#accelerant series novels

[greenerteacups]

Are there any other wizarding families that are underexplored in canon and pique your interest in a similar way to the Blacks?

This is a unique function of what food my brain worms like to eat, but no one's doing it like the Blacks. The drama? The intrigue? The Gothic horror? The prodigal sons and lost daughters and killers and sinners and martyrs and saints? The wizard Catholicism of it all? The story of the House of Black is the best book never written.

[yumartist]

Kawata Mami - No buts!

I always love this song. 💗

Please let me know if you have a favorite song. 🫶☺️

[exponenshul]

People occasionally ask me about the origins of my pregnancy/birth kink, and I just remembered something that I think was pretty crucial.

When I was in middle school I read the book “FEAR,” the fifth installment in a series by Michael Grant. It was honestly a bit too dark, gorey, and violent to be considered a young adult novel, but I digress.

Near the end of the book is a scene where one of the main characters is pregnant, and her pregnancy is accelerated by the external force of a powerful alien. She’s tired and scared to give birth but is forced to do so in a cave deep underground. I’d send the pages but I don’t have the book anymore, sadly.

This is the first and only time I’d ever read about a rapid pregnancy, and I think it really captivated me.

So yeah. Food for thought. Has anyone else ever read this book?

[ranahan]

I just read the Republic Commando: Hard Contact and Republic Commando: Triple Zero novels by Karen Traviss. Republic Commando is Legends now, but here are a few points that struck me about arguments I’ve seen go back and forth here on tumblr. Spoilers for the books!

Several mentions of entire batches of brothers “disappearing” for minor variances & clones being more afraid of the kaminoans than their training sergeants. Kal Skirata drunkenly breaking into tears over the poor boys. Very clear that in Traviss’s books, clones were being decommissioned.

Several mentions of clones dying in live fire exercises on Kamino before being deployed & the training sergeants standing by and doing nothing.

There’s a blurb of a retired commando, chronological age 23, biological age 60. Again, in Traviss’s books, the artificial ageing doesn’t stop when the clones reach adulthood. The main characters are also described as visibly ageing between the two books.

Pretty chilling description of the kind of brainwashing that you believe because you don’t have any reason not to when your entire life so far has lined up with it. I would completely believe these boys could execute Order 66 without the chips & all I could do would be to empathise with them.

Troopers telling their concerned jedi to not worry their pretty little head about what happens to dead troopers. Later a reinforcing mention of no bodybags needed in the GAR.

Vau nearly killing a trooper in training & making the troopers beat each other into a pulp in training.

So again, Republic Commando are Legends now but if anyone wonders where the fandom got the idea that these things happen, here’s your answer. They aren’t fandom inventions.

Other notes and personal opinions:

I mostly enjoyed Hard Contact. There were some bits near the end that fell a little flat, but overall an enjoyable military action/military science fiction novel.

Triple Zero on the other hand, not so much. The pregnancy storyline was just icky. Both in how Etain herself makes it her entire raison d’être, how she makes it the reason for why Darman now has a future, and the lack of consent on Darman’s part. She intentionally gets pregnant without ever discussing anything with him (they’ve been together for two whole weeks at this point), whether he wants kids at all, wants them with her, wants them in the middle of a war, or sees having children in the same light as she does. She’s had the most superficial of introductions to Mandalorian culture and has no idea whether or to what degree the clones or Darman as an individual share those notions—given that they probably have an understandably complicated relationship with Mandalorian culture and especially the notions of children, parents, and legacy. For all we know at this point in the series she could have completely misconstrued the whole thing. But there she goes, and decides that this is how she will fix everything and give Darman a future: a genetic legacy to outlive him.

The force-accelerated pregnancy reads like a bad fan fiction and the whole “go undercover to hide the pregnancy” reads like a Victorian novel.

Etain feels like an odd choice for a point of view character in a military science fiction story. She’s aggressively the-girl-next-door, pointedly unremarkable and ordinary. I guess the point is that readers could have a regular person’s point of view, with which to contrast the commando mindset, and to whom things can be naturally explained without infodumping. But it goes overboard and makes her seem incompetent and immature, so you start wondering what the hell is she even doing in the story or on a battlefield or what does anyone see in her.

There are sexist attitudes straight from the planet Earth. It’s in men and females, how Etain and other female characters are seen through their sex first and other characteristics second, and how they are always “other” in comparison to men. But it’s not just the women, it’s young men—the clones—too where I get this vibe. It’s very bioessentialist. There seems to be this underlying thread of pairing up and reproducing being the most valuable thing a person can do with their life. Which again, seems like an odd choice for a thematic storyline in a military science fiction novel. Like, this is not what it said on the tin.

Some of the tactical/counterterrorism side in Triple Zero feels inauthentic to me as well. There’s too much being bad boys for shock value and too little professional soldiering for my tastes anyway. But I don’t kick in doors professionally so what do I know.

No sense of numbers for galactic economy. Exhibit A: Qiilura.

Lastly, fandom: can we get more Corr? This is an EOD trooper who gets both of his hands blown off early in the war, gets stuck in a logistics centre duty while waiting for better prosthetics, still determined to get back into action to fight alongside his brothers, gets accidentally adopted by some commandos, and makes a career change from disabling fiddly explosives to kicking in doors. A round of appreciation for Corr!

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #35 – To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis

This was my second shot on reading something of Willis’, and I found it far more enjoyable than the first. Which is something of a feat, honestly – it’s a rare book that you can more-or-less accurately describe s a ‘cozy romcom’ that doesn’t make me recoil. But it was charming! And dated, but mostly only charmingly as well.

The story is the second in a series, which no one ever told me when recommending it because it does not matter in the slightest (at least, I had no issues at all following along with the story) – though it does mean that it hits the ground running and requires you to pick up quite a bit from context for the first while. It follows Ned Henry, a historian at the University of Oxford in the mid-21st century – a field that has been changed dramatically by the invention of time travel. For example, it’s suddenly in desperate need of particle-accelerator money, which is why and the entire rest of the department have been conscripted by an incredibly generous donor to help her reconstruct Coventry Cathedral exactly as it was before being destroyed in the Blitz. Exactly. ‘God is in the details’, and Henry has spent subjective weeks running himself ragged attending wartime rummage sales and sifting through bombed out ruins to try and verify the fate of a glorified flower pot mainly notable for being overdone and ugly even by Victorian standards.

After going through so many rapid-fire temporal shifts that the jump sickness leaves him waxing rhapsodic about the highway and falling in love with every woman he sees, he’s sent to Victorian Oxford to lay low and recuperate, and deliver a vitally important package to a contact already in situ. Unfourtunately that jump sickness means that he’s pretty unclear on the particular what and who. Really it’s remarkable that things don’t spin even more wildly out of control than they do (and there’s a period where he might have accidentally made the nazis win WW2).

So yeah, not what you’d call a serious novel. Most of the plot is sneaking around trying to make sure various members of the Victorian gentry fall in love in the right pattern to make sure someone’s grandson can fly in the RAF down the line and someone else elopes off to America on schedule (with drastically limited details and new information from back home changing things ever so often). Also sneaking a pampered rare-fish-hunting pet cat and slothful bulldog around before they arouse the wrath of their hosts. The apocalyptic threat that’s theoretically hanging over everyone never really feels real, and it’s all just pleasently absurd and enjoyable to read.

The comedy reminds me of early Prachett, in a way? Which like, a light comedy from the ‘90s in large part poking fun at English academia, of course there are similarities, but still. Not that that’s n insult. There’s plenty of absurd situations caused by miscommunication or desperately trying to work around absurd social conventions or personal foibles. Almost the entire Victorian cast (and a decent number of the present-day characters as well) are objectively ridiculous people, and the book has a lot of fun making do the literary equivalent of chewing scenery for the camera.

I call this a romcom, but I’m not ever sure that fits, honestly. It is a comedy with romance, between the two lead characters, whose dynamic with each other is the main throughline of the book. But it’s never really a source of drama? Or a motor of the plot. They are coworkers who end up working in close confines and get alone fine, who both awkwardly admit they find each other very attractive and start flirting and at the end they kiss and adopt a cat together. Least miscommunication- or conflict-ridden central romance in fiction you’ve ever seen. I don’t know enough about the genre constraints to determine whether it counts or not.

Part of the appeal of this was honestly the odd ways it came across as a bit dated? Not at all in a bad way but just, like – the fixation on the Blitz as the sine qua non of English history feels very 20th century? The references to the Charge of the Light Brigade and Schrodinger’s Box and Three Men in a Boat, combined with the felt obligation to step back from the narrative and explain what they were in case the reader wasn’t aware – just the idea that someone reading a time travel story won’t already be familiar with the concept of temporal paradoxes, really. It all added up to a reading experience that felt a bit off-kilter in a pleasing way.

This is obviously a story very fascinated by Victoriana – both the time period and the popular memory. Its perspective on the period is – I guess ‘affectionate contempt’ might be the best way to put it? It clearly doesn’t think much of the Oxfordshire gentry, the women shallow as a puddle and obsessed with marriage gossip and spiritualism, the men with their heads stuffed with some academic fixation and utterly divorced from all practical affairs, both obsessed with petty one-up-man-ship of their peers and casually abusive and callous towards the servants who run and organize their lives for them. But it all feels rather good-natured; not a trace of righteous fury or real class hatred is on display, the fact of the empire and the source of their fortunes is I think not even mentioned. One more way it feels a bit dated, I suppose, or maybe just a way my usual reading’s much more explicitly political about these things.

I’m also not sure if this is a matter of tastes or popular memory changing or just my impression of what the received common wisdom is being parochial or inaccurate, but – given the association of ‘Victorian’ with imperial grandeur, aesthetic superiority, eye-wateringly expensive historical real estate, etc, it is quite funny how the book takes for granted that to be ‘victorian’ means to be horrifically gaudy and over-designed, devoid of elegance or restraint, and to have probably ruined some real medieval beauty in its creation.

Anyway yes, you absolutely could dig into this book and write some meaty essays out of it, but I simply was not reading it closely enough to do so. It’s probably overlong and definitely meandering and unhurried, but I did find it a really enjoyable read.

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Entropy Effect" review

Novel from 1981, by Vonda N. McIntyre (same author of the novelizations for the Star Trek movies II, III and IV). This is also the first TOS novel of the Pocket Book line, not counting the novelization for TMP. Even though the Bantam books have some nice stories (in particular, those by the Haldeman brothers are pretty decent), they all seem more like episodes of the series. This is the first time I had the impression of reading a proper novel, and the leap in quality is evident. I really, really liked this novel. It's also veeeery sad; it even made me shed some tears. Of course the reader knows this is Star Trek, and everything will turn out fine in the end, but the sense of despair the author conveys is quite effective nonetheless.

The characters are given much depth, and even the bunch of new additions receive proper attention, and their own side-stories and aspirations. The relations between the triumvirate are pretty much flawless (with echoes from "The Tholian Web"; Spock and McCoy are the real protagonists here). And surprisingly, Sulu has his own subplot and a romance story.

I can't really think of many downsides. Maybe it's a bit slow at the beginning, specially since it needs to introduce the new cast. But as I found the original characters interesting and likeable, it wasn't a major issue for me. Also, the story involves time-travel, so expect the usual head-scratching moments. Though as far as I noticed, there were no plot holes.

Some spoilers below the cut:

Spock is investigating an unusual black hole, and his observations make him reach the disturbing conclusion that entropy is rapidly accelerating, and the universe may have little more than 100 years to disappear. He's about to confirm his suspicions, when the Enterprise is suddenly diverted to the Aleph Prime station by a maximum priority message, so Spock has to leave his work half-finished.

In the station, they're greeted by prosecutor Ian Braithewaite, who is confused at first, since he didn't send any urgent message. Nonetheless, he had asked for a ship to help him bring a prisoner to a rehabilitation colony, so Kirk accepts, once he learns the identity of such prisoner. He's an old physics professor of Spock: George Mordreaux, and Spock is sure he can prove his mentor's innocence, for the charges of murder and unethical experimentation. But when he tries to learn more about the case, he finds all info and details have been erased, so there's something definitely fishy about it all. In the station, Kirk also reunites with Captain Hunter, an old girlfriend, and has serious doubts about his decision to break up with her. He even considers the option of leaving the Enterprise and giving another chance at their relationship. For his part, Sulu has fallen in love with the new security chief: Mandala Flynn. But leaves her, and the Enterprise, to join Hunter's crew, in the hope that this will further his career.

Thus the Enterprise, minus Sulu, starts the trip to the rehab colony, with Modreaux and Braithewaite aboard. Spock insists the professor isn't dangerous, and places minimal security on him. Everything goes awry when the professor appears inexplicably on the bridge, and shoots Kirk and Mandala with a spiderweb gun. This spiderweb has really gruesome effects: it creates some sort of metallic web inside a body, which expands quickly through all organs, even covering the eyes. However, Mordreaux doesn't seem to have left his cell at all, and no intruder or imposter is found aboard. Soon thereafter, Mandala is dead. While McCoy completely breaks down, and insists on keeping Kirk artificially "alive" through machines (though deep down, he knows Kirk is dead for real). In the end, Spock convinces McCoy to disconnect the machines. And there's a gut-wrenching scene, in clinical detail, where McCoy starts turning off all the life systems on him.

After Kirk's death, Spock and McCoy are left in a similar situation as in "The Tholian Web". Though in the episode Kirk had simply disappeared, so there was still hope. Here things are far more depressing. McCoy can't accept Kirk's death, and pressures Spock to try time-travel to save him. Spock refuses to play like that with the space-time continuum. However, while interrogating the professor in his cell, Spock learns that the real reason he's convicted, is because he's been tampering with time travel through a new device. This disruption may be behind the entropy effects Spock had previously discovered. And it's also behind the murder of Kirk, at the hands of a future, insane version of Mordreaux. Since all these events are the results of time alterations, Spock needs, in fact, to travel back in time, and restore things to their original order.

With the help of the (still sane) professor, Spock initiates a series of failed attempts at fixing things in the past. While gradually deteriorating through each time travel. And McCoy has a hard time, being left in charge of the ship and covering up for Spock (they can't tell anyone else about the device, in fear of being arrested for it, just as Mordreaux). Meanwhile, Braithewaite is being a pain in the ass, and gets paranoid about Spock and McCoy having conspired to murder Kirk. He even manages to make Scotty suspicious of them, so things get even more complicated.

In summary, the stakes are pretty high, and the story gets really exciting (and sometimes frustrating for poor Spock and McCoy).

McSpirk Meter: 10/10. I usually only rate the Kirk/Spock material, since is far more common, and ranges wildly from one novel to another (with some of them being borderline slash). But in this occasion is impossible to separate the members of the triumvirate, as the love goes in all three directions.

For starters, there's Spock casting aside all his reservations about hand touching, when Kirk is shot with the spiderweb (maybe this is the first time it's explicitly stated that Vulcans avoid touching hands?). He tries to mind-meld with Kirk while he's dying, perhaps to die himself instead, but Kirk pushes him away to save him.

Then there's the absolutely devastating effect that Kirk's death has on McCoy. He gets totally drunk, breaks down among sobs, and finally passes out. Spock carries him in his arms and puts him to bed; then keeps watch while he sleeps. Later, McCoy starts crying again while viewing Kirk's last will. But once he learns it's possible to bring him back, he's all sunshine once more. Still, the mere reliving of his death is enough to bring him to tears, even while on the bridge. McCoy's pain for losing Kirk is also compared to that of Hunter (who was Kirk's lover), and Sulu's grief for Mandala (also a lover). When Hunter asks McCoy what he has to gain by helping Spock in his mysterious plans, he answers "everything".

Spock deals with the loss of his Captain in a far more subdued, Vulcan way, but it's evident he's falling apart too. He doesn't want to stay in the Enterprise anymore, and once he completes his duties aboard, he's probably going to leave Starfleet altogether.

McCoy has also some tender moments with Spock while treating his wounds, and choosing civilian clothes for him (which he says that enhance Spock's eyes).

Once everything's been solved, Spock lies in bed while recovering, and Kirk and McCoy take turns watching him. Only Spock remembers the events of the altered timeline (for everyone else it feels just like a nightmare). And Spock's reaction upon waking up and seeing Kirk alive has to be read to believe it. Let's say, a mixture of "this simple feeling", and his smile at the end of "Amok Time".

[seed-rom]

“The Chibnall era of doctor who is supposed to appeal more to children and be more family friendly, that’s why it’s more obvious in its storytelling” doesn’t really hold up to me, because the late 2000s, early 2010s era of BBC kids programming that used relatively sophisticated sci fi and fantasy plots and had no trouble attracting dedicated younger audiences.

The obvious example is The Sarah Jane Adventures, which remains CBBC’s most popular show ever, but there’s many other examples that spring to mind. The Sparticle Mystery hinged its plot on the concept of particle acceleration, going so far as to actually shoot scenes in a real life particle accelerator facility. Young Dracula depicted a classic ethical conflict between groups of vampires with differing views on killing humans, with multiple morally grey protagonists. It make many references to the novel Dracula, which is significantly above its 6-12 year old target audience’s reading age, as well as historical figures associated with vampire legend. Wizards vs. Aliens decided to humanise one of its main villains at the end of the final series by showing her care for her family, and be capable of forming connections with people who should be her enemies. And that doesn’t even begin to go into the appeal of other childrens series that use more “grown up” themes (Go look up Jacqueline Wilson - I watched dustbin baby on the kids channel at a formative age).

So no, appealing to kids is not an excuse for simplistic storytelling and lack of nuance

[fierrochase-falafel]

MDZS, CQL and the passage of time

MDZS novel and CQL spoilers ahead!

There's this thing where despite The Untamed / CQL having Wei Wuxian be dead for 16 years instead of 13, everything is meant to feel so much rawer and closer in time than the novel I feel. For a start, naturally having 30 episodes straight of flashback sequencing before depicting an immediate reconcilation between Wangxian really imprints those flashbacks much closer in your mind than Wei Wuxian's actual ressurrection, which happened in episode 1.

Furthermore, there are also these other flashbacks when Wei Wuxian sees something reminiscent of his past, different instrumentals played initially in the flashbacks coming back again to remind you of the themes those instrumentals represent. One of the most distinct examples I remember is in episode 2, when CQL Wei Wuxian sees a vision of Wen Qing introducing Dafan Mountain as the place where her branch of the Wen clan lives in CQL and then remembers the dancing fairy statue. This never happened in the novel- partially because, in CQL, Wei Wuxian was introduced to characters and locations / concepts WAY before he found out about them in the novel (eg.- YiCheng characters, Meng Yao, Dafan Mountain, demonic cultivation in the form of the Yin Iron). By entrenching these places and characters so far back into Wei Wuxian's past- all the way back to his Gusu days, in fact- they feel much more central in the overall plot and connected to the modern storylines involving rediscovering them. Wei Wuxian isn't being thrown into a new world at all, it's the same world with all the loose ends to be tied up. This does force him to remember the past more to deal with the present, and also links the show together in a way that would engage people who have come to watch a put-together story (this sort of strong cohesion I think is less required in novels than in a series because of the way the story needs to flow from 1 episode to the next to be coherent). In the novel, Wei Wuxian's own past storyline has a much slimmer connection to the current events- the obvious kicker being Jin Guangyao in CQL was the main reason Wei Wuxian was villainised and it all comes together in the end, but novel Jin Guangyao just accelerated the process of Wei Wuxian becoming the scapegoat and made this very clear. He didn't know Wei Wuxian would kill Jin Zixuan, he said; even though Jin Guangyao's not the most trustworthy character, how on earth could he have predicted that Wei Wuxian would lose control if he wasn't there to influence him like in CQL?

However, there are even more flashback scenes like the one in episode 35, where Wei Wuxian flashes back to Nie Huiasang being excited about fans and then compliments modern-day Nie Huiasang's fan. Scenes like these cannot be explained by the changed plot because Nie Huiasang and Wei Wuxian being friends at 15 in the Cloud Recesses is canon in all versions of MDZS. Personally, seeing this scene, the strongest effect I can garner from it is nostalgia for simpler times, for people he used to be close with. Memories are flooding CQL Wei Wuxian the minute he's alive again. Contrast this exact scene with MDZS, where Wei Wuxian zones out for a good while after Nie Huiasang leaves- no words of companionship or nostalgia or anything.

Novel Wei Wuxian rarely remembers any of his past life in detail unless he fully means to, actively giving himself reminiscing time, or in a life-or-death situation. The 3 flashback sequences in the novel begin:

when Wei Wuxian decides very specifically to muse over his past with Lan Wangji,

when Wei Wuxian gets stabbed and has to be taken away from Golden Carp Tower,

when everyone turns on him in the Burial Mounds with the same words and having the same intent they did at Nightless City (to harm him, to besiege him).

I think novel Wei Wuxian has spent 13 years in the afterlife getting used to wallowing over his memories, and then consequently repressing and ignoring memories from his past life because they were all associated with pain and bitterness and so much guilt (traumatic, even, but I can't say much from a perspective of trauma because I neither have trauma nor am qualified to know enough about it). Nobody cared for him anymore in his eyes, and he DID lose control, fully feeling himself lose control and accidentally cause the deaths of people he genuinely cared about. The worst-case scenario that he had to contend with actually happening and being, to some degree, his fault. With 13 years to exist as a ghost, I think he had so much time in which he would've had to contend with his choices and death that he fully removed himself from his old life as much as possible, leading to his modern-day gap in memories. You feel the effect of his years dealing with his emotions about this whole mess.

In contrast, CQL Wei Wuxian feels like he is experiencing everything raw when he comes back into the world, like he hasn't been practicing repression to the point of memory loss. Maybe he wasn't conscious during his years as dead? He's introduced with Mo Xuanyu calling to him in his brain during the sacrificial ritual, I think, and is getting told he IS Mo Xuanyu and he is...a tad confused. And then disappointed, but I mean given what Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian had come to expect after the fiascos that ended his life, he probably wouldn't be too surprised or confused anyways. My theory is that CQL Wei Wuxian likely was unconscious when he was dead whereas MDZS Wei Wuxian was not.

This doesn't seem...important. However it does change who Wei Wuxian is and why he does the things that he does upon reincarnation. Novel Wei Wuxian taking every opportunity to drape himself over Lan Wangji with the purpose of pushing him away makes a lot of sense for a guy who's convinced the worst thing he could do to someone is get too close to/with them; he goes ahead with making a ruckus and trying to make Lan Wangji uncomfortable- without shame (because that's gotta erode away after being dead and reviled for 13 years) and without considering the possibility that Lan Wangji might want to help. Why would he consider that? He doesn't see himself worthy of help or believe anyone would help him, and he's internalised that for years on years.

CQL Wei Wuxian though, he faints on Dafan Mountain due to the weight of his memories- he's confronted with so much of the past so fast and his response is to faint. Barely any ruckus at all. When Lan Wangji finds out who he is, they have a calm conversation about it, where novel Wei Wuxian is like "oh frick he called me Wei Ying" and pretends nothing happened. CQL Wei Wuxian is a lot more open, and I think part of that is because he woke up from his death and was given the support he needed in his previous life within a couple of days. He didn't feel the years go by, have to deal with the consequences of the things he did alone (and in CQL 60% of them weren't even his own actions), so he didn't build himself the same kind of emotional fortress novel Wei Wuxian did.

CQL Wei Wuxian is jaded, true, but not the kind of jaded that comes with floating around in the afterlife for over a decade. It's easier for him to get back into this world and solve a little murder mystery together with Lan Wangji- they fall into step with each other perfectly- while novel Wei Wuxian is still getting his footing. Thus, CQL Wangxian's relationship doesn't evolve the way book Wangxian's do in Wei Wuxian's new life, and Wei Wuxian's reason to be back in this new life is far more about getting back that which he lost (Lan Wangji, a claim to justice) as opposed to gaining something else, something new and all the more important for it (a newfound relationship with Lan Wangji). Novel Wei Wuxian being so out of sync with the new world around him, in both memories and relationships, means that he has so much more room to grow in his present life as he can stop being haunted by the past. I'm not saying this is better than CQL, that's really up to what you like in your media, but this puts Wei Wuxian in a very different position in MDZS than in CQL, and also fundamentally changes their purposes and outlook on their new lives. Whether the focus of his character development takes place in the past or in the present. Whether it's about tying up the loose ends of the past, or chucking out the tapestry of the past to weave a new future.

[tvckerwash]

Hi, I really enjoy your analysis of toaru, especially those about accel! I recently saw an opinion which bothers me a lot, but somehow makes a point, so I am not sure whether to take it seriously. I wonder what's your opinion: Kihara discovered accel's ability before nine, so he is the one who knows how accel behaves before his monstrous power comes to light, and might be the one closest to accel's "true nature". Is he then, as claimed by Kihara, the "selfish and considerate bastard who secretly puts himself above most"? Especially considering hc op, as someone claims, the problem could be solved instantly if he just comes out of prison, and he seems satisfied in gt 5(?). Does it mean he could tolerate sacrifices of innocents as long as his deep wishes of redemption are satisfied, even if it seems somewhat pretentious? I know it's a harsh opinion, but somehow I don't know what to respond, since I have trouble understanding accel's behaviours throughout hc op. Do you think it's overall selfish or maybe a consistency issue in terms of writing?

aww thank you! theres pretty much no toaru fandom here on tumblr dot com, and not many of the few people that exist are novel readers, so I kind of forget that half my toaru posts exist lol.

if I'm understanding your question correctly, I believe that the opinion you saw was probably made by someone who doesn't understand why accelerator has chosen to take the path he has in gt, and they also don't understand where the immature, over the top arrogance he possessed in ot came from.

his arrogance is not unfounded, and it stems from the fact that he is morally superior to the other members of the dark side that he's gone up against. accelerator is a character who cares very deeply about being good and righting his past wrongs, and he has never tolerated the 'trash' of the dark side dragging innocent or otherwise unrelated parties into dark side problems. saving last order in ot5, ditching index during the ac invasion arc and warning heaven canceler about hound dog, flexing on kakine in ot15 by protecting all the bystanders who got caught in their fight, rescuing the kids being held hostage in ot19, and working together with hamazura in nt1 to save fremea are just some of the many examples of accel's heroism shown throughout the series.

in regards to accel being in prison, I don't think all the problems in ac that occur because of the dark side would be fixed by him not being in prison. sure, it might help, but that doesn't take into account that he now has a responsibility as the board chairman to set a good example, and what kind of message would he be sending to the world if he put his foot down and dismantled the dark side without acknowledging his own previous involvement, and the crimes he committed? that would make him no better than the corrupt, amoral adults he despises, so no matter how much it pains him, he needs to sit back and have faith in others to do what he cannot because this isn't a battle he alone is fighting. with great power comes great responsibility.

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

Do you have any good sci-fi recs? I haven't read anything written in the last decade except Murderbot I think.

Oh I have so many. I'll skip the series and books that have been deluged with big American SF awards (although Embassytown, the Teixcalaan duology, The Broken Earth trilogy, and The Locked Tomb series are all more than worth a read to name a few) and list a few other things here that have been published in the last decade or so that I loved.

Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series is amazing. Set in the 25th century where nation states have been replaced by voluntarily joined polities called Hives. The books are framed as a history (the author herself is a historian as a day job) written by an infamous criminal aping the style of the eighteenth century. Lots of fun and a deeply ambitious set of books. They sometimes stumble and fail to realise their ambition but still a great series.

Deep Wheel Orcadia is a verse novel written in the Orcadian dialect of Scots by Harry Josephine Giles. English translations are provided but I found it best read by reading each section in the Orcaidan first and then the English after. Depending on your dialect of English you may often be able to understand a lot of what's happening before moving into the English translation. It follows an artist Astrid returning to her home and an heiress Darling who has run away from her life. They both come to the space station Orcadia and the novel focuses on them and the ordinary people of the station. There's lines of it still lodged in my mind years after reading it.

In Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky a runaway project to terraform a planet and accelerate evolution leads to the inadvertent creation of sentient spiders. It focuses on the development of the spider society, a generation ship of humans and eventually the two of them meeting. A great work of xenofiction. It has two sequels - I've read and enjoyed one and have heard good things about the other - but was originally a standalone and can be read as such.

It wasn't published in the last ten years but Yōko Ogawa's The Memory Police was only translated into English in 2019 so I'm including it here. Set on an island where people periodically forget about different objects and concept and they're removal is then enforced by the titular Memory Police. I'm generally suspicious of literary authors writing SF (I often find it's worse than their usual writing and not good SF) but this book is brilliant and the best I've read by Ogawa.

Isabel J. Kim is one of the best SF short story writers currently writing. While she's best known on tumblr for Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole many of her other stories are better than it. For sci-fi specifically Zeta-Epsilon is a good intro to her work. If you're into SF and fantasy her entire bibliography is worth reading and is nearly all available for free online.

Ted Chiang had a new short story collection Exhalation released in 2019. Chiang is always thought provoking and unlike many SF authors focused on exploring the implications of an idea or concept he knows how to imbue human emotion into his work. The story the collection takes it's title from is available online and is one of my favorites by him if you're looking to get a sense of his work.

Porpentine is best known for her brilliant interactive fiction (IF) . She has a very distinct voice and it should be noted her work is often extremely dark. Usually I'd recommend With Those We Love Alive as an intro to her IF but it's more fantasy than SF, Howling Dogs might be a better entry point if you're into SF specifically and if you're interested in her work she has a collection Eczema Angel Orifice which collects much of her early work. She's also written more experimental work like Foldscape a game made exclusively of folders.

If you aren't into IF Mall school was an early "rare venture into linear storytelling" that I'm fond of. She's written more linear writing in recent years and has released a bunch of short stories, novellas and an amazing novel Serious Weakness (though other than being set five minutes in the future there aren't many SF elements in it).

[katiajewelbox]

Breaking News: CERN's Particle Experiment Opens Portal to Gaea!

In an unprecedented event that has scientists and fantasy fans alike buzzing with excitement, physicists at CERN have accidentally stumbled upon a gateway to another world. During a routine particle acceleration experiment, a colossal pillar of light erupted into the sky, visible from miles around. But this was no ordinary atmospheric phenomenon; it was a portal to the phantom planet Gaea, known to many from the beloved anime series Vision of Escaflowne.

As if torn straight from the pages of a science fiction novel, the pillar of light has become a bridge between Earth and Gaea, allowing for an exchange of not just ideas, but people. Reports are flooding in from all over the globe of individuals being transported to and from Gaea, sparking a frenzy of potential interplanetary tourism and cultural exchange.

Entrepreneurs are already drafting business plans for the first-ever interplanetary travel agencies, offering tours of Gaea's breathtaking landscapes and ancient ruins. Meanwhile, scientists are giddy at the prospect of sharing knowledge and technology with their Gaeanean counterparts, hoping to unlock the mysteries of the universe together.

As we stand at the cusp of this new era, one thing is certain: the future is filled with endless possibilities. So, pack your bags and prepare for an adventure that's out of this world—literally!

Happy April Fools' Day to all, and to all a good flight!

Enjoy the playful twist and have a fantastic April Fools' Day!

Art: DALL E 3 AI art based on my prompt

[finitepeace]

october read : Hannigram

Some of the hannigram i read on october. personal favorites are marked with 🦌

The Longest Night by nbcravenstag | 6k words | During their first fight as a couple, Hannibal moves a little too fast, and Will just... flinches.

Do Over by Watermelonsmellinfellon | 11k words, 2 chapters | Will Graham gets a Do Over, waking up on the day he first met Hannibal. Realizing the opportunity, he decides he's going to nab Hannibal without all the drama this time. He had finally accepted himself, right? Things should be better this time. However... what he doesn't know is that Hannibal is getting a Do Over as well!

žvaigždė by abstracteevee | 53k words, 59 chapters | Žvaigždė (noun) — Lithuanian for “star.” Hannibal Lecter discovers that his newest fascination, one Special Agent Will Graham, comes with some rather adorable, curly-haired baggage. This changes everything.

🦌Till Death Knit Us Together by WillGrahamsGlasses (aScandalinCamelot) | 2k words | Freddie Lounds called them “husbands” in TattleCrime, but at that moment Will thought nothing could be more wrong. Husbands make vows, and the vows always end with “till death do us part”. Such bullshit. Death will not do them part. Death will merely cut them off from everything that had been doing them part for the past few years, keeping them away from each other. OR Will and Hannibal fall down the cliff. Soon after that, Jack and the FBI find their bodies.

🦌The Mongoose and the Mouse by Hiding Now (HidingNow) | E, 109k words | Hannigram visiting disneyland become an accelerant for will's corruption arc + hannibal's acceptance on his love for will | With Mother's and Father's Day impending, Will has been feeling particularly irascible. He has parent issues (as do we all) so as a therapeutic exercise, Hannibal suggests something novel: a vacation together to recapture the childhood he never had. His caveats: Will must choose someplace he's never been, someplace he always wanted to go as a child.

🦌Bloodline by xzombiexkittenx | E, 35k words, vampire AU | Someone is murdering fledgling vampires and it's up to Will Graham to figure out whodunnit while coming to grips with his own undeath. Ostensibly, Hannibal Lecter, whose noble and ancient linage opens doors for the investigation, is supposed to be helping. Helping, is not the term Will would use.

Falls the Shadow by littlesystems | E, 72k words | an AU where Bedelia is Will’s psychiatrist instead of Hannibal, Will makes a series of increasingly questionable life choices, and no one should ever take Bedelia’s advice. Ever.

[retrogamingloft]

Released in 1996, Mario Kart 64 was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 console. As the second installment in the Mario Kart series, it marked a significant evolution from the 2D graphics of its predecessor, Super Mario Kart, by introducing fully 3D environments.

In Mario Kart 64, players race as characters from the Mario universe across a variety of themed tracks. The game features eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Toad, and Koopa Troopa. Each character has distinct attributes that influence speed, handling, and acceleration.

The game offers four main modes: Grand Prix, Time Trials, Versus, and Battle. In Grand Prix mode, players compete in a series of races across four cups, each containing four tracks, aiming to earn points and win the cup. Time Trials challenge players to set the fastest lap times alone, Versus mode is for head-to-head racing, and Battle mode involves arena-based competition with power-ups.

Personally, Mario Kart 64 is my least favorite entry in the Mario Kart franchise. I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but it’s just my perspective. To begin with, while the transition to 3D graphics was innovative at the time, I found the controls and handling to be problematic. The steering mechanics often felt imprecise and frustrating, especially compared to the smoother controls of earlier titles. Additionally, the track designs, though ambitious, sometimes seemed confusing and poorly laid out, and the camera angles often proved unhelpful.

The graphics, which I wasn't particularly fond of even when the game was first released, now appear dated with blocky textures and simplistic models, diminishing the game's visual appeal. The AI's difficulty and rubber-banding effects frequently gave computer-controlled opponents an unfair advantage, making races feel more about enduring bad luck than showcasing skill.

Moreover, while the power-up system was a novel addition, it sometimes led to races being decided by chance rather than strategy. This randomness, combined with the aforementioned issues, made the experience less enjoyable for me compared to the more balanced gameplay of its predecessor.

Despite its reputation for fun gameplay and engaging multiplayer modes, Mario Kart 64—in my personal opinion—falls short of being a polished and satisfying experience due to its handling issues, confusing track designs, outdated graphics, and frustrating AI.

[madsworld15]

New Fic: You Can't Start A Fire Without A Spark (Brian/Justin) - Part 1

Synopsis: Brian is an Award-Winning Author in the process of writing his fourth novel. He's struggling to get the words out on the page while also struggling with the curveballs life has insisted on throwing his way. Justin is a reclusive artist who never fully recovered emotionally from a bashing at his senior prom a decade prior. He rarely goes out in public beyond presenting his art to the gallery owner and getting food/groceries. Both of these men need a spark to jumpstart their lives. Lindsay just might know the perfect accelerant.

Prologue: Brian

Brian sat at his computer. His open document's white, blank nature caused his vision to swim. He rubbed his temple, trying to prevent a headache. At 38, he’d been a published author for a decade. He’d published his first novel independently when he was almost 29. Then, a year later, he’d signed a three-book deal with his current publisher. They’d forced him to write the following two books (his 2nd and 3rd novels, respectfully) in 4 years from signing on the dotted line. His 3rd book was published on his 34th birthday. 

The only reason he’d been able to hold off the vultures about his 4th book in the series, the final as part of his book deal, was that he’d been diagnosed with cancer when he was 34. For the last three and a half years, he’d been fighting cancer and then recuperating. Part of his recovery process had been to purchase the nightclub where he’d spent most of his misspent youth. Babylon had gone under because Saperstein had misappropriated funds into his own pockets and had been more concerned with fucking the dancers than he was about turning a profit. The club quality had gone down by the time Brian stopped frequenting it when he was 34, just shy of his diagnosis. So, last year, when it went on the market, Brian was depressed about the cancer, so his financial advisor and best friend, Ted, told him to use some of his savings to buy a new toy. 

With a sigh, Brian flipped the monitor of his computer off and decided that he wouldn’t get anywhere with this new novel today. It was only 4:30 in the afternoon, but he’d already been staring at a blank screen for 3 hours to no avail. Writing his first book had been easy. The words had simply flowed out of him like they were a piece of his soul. Brian believed they were. He crossed the room and left his office. A quick walk down a short hallway brought him to his kitchen, where he hoped there would be something he could eat in his refrigerator.

Most of the people in his life had gawked at him when he’d sold his loft right after getting the news that he had testicular cancer. The diagnosis had been his wake-up call. He stopped going to the club. He pushed Mel and Linds to renegotiate their custody agreement so that he could spend more time with Gus. Naturally, all this change meant he had to change where he lived, too. There just wasn’t room in his life for a fuckpad anymore. That’s not to say Brian didn’t still have sexual encounters with strangers; he just didn’t do it as frequently as he used to. Part of that was due to the side effects of the cancer (his libido wasn’t what it used to be) and partly because he’d gotten bored with all the anonymous sex. 

What Brian wanted more than anything in the world, and what he couldn’t tell another soul was someone he could come home to. Brian wrote about love and romance in his book series – his protagonist having found the love of his life under a street lamp one hot summer day in the early 2000s when they were on the verge of truly growing up – but couldn’t make it happen in his own life.

After making himself a quick peanut butter and banana sandwich, something Gus had introduced him to and he was now obsessed with, Brian walked toward the back of his two-bedroom house to the ensuite bathroom off the main bedroom. The other small bedroom was Gus’ when he came to stay every other weekend and for a month during the summer. Technically, Brian could say his house had three bedrooms, but the third room had been converted into a study for his writing the moment he’d moved in. The woman who had sold him the house had told him it was the perfect room for guests, but had clapped excitedly when he told her his plans for the room. She’d been an ideal real estate agent if only Brian could remember her name.

He slowly got undressed and stared at his reflection in the mirror. If anyone were to ask Michael or Ted, they would say he’d never been better. According to them, Brian Kinney was at the top of his game. He was a successful author with three books under his belt and a fourth one on its way. Neither of them would say he was lonely or depressed. That’s because Brian hid those parts of himself from them. He’d had enough pity and sympathy to last a lifetime during the year and a half he’d been undergoing cancer treatments. 

Just as he was about to step into his shower, his phone rang, making a hideous vibrating noise on his bathroom sink countertop. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and recentered himself before answering whoever thought calling him right now would be a good idea. He didn’t even look at the caller ID before answering, which was a huge mistake.

“Mr. Kinney.” It was Hunter, the young kid Michael and Ben had adopted. He was now 21 and managed the bar at Babylon. Brian secretly liked the kid, which is why he let him manage the bar instead of just working it. However, today, he didn’t have the patience for whatever Hunter’s nervous tone brought with him.

“Hunter, I’ve told you many times. Mr. Kinney was my father. It's just Brian.” Brian squeezed his temples between his fingers.

“Right. Brian, so we have a problem.” Hunter stalled, clearly not ready to incur the wrath that Brian is famous for on occasion. “I came by the club early because I wanted to be sure the alcohol shipment delivered this morning was stored properly before we open the doors. Anyway,” Hunter stalled out again.

“Just spit it out, kid.” Brian knew he was unreasonably exasperated, but Hunter wasn’t helping matters.

“Someone broke in and trashed the register. It’s not going to be in working order for tonight.” Brian could see Hunter’s nervous face and habit of biting his lip despite being miles from the young man.

“Did they steal anything? Did you check the office upstairs?” Brian was already throwing his jeans back on as he spoke. He could reach the club in about ten minutes once he walked out his front door.

“I don’t have a key to the office, but from where I’m standing, I think someone busted the window on the door and forced it open.” Hunter continued. 

“Fuck.” Brian swore under his breath. “I’ll be there in about ten minutes. Just take stock of what might be out of place or missing. I will call the cops on my way.”

“Okay, Brian.” Hunter agreed, and then, just before hanging up the call, he added, “I’m sorry.”

Brian knew it wasn’t the kid’s fault, but he didn’t try to rush out words of assurance before the call was disconnected. He’d have time to reassure Hunter once he could assess the situation at the club. As he pulled out of his drive, Brian used his hands-free to call the local police.

“Liberty Station 23, how may I direct your call?” The chipper yet well-rehearsed voice that answered almost sent Brian’s nerves off the cliff.

“Hello, my name is Brian Kinney. I own the nightclub Babylon over on Tremont. My employee arrived to do pre-shift set-up duties and informed me of a break-in. I am on my way there now to assess, but I wanted to see if we could get some officers out to make a formal report.” Brian turned onto Tremont just as the woman responded to his statement.

“Do you have security cameras on your property, sir?” She asked in response.

Brian had to take a giant, steadying breath and remind himself that this was a standard question. “Yes, ma’am. I can give the police access to the tapes upon their arrival.”

“Great. I have informed one of our uniformed officers of the complaint. Our closest patrol car is dealing with a minor accident a few blocks over and will be to your address within 20 minutes.” 

“Thank you,” Brian responded with a sigh of gratitude as he pulled into his reserved parking spot at the back of the club.

He pocketed his cell phone and climbed out of his Jeep. Brian did not have the energy or patience for this. It had been a long day, thanks to his doctor appointment with his oncologist and the tests he had run. Brian was confident his cancer hadn’t come back, but every time they went through the checkup paces, it was a bitch. 

He shuffled across the parking lot, entered the club through the back door, and was soon met with Hunter’s harried expression. Brian forced a smile and let out a cough, leading to a coughing fit. Fucking summer allergies.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him in concern. Brian waved his hand to brush him off. 

“Anything missing here?” Brian glanced around.

“I noticed we were a few cases short on our shipment. High dollar stuff.” Hunter met Brian’s gaze solemnly.

Brian desperately wanted to punch something. He didn’t need this right now. Instead, he turned through the keys on his keychain until he landed on a small silver one. He then motioned for Hunter to follow him as he trudged up the stairs to the office. 

“Have you gone up here yet?” Brian threw over his shoulder.

“Nope. I was waiting for you.” Hunter shrugged. 

Brian shook his head, “I actually kind of miss the snark you used to have all the time. You were one hell of a bratty teen, but it was amusing to watch.”

They arrived at the office, and Brian sighed heavily at seeing his neatly organized employee and budget files strewn all over the floor. Before he could step into the room further, Hunter’s arms locked him in place against the broken door and its frame.

“We’ve got some time til the cops show up. I’ve always wanted to show you my appreciation.” Hunter waggled his eyebrows and looked Brian up and down before he pushed off the wall and laughed.

“Missed my obnoxious flirting, did you?” Hunter smirked as he started to help Brian pick up the mess of papers.

Brian rubbed his hand across his mouth, hiding his smile. Hunter was indeed a great person to have around in a crisis. The stress and anxiety that had been coursing through his veins minutes ago was gone entirely. Now, Brian could focus on checking the safe for the extra cash and important documents and ensuring they hadn’t been taken.

Once he got to the safe, it was clear it hadn’t been broken into. So, it looked as though the thief only made away with what they could find as the bar, which wasn’t much since the register had been empty, as they hadn’t opened yet. Brian wondered who would’ve broken in and messed with the documents in his office. Turning around to survey the whole room, Brian wondered if he had any enemies. Or worse, if someone had finally discovered his identity.

When he published his first novel, Brian purposely published it under a pseudonym to maintain anonymity, especially if the book didn’t do well. But when it sold well and Brian hired a publisher, he kept the name. His publisher tried to say he needed to use his real name instead of Peter James to be more than a one-time success, but Brian stood firm. He liked living a normal life and not having to deal with the general public.

Hell, even Debbie didn’t know he was a published author. She still believed he wrote ad copy for Vanguard. His secret was much too precious to him, and Debbie meant well, but more often than not, she ran her mouth where she shouldn’t. In the early days of his writing career, Brian had contemplated keeping it a secret from everyone but Michael and Lindsay, but he soon realized he needed financial advice from Ted. And he couldn’t keep a secret from Emmett even if he tried; the Southerner was too perceptive.

“Brian?” Hunter’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He was holding Hunter’s employment file in his hand. Brian smirked.

He looked up and saw a couple of uniformed officers standing before him.

“I heard them arrive, so I showed them around downstairs. They wanted to see the office and talk to you.” Hunter gave a small smile before he backed out and headed back down the stairs.

“Hello, officers.” Brian tossed Hunter’s file on top of the desk. “I appreciate you coming over to assess the damages and theft.”

He gave them his most charming smile. It lasted only briefly before he started coughing again.

“Of course, Mr. Kinney. Dispatch said you own this establishment.” The older of the two cops scoffed as he looked around. “Are you sure anything was taken? Maybe just a jilted lover trying to get back at you.”

Brian licked his lips, drawing them in. He wasn’t going to lose his cool on this clearly homophobic cop.

“I’m happily single. I have been for years. And, yes, some alcohol was stolen from behind the bar. And so was our emergency stash of cash hidden at the back of the shelf under the bar.” Brian gave him a winning smile. “Not to mention the hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damages done here.”

“Lt. Bowers didn’t mean anything by it, sir.” The younger cop, a blond about Brian’s age, jumps in, hearing the bite in Brian’s voice.

“No, he did. But that’s okay. He doesn’t realize our money is just as good as his.” Brian stepped up to the older cop, “Bowers, is it? Maybe just take the report and let someone else investigate it.”

“I can take down your complaint, sir.” The blond stepped up again as Lt. Bowers glared at Brian, spit on the floor between their feet, and left to go back down.

Brian shook his head, rubbed his temple, and addressed the remaining officer. “What’s your name?”

“Officer Corbin. I, um, actually come here a lot on my nights off.” The young man looked at the floor all of a sudden.

Brian nodded and smiled. “Of course. I’m sorry you have to work with that.” He motioned downstairs before crossing over to sit behind his desk.

“Do you know why someone would target this establishment?” Corbin pulled out his notebook.

“You mean besides the obvious?” Brian raised his eyebrow. “No. I was just starting to look through employee files when you arrived. Maybe someone I recently fired.” 

Corbin nodded along, taking notes. “How much was in your emergency cash stash?”

Brian closed his eyes, a headache was starting to form behind his eyes. “Uhm. I would say around $150. We don’t keep a lot there. Just enough to stock the register during a rush.”

“You also mentioned some alcohol was stolen?”

“My bar manager, Hunter, came in early today to put away our shipment. He stated that a couple of cases of high-shelf liquor were missing. I haven’t had a chance to check with our supplier yet, but my money's on the thief. I’ve never had an issue with my supplier.”

Corbin nodded again, looking over his notes. “Alright, Mr. Kinney. We have enough to start the investigation. If you find out more on your end, let us know.” 

The blond pulled a card from his notebook and handed it to Brian. Corbin winked at him before whispering, “I also wrote down my cell in case you need or want to call.”

Brian appreciated the man’s balls. He full-on propositioned the owner of an establishment he was investigating. It was something Brian would’ve done five years ago.

After the officers had left, Brian wanted to go himself but knew his office needed to be put right. As he gathered the scattered files, he noticed Hunter standing in the doorway.

“Do you think it could be someone we’ve kicked out or fired?” Hunter had his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders hunched, reminding Brian how small he used to make himself while working the streets.

Brian dropped the papers in his hand and crossed the room. Without a word, he wrapped Hunter in an embrace.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ll make sure they catch who did this.” 

Hunter returned the embrace briefly before he moved back, clearing his throat.

“Anyway, you need help up here?” 

Brian shook his head. “No, I’m just going to be reorganizing these and trying to find something to point the officers in the right direction.”

“What are we going to do about the register for tonight? Or are we staying closed?” Hunter fiddled with the broken wood hanging loose on the frame. 

“Shit.” Brian brought his hand to his forehead again. He bit his lip, thinking hard. “We are going to be open. I’ll think of something.” 

With that, Hunter went back to the bar to continue the cleanup process. Brian watched him walk away until he was low enough on the stairs and fell out of sight. Brian’s headache was persisting to the point he could barely focus.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the person he could rely on for a quick solution.

“Em, hey. I need a huge favor.” Brian responded the minute his friend picked up.

“I will not have sex with you, Brian. I have to draw the line somewhere.” Emmett deadpanned, not missing a beat.

“Haha.” Brian snarked. “Do you know where I can get a cash register replacement in the next few hours?”

“Did you consider asking Michael? You know, the other budding entrepreneur in our group? Maybe he can loan you the one from his shop.” Emmett smiled brightly, and Brian could feel its warmth through the phone. 

“Em, how do I survive without you?” Brian heaved a sigh of relief. He knew without asking, his oldest friend would come to his aid in a pinch.

“You don’t.” The queen laughed. “Look, I gotta go. Leavenworth’s Bridal Shower waits for no one.”

Brian wasn’t able to thank the man before he was gone again. 

With one last look at the stack of files, he needed to move from his desk to the cabinet where they belonged. Brian decided to abandon the task and instead find a replacement register. He walked down to see how Hunter was fairing with his portion of the mess. 

“Hey, do you think your dad could let us borrow his cash register?” Brian leaned on the countertop and watched the lad straighten the shelves.

“They smashed quite a few of the open bottles. I swear our shoes are gonna stick to the floor for months.” Hunter muttered, clearly not hearing Brian’s question but registering his presence.

“Shoes have been sticking to the floor of Babylon for years, and not because of the liquor,” Brian smirked. Hunter met his gaze and shuddered.

“Gross.”

“Oh, come on. You used to do much worse on the streets.” Brian quirked an eyebrow, “Besides, I was kidding. Now, about your dad.”

“Which one?” Hunter returned to wiping down bottles with a towel before placing them back on the shelf.

“Keep up.” Brian snapped his fingers. “Michael. The one who’d have a cash register we could borrow.”

Hunter shrugged. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you just ask him?”

Brian kicked his lips. “Because he has the ability to say no to me, but with you, he doesn’t.”

Hunter shook his head with a smile. “You’re bad. Fine. I’ll ask him and then go and get it from him.”

“Good boy!” Brian gripped the back of Hunter’s head briefly.

——

It was after midnight, and Brian was finally back home. He was certain that if he tried to shower now, he’d fall asleep standing up, so he set his alarm for a little bit earlier and threw his clothes toward the hamper. He climbed into bed and was asleep within minutes.

The following day, his alarm blared much too early. Brian groaned but knew he couldn’t hit snooze because he was meeting the group for breakfast at the diner. And, of course, that meant he had to dress in a suit and tie. He wasn’t looking forward to it. 

He got out of bed, coughing as he walked into the bathroom for a shower. The steam cleared his chest more than he’d experienced in days. These summer allergies were killing him this year. He washed his hair and body quickly before getting out. Usually, Brian loved to take his time showering, but today, he didn’t have time.

He walked over to his closet and tried to decide which button-down and tie to wear when his phone rang. A glance at the clock told him it was 7:45 am. Who the fuck would be calling him this early?

He picked up his cell and answered it. He cradled the phone between his shoulder and left ear, threw on a navy blue shirt, and fiddled with the cuff as he answered.

“Hello?”

“Brian? Oh, thank god I was able to reach you. We are kind of in a bind. Mel’s mom is in the hospital, and we need to be with her. I’d bring Gus, but hospitals are terribly boring, and it’s summer. Can you take him for your month a few weeks early?” Lindsay’s tone was highly anxious, and Brian knew the blonde was downing all the coffee and donuts possible.

He smiled, tucking in his lips. More time with his son was always welcomed. But he also liked to make Lindsay squirm a bit.

“I don’t know, Wendy. I’m pretty booked. I just don't have the time between writing, doctor's appointments, and public appearances.” Brian switched the phone to his other shoulder and worked on pulling his shirt on the other side.

“Oh, Brian!” She exclaimed. “You almost had me. But then you had to say public appearances. You hate the general public.”

“Guilty as charged. I’ll be at Liberty Diner for breakfast with the guys for the next hour. Bring him there. I’ll get him some pancakes.” Brian chuckled.

“You’re a lifesaver. Truly.” Lindsay exclaimed with a breath of relief. “See you soon, Peter.”

Brian hung up his phone and finished putting on his pants, socks, and shoes. He grabbed a light blue tie and walked to his kitchen to get his keys. He had a coughing fit just before leaving and considered bailing on Thursday's breakfast with the gang. Then his lungs calmed down, and he knew that if he didn’t show up, everyone would end up here, which was worse.

“You look like shit!” Brian was greeted by Michael’s harsh tone the minute he sat down.

“You would too if you’d been up half the night because of a break-in and then had to get up early the next day.” Brian groused and motioned for Debbie to bring him some coffee.

The redheaded woman came shuffling over. “You okay, honey? Your health still good?” She placed a gentle hand on his face and poured him a cup.

“I’m fine, ma. Just tired. I didn’t sleep much last night. Someone broke into Babylon yesterday morning. So, that was a nightmare I had to deal with all afternoon and evening.” Brian sighed but gave Debbie a reassuring smile.

Debbie placed a hand on her chest in concern. “Was anything stolen? Anyone hurt?”

“No. The place was empty. They got away with a couple hundred in cash and some high-shelf liquor. Hunter was able to help me clean things up.” Brian looked up at his mom and reassured her once more.

“Speaking of which. Where’s my cash register?” Michael stared at Brian from across the booth.

“Relax.” Brian sighed again. “I instructed Hunter to return it to your shop and set it back up for you.” 

Michael looked as though he was about to argue when a blur of brunette hair and knobby limbs attached itself to Brian’s chest and lap.

“Daddy!” Gus cried with a wide, half-toothless grin. “Momma said you’d get me pancakes!” 

Brian turned slightly to see a majorly put-out Lindsay. She had a bag slung over her shoulder and forced a smile as she dropped it by Brian’s feet.

“You do know he has clothes at my place, right?” Brian glanced at the bag.

“You don’t have my Superman shirts, Daddy!” Gus petulantly exclaimed, moving to the bench next to Brian. “‘Sides, I’m with you ALL summer.”

“Try a month and a half. That’s hardly all summer.” Brian laughed and made a face at Gus to get him to laugh, too. 

Just then, his lungs revolted again, and Brian found himself in a coughing fit. He got himself under control and gulped down a glass of water, but everyone else stared at him.

“Jesus, it’s just a cough. Chill.” Brian glared at each of his family members separately, except Gus.

“I had a cough and runny nose last week. Momma said it was poolen.” Gus shrugged, drinking the juice Debbie had left and brought back for him.

“Pollen, Sonny boy.” Brian rubbed Gus’ hair and turned to everyone else. “A trait he gets from me. Now stop clutching your pearls and move on.”

A small voice at the back of Brian’s mind started raising alarm bells about the cough, but he shoved it down. He didn’t have time to investigate that train of thought, nor did he want to. His testicular cancer had been hard enough, considering it had spread to his abdomen and his lymph nodes on the kidneys. His doctor has warned he could relapse with cancer in another part of his body. He didn’t have time to think of this.

“Brian,” Lindsay’s voice cut into his inner thoughts, bringing him back to the surface. He turned his head to look at her directly.

“Gus has a playdate with his best friend, Walter…” Lindsay began before Brian cut her off.

“Walter?! What is he friends with a 78-year-old man?” Brian scoffed.

“He’s eight.” Lindsay rolled her eyes, her patience for Brian’s usual banter nowhere to be found, “Anyway, he has this playdate on Saturday. You can just drop him off around 11. Gus will stay for lunch, and usually, when Mel and I pick him up, we stay for dinner with Walter’s family since we’re friends with his mom, but you don’t have to.”

“Thank you for the permission,” Brian grumbled.

“Don’t be a dick.” Debbie chimed in; Brian had forgotten she was still hanging around.

“Walter’s the best! He has the latest Mario!” Gus looked up from his plate of pancakes, pausing his fork halfway to his mouth.

“The latest Mario?!” Brian’s eyes got big in excitement. “Why didn’t you say so? Of course, I’ll take you over to see him.”

“Thank you, Peter.” Lindsay leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Gus, baby. Momma and Mama Mel have to go away for a few days. We will call you tonight. Be good for Daddy.” She then leaned behind Brian to catch Gus on the top of his head.

“Bye, Momma,” Gus stated without looking at her, more interested in his plate of pancakes.

Once Lindsay was gone, Debbie finally got around to taking Brian’s breakfast order. Then she, too, walked off to get back to work. Brian watched her walk away. Debbie had always loved him from the moment she met him. But that also meant she was his toughest critic. Brian hated that he kept his true career from her. She deserved to know the truth, but Brian also deserved to be able to live a life without harassment from people who were fans or otherwise.

“So, do you have any idea who could’ve broken into Babylon?” Ted broke the silence, sipping from his coffee.

Brian shook his head, “No, the one officer thought I deserved it. But, the younger one thinks they’ll be able to solve it easy enough. He was the one who sent over some forensic people to fingerprint the bar and my office. If it had been up to his partner, nothing would’ve been reported.”

Michael looked up from his eggs, confused. “Why?”

“Because, Mikey, it's a gay club.” Brian gave his best friend a pointed look until the dark-haired man’s demeanor changed.

“Ohhhh.”

“By Jove, I think he’s got it!” Brian mocked.

“Shut up, Brian.” Michael groused just as Debbie returned with Brian’s egg whites and wheat toast.

“I swear, you need to eat more. You’re nothing but skin and bones.” Debbie commented as she placed his plate down. He saw that she had added a glazed donut to his order. Brian smiled at his plate.

“It’s not my fault my body doesn’t gain any fat.” Brian shrugged.

The door jingled, and Brian turned to see who was coming in. It was a stranger, but the most beautiful stranger Brian had ever seen. The young man had to be almost 30 with hair as golden as sunlight. He didn’t look around or even make eye contact with anyone. However, Debbie must recognize him because she walks over to him and greets him with a nickname. Brian doesn’t pick up on their exchange because they’re too far away. Satisfied that he’d stared at the young man long enough, Brian turned his attention to his food.

——

A few hours later, Brian was back at his house typing away at his manuscript with Gus on the floor, playing with his trains. Just then, his train of thought was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his phone. Brian sighed. He had a specific tone for his editor, and this was it.

“Roger!” Brian answered the phone, making a face at Gus, who giggled.

“Brian, I’m waiting for your first draft. Can I expect it by the end of this week?” Roger was pretending to be cheerful and nice, which meant Brian was in deep shit with him if he didn’t have some kind of response.

“I can’t send you a whole draft, but I should have at least 3 chapters for you by then. I’m almost done with the first two as we speak.” Brian continued to type and talk at the same time.

“Brian,” Roger gave an exasperated sigh. “You know we gave you some leeway a few years ago because of your cancer diagnosis, but you’re obligated under your contract.”

“I know!” Brian stopped typing and practically hissed through the phone, “I went to see my oncologist yesterday for a follow-up, and I’m a bit rundown at the moment because of a cold. I will get you the first three chapters by tomorrow.”

Gus looked up, concerned at Brian’s tone, but Brian smiled at the young kid and silently reassured him.

“Fine. But we expect you to have the rest of the draft by the end of the summer. No more extensions, or you will be in breech of contract.” And with that, Roger hung up.

Brian threw his phone down and dropped his head into his hands. His whole body was exhausted, and the headache from last night had never gone away. If he didn’t have Gus with him he would’ve already crawled back into bed. Before he could start his writing once more, his phone went off again. This time it was the regular ringtone which meant it was from a nonsaved number or a contact he hadn’t given a special tone to.

“Hello?” Brian answered his cell, not recognizing the number.

“Mr. Kinney? This is Officer Corbin from last night.” The voice on the other end replied.

“Oh! Officer Corbin.” Brian relaxed considerably. “What’s the word?”

“Well, we had time to review your security tapes, and we found some suspicious people lurking about outside early yesterday, and one went out of frame, so we believe he’s the one who broke in. Because when we look at the time stamp on the videos from inside the bar, a person shows up in frame not 30 seconds after one disappeared from outside.”

Brian rubbed his temple, “That’s great. Are you able to make an ID off the video?”

“Unfortunately, the person is wearing a hood. But, we are still analyzing the fingerprints we lifted from the scene. Those might turn up something. In the meantime, I suggest you go about business as usual and let me know if you think of anyone who might have done this.” Corbin’s voice was gentle and kind. Brian’s dick twitched, hopefully. Fuck. I need to get laid.

After hanging up with Officer Corbin. Brian got up from his desk and went to the kitchen. Gus followed him, asking for some juice. Brian shook his head and smiled to himself. He was so grateful that after years of disinterest, Brian was able to convince Lindsay and Melanie that he deserved some time with his son. 

“How about we go to the skate park later so you can work on your skateboard tricks?” Brian asked Gus as he handed the kid a glass of watered-down apple juice.

“Really?!” Gus’s eyes lit up, and he started to bounce around the kitchen. “Mommas don’t let me skateboard; they say it’s too dangerous.” 

“That’s why you only do it with me.” Brian tapped his nose to signify the whole thing was their little secret.

“You sure you aren’t too tired?” Gus stopped abruptly and looked up at Brian with concern. “You have what Momma Mel calls raccoon eyes.”

Brian knelt down to Gus’ level. He placed a hand on the kid’s cheek in gentle reassurance. “I’m a bit tired, but not too tired to watch you skate. Never too tired for that.”

Gus nodded, but his eyes told Brian he was still concerned. They were settled back in Brian’s study when his cell rang for a third time.

Gus looked up, “You’re super busy today, Daddy!”

Brian chuckled and gently shook his head, “I really am. Must be famous or something.” He stuck his tongue against his cheek and gave Gus a wink.

This ringtone was the one assigned to his doctor. Brian took a deep breath, tucked his lips behind his teeth, and steeled himself for an unpleasant conversation. He glanced over at Gus once more and decided he needed to take this call in his bedroom instead. If it wasn’t good news he didn’t want Gus to worry.

“Hey, Doc.” Brian tentatively greeted him once he finally answered. “Sorry for the delay. I have my son with me, so I wanted to keep him occupied before we talked.”

“I’m glad you did that.” Dr. Sanjay sighed, “Brian, I was concerned when you told me you’d been more tired lately, and then I heard your cough yesterday. So, I rushed the results of your bloodwork.” He paused.

“It’s not good is it.” Brian’s stomach dropped. His fears were realized as he thought over his bone-deep exhaustion and persistent cough the past week or so.

“I would much rather we have this conversation in person. Can you come by my office this afternoon?”

“I just promised my son I would take him to the skatepark.” Brian knew his excuse was pathetic the minute it left his lips. “Can’t we wait until tomorrow morning?”

“I would much rather you come in today. With your age and your history, it’s best we handle this sooner rather than later.” Dr. Sanjay all but confirmed Brian had relapsed.

“But, I’ve been in remission for over a year.” Brian could hear his own voice break. He wasn’t an outwardly emotional person, but it was all too much. He had just started to lead a life he was proud of. Brian was spending most of his time with his son, appreciating his friends like he should. He’d even stopped smoking and doing drugs upon his previous cancer diagnosis.

“Brian.” Dr. Sanjay was a patient and kind man, but even he had his limits. “Please come into my office at 3 pm today.”

“I’ll try to find someone to watch my son. He doesn’t need to hear any of this.” Brian replied before he hung up. 

Holding his cell in his hand, Brian felt the sting of tears. He didn’t deserve any of this. Or maybe he did. After all, most of his younger years were spent being closed off and a borderline asshole to everyone around him, including his closest friends. After a lifetime of verbal, physical, and emotional abuse from his parents, Brian decided he didn’t need love. Love was something idiots convinced themselves they needed, but he knew the truth. You could only rely on yourself.

Then, he’d been diagnosed with embryonal carcinoma, one of the most aggressive kinds of testicular cancer. Go figure. Knowing that his cancer wasn’t so easily cured, Brian realized he needed to make some changes. He stopped drinking, doing drugs, and going to the club almost every night. He spent more time with his son and told himself that he was ready to find someone to have a serious relationship with. The only problem was Brian forgot to worry about the supreme likelihood that his cancer would relapse within five years.

Brian dropped his phone to the mattress beside him and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. He couldn’t cry. Not with Gus in the other room. He had to remain strong. His son didn’t need to know he was sick again. At least not before he got the details from Dr. Sanjay. No, Brian needed to take a deep breath and regroup. Gus was going to be disappointed that plans had changed, but Brian knew his doctor meant business. With another deep sigh, Brian got off his bed and went back to his study.

He stood quietly in the doorway and watched as Gus drew pictures in a sketchpad. The kid was only 8, but already he was showing signs of true talent. Most kids his age liked to scribble or make nondescript images and claim they were things such as a parent or a pet. But Gus drew things that actually looked like the stuff he would then describe. He must’ve sensed Brian was back because he looked up, smiled, and then held up his drawing.

“I drew us at the skatepark, Daddy!” Gus exclaimed. Brian held back tears as he looked at two somewhat humanoid figures on skateboards.

“But I don’t know how to do that. I barely function with my feet on the ground.” Brian stepped into the space and ruffled Gus’ hair. He leaned over and placed a kiss where his hand had been. “I really like it though.”

“Later, when we go skating, I want to show you this kickflip Walter’s older brother showed me.” Gus turned back to his art.

Brian cleared his throat. “About that. I know I said I would take you to the park today, but something came up. I can’t today, but I promise we will go tomorrow.”

Gus didn’t even miss a beat, “Don’t promise something you can’t keep.” 

And boy, did that one hit Brian deep in his chest. Gus was old enough to remember the times Brian had promised to visit or come to some achievement of his and hadn’t bothered to show up. He had been making strides these last three years, but it didn’t make up for five years of disappointments. 

“I can keep this one. I don’t have anything on my calendar tomorrow so we can go first thing in the morning even.” Brian bit his bottom lip, his eyes never leaving his son.

“Whatever.” Gus was disappointed but he’d never outright say it. “So, who will I stay with when you go do your thing?”

“I was thinking Emmett. This thing I have to do. I don’t want others to know about it, and Auntie Em is the least likely to give me any grief about it.” Brian had a no-bullshit policy when it came to how he talked to Gus. The kid appreciated it and Brian found it went a long way toward building Gus’ trust in him.

“Facts.” Gus nodded, then, with a mischievous grin, looked up at Brian. “Plus, Em always gives me all the cookies I want.”

“No more than four,” Brian responded in his firmest dad voice.

Brian shook his head as Gus went back to happily drawing. He pulled up Emmett’s number and dialed.

“Wow, two times in one day, Mr. Kinney must be bored.” Emmett greeted him. “Or needs to get laid desperately, so he needs a babysitter.”

“Emmett,” Brian warned. 

“Okay. Fine. What can I do for you, Brian?” 

“One, I’m never bored. Two, I get laid more than you think. And three, it’s not babysitting when the kid is 8.” Brian leaned back in his chair. “But you weren’t wrong. I do need a sitter for about an hour around 3.”

“Don’t you think Gus would have much more fun playing around Michael’s comic book store than watching me prepare appetizers for a black-tie affair?” Emmett’s voice sounded a bit distant, which told Brian the man had put him on speaker.

Brian rubbed his temples again. “He probably would, but Mikey,” Brian emphasized the name in an exasperated grit, “Would ask a million questions.”

Emmett’s breath hitched on the other end of the line. “Bri? What exactly will you be doing during this hour?”

Brian closed his eyes and sighed, “Dr. Sanjay wants to go over my test results from yesterday.”

Emmett gave a small gasp but then quickly recovered. “And you don’t need Gus knowing something is up.”

“Exactly.” Brian readily agreed. He was so glad he called Emmett. “I knew you’d understand and drop it.”

“Of course, no questions asked. Unless you want to share.”

“Not at this moment. But we will see what he says, and I’ll go from there.” Brian let out a shaky breath but masked it with a small cough.

“I’ll see you soon,” Emmett whispered, his emotions flooding through his voice. Brian knew his friend was going to wrap him in a hug the minute he dropped off Gus, but found in that moment he didn’t mind. “Tell Gus that we’ll be making Brownie Bites and Cake Pops. I’ll even let him taste test.”

Brian smiled, “Thank you, Emmett.”

“Anytime, Kinney.”

“Whatever, Honeycutt.” 

The two hung up. Brian felt considerably lighter than he had hanging up with Dr. Sanjay. Even if he got the worst news a few hours from now, Emmett would be there to make sure it was business as usual for Gus. Brian wasn’t alone in this fight. The thought of having a family worry about him used to freak him out and send him running for the hills, but now, he embraced it.

“Sonny boy.” Brian broke the silence to get Gus’ attention. “We are going to head over to Emmett’s in about an hour. You can go watch cartoons if you want. I need to call your Momma.”

Gus jumped up and ran to the front room. Brian watched his son leave, unaware that after today things would never be the same for him again. He didn’t remember Brian’s illness last time because Lindsay and Mel had decided he was too young to know. So, they hadn’t told him. He just knew that his Daddy was sick a couple of times when his Momma brought him over for a visit.

Brian worried his lip; he didn’t want to give Lindsay the heads-up. When it came to emotional reactions, hers was always the worst out of everyone in the family. He knew she would want to rush back home to be with him and that she’d want him to immediately tell everyone else. But he also couldn’t keep this from her because if Brian had to start treatments right away, someone would need to be there for Gus, despite their custody agreement.

“Bri, is everything okay? It’s only been a few hours. Is Gus okay?” Lindsay’s voice was immediately on high alert.

“Gus is fine.” Brian sighed. “I just wanted to call and give you a heads up. My doctor called a little bit ago and asked me to come in for further discussion. I’m certain I’ve relapsed.”

“You don’t know that. He could just want to go over all the results and give you pointers on how to stay healthy.” Lindsay tried to be devil’s advocate, but even she knew her words didn’t sound confident in the slightest.

“What about Gus? Is he aware?”

“No, I left him in the other room before I answered my doctor’s call. And I’m taking him over to Emmett’s. He knows I have to do something, but he thinks it's for work.” Brian rubbed his free hand through his hair.

“Well, please let me know what you find out. We are here for you. Please don’t forget that.” Lindsay’s voice was back to being the strong, confident, empathetic friend that Brian knew and loved.

“I will. I might need to adjust our Gus agreement. Depending on what he says.” Brian bit his lip. The tears stung the back of his eyes again. 

“We will cross that bridge when we need to. In the meantime, take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine.”

“I’m not so sure this time, Wendy.” Brian’s voice came out broken and wet.

“You just have to believe, Peter.” Lindsay’s warmth caught him in his chest, and he smiled despite himself.

——

Brian sat nervously across from Dr. Sanjay. The man had a file folder open with Brian’s test results inside. There was an awkward silence building between them. He knew the man was just trying to collect all the facts and determine how he would tell Brian, but that didn’t make the wait any easier.

“How are you feeling today? Any better?” Dr. Sanjay finally looked up, addressing Brian directly.

“No worse, no better.” Brian’s leg started to bounce nervously. “Can we just cut the bullshit?”

“Sorry, I figured I would ease you into it. I forgot you’re more of a rip the bandaid off kind of guy.”

“I’d rather you give it to me straight than worry about feelings.”

“Your blood work came back with an elevated white blood cell count. I would like for you to get a Chest CT done before you leave here today. That will just confirm what I already suspect.” Dr. Sanjay gave Brian a grim look before continuing. “I told you last time that your form of testicular cancer had a chance of spreading and taking root in other parts of your body. I know it’s been over a year since we cleared you, but there’s a chance that, at that time, your vascular system had an amount of cancer undetectable by our testing.”

“I know. You told me that remission didn’t mean completely gone, just that it was no longer actively detectable.” Brian sucked in his bottom lip and gave Dr. Sanjay a stony gaze. “Now, you’re saying it's detectable again and probably spread.”

“My guess is that it’s spread to your lungs or that you’ve developed lung cancer as a secondary diagnosis to the embryonal carcinoma.” Dr. Sanjay responded, his eyes soft and sympathetic. “We won’t know for sure until after the results of your CT scan and a lung biopsy.”

“What kind of prognosis am I looking at this time?” Brian whispered, barely able to get the words out past the heaviness in his chest.

“With lung cancer, your prognosis drops to about 60%, even lower if it’s in an advanced stage.” Dr. Sanjay reached forward as if to grab Brian’s hand, but he pulled himself back.

“Okay. Great. Let’s do that scan, and I’ll be on my way.” Brian needed to get out of this small, cramped office before he exploded.

“Brian, I understand you need time to process this, but please don’t bury your head in the sand.” Dr. Sanjay called after him. “I will call you when I have the results of your scan.”

With that, Brian left his office and walked over to the diagnostic center next door. An hour later, he was with Emmett and Gus, eating his weight in chocolate chip cookies and denying that anything was wrong.

[teecupangel]

Submitted by @saberamane

Just watched Roanoke Gaming (on youtube) video’s on the Spartan’s of Halo and how, realistically, their augmentation could be done/what would need to be done for the ‘super serum’ to work. And just…the angst and hurt/comfort of that would be so good if, say…Desmond were to go through that and then be magically poof'ed to AC??

Each of the ancestor’s would surely see different uses and advantages of such strength and enhancement’s…but also the pain of them? Both physical and mental? Desmond would need a lot of loving and comfort.

Some notes taken from the video’s and lore, so everyone is on the same page without necessarily needing to watch the videos-(though you should, they are very good.)

Skeletal Augmentations:

At 14, the Spartans were already over 6 foot tall due to overhauling the pituitary gland to induce puberty immediately to ‘flash grow’ them, making them grow taller than normal at an accelerated rate, which had the side effect of weakening the bones as they grew too rapidly for proficient calcium to be placed applied to the growing bones.

This lead to a surgery to 'correct’ the fragility. Basically the bone is 'shaved’ before a carbide ceramic coating was manually fused to the bones, giving them support. This was described as feeling like the bones were made of glass and then shattering inside the body. No more than 3% of the bone could be replaced or the surgery would fail.

Surviving the initial surgery did not mean it was successful. While healing the body was under extreme stress, and could lead to shock, cardiac or respiratory arrest, leading to death. With the bone 'shaved’ it would encourage your body to begin rebuilding the bone, making the bone grow around the new ceramic coating.

The bones, after healing, are nearly unbreakable, withstanding hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure before breaking.

If the surgery fails because more than 3% of the bone was lost and you don’t die, you will become paralyzed or debilitated because your white blood cells will necroes, leading to septic shock that will eventually lead to the rest of the body being infected with the sepsis.

This surgery makes Spartan’s very heavy and leaves a lot of scarring, as the surgery is highly invasive.

Muscle Augmentation:

More and denser muscle fibers, leading to faster stamina recovery as well as more overall strength, from some sort of injection.

A side effect of this injection could lead to an enlarged heart in 5% of subjects.

The injection feels as though the veins have been injected with napalm and are being torn out of the skin.

The muscle augmentation without the bone augmentation would allow the subject to contract their muscle with so much force they’d shatter their own bones.

Neurological Augmentation:

Quicker and more efficient communication between neurons, leading to faster reaction times.

Subjects can nearly see things in 'slow motion’.

Reaction time is 20 milliseconds, movements seeming nothing but a blur to other unenhanced individuals.

Running 38 mph is an easy feat.

Migraines can be a recurring issue.

TL:DR

Desmond is basically super human, but he got that way with a lot of invasive surgery and trauma against his will.

=============================

teccup additions:

Roanoke Gaming has an entire playlist of Halo Lore and other videos if you’re curious.

For those not that familiar with Halo lore (which is understandable as Halo is a series that likes to put a lot of lore in the novels), the most famous of the Spartans, Master Chief, is a Spartan II. The games mostly focus on either Spartans from Spartan II (like Master Chief) or Spartan III (most members of Noble Team from Halo Reach are from SPARTAN III so if anyone wants to create a Halo x AC crossover that has Desmond be part of the Halo Universe first, you can put him as part of Spartan II or III training.

Either way, there are many ways to kick him to the AC verse but, on the top of my head, if you wish for Desmond to be part of the Halo verse before getting kicked into the AC verse:

The Isus could have been part of the Forerunners (an ancient species of extremely technologically advanced beings that had ruled over the milky way) and the Solar Flare hadn’t just hit the earth, it had hit EVERY part of the milky way by being the start of a chain reaction of every sun in the solar systems in the milky way.

Of course, we can keep the whole AC timeline intact with one caveat: the next Solar Flare would not happen in December 2012, it would happen in August of 2552 (if you want it to be a reference: August 12 would be Altaïr’s death day). This is an important month in Halo lore because this is the month when the Battle of Reach ended (which was one of the bloodiest campaigns during the Human-Covenant Wars (Covenants are the baddies who worship the Forerunners as gods so they’re kinda like alien-inclusive version of Juno’s Instruments of the First Bitch))

By setting it on the Battle of Reach, we will have the choice of letting Desmond be part of Master Chief’s storyline or of Noble Team’s storyline.

If we consider that the Calculations knew that Desmond would be in Reach during the time of the next Solar Flare, the device would be in Reach as well and the main point is to ensure Desmond gets to the Grand Temple there.

We can wave it off as there being Grand Temples all around the Milky Way, all connected to one another and Desmond has to activate one of them to activate all of them. Once all have been activated, the field will surround all planets with the Grand Temple (fertile planets filled with life) and will be spared from the chain reaction of Solar Flares.

Of course, this is not taking into consideration the possibility that the species in Halo lore haven’t noticed the incoming Solar Flare. To combat this and make Desmond have no choice, perhaps it’s something that only builds up towards the last few months (around maybe Feb or March?), not enough time to fully study it and combat it with confidence.

Anyway, the main point is that Desmond would come into contact with the Grand Temple in Reach and activate it.

From there, he will save the planets with a Grand Temple (but this does mean not all of the planets will be saved and any ships in space will not be saved as well) and he’ll be transported to whichever timeline you’d like him to be in AC.

Now, if you want a purely AC fic with the Spartan Augmentation added into the lore, we can go down this route:

The Great Purge happened when Desmond was 13 and the Farm will be hit

(Bonus drama: make Desmond have a fight with Bill who is trying to get them out and it ends with him running away but getting captured by Abstergo, hearing his mother screaming his name before the sounds of gunfire silenced her, replaced by screams all over the Farm)

Spartan II ‘subjects’ were 5 to 6 years old when they started their augmentation but Desmond was included in Abstergo’s own version of Spartan ‘training’ (either keep the name and make it something sort of an insult to Kassandra or make it a reference to Deimos who was technically Spartan or change the training name to something more ‘Templar-ish’) as an ‘experiment’.

He and the other Assassin children would be part of a special experiment to check if age is truly a factor in a subject’s surviving the augmentations.

Cross would have been a Spartan from an earlier iteration and he’s the first true success. He was augmented early (like around 5ish years old) and that’s how Abstergo decided they needed to experiment on different ages.

Assassin prisoners are free guinea pigs.

Of course, this means that Lucy is also part of the program as an innocent 12-year-old child. Perhaps even make her something like a sister to Desmond during their horrific augmentation, indoctrination, and training life together.

This would add more angst to the story if Lucy either dies during training or she is one of the successful Spartans who becomes loyal to Abstergo in the process, giving a more or less Cain and Abel setup between her and Desmond.

Either way, Desmond survives the training thanks to his higher-than-normal Isu genes and it’s because of his ‘abnormal’ gene makeup that Warren Vidic noticed him, taking him out of Spartan Training and making him become part of the Animus Project.

Same setup where Desmond relives his ancestors’ memories. AC1 plot ends with Bill being the one to rescue Desmond. From there, we go for the rest of Desmond Saga’s plotline which will end with Desmond using the device to save the world in 2012.

Lucy’s subplot, if we go for her living through the Spartan training, will end in Rome when she replaces Cross in the final showdown. Desmond will be the one to kill her and she dies in his arms. Whether they reconcile while she’s dying or she dies telling him that she hates him for leaving her will be up to you.

Either way, Desmond gets transported into his ancestor’s timeline after he uses the device.

Whichever setup you use, I believe that Desmond and his ancestors’ relationship would be similar in the sense that:

Altaïr would be the quickest to understand him because they have the most similar upbringing: children raised to be soldiers. Desmond would also recognize the Levantine Brotherhood’s rigid ranking system as familiar and would consider Altaïr as his team leader even if it’s only the two of them (Malik would be more or less his commanding officer)

Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship would be more akin to two puppets trying to be more than what their ‘masters’ expect them to be with Altaïr taking the lead as he’s more independent than Desmond who just accepts any orders given to him.

Ezio, on the other hand, would be the most awkward around him as he’s unsure of how to ‘handle’ Desmond. On the other hand, Desmond would totally be unsure of what to do when he’s around the Auditores and it would be easy for them to push him to stay and just… try to relax.

Ezio and Desmond’s relationship would be more akin to a ‘normal’ boy trying to befriend and understand a military kid. Ezio would most definitely spend his time trying to teach Desmond how to relax and have fun. (If this is an Ezio who knows who Desmond is thanks to Minerva’s recording, he’d also be the most protective)

Ratonhnhaké:ton would try to communicate to Desmond like he’s a wild animal at first because of how Desmond’s first solution to any problem they face is to kill the source but he’ll soon realize that Desmond isn’t acting like a wild animal but an abused one.

Ratonhnhaké:ton and Desmond’s relationship would be more akin to someone trying to help another person but not sure of how to do it. He also doesn’t have a similar support system as Ezio does and Achilles may do more harm than good thanks to his personality and how he handles his charges (ex: Ratonhnhaké:ton and Shay for different reason). Haytham is also a big red flag when it concerns Desmond as Haytham is a Templar.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Ishmael" review

Novel from 1985, by Barbara Hambly. A pretty great read, it's actually a crossover between Star Trek and a Western show from the 60's: Here Come the Brides. However, you don't need to have watched the other show to understand the novel, since the characters and their relationships are properly developed, and no previous knowledge is assumed.

The plot follows an amnesiac Spock waking up in 1860's Seattle (the setting of Here Come the Brides), and learning to navigate among the people there, all the while hiding the fact he's an alien (which is one of the few things that Spock remembers about himself). He takes the identity of "Ishmael", the nephew of local businessman Aaron Stemple. Funnily enough, Stemple was played by Mark Lenard (Sarek in Star Trek), which may have given the author the idea to combine both shows. Interspersed with Spock's chapters in Seattle, there are chapters focused on the "present", with Kirk and McCoy trying to figure out what happened to the Vulcan. I ended up finding those chapters a bit more interesting, since the reader is as much in the dark about the mystery as Kirk. But it was also nice to see Spock adapting to the townspeople, and being more human and emotional, given how little he remembers about his Vulcan education. Besides, this serves to confront Spock's values against those of XIX century America (addressing subjects such as the sexism and racism of the era).

I can't judge how well portrayed are the Brides' characters, not having seen the show myself, but they're all lively and easy to warm up to. As for the Enterprise regulars, they're fine, and in particular the portrait of Spock as a rootless, lonely stranger, carving his own place among those humans, is pretty moving.

On another note, it's curious how this is the first novel to involve time-travelling to Earth's past, considering it was a recurring theme in TOS (which even had its own Western episode!). And there are also parallelisms with the later movie The Voyage Home, where a somehow amnesiac Spock also visits San Francisco, though at a much later date. Apart from this, Spock's unofficial family name: "S'chn T'gai", is first introduced here.

To summarize, this is an intriguing story, that also manages to be quite poignant at times. Though there's still no cowboy Bones...

Spoilers under the cut:

During shore leave at Starbase 12, built in the vicinity of the Tau Eridani Cloud, Spock notices some unusual dealings in a Klingon cargo ship, and he's authorized to conduct a solo infiltration mission aboard the transport. Time passes without Kirk receiving any news from Spock, and the Enterprise follows the cargo discreetly, once it leaves the starbase. Suddenly, the cargo starts accelerating inside the Cloud, which is rife with magnetic anomalies, and then it simply... vanishes. The only transmissions from Spock that they receive before he disappears, are a cryptic series of words and numbers: "White dwarf. Khlaru. Tillman's Factor. Guardian. 1867."

The story moves then to 1860's Seattle, where Aaron Stemple finds a badly injured and unconscious Spock in the forest. He recognizes immediately that Spock's an alien, given his green blood and strange ears, and understands he's been tortured and will die if left alone. Not without misgivings, Aaron decides to take the alien to his cabin in the woods. There he takes care of him, until Spock recovers, and is surprised to find out that the alien can speak English. Spock, however, can't remember anything about his past or identity, though from time to time he gets impressions from his previous life, that he can't pinpoint. The only other person who is aware of the alien's existence is Lottie, the local saloon owner, but she keeps the secret. Back in the saloon, Lottie notices two foreigners asking a hell lot of questions (the reader will identify them as Klingons at once), but she doesn't mention it to Aaron, despite her suspicions.

Back in the starbase, Kirk, McCoy and Maria Kellogg (the starbase commander), try to make sense out of Spock's transmissions. The mention of a "Guardian" is taken as a reference to the Guardian of Forever, and implies the Klingons are trying to tamper with the timeline. This is supported by the mentions of a "white dwarf" and "Tillman's factor", which describe a method to open a time warp. After some discussion, they also determine that 1867 must be a date... but from what calendar? As for "Khlaru", it could refer to a Klingon historian that was researching at the starbase. Khlaru's colleague, the Vulcan historian Trau, tells them a bit about their research. They were studying ancient Karsid records; a civilization that used to subtly infiltrate other societies through economic deals, before annexing them to their empire. The Klingons were part of that empire, until the rebellion that gave them independence (which is a very unusual backstory for the Klingons). However, Trau fails to see any connection between Karsid history and the Klingon's current plans.

Meanwhile, Spock is adapting to Seattle's society. He lets his hair grow to cover his ears, and passes as Aaron's nephew Ishmael, working for him as accountant at the mill. The general situation in the town is also explained. The Bolt brothers (Jason, Jeremy and Joshua) had brought several women from the East Coast to marry local workers. Aaron has placed a bet with Jason: if he fails to get all the women married by the end of this year, the Bolt's mountain property will pass to Aaron's hands. Ishmael (I'm going to refer to Spock as such, since that's the name used for most of the story) shows his super-human abilities when he's able to locate Jeremy and his fiancée Candy, lost in the forest, by hearing alone. However, Aaron manages to dispel any suspicions about his "nephew". Ishmael's acute hearing also comes in handy to save Aaron's life during a trip to San Francisco, where two men assault Aaron in the street. During this trip, Joshua meets Sarah, a doctor who faces discrimination for being a woman trying to work in the medical field. This is something that Ishmael can't understand; and he's constantly worried about slipping up, and showing traits unusual for a human in this era. The San Francisco bay also stirs something in his memory; Ishmael is certain of having seen that landscape in other time and shape, but whenever he tries to recover those memories, he feels intense pain around his temples (and if you know your Klingons, you'll probably guess by now that they used a Mind-Sifter on Spock).

For his part, Kirk consults with an engineer in the starbase, Aurelia Steiner (a curious alien that looks like a blob of gelatin, and shows her emotions through variations in her color and perfume). She devises a means for the Enterprise to create a time warp like that of the Klingons. At this point, they're certain that 1867 is a date from Earth's Christian calendar. And after Klingons try to kill Trau, and destroy the Karsid records, the historian concludes that there must be some relation with Khlaru's research. Effectively, they find out that the Karsid tried to infiltrate Earth around that date. However, they were stopped because a representative from Washington, Aaron Stemple, showed an unusual hostility and suspicion towards them. The Karsid abandoned their attempts, and soon thereafter, the Klingon rebellion put an end to them. Kirk and co. suspect the Klingons will try to kill Aaron before he enters local politics, so the Karsid succeed in their invasion and the Federation never comes to be. There's still the question, though, of why Aaron was so convinced that the Karsid were aliens (given how good were their disguises), since humans of that era wouldn't have reached that conclusion easily.

Back in 1867, Ishmael accompanies the Bolt brothers to San Francisco, in a gambling quest to earn $50.000 at the casinos. Aaron had promised Jason that he'd forget about the bet in exchange of that sum of money. Jason was likely to lose the bet, as nobody wanted to marry one of the girls, Biddy Cloom, who is considered loud and unattractive. Aaron and Ishmael, however, had grown fond of the girl, and deep down, Aaron doesn't want Jason to marry her just to win a bet, since he's developed feelings for Biddy. The Bolt brothers start making money at the casinos using Ishmael's mathematical system. And again, the two foreigners from the saloon show up there. Meanwhile, Joshua meets with Sarah and proposes to her, but he disappears before going out on a date with her. They find Joshua a while later, apparently drugged and with marks around his temples similar to those of Ishmael. He also suffers from a minor memory loss. In the end, Jason fucks up when he abandons Ishmael's system to win money more quickly, and ends up losing all their cash (and this whole passage, with Jason's winning streak surrounded by impending doom, was pretty exciting). So they return to Seattle empty-handed.

A bit later, during Jeremy's wedding with Candy, Aaron finally asks Biddy to marry him (even if this means that Jason will win the bet and keep the mountain), and Biddy agrees, as she also loves him. Sarah also comes from San Francisco to accept Joshua's proposal. However, Aaron receives a sudden call from the mill, and leaves the party alone. Ishmael notices two men following him, and recognizes them as Klingons. This brings back all his memories (and from this point onwards, the novel refers to him again as "Spock", to signify the change). Spock follows Aaron, but he arrives too late, and finds him gravely wounded by a disruptor blast. The Klingons take Spock for a common human, and not wanting to disrupt history further, they leave, confident that Aaron will die anyway.

Spock and Sarah try to keep Aaron alive during the following days, but with their primitive medicine, there's not much they can do for him. Fortunately, Kirk and McCoy arrive in the cabin just then, having finally pinpointed the correct time and place. They take Aaron to the Enterprise for proper treatment. And Spock has a tender farewell scene with Biddy, where he promises to bring Aaron back in a few days, even if Spock himself will never see her again. Aaron is healed and brought back to Seattle, with the Enterprise returning to its proper time. As it turns out, it was the Klingons' interference precisely, what thwarted their own plans. By sending Spock to that time and place, Aaron became familiar enough with aliens, to resist against the Karsid later. The novel ends with a nice touch, as Kirk consults Spock's family records, and discovers that one of Amanda's surnames is... Stemple.

Spirk Meter: 6/10*. Kirk becomes very depressed after Spock is lost in the Cloud, having recurring nightmares and being unable to sleep. To the point that he hopes that Spock was already dead, to not suffer anymore. It qualifies as McSpirk too, because McCoy is shown to be similarly depressed, and turning to heavy drinking. At the end, both Kirk and McCoy stare open-mouthed at Spock being so affectionate with Biddy (of course, it's not romantic affection... but they don't know that yet, and it's easy to read it as jealousy). Besides this, there are many mentions of Spock being unable to appreciate feminine beauty, and he takes his inability to ever marry a woman as a matter of fact.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.