#astral sails

[abalonetea]

what if I just,,,totally redesigned james so he had a different face claim and everything?

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i swear this is the last one i’ll make for today

again, using @cogesque‘s template

(again, will make one for carry me home and caw later)

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Value Me for any characters of your choice?

how about some best friend nonsense with Iona and James???

(is this me putting off writing an actual confession story for literally any of my characters? why yes. yes it is)

  “Ya know? You’re the best fucking friend I’veever had.”   “You’re just saying that because I’mletting you use me as a pillow.” Three eyes glance away, at the other side ofthe room. A hand settles on James chest, too long fingers curling in the dirtyfabric of his shirt and – it might just be the blow to the head he got earlier,but something about that seems incrediblyfunny.   He laughs hard enough that it makeshim cough. The coughing makes his side hurt.   Or maybe it’s the other way around?   Maybe he’s coughing because his side hurts?   Damn, he’s not sure. It kind of feelslike he’s had a little too much to drink, except his mouth is incredibly dryand James knows that’s not the case. “Nah,”says James, because it seemsincredibly important, making sure that Iona knows this right now. “I mean it.”   Iona snorts. “That’s pathetic, Flint.I’m a shitty friend.”   “You’re a great friend. You’ve, fuck,ya know, you’ve been a great friend since that stupid cruise ship.”   “I tried to kill you on that cruise ship.”   “Yeah, so? That’s just – details.”   “Pretty sure the details are the importantpart. Especially when they involvesomeone holding a gun to your head and threatening to pull the trigger.”   “But you didn’t,” says James, hooking a hand around Iona’s wrist. It’s notuntil after he’s gotten a grip on the mottled blue skin that James realizes hisfingers are shaking.   Oh well.  Too late to let go now.   Iona’s frown deepens. “Buddy, if you’reonly criteria for a best friend is doesn’tactually blow out my brains, you should probablystart thinking about raising them.”   “S’not the only criteria.” James fumbles on the last word, laughs again. Itmakes the ache spread out over his ribs so he rolls onto one side, buries hisface in Iona’s stomach. “Just, you know, a big one.”   The hand shifts, settles on James ribsinstead. “You’re an idiot, Flint.”   “Nah. I’m smart as – shit, what is it?Right, right, smart as paint.”   “Just because Teach says something,that doesn’t mean it’s true. He’s not right about everything you know.”   “Ye-ah, he kind of is. Said, uh, youknow, I can’t remember shit that he’ssaid to me. But it’s probably allbeen true.”   “Every third word out of his mouth isa lie,” grumbles Iona, but they both know that he only half-means it. “And every word out of your mouth is stupid.”   “And you’re mean,” says James, becausethat seems like a great come back right then. He presses his forehead harderagainst Iona’s stomach only to hit a sore spot, wince and pull backwards.   The hand settles on the curve of hishead, instead. Too long fingers thread through James messy hair. “Just bequiet, Flint. You’re giving me a headache.”   “Yeah.” James chuckles again. “Okay.”

[abalonetea]

Teach: Don’t overreact.

James, already digging his grave and shoveling dirt on himself: I’m not.

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oops sorry it was 'amuse me' ^^"

thank you!!!

james thinks that he’s really amusing. teach would like to argue against that fact.

  “So.” James grabs oneof the rinans out of the hanging baskets. They aren’t ripe, but he takes a bitanyway.   Teach gives him a side eyed look. “There’sfood in the larder, James.”  “Yeah, I know.” James takes anotherbite out of the perp. It’s hard enough that it crunches between his teeth. “Had a question for you.”   “James, lad, yer gonna make yerselfsick if ye don’t pay more mind ta what goes in that mouth’a yers.” Teach shovesthe rack of meat that he’d been carving to the back of the counter. He shakesfaintly purple flesh off the edge of his butcher knife.   “You offering to give me something to put in my mouth?” Jamesgrin has teeth. It would be a crimeto pass up on a line like that.   Teach’s kind of looking at him likeit’s a crime to have said it though,and James still isn’t sure if that’s better or worse than getting a quip back.“Lad,” says Teach, drawing out the word until it’s got a different meaningentirely. “What did ye need?”   “I need a lot of things,” says James,taking another pointed bite out of the rinan. They get sort of sour when theyaren’t fully ripe, but it’s never bothered him much. “But I did want to ask yousomething, if that’s what you mean.”   “Yeah, lad. That’s what I mean.”   “So, you were on Kidd’s crew, right?”  Another side eyed look. Teach wipes his hands off on his apron. “Aye.The quartermaster. Spent more’n half my life on that crew.”   “That’s cool.” James shoves the restof the rinan into his mouth. The newspapers had said as much, that he’d sailedwith Kidd, that he was one of the last remaining members of the most viciouscrew to have ever existed.   But it’s different actually hearing thatsaid by Teach himself. The thought of actually hearing something more about it?That’s exciting.   James grabs another rinan. He rolls itbetween his palms before taking a bite out of it. “You know, for being a famouscrew and all, you don’t hear a lot about them.”   “Boy, if ye came in’ere itchin’ fer atale, jes say as much. And quit eatin’ those damned rinans.” Teach ignores James protests and snatches the rinanout of his hand. “Sometimes I wonder if yer even hungry, James, or if yer jesin here lookin’ for somethin’ ta do that ain’t work.”   “I amhungry!”   “Then get somethin’ outta the larder.”   “Fuck that. The rinans fine to eat.You can’t get sick off them just because they aren’t ripe.” Mulishly, Jamesgrabs another bright yellow fruit out of the set of hanging baskets. “I eatthem this way all the time.”   Teach scowls at him. His ear flicks,irate. “That’s ‘cause yer daft.”   James, uninterested in continuing thisconversation, counters with, “so you’ll tell me about being on Kidd’s crew?”   Then he takes a pointed bite out ofthe rinan. It tastes like shit. He eats it anyway.   Teach bemoans, “yer a right pain tohave around, James.” But he gestures for James to follow him as he heads out ofthe galley, too. “Aye, lad. I’ll tell ye somethin’ ‘bout somethin’.”   “Sweet,” chirps James. He shoves therest of the rinan into his mouth whole before ambling after Teach. The fruit istart enough to make his mouth water.

tag list, let me know if you want on or off!

@writings-of-a-narwhal​ @elaynab-writing​ @writer-grandma​    @cometworks​ @deadlyessencewhispers​ @nora-wrote-a-book​ @georgiacambrielwritblr @rmorada​ ​ @drabbleitout@inked-foundry @srazar​ @groovytheoristbat  @salvasti

[abalonetea]

For the drabbles: Get Me. (OCs of your choice!)

nnnnn ooops got carried away with this prompt! thank you, pal!

full force ahead, for some good stuff with james and teach!

  They’regoing down.   It’s a distant, slow sort ofthought. James has got one arm wrapped around the starboard mast and the otherclutching a pistol he barely knows how to use. Something slams into the ship onthe other side, making it lurch off its pre-programmed path. It’s an old ship,something that they picked up for a couple hundred pieces of gold, and thetechnology used to build it reflects the price tag.   It was just supposed to get them to aport-town out in the Verigo Galaxy where Teach’s got connections. It wasn’tsupposed to get caught up in a hail of cannon fire and lazar bursts, from somepirate ship James doesn’t recognize the flag of but Teach clearly does.   Something explodes below deck. Theheat is stifling. Everything smells like smoke and James thinks of the cruiseship with a fear that is almost primal. It wells up in his chest and theexplosions from his memory conflict with the ones racking the air now. One ofthe men they let on to take the place of crewgives a shrill, gurbling cry.   James leans harder against the mast.Sweat drips down his face and into his eyes. They burn. He closes one andshoves the pistol back into his holsters. He curls one hand around the ropethat hangs down from the mast and then the other. There’s no time to lower therope ladder, so he just twists the corded twine around one hand and startsscaling it – like the buildings back homein the old part of town, where everything closed up once the prettyinterstellar stores opened up in the ports.   As soon as he gets halfway up, hestarts looking around, trying to piece together the chaos below. It’s hard tofocus through the thick billowing black smoke now rising up from the depths ofthe ship. They’re losing altitude fast, heading on a crash course for thenearest planet. Aluette is currently nothing but a smoky strip of blue in thedistance.   Most of the faces, James still doesn’trecognize. The crew is new. It’s a half-hearted attempt at throwing somethingtogether after their last crew split; pockets full of gold and the Marines hoton their tails. There’s no loyalty with this batch, not yet, and Jim can spotat least four of them trying to escape through the handful of smaller solarpowered vessels stored at the sides of the ship.   When he catches sight of Teach, the pirate is atthe helm of the ship. James can’t make it out from here, but there’s anuncomfortable amount of red on the front of Teach’s shirt and a cutlass in hisflesh hand. An insectoid clashes with him – and James has developed a healthy hatred for that particular raceof aliens, with their too many arms, and sharp eyes, and rotten personalities.   A second cutlass comes out – theinvading force has more arms than Teach, and no one on either side is keen onplaying fair. James tightens his grip on the rope with one hand, bracing onefoot against the mast. The other one hangs in the air, knee hooked to try andkeep balance. His shoulder is tired, sore, body weight pulling against it whenhe pulls the pistol back out. James closes his eye again, taking aim and -   - Teach takes another step backwards,cutlass catching against one of the insectoid’s blades and his cybernetic armcatching the other and -   - a third arm snaps back, blue clawclosing around a pistol and -   - James pulls back hard against thetrigger and the sharp beam it releases catches the insectoid in the back of theneck and -   - it’s not quick enough because Teach staggers, hand flying up to clutch theport of his cybernetic shoulder on instinct. There probably isn’t going to beany real damage done but the rebound is enough to send him staggering backwards.Another explosion rocks the ship; hot air shooting up like a funnel and the RSMillenium makes a sound like the entire thing is about to break apart at theseams. James grip on the rope is slipping but Teach’s feet are gone out from under him.    The rock of the ship sends himsprawling backwards, right over the rail, and even though the sound is probablylost beneath the chaos of the attack, James swearsthat he can still hear Teach scream.

[abalonetea]

Haunt me please!! :D

thank you for indulging me in the horrible au that is my ghost au.

the basic premise is that, during an encounter on the cruise ship in the first book, James Flinch dies. and then he comes back, mostly. what follows is a desperate search for a way to bring James back to life, and for an answer to the question what’s the most you’ll give to bring back the one good thing you’ve ever had?

  There are stars in James skin.   It’s – strange to find something likethis neat, but. You take that sort of thing when you can get it, right? Andright now, there’s not a whole lot else to be focusing on, unless James wantsto dwell on smoke and stone and burning flesh.  Which he doesn’t.   He gets flashes of that enough, duringthe day.   Right now, he just wants to breathein, breathe out, and spread his fingers a little bit more. James skin has gonetranslucent enough that the spiraling blue hues of the galaxy above them can beseen through it.   “Pretty cool,” says James, toabsolutely no one. The rest of the crew has already turned in for the night. “LikeI’m part of the galaxy, huh?”   Except – there is an answer, a smalllittle soft warble of a sound. James jumps, would crack his knee against theside of the rails if it didn’t phase through instead.   Piki warbles again, strangely flexiblelimbs curling around the thin prongs of the fence as the little dragon creaturehauls herself up. Blue light catches on her white feathers when she rufflesthem, cocking her head to the side and staring at James with strangely knowingeyes.   The relief that sweeps over Jamestastes like ether and soot. With a laugh, he drapes himself back over therailing. His body settles a good half inch into the space-worn wood. “What, youcouldn’t sleep either, buddy?”   Piki chirps. She shuffles closer,stretching out her short neck but not quitetouching James.   “Ithink this might suck the most,” says James, glancing back up at the distantgalaxy. His hand is even less defined now. It’s like someone has taken away thelines holding it together, and he’s gone more stardust than human. “Not, uh,this.” James shakes a hand at Piki. “The not sleeping.”   A soft, warbling chirp. Piki takesanother step closer.   James is dead dead dead and the deadcan’t sleep but.   They can still be tired.   And he is always tired.   “Shouldn’t you be off with Teach?”James reaches out, strokes a non-existent finger over the curve of Piki’s domedhead. Even though she can’t feel the touch, the little dragon pushes her headup, tries to butt up against the touch. “Cute. Hey, you gonna hang out herewith me tonight?”   A warble of agreement. Piki hops thatlast little bit closer, until she’s sitting in the crook of James arm. He cansee her feathers through his own skin, which is decidedly less cool than seeingstars there but -   But everyone else is asleep, and Pikilooks up at him with big gold eyes, like she knows what’s wrong, like she understands.   Which is, all things considered, anextremely comforting thought.

[abalonetea]

my entire plot for what happens on the cruise ship in astral sails just changed and i don’t know what triggered this idea or even how to process and address it, because it also changes the sequel book???