#orc captain

[gritpyre]

she means everything to me

[dekleinekapitein]

A companion piece to Master Root, I painted the most notable of my DM’s NPCs: Captain John-Gilliam The Lesser. The PCs operate from his ship, a funeral barge carrying the name Rhadamanthine.

His character design is a lot more complex than Master Root’s, so it was a challenge in some areas to get it right. A good exercise in bringing to life a character not of my design. The Captain is my boiii though, don’t tell my DM.

Watercolor in my sketchbook.

Post with Master Root.

Instagram: eefjesart

Etsy: EefjesArt

[coffeecakecafe]

so I’m One Whole Session in on my first proper foray into dungeon mastering, and we’re playing a sliiiiightly modified Rime of the Frostmaiden. These are some of my added npcs!

The folks in the matching outfits are members of the Shepherds of Light, a Lathandite charity organization that sent aid up to the Dales in an effort to help them get through the eternal winter. The cargo ship Sunrise carried the party and some goods and a crew of about 15 people up via the Sea of Moving Ice, where it did. It did sink. Somewhat.

It’s about half sunk, actually, and the ship now sits just barely above the ice, held aloft by the iceberg that did it in. But hey if you look far enough on a clear day you can see the Sunrise over the sea from Ten-Towns!

The Druid is a mystery, so far - they haven’t met her yet.

[marlynnofmany]

Catching Things in Zero-G

“Reach over the border,” Captain Sunlight directed the Frillian twins. “Make sure they’re touching the floor when they cross into gravity.”

I watched from well out of the way as Blip and Blop nodded, holding muscular arms out for the oncoming guests. No one here was new to gravity fluctuations, but that didn’t mean they were fun.

The first person to cross from the damaged ship to ours was a bright red Heatseeker whose name I’d forgotten. He stumbled a bit on landing, grateful for the assistance. Blip and Blop released his hands when he was stable, looking like parents helping their lizardy toddler off a swing set.

Hard on his heels was Bopburt, the big gray Strongarm whose name I did remember (along with his extreme and hilarious dislike for pizza, from when I’d talked him into trying it that one time). I’d worked briefly on that ship before getting a more long-term position on this one. Nobody had changed since then. Bopburt was still a bigger octopus alien than the Strongarms on our ship. He was surprisingly talented at navigating in zero-g, though.

“No need,” he said, waving a tentacle at the waiting hands. He launched off the wall and landed with a splat just on this side of the seam between airlocks. “Thanks, though. They’ll want help with the cargo. Ah, here we go.”

He tentacle-walked over to stand near me as several other crewmates appeared at the hatch with an expensive-looking shipping crate. I couldn’t tell how heavy the thing was about to be, but it was a cube about the size of the bedside table in my quarters, and it shimmered with pearlescence. Even the label on the top was embossed in gold, matching the seam around the edges. Four different crewmates worked together to guide it oh-so-gently toward our ship.

“What’s in it?” I asked Bopburt. “Do you know?”

He made a rude noise. “Clients wouldn’t say. Rich jerks.”

Captain Sunlight watched with concern. “Is it heavy? Should we get a hoversled?”

“No, just don’t drop it.”

“Right.”

There were far too many people involved already, so we just watched as the whole procession made their way awkwardly through the airlock. Captain Kamm showed up during all this, along with the rest of their crew waiting to cross over. She and Captain Sunlight started a conversation over everyone else’s heads.

It was getting crowded. I moved back toward the hallway, where a few of my own crewmates had gathered to greet the guests. It’d been a while since we’d seen our sister ship, and while a damaged gravity generator wasn’t the best of circumstances, it was still nice to visit.

A furry shape trotted past my ankle. I scooped up the cat before she could get in the way. “Hang on there, Telly. You don’t want to get stepped on. I know it all smells new and interesting.”

Telly ignored me, watching the proceedings with great interest. Her mismatched eyes were wide, and she didn’t react when I ruffled her two-toned fur. This was more focus than new arrivals usually got. She hadn’t run out the airlock yet, but there’s always a first. I kept a close eye on her.

“What kind of animal is that?” Bopburt asked, looking up at the tense shape in my arms.

“A cat,” I said. “Humans keep them for companionship and…”

Telly was chattering — that distinct “I see prey” noise.

I turned toward the hall, but too late. She launched off with a kick to my ribs and flashed toward the gravity barrier.

“Telly, no!” I exclaimed, like that had stopped any cat ever.

Some crewmates looked up at me while others jumped aside with startled noises. Blip nearly caught her, which was pretty impressive honestly, but Telly jumped right past and into the other ship. She immediately careened toward the far wall, meowing and clawing at the air.

“Sorry, I’ll get her!” I dodged through the crowd. “I don’t know what she’s going after.” I ignored the conversation behind me and dove into the zero-g. It was just as disorienting as it always was, but I was heading in the right direction.

I caught up to Telly in midair where she’d bounced off the wall and been unable to catch anything with her claws. Those claws immediately tore into my sleeves, leaving more than one scratch that would probably need to get patched up, but I was busy offering comforting noises as I focused on holding her close with my arms while getting my feet into position to hit the wall.

I landed gently, making sure to take it slow before pushing back off, and in that half-breath pause, I saw something skitter past. “Ah!”

“What is it?” called Captain Sunlight.

“Something moved!” said, trying to look for it while shuffling the cat to get an arm free, and also searching for a handhold before I drifted away from the wall. I found a little hook that had probably held decorations once, and that was good enough. I clutched it tight. Telly tried to scramble onto my shoulder. I did my best to hold her in place. The creature had disappeared.

But Telly was chattering again, looking at the ceiling.

Somebody shouted about wire-eating pests. More people were coming back over the gravity barrier, a jumble of motion and urgent conversation about which tools had the best shot at catching something so fast.

“That’s why the gravity’s out! I knew it wouldn’t fail suddenly!”

“Do gravity wands work in zero-g?”

“Better to use a stun gun. Just nobody shoot anyone else.”

“What about that net in the cargo hold? We could—”

I tuned it all out when I spotted the thing Telly was chattering at. It was a flat little silvery beastie with lots of tiny legs and segmented plates on its back, every bit the kind of thing I could see wreaking havoc in the guts of a spaceship. It clung to the ceiling with stillness that could break into astonishing speed in an eyeblink.

The wall below it had pipes sticking out, curving into the living space in the type of ship design that was a little unsightly but immensely useful right now.

With one hand firmly holding Telly against my shoulder and the other on the hook, I turned in the zero-g until I could stick a foot through the loop of pipes. Then I used both hands to grab Telly, holding her out in front of me as I did a sit-up toward the ceiling. “Get it, girl!”

Telly didn’t disappoint. The thing saw her coming and tried to dash away, but she twisted in my grasp to launch off my wrist in a way that was incredibly painful but worth it. She snatched it off the ceiling and brought it to her mouth with a crunch of exoskeleton that I could hear from there.

Then she dropped it, shaking her head in comical disgust as the crowd cheered. Somebody caught it easily. I caught Telly before she could fully realize she was drifting again. After that, it was just a matter of making my way back to gravity without use of my arms. I ended up crowd-surfing, which wasn’t my plan at all, but everyone was appreciative and eager to help.

When I got my feet back under me, the first thing I did was find Eggskin the medic. “Was that safe for her to bite? She doesn’t usually react like that.” Telly wasn’t trying to jump free, busy licking a paw with vigor.

“Yes, I remember it from her original bio scans,” Eggskin told me. “Definitely on the safe list. These are a known pest with a strong flavor. They’re actually a sought-after delicacy in some circles.”

Eggskin was also the cook, which had seemed strange when I first joined the crew, but it made perfect sense these days.

“Oh good,” I said. “All right, kitty, great job. I’ll get you some treats to take the taste out of your mouth, okay?”

Captain Kamm appeared at my elbow, standing on the tips of her tentacles to get a good look at Telly. “Does your little predator like fish?”

“She does!” I said.

“Then we will be happy to reward her with some.” She waved a tentacle at a maroon-and-teal Frillian who was carrying a mesh bag of various things. “It’s the least we can do after she caught the source of our woes. Thank all the stars that it’s a small one, not old enough to spawn more.”

“Hey captain!” someone yelled. “There’s a gap in the seam of that expensive crate! And the bio-scanner shows traces of droppings!”

“More excellent news,” Captain Kamm said with an angry smile.

Captain Sunlight asked, “That crate has a scanner block, doesn’t it? No way to scan for hitchhikers.”

“Oh yes it does,” Captain Kamm confirmed. “How kind of that pest to leave its droppings by the hole where we can detect and record them.”

“They signed a waiver, right?”

“Oh yes.”

When I realized that the rich jerks had set themselves up for paying to repair the gravity generator that their negligence had damaged, I broke into a grin as well. “Such great news!”

Telly moved again, making me tighten my grip instinctively, but it was just to get at the tray of fish chunks that the Frillian was holding out. I took the tray and held it for Telly to eat from. She made some adorable happy noises.

“So you were about to say,” Bopburt said, “That humans keep these creatures for companionship and, and I think I’ve figured out the other thing.”

“Yup,” I agreed. “Valuable predator services.”

“You’re bleeding a bit there.”

“Ah, it’s not the first time. Worth it.”

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

[astroknottt]

ASTRO ! I’ve been reading @/ bluegiragi & @/ thegnomlord’s monster au for a quiet awhile now and I’m in love with honestly. I love mythical creatures and monsters so much, but I’ve been thinking of Orc M!reader a lot as well.

TW ! Monster Au ( Orc! mreader )

You’re an absolute machine on the field, not so quick on your feet but monstrous in size and strength—your pure strength and brute mentality. Sure stories portray you as a monster with the brain the size of a peanut but you’ve proven those theories wrong.

Price isn’t an expert with your kind. Sure both your species have existed during the same time period but that did not mean you interacted with one another. Price knew more about your species than you did his, he knew how war and your kind went together like a hog and shit. You were perfect for the profession.

It takes some time for the boys to get use to you. You’re different, different from anything they’ve encountered and they’ve had their share of weird shit.

The moment you stepped foot off of the plane, Captain Price was the first one to greet you. Your stature was everything that thought it would be, in size and muscle—fat filling in all the right places. When you speak it feels like the earth rumbles beneath their feet, a voice that’s deep and carries a guttural, low, and gravely timbre.

You weren’t green which takes him by surprise, you look slightly more human albeit your inhuman features. Like the lower cainines that protrude from inside of your mouth like tusk, your lupine like ears that stand pointed at the ends as if you were some fairy, littered with many piercings, and your hellish build. Slanted eyes that boar a piercing red color that surely sent a small chill down the dragons spines.

You’re not what they expected. A hideous green tank, that drooled every time he spoke, an ignorant beer and pot bellied beast with balls for brains, a creature who thinks of nothing but food and breeding. A hideous man like beast who only plagued on about war and eating humans. He didn’t know much of the kind, but he has enough. Honestly Gaz thought your kind was completely wiped out.

Soap couldn’t say the same. He remembers the horrors his parents would tell him stories about when he was nothing but a wee lad. The stories of ogres and goblins alike, their sadistic tendencies and how they would ravage through villages in Scotland like nothing, eating anything in their wake and killing until there was nothing left. The moment he heard there was an orc joining their team, he couldn’t help the way his lip curled into a snarl—a growl of hatred tumbling past his lips. He was against it but he kept quiet.

Ghost would watch you from afar, slightly threatened by what he didn’t understand. You’re not ignorant, but a skilled soldier on and off the field. You listen to orders and do what you’re told quietly easily, you’re able to lead those underneath you like it’s a simple task. Ghost realizes that there is some sort of line that constantly blurs when it comes to man and beats with you and he understands. He watches that line fade on the field continuously.

© ASTROKNOTT ™ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 !

[boxofbonesfic]

Title: Brave [2 of ?]

Pairing: Orc!Steve x Reader

Summary: As you begin to acclimate to life in the pack, your new leader seems to take a keen interest in your ability to survive. 

Warnings: 18+ Only, Genre typical violence, Warlord Nomad AU, Dark Fantasy AU, Enemies to lovers, Eventual smut, References to past abuse

A/N: i really hope you guys enjoy this next piece! mind the warnings ❤️

You run your tongue across your chapped lips before reaching for the skin of water hanging from a long strap across your shoulder. The liquid inside is over-warm from the sun hanging mercilessly overhead, but you are grateful for it still. 

Where are we even going?

The river had been days ago—three, perhaps four at your best estimation—and the pack had been pushing on ever since, riding out into the grass sea further than you had ever thought possible. When you had asked, your father had told you simply that there was nothing out there, his breath stinking of ale as he reminded you to keep your mind to your housework, else he would ensure you found out for yourself. And now, for all the fates cruel humor, you had found out anyway. 

You had been spared death at the river, but the same luck that had kept you breathing now also bound you to the blue-eyed-orc and his pack. You had tried twice already to sneak away in the darkness, only to find yourself practically nose to nose with your captor, his eyes bright even in the dark.

Dangerous out there in the dark, Sweetmeat, he’d said, turning you around with one huge hand on your shoulder, tapping the flat of his blade against your backside as your cheeks flamed with hot anger and embarrassment. If you’re looking to raise an army for vengeance, you should ride in daylight. Even now, your face heats with anger. You had no intention of riding to the capital to raise the alarm—even if you knew how to get there, you doubt anyone would care for the fate of a tiny village in the borderlands. 

You slip dangerously in the saddle, yelping as you grab for the reins, righting yourself. You had never ridden a horse before now, much preferring to watch the huge beasts from afar rather than subject yourself to them up close. The stallion beneath you seems to know it, tossing his head irritatedly as you pull back haphazardly. 

“I’m afraid the saddle is too big for you.” The voice startles you, and you almost slip down out of the saddle again as you whirl to look at its source. Mirthful blue eyes meet your own. “We shall have to find you a smaller one.” 

You glare at him, your mouth stubbornly shut. 

“Oh come now. Are you still angry about last night?” He makes no effort to hide his amusement. You keep your jaw locked, refusing to answer—which only serves to amuse him further. Finally, your ire loosens your tongue.

“You would have killed me three days ago,” you bite out through gritted teeth. “And left my corpse in the dirt.” 

“Aye,” he answers, cocking his head. “Yet I did not.” Somehow, this enrages you even more. 

“You hunted the others for sport—” You half choke on the words. “You ran them down like dogs.”

“What use is a lame horse, Sweetmeat?” He asks. “Or a dog that won’t hunt?” There is no derision in his words, only indifference. “I cannot ask my riders to carry that burden.”

“So you kill them.” 

“Aye.” You see reflected in his eyes the same cool apathy a wild dog might give a rabbit. “Would you ask a wolf to apologize for feeding its strongest cubs, Little One?” You bristle, but he continues before you can speak. “Perhaps because it is removed from you, you do not see it. But I have seen it. I have seen your great cities of men, and the bodies that line the ditches of their streets. There is death for them everywhere.” You want to deny the truth of his words, but they settle on your skin like oil. “Better a quick death by my steel than a slow one beneath the heel of the man you call King.”

He stops his horse, and you mirror him, watching the orc warily. 

“If you wish to return to it, you’ve my blessing to do so, Sweetmeat. May you go and die in whichever way seems best to you.” 

You are overcome with the urge to dig your heels into the stallion’s sides and take off, to cut through the swaying sea of grass like a clean blade—but you hesitate. 

Your life in the village had been one of little note and much misery; tending to your father as he sickened himself with either too much ale or for the want of it as the days ground on and on. You’d felt little sorrow at his passing, considering he’d blacked your eye only three days prior. There were, no doubt, several villagers that had escaped on horses of their own, racing back toward the mountain to warn others of the orc-pack roaming the borderlands. You suppose you could rejoin them—the same people who had watched as your father’s druken rages consumed him and done nothing to help you. 

Your skin prickles with distaste. 

“No?” He asks after a lengthy silence. “Then let us ride on.” 

You watch sullenly as he takes his place at the front of the group, the other riders falling into a loose line behind him. 

—

No one offers to help you as you struggle down from your horse when they break to make camp, and you drop unceremoniously to the ground. For the most part, the rest of the pack ignores you completely, regarding you with the same indifference one might pay a rock as they go about setting up their bedrolls and hobbling the horses. They dwarf you as you all line up to fill your water skins, and the one with chestnut hair—-the blue-eyed-one had called him Buck—narrows his eyes at you. 

“What’d you do to earn water today?” He sneers. “Get to the back. We’ll see if we have any left for you.” You dig your heels in gritting your teeth despite your fear. The protestation is there on your tongue, but before you can voice it, someone else speaks instead. 

“Give her the water, Bucky.” The blue-eyed-orc rests a hand on his shoulder. 

“Steve, she will do nothing but slow us down and rob us of our food, our water—”

“Calm, Bucky.” He holds up a hand. “The human will hunt tomorrow, and tomorrow she will earn it. Tonight, give her the water.” For a moment there is tension between them, a charged current you can’t see, but it soon breaks. Reluctantly, Bucky fills your water skin, shoving it into your hands with a grimace. 

“It was fine to give her Roth’s horse—he fell, he’s got no need for it now,” Bucky spits irritatedly. “But Tarrath’s a fortnight’s ride from here. She’s going to need to earn her water.” He frowns at you. “Like the rest of us.” Steve nods his understanding. 

“Aye. She will. Consider it half my portion.”

Angrily, you shuffle back over to your horse and begin unstrapping your bed-roll from its back. Nothing has been said outright, but you sleep away from the others, setting your roll up at the edge of camp. You know you aren’t welcome. You know you shouldn’t care at all for your usefulness, but you aren’t sure you’d fare any better wandering the grass sea alone. Your horse—Roth’s horse—stares down at you judgmentally while you wind the length of rope around his front legs, and you frown deeper. 

“Even the blasted horse,” you mutter, kicking aside a few loose rocks as you lay down the roll beside him. You don’t know how to hunt—it wasn’t as if your father had taught you, and you doubt he had the knowledge to do so in the first place. There is large bow strapped to the saddle, thus far untouched by you, and gently you undo the bindings. It is heavier than it looks, and you hold it aloft clumsily, the string biting hard into your fingers as you struggle to draw it back. 

“You won’t catch anything like that.” 

You don’t turn to look at him. 

“You didn’t have to give me your water. Steve.” He chuckles at the sound of his name on your lips. 

“I won’t be doing it again, Sweetmeat. So you’d better learn how to use that thing.” This time you do turn. He is closer than you anticipated, and you squeak with surprise as he plucks the bow from your hands with ease. “Hold it up, like this.” He draws the string back, the muscles rippling across his bare chest. “This is the sight, here, this notch.” He runs his thumb over the place where the arrow head will sit. “Come.” 

When you don’t move, he grips your hands firmly, winding them around the bow. 

“Like this, put your hand here.” His hand curls over yours, covering it completely. You’re practically trembling when he pulls away, your palms sweaty against the lacquered wood. “One last piece of advice, Sweetmeat.” 

“What?”

“Don’t miss.” 

to be continued

next

[imagineshazamlokimight]

A Dentists greatest enemy…….

Mary Poppins

You have no idea how many kids I’ve had to treat cause of this bitch!

If you see her please shoot on site. She is responsible for thousands of children with oral hygiene problems including permanent damage to their adult teeth, the unwanted animosity against dentists, and thousands in treatment cost unpaid!

Alien cutting transmission off: we better be wary of this ‘Mary Poppins’. It seems her and the “tooth fairy” are working together to control their young to take over the planet by defanging them at a young age and only those humans called Dentists are the only protectors of humanity.

[dapper-hydra]

I rrrrrrreeeeaaalllllyyyy need marvel to mess around with the whole humans are deathworlders thing cause so far the aliens we got in the MCU are:

Skrulls

Chitauri

Titans (Thanos)

Kree

Asgardians & the other Nine Realms (Frost Giants, etc.)

and then some other things that have less representation but still there:

Gamora

Groot

Drax

Yondu

Howard the Duck???

but anyways, as far as the Chitauri, Skrulls, and Kree (and also Thanos’ children), humans are far less technologically advanced; the Chitauri are controlled from a mothership, which as bad strategy as it is, it’s still a lot more advanced than the tech on Earth. Humans are also looked down upon by everyone from Thanos to Loki to the Kree. Skrulls are shapeshifters, need I say more. The Asgardians are literally gods with magic powers that live for thousands of years and have enhanced strength. Ebony Maw can do neat magic with his hands, and he also has those funky needles that he was poking at Strange with in Infinity War. But I want to see another alien species in the MCU where the characters realize that they are afraid of humans; but not because of tales of the Avengers or Captain Marvel or because the humans are protected by the Gods of Asgard. They’re afraid of humans because it’s built in, because the humans are apex predators. Or maybe the aliens slowly realize that they should fear the humans, once they see the pack bonding and the incredible stamina, and the weird sixth sense of feeling when someone’s watching you. Idk I just think that would be really neat

[aceouttatime]

My newest disaster man. This one’s sci-fi flavored and inspired by the idea that humans are microfauna in scale comparison to the rest of the universe! (More info below the cut!)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Species: Human

Age: 32

Height: 72’ (6’2 without suit)

Pronouns: he/him/his

Planet of Origin: Unknown

Occupation: Starship First Captain (Currently employed by the Alliance Research Collective)

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Description:

Captain of the Starship Neoma-03R, Tyr’Vaughn is a rather mysterious man. No one, his crew included, has seen his face, nor do they know much of anything about his past. He speaks Common eloquently, but he speaks his native tongue, an unidentified language, when talking only to himself—it’s a nasty habit he’d developed over the years. Vaughn is courteous but curt, professional in a distant manner with a repressed, but fiery, temper.

Vaughn has access to technology that has since been lost to time; his mech suit allows him to grow to a size and scale proportionate to the rest of the sentient, organized universe. Humans in general are uncommon and are either overlooked due to their size, viewed as nothing more than a peculiar, exotic species or actively sought out by those who know how best to use their size against them. Typically, humans only take part in organized space travel via becoming mechanics or, even more rarely, engineers, as their innovativeness, creativity, and size lend well to those lines of work.

Tyr’Vaughn finds the treatment of himself and those like him deplorable and thus is on a personal mission to: A. become the first human to rise in the Alliance’s space force, exploring the galaxy to his heart’s content and B. find answers about the suit’s tech in hopes of bringing opportunity and power to the last few like himself.

He just can’t let anyone see him suitless, lest he be found out for being human. And small. Because who’s ever heard of humans being treated with even a modicum of respect?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[silvereternitywrites]

Don’t let your (Human!!!) Mechanic make Mixtapes

Writing Prompt: A pirate ship boards, the human crewmate uses the coms to blast music trough the ship as a terror tactic.

Prompt Source: user fire-sword; subreddit Humans Are Space Orcs

The Captain had listened to this remix exactly once in its entirety and labeled it a terroristic weapon of mass morale destruction before locking it in a drawer.

To be honest, the human crewmate was perhaps a touch more thrilled than she strictly should have been to be given permission to actually use it.

It was horror-rock, falling into that delightful "creep" tune category with synthetic violins that wailed between high and low notes and a bass strumming heartbeat that artificially raised the pulse rate of the listening parties. Aliens... well, she'd found out aliens responded to that unconscious cue WAY more than humans did.

The fact that she knew every beat and bounce and hitch of it, well, that was where the morale destruction came in.

The pirates had boarded in a specific hallway- and they had been subtly guided to this door for a reason.

It was the maintenance crew hallway. The entire floor had holes big enough to reach through or climb through, and the human crewmate? She fit through them, being lanky, tall, and double-jointed. The ceiling had the same grates on either side of the walkway, to allow for access when the gravity was turned off, making it a catwalk surrounded by bolt holes.

The voice was soft at first- only someone who knew the song would know the words. But Human Jazz played them out perfectly to make the Pirates regret ever trying to raid this ship.

The first set of verses were about "burying" something, and every time it said "buried it" Jazz dropped uninterrupted from the ceiling to the floor. Just at the edge of vision, without touching the holes or making a sound, timing her catch of the bars below to the thump of the drum.

And once they were good and spooked, on edge...

She added her voice to the ship speakers, a roar that made the walkway vibrate under their feet for the chorus.

"RUN! AWAY! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, BEFORE THE MONSTER- MONSTER IS INSIDE! THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD! AND GONE! BUT YOU WERE SO WRONG! HASN'T BEEN SO LONG; YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D SEE- SEE, SEE THE DEAD WALK!"

Screaming from above and plasma lighting up the walls told her it was working.

What a shame for them- the pursuit would continue until morale improved. Her morale, or course. All that light would make this more troublesome until it cooled.

The next verse was about what had been buried coming back to bury the singer- it was time to change tactics anyway.

Now her hands reached up through the tiny holes and grates throughout the verse, grabbing and yanking on legs, tentacles, weapon barrels, whatever was in reach, heedless of the burns she was getting or the catch of nails on fabric and skin. Her fake-claw nails were just acrylics, she'd replace them after this, and some bloodstains from a ripped cuticle or two would really sell the idea that something dead and gross was trying to get at them on top of the “detached fingertips”.

As they were coming up on the second chorus, she pulled both hands back down and put them on a panel instead, directing one of the repair-bots with their dozens of arms to dance to the tune, the lyrics printed on it's glowing screen that loomed up out of the dark.

She already knew what she was going to do with the bridge- it talked about disease and parasites, so she was going to yank body parts under the grate and "bite" them with needles full of weak general anesthetics from the first aid kit. She didn't need to actually like, poison or paralyze them, the imagery from the song would make their minds do that for her.

Except-- the thunder of movement, out of sync with the music, headed back up the catwalk at an honestly dizzying speed, and suddenly it was absolutely quiet except her, the repairbot who had now started the fix the plasma damage to the walls, and the music on the ship speakers.

Poking her head up from the nearest access hole, the pirates were gone- with the exception of one, who'd been hog-tied with their own tentacles and blinded with their Captain's hat. Left as a sacrificial offering to the monster for leading their crew into a deathtrap, probably. Well, Jazz didn't want them to think they were too hasty and come back...

She bared all her teeth in the widest, meanest grin, including her sharper-than-normal canines, and whipped the pirate's hat off, the light of the repairbot's torch illuminating her from behind in only brief flashes.

"Buried what I thought would die, don't got no alibi, I buried it," she sang at the alien's horrified face, "I FUCKING BURIED IT!"

The pirate's scream was a noise she couldn't have replicated in a million years. Yeah, driving it home was a good idea.

"RUN! AWAY! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, THE MONSTER'S ALREADY INSIDE! THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD! AND GONE! BUT I WAS SO WRONG cuz it had been so long and life went on thought it was done I never thought I'd live to see THE DEAD WALK!"

‐-------------------------------------

"I still don't think you needed to render the enemy so terrified they entered an involuntary coma state," the Captain scowled at the human crewmate, who was slung sideways in her work chair. Again.

"It's not like I knew their species can even DO that, Cap! Besides, it was a bloodless battle that successfully repelled the enemy, right? And we haven't been bothered by pirates in that entire sector since!"

The Captain squinted angrily with all their eyes.

"We're a terror-tale in that sector now," they replied flatly.

"Wait, shit, did I accidentally Flying Dutchman our ship?! Aw fuck, Captain, I’m sorry."

The Captain sighed- finally, she understood the gravity of the iss--

"If I'd known that was gonna happen I'd have picked a better song! Dead Walk is kinda underground, how are other ships supposed to lean on the legend with an obscure Earth song?"

The Captain gave up and left to go drink their 400-year old heirloom spirits. They had never worried they were going to be the Onelle to finish off the 'drink in case of headache-inducing disaster' bottle but it looked more likely by the day.

Song: Dead Walk by RedHook Note: the remix featured here doesn't actually exist because I can't make it. Will update and link if that ever changes!

[ode2shay]

Cod x Dnd Price

I personally think Price is a Half-orc battle master fighter, synergistically it's a killer combo within Dnd, but I love a good Orc. Dnd has tried to fix their past transgression on how they’ve made orcs almost predisposed to aggression and violence, but truly they need to do more (I blame Tolkien and racism). In my own personal games of Dnd Orcs and Half-orcs are much gentler creatures, their harder nature coming from a more nomadic culture within tougher environments. Orc posting aside, Price as a Half-orc allows for exploration of his character to subvert expectation. Price is not a good man, but he can be a good person. Half-orcs have an innate advantage on intimidation being within a militia or crown’s guard, this would be very handy, but intimidation tactics could very easily lead to a reputation. Price is a top soldier within CoD, his work is good and his reputation precedes him, and most of all, Price will do what he thinks is best to get the job done. Most fantasy settings are not going to have a military system as complex as any modern military, but I imagine they are big enough for men to know of their superiors' work and reputations without knowing them personally. This very easily leads itself to Price being known as this big scary man within the military, a boogeyman if you will. Any of the men that actually serve under him know what he is actually like, a big softie that treats his men like family. I imagine Price prefers being on the road even if he is just by himself, it reminds him of traveling with his own family. During more peaceful times there's less of a need for soldiers to travel and be away from the capital unless diplomatic visits are occurring but investigating reports that could threaten that peace is still very necessary and it's a role Price is more than willing to fill with or without a squad of men by his side. It’s how he finds himself in their largest city on the border when the attacks begin, pressed back to back with a paladin from an order he half remembers working with, defending and protecting civilians. He’ll complain later about being too old for this. ( I love a chance to talk about orcs :)) and I think tusks would look good with his beard)

[mage-propaganda]

Homophobes: Ugh I can’t believe they force you to be gay in Baldur’s Gate 3. I just can’t believe you can be gay. Gayness?? In my Baldur’s Gate??

Dorn il-Khan and Captain Schael Corwin, known bisexuals:

[warnersister]

Orc! Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: when your previous engagement appeared at your peaceful house, void of invitation - you had more than enough to say about his acceptance in your village.

Warnings: mentions of murder, sex, pregnancy, sexual assault (reader continues at own discretion).

“Come hither, foul beast! And meet your fated doom!” A voice boomed from beyond the confinements of your previously silent cottage. Bucky was already awake, but you wear laid on his arm so he allowed you to sleep peacefully, a small smile on his face as he caressed your cheek lovingly. The noise woke you up though, an aggravated groan erupting from your stomach. “The sun is not yet awake.” You huffed. “Who needs to visit at this time?”

Bucky laughed at your complaints but pulled his arm out from beneath you, rising to answer the ruckus at your door. He opened it, faced with a large mob of angry kinsmen, scowling up at the one they called a ‘beast’. “Beast! You loathsome, wretched barbarian! I command you return my lady at once!” A man on a horse said, bearing a newly sharpened sword and pointing it at the orc’s face. Bucky raised his eyebrow, taking the sword between two fingers and snapping it as if merely a tooth-pick.

“Your lady?” He scoffed. “You will do no such thing with my wife.” The crowd gasped, hands clutching their hearts. “Disgraceful! Wedding and bedding a fair virgin maiden! Her lost innocence!” The man reiterated. Their argument was interrupted by you appearing from your bedroom, tired eyes surveying the conversation - Bucky holding you behind the protection of his own muscle.

“My lady! My love! My wife!” The man cried, pathetically. “I have searched many days and nights to seek you. I have finally arrived to save you from this hellish torture, you are safe now.” He held his hand out, as if expecting you to take it. You eyed him, and Bucky couldn’t help but be amused by the unimpressed expression on your face.

“Let me make something clear, my lord.” Your voice soft, and innocent, suddenly dropping to a harsh monotone. “I was never your lady. Never your wife to me. And I was never most certainly your love. My father sold me for a great fortune, a selfish gamble and I, the gambit.” The folks rudely crowding around your home were taken aback. “You tried to take my innocence on the roof of my manor, ignoring my pleas of escape.” His face went pale.

“I ran to the forest. Nothing but a shoal and dress to keep me warm when I met Bucky. He took me in, showed me what freedom was. He taught me how to live. How to love. How to love myself. He showed me the goddamn respect I deserved.” You shoved your orc’s arm out of the way, and the chorus of gasps were music to your ears.

“He showed me to fuck like I deserved, when I was ready.” You seethed. “So you bastard king, stay away from me, stay away from my husband,” you poked the man in the chest upon every syllable. “And stay away from my unborn child.” You turned to walk back inside. “You horrid, disgusting, disrespecting beast. You are a monster.” And like that you were gone, leaving a stunned silence in your path. “My soldiers will see you out.” Bucky stated calmly, the humans only noticing the number of locals appearing around to surround them. “Permanently.” And your door shut.

The cries and screams were music to your ears when you settled back into your place in bed, the orc growing in your stomach seeming to settle, also. Bucky kissed you, wrapping his hands around your stomach. “My handsome, loving husband.” You grinned.

[tolkien-feels]

I think the most hilarious (=tragic) thing about Turin is that for all his personality is Lone Wolf™️, he physically can't seem to stop wanting to Lead People. But like. In the exact same way of shepherd dogs shepherding children if they don't have access to a herd. You can practically see his DNA lighting up whenever he's in the general vicinity of A Group, it's amazing

[elahogn]

some Jrusar npc

[spacetrails]

Final Prep

Organizing my room more, I gave one last look around; my bed now looked like a bed, the sheets were fixed, posters set up, knickknacks placed, window to infinite starry abyss cleaned, and table organized. A search around made a wall panel open, revealing a bathroom “Oh, well that’s one question answered.” Closing the panel I looked to the door as my stomach rumbled “I probably should eat.” Words grumbled just as loud as my stomach made my decision.

The door slid open, as I poked my head out; A look down left showed the path leading towards the divide, while the right headed to the middle of the ship, yet it was empty both ways. Muffled sounds silenced as I stepped out, the hum of the ship deafening anything else as another quick scan was made, still no one.

The door closed as I stepped away, walking ahead to what I hoped was a kitchen, the area expanded into a cubed shape; the wide table surrounded with ten chairs sat in the middle of the room, left showed the ship's entrance and right held a circular window. Properly walking into the room my eyes marked the two panels, my translator gave a small blip as muffled sounds picked up behind me, and my hand briefly held the back of a chair turning me as I continued straight towards them.

The first panel itself hung from the wall at waist height, scaling up to chest height, it was blank and seemed to be off; the second was more a window than panel, it was the same height as the first but sunk into the wall by a few inches, split into four compartments, and had a white background.

Unsure what to do I placed my hand on the dark panel, it was cold to the touch and lit up after a few seconds, a small hum sounded as I moved my hand back, the words ‘HELLO USER Lawrence PLEASE SELECT PREFERENCES’ sounded lightly on my translator, as they were typed up on the screen accompanied with various food types.

Glossing through all option I scanned the different species types, each with their own food groups, substitutes, allergies, necessities, and vitamin options to add or remove “Huh, neat.” I quietly called, choosing the human option for now, searching through the many meat choices first “I don’t know whether to be happy or afraid that fast food options are a choice. I’ll just try some lamb, see how it compares.”

Words mumbled out as I clicked on veggies “Get that broc, that pot, that rot, that arti, that coli, that g-been, that fungi, that sweet p, tha-” My hand halted “-Hmmm, that is a lot of food. Is it too much? I should probably cut back. Or, I can keep it, and just get seconds later? Am I allowed seconds?” Questions rambled as I looked about, concerned over my choices, a sigh and grumble as eyes relocked back on the panel “It’s food, on the ship I’m in, for the crew I’m in. I can eat it, the panel told me so.” My hand clicked the parsnip selecting the end of my choice

‘DO YOU CONFIRM?’ Thinking I looked at the second panel, clicking yes as the first panel beeped ‘PLEASE CHOOSE FINAL PREFERENCES.’ Looking at the options I choose thigh cut, seared style, and steamed for all veggies. Stepping over I listened to the second panel hum louder, a few seconds passed before the top compartment rotated, my lamb laid perfectly cooked and steaming as a plate raised, it slid open as I took the plate setting it on the table. Turning back in time for the second compartment to spin, all the veggies laid encircling the other in various cut slices and steaming, a larger plate rose as it opened, once I took it the third compartment spun, showing two sets of forks and knives that I also took.

Placing everything on the table I looked around at the empty room, eyes staring back down to the table “What am I missing? I have the food, and I- Oh right, a no drink.” Words cut off as I turned, tapping the screen as it reopened to a drinks sections “Ah, it’s been human tested. That’s good.” Joking as I thumbed through, glancing at the options from water to fizzy drinks, with various hot and cold weather drinks in between, uncaring I choose water watching the fourth panel turn just a second after. Finally sitting down I took a bite, it tasted generally bland, but still held the fresh meaty texture; the vegetables seemed the same, all bland but still fresh and nice to eat. Sitting around I waited, unsure what to do ‘We are close to landing, so we probably have a protocol? Right?’

Glancing about no sound were made, only the hum of the ship filling the silence between bites; looking out the window stars continued to scatter by, splattered through the voidful oasis ‘Someone’s going to explain something eventually, just have to wait until they step out and give a debriefing? Right?’ drinking my water I waited, half done with most of the food, thinking about where everyone went, and what to do ‘They were out and about just a second ago, well Alto them went to the Activity room? So Kleef and the others went back to the front? So just wait until we land? And then wait until someone says something? And do, the thing, right?’

Poking my food around my thoughts wandered more ‘What even are we going to do there, it has a million-year-old record, and it’s a planet that’s supposed to be weird, with no real terrain knowledge. I know I’m going to leave the ship, but shouldn’t I be doing something to help?’ “Hmm? What would I even help with? I don’t know anything about this place anyways?” Words spoke aloud answering my own questions, deciding to take another bite, going back to my thoughts ‘Well, it’s a planet. So just, walk about, collect things, don’t get lost? I can do that, but so can everyone else. Hmmm?’

Grumbling I poked down, hearing a small tick as my fork hit plate, looking down it seemed I had finished eating “And, there goes that distraction. But at least I’m full, I think?” Looking outside to space a sigh left as I thought about home ‘I just have to not get in the way, just gotta keep alert, and stay foc-' “Hello Lavrence. Enjoying zpace?” Words blipped in my translator startling my thoughts, fighting back a jolt I slowly turned, seeing it was just Lopasis “Oh. Uh? Yea, just thinking about home.” Their leaves shook as they nodded “Reminizcing about home iz quite normal. Had a nice meal?”

Remembering my plates existence was a small surprise “Oh right, I did eat. It was nice, how does it work exactly?” I asked pointing at the panels, not wanting to make it awkward “Oh. Vell, the machine itzelf haz variouz microbez that fuze together zmall particlez of food groupz. From there it reconztructz the dezired output uzing your choicez, and replicatez the matter on hov you zpecify. The utenzilz, and platez are juzt zetz bought vith the machine.” They quickly explained the process, most of it flying over my head “So… it’s a food maker?” “Exactly.” “Oh, Ok. So, what brings you out. And about. In the ship.” The last words fumbled out, still wanting but now making it awkward.

“Vell, I had vanted to check up on equipment. Make zure everything iz tezted before ve land. Vould you vant to come vith? You vould have to do a trial before ve fully land anyvay.” They asked shifting light blue petals, turning as they tapped the screen, and selecting a drink for themselves. ‘Well, good to know that was planned’ “Yea, but where do I put my plates?” I raised both, which they offered to take. “You zimply tap the zcreen, input plate and cup amount, and place. Quick and zimple.” Words beamed in a small blue green glow, as they demonstrated, placing my items inside, all rotating away.

“It’s quite a nice machine. Did you build it?” I asked fully expecting a yes at this point, they only laughed, shaking some petals with a wave “Oh no, thiz vaz bought by Kleef. Though, they did do mozt maintenance on it, so it’z vell kept by our Captain.” Giving a quick hum I rose to my feet “That’s interesting, are these normal on ships, we didn’t have a briefing of it on earth.” Lopasis poured the glass of water on their deep blue face, vibrating as it darkened slightly, before tapping the screen. “Vell, not normal. Vhen Kleef bought it, it vaz a tezter prototype, during that time lezz than 0.1% of zhipz had them. Nov about 3% of zhipz houze theze unitz.”

They placed their cup, giving a turn and walking at the end, quickly following I hummed with a nod, watching the petals shift with each step. “That’s good, it does seem to be quite in depth.” “That vaz vhat Kleef vorked on the hardezt, they zcoured for many modulez CPPZ, the company, made. Zurprizingly humanz vere the hardezt to tune.” “Humans were? Makes sense, we do eat about anything.” “Indeed. Zo many optionz interlinked vith other zpeciez, the amount of timez our Captain had to recheck everything after changing one human item. It vaz quite a fev ztardayz before ve left ztation.” They laughed as I joined in, as we walked past a door. “Yea, that would cause problems, also what is a starday?” “Day relative to clozezt ztar, ve change our clockz vhenever ve land. Zo, ve vill have to come the nev planet.” We stopped at a door one down from the activity room, Lopasis typing in a five-digit passcode, before it slid open.

Entering as the lights turned on, I looked at all the items scattered against the wall, on the floor, shelves or hanging on the wall “Speaking of the new planet, are you worried?” They tapped container against the nearest wall with a key card, as it opened up before quickly taking out two tablets “Vell, of course I am vorried. All planetz and travelz bring vith them potential dizazterz. Mind you, any activity bringz a chance of dizazter, az zuch I keep myself occupied to alvayz check for zuch thingz.” Answer stated as a tablet was handed my way “Thank you? What is this for?” Tapping their blank screen twice Lopasis gave a wave around the room, petals shaking from the motion “Eaziest vay of recording everything, juzt tap tvice and chooze the crate icon. From there enter pazzcode 5173 and you’ll zee my zcreen.” Explanation demonstrated as I executed, being brought to a spreadsheet filled with items.

Giving a nod Lopasis checked over the first crate, pressing everything as they flashed on and off “Everything zhould be regiztered, main thingz are checking if they are ztill here, vhich givez one tick. And checking if they are fully functional, vhich givez tvo tickz. If not here or vorking then give the zame amount of X’z.” More explanations shown as they gave two final ticks, closing the crate; looking down I saw the double ticked tablets, wireless pens, gps scanners, droids, AR and VR goggles, body camera and lights.

Nodding, we looked into the second crate seeing “Polarized gogglez one through five, unpolarized gogglez one through four, zelf trackerz one through ten, wirelezz communicatorz one through six.” All I ticked as they counted off, giving a check over and nod before closing the crate. Lopasis pointed to the shelf above, as I pulled down three different ropes “Zcaling rope, check for kinkz or tearz. Nilon rope, check for vater or veaknezz. Aramid rope, check for cutz or tearz.” Giving a general check of everything I saw nothing wrong, each got two ticks and placed back.

Right beside were two shelves filled with books “Thiz iz more a general item, ve lable them az guidez. They have information on mozt organic and inorganic life, medical aid per zpeciez, terrain landmarkz, galactic diplomatic hiztoriez and changez, galactic languagez and culturez, planetary ecoztudiez.” Leaf green hands pointed to the sectioned areas of both “Huh, that’s a lot of books, do we have to memorize them?” They laughed, waving a hand as their petals shook “Oh no. Mozt itemz vere brought vhen Bett and Lezz joined, after that ve all got in the habit of getting one nev book every rezt ztop.” “Oh? Wait, who’s Lezz?” “Nottalizh, just a small nick name.”

Walking to another area, Lopasis handed me the key card taking out a second for themselves “You have the bazic understanding, so ve vill divide. If you have queztionz I’ll try to have anzverz.” They reassured beaming a light blue green “Alright, I’ll make sure it’s checked over.” Words said as I tapped the crate, we watched it open as they left; looking within I checked over bolts, harnesses, helmets, hexes, nuts, picks, pitons, pullies and slings. Giving both a look and feel before all received two ticks, closing the crate looking over to the one beside it. Tapping I checked over the carbon-fiber plating, first aid kit, medical bags, respiratory masks, resuscitator, pulse oximeter, thermal blanket, trauma blanket, and slings; all were checked and ticked as I looked to Lopasis “Lopa?” “Yez?” “Does it get confusing having two items labelled sling?” Tapping their tablet they walked to the furthest wall “Not really, one zling is by itzelf, the other iz attached to pulliez. Though, Kleef did offer the zame queztion vhen ve firzt made the lizt. Changing might good, if you find any other overlapz do tell.” Checking over items while speaking.

Dark brown chests stacked along the wall, rowing three racks of two. “What are these?” Lopasis looked across to me “Ah, thoze are our perzernal ztorage. Apologize.” They blipped unlabelled on my, as Lopasis tapped their screen “I, per rule, cannot discloze vho iz vhoze. Forgot they vere on that zide.” “Ah. That makes sense. Which is mine?” Lopasis tapped their screen a few times, before a blip of my name appeared by a chest. “Middle right rov. Kindly do not dizcloze thiz information unlezz needed in emergency, thiz iz an agreement of general zafety and security.” “Sir yes sir.” I saluted, getting a head tilt “Oh, humanz actually zay that?” “Well, yea. Half serious half joke, like a real fake.” “A vhat?”

“Human joke, don’t worry.” Chuckling I opened the chest, with all my knickknacks still there. “Hmm, might change up the room when we get back from the planet.” Quickly taking out a framed picture and chain. “Zpeaking of, hov are you enjoying the room?” “It’s spacious, I can pace, lay down, or watch the stars stream by. So, quite lovely actually, I’ve always wanted to do this.” Lopasis shimmered, moving to another section. “I’m ecztatic hearing that, you’ve alzo bonded vith the crev zo zvell in just four and half hourz.” “Huh? It’s been that long? Or is that short, hmmm. Time didn’t flow for me, especially since there’s no sun. No wait, suns are stars. Wow this a lot.”

Lopasis put down their tablet stepping close “Are you alright?” “Yea? Just, been thinking a lot. And a lot happened, and there’s a lot of people, or aliens? Species? Look, I’m alright.” I tried to finalize, as Lopasis’ eyes sprouted. “Have you had a rezt today?” “Well, kinda? Every now and then nothing would happen, then something. But, it wasn’t a lot or anything, so it’s fine.” “Had zomething happened today?” “What? No. Well, nothing but just me thinking and I guess overthinking. I don’t know situations are awkward sometimes.” “Zituationz? Lopasis echoed.

“Well, I make things awkward, and I don’t know I think about it, and try not to make it more awkward and then I think it works out, but then I think about that. And I don’t know, I’m worried if I offended them.” “Offended vho?” Rolling my hands I tried to think specifically “Someone, anyone. You say I bonded well, but I just tried to follow what they were doing, and even at first with Nottalish I thought he hated me, but he’s super nice.” “That iz a fair primary and zecondary interaction with Lezz.” Lopasis added. “And Rousptera…” Lopasis squinted “Did zomething happen vith you tvo?” “Well. No, but I think I thought something might? And made them worried they did something. And maybe caused Kleef to say something to them. And maybe I won’t be able to be friends with them.” I rambled as my hands whirled, only slowing down at the end.

“O…Oh?” Lopasis glowed with the word “I zee nov, vell, vhile I don’t knov vhat happened that doez explain Kleef zeeming different after a zhip zcan.” My face paled “So he did see us? Oh no, do you know what he said. Was he angry?” My panic rising “Angry? No, maybe upzet. But-” They added stopping my reply “-Kleef had talked vith, and underztood Rouzptera’z zide. The manner I do not knov, but haz calmed him.” “O…Oh, alright. Thank you.” I calmed down, still rushing from panic “Um, did Rousptera say anything to you?” Lopasis closed their eyes. “Well, Rouzptera did vant me to check on you. But, mainly mentioned you valking into a panel, and an apology. I think I underztand the latter part nov.” “Yea, I did walk into a panel. I was trying to make the situation unawkward, it. Yea.”

“Do you need medical aide?” “Nah, it wasn’t that serious. Just the old noggin taking a hit. I’ve been through worse.” I laughed but Lopasis didn’t join in. “Lavrence, I do not underztand theze human jokez. Are they all thiz oddly roundabout?” “Not all, a lot of mine are. But then I just mash different joke genres together, see how they get lost from my brain to my mouth, and let it play.” Lopasis tried to laugh. “That vaz a good one.” “That wasn’t a joke, that was a genuine explanation.” “Ah, I can zee vhy you bonded so vell vith everyone.” Lopasis lightly glowed “Why?” “You’re quite eazy to talk to, I enjoy vhen you let yourzelf talk. It addz to any conversation.” I didn’t reply.

After a few second of staring Lopasis’ glow began to fade “Are you alright Lavrence?” “Yea. You just gave such a genuine complement I needed a few seconds to factory reset and process it. But thank you, that means a lot.” Lopasis spot lighted the room, receeding back to a dim oceanic blur. “Of courze. I vill alvayz be genuine and honest, it iz proven to be mozt helpful in many cazez.” “Wow a complement dispenser, and fusion cell collector. What can’t you do.” Lopasis hummed, turning to grab their tablet “I cannot vorry about my crev, and the zhip at the zame time. You are alvayz firzt priority.” They blipped a few more items “Alzo, az ve don’t have much itemz left, juzt to confirm. You are alright.” “Correct.” “Nothing iz ailing you?” “Nope.” “Iz there anything you vant to talk about, even vith Rouzptera.”

Focusing on the day, I tried to find more questions “Nothing really? Um, did you suspect Rousptera did something, or think it was more serious?” “Oh, no. No, no no. Rouzptera is the gentlezt of crevmatez you could find. He lovez to learn and inveztigate, but iz quite avare of boundariez and limitz. Hiz speciez, zimilar to mine, can feel the zhift in chemicalz and changez in frequenciez through the air around uz.” “Oh, that makes sense for you guys. Wait you can tell when I’m anxious?” I focused at the end “In a zenze, yez. Though, you’ve been anxiouz all day, zo it’z been quite muddled. I perzonally haven’t been focuzed on it, just noted itz prezence and zhiftz. Rouzptera is zlightly lezz zensitive with zcentz, but better in temperature and frequency fluctuationz.” Sighing I slumped against a shelf “How nice to know my anxiety was known all day.” Lopasis checked more items off “Vell, did you expect to be calm? You vere put vith a nev zhip, crev, outfit, tazkz and responzibilitiez. Did you expect to be relaxed in your firzt hourz?”

“Yea? Well, no. But, I didn’t want to make anyone worried, so I tried to just keep at it?” Lopasis rounded closer to my side “Vell, everyone iz going to be vorried about you. Ve vorry about each other all the time, that’z vhat being a crev iz. Making zure everyone iz alright, zo they don’t have to be vorried alone.” “Yea. But, like. I don’t know, I was overthinking a lot.” “You did indeed zay that. Then may I remove a vorry?” “Sure?” Lopasis clicked through the last items, waving for me to follow to the front “You didn’t make anything avkvard, everyone’s been talking about your achievementz and hov much they enjoyed interacting vith you.” “But, I didn’t do anything yet, I just got here.” “Exactly, you’ve just gotten here. Imagine vhat ztoriez you’ll create vhen you do zomething.”

Lopasis glimmered, tapping the container and placing their tablet inside. I stood there, letting the words sink in ‘I’ve done nothing, everyone has been here so long. And now I get to be here with them, I get to go on adventures and do whatever I want.’ The excitement whelmed within “Alright, thank you. That did help a lot.” “I can tell. Quite poverful joy you’ve got there.” Lopasis joked, taking my tablet. “What, this old thing? Nah, I bet you say that to all the serotonin you meet.” I fanned my cheeks, faking embarrassment as Lopasis laughed louder. “Vho knovs, thiz type iz quite zoothing, I rather enjoy it.” “O…Oh?” True embarrassment flushed up, Lopasis leaves tilting in response “Oh, zomething nev?” “Uhhhhhhhhhh, hey when do we land by the way?” I desperately tried to change the subject.

“Hmmm? I think three more hourz until landing. You really zhould rezt before though Lavrence.” “Yea, maybe. I just keep learning so much from everyone, so it’s hard to keep still.” “What did you learn from me?” Petals pointed up “You are way more observant than you let on. I am rethinking so much situations right now.” Lopasis bloomed, pressing a panel to open the door “Of courze, I am the navigator and field medic. Vell, Zecond field medic Notalizh iz primary.” We stepped out, into the still empty corridor “So there are sectioned roles?” “More zpecialized, a preference. You can learn all, but mainly a captian needz to. For crev it’z zimpler zticking to tvo or three. Alto iz zpecialized in all five.” “I am not surprised by that.”

“They are quite good at mozt anything. Eazily picking up and adapting to mozt zituationz.” “Yea, they did win the Rock-Paper-Scissors game.” “Indeed, their ability to overcome limitationz iz their mozt valuable trait.” Lopasis turned, making way to the kitchen, as I followed “Huh, interesting. So what are all the specialization?” Mumbling words Lopasis tapped their leaves a few times “I think the order iz field medic, explorer, engineer, navigator, and armz zpecializt. In terms of what iz trained firzt.” We stopped by the table “Oh, so field medic training is also storage training?” “In a zenze, the bezt vay of learning hov to aide. Iz knoving vhat iz available, and keeping important itemz ztocked. But, thiz izn’t a training zezzion, juzt debriefing.” Lopasis stepped over, dispensing another cup of water from the panels.

Placing my chain and picture on the table, then looking out the window to spacy abyss I thought on everything “So. Would I be trained for explorer when we land?” “Potentially. Or any of the otherz, I zimply lizted the recommended order ve zet, if you feel ready to learn one primarily, that iz alzo up to you.” “Huh, you know it’s a lot less imposing now that I know what to expect.” Lopasis paused their water pour, tilting to look at me “Did your planet not inform you of the zpecializationz for thiz zhip?” I gave a shrug and head shake “So far, everyone knows more than me about what I should know. I didn’t even get a translator until I stepped on board.” “Your zpeciez becomez increazingly alarming vith each added information.” Lopasis poured their drink, tapping for another.

“Yea. That’s humans, the more you learn about us. The more you wish you didn’t know. Like our oceans.” “Vhat about your oceanz?” “Do you really want to test your hubris again? Have you not learned from actions passed?” “…Vaz that a human joke?” Laughing I walked beside Lopasis to the panel, tapping for my own drink “I’ll let you decide that yourself.” Grabbing my cup, I sat back in my original spot.

Lopasis hummed for a second “Vell, thiz haz been quite an informative interaction. I can zee vhat you mean by learning a lot from everyone.” “Oh yea, what did you learn about me?” I excitedly pointed to myself. “You're unique. I cannot quite explain it, but. I am alvayz learning zomething about you, and I never knov vhat vill come next. Maybe interezting might be a better vord?” Slightly dejected I settled back in my seat “Ah, so still just unique and interesting. Yippie.” I twirled a finger with the word.

“Apologiez, did I offend you?” Lopasis worried. “No. I just always got told I was unique, interesting and special all my life. It never really meant anything growing up, and I never understood why it was all I got. It’s not offensive, just thought I was something more than, the different kid.” Honest words pushed past, as I looked to the framed picture. “I didn’t knov. I’m zorry, I can think of better vordz.” Waving the matter off I sat properly in the seat again. “Nah. You literally couldn’t have known. And besides, what I learned about you wasn’t much of anything. So just even assessments of first few talks.”

Lopasis gave another long hum “You alvayz find the vordz to zettle a matter. Then I zhall vorry no longer, but vhen I do find proper vordz I vill tell you vhat I learned.” They pressed the screen, making a panel turn, depositing their cup. “I’ll take that offer. And when I can, I’ll do the same. Watch, I’ll out observe you.” Lopasis gave a wave and laugh “I don’t knov, I might have an advantage with my eyez and senzez. You might be learned firzt.” Their five eyes grew at the mention. “Oh yea? I’ll hyper analyze you until you get stuck in my mind. Then, I’ll have the advantage of only thinking about you.” I pointed to them feeling triumphant, taking a sip of my drink.

Lopasis froze for a moment, eyes glued to me “I didn’t expect you to go that far for me. Zurely there are other thingz that dezerve your full attention.” Confused I replayed the conversation, trying to understand the reaction ‘It’s just hyper fixating? Little brain rot on Lopasis only…’ “Ohhhhh. I didn’t think my words through.” I admitted out loud, getting more laughter from Lopasis “Even though it’s not the best vord. I ztill think interezting fitz for right nov, talking vith you is alvayz great fun.” My mind stuttered at the complement “Why are your words so genuine and nice. I can’t handle such positivity so close, I might barf out sunshine soon.” I tried to hide by taking another drink.

“Alright, I zhall contain my honezty for nov. I must return to the helm, and make zure everything there iz recorded. Do try to rezt before ve land, a lot haz happened today, giving your body a moment of break vould help.” Lopasis nudged out, closing their eyes. “I will. I mainly came out here to eat earlier, so resting should be easy. Oh-" I called out as they turned away “-Thank you again. For everything today, it was also nice talking about my worries.” Lopasis gave a curtsy, beaming bright “I am happy to have aided you. And never feel like you can’t come to me. I’ll alvayz be here to talk and lizten.” With a final wave they turned, walking into the next corridor.

Staring at the wall, I waited until the door sounded open then close, before slumping back into my chair ‘That was so nerve wracking. How are they so easy to talk to, yet intimidating at the same time. And their reactions, even when they were concerned. Like, man… But, at least a lot of my stress is gone. And I got answers.’ I gave a long, slow sigh “I’m so tired. Maybe I should sleep, they did keep reminding me.”

With another sigh I arose, finishing my water and sending the cup away. Grabbing the framed photo and chain I returned back, the hallway was still clear with muffled mummers barely picked out behind walls. My room door appearing as I tapped in the code, the sanitized smell unaffecting my nose as I stepped in. Placing the picture and chain on the table, I flopped onto the bed, fixing the sheet atop me. “Alright. I’m tired. So I can’t keep thinking, just gotta drift off to slumber town. Easy, just try to relax, and don’t even think ab-" my words cut out as I fell asleep, thoughts drifting away as my body settled into bed.