#but she does annoy easily

[rosehearts-forest]

Some owlpaw

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Those Beyond The Wall

sequel/companion to The Space Between Worlds, set a decade later

character-focused sci-fi set in an area divided in two, the rich protected city on one side and everyone else in the post-apocalyptic desert

follows a woman who works under the Emperor in Ashtown, keeping the peace

when mangled bodies start showing up with seemingly no murderer, she’s tasked with finding the cause, and finds out that it’s the result of corruption spanning both cities and multiple worlds

explores oppression and messy revolution, police violence and apartheid

bi & polyamorous MC

[jankwritten]

I’ve been thinking a lot about what a Hazel and Jason friendship would look like.

Hazel tentatively reaching out after finally understanding that Jason isn’t everything she built him up to be in her head, influenced both by Nico and by what she actually observed of Jason herself

Jason assumes she just wants tips on leadership or maybe how to fight better, so he obliged by offering to train with her

Hazel expects Jason to go easy on her like Percy and Annabeth and Piper do, but instead she gets taken down within a few minutes and has Jason ruthlessly pointing out what things she could improve on.

(Cue: Hazel finally having an opponent who doesn’t underestimate her. Hazel who finally feels like she has somebody she can spar against who will help and not just let her win because she’s young and small. Hazel who finally gets why Nico spends so much time talking about how kind and helpful Jason is, even if what she’s seeing isn’t necessarily kind.)

Jason starts hanging out with Hazel outside of sparring but in other groups, like with Piper, or Nico. He learns that she loves dancing and horses and likes to test the hardness of a stone against her fingernails, likes to collect shiny non-precious things just like Nico does, likes to swear loudly whenever possible as if she’s doing it to purposely piss people off.

Hazel asks Jason if he wants to go hang out one day after the Argo quest is over, maybe go to some museum in NYC that she’s heard Percy talk about, or find metaphysical shops to walk through (I HC that Hazel really loves modern mortal interpretations of magic and that she’s fascinated by the ways mortals accidentally connect to the gods etc.) and Jason assumes she means with someone else and agrees, only to find out they’re going alone.

Jason panicking for a moment about potential misinterpretations, once he realizes, and stammering out some garbled thing about how he really likes her but not like that because ofc all he’s known so far is that being alone with a girl = someone will assume romantic intent. Hazel openly laughs in his face and rather boldly states that she KNOWS Jason is in love with her brother.

Hazel, eventually, being the first person Jason feels safe coming out to. Jason, in return, being the first person Hazel feels safe to talk about being asexual with. The two of them discussing their feelings more and more often while exploring new places together, like Hazel talking about how she did so much researching into queer history and labels when she first found out Nico is gay, Jason telling her that he still doesn’t feel like Thalia is his sister as if he might not be the same Jason Grace she remembers, the two of them coming to terms with being on the aromantic spectrum together.

Jason talking Hazel out of joining the Hunters when she’s having a very very bad day. Hazel stopping Jason from disappearing back out into the mortal world to finish school without first giving his other friends a chance to have input.

(Hazel and Jason inadvertently saving each other’s lives by tweaking fate, thus making their friendship literally woven into their lives forever indisputably. Hades/Pluto patting Jason on the back and telling him thank you with no context or clarification the next time they meet. Hera/Juno, tight lipped and silent, offering Hazel some kind of gift or blessing the next time she returns to New Rome. Hazel and Jason laughing it off when they tell each other because wow, their godly parents are weird as hell.)

[reliquiaenfr]

What is Aphid and Shiana's relationship like?

so shiana and aphid are based on ocs of mine! i looooove talking about my ocs ahaha

shiana is an oracle (in their original story, she's the second in charge of a church of oracles, but in fr she's just an oracle), she's a bit cheeky and doesn't take things as seriously as she ought to - though at least SOME of that is an act, she actually had a pretty traumatic event happen to her when she was younger so underneath the snark, she's very grounded. (the story is that since she can "pull" on the threads of fate to change the future, she thought she could help people and when she was younger she tried to expose someone for their misdeeds by meddling with their future, but it got her mentor killed instead, and since then she's been very VERY careful about what she does with her power). since shiana still wants to help folks, she has to find other ways to do it.

aphid (her real name is tao li, but she goes by aphid, mostly, and also other psuedonyms) is a spy academic. she's from a monastery village, worked in a library, and loves learning things. the only thing she loves more than reading things in a book is learning them in person. she's a bit of a stickler for rules and can come across as having a stick up her butt because she's a bit inflexible and snobbish lol.

all of which is to say that they have the sort of relationship that others look at and go 'but... why tho?' because shiana comes across as way too chill for aphid, and aphid is the kind of person who would unironically wear a no fun allowed shirt. but aphid is the only person shiana ever told the story about her dead mentor and aphid like... gets it. a lot of their initial friendship was built on the possibilities that teaming up would afford them: shiana can see when something unsavoury is going to happen, and aphid has the soft-spoken tenacity to do something about it.

as part of a governing group, shiana had access to a lot of resources, and aphid has the unassuming demeanour to use them without making others suspicious. so they started trying to help people and change the bleak futures that shiana saw without directly rewriting the future. now, they're both different kinds of hopelessly gay, and in exact opposite directions: shiana didn't want to mess things up with aphid bc aphid was like... her best friend, you know? someone who understood her fears and her powers. aphid didn't want to ruin what they had going either, but UNLIKE shiana, she's scarily observant and figured shiana out in ten minutes lmao.

these days, they're the annoying sort of in-synch couple that can have entire conversations in a single glance. aphid is very uncomfortable with public affection, so she often seems quite cold to shiana when others are around, but she absolutely adores that silly woman and she does a lot of things shiana will like (gifts, special date things, massaging shiana's scalp, etc). and although shiana likes to tease her (even in public), she always respects aphid's no pda preferences. it's extremely common for someone meeting them for the first time to have no idea at all that they're together, but once you know it's obvious.

their communication is fucking top notch also. it has to be because aphid can't see into shiana's head to visualise the futures she's seeing and how best to change them, so even before they got together, they were super good at talking things out. aphid's comfort boundaries are so excuriatingly well defined that it's like... shiana knows when it's okay to touch aphid's hand or back or something more intimate and when it's not. and althought shiana wasn't the most comfortable expressing her own boundaries to begin with, aphid is just very blunt about it all, she's like "well see, shiana, i happen to love you and i don't want you to do something that will fuck that up so here is my rulebook" and after that shiana was pretty cool with talking her feelings and desires out.

[sds-mod]

Didn't see a thumbnail right making it look like this skirt and I HAD to draw Iris in it - she likes to dress like this without the intention of appearing sexy, she just finds it cute and comfy

[a-cat-in-toffee]

Would wight hate how much his wings gives him away emotion wise

ABSOLUTELY. HE WOULD HATE THE OTHERS POINTING IT OUT EVEN MORE

[royalreef]

(( As a kinda silly OOC thing: I like conceiving of Miranda (and her connections through the Merkingdom) as being an anti-OP muse.

As in, I like the thought of, the more OP someone or something else is, the worse of a time they have being able to do anything to Miranda. She is, very intentionally and within the logic of her own universe, designed to be able to handle those with extreme power and authority and to be able to undermine everything they can throw at her and counteract anything that they try to do.

She's already a royal, next in line to her throne! She has to be able to fully handle other people in similar positions without risking any damage to her own, and this is something that she's dealt with her entire life. She very much knows all the risks associated as a part of her job, her title, her entire reason for being born, and she's well-trained in the formal and informal methods of striking down anyone else who might even come close to a position to her own.

Which, of course, means that muses that very much aren't OP, that are just normal people or much closer to it, are much, much more capable of threatening Miranda and the Merkingdom both as a point of intention. This is something that I very much want and very much want to encourage. Especially because the reason this is such a problem is the way that the Merkingdom and, thus, Miranda, entirely overlook and ignore such threats and treat them like non-issues. The fact that most Merkingdom royals, upon actually encountering a landfolk, have a range of responses from discomfort to dismissal to ignorance, is one that is very purposeful here. The ones that they're most likely to pay attention to are the ones in the most danger, and the ones that they aren't likely to care very much about beyond petty malice and as another means to inflate their own egos. And, as it is, the ones they're most likely to pay attention to are those that have decided to pose a risk.

And it's a thing that I've been dealing with from the beginning too. From the start of this blog I was very bothered by the idea that some OP character would decide to singlehandedly "fix" or destroy the Merkingdom from a position of equal or greater authority. Which is not to say that I didn't want it to be changed or that there weren't ways to dismantle it. But rather, I wanted it to be more organic, and I wanted to deal with the actual question of how that even happens, and I wanted to ask the question of what could measurably improve this situation and Miranda's life both.

Which meant that, yeah, the more OP a muse is the more intentionally destined for failure they are, and the closer they approach "some guy", the more they'll be able to achieve. Which is not to say it won't be difficult or hard to do, or that there's not the possibility for failure (again, even at her most basic, Miranda is a macropredator that can easily maim someone, but more typical "normal" muses are more likely to possess caution and try to read her body language before pressing her), but the fact remains, very intentionally, that they are the only ones who will be able to do it.

[soundcrusher]

Starhopper

Wohoo, you guys don't know how happy I am to be done with her. The colour palette was my main problem.

The Star Seeker frame type and lore is/was made by @dimorphodon-x (Thanks again for fact checking!)

A little bit of info about her is under the cut.

One of the Star Seekers left in storage 

was found by an old femme that brought her online by accident and then took her in

Lived an isolated live with Ma’am (the old femme), who taught her some things she learned from organics

One of the things was sewing

Occasionally, there would be other Cybertronians coming by, but mostly to buy something and then leave

Decided that being a seamstress is more fun than what she was made for and started doing it as a profession

Has a knack for finding shiny things

also collects them

Easily distracted by shiny or interesting things, people, etc.

especially if they are pretty

Still as naive as the day Ma’am found her

Sireously, you could lay out a trail of shiny rocks leading to a big cardboard box propped up with a stick, and she would still fall for it

At one point, Starhopper decides to venture out into the galaxy in the hopes of finding other Star Seekers

Gets distracted halfway through the journey by something shiny and ends up working as a seamstress on a planet for a while, before continuing her journey → Working as a freelancer seamstress becomes her main source of income

Also meets a weird crew of Cybertronians and stays on their ship for a while. (Was almost adopted by the captain, but his minibot friend got in between.)

Calls Ma’am regularly to tell her about her journey

also to show off the collection of shiny things she found or the newest project she’s working on

Does small hops when excited

those you do when you’re balancing on your toes and hitting the ground with your heels

That’s where her name comes from. Ma’am gave it to her, after seeing her interest in stars and the small hops she does 

Some nicknames are: Hop, Magpie, Maggy

Starhopper is a sweet thing through and through. Often helping others before thinking about herself and making sure they are alright, before checking if she herself is okay.

How her journey started:

Ma’am told Starhopper a little bit of how there might be others like her. She never specifically tells Hop where she found her, but she hints that she isn’t the only one with her frame type.

After hearing that, Starhopper decides to pack her things and go on a search for her missing “siblings”. Despite her not knowing where to start looking.

The old femme gives Starhopper a map of the galaxy to help her navigate at least a little bit, but she knows that the chances of her ward finding another one like her are very slim. 

Still, she doesn’t stop Starhopper from going on her journey. 

The only thing she asks for is that her ward calls her every now and then. (Ma’am mostly wants to make sure that Starhopper doesn’t manage to land in a dangerous situation, when she isn’t there to get her out of it.)

If she ever found another Star Seeker, she would probably start hopping excitedly, before rushing over to them for a hug.

---

Here are some extra sketches of Starhopper. One is the base and the other is her while she's sewing.

[a1sart]

have any of y'all ever taken a class on something you liked and wanted to learn more about only to discover that you know more about the topic than the person teaching it and you have to sit through the entire class trying not to be mean

[neck-thats-made-for-bruising]

Actually so done with my friend yeah I explained something to you don't get pissy calm down

[slippery-minghus]

hmm. had an actual conversation with nightmare coworker today that seemed mutually productive. she apologized for saying some bullshit that hurt my feelings and i clarified that my intentions are to help not to undermine her, and we both agreed that there's no competition against each other and that it's the lack of growth in our role that's the problem. it was...productive.

and further cementing for me that it is time to begin making my Exit. i will be sending out my resume to a few places this weekend.

i'm still processing the conversation, and am struggling to place myself in where i am responsible to better my behavior. because i genuinely don't want to be an ass, even though i really don't like this lady and will jump for joy the day i never have to see her again. she stated that she knows my intentions aren't to hurt her, and that she thinks i'm very kind. i apologized for if my behavior came off as undermining her, and said that my intentions are only to better my own growth—and that i know she's trying to succeed too. i validated her feelings, and complemented the effort she is putting in.

where i'm struggling with is: am i in the wrong/causing harm and needing to change if the issue is that her feelings are incongruent with what she knows of my intentions? her feelings are her responsibility (WOW i almost typed "her feelings are my responsibility". i feel like that's a freudian slip) and she states that she knows i don't mean to hurt her. i'm going to try to be more clear in wording my intentions with her (she feels like me trying to take work off her plate is to undermine her. when really, i'm caught up and see her getting overwhelmed, and i want to help and also have something to do since i'm bored).

but i'm really struggling to look at my role in this and pass judgement on myself. i can and want to do better, and i don't think i did anything wrong, but i'm always so hesitant to say it's not my fault or i didn't do something bad. like i can't trust my judgement on that. my intentions were good, her bad feelings are ones caused by her insecurities, which she more or less has expressed to be aware that they are not true—the hurtful thing she said to me, she acknowledged was said out of hurt and not what she actually thinks. so, is it fair to say i'm not the bad guy? i'm not in the wrong? i know good intentions that still result in harm don't absolve anyone, but when the things that are clashing are insufficient communication and reactive insecurities... i'm not a monster, am i?

[dutybcrne]

Cloud Retainer will act so formal and put together, but. In a romantic relationship, there will be. A Notable increase in how affectionate she is to her person.

[groupwest]

i fucking agreed to go to the staff christmas party what is actually wrong with me

[permanentreverie]

there is nothing more validating then hating a particular coworker than finding out that all of your other coworkers feel the same way

[gentlethorns]

i'm going fucking crazy. why do i get a little 🤏🏼 just a little bit stressed and suddenly be like "i'm going 100 on the highway at 10:30 am. also i'm booking five tattoos for the next two weeks. also i am enraged suddenly." and then even after the feeling of stress ebbs away i still feel like shit and have all those negative impulsive behaviors that serve the purpose of venting steam (steam that is no longer there)!!!!! why why why

[ridl]

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