Tumgik
#scifi writing
whereserpentswalk · 22 hours
Text
It sucks trying to date as a human on a planet where humans are a minority, and all of the dominant races are ones who've had limited contact with humans. Most alien cultures either think of humans as disunitied conquerors and raiders who subjugate other races, or as a diaspora who live on other species' planets and who are useally involved in the criminal underworld. So everyone who wants to date you has all these weird fetishes, about how they're getting to fuck this dangerous amoral space monster, and you're just like, a normal person. And like, people from the more common races where you live don't ever understand that.
Both people who want to be domed by you and people who want to dom you specifically focus on the fact that you're from an exotic race that most people think of as violent. Everyone either focuses on how weird and unique you are, or how dangerous you are. And like, even when you want to do something kinky you don't really want to focus on the fact that you're human. And there's really nobody who has any fantasies about you that are wholesome or soft, even when they don't mention that you're human they never think about being sweet or kind to you. It is what it is.
37 notes · View notes
jpitha · 11 months
Text
Hunting
It is unlikely that humans are the only predator species to achieve sapience in the galaxy.
In order to be a successful predator one has to be intelligent enough to learn your prey's movements and be able to think ahead to what they're going to do next but also be flexible enough in your thinking that you can improvise if the situation chances. If you don't have this elasticity, you won't be a very successful predator.
Humans are very successful predators.
****
Greg bent down low and spoke as quietly as he could to the worried Sefigan next to him. "I need you to stay as still as you can. I'm going to go around, and try and surprise the Gren guarding the exit."
The three Sefigans, caught between wanting to obey Greg and staying silent but also trying to communicate that they thought it was suicide to do so started shaking.
"No, no, it'll be fine. I've been watching him. He's not really paying attention." Greg stood silently and put one finger to his lips, then smiled.
Moving much quieter than one would think given his mass, Greg crept away, hunched down just a little to keep motion out of the tops of the bushes they used to hide. The Sefigans watched in horrified fascination as Greg would take a few steps and then freeze, not even breathing while he watched the Gren.
As he walked, he made no noise at all over the soft sand, his feet finding purchase slowly. The Sefigans, a small furry prey species from a rocky mountainous world felt very old fears from the most early parts of their brains while watching him hunt the Gren.
The Gren guard was panning slowly as he guarded the exit, his fur flat, his eyes dull and his mouthparts drooping. If one knew a bit about Gren physiology one could easily see that he was bored and tired. His shift wasn't due to end for another 3 demi-cycles and nothing usually ever happened on this exit.
When Greg was no more than 2 meters away, he reached down and picked up a stone, no larger than a comm badge. He raised his arm and in one silent fluid motion, tossed the stone high and far over his head, to hide its origin. It clattered against the wall on the far side of the pen, opposite to where Greg was standing. The noise and motion caught the Gren's eye and his whole body swung over to where the stone landed.
His back was turned to Greg.
Greg bent his legs low building energy and took two steps and lept onto the Gren's back. His higher mass bowled the taller but much lighter Gren over and the Gren's head hit the stone with a hollow thwack.
Greg jumped up off the Gren and checked him quickly. He was dead. Trotting quickly over to where the Sefigans were still hiding he motioned for them to follow.
Still terrified, they followed this... ambush predator they were scared of and by the time they reached him, he had gotten the comm out of the Gren's pack and was fiddling with a ring that had complicated studs all around it, fitting them against the door until one clicked and the door hissed open.
Minutes later they were all running across the desert to the canal below where they had hoped to cling to the side of a barge and float to the spaceport.
"Human Greg! Human Greg!" The smallest Sefigan called as they jogged down the sandy hill towards the canal.
"What is it Li? Can it wait?"
"That was amazing! I've never seen a human hunt before! Is that how they all do it?"
"Not really? Humans developed as persistence hunters, not ambush hunters, but as you well know, skills can be taught."
"Persistence hunter?"
"Yeah, my ancestors would pick an animal out of a herd and run after it. As long as we didn't overexert ourselves we could just... run until it died."
The three Sefigans looked at each other as they jogged. Greg wasn't breathing heavily as they went towards the canal, but all three of them were nearly at their limit and would need a long time to rest when they were safe.
"Human Greg, you scare us." The tallest Sefigan looked back at the holding compound and then back at Greg. "But, not as much as we were scared of what the Gren would have done to us."
Greg smiled showing his wide, large, white teeth. "In this world, sometimes you need to be scary." He looked at the canal. "Come on, the water isn't too cold, let's get in and swim towards that barge. It's not too far."
4K notes · View notes
thepenultimateword · 3 months
Note
Hello!
I want to write so much.
But I can't come up with interesting ideas...
Can you suggest something on Human/Alien?
Oooo I love this type of ship! Okie dokie!
1. A human raised in an Earthan purist community sneaks aboard a grounded merchant vessel while it’s unloading cargo on Earth. They’re found after the ship is already in deep space, and as a stowaway, they’re brought before the captain, a creature unlike anything human has ever seen. Though they’re scared and unfamiliar with the situation, they’re determined to stay on this ship, or at least not be returned home. As they get to know the captain and crew, they might just find out that everything they’ve learned about extraterrestrials is false
2. Human is the ship’s newest security grunt. They’ve worked the job long enough to know that their position is generally viewed as dispensable. They no longer see much point in building relationships with crew members who expect them die at the next planet, or with the security teammates they’ll inevitably mourn, so they do their job with their head down. But when a landing party accident leaves them confined to the sickbay for several days, they meet Alien, the ship’s medic, who seems thoroughly and genuinely concerned with Human’s care.
3. Mutinied by their crew, Human is marooned and left to die on an inhospitable planet. That is until Alien, marooned long ago and now adapted to the planet’s ways, comes to their rescue.
4. Alien is a planetary relations liaison, sent to Earth for a galactic peace gala. They’ve been studying up on their human social cues and language for months and things seem to be going perfectly, for themselves and the government figures they are guiding. That is until one of the human attendees, a boisterous and popular ship captain begins unabashedly flirting with them—helpfully pointed out by their new Earthan acquaintances. Human romance customs is one area of Earthan culture they did not prepare for tonight, and they have no idea what to do.
5. Human is abducted from Earth and forced to fight for the amusement of a nasty band of Space marauders. Earth is not the only planet they’ve raided, and in their new prison Human builds a friendship with one of their fellow captives. They find solace in each other and telling stories of their home planets, but at the same time they both are aware of the tension at the back of their minds. How can they trust each other when they could be pitted against each other at any moment? And how do either of them know their companion wouldn’t choose their own life over them?
6. Alien has been dating their human crew mate for about a month now. They are excited to share the news with friends while they’re home for a few days on shore leave, but the reaction is not what they were expecting. Their friends urgently inform them that humans are a species that eat their mates…and Alien has noticed them getting their mouth little close these couple weeks. They have to figure out how to break the relationship off without offending Human and fast.
7. Alien has been off-planet for several years in pursuit of a starship career. Along the way they met their beloved Human. Now they’re going back home to introduce Human to their family and organize the wedding. The only problem is even though they’ve mentioned the engagement, they have not brought up that their soon to be spouse is a human. They aren’t sure how their family is going to react or how Human will deal with their planet’s customs.
8. Alien is planetary royalty traveling to their race’s sister planet with whom they’ve had tensions. On arrival, they will meet their arranged partner, another royal, with whom they will forge a marriage alliance. Or that was the plan until Human, a space pirate, attacks their ship, taking Alien hostage and stranding the remainder of their crew.
9. Human has always been interested in the supernatural, cryptids, aliens, monsters, you name it. Even if people think it’s crazy, they want to believe. But it’s different when they actually get abducted by an alien. Just one. Who apparently did it on a dare and now has no idea how to get them home again without alerting the whole solar system, getting themself imprisoned and human put in a lab. So for now Human will have to stay with Alien and hopefully pull off their disguise as an alien.
10. Human has had a crush on Alien for as long as they can remember. But Alien has a strict personal rule against interspecies relationships, always loudly protesting about the difficulty of blending cultures and having different customs, beauty standards, instincts, and even biology. With such strong opposition, there is no way Human could ever tell them how they really feel.
82 notes · View notes
alpaca-clouds · 8 days
Text
I am right now thinking to do something a bit different for Halloween this year (yes, I know, it is still like 7 months off). And instead of doing a fandom based Horror story, to do a horror novel set in a Solarpunk world. I do not think a lot of folks have done something like that so far, have they? Maybe with some Lunarpunk vibes or something.
A queer horror story, obviously xD
I don't know. Would anyone be interested in something like that?
Tumblr media
37 notes · View notes
spyglassrealms · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media
October 4, 2181: The UNSS Skyward Spirit ignites its massively powerful fusion drive in cislunar space, beginning its 24-year round trip to Proxima Centauri. Visible on the Moon are the cities of Byrd, Guǎnghángōng, Apollo City, Tsiolkovskiy, Tycho, and Shackleton, as well as many smaller settlements, all connected by the lunar rail system. Off the sunward limb of the Moon one can also spot the city-station Tsukuyomi in low orbit, with half a dozen vessels in its vicinity. Taken by an unknown photographer at dawn on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika (DRC), using a telescopic lens.
a rare Spy Art appears! photobash of the moment humankind started their very first journey to another sun in my hard science fiction setting Astra Planeta. edited in Paint.NET using a screenshot from Space Engine.
33 notes · View notes
coffeewritesfiction · 2 years
Text
"I hate human food," the alien grumbles, using their third prehensile tail to call up the one human they trust more than any on the human internet
"Hey!" The human is wet, fresh from their hygiene rituals, but bright eyed, nice and awake. "What's up?"
The alien holds up the bowl to the camera
"What is wrong with this see-re-all? It's not getting soft like it did before!"
The human leans in and their eyes narrow.
"... That's..." They look up at the alien's face. "That's not cereal. That's oatmeal. Steal cut oatmeal."
"And?" The alien asks.
"It's raw," the human says. "You have to cook it."
"What do you mean, cook it?" The alien says, suspicious. "Raw food is good for you, you said!"
"Not for everything," the human protests. "Humans can't process everything raw! Just most fruits and like, half of all vegetables."
"All of which are terrible," the alien says. "Meat is the better choice for food, and you know it."
The human is about to point out that cereal is not meat and they sure do enjoy it, only to do a double take.
"... Are you in my house?"
The alien stiffens. "Er. Ahem. Uh..."
"I thought you said you wouldn't be back until after I was!" The human says. "It'll be another three hours until my flight home! What are you-"
"That's the doorbell I need to answer that I gotta run see you love you-"
"Wait! Hold on!" Too late. Call ended. The human shakes their head. They stare at where the holo-screen was. "Love you?" They repeat in the silence of their hotel room.
The alien sags. That was close. They hadn't been thinking. If they'd been in another part of the apartment, the human would've seen the balloons and the game would end before it began, as their people said. It was traditional to have a celebration when all members of the clan came home. Decorations, a feast, games, and more. The "more" is a bit risky, but, they're sure their human will be open to it. After all, eating meat wasn't just a literal thing in either of their societies, it could also be slang for...
A curse left them. Cake! Where are they supposed to get cake?! Their human loves that quick energy nonsense!
Back to the internet they went.
1K notes · View notes
corvidvampiricus · 1 year
Text
Sometimes, even the dank and mushroomed parks of Fallen London are peaceful. Sit on a park bench and admire the passers-by in their weird subterranean fashions; the church spires silhouetted against the lights in the roof of the Neath; the hundred livid colours of fungus in perpetual autumn.
176 notes · View notes
kaylinalexanderbooks · 7 months
Text
Beta Readers Wanted!
My YA sci-fi fantasy novel The Secret Portal, Part One is READY FOR BETA READING!
At about 106k words, TSP Pt1 is about a group of young preteens and teens discovering a portal to another dimension called Alium, full of people with powers and a group without powers. With extremists on both sides, war has plagued Alium for decades, and they are in need of change. TSP is planned to be a five-book series.
The following form is the application for beta reading. You will give a gmail so I can grant you access to the document, answer questions to see if I need your specific knowledge to consult (not a requirement), and understand the content warnings of TSP to see if you're okay to read about it.
I don't have a time limit yet, so even if the next few months are hectic, I am willing to be very flexible.
If you cannot apply for any reason, please reblog anyway so this gets around! Thank you!
86 notes · View notes
noxhawthorne · 1 month
Text
Flickerbeat: Prologue
Note: there are some things referred to in the prologue that you won’t know (mostly the names of guns in the future). Those will be accompanied by illustrations in the final novel.
Tumblr media
The stargazer fish is an interesting little guy. One wouldn’t necessarily call them physically beautiful like some of their other fish friends, with two bulbous eyes on top of their heads and the complexion of mottled mold. They’re an ambush fish, meaning they hide on the ocean floor, watching their prey. Poisoned spines are their weapon, but there’s another interesting aspect of the nightmarish fish. It has organs in its head capable of producing up to fifty volts of electricity, making it a deadly predator.
In the Philippine Sea, in the year 2052, there was more than one type of stargazer. While the fish hid in the dark depths of a black sea, the U.S.S. Pensacola cut through the surface, churning water and sea foam in its wake. It was an aircraft carrier, one that held over four-thousand Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and that was powered by a shoddy nuclear reactor that could go at any moment (at least that’s what engineers had been saying for the past five years… and yet she was afloat). The Pensacola had been assigned to watch for enemy activity in the area, the enemy being the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Following the second Korean War, in which the North Korean regime was dismantled, it was believed that many of the country’s weapon supply caches were moved to allied nations, hidden from the hands of the United States government. Since then, a silent war had been raging between East and West, one made up of subtle threats and espionage. That was the Pensacola’s assignment. Survey the area for enemy activity.
Of the personnel on board, most were asleep in their racks, the sheets stiff and mattress thin. After a day on board, the scratchy cloth-covered rack felt like a cloud of heavenly comfort.
However, not everyone was resting peacefully. On the flight deck, standing in the midst of the salty sea air, were a dozen sailors and their leader, one of five Force Reconnaissance Marines on board, a tall and intimidating man that went by the callsign ‘Jaws’. The sailors were performing maintenance on an experimental aircraft, the latest attempt by the U.S. military to create a combat-ready stealth jet. Meanwhile, Jaws was peering through a pair of night vision spectacles, head on a constant swivel as he watched for movement on the horizon, an XRS-52 in hand and loaded.
However, it was below deck, in the Hangar Bay - a large room with only two walls, the other two open to the night air - that the second type of stargazer could be found.
Scarlet Adams, callsign ‘Stargazer’.
Another one of the unlucky few on the night shift, she too had watch orders, her main focus being unidentified vessels. She was to look over the dark ocean, watching for any potential enemy ships coming within range of the Pensacola. This wasn’t her first time, having stood in the exact spot nearly a dozen times since leaving Amnia Bay, and it wasn’t that bad of an assignment. At this hour, the Hangar was quiet, leaving the slosh of the ocean’s wake to fill her ears. Various aircraft and a few gray shipping containers filled the otherwise empty space, the normally white fluorescent lights replaced by dim red ones.
Scarlet leaned against the frame of an open wall, though it wasn’t the sea that she was watching. It was the stars, vibrant this far out from the light pollution of civilization. Prior to joining the Corps, Scarlet had studied astronomy, igniting her passion for the celestial cosmos. She intended to further pursue her studies, but… well, the Butterfly Effect cut her time in academia short.
The catalyst was a simple request: to borrow a pen. It had been the beginning of her fourth year astronomy course, stuffed in a musty class room twelve other students. The walls had been covered in maps of the stars, with dusty bookshelves lining the bottom. If Scarlet focused hard enough, she could still smell that room, even nearly two years later.
She had been focusing on an assignment, diligently preparing it to be turned in, blocking out all other sights and sounds. It was a tap on her shoulder that gained her attention, and she quickly turned to see a familiar face. Jack Halifax, a transfer student from across the country. He had only been at the university for a few weeks, and seemed to be the ‘class clown’ type. The professor would often bring up a Holo-Graphic of the stars, using a laser pointer to circle each cluster he was speaking about. When this happened, Jack would take out his own laser pointer, and discreetly use it to mess with the professor. It was funny in a way, but always annoyed Scarlet to know end.
“Can I borrow a pen?” he had whispered, holding his up to show the clearly empty ink cell.
Scarlet, being ever prepared, reached into her bag and gave him a new one, not thinking much of it. He thanked her, and returned to the assignment.
When class had finished, Jack returned the pen with a small piece of paper wrapped around it. All it said was ‘Dinner?’ with a phone number below it. Call her sappy, but Scarlet fell for it, deciding to give this guy a chance. What could go wrong, after all?
One date turned to two, then two to four, and, before they knew it, the two had fallen head-over-heels for one another. It was a love that tamed Jack, yet freed Scarlet, opening her up to adventures she never fathomed. They were seemingly inseparable, a bonded pair that clung to one another.
So, when Jack expressed interest in joining the Marine Corps, Scarlet found herself eager to go with him. Not as a military wife, but as a fellow Marine, one that no longer feared her own death, but the death of her lover. She knew the pain of being alone all too well, having never known her father, while her mother died in a car crash when Scarlet was young. She’d been alone most of her life, and it had felt normal. Now that she had experienced the warm of Jack’s presence, the thought of reliving that emptiness sickened her. So, when Jack went to the recruitment center, Scarlet tagged along. By the end, they both had a one way ticket to Officer Candidate School.
During their training, it was determined by higher ranking officers that both would excellent candidates for Force Reconnaissance, having a knack for gathering information and being talented marksman. When offered the chance to take the Basic Reconnaissance Course and attend Marine Special Operations School, Jack accepted without hesitation. Scarlet, on the other hand, was apprehensive, having hoped to become a pilot instead. However, it was the excitement she saw glinting in Jack’s eyes that convinced her to join him once more.
Prior to the second Korean War, call signs were mainly used for aviators. However, following the capture, extortion, and subsequent execution of Reconnaissance officers by North Korea in 2038, it was determined that call signs were necessary for anyone serving with a secret security clearance. The enemy couldn’t know who was working Recon if their names weren’t used, and that was who they targeted to most.
Scarlet gave Jack his call sign — ‘Jackalope’, a nickname she’d given him back in college. Because of her astronomy degree, and her affinity for gazing up at the night sky during drills, she was dubbed ‘Stargazer’.
In the quiet Hangar, Scarlet was doing much the same, this time admiring the Orion constellation. If she had been performing her duties, she might’ve seen the silhouette sneaking up behind her, each step deliberate, planned. Instead, she was startled out of her thoughts when two hands gently slid around her waist, giving her a soft squeeze.
“Hey, lil’ Stargazer,” the voice of Jack whispered in her ear, breath hot and smelling of stale coffee.
Scarlet relaxed, leaning back against the man who held her, a content smile gracing her lips.
“You’re supposed to be on watch,” she said, though her tone had no malice, but rather a slight laugh.
“So are you,” Jack countered, his lips moving down, skirting the skin of her neck.
“I am!”
Jack pulled Scarlet in closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. His presence was more soothing to her than the stars.
“Sure you are,” he muttered knowingly, kissing behind her ear, “which one were you looking at?”
He knew her too well, aware of her tendency to focus on a particular star rather than the cluster that the sky offered.
“Meissa,” she responded, “it’s bright tonight.”
“Show it to me,” he whispered with a tone that sent goosebumps rising across Scarlet’s skin.
“You, uh, you know where it is. Professor Weldon covered that.”
“Mm, you know I never paid attention,” Jack said, his fingertips caressing her waist, “my eyes were always on something else…”
Scarlet could feel herself melting in Jack’s arms, this kind of physical touch having been foreign to her prior to their relationship. Her heart was beating a little faster.
Raising her hand up, she pointed to the sky.
“Well… well, you see Orion’s Belt?”
Jack made a sound of affirmation, his eyes following where Scarlet pointed. She moved her hand up further, tracing the invisible lines of the constellation.
“Go up on either side… those two stars are Betelgeuse and Bellatrix…”
“Mmhm,” Jack mumbled, kissing her neck.
“You’re not even looking,” Scarlet said, quietly gasping when she felt a gentle bite on the sensitive skin of her throat.
“Of course I am… keep going.”
Scarlet hesitated, savoring the slight sting from his teeth.
“And then… then the one above them, in the middle… that’s Meissa.”
Jack hummed, nodding, “Almost as brilliant as you.”
Scarlet felt her face begin to heat up, a light pink hue filling them. Her lips twisted into a lovestruck smile. Twisting in his arms, she turned to face Jack, finding her look mirrored back. She cupped his cheeks, reaching up to gently kiss him. Soft lips caressed her own, reciprocating the love received.
As the kiss broke, Scarlet sighed in content. She had never felt as safe as she did with him. There was never any pretending, no fear of judgement, just… acceptance, something she had yearned for, something she had never experienced. She was accustomed to being the outcast, the last chosen in gym class, the only one without a valentine. Alone. She had always been alone.
It was then that a twinge of sadness tugged at her heart, a common occurrence since joining the Marines. One that Jack was familiar with, easily recognizing the shift in her demeanor.
“In your head again?” he asked, knowing her all too well.
She nodded, a slight sting burning her eyes. Without another word, Jack pulled Scarlet into a tight embrace, rubbing her back as he held her.
“Three more years,” he said, “then it’s you and me.”
“I know,” Scarlet whispered, burying her face in his chest.
The truth was, Scarlet didn’t want to be a Marine. She wanted to be with Jack, by his side wherever he went. She wanted a quiet home and an average life. Simplicity, comfort, and the knowledge that Jack, too, was happy and safe. That’s what she wanted, not watching for the enemy through the darkness of night, or traveling the oceans on a dying ship. She wanted peace. As she stood there in Jack’s arms, eyes closed, she could almost feel it.
It didn’t last long, as Scarlet suddenly registered a low buzz. Her face scrunched as she listened to it, trying to separate the crashing waves from the sound. It was becoming louder, almost like a bee buzzing near her ear. Lifting her head from Jack’s chest, she looked at him in confusion. From the look on his face, she could tell he heard the same sound.
“What is that?” Scarlet asked, turning to look out over the dark sea.
A loud rumble shook the ship, causing Scarlet to grab ahold of the wall’s edge. It was accompanied by squealing and incoherent shouts from the flight deck.
Scarlet looked to Jack, both of them wide-eyed.
“The reactor,” she muttered.
Springing into action, Scarlet ran towards the hatch, prepared to wake the crew for evacuation. She was stopped when Jack caught her by the wrist. Looking back at him, she was prepared to rip her arm away. That changed when she saw the grave expression painted across his face.
With a grim tone, Jack spoke, “That wasn’t the reactor.”
———
Atop the flight deck, a strange aircraft was powering down. It was as big as a cargo plane, yet built like a stealth fighter jet, sleek in its design. The sailors gathered around the back of the craft, where the only obvious exit was. Jaws was on pointe, aiming his rifle at the cargo hold. There were no identifiable markings on the aircraft, but it clearly did not belong on board.
Suddenly, the latch released, and the hold’s door slowly began to open. Jaws’ grip tightened, the full force of his focus on whoever was trespassing. However, as the door lowered, no discernible figures could be made out. Instead, they saw that the interior was unlit, whatever or whoever was inside hidden by the shadows.
Jaws, not known for his patience, grit his teeth and shouted, “This is a United States Naval vessel! State your intentions!”
Silence. The sailors started to shift, looking at each other nervously, their hands clamming up around their rifles.
Then, out of the darkness came a spark, and a small flame illuminated a black gloved hand.
“Intentions,” Jaws shouted, growing more enraged by the moment.
The hand lifted the flame, bringing it up to the tip of a cigarette. Beyond that, the sailors and Jaws could make out a pair of chapped lips, and two circular lenses above, barely reflecting the flickering fire.
———
Scarlet and Jack remained silent, the buzz having stopped after the ship shook. They stared at each other, frozen in place, unsure of what to do. If it *had* been the reactor, alarms should be going off, signaling an evacuation and imminent rescue from other vessels in the area. However, the only sound either could hear was the gentle lapping of waves against the ship.
That quickly changed as gunfire rang out, accompanied by shouts and screams of agony.
“Shit, get the rest of Recon up,” Scarlet said, an edge of panic to her voice.
She sprinted to where her rifle laid, near a hatch that led up to the flight deck. Picking up her weapon, she was about to pull open the hatch, when she suddenly stopped.
Jack was about twenty feet behind her, watching in confusion as she pressed her ear to the door.
“Scarlet? What —“
Scarlet shushed him. There was a consistent *thud, thud, thud* going down the ladder, getting louder as it came closer. It sounded similar to a ball rolling down a set of stairs. Then, there was a heavy *clunk* as it hit the hatch.
Silence.
*Beep.*
Suddenly, a small explosion split open the hatch, sending Scarlet flying backwards with the force. A chunk of metal slammed against her head, leaving a deep gash that ran across her cheek, blood spilling from the wound. She went limp.
“Scarlet,” Jack shouted, running to where her body laid. He knelt down, panic rushing through him as he searched for her pulse. Relief ran through him as he found the rhythmic beat, and saw her fading in and out of consciousness, but it was short lived as a new sound came from the smokey ladderwell. It was the sound of footsteps, slow and deliberate.
Grabbing the collar of Scarlet’s uniform, Jack began to drag her to the port-side opening. He kept looking to the exposed ladderwell, watching as a pair of legs came into view. With each step, more of the person was revealed. It was someone in a black combat uniform, holding a white DE-52. As they reached the last step, Jack could see a cigarette hanging from the person’s lips, the rest of their face covered by a matte black mask. It was smooth, featureless, except for two black lenses over the eyes.
Reaching the opening, Jack quickly took off his dog tags, putting them around Scarlet’s neck. He had a dreadful feeling he knew how this would end.
*Bang!*
A fiery pain radiated through Jack’s shoulder, a bullet cracking the bone. It went through to the other side, hitting the wall and leaving a small dent. Blood quickly soaked his uniform, tacky and thick. The wound left him weak, though his determination to give Scarlet a shot at survival made him push through the searing pain.
As the masked man approached, Jack gave one final shove, rolling Scarlet’s body over the side of the ship. He watched as she landed in the water, crashing through the inky black sea. Jack never considered himself a religious man, but in that moment, he prayed for her rescue.
———
Just below the surface, Scarlet could barely see the Pensacola through her blurred vision. A black tunnel was beginning to surround her vision, but she could make out moving blobs above her. She heard the muffled sound of gunfire, along with the sight of a quick, bright flash. One of the blobs fell on the extended Hangar Bay deck, barely visible at the edge.
Then, black.
24 notes · View notes
joswriting · 2 months
Text
•❅───✧❅ joswriting ❅✧
: ̗̀➛ writeblr intro
Tumblr media
Hello there! My name is Jo (shocker!), I am in my 20s and I write stories and poems in my free time. I used to have a writing account on here many moons ago and I really miss the community, friendship and support of talking with other writers about our projects, so I am trying to rebuild what I've lost.
: ̗̀➛ about me
very interaction friendly. we're all just people on here (also please tag me in games forever)
science fiction! science fiction is my everything. it's whatever. I'm normal about it
themes I write about a lot include: death anxiety, internalized bigotry, general dissatisfaction and the complex and confusing nature of existence
scifi flavour wise i like doing weird time or multiverse stuff
I'm also queer (lesbian, aromantic, whatever), if that matters. This comes up a lot in my writing be it explicit or not.
I write in German and English
: ̗̀➛ my wips/projects
⸻ On the end of everything 🌠
An "essay" on how the multiverse died, those who noticed, and how they learned to live with their fates
[reblog tag] [posts tag] [wip intro]
⸻ Poetry 🗒️
I don't post my poetry on tumblr, instead I self host it here. I love writing poems I get such a kick out of it!
My favourite poem of mine atm is this one: Lines Out Of Context
⸻ Starship Lovelace 🚀
The Starship Lovelace is an Earth vessel far from home. The human crew mysteriously disappeared decades ago - now a small group of aliens has claimed the ship.
[posts + reblog tag]
A collection of half-assed short trips, I'm trying to build my own kind of space ship show here. It mostly serves as a way for me to keep writing and get ideas out of my head without much drafting or anything. I've got a pretty good vague plot for it in my head and I'm trying to do it justice with my newer, more thought out chapters. You can see all entries: here.
The stories are hosted on the space story collection pubnix/website Cosmic.Voyage, which i just know some of you would get a kick out of.
: ̗̀➛ inspiration
on the comedy side: the two Dirk Gently books, the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the Red Dwarf novels and Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen in particular (British people are grim, I like it)
on the more serious side: Frankenstein (my favourite book everr), many Doctor Who hiatus novels but especially Dead Romance by Lawrence Miles, the works of H.G. Wells (love that guys scifi that just completely misses the mark but was properly scientifically researched for its own time) and, to an extent, Der Tod und andere Höhepunkte meines Lebens by Sebastian Niedlich, which is a book I remember liking a lot as a young-ish teen
generally I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and Star Trek
I sometimes reblog posts about media i really like on here too so for more check out the tag: good media
So. The first thing I’d better do is invent my audience. I'll pretend there are thousands of you out there, and I'll pretend you're all just like me; young, smart, pretty, and sarcastic (NB I’m probably being ironic here, although I’m not really sure any more). Just so we’ve got some common ground, I'll pretend you were born sometime in the late 1940s… No, sod that. I'll pretend you were born on 15 August 1948. All of you.
Well, why not? If you’re going to invent an audience, why not invent one in your own image?
-- Dead Romance, First Notebook
20 notes · View notes
leebrontide · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media
Writeblr re-intro!
I'm just gonna make these periodically so that new people joining the community might see it.
Hi, I'm Lee Brontide (any pronouns but "it"). I'm queer, middle aged, midwestern (in the US), and have a variety of disabilities. I'm also a therapist, but I'm pretty specific in how I allow that to show up in online spaces. (please don't ask for therapy in my DMs).
I have a once a month newsletter called Shed Letters.
I'm on tumblr to dink around, meet other writers, find readers, share my animation attempts, and show off my cats.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I read pretty much anything scifi or fantasy, but am especially interested in finding more scifi writeblrs. Especially YA scifi writers. There must be others, right?
My work is about
queerness
trauma
medical trauma especially
disability
interpersonal dynamics
systems/power
disaster teens trying really hard
And taking genre conventions far too seriously
I've got one book out now called Secondhand Origin Stories, which is character-driven, low-neon, near-future cyberpunk scifi with a superhero twist. My WIP, Names in Their Blood, is in edits now and will be going to beta reading soon!
Which means I'm also going to get to work on the as yet untitled novella that goes between book 1 and book 2 in the series soon. It's from the point of view of an AI building management/security system/medical information database, who decides that they want a more portable body so they can follow their family on the next family trip, and explores the process of choosing a new physical form.
I am ask and tag game friendly, and for now at least, my DMs are open! But I work on a major delay because life.
I'm looking for writeblrs who write any or all of:
queer stuff
character driven scifi
psychological exploration
found family
messy family
YA or NA
Things that remind me of: DS9, tlt, murderbot, Leverage, The Disasters, or AtLA
Let me know if that's you!
60 notes · View notes
whereserpentswalk · 4 months
Text
Imagine you're from one of humanity's far off colonies in the far future. When your colony first formed people used artifical wombs as an alternative to traditional breeding to bolster numbers, to the point where it became normalized and nobody wanted to go back to sexuak reproduction once the population got back to normal.
As time went on people started being altered to be born sterile, and slowly people started seeing genitals and libido as useless, and started removing them, and then requesting children be born without them. By the time you were born nobody has had sex in your solar system in centuries, everyone has a completely androgynous body, and a mind incapable of sexual attraction.
You never think of bodies as gendered, even though you likely think of yourself as male or female. And nothing ever seems sexual to you. You've cuddled with your freinds, been naked in public, touched people's bodies, and none of it has ever been sexual to you. You and your girlfriend sleep in separate beds, and the most you'll ever do is cuddle eachother. This is just how the world is.
Eventually you interact with humans from another system, and they seem so alien. They hide their bodies in strange ways, have boundaries you don't understand, and have strange concepts about gender and families. They seem to think you're odd as well.
When you become one of the few people from your home city to go off system for a job you find that people interact with you strangely. They always say that they're so sorry for you, that they think it's tragic you've been forced to live the way that you do, or how awful it is that your civilization has robbed "important parts of humanity" from you. You don't understand why reproduction methods are so important to these people. When they try to show you you don't really understand, even if you're happy to learn about your new freinds' cultures. You wish you could just cuddle with people here without it meaning anything though.
You return to your home planet confused. You're not sure if you could explain it all to anyone other then yourself.
224 notes · View notes
jpitha · 11 months
Text
Lateral Thinking
So what if it turns out that humans are actually really good at lateral thinking. That is, they're good at coming up with solutions that aren't normally arrived at by logical or deductive means.
A Classic Example: "A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, jacket, gloves and hat. He is walking down a black street with all the street lamps off. A black car is coming towards him with its light off but somehow manages to stop in time. How did the driver see the man?"
(It's daytime)
Lateral thinking could be seen by aliens as "frigging witchcraft" when we apply it to solve problems.
2K notes · View notes
aswegoalong72 · 1 month
Text
Reyal At A Glance - Therikine
Tumblr media
Map by @nexelart (twit)
Therikine - Where Land Meets Sea
Therikine is one of the latest settled regions of Southern Reyal during their early history, but it was the most important prior to the discovery of the Yuniv-Semat Trail.
As a temperate island, deep in Alkanite territory, it was exploited for its remoteness and abundance of natural resources at first. As those who fled from South-Eastern Reyal during the Exodus didn't have many resources or much of value in terms of trade goods, Therikine was essentially a holy grail for them.
Following the first religious wars, The Alkanites had a very hard time regaining trust of the rest of the world. Those in Tyrateol and other cities refused to do business with them for almost thirty years, before one day a ship set sail from Therikine to Heryeg-Ta, a major Tenavite shipping center. There, they unloaded several tons of gifts, ranging from dried ajjen mix from Therikine, to a few major works of art from Gallak. This marked one of the first attempts of intercontinental unity and goodwill, even if it didn't last.
In the following centuries, Therikine became a massive hub for traders and civilians alike, drawing in traders all across Reyal. As things cooled down thanks to communication and treaties, Therikine became a symbol of unity; a place where anybody, regardless of their religion, could feel safe together.
Nowadays, Therikine's use in terms of ajjen production has fallen; it's still produced and exported, but in much smaller amounts. Most familial communes, no matter where they're located, have their own greenhouse dedicated to growing the plants needed for it. Instead, Therikine focuses more on its mineral wealth, and has built a few small factories with the GRC's aid to help produce and distribute household robotics.
LV-72
LV-72, or “Laren Vuuhet”, which stands for “Mining Site 72” in the local tongue, was one of the Global Resource Committee’s many prospecting regions in the area. Located in a canyon, the area was originally marked for exploitation due to its high levels of yttrium and iron. However, many were shocked to find the presence of some very well preserved fossils in the canyon walls, coming from just before the Second Reset.
The entire mining operation switched gears, focusing on locating more. As time passed, two junior specialists (Sav and Uutarb, who grew to be very respected in their fields) proposed using ground penetrating radar to see if there was anything else in the area.
They were proven right, and on one fateful cave dive, Uutarb and one of her compatriots discovered two incredibly well preserved fossils. Not from before the Second Reset, but the First. Due to the nature of the extinction events & Reyal’s resurfacing in the periods that followed, they only had a hazy idea of what life was like before these catastrophic events. These caves helped to change their understanding of not only their world, but of themselves.
As this discovery took place well over two hundred years ago, LV-72 has more or less become a tourist attraction. Most of the fossils in the area have already been uncovered, being sent to museums and universities across the globe.
Yuurat
Yuurat is the capital of the United Therikine Communes. Originally, Yuurat had just been a small farming community, forming shortly after the third Exodus wave. Settlers were those who disagreed with mainstream Alkanite beliefs back in Gallak, and set out to find a new land that had been untouched by anyone. After scouring the seas, they found Therikine; a beautiful green gem among the dark blue seas.
Initially, growth was slow. The only things they knew how to work with were the super abundant algae and seaweed that grew in the area, which they used to supplement their diet. After a little more exploration of the region, they discovered a few new fruit species, as well as some miscellaneous vegetables and herbs.
On one fateful day, a local doctor began experimenting with some of the herbs, and discovered that quite a few had some very stimulating properties. After drying some and blending them together, he made Reyal’s very first cup of ajjen; a beverage that would change the world.
Word quickly spread, and ajjen became a very important trade good for Therikine. It began to command trade deals with Gallak and other Alkanite cities, with ajjen being almost as expensive as gold as word of its properties and taste spread. However, as dry ajjen is nowhere near as potent as fresh, things began to die down as some got their hands on seeds to grow their own.
Yuurat’s population slowly declined for a few hundred years, before it had a second wave of exponential growth, thanks to the discovery of rare earth minerals.
Today, however, most mining and production has been moved off world, and Yuurat has become more of a general food producer and vacation town. With a population only a fraction of what it used to be, Yuurat barely holds the power it once did, but is still a bustling and thriving town.
GRC Therikine Outpost
The Global Resource Committee (GRC) can be very closely tied to Therikine, in more ways than one. Therikine has always been a major producer of rare and important minerals, and the GRC was a big player in the development of Therikine’s mining industry.
The GRC’s Therikine outpost was established a little over 250 years ago, initially to help scout for new deposits on one of the relatively uninhabited sections of the island. Mining was already a very important sector for Therikine, but with the aid of the GRC, production tripled. Before the push of mining into space, Therikine would be one of the GRC’s top donors of resources, and played an important role in helping to fund new projects, such as the Rev-Legaken Launch Facility.
The outpost also was a major training facility for the GRC; new recruits of various physical sciences would typically be sent here to get their bearings, before being sent out to other locations across Reyal. Calculating environmental impacts from mining and finding new deposits were fairly easy, so it was a very simple and easy first post for greenhorns.
With the discovery of numerous fossils in the region, mining was slowly toned down in the area, with its new focus becoming paleontology. This marked the slow end of the outpost, as new discoveries are eventually dried up. Choosing for the area to become a center of learning, it was converted to a museum and hotel just a few decades ago.
That’s it for this entry; thanks for your patience in waiting for this! It means a lot to me. Until next week, when we’ll be discussing the Great Central Desert Mountains! Take care!
Directory: Intro | Climate | the Land of Tenav's Dawn | the Desert Rings | Therikine | the Great Central Desert Mountains | the North Glacial Plains | the Yuniv-Semat Basin | Juleg Marrdev Technocracy | Yuniv-Semat Trail | Ro | Velgae
15 notes · View notes
get-prompted · 6 months
Text
Prompt;
Humanity has successfully reached the Edge of the universe. But we got too ambitious. We went further. And what lied beyond it was horrifying.
28 notes · View notes
spyglassrealms · 2 months
Text
Spy's OCs: Zak Kaiyo
Tumblr media
art by my good friend, the wonderful @wildegeist!
Realm: Arcverse Species: Tokaya Homeworld: Terotewaukia (Teroteaumia system) Age: 26 annua (29 Earth years) Gender (human analogue): cismasculine (he/him, xe/xen*) Height: 1.8 m Weight: 72.5 kg Occupation: Captain and pilot of the starship Free Spirit; freelance cargo-hauler; occasional mercenary; jack-of-all-trades [Suggested Listening: Burn Out Brighter by Anberlin]
Zakane "Zak" Kaiyo is the co-owner, captain, and pilot of the heavily-modified light hauler Aum Hara (otherwise known as the "Free Spirit") and the leader of a small band of freelance spacers that make their home aboard the ship. He's just one more spark in the great spiral; one more restless soul trying to make a living doing what he can in a galaxy that's always moving and yet always standing still. From the Tyrian Shallows to the Drift and everywhere in between, Zak and his small but loyal crew of misfits can be found anywhere something interesting is happening.
Zak's talented -albeit reckless- piloting skills earned himself and his copilot Arkto a spot in the Galactic Spacecraft Pilots Association Hall of Fame, having broken the record for the smallest crewed ship by mass to exceed 10 million times the speed of light with a hyperdrive. His performative stuntwork is also renowned, and he frequently attends the annual Galactic Pilot Convention.
Most of the "swashbuckling freelance ace pilot" tropes apply to this space hobo, whose personal creed is "do good recklessly." His confidence, determination, and cheerful sarcasm make for an extremely charismatic, if reckless, leader. He's very mischievous and likes to get into trouble, but can be relied on to get out of it as quickly as he gets into it… most of the time. Zak acts fearless but, go figure, this man has Attachment Issues. He hates the idea of getting tied down to one place or thing, yet at the same time he is fiercely protective of his crew. (Shhh. Nobody tell him.)
Zak's homeworld is a backwater: connected to the galaxy and participant in its affairs, but hardly anyone there actually got out beyond the system. He was constantly told that he ought to be happy on Terotewaukia, fixing up interplanetary haulers and maybe going to the outer moons of the system once in a while. He and his two best friends always wanted more. The three of them had plans to quietly fix up one of the written-off hauler derelicts on company time and get the hell out, making their way around the wild starry yonder to see what could be seen.
And then one of them decided they wanted to stay and settle down.
That was the last straw for Zak. As soon as the opportunity arose, he and Arkto (his other bff) took off in their souped-up light hauler and never looked back. But once they were out there... Zak came to realize that the galaxy isn't a really adventurous place.
See, Arcverse is a universe that everyone thinks has been more or less figured out. Galactic civilization has been around for something like a million years or so, and the Arcadian Order have been sort of running the Galactic Assembly for about that long (mostly because they got off their planet first and they do a pretty decent job of wrangling the rowdier civilizations with diplomacy). The entire galaxy is, broadly speaking, at peace. The clash of titans already happened; the fate-of-the-galaxy-level stakes were sorted out thousands of generations ago. All the major starfaring powers, while independent in principle, are constrained by the bureaucracy of the Galactic Assembly. There's mild internal turmoil —and there's always an underbelly— but it's still quite tame. There's a whole galaxy out there with lots to see but nothing to really strive for in it.
Zak Kaiyo is someone who desperately, fundamentally, needs to strive. He wants to live fast and die young in a galaxy where everyone lives at a reasonable pace and dies basically never. He exists to challenge the stagnancy of a world that's as close to utopia as it can reasonably be. Zak wants so badly to save the galaxy, but he lives in a galaxy that doesn't need saving. And that's tearing him to pieces.
24 notes · View notes