#DeepWatch3

[thefiresontheheight]

There's an old saying, probably from back in the 90s, if not earlier, before the big post-War orbital reinvestment, that laws stop at the Karman Line. Not quite true, but close enough. Technically in orbit you're in international waters, and as such companies can incorporate their stations under the laws of the Lunar Soviet, the Martian Exploratory Committee, or even the Titan Expedition if they want to get around safety regulations. Safety regulation like the one that says people need to experience real, full gravity, not just rotational or accelerational simulation, two years for every year in orbit. I hadn't been ground side in a decade. We were somewhere over I think the American Reclamation Zone, as I left the sled, tethers the only thing holding me to anything as I floated on nothing. A single hand reaching up towards the solar shade of the military satellite the company had been contracted to repair. Somewhere down there I had been born. "Ames?" came Control's reassuring voice, ringing through my company issued implants. "On structure."

"Right," came Control's voice, "don't be enjoying the view. The corporate-military conglom that owns this beast wants the job done right, and unfortunately that means I'm gonna need you to hard-wire into the satellite. Don't have your head down in the clouds."

"My head's always in the dark, Control," I said, working my way hand over hand along the guide-bars towards the access panel. "Why is it unfortunate?"

"Are you there?"

"Yeah," I said, pulling the long connection wire from the company's suit towards the panel, watching the sync happen in my cornea. "Why?"

"You'll see." "Well now," said a new voice, suddenly speak in my head with all the cloying subtlety of a nineteen year old drunk outside a bar, "aren't you just dreammmy."

[vulpes-aestatis]

I briefly entertained the idea of DeepWatch3 creating a virtual avatar for herself... but no, she wouldn't do that.

My girl gets off on diy repair videos. She is 100% whatever the reverse of robosexual is.

[super-ion]

The Master Post

Profile pic original design credit C. Sparks

Pinned post update now that I'm on scribblehub!

I'm in the process of consolidating Ion & Emily into a single collection over there. I'll cross post any new content, but that will be the definitive edition.

Here's their AO3 home:

Ion & Emily - little episodic snippets of my trans lesbian supervillain oc

Charlotte's Tales - AO3 series containing all of my queer fairy tale retellings

This is How I Love You - collaborative project with @thefiresontheheight, what if knight and lady dynamic, but they're a star ship and its pilot

DeepWatch3 - another collab with @thefiresontheheight , in which a machine of war falls in love with her mechanic

Stuff that isn't on AO3:

Valiant - a scavenger comes across the computer core of a decommissioned mech and together they work to build something new

Writing snippets - just a collection of little ficlets that I might come back to some day

[thefiresontheheight]

Two things: first it’s very funny to me that the first time @vulpes-aestatis and I dual wrote a blue-collar sapphic in space/titanic super powerful piece of machinery novella thing I was writing the war machine, and now we’ve traded.

Second, I want you all to know, canonically, Ames is (if I counted correctly) in her mid to late forties, grew up in crushing poverty in the middle of the world famine humanity had ever seen, has gotten a bunch of cheap implants stuck in her, and has spent the last decade in space. Point being she’d look gnarly af. The trillion dollar spy-gun-satellite is, canonically, incredibly in love with the equivalent of an old pack-a-day trucker ladies, more or less, in terms of her health and appearance. And I think that’s beautiful.

[thefiresontheheight]

I think I'm in love with DeepWatch3

Very much @vulpes-aestatis 's fault lol

[thefiresontheheight]

Hello! I'm way too normal about Deepwatch3. I hope you intend to write more because it's fantastic. I left a comment on the original post before I found the most recent one on your blog saying it could be a novella and I genuinely believe that. Some minor editing/polishing and you have a right book on your hands. Anyway the writing style reminds me of Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries which makes sense because I also adore that.

Also, are you a professional writer or anything? If so where could one read more of your stuff? (it's good) [I'm normal about it]

I'm trying to be a professional writer lol. I've written a few books and have gone the trad publishing route with no luck so far. But hey, querying a manuscript rn and I've had at least one request for a full so there's that! Legit, if you ever wanna get me talking ask about my books. YA Fantasy, low adult fantasy, sci-fi, urban fantasy, ye. You in particular might like & All Shall Be Well, which is an incredibly weird sci-fi story that along with its weirding of language and its discussion of fascism and capitalism has a three way sex scene between a sentient octopus/mold/infection thing (they're actually really nice) a cyborg tiefling and a bug lady.

Also, make sure all y'all give some love to @vulpes-aestatis my cowriter on both DeepWatch3 and also on last year's This is How I Love You. Couldn't do this without them!

[thefiresontheheight]

Wait fuck I can't stop thinking about Ames and DeepWatch3. The extremely tired orbital cyberpunk worker, who's like borderline ace and her obsessive, weird, bratty, kinda sorta wannabe girlfriend who also happens to be the computer personality operating a multi-trillion dollar high-tech space gun satellite. @vulpes-aestatis this can't happen again!

[vulpes-aestatis]

I have acquired a handful of new followers in the past few days. Feel like this is probably a good opportunity for some shameless self promotion.

I decided to do DeepWatch3 on my main account, but I've also got a dedicated writing sideblog at @super-ion. There's a little bit of human x robot over there, but mostly it's superhero and fairy tale retellings (all queer) if you're into that sort of thing.

[super-ion]

Giving Undine some sorely needed attention this morning, hoping I can get a chapter out this week. I think DeepWatch3 helped unclog some of the writers block.

(which is fascinating, because I think I was in the exact same state with Most Beautiful Corpse at the Ball when I was doing This is How I Love You)

[vulpes-aestatis]

Aaaaaaa DeepWatch3 gives me life. Also I love that you used xe/xem pronouns for sixteen <3

I love Sixteen