whenimaunicorn

[whenimaunicorn]

TOMBSTONE Doc Holliday | 1993

[whenimaunicorn]

I need you to know that I gazed long and lovingly at this image before I even realized it was your post! I just adore your style.

Hello hello my lovely internet friends :3 this is burned out me trying to have fun again drawing instead of feeling like it's the most uncomfortable thing to do 🫠 man burned out sucks.

So yeah rn I'm just working at my day job and drawing on my days off or when I feel like it after work (when I have the energy)

[whenimaunicorn]

So thorough!! I'm so glad this is all collected for posterity.

The Second Part of My Thesis, Upon the Topic of the Quarters of the Ship Once Known as Tachi

There are several different types of rooms seen throughout the show. The first is the one that Amos enters at the end of episode 1.5 and looks through the storage to find a bra and booze (the gods smiled upon him). It looks like the bed is similar to the one we see later in the Captain's quarters, with these possibly hinge-type things over top.

The crash seat is to the right of the bed and the storage is to the left.

This room has an unusual labeling, it looks like maybe it's a "V" and then a loop. There's a room across the hall, but I can't see the label as far as I can tell.

We (maybe) never see the opposite wall, so I would assume it has a desk and chair like some of the other rooms.

The Captain's room remains consistent, even though it's only seen once or twice. The door is solid, so there's no indication of what level it's on. It only has one bunk and a big table and screen.

(Also, ooooh! Nice ergonomic pillow!)

The next room is where we first see Naomi, also in episode 1.5. The crash seat to the right, but it has two bunks.

This may be the same type of room Kenzo is in later, except that we clearly see the door has the same "V-loop" marking when Holden closes him in. At the very least it definitely has the same layout with the crash chair on the right and the cabinets on the left.

This isn't the same as the first room, because there are definitely two fixed bunks.

However, we also get to see that there's a "D3" door right across from this one, so at this point my brain kind of gave up and maybe it's a secret code the MCRN ship designers used to indicate where they buried their treasure.

Later, when Holden comes back, we can see that there is at least a T-intersection. I am hesitant to attempt even the shittiest of diagrams with all the repeating doors. I may be persuaded to make an attempt if it would amuse anyone.

Miller is in a similar room, but with a mirror and sink on the right and the crash chair on the left. This seems to be the same room, or at least the same layout as the room Prax is in later, which appears to be a "D?" room. The door across the hall is solid, so potentially the Captain's quarters. The view outside is the same as Kenny's, so you could headcanon that the layout of the level is a "+" and this room is crossways from that one.

Similar to Miller's, we have the sink and mirror to the right of the bunks and crash chair on the left.

"But wait!" I hear you say. "What happens in Season 3 to completely fuck up all the work you've already done?"

Bathrooms, that's what happens. Somewhere in there, the Roci apparently got personal bathrooms added to every room. Maybe they were spontaneously generated by Avasarala's presence.

Bobbie: Please don't fall over, Maym.

This is a (very rough) idea of the layout of Avasarala's room. The door is solid, and there's now two crash chairs. If you wanted to stick with one standard for all rooms, this is the one I would probably use.

Did they make half the doors solid while they were on Ganymede? Who knows?

The Captain's quarters look the same.

As a side note, I'm not sure if this was done intentionally, but the difference between the medport when it's first inserted versus how Holden' looks after months/years is extremely accurate to how the ports for central lines "settle" over time, as someone who has one. It's first very visible, but over time the skin stretches and the edges aren't very visible at a first glance.

The final time we see much of the rooms is during the trip to the Ring during the second half of S3, is when Holden holes up having a mental breakdown while trying to get Miller to help.

At first, I thought this was "D8," but then I remembered that what you see from the inside is the reverse, so it actually looks like "G8," which appears confirmed when we later see Alex talking to him from outside.

The room itself is probably the biggest aside from the Captain's cabin. It also has a single bunk with the upper screen, but it only has a table instead of the Big Desk.

The actual room seems to not be square, and I think the room we saw Avasarala in wasn't either, but I couldn't be bothered with angles. Essentially, the new rooms seem to fit the shape of the Roci better. There's a bathroom to the left (of this picture) and the same big, lighted display cabinet on the right that we see in the Captain's quarters.

The bed still looks short even for me, so apparently they added enough storage for everyone's personal stash of coffee, but the beds are still a twin cut in half lengthwise?

We really don't see any more significant scenes in any new bedrooms/bunks/quarters/cabins for the rest of the series. However, if I missed any, please let me know.

So yeah, that's it. I have never had such a roller coaster of emotion during a research project, and if I had to suffer then so should y'all.

[whenimaunicorn]

Asking The Important Questions - this is awesome!!

Now I want to go looking for Amos' sari collection....

A Study on the Interior of the Rocinante: Part 1

I thought I would share the fruits of my hyper-fixation with anyone who is interested. Hopefully I can spare someone else the roller coaster of emotions I went through during my research.

Abandon logic, all ye who enter here.

First let's get a couple of points out of the way.

The interiors in no way fit inside the Roci model. The set designers have admitted this, because they have to create sets that a. look good, and b. work for filming.

There are a bunch of changes around Season 3. I suppose this could be explained as a retrofitting done on Tycho, which gives me the pleasant mental image of the boys writing up the most absurd wish list possible, and then being floored when Fred Johnson agrees to ALL of it.

None of the diagrams that people have made online are useful for the show. They're just very different. Books and film are very different media, and it would be miserable trying to shoot a TV show in a place that matches the book descriptions.

Are we good? Good. On we go.

I went through each episode and tried to grab screenshots of a couple of areas and anything that hinted at a layout. So my main focus was on the galley floor, the med bay(s?) and the bunks.

There is clearly no single ladder going through the center of the ship, because most of the ladders we see end on that level. I suppose it would make strategic sense in case someone managed to get onboard. Having a straight shot to the bridge would make defense a lot harder. However, I have still created a couple of gloriously shitty MS Paint diagrams. I've marked the orientation of the visible ladders/stairs on all of them.

Please enjoy.

The first thing I noticed is the writing on all of the frosted glass doors. Many of the crew quarters have these, but there are exceptions. There does seem to be a consistency, so it's possible they indicate the level.

Let's start from the top.

The armory and airlock is right below the bridge, and the door on the opposite wall from the airlock is labeled A2.

This would make sense if the levels start from the bridge and go down from there. However, there are no doors ever seen that have a "B." My thoughts were that it could be explained as a gap between the bridge area and the lower levels. It would make sense as a safety measure. Again, create a safety gap between key floors of the ship. They already have the "crawlspace" layer between the inside and outside walls where people are seen working a few times.

This diagram is constructed based on screenshots across the seasons, as well as the live walk through of the sets available on YouTube. Most of the doors on the galley level start with a "C" except for one notable exception, which I'll get into later.

The location of the lift is an assumption. In episode 2.1 Amos Tries to Moider the Saddest Man in the Universe, we see Miller leaving the med bay to go check out the coffee maker, and he enters from the left hallway. (This is also where we see the label "C4" on the door. There are zero indications what is inside any of these rooms, so this is a good place to get creative.)

"But Pants!" you say, "What about the ladder?"

Miller specifically doesn't take the ladder as he's leaving the med bay. Holden tells him to turn right and, while a director may have thought that the med bay would be on the same floor as the galley, there are no images from the med bay that indicate this is possible. However again,

Is there a door here? It looks like there isn't. But again, I'm presenting the information I gleaned, and I would highly recommend that people choose their own canon if they really care about layout. One way or another, you'll have to ignore something to make it make sense.

This is a bad shot, but I can confirm it's labelled "C6." Again, no inside shots.

The major outlier is the door across from the galley. It is labeled "D3"

Buuuut, get this. There's another door labeled "D3".

After Ganymede, when Naomi goes to talk to Amos, he's working on a level that looks different from the others. There's this small, liftish room that is labeled "D3." Logically, they may have just recycled the door for a minute to make a temporary set. If you wanted, you could say that they're on "D" level (since there's no other doors seen that are labeled with a "D") and the door on the galley floor is for the lift that goes to "D3."

But wait! There's more! When Holden comes to get Kenzo and we see through is augmented eye, the door behind is also labeled D3, which is where we get to the point where you have to ignore something to make it make sense. They were clearly using this door as a filler for temporary sets and you need to assume at least one is mislabeled if you go with my theory that there is a rhyme or reason to the doors.

There are no signs of any doors labeled with an "E." One could assume this is another gap floor, or that it has something else. Maybe Holden's coffee stash, or Amos's sari collection.

"F" is for... Fucking Shot Again? In episode 2.1, we see that the entrance door to the med bay is labeled "F4." This door is open in other shots, and there is a ladder right outside.

There is also a door on the opposite side of the med bay that is closed in every shot I could find. This comes back in S3.

Below that, the only doors for quarters where we clearly see the letter are labelled "G." First is the door for where the put Prax.

And the room where Holden holes up to try to get Miller to talk to him.

Alex: Uhhh... sir? Everyone is hitting on Amos and ignoring me.

Also, I just have to say that I appreciate that the Star Trek Red Alert Coloring is canon in The Expanse.

Now, this all seems well and good, but there are a couple of major changes seen at the start of Season 3. First, the med bay changes.

The entrance seems to change, as well as the layout. However, there is the open doorway that seems to lead to additional med bay, which would correlate with the door seen in the "original" med bay.

During the same scene, we see that the far wall has a large desk with monitor that one could assume would be used by the medical personnel. So my assumption is that the med bay is broken up into at least two compartments, which would be useful for quarantine. There are no other rooms show with the "F" letter, so the rest of the floor could be medical supply storage.

Second, there is a distinct change in the crew quarters, which leads to...

The Second Part of My Thesis, Upon the Topic of the Quarters of the Ship Once Known as Tachi

Please let me know if there is anything I missed or seems incorrect.

@whenimaunicorn @tiyetiye

[whenimaunicorn]

smut that is NOT tasteful. smut that IS like other smut. smut that does NOT exist to be an exploration of character. smut that IS designed to titillate. for that matter let's start calling it "pornography." I am tired of half-hearted defences of some types of pornographic writing in only some contexts. pornography is not inherently morally suspect because of its sexual nature.

[whenimaunicorn]

to bite. Fondly.

[whenimaunicorn]

Hell yeah!

Adar x Mairon Drabble 5

TROPbloodmoon Prompt: Coronation 👑

It has to be done, or Mairon will be suspicious.

It has to be done, or more children will die screaming.

Mairon kneels, flicking his robes up, smiling over his shoulder at Adar, excited for him, for them.

Mairon kneels, flicking his robes out, his excitement for power wrapped in solemnity. 

He has always been beautiful, and though Adar knows it is a betrayal, he will have him one last time. 

He is still beautiful as he stares up at the crown, at Adar. If only it ran deeper than the skin he clothes himself in. 

He pierces Mairon’s body.

[whenimaunicorn]

Wow hitting us with a one, two punch in those final two paragraphs!!! This is so powerful for such a short piece. Color imagery and color symbolism, lovely!

Adar x Sauron Drabble

for TROPbloodmoon week. Thanks for arranging the ship week @macchiavato

Today’s prompt: RED ♥️🍷💔

Adar rarely sleeps, but when he does he dreams. For centuries now, it has been the same. Pulling back vermillion fabric to glimpse pale skin. Twirling russet strands around his fingers. Fingers and toes tipped in scarlet. The glint of rubies and garnets even when all else seems dark. The swirl of blood red wine, only seen, never tasted. 

A part of him was convinced that the crown would create a fountain of crimson, not trickles of black. 

When he wakes, the world around does nothing but reflect his dull grey flesh back at him. All the colour has gone. 

[whenimaunicorn]

I am so glad you took the dive and posted this!! It's a great series and you're a great writer and you're shipping my fave, what's not to love!!!! ❤️💖💖

Galatea Rebelling

"When the gods breathed life into Galatea as a gift to Pygmalion, nobody asked her what she wanted."

Ada, possibly the last survivor of an experiment that created psychic children, escapes Eros on the Rocinante. The absolute insanity of their lives is worth it to be truly free. All she has to do is survive Fucking Amos Burton... and then fucking Amos Burton.

Chapter 1

This is what happens when I'm flailing to cope with an existential crisis as my country falls down around me. It feels at least a bit healthier than day drinking.

Warnings: Amos is a walking trigger warning.

@tiyetiye @whenimaunicorn

[whenimaunicorn]

[whenimaunicorn]

I've made a photo of the Moon today. And it made me think of how Adar resembles it being scarred and ruined, nevertheless MAJESTIC

[whenimaunicorn]

the world was truly not ready in 2014 for eleanor guthrie as representation for girlfail bisexuals. terrible taste in men, fumbles the most beautiful woman in the world, makes the worst possible decisions at every turn. #progressive

[whenimaunicorn]

shout out to everyone who participated in the january-february mass depressive episode

[whenimaunicorn]

rings of power: pta au

bronwyn, disa, elendil, adar, galadriel, and sauron running a bake sale

[whenimaunicorn]

[whenimaunicorn]

I second this reaction gif!!! I'm swooning over here and loving the blending of Star Wars x Rings of Power canon. Pleeeease tag me in your updates, I love everywhere you're going with this!!!

(So, uh… *turns on sad violins* I just wanted to write some lighthearted blacksmith banter turning spicy, and now here we are, knees deep in broody, self-loathing Mandalorian angst with Adar and Mirdania and-...)

Adar had seen her before.

In full armor, wrapped in emerald and gold, she had been a presence—head held high, voice quick and clever, hands deft as they worked. She had been a smith, an apprentice of Celebrimbor, a Mandalorian who carried herself with a curious lightness, her armor polished and pristine.

A contradiction to the warriors he had known, bloodstained and jagged, their edges worn rough by war.

But this—this was her.

Mirdania.

And he couldn’t stop staring.

Her hair, damp with sweat, had loosened from its braids, stray strands curling against her flushed skin. It was golden, not just in the way beskar could be, cold and metallic, but warm, sun-touched, like something meant to be cherished. It framed her face—her face—unhidden, bared without the weight of her helmet.

And stars, her eyes.

He had caught the color before, in glimpses—through the thin strip of her visor, in the glint of light that sometimes reflected just right. But now, free from the cold tint of her T-shaped view, they were something else entirely.

A blue so clear it almost hurt to look at. A sky unburdened, untarnished.

Her eyes did not waver.

Steady, like they had always been. Like they were when she worked, when she hummed to herself while etching delicate engravings into cold beskar, hands sure even when her feet stumbled. When she looked at him without fear.

And stars help him, he didn’t know what to do with that.

He had spent years looking into the eyes of warriors. Hardened men and women, their gazes sharp with survival, weighed down by war, expectation, duty. Eyes that reflected what they had lost, what they had been forced to become.

But hers—hers.

They were blue like the sky above Mandalore before the bombs fell, before the war turned its surface to ash. A color so soft, so open, he almost couldn’t understand it. As if the weight of battle had never touched them, had never stolen the light from them the way it had from him.

She shouldn’t look at him like that.

Not like he was something worth seeing.

Not with curiosity, or patience, or that easy, effortless warmth.

Not with something that felt so much like kindness.

She had no reason to. She had every reason not to.

She was everything he was not.

And she was beautiful.

So damn beautiful.

And he—he was ruined. He had been for a long time. A man made of broken pieces, barely held together, sharp edges and battle-worn hands, marred skin and old wounds that had never quite healed. He had seen himself enough times, in the cracks of his visor, in the gleam of a blade—had known what he was.

He did not belong here. Not in this light. Not in her gaze.

Adar stood still, his fingers curling at his sides, a slow, painful heat crawling beneath his skin.

Because she was beautiful. So beautiful... And so real.

Not in the way warriors were, not in the way he had come to understand beauty through battle and bloodshed—through survival. She was something else. Something soft in a way that shouldn’t have been possible, not for a Mandalorian, not for someone who had walked through fire as he had.

And yet here she was.

She was the same girl—the same smith he had met in full armor, her voice light with chatter, her hands working through beskar like second nature. But here, standing before him with her skin bare to the forge-light, a smear of soot across her cheek, she felt real.

Too real.

Like something he had no business standing near.

He had never been vain. He had never been proud of what he had become, of the scars that marred his skin, the wounds both visible and unseen. His armor—dark, worn, battered—fit him in ways flesh and bone never had. It suited him. It made sense.

But her?

She was untouched.

No jagged lines crossing her cheeks, no burns marring the curve of her throat, no brutal history carved into her skin. No weight in her gaze that spoke of things better left unspoken.

She was golden, bright, and he—he was something else entirely.

A beast, a wounded thing, a dog returned from exile, pacing where it did not belong.

And yet, her eyes met his—direct, unwavering.

And she smiled. She smiled like he was worthy of it. Of something warm, of something beautiful.

Mirdania.

Her name curled in his thoughts like a thing he had no right to touch.

It was too soft for his mouth, too light to be shaped by a voice like his. It belonged in laughter, in warmth, in a world far removed from the one he had carved himself into.

She was standing before him, golden in the forge-light, unscathed by the weight that had bent him into something less than a man.

He should not be here. He should not be breathing the same air as her, should not be standing in the same light, should not be letting himself look.

Because the more he did, the worse it became.

He could not see her without seeing everything he was not.

She deserved men who knew how to speak without their voices turning sharp at the edges. Men with open hands instead of calloused ones built for violence. Men who wore light, shining things instead of armor that had seen more blood than peace.

Not him.

Never him.

And yet, when she smiled—when she tipped her head just so, the light catching in the loose wisps of blonde framing her face—something in his chest twisted, wrenched.

He did not know what it was.

Only that he had no business standing near something so bright.

Yet, he did not move.

[whenimaunicorn]

Be prepared to get comments like "Your hair is so pretty. You wrote her hair so pretty. Why is she so pretty?" And "Your writing is so good. I can really tell what he's saying and oh he smells so nice. That's a cool looking bag. Your beta has awesome shoes I bet. What's her name?"

Let the endless compliment cycle begin.