This series of the landmark franchise follows an up and coming crew on the USS Ambition, part of an initiative from Starfleet HQ to give leadership opportunities to promising officers in all fields.
Happy Secret Snowflake @charliezay I hope you enjoy this combination of two of your favourites 🌌👽🌟 @ambitionsource
In the steady and capable hands of Captain Jack Hunter, and First Officer Eric Matthews, the young talent has the opportunity to gain medium to long term trip experience before moving to a higher combat or technical vessel.
Programme Commander, Officer Harper Burgess, has her work cut out for her when it emerges that this crop of new officers carry a fair bit of baggage and more than a few grudges from their time at Starfleet Academy and previous ship assignments. Two of the Science officers are either fighting or flirting (she can't tell yet or ever), the Communications Officer and the Senior Engineering Officer haven't seen each other since their bad breakup three years ago, and the new pilot, Officer Isaiah Babineaux, has enough ego to power the ship itself.
Lt. Riley Matthews - Communications Officer
Raised by a career Starfleet officer and her civilian husband on a Starfleet outpost in the Beta quadrant, Officer Matthews has both everything and nothing to prove. She doesn't care to be the best like her mother, but she understands the privilege of being selected for the USS Ambition and the more people that doubt her, the more her fire to succeed comes out. One thing she didn't count on was her ex-boyfriend being just down the hall in Engineering. In space. For two years.
Lt. Lucas Kinsley - Engineering Officer
Officer Kinsley knows he's good enough to be on this ship. He just wishes he wasn't. The second he sees Riley Matthews on the manifest, he did everything he could to be UNlisted. Unfortunately, when you finished first in your class at the Academy, Starfleet HQ are damn well going to include you, no matter what. Some of the shadows that Lucas was trying to escape from when he applied for the two year mission might very well have boarded with him.
Lt. Zay Babineaux - Pilot
Lieutenant Babineaux isn't on the run. But he wants to GO. He always has. And now he's lead pilot on a legit Starfleet ship - as if it was ever in question, he's BEEN the best. A few scraps in the Academy and one run-in with HQ after some less-than-legal racing involvement aside, Zay has a perfect record and he knows it. And from now on, nothing will break his focus. He's going to be the youngest Constitution Class I pilot in the history of the Federation. And if he's hanging around Med Bay on his downtime, that's no one else's business.
Lt. Commander Charlie Gardner - Medical Officer and Xenobiologist
Being a Starfleet medical officer is kind of insane. Charlie is constantly questioning why the heck he ever signed up for this, and someone better tell him soon, because this mission has way more than he could ever have counted on. He might change his mind a little bit more every time a certain pilot has to come in for a patch up, but Charlie definitely is asking for a non-mission assignment after this. Maybe a nice lunar outpost, or his true ambition, a teaching role at the Academy. He just has to survive the next two years.
Welcome to Adams Bay, a cozy, secluded township in the northern pockets of New York near the Canadian border. It’s earthy and woodsy, cluttered with towering pines unlike the skyscrapers of Manhattan; due to the drafts over Lake Ontario, it’s reliably dreary, with misty cloud cover 90% of the year. The port and its surrounding locales are mainly home to tradesmen, like fishermen, lumberjacks, and mill workers…
And now, Riley Matthews, who moves in with her aunt in the middle of her junior year. Although her aunt Morgan works at the sheriff’s office, she assures -- and warns -- Riley that there’s no much action up in their sleepy little hollow. It has the charm of a hidden coastal gem, a tight-knit community where everybody knows everybody, but probably lacks much excitement for a curious, sociable young woman like herself.
Only the warmth of the sun isn’t the only thing the fog obscures. Secrets abound throughout the drowsy village, and unexpected surrealities lurk around every corner. Everything is not what it seems in Adams Bay… as Riley soon begins to discover, once she’s caught the startling green eyes of the Hunter clan, and she finds herself saved from a tragic accident by her brooding and beguiling mystery of a lab partner, Lucas James. A lab partner who didn’t seem to like her very much, but suddenly cradles her fragile life in his cold hands. Who saved in her ways that shouldn’t be possible for a nineteen year old; that shouldn’t be human.
Once Riley pulls one thread, the entire tapestry of normalcy starts to unravel. She learns her own family may have more history buried in this world than she ever imagined. And even though she should be wary, perhaps even terrified, Riley finds she isn’t afraid. She only wants more. Perhaps she’s finally find a home that will make her eccentric, unconventional personality feel less worth scrutinizing… or maybe it’s just the allure of Lucas James’s hypnotic green eyes tugging her deeper down the rabbit hole.
Let the eerie bay lighthouse guide the way, like a haunting ghostlight on an empty, darkened stage. Peer through the fog, and step into the unknown -- you never know what you’ll discover.
Prepare to sink your teeth into Ghostlight.
Character Synopses ❦ Vibes, Beautiful Vibes (Playlist)
A secret snowflake universe concocted specifically for Natalia (@everelore), the best Twilight-loving, angst-appreciating, history-nerding, vibes vampire beta a girl could possibly ask for. Bestie, forgive me for being tardy, and not proofreading this (that's usually your job!!!!!), and feeding the RL (+ friends) mental illness. I promise you I'll actually write some full snippets from this sometime. I will not promise to stop being evil. Love love love you. 💜
Special additional shout-out to the Sims 4 and custom content creators, who made this possible and not the most painful manip process ever. Friends we're in a new era of possibilities!!!!! Hold onto your AAA hats!
It’s the sweltering summer of 1819 in a Brooklyn bar when Charles Gardner meets him—the great enigma of Isaiah Babineaux, a Frenchman living in Harlem. A charismatic dandy, endlessly talented, deeply entrancing. Unsettingly beautiful. Charles only knows him bathed in moonlight, when they rendezvous despite his better judgment, his mother’s warnings echoing in his ears. Under stars they drink and dance, go to the most exquisite plays and operas, and Charles tries to ignore the pull between them. He’s fascinated by Isaiah, relishes the small bits of truth he coaxes out of the mysterious man like the seeds of a pomegranate. Forbidden fruit bursting on his tongue. Most strangely, Isaiah seems equally if not more interested in him. Asks him about Manhattan and his interests and what he makes of the world. Tries to cut through his shame and makes it burn even fiercer. In the daylight, Isaiah continues to consume his thoughts, no matter his attempts to get lost in his studies or scripture. Charles is lost, yet he feels like he’s finally been found.
He knows it’s not right—all of it, the desire flaring inside of him, the way Isaiah stares right through him like he can see it, pins him down with dark eyes like he wants to eat him alive. Charles knows this story. The serpent, the innocent fool who wants more than they should. Still, he falls. The snake bites, sinks his fangs into his skin, overwhelming pain and pleasure, at once Heaven and Hell. In the arms of his lapsed angel, Charles cannot find it in himself to care that he was cast out of Eden as well. He knows too much now, not just of the truth of the world, of Isaiah, but of himself. He’s a sinner. A heretic. Covetous. Licentious. But nothing felt as sublime as Isaiah’s hands, his lips, his honeyed voice, the way the other man drank him up. Charles knew he was damning himself, âme damnée—but his heart, his soul, his adoration, it belonged to a new power. A light-bringer who belonged to the night. Isaiah. His undoing. His maker.
happy secret snowflake meg! hope you enjoy this zc vampire au-- i was inspired by our chats about gothic lit and horror as queer allegory. love you and hope the new year brings so much joy <3
A HOUSE IN NEBRASKA - AN AMBITION AU FOR @everelore 🌾⛰️🌳
Happy Secret Snowflake, Nat! All of the love and I hope you have a wonderful year ahead! I’ve carved RL + C on an old elm tree and dreamed up a little honky-tonk, rootin-tootin, Ethel Cain-meets-Johnny Cash AU for you!
The year is 1977. Riley Matthews and Charlie Gardner co-own the old Kinsley Ranch, purchased from Joe Kinsley shortly before his death. To everyone in Adams, Nebraska, Riley and Charlie are an obvious love story, childhood best friends whose façade of ‘business partners’ will surely slide away once he sticks a ring on her finger.
Meanwhile, a few years of hard work have turned the run-down ranch toward profitability— but it’s becoming too much for two people to manage. Riley and Charlie— who can feel the eyes of their parents heavy on them— refuse to become failures, and all there’s left to do is stick up a Help Wanted sign for a full-time ranchhand.
When Lucas Friar rolls into Adams in a beat up Plymouth, it doesn’t take long before his bad attitude earns the disdain of half the town. But Lucas is searching for something of his own, and when he shows up on Kinsley Ranch answering the call for work, all of their lives are about to change forever.
''Cause it all falls down on youAnd it all falls down on youThen it all falls down on youAnd it all falls down on youAt the same timeAt the same time
Happy new year beloved!!!! This went into emo territory fast lol so I apologize for that and for the mild spoilers this contains, let's say this doubles as a teaser for the new season. Thinking about all these years of Ambition and looking at how far we and the characters have come I was struck by how much there's still left to meltdown over and how excited I am to be on this emotional journey with you, the blorbos and the gc besties for another year.
“Snow Day," for Ellie (@leoleofitz). Happy Holidays, Ellie! I'm so grateful for another year of your wonderful energy and passion. You are a joy to know. From Meg.
If magical madness, character development, and quirky questing is the game, then Arcana & Ambitions is the name. Welcome to a new fantastical alternate universe inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, where our favorite ensemble cast is preparing to face challenges -- and capers -- unlike anything they've confronted before. This story world has everything: hard-fought found family, themes and motifs, Charlie-centric religious allegory (I'm not saying he's A&A's Jesus / Moses / etc., but... I'm not not saying that?), tragic nuanced but hopeful RL backstory, magic as a metaphor for queer identity...
Also, Mr. Puff is a 12-foot tall dragon. Did I mention that part?
So much lore to unravel, epic legends to share... and this is just the beginning. Prepare your satchel and grab your lute, friends and vagabonds alike, because the adventure starts now. Welcome to the world of A&A, created for Meg as part of AMBITION Secret Snowflake 2024.
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CREATOR NOTE: Happiest new year, Meg! So... um... here's the thing. As you know, I have been all over the place these past few months. Life crazy, brain melty. So I told myself upfront I wasn't going to write something this year. But then, after a helpful and very fun brainstorm conversation with Lena (@dunsbar I owe you several life debts), I got this idea. I figured I'd make some notes, make these little trading cards, boom done. Cute idea, incorporates the blorbos and their complex dynamics (platonic, romantic, and otherwise), features fantasy and D&D which you love, so slam dunk. Only then... I got inspired. And then I got very inspired. And suddenly I had buckets worth of lore and several campaign ideas and a whole overarching plot for the entire "series" of A&A and there was just absolutely zero way for me to comprehensively complete all of that in, you know, a month or so. To say I overwhelmed myself would be an understatement.But this AU was also always intended to be a living document of sorts, in the spirit of D&D, where we could grow and play in the narrative together. So despite the fact that my proofs aren't completed and I've written like 5K words of scraps here and there nowhere near a coherent reading experience (though rest assured, I will share them with you), please accept this gift as a long-term investment. This is a promise, from me to you, that I will continue to sketch out this story world and play in the story sandbox with you -- and the rest of AAAGC, of course -- for many moons to come. This is my destiny, and hopefully yours, if you'll join me as a recruit. Thank you for opening your heart to the world of AMBITION, to my silly, story-weaving (sometimes out of control) brain, and gracing me with your friendship.
Here is to many more campaigns to come. 💜🐉 Love, Maggie
(And maybe someday I'll finally learn how to actually DM. This is a good starting point, right? AMBITION truly solves everything).
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Like any good D&D-type universe, there will be several quests to embark upon, but every journey has to start somewhere. For A&A, that's OBLIVION.
(And of course, there's music. Follow the playlist on Spotify!)
Synopsis and general description proceeds under the cut.
In this whirlwind first campaign, we follow Charlemagne "Charlie" Gardner, a human from the humble, pious fishing town of Haverfort. He'll be quick to tell you he's a very normal guy, fully content to live out the rest of his days as a quiet monk in the order of Charles Magnes studying the ancient texts. At least, that was the plan, until one little detail derails everything -- he has sorcerer blood in his veins, and thus magic at his fingertips, which chooses to present itself at the most inopportune time. In a community where use of magic is seen as sinful and strictly frowned upon, Charlie finds himself exiled before he can blink, even despite his insistence that he has no intent to use this new power. As far as he's concerned, it doesn't exist.
Charlie can problem solve though, so he crafts a new plan as his ostracism begins. He'll travel across the continent of Yew Nork in search of his older sister, Bridgit, who mysteriously also disappeared from home around her 20th orbit. If he can find her and bring her home, he figures, maybe they'll both be allowed to rejoin their town. Only one problem: the world out there beyond Haverfort is big, and full of curiosities and dangers Charlie has never even thought of facing before.
Not to mention it's lonely wandering on your own. Very, very lonely.
Lucky for him, it won't be long before he encounters new recruits to join his campaign. First there's Schippy, the seemingly average wild mutt-like critter whom Charlie elects to share some food with and immediately earns his devotion in response. Then he meets Dylan Orlando, a lively half-elf bard from Green Witch Village who is happy to partake in a little adventure (and more than eager to make a new friend). A trip through the vast canopy of the Brook Lynne Forest introduces Asher, a (reluctant) young tiefling druid who perpetually wears a pair of goggles he tinkered together himself, who only agrees to go along with them to Grand Central East marketplace to run an errand for his pixie friend, Jade Green. Once that's done, they'll go their separate ways again...
But things are only about to get wilder, with several compilations arising once they get to market. For one, Charlie's powers keep acting up the more he tries to suppress them, basically giving himself shock therapy on accident; Asher doesn't seem much better about his own tiefling abilities, which he's so scared of he also avoids using his druid powers (like being able to turn into a phoenix -- Bird Bones -- which is pretty damn cool if he'd actually use it). They're being tailed by this shadowy figure apparently known as Snapback, who seems intent to murder Charlie once he's done having a little fun with him (which hex knows why, but perhaps the ghostly shade woman who helps them out of a sticky situation in Tekkie Hollow can shed some light despite being surrounded by the darkness...)
There's the fact that Charlie has been having strange dreams, corresponding with a beautiful (who said that), bold figure compelling him to embrace his abilities who, oh yeah, apparently turns out to be a patron deity, AKA a literal god. Or what about the looming threat of Hell's Cauldron in the distant west, where the daemons of the dark world lurk and are certainly putting their mischievous fingers on the scale in what started as a small hike for a reunion that has now spiraled into a matter of gods and gravity far beyond Charlie's comprehension? Don't forget the worried whispers of The Oblivion, a monstrous force that has been terrorizing the continent in the west for well over a year and leaves utter ruin in its wake?
But like any epic saga with themes and motifs, the truth is never as simple as it seems... and we're about to start peeling back the layers in Ambition & Arcana Part 1: OBLIVION.
Can you believe we've been pals for five years now? It's like... As long as a girl band is together usually?? It's like,,, as long as an Ambition time-jump!
Here's to more hilarious anecdotes, enthusiastic fangirling, and adorable chats with you this year. You continue to teach me new things, and keep me young 😀 You're sweet, kind, absolutely amazing, intelligent and wonderfully capable, and I'm so proud of you and happy to call you one of my friends.
Let's stay cosy, and keep shining bright. This year we can do great things!
titsay
ellievsbear
andulkaphoto
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
