing the Captain’s warm approval made the discomfort Arkady was feeling even more intense. “Can we just - skip to the alcohol, and debrief later?” she asked. “I’m not really in the mood for self-congratulation.”

Sana studied her, and Arkady knew it was showing, how unsettled she felt about - everything. The con, deceiving Liu into trusting her, forcing her to put her life in a stranger’s hands, and keeping the truth from her because she’d never have gotten into the cryo chamber if she’d known she was talking to a smuggler and a killer.

“I’ll get the moonshine,” Sana said. Arkady felt simultaneously relieved and a little wrong-footed; she wasn’t expecting Sana to let it go that easily. She must really look rough.

Sana turned and crossed over to the door, then stopped, looking back at Arkady and the monitor. “I just want you to know,” she said, carefully, as if she was weighing each word, “that what we did today? What you did? It matters. It might not feel like that right now, but - a person is alive right now because of what you were able to do. No matter what happens, I know Violet will thank you for that. And when her ship reaches us, we might even be able to find some answers.”

Her voice lightened, although Arkady could see the lines of exhaustion on Sana’s face as well, visible in the light from the corridor. “So that’s something to be hopeful about.”

She left the room. Arkady glanced back at the monitor herself, showing that the Iris had now rerouted itself and was in transit with its unconscious passenger.

“Right,” she said aloud.

Sheer, stupid human hope.

---

A/N: When I was writing the line about Violet not wanting to trust Arkady knowing that she was a smuggler and a killer, I suddenly thought - especially in light of what we heard in Season 2 episode 2, but also just thinking about Violet and Arkady’s subsequent interactions in episodes 2 to 5 - that Arkady is dreading Violet’s reaction to finding out who she ‘really is’ from the moment she comes out of cryo. She’s spiky and defensive (though that’s also due to Violet’s own hostility) and then she immediately flares up at Violet’s discovery that she didn’t go to college, assuming that Violet is going to be derisive about her intelligence. And then, in Episode 5, when she kills the guard - that’s it, for Arkady. The moment of truth, the reveal of her true nature. Of course Violet’s going to hate her for it. And I think that informs all of her actions in Episode 6, and then of course she’s wrong-footed when she finds out Violet’s reaction is much more nuanced than that.

I think we’re getting something of a continuation of it now, in Season 2 (Arkady the Monster Part 2: No Seriously, I Can’t Share My Past With You Because You Will Hate Me Forever, Let’s Just Enjoy What We Have While It Lasts) but yeah, that’s my analysis from a mostly season 1 perspective.

#Arkady Patel #TSCOSI Week #TSCOSI Week Day 2 #Sana Tripathi #Violet Liu #character analysis #meta-ish #Starship Iris season 1 #Starship Iris season 2 #TSCOSI spoilers #Starship Iris spoilers #ficlet #angst #TSCOSI #The Strange Case of Starship Iris

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jaggedwolf · 4 years

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TSCOSI Ficlets #2

Not being from the US

"So, Jeeter, what'd you learn this week?" Arkady plopped into the seat opposite him, stealing one of his fries. "The horrors of Fahrenheit?"

"Man, that was day one of international student orientation. We're on to way more advanced terrors now." Brian considered a token protest at the fry-theft. Eh, he'd get her back when she got dessert.

Arkady shrugged off her backpack. "Why do you even bother still going?"

"It's mandatory."

"Like you give a crap about that."

"Gotta be up to date with all these cultural differences."

"You're Canadian."

"Hey man-"

"And you told me you spent every summer in the States, anyway," Arkady said, looking suspiciously at him. Well, she tended to look suspiciously at a lot of things, so it wasn't the worst sign. "There's no reason for you to subject yourself to-"

A wide grin crossed Arkady's face. Oh no. "Wait, they're also an international student, right?"

"Maybe," said Brian defensively.

"Now, remind me what you said about their cheekbones?" Arkady's voice sounded even more delighted.

Brian pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, and buried his head in his arms on the table. His voice muffled, he said "Drinking with you was a mistake."

"I for one, could not be happier that Tripathi took pity on a couple of freshmen and did us that favor."

Brian groaned. Three months into the school year and he still didn't understand how or when Arkady and him became friends.

"Should have guessed you'd be a poetic drunk." Arkady clapped him on the back. "Woah, speaking of-"

She tugged his sweatshirt. Brian reluctantly looked up, following her gaze to find the subject of their discussion striding towards them.

Yep, Krejjh looked about as handsome as they always did. That was fine. Their pace slowed as they approached the table. "Hey, it's Brian, right?"

"That's him," chimed in Arkady. "And I'm going to get some actual food now instead of skimming off Jeeter's"

She abruptly stood up and left. Krejjh seemed startled by her departure and asked "Is this a bad time?"

They sounded oddly hesitant, not at all like how Brian had heard them speak with their friends.

"Nope." Brian shoved back his hood. "Arkady's just like that. Do you want a fry?"

Holding your hand in mine

Arkady's always appreciated privacy. Couple of decades of sleeping in crowded rooms will do that to you. Being alone can be nice.

Being alone sucks a hell of a lot more when you're dying in one of Zone Z's dim-lit hallways.

Asshole shot her and her comms before she took care of him, and she supposes she'll only have his body for company as blood spurts out from under her collarbone. The instinctive pressured she applies slows it down. Not quick enough. He'd picked his shot well.

It's a waiting game now. She might as well distract herself. After all, hiding from the world in foolish dreams is a talent she's cultivated.

It's easy to paint a picture, as the world becomes fuzzy. No one could fault her for it. If someone wants to, she's not exactly going to be around to take their complaints. She squeezes her eyes shut. Folds herself smaller into the corner. Presses the heel of her right hand harder into the bleeding wound. Ignores how slick it feels. She's going to lose this fight, but like hell she's not clinging on all the way down, fingernails dug deep into life.

Back to the imagining.

What does she want, in these final moments?

What doesn't she want, is the better question. Her dreams had always been too stupidly big for reality. And yet. This is...this is a better death than she ever thought she'd get. Not much more to ask for. To her mind's rendering of the scene, she only adds a couple of selfish touches.

Long, soft fingers curl over the back of her right hand. They push insistently, added pressure to the wound, steadily, as if confident they can fix this. Fingers she's seen idly drum the table in the mess hall, fingers she's seen wrapped around a hypodermic syringe, fingers she felt trail through her hair just this morning. A presence that refuses to leave.

A rougher palm meets that of her left hand. The resulting grip is firm. Gentle. The calluses have a different contour from her own. Earned from building, where hers were made from breaking. They press against each other in a way that feels right anyway. Feels right, like twice-offered new beginnings. And even now, offering more.

It's good, Arkady thinks, that this is how it goes. Her alone.

Wouldn't be fair to them any other way.

Lesbian gaze

The ship turns out to be a monstrous patchwork, but Tripathi promises it'll fly, so she busies herself with staring at her new ID card. Arkady Patel. The card is new, nothing like the faded, scratched-up one in her back pocket. She'd gotten that one when she enlisted, been excited as hell about it, actually.

"Hey, Arkady?" asks Tripathi, sounding apologetic and swiveling the pilot's seat. "Could you check the local channels to see if they're tracking us?" Tripathi nods her head towards one of the panels.

She grunts in affirmative, shoves the ID card into a pocket and makes herself useful. She's mostly blocked out the pain. The channels are clear, takeoff goes without a hitch, and an hour later, they're as free as can be.

She could fish out that ID card again. There's a lot of people she's imagined being. Arkady Patel's the first one she actually will. If the IGR doesn't end up finding them first, that is. But that's not the name echoing in her head.

That would be Sana Tripathi.

Who's busy piloting, which means she can get away with looking her over. Tripathi's hair had been longer back on Cresswin, a single black braid that moved with her head through with every point made in those meetings snuck into. Now, Tripathi's hair isn't even shoulder-length. Nice and practical. Grey roots too. Tripathi seemed a little young for that. Not that she actually knew the woman's age, come to think of it.

There was a lot she didn't know about Tripathi. Maybe less if she counted Cresswin, and maybe she should, since Cresswin's what landed her here but - people changed. From time. From the war. From working a shitty job day-after-day. Easy enough to slip on an old skin if it got you a desperately needed crew member.

Not that it matters. She isn't looking for the noble, non-existent hero her teenage self had fantasized about. Now that she's on the IGR's bad side, she's pretty fucking good with settling for a place to sleep and food to eat. She can wait this out. See who Tripathi ends up being, and see if Tripathi figures out she isn't worth the trust.

Till then, she'll keep an eye on her new boss.

Low Expectations

It's ludicrous, he thinks, how exposed he feels without his eyepatch. Even more so when Violet's gloved fingers rest on his skin where the edges of the eyepatch would have. No matter. The feeling is a sign he has let himself become too comfortable. He's been far more exposed.

"Can you open the eyelid?" asks Violet.

There's that familiar half-second where he expects his range of vision to expand, and it grates on him, that his body has not yet adapted to its new reality. He opens his eyelid as wide as he can.

If Violet is perturbed by the sight of an empty eye socket, she doesn't show it. Her head comes closer to inspect it, fingers shifting slightly along his skin, and he tilts his face towards her to make it easier.

"Thanks," mutters Violet.

His hands start to tremble.

They're not in Violet's line of sight. He has the time to compensate, and the freedom to move his hands, so as carefully as he can manage, he grips his knees. He forces himself to start speaking, informing Violet of the current status of his eye socket and how the IGR had healed it.

It's no challenge to keep his face still. Whatever they do could only hurt more with unexpected head movements, they'd told him.

Eventually, Violet pulls back. Her fingers leave his face. Before he can even take a breath of relief, Violet pauses midway through turning to grab something, a concerned look on her face. "Park, you're shaking."

"I-" When Park looks down, he sees that his knees have joined his hands in trembling uncontrollably. His mind blanks. "My apologies," he acknowledges, "it shouldn't affect the checkup."

"What?"

He'd given an uninformative answer. Needed a better explanation. "My head. It shouldn't affect my head, so-"

"Park," interrupts Violet quietly, a slow frown taking over her face, "I think we're done for today."

Wooing with sharp-edged gifts

As soon as Arkady was unhorsed for the last time, and her opponent declared the victor, Sana appeared out of nowhere to act as her crutch.

"You should be escorting Rumor, not me," Arkady pointed out, her helmet weighing down her free hand. Her left foot throbbed when she put any weight on it. "Who knows what she'll get up to without your supervision?"

Sana huffed, her armor clanging against Arkady's. "I could say the same about you. Besides, Krejjh is handling her fine."

Sure enough, a glance behind revealed Krejjh eagerly chattering away to Sana's steed. They swung a leg over to ride even that short distance to the stables.

"Showoff," muttered Arkady. "Krejjh bribes your horse with too many sugar cubes."

"Be that as it may," continued Sana, "I'm afraid there'll be no escaping the medical tent today. It's tournament day! We're safe, you need to get your leg taken care of, and if something happens you'll have the simple pleasure of saying 'I told you so', won't you?"

"It's not a pleasure."

Sana ignored her, holding up a flap of the tent they'd arrived at for Arkady to hop under. She did so, making sure to look as annoyed as possibly, and Sana followed, supporting Arkady over to the nearest cot...where Violet stood expectantly.

Sana flashed a quick grin at Arkady. "You know what, Kady, you're right, I should go check on Rumor. Just remember you did your best out there." With that, Sana nodded at Violet and exited the tent so quickly it was as if she were never there.

Arkady frowned at Violet. "Liu. Wasn't your shift yesterday?"

Looking amused, Violet replied. "They're hardly going to complain about an extra hand. Let's get that armor off your leg."

They did. Arkady winced the whole time, cursing herself for her choices. Jousting, really? Arkady would have fared better in the melee, her own two feet and her weapon of choice to depend on.

They could hear cheering from the lists from even inside the tent. Another bout ended, then. Violet examined Arkady's foot, fingers pressing various spots around the swollen ankle.

As if reading her mind, Violet asked, "Why the joust?"

Embarrassed, Arkady shot back, "You mean, why'd I pick something I'm so piss-poor at?"

"You won your first two bouts," said Violet mildly.

Oh. She'd been watching.

Of course she'd been watching, how else would she have known to come to this very tent? Even Sana's encouragement didn't extend quite that far.

Violet continued, "You've never mentioned it when talking about other tournaments."

The simple, foolish answer was the smallest prize the winners received. A single rose, fresh from the royal garden, to be presented to whoever they chose.

The melee was an ugly, crowded thing. It was not the melee's rose lauded in those songs she'd loved as a child, snatches of music caught in taverns and lyrics sung in street games, and it was not the melee's rose she had wanted to give to Violet. It was not the melee she had wanted Violet to see her fight in.

It was not after the melee she had wanted to broach a topic she had thought unbroachable.

Yet it was the ugly things in life that Arkady was good for, and so she was left here with empty hands and another injury.

Arkady half-smiled at Violet. "Thought I'd try something new."

"I...don't think that's the whole answer," said Violet, but she didn't press as she normally would have. She turned to her satchel, retrieving a cloth bundle and unwrapping it to reveal a dagger, sheathed in dark leather. It was good work, deceptively simple. She wondered how much coin it had cost.

Violet took a deep breath and then spoke slowly. "You probably haven't been counting the days but, um, it's been a year since you saved me from that ambush. A little less than that since you cleared my name."

Had it been that long? Had it been that short?

Violet pulled the dagger out of the sheath. The dagger's edges gleamed in the snatches of sunlight filtering into the tent, but Arkady only had eyes for the sharpening of Violet's gaze.

"You told me, once, that I didn't know what you'd done. What you'd do." Violet sheathed the dagger. "I do now."

She offered out the dagger, pale fingers around the sheathed portion of it, her face tentative yet determined. "A gift. A thank-you. You don't"-A short laugh escaped Violet-"Refuse it if you will. I just thought I ought to say it."

"I-" For once, Arkady didn't have the words to respond.

Instead, she took the dagger, and let the slowly growing smile on Violet's face be answer enough for them both.

#ficlets #tscosi #tscosi ficlets #arkady patel #the ficlets keep happening idk #arkady and brian #arkady and sana #violet and park #arkady and violet

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iffeelscouldkill · 5 years

Text

Adjusting [Part 2: Park]

A/N: Here’s Part 2! Many thanks to @dragonsthough101 for beta reading this and for the lovely, encouraging feedback💖💖💖

If you haven’t read it or want to re-read, here’s a link to Part 1!

Summary: It turns out that there isn’t a blueprint for quitting your job, turning your back on the organisation that you’d built your life around, committing treason and abandoning your friends and family to go travel across the galaxy with a band of wanted criminals. Fortunately, RJ now knows some people who have been there.

Or: Five times that RJ McCabe shares a late-night drink with someone on the Iris 2.

Read on AO3

About a week later, RJ is feeling slightly more at home on the Iris. It helps that it’s a new ship for the rest of the crew, too, and so everyone’s a bit at sea, missing things they used to take for granted and sometimes finding themselves unexpectedly at a loose end.

One of the things that RJ finds hard to get used to is how chatty the crew of the Rumor is. They knew about this from listening to the recordings, but knowing about something and being on the receiving end of it are two very different things. In the IGR, supervisors tended to frown on idle chatter (everything was about maximising productivity, after all) and people were cautious about volunteering details of their personal lives, never quite sure who might be trying to inform on them or get them written up for having a hobby that wasn’t quite above-board. You couldn’t exactly enjoy a conversation with someone when you were constantly watching your words.

But here on the Iris, everyone talks so much, about anything and everything. RJ isn’t used to people honestly trying to get to know them, or to the level of genuine interest that many of the crew have taken in their past, their hobbies, their thoughts, and their likes and dislikes.

RJ knows that Krejjh and Brian mean well, and that Sana cares about every member of her crew (the idea that RJ is included in that category already is still hard to wrap their head around), but it can still be a little much sometimes. They prefer to spend time around Violet, who is more tactful; Park, who is familiar; or Arkady, who is mostly silent except when she’s cracking some honestly hilarious sarcastic jokes.

Nights are still hard, and RJ has more or less become used to taking hours to get to sleep, or waking up in the middle of the night from confused and anxious dreams, but they’re finding things to do with the extra time. Park, who is an incurable bookworm, gifted RJ with a truly staggering number of audiobook files that he’s been keeping on a jailbroken telecomm (a sort of souped-up comm device that Republic employees are issued as standard). RJ has learned things about their former boss’s tastes that they never expected.

(“Park! You know a jailbroken telecomm is considered a Class E banned item, right?” RJ says when Park shows it to them.

“Oh no,” Park replies, deadpan. “Do you think I’ll get in trouble for it?”)

Even more unexpected, though, are the downloads that RJ was given by Krejjh and Brian after they expressed curiosity towards something called ‘Sh’th Hremreh’ that the two were always discussing. Krejjh’s eyes lit up and they immediately began to wax lyrical about the plot and the acting, Brian chipping in with relevant details. Before they knew what was happening, RJ found themself in possession of two whole seasons of a Dwarnian soap opera.

(RJ doesn’t speak Dwarnian, of course, but Brian has a solution for that. “I’ve created my own fansubs,” he says happily. “It’s been a good exercise for my translation skills – don’t want them to get rusty – and it helped Krejjh with their English, back when they were still learning. I upload them to a Dwarnian video site under a pseudonym.”

“They’re very popular!” Krejjh adds proudly.)

So, between audiobooks and Dwarnian soap opera episodes – which are oddly engrossing – RJ has a few ways to take their mind off things, but sometimes it still isn’t enough. On nights like these, RJ makes their way to the kitchen. The crew had made a brief stop-off at an extremely sketchy and borderline lawless moon where a heavily disguised Sana and Arkady did a run for basic supplies, so the tea stocks are replenished – although it’s not great tea. (Apparently, one night of quality herbal tea was enough to turn RJ into a bit of a tea snob).

What they don’t expect is to run into Park, sitting in the darkened kitchen at two o’clock in the morning. The lights flicker on as RJ enters, which means that Park must have been sitting still long enough for the motion sensors to deactivate.

“Oh – McCabe,” he says, looking up. “I mean… RJ, sorry.”

“You can still call me McCabe,” RJ tells him as they pull out the stepping stool, carry it over to the cupboard, and climb up to reach the highest shelf. Park watches in bemusement. “I mean, I still call you Park, unless you’d prefer-”

“No, just Park is fine,” Park assures them. “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.”

RJ pulls down the little cardboard box, sets it on the table, and opens it to reveal an orderly collection of teabags in rows. “We’re running low on camomile, but I think the peppermint is caffeine-free.”

“What if I want caffeine?” Park asks, eyeing the collection of teabags warily. He looks terrible, with dishevelled hair and dark circles under his eyes.

“That’s too bad, because you’re not getting any,” RJ tells him primly, and takes a bag of peppermint tea out of the box. Park laughs as though it’s been startled out of him.

“Fine.”

As they wait for the water to boil, RJ surveys Park out of the corner of their eye. They realise that they’d subconsciously been thinking of Park as ‘further ahead’ than they were with adjusting to life as an outlaw, given that he’d turned against the Republic first, and actively worked with the crew of the Rumor to carry out the plan on New Jupiter. During the day, he puts up a good front, but RJ can see now how much of that is a front. This hasn’t been easy for Park either.

RJ pours out the tea into two dinged-up tin mugs and hands one to Park. For a while, neither of them says anything.

RJ and Park haven’t talked about the Republic much since leaving New Jupiter. RJ has made the odd quip about working with Agent Goodman, or referenced things that happened in their shared office, and both of them have been providing intel that Sana relays to the resistance movement via the other Violet Liu, but they haven’t had a real conversation about what – and who – both of them left behind. Park seems disinclined to talk about his time in Zone Z, and RJ had convinced themself that the best way to adjust to their new life on the Iris was to draw a line under everything that came before it. There was no point in bringing up old memories.

Except that now, they’re struck by how much they want to talk about it.

“Park,” RJ says in a rush. “Do you… ever miss… being back on New Jupiter? I-I don’t mean the last… part of your time on New Jupiter,” they add hurriedly when Park looks at them. “But… is there anything that you miss about… before?”

Park frowns in consideration. “I miss the amenities, for sure,” he says slowly. “I don’t care what Sana says – the water pressure is not the same in vacuum.” RJ snorts in amusement at that. “And the food was better down there.

“Maybe I miss being on the right side of the law, or thinking I was on the right side of the law – being able to safely move across IGR territory, being able to use my real name and identity. The kinds of things you just take for granted until you can’t do them anymore.” Park pauses, seeming to weigh his next words.

“But the thing is… I never felt safe under the IGR either. You remember what it was like.” Park looks at RJ, and there’s a darkness in his eyes that RJ has only seen there once before: shortly after Park’s return from Zone Z, when they had asked about what happened to his eye. At the time, it had been quickly suppressed, leaving RJ with a vaguely unsettled feeling that they couldn’t pinpoint the source of.

“Everyone constantly trying to inform on everyone else. People disappearing one day without a trace. Wondering if it would be you next. Constantly watching what you said, analysing what you did, looking over your shoulder.” Park gazes off into the middle distance, remembering things that RJ can only guess at. They unconsciously hold their breath, afraid to do or say anything to break Park’s reverie.

“When Major General Frederick came to take me away… there was a part of me that wasn’t surprised. I think I’d almost been waiting for it. The investigation wasn’t going well, and they were looking for someone to scapegoat. It was only a matter of time. Under a regime like the IGR-”

RJ manages to suppress their instinctive flinch at hearing Park describe the Republic in those terms, but only just. In spite of everything they now know to be true about the IGR, it isn’t easy to alter a lifetime of thinking a certain way. Or of not being allowed to think a certain way.

“-you never know when the ground is going to shift beneath your feet. You might cross the wrong person, or do something that you know to be the right thing, and still wind up ‘disappearing’.” Park pronounces the last word with an uncharacteristic bitterness. “So no, I don’t really miss how things were on New Jupiter.”

“Yeah,” RJ says shakily. “You, uh, you make some good points. Hadn’t… hadn’t thought of that.”

Park blinks, and immediately looks stricken. “McCabe– I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have – I don’t know why I said all of that. I know it wasn’t what you were asking. I’ve just been carrying a lot of-”

“Park, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologise,” RJ says over him. “And you don’t need to try and sugarcoat anything for me. I was a naïve kid when I joined the investigation, but I’m not now. I saw you get taken away, and other people as well. I was terrified. But I found ways to justify it in my head, because I didn’t know what else to do.”

They say this last part, quietly, to the tabletop.

Park rubs his good eye. “I never wanted you to have to go through that.”

“But that wasn’t your fault,” RJ tells him. “It was theirs.”

Silence descends for a few moments, and RJ casts about for a change of subject. “So, uh, have you… heard from Shelley?”

Park shakes his head. “I asked the other Violet to get a message to her, because I wanted her to hear the truth from me and not whatever lies the Regime has decided to put out, but she warned me that it could take a while. I’m not sure if or how Shelley will be able to reply.”

RJ nods, their mouth twisting in sympathy. Shelley is Park’s twin sister, and the two are extremely close. Park hasn’t shared many details about his family life, but RJ has inferred that their parents aren’t around anymore, and that Park and Shelley are each the only family the other has left. It must be incredibly hard for him to be away from her – maybe the hardest thing of all.

“What about, uh… Have you thought of getting in touch with yours?” Park asks, his voice rough. RJ shakes their head.

“No. It would just be…”

RJ hunts for the right words for a long moment, and finally says, “It wouldn’t make much of a difference. To them, the truth would be just as bad.”

Park looks troubled, but he nods. “Okay.” He drains the last of the peppermint tea and smiles a little. “All right, I’ll admit it – the tea has helped. I didn’t even know there was a stash in here.”

“I split the cost with Violet and Arkady,” says RJ. “But it’s meant to be for emergencies only.” When Park quirks an eyebrow, RJ adds, “Insomnia counts as an emergency.”

Park gives that small smile again. “Fair enough. I appreciate it, anyway. You using up your emergency tea on me.”

RJ considers pointing out that they’d been going to make a cup anyway, but decides not to ruin the sentiment. “You’re welcome.”

“I guess I should head back to…” Park plants his hands on the table and levers himself up, wincing like he’s aggravating old injuries. Maybe he is. RJ still has no idea what the IGR did to him in Zone Z, besides the… eyeball thing.

“Park,” they blurt out, and Park looks at them, his face open and concerned. There are a lot of things that RJ didn’t realise were unique about Park until he was gone. The fact that he genuinely cared about RJ, and looked out for them, was one of those.

In many ways, Park is a different man since he came back from Zone Z. But that much hasn’t changed.

“Is…” RJ hesitates, not wanting to give voice to the nagging fear that lurks at the back of their mind – and increasingly, at the front.

“Is there going to be another war?”

Park hesitates, but he doesn’t try to offer up platitudes or empty reassurances. “Not if we can help it,” he tells them.

#TSCOSI #The Strange Case of Starship Iris #fic #post-episode 10 #RJ McCabe #Agent Park #late night tea drinking #RJ McCabe's home for disaffected IGR agents #I love these guys #and their friendship #the conversations in this were hard to write #I mean Park definitely has some kind of PTSD from Zone Z but I am in no way equipped to Go There #on a lighter note though I am particularly fond of RJ bossing Park around for his own good #in some ways although Park is The Adult and more emotionally mature #deep down I think he's more of a disaster #he just hides it well #I can imagine RJ trying hard to add 'self-care' to Park's vocabulary

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jaggedwolf · 5 years

Text

Your Faves Done Like YA

Violet looked down the hallway in both directions. All clear. Good. She steeled herself, and walked into the classroom with her fists clenched.

Mr Michaelis sat sleeping behind the desk, his chin resting on his chest. His toupee was in danger of sliding off with every snore that escaped him. Violet stared at the sight. She should wake him up. She really didn't want to do this again, and if a teacher didn't mark your attendance, had you really attended detention?

"There's a sign-in sheet on the desk."

Startled, Violet spun around. She found Sana Tripathi smiling down at her.

"First time?" asked Sana easily, walking past Violet to write on the sheet on the desk.

"That obvious, huh?" said Violet, her hand clutching her backpack strap.

"A little. Sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Sana Tripathi. Senior." Sana held the pen out to Violet.

"Violet Liu. Sophomore." Violet took the pen.

She didn't know Sana, but it was hard to not know ofher. Sana was captain of the basketball team and a major player in last year's protests against the administration. Not that Violet had seen her much in either capacity.

Mostly, Violet saw her because Sana shared homeroom with the other Violet Liu, and three months after she'd transferred, Violet was still stuck delivering notes incorrectly sent to her from the front office. It would've been a nice excuse to escape homeroom, walk through the silent school hallways, but dealing with Ms Frederick's irritation as she once again interrupted other Violet's homeroom took even that small pleasure away.

Ugh, other Violet Liu. Bet she'd never gotten detention, with her perfect hair and better grades and longer legs and -

"Violet Liu," said Sana slowly. Recognition flashed in her eyes. "Oh, you're the one that keeps having to-"

"Yeah," said Violet, putting down the pen. "That's me."

"I guess you get that a lot." Sana smiled apologetically as they took their seats. "So, Violet, what are you in for?"

Violet winced.

"That's alright, you don't have to share if you don't want to." Sana took a glance at the front of the classroom. Mr Michaelis kept on snoring. She pulled what looked like a mish-mash of metal parts and gears out of her bag, wiping a hand off on the grease-stained overalls she wore.

"Did you get detention for...that?" asked Violet, fascinated and bewildered.

"Kind of. I believe the official reason was 'unauthorized use of the school auto shop'". Sana flashed a grin.

"Huh," said Violet. Always something new to learn, even about someone mildly infamous. "That's probably a cooler reason to get detention than cheating."

Sana's eyebrows shot up.

"Would you believe me if I said it was a false accusation?"

"Sure," said Sana amiably.

"What." said Violet. "Why?"

Sana frowned as she pulled apart the parts on her desk. "Do you want me to not believe you?"

"I-" Violet paused. Might as well, doubted she'd ever be talking to Sana Tripathi again. "There's a guy in my class, Freddie? He copied off my work without me noticing, and when Mr Jasper called us in, Freddie had this whole story prepared about me cheating off him."

"Freddie Miller?" asked a new voice, its owner leaning against the open doorway. "Now he's an ass."

"Arkady!" said Sana. "I thought you didn't have detention today?"

"I don't," said Arkady, hands shoved in the pockets of her leather jacket, "thought I'd keep you company." She looked at the still sleeping Mr Michaelis. "Do you think he wakes up in that chair in the morning?"

"Maybe," said Sana, sounding like she was humoring Arkady. "Do you know Violet? She's in your year."

Violet and Arkady squinted at each other. Nope, nothing was ringing a bell. Violet shook her head. "I transferred a few months ago. We're probably just in different classes?"

"Yeah. Probably," said Arkady, dropping into a seat on the other side of Sana. "Jeeter's fine, by the way. Just banged up his ankle."

Sana opened her mouth.

"Don't feel too sorry for him." Arkady made a face. "Krejjh's insisting on carrying him around everywhere, so they're both as insufferable as ever."

Sana hummed in response.

Violet fished a textbook out of her backpack. Better to have something to look at while she pretended she wasn't listening.

"Hey, Liu," said Arkady.

"Yes?" Violet slowly looked up from her book.

"You wanna hear a funny story about Freddie?"

"Really, Arkady? This one again?" asked Sana.

"She's missed out on years of this district's sordid history. Consider it a public service. So, Liu?"

"I'd welcome any story that doesn't turn out well for him, yes." Violet furrowed her brows.

"This was back in fifth grade. Anyway," began Arkady, and Violet listened, the sound of Arkady's voice interspersed with the clinking of parts on Sana's desk.

Wait. If Arkady didn't know Violet either, how'd she know her last name?

#ficlets #tscosi ficlets #tscosi #violet liu #sana tripathi #man i think booksmart has put me in a mood and a half for all the dumb HS AUs #tscosi fic #violet and sana

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jaggedwolf · 5 years

Text

agent wu isn’t on duty tonight (or: tscosi 1x10)

because I remember when I did this for wearp and it was fun so here we go with arbitrary section headings again

Top 3 things I had feelings about, in reverse order, or: in which jaggedwolf is deeply predictable

3. "But I like it when you talk" + the speech it was in response to. I'm just picturing Arkady standing there injured and tired but with a kinda silly smile on her face as she listens to Violet ramble and at no point thinking to herself "perhaps Violet's statement calls for a response". nope. she could just hang out there forever listening to Violet alternately say flattering things about her and go on about whatever.

Violet’s entire rambling? Amazing

“Normally I’d take this as a sign of disinterest but with you it can go both ways” Ha!

Have I mentioned that my real OTP for this show is Violet’s weird sincerity (even when using sarcasm to cope) colliding with Arkady’s barely held together recoiling from any sincerity? Because it is.

“Dating in a romantic sense?”

what the hell, Arkady

Violet would have been 100% in her rights to have made a terrible carbon dating joke here and I’m half-disappointed she didn’t

low-key mourning the loss of a good slow-burn, but also knew it wasn’t tenable as soon as Krejjh mentioned the kissing

2. The Rumor is no more ;_; look it makes good sense as a plan which my head acknowledges, but my heart is mostly going "but Sana mADE IT".

though that brings up another question: did she like, always have that self-destruct fail-safe or did they jerry-rig that in two weeks because I am completely on-board with either possibility

I’m equally here for Sana making spaceships ad Sana stealing spaceships so I guess I just like Sana and spaceships content in general

I imagine that once your home’s been invaded by invisible brain-washed nanobots, it probably is a little easier to let it go

let us all mourn the remains of the hammock

how much of their stuff did they manage to move to the new ship during the blip in security footage?

1. The scene with General Frederick, Violet and Arkady. Sometimes all you want is Arkady getting shot to make Violet blab and I was anticipating it as soon as "Source A apprehended" was said. Good stuff.

Totally would not have minded that scene going longer and Arkady getting more hurt. :)

me: already contemplating scenarios where Violet gets shot instead? Of course. (naturally, it couldn’t be for the same tactic on either side)

Important (to me) facts we learned:

Brian is capable of carrying Krejjh (easily, I would think, given that no one offers to help.)

Sana was arrested for hot-wiring spaceships

I like to learn more about that plural

McCabe guessed "revolution" the same time at which my brain thought it

McCabe is an excellent shot

Unsurprisingly, the answer to my question about the IGR’s college-to-spying pipeline is: spy college

wonder if my answer to McCabe’s daemon question should change to something more akin to hunting dog

I admit, I was a teensy bit hoping for McCabe to die, purely for narrative reasons, but this is cool too

In a meta-joke, Ensign Best was the real traitor all along

this makes Ensign Best Ricky Q's contact and that's so funny to me

At least according to Violet, Arkady looks good in a tank top

we all subliminally knew this already, but still, good to have confirmation.

Stabbing people with needles is indeed a Violet Liu-style plan.

Arkady still had her IGR jacket

possibly for scams, possibly to broodily stare at while thinking about her past, who knows

Dwarnians have at least one knee

More under the cut, because I am incapable of shutting up.

Things I did not see coming

Agent Park coming back, let alone as a pirate

I assume plans were made for Shelly but I still hope she’s okay

Brian talking to the bots

in retrospect, was very telegraphed

I am just very bad at thinking of the swarm as as sentient and sapient as they are

The bots didn’t attack Park and McCabe, who as far as I can tell were still in uniform and still holding their weapons?

hmm if any of the agents had listened to the live audio of the crew during the episode, pre-bot reset, I wonder if it would’ve changed things

everyone saying their own names for the credits was very cute and I hope that sticks around

COWABUNGA

You know, if Dwarnian soldiers in general have a tendency to just yell dramatic lines while also being very good at shooting humans, I feel like humanity’s terror at them is pretty justified

I want to know how much Krejjh enjoyed their fake death

Agent Park going “humankind” very dramatically while shooting into the floor? Krejjh has got to be a little impressed once they got over the whole almost dying thing

Injured but is definitely still the person piloting them off-planet, if their legs don’t work Crewman Jeeter will be their legs

Sana: Capable of flying a ship. Uninjured. Also clearly confident that even an injured Krejjh is their best shot or she would’ve said something, I presume

Side-note: Was vaguely hoping for a mention of Dwarnian blood colour, a guy can dream.

we love you :)

once a caterer, got shot at a lot

is as always, very chill even when all the things are happening

probably the only human to say “we/I love you” to the swarm

the swarm has not had a good time so they probably appreciated that

sometimes your knowledge of advanced xeno-linguistics does save the day (in the background: krejjh, still a little embarassed at how bad their vree-chel-noke is)

the angry angry general

if I heard right, the agent said she was only down, not dead right?

Good

I want her to come back and menace people again, she’s a good menacer and great to hate.

the invisible blue-collar

how many spaceships did Sana get away with hot-wiring by playing the old “I’m just here for repairs” trick anyway

I assume it’s a more involved process than hot-wiring a car but I don’t know much about that either

has had several different versions of that post-mission inspiring speech in her pocket and is very glad she got to use the version she did

the Iris!

I mean, I knew that name was coming as soon as they got a new ship but I’m still delighted

Sana to the IGR: -the universal i’m watching you gesture-

I hope she gets to reconcile with soup man (I almost called him tomato man because the other day I was thinking about him growing tomatoes. I am sorry)

she can change her own dressings (no she can’t)

Already mentioned this but Arkady getting shot as leverage over Violet? Delicious.

Also is too sensible for a dramatic kiss goodbye and I approve of that

not sensible enough to acknowledge she can’t change her own dressings. on one hand, she got shot in the thigh. on the other hand, embarrassment is not a good reason to risk an infection, you fool!

the “That’s not possible” at the general saying Krejjh was dead was very good

I’m not sure Arkady believes Krejjh capable of dying, deep down

report 1: violet liu

forget ship names, the true full circle is Violet starting the season ramble-flirting with a girl and also ending it that way

her entire exchange with the general

“swayed by moonshine and some pretty words” is such a fun accusation to throw at Violet because it’s true. those things just mean more than their literal definitions.

channeling her very real reaction to Arkady getting shot into a long-winded spiel that actually reveals nothing <3

it wasn’t until she literally asked that I realized that duh, Violet doesn’t know any of their Source designations

she was supposed to die in space alone. slowly, as the air supply ran out. maybe quickly if something else in the ship failed. knowing that no one was coming for her. not knowing it was because of a paperwork mix-up. filled with the belief that, whelp, this is the sum of her tiny insignificant life.

it isn’t

#tscosi #the rumor crew #tcosi spoilers #mine #this was supposed to be posted later today but #i woke up sick and sad with no discernible reason for either #and am thus at home #so my hand slipped #this is too many words but that's just how i distract myself from nausea and an utterly random sense of melancholy both of which have been #annoying since yesterday #tscosi rambles

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