i am always thinking about trans brunt. if i start with a ferengi female--humiliated from birth, treated as less than an object--and i add transgenderism, and i sell that character to a husband while he's still in his teens, well, it's entirely possible that he kills his husband and steals his identity and burns his house down. or some other horrible accident, you know, it happens. so he claws his way into true success, obtaining a very powerful position, and he reaches his middle age with everything he's ever wanted and the scars to prove it.
he knows firsthand how cruel men can be to other men. he knows that his life is in constant jeopardy, because if someone needed blackmail material, it's all right there in the medical records. the only thing keeping him alive is the bribe he forks over to his doctor every month, and his ability to perform ferengi masculinity to the very letter at every moment of every day.
and then that character meets quark. a cis man, with a truly disgraceful set of family members: his father had no head for business, his mother is leading the women's rights movement, his brother used to be his sister and has married a non-ferengi on terms of equality and started a labor union with her, and his brother's son, now a damned starfleet cadet, was a daughter first. oh brunt, you remember that. you remember the brothers leaving ferenginar as fugitives with the child between them, setting up inside an active cardassian military base to protect themselves from men like you.
and it worked. they're fine. they're happy, even. they don't care about the rules anymore, the rules that would descend on you like a thousand hells if you put a toenail out of line.
quark, as the cis brother, is the only one you are at all capable of dealing with, but even this is infuriating. he may still profess to follow ferengi custom, but it's with very little genuine effort, and the end result is shamelessly, flagrantly disrespectful of every rule that hangs over your own head as a death sentence. yet he faces no consequences outside of his self-imposed exile, and even curries favor with ZEK, who has decided to FUCK HIS MOM.
and just to add insult to injury, you cannot ignore the fact that you desperately want to fuck him, which makes you feel like a girl even while you degrade him in your mind for being a faggot.
like. god. OF COURSE he's obsessed with shutting the bar down OF COURSE he can't stop coming back just to irritate quark OF COURSE he wants to buy quark's desiccated remains and would happily kill quark himself if needed.
do you think garak would ever let julian interrogate him. as like a sex thing. like do you think garak would be down if julian wanted to do a sexy james bond roleplay with garak as the Evil Enemy Spy who gets tied up and questioned and tortured and sucked off.
i think he would do it on the condition that the sex part has to make the whole thing worth it, like this needs to be the best fuck he's getting all year or else what's the point. but he's not actually mad about it, not really, because it is fun to watch julian be sexy and confident, even if he's being confidently wrong about stuff garak is an expert in. it's honestly kinda cute. (which is a word garak has never used before and will never use again, but endearing is not much better.)
the other thing he might do is request a payback scene in which they rp sexy rival doctors and garak gets to be confidently wrong about medicine for half an hour until julian snaps.
HI HELP choking sobbing coughing weeping crying screaming throwing up. the double meaning of the last line. over the past few years i have made an effort to write characters who say to others what they are really saying to themselves, and now it just happens automatically. im sorry, garak, you want julian? and that's all the reason you need to withhold from yourself the pleasure of him? KILL ME
The point I am trying to make to make is that I never learned how to cook. I may be a grown ghoul at the age of 609 584 winters, but it just never happened when all that amazing food was right outside my door. When I arrived in the summoning room of the Abbey and introduced myself, Aether laughed and said “well either you’re one of the best cooks this planet has ever seen or you’e never set foot in a kitchen before”.
OR
An excuse to share recipes, life hacks, and little tips and tricks by letting Phantom present them in his journal guide
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This is written in first person POV simply because that fits the format of casually presented recipes. This is not a role play fic.
Later chapters will feature recipes and little tips from friends, enemies, and anyone who wants to share a recipe with me :)
As a treat this will be illustrated by @arkeusruin so keep an eye out for updates.
Read below or on Ao3
Chapter 1: Introductions
Journal Guide to Life Topside
Name: Phantom Aeon Ghoul
If lost return to any of the ghouls at the Abbey in Lincopia, Sweden, or call me on 333-666-999
My name is Phantom Aeon Ghoul, and I was recently summoned Topside. Like most ghouls in Hell I have been to many dimensions and visited countless planets, but I’ve never been to Earth/“Topside”. We learn about it in school of course, but it is quite different actually being here. I’m very fortunate to have been summoned to this Ministry and there are a lot of really great ghouls here.
I grew up and live in Stenhagen in Hell, on Kyrkogårdsgatan to be specific. That probably tells you more than you need to know about me hehe. On the off chance that you’re not familiar with this area, or that you’re not a ghoul, this is one of the most culturally diverse areas in Hell. Which is saying a lot considering how great and how diverse Hell is! There are countless restaurants, food stalls, food markets and vendors everywhere in Stenhagen. If you don’t want to go out for food one day, you bet there’s going to be at least fifteen different grandparents at your door asking why you haven’t eaten yet while trying to give you enough food to feed a family of five parents and nine kits.
The point I am trying to make to make is that I never learned how to cook. I may be a grown ghoul at the age of 609 584 winters, but it just never happened when all that amazing food was right outside my door. When I arrived in the summoning room of the Abbey and introduced myself, Aether laughed and said “well either you’re one of the best cooks this planet has ever seen or you’e never set foot in a kitchen before”.
Things are quite different on Earth, and it is time I learn so I can keep myself alive while I’m here. And I thought I’d write down what I learn so that other ghouls have a guide when they arrive, because let me tell you, what we learn in school doesn’t cover half of what it really is like.
Oh! I don’t know if I just wasn’t paying attention in class or if our teacher forgot to mention, but some humans speak ghoulish! I was shocked when a random sibling of sin spoke to me in fluent ghoulish, and Cumulus the asshole just laughed at me and had to tell the sibling I was new and not to worry about my poor manners.
It turns out that a group of ghouls settled down in this area, Sweden, a couple millennia ago. There weren’t that many humans here at the time, and so the ones who did live here kinda picked up on the language the ghouls spoke. Now around 10.5 million people speak Ghoulish on Earth and no-one bats an eye. Of course they call it Swedish, but it is still really cool.
Anyway, welcome to this guide to life topside. The entries won’t be in any order, I’ll write down recipes and tips and tricks as and when I encounter them.
Good luck and I hope you have fun on this planet!
Chapter 2: Tips and Tricks and Little Life Hacks
If you have some stale bread you can run it under water and pop it into a preheated oven (150°C or 300°F) for a minute or two to make it fresh again.
(Don’t soak it in water for a few minutes and then try to bake it at 250°C for an hour. Swiss laughed until he dropped to the floor crying when he came into the kitchen and found me with half a loaf of burned, soggy bread. The bread was ruined, but Swiss had been having a bad day so I’m glad my fumbling in the kitchen made him laugh. All in all a win, but like I said, don’t try it yourself.)
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Another thing you can do with stale bread is to cut it up into little cubes and put it in an oven safe dish. Spritz some water on if the bread is really stale, then dump in a couple of little chunks of good butter. Season to your liking (salt, garlic and oregano is so good) and then cover with cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted.
This is so good as a little snack, or in a salad or in soup.
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If you boil your pasta or potatoes in plain, unsalted water, keep the water and let it cool down. It’s great for watering plants, makes them strong and happy. Don’t let the papas catch you cooking “in the most wrong way ever”.
Mountain sometimes boils potato peels if any plants need a little extra care with their watering.
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When you do laundry, add a little scoop of bicarbonate of soda in with the clothes. Put about a quarter to a half of the recommended dose of detergent in the specified compartment, and then place vinegar in the slot for fabric softener.
Do NOT use fabric softener as it just coats your clothes in gunk and make them last shorter. Detergent companies recommend you use far too much product and that will only cover and lock in a lot of the dirt in your clothes and you’ll need to use more product to hide the smell.
The bicarbonate pre-wash, and vinegar rinse gets your clothes cleaner, and gets rid of a lot of stink that detergent doesn’t.
Chapter 3: (Cheesy) Smashed Potatoes and Breaded Fish
Hi friends and enemies!
Tonight I made fish, potatoes and asparagus, and I thought I’d write down what I used and how I did it in case you wanna try sometime.
You need
Two small or one big piece of breaded white fish
Handful of small new potatoes or one or two big ones
9 asparagus stalks from the Abbey kitchen garden
Optional: cheese for the potatoes (I use prästost (hehe priest cheese) because it’s the most similar to my favourite from home, åskväderost)
I used some fish Rain prepared and froze two weeks ago, and new potatoes and asparagus from the Abbey kitchen garden that Primo and Mountain helped me harvest. Rain and Mountain said if you don’t have access to ghouls who can help you, store bought ingredients are fine. Though if you can get your food directly from farmers or from sustainable grocers that’s great!
Okay, so I preheated the oven to 200°C (390°F).
Then I placed the potatoes in a small pot and filled it with cold water until the potatoes were just covered and set it to boil on the stove. Aether recommended I boil them until they were just soft.
While the potatoes were boiling I got a baking tray and placed the fish and the asparagus on there.
When the potatoes were ready I got them out and placed them on the tray too before I gently smashed them with a fork.
I drizzled some olive oil (Cirrus says it’s really nice to use good butter too so I’m gonna try that another time) on the potatoes and the asparagus.
I added onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and rosemary salt after the oil but you should season however you like.
Then of course the potatoes got covered in cheese before I popped everything into the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. Now I’m just waiting for it to let me know it’s all ready.
Oh! Mist says you should look at the cooking instructions for your fish if you’re using store bought or double check with your water ghoul if you know one.
Chapter 4: Zephyr's Cheesy Pasta
Sometimes we need some comfort food. Today Zephyr made me their quick and easy comfort cheesy pasta and they wrote down what to do in my book.
Easy version - for 1 ghoul
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
Get two saucepans/pots/whatever you have and fill one with water that you bring to a boil before adding salt and 2-3 large handfuls of pasta.
In the other, add 200 ml milk and bring to a simmer. Season the milk with nutmeg, onion powder, garlic, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
Test the pasta by sticking a fork in it. When it’s half done, move it over to the simmering milk. Add so much cheese. At least 100g, but more if you want.
Stir until the cheese is nice and gooey. Pour the whole mess into an oven safe dish and use a soft spatula to get all the cheesy sauce from the pot. Top with more cheese and bake for 10 min until the cheese is deliciously melted. (Alternatively ask a fire ghoul to melt the cheese for you). Serve and eat.
Easy easy version - for 1 ghoul
Bring milk to simmer. Season it. Add the pasta and cook until soft. Turn the heat off and stir in the cheese. Serve and eat.
Note that this version will be a little sweeter due to science.
Dewdrop struggles with sensory overload and pain after Mass one night. It is all too much for him and he regresses. Mountain and the rest of the pack is there to take care of him and make him feel better.
Read below or on Ao3
Word count: 2k
Dewdrop has had a long day. His whole body hurts, the lights are too bright and there are so many people outside the Chapel after Mass. They are all being too loud, chittering and laughing about something that must be hysterically funny if the piercing shrieking they are stabbing his eardrums with is anything to go by. He can hear each scuffing little step every single sibling takes as they stomp their clumsy human feet on the hard stone tiles. Ghouls have clawed paws and hard hooves but they all still manage to move without sound, so surely it can’t be that difficult?!
Dewdrop winces as the bright ceiling light of the hallway scratches at his corneas, each ray forcing its way through his retinas to stab icy-hot needles in his brain.
A Sibling pushes past him, their habit dragging against the skin of his forearm and it feels like he’s being torn apart. It’s the last drop that finally pushes him over the edge and he curls in on himself as much as he can right there in the hallway outside the Chapel, surrounded by a squirming sea of vile humans. It’s too much and his mind can’t take it, can’t break down and process the insane amount of stimulus rushing him like he’s a piece of meat in a tightly packed tank of starving piranhas. Oh Satanas, what he wouldn’t do to be back in Hell, cradled safely in Lucifer’s arms right now.
“Hey Dewpup, I’m going to wrap my arms around you and pick you up. Can you nod if that’s okay?” Mountain’s gently voice speaks softly close to his right ear.
Dew nods and the fragile grip he has on his mind loosens further. Mounty is here, he’ll save him.
Strong arms gather him up, a firm touch along his back and under his knees as he’s pulled into Mountain’s chest. Dewdrop presses his face into supple muscle, rubbing his face over the soft shirt and settling with his nose pushed almost all the way into Mountain’s armpit so his face is cradled by his chest and upper arm, shielding him from the light. It smells like the forest in high summer and Dew can finally breathe a little bit easier.
“Swiss, would you-“
“Yeah, I’ll run ahead and set up the common room.”
The sounds of the hallway slowly move further away and the gentle swaying of Mountain carrying him home soothes Dewdrop’s raw and tender nerves. His breath hitches, eyes watering as the intense buzzing in his blood calms down from nuclear-reactor-about-to-blow to boiling-tea-kettle-screaming-that-it-is-done. Dewdrop wiggles a finger in between the buttons on Mountain’s shirt, needing to touch his warm skin. He strokes over thick chest hair, making Mountain kick up a soothing purr.
“You’re doing so good, Dewpup. We’ll get you into something soft, and Swiss is setting up the living room for cozy time right now.”
“Hurts, Moun’y,” Dewdrop whines quietly, and Mountain rumbles quietly.
Cirrus sneaks past them and opens the door to the den. They all step inside, the other ghouls quietly hurrying past to help Swiss set up. Dewdrop carefully lifts his face from the safety of Mountain’s chest, vary of the stabbiness of the awful lights.
Huh.
He blinks a few times and straightens up more. The big lights are off, and the curtains have been drawn shut. The only light in the room is coming from the fire burning in the hearth. Swiss has taken all the cushions from the couches and put them on the floor, and there seems to be a huge mountain made of blankets and soft pillows waiting to be distributed out. Swiss looks up and smiles at Dewdrop and Mountain, giving them a little wave before turning back to the cushions.
“C’mon, let’s find some comfier clothes, hm?” Mountain says and turns to head down the hallway to Dewdrop’s bedroom. He carefully opens the door with his elbow and readjusts his hold on Dewdrop so he will be able to pick out clothes without letting go just yet.
Mountain goes over to the blue dresser in the corner of the room that holds all of Dewdrop’s soft things. Rain had spent a whole week carefully painting a myriad of sea creatures all over it. There are underwater plants and little crabs on the sea floor, all kinds of fish, mermaids, and even an octopus swimming happily through the water along the sides. Rain is not the most artistically gifted ghoul, and some of the creatures look more like blobs, but Dewdrop loves his dresser even more because of it. He calls it his Rainy-Loves-Me-Dresser, and it never fails to make him smile.
“Want kitty ears, Moun’y,” Dewdrop says with a small pout as his hand pets the top on the dresser. His eyes trail over the colourful creatures and his pout slowly turns into a teeny tiny smile.
“Kitty ears it is, Dewpup. Can you undress yourself or do you want me to help?”
“Help with buttons only, please.”
Mountain nods, grabs the onesie out of the drawer along with some thick, soft socks and walks over to the bed. He deposits the clothes before gently setting Dewdrop down on the bed. He undoes the buttons on his chapel slacks and the shirt, before moving back to the dresser to get a fresh pacifier and Dewdrop’s favourite plushie. It is a light pink, orange and purple cloud, made to look like a cumulus cloud at sunset. Omega had given it to him when he returned from a trip once, and Dewdrop had been so proud when he showed it to Cumulus and said it was his new most favourite plushie because it was kind and beautiful like her.
Dewdrop is huffing and puffing as he changes his clothes. Mountain smiles to himself and pretends to be busy looking for the paci. Unless Dewdrop asks for help, the ghouls give him his privacy and let him do things for himself when he’s feeling small, but not tiny. His speech told Mountain he was big enough to be fine changing on his own, and that he would ask for help if needed. Their pack bond also allows Mountain to sense if he is about to fall over or hurt himself, so he’s never worried and Dewdrop feels better when they do it this way.
“Gah!”
Mountain closes the drawer, ready to assist with the zipper any second now.
“Help please, Moun’y,” Dewdrop says.
“Alrighty, let’s get you zipped up and ready for cozy time. Do you think Aether is making us tea?”
Mountain sorts out the onesie, adjusting the hood so it is properly positioned around the horns and the ears stick up the way Dewdrop likes.
Dewdrop giggles. He grabs Lussy-Cloud and pulls her close to his chest with one hand, gripping the paci tight with the other.
“Aefer always makes tea, Moun’y. It’s his most favourite ever!”
Mountain laughs in agreement and picks Dewdrop up again, letting him curl into his chest as they return to the others.
They walk into the living room and Dewdrop lifts his head up from Mountain’s chest to get a better look at what the ghouls have done while they were away. The big, heavy couches have been moved so they act as walls around the cushions on the floor, providing back support for anyone who needs it. The pillows and blankets are spread out all over the soft area, and Cirrus has gotten a whole bunch of plushies out. There are cups, plates and napkins on a small table in one corner, and the gentle fire casts a soft, warm glow over everything. Most of the ghouls are already sitting or laying down on the cushions, all of them now in soft, comfy clothes.
Aether comes out of the kitchen with two teapots, Sunshine trailing behind him with a huge tray laden with the fresh cinnamon buns she had prepared before Mass. Dewdrop giggles and leans close to whisper in Mountain’s ear.
“Did you see?! Aefer has te-he-hea!”
Aether winks at Mountain as he walks over to put the pots down on the table.
“I wasn’t sure what’s hurting you Dewpup, but I know raspberry leaf tea helps me sometimes, and nettle tea is good for all the hurts, isn’t it?”
Dewdrop nods and lays his head down on Mountain’s shoulder again. There is a space for them in the middle so they are facing the fire, and Mountain carefully steps onto the cushions and sits down with his back against the couch. Aurora moves closer so she is sitting right next to them. She looks at Dewdrop with questioning eyes before gently taking his legs and stretching them out across her lap. He waves at her with the hand holding Lussy-Cloud and she smiles.
Phantom is watching them interact. He so desperately wants to help too, but he’s not sure how welcome he is. Mountain nods with a smile at him, and Aether places a hand on his shoulder and pushes gently. Phantom makes his way across the cushions and settles down on Mountain’s other side, with Dewdrop’s facing away from him.
“Is it okay if I put my hand on your back, Dew? Maybe I can help a little with my quintessence?”
Dewdrop cranes his neck as much as he can, which isn’t much at all right now, and nods shyly while looking at the fire. When Phantom’s hand touches his lower back, he lets out a deep breath and leans into the touch. Quintessence slowly seeps into his sore muscles, and he feels himself relax further. Phantom is a nice friend, Dewdrop thinks he probably loves him.
“Tea, Dewpup?” Aether asks, suddenly right in front of them with two cups.
Dewdrop lets go of his paci, letting it fall into the crook where his hip rests against Mountain’s tummy. He gently lays Lussy-Cloud down in his lap and takes one of the cups. Aurora reaches for the other one and she smiles at him before they both take careful sips.
Dewdrop holds his cup with both hands, the warmth of the tea feels so nice and comforting in his hands. His head is so, so tired from all the pain that is slowly leaving his body, and the cup feels too big to hold in one hand. He smiles to himself. It may be a little funny how much Aether loves tea, but he always has a blend to help with anything. Aether’s tea makes everything better, especially since Dewdrop is pretty sure he stirs some quintessence into each pot.
Sunshine is handing out plates with cinnamon buns and napkins to everyone. She is the best baker in the whole universe, and they are all excited when she makes something for after Mass. She knee-walks over to Dewdrop, offering him a plate with the best looking cinnamon bun with extra sugar on it. He looks down at his tea, and then up at her a little distressed. He doesn’t have any free hands. Against his will his lower lip starts quivering slightly.
“Hey hon, don’t worry-“ Sunshine starts.
“Why don’t I hold your plate in my lap and I can rip off little pieces for you?” Aurora suggests. She has got her own plate on one thigh, and she’s so good at holding her cup she only needs one hand.
“Okay, please,” Dewdrop says with a nod.
Sunshine smiles at them both and places Dewdrop’s plate on Aurora’s other thigh, before she turns around to keep handing out treats.
Aurora tears off a nice sugary piece and holds it out for Dewdrop. He grabs it with his teeth, careful not to nick her in the process.
Aurora keeps feeding him, and Dewdrop sips his tea. Mountain is purring gently under him, and Phantom is still warming his back. Dewdrop is so happy he has the best pack in the world.
Eventually he finishes his tea and looks around for Aether who stretches his arm out from where he sits to the side. Dewdrop gives him his empty cup, shaking his head to decline the offer of more tea. He leans back on Mountain, snuggling in as close as he can. He picks up his paci again to hold in his hand, wrapping his arm around Lussy-Cloud. He reaches out with his right hand to search for the spade of his tail, and when he finds it he holds it up to his face.
“Moun’y, can you and Swissy sing the song about never alone?”
The tip of the spade makes its way into his mouth. It’s just more comforting than the paci sometimes.
Next to Aether, Swiss puts his plate down and clears his throat. He looks over to Mountain who counts them in by nodding.
“Call out in the middle of the night, for when else would I hear you?”
I found this prologue I wrote for an AU I had in mind based on this prompt
You were told your gift for light magic was a blessing. Your wit and talent could make you into a legendary healer. But you're not a gentle person. The charred corpses of your enemies can attest to that.
It’s unlikely I’ll write more so have this. Tagging @mak-be-ghouled who wanted ghoul thoughts.
How Dewdrop found his fire, some world building and blasphemy about the nature of the world and how ghouls came to be.
Everyone starts out neutral when they’re born. Everyone has the potential for all the magics/elements, but usually one (sometimes two or three) develop as the person matures. Those who choose to use their powers for good - tending to plants and animals, helping others, creating things, doing arts and crafts and so on - live happy lives for a few hundred years. Those who choose to use their powers for evil - murder, corruption, controlling others, all the bad shit - are effectively immortal. They can be killed but don’t die of illness or old age. They’re lonely and miserable and their own choices reflect back on them to cause them anguish.
Some people don’t really want to deal with their own powers and so they fade and the person goes back to neutral and lives a decent life for a hundred years or so.
Most people are either good or neutral and the few evil ones don’t typically last very long anyway.
This goes on for hundreds of millennia. Someone along the lines nickname the good magic ones angels and the evil magic ones demons. A few more millennia pass.
There are more and more people choosing to remain neutral as the angels tend to have to follow certain rules. They have a leader now, someone who decides what is actually good and what the angels can think and do and say. It just seems to be too much hassle for most people. It’s confusing too because certain behaviours and traditions that have always been good, have always defined the angels, are now marked as bad and a sign of demon tendencies. Plant healing is no longer allowed, sharing food and shelter is restricted, love isn’t really accepted. If someone questions why these are now bad when historically they’ve always been good, a high ranking angel will condescendingly answer can’t you see that the demons are part taking in these rituals, these vile behaviours? Demons are bad, everyone knows that, so everything they do is bad.
Things get weird. There are so many rules, so much division, so much confusion. No one really knows what to do or how to live and they have to consult the angels.
The angels prefer to live in their own town, away from the simple neutrals. They appoint a few neutral ambassadors to relay their messages.
But soon the leader of the angels decide that he’d prefer is the angels were more obedient, his subjects similar to the neutrals. They’re forbidden from thinking too much, made to follow his strict regime. They follow orders and that’s it. The leader decides that some murder is actually good. Sometimes it is good to kill the people who disagree with you or have something you want. It is good to do anything he decides. The ancient and natural ways are in fact evil and no one realised until now. So really he’s just saving them.
The neutrals live in fear of the angels and their leader. They’ve been told this fear is good and it’s actually worship which is in fact great. Most are too overworked to question it even if deep down they know something is off.
One day a little boy is born. He is given the name Dewdrop. He grows up in the same oppression as everyone else. His parents are odd, they still remember the old traditions. They still remember the magic potential in each and every person. They think Dewdrop might be able to lean into his water element, gain access to his magic and his powers as he grows up. So they nurture that as much as they can. But as Dewdrop becomes a teenager it is clear that it is his fire and light that is the most prominent. They are delighted, they tell him he’ll become a powerful healer, and they help him in any way they can.
All in secret of course, because magic is forbidden unless special permission is granted by an angel or angelic ambassador.
Dewdrop loves his parents and he loves his magic. But he is also growing up in this horrible and unjust world. He sees all the evil being done while presented as good. He sees all the suffering, the oppression and the abuse. He sees the angels and their neutrals abusing the power they’ve forcefully taken.
Most kids have rebellious years and although Dewdrop is lucky enough to have parents who genuinely want the best for him and who support him fully, he is not one to follow orders.
He starts going to the borders, to the places where no angel or neutral dares even glance. In the dead of night he sneaks off to the demons. He is careful, observes them from afar for a while.
The demons he sees look similar to the neutrals except they have tails and horns and their skin appears almost marbled. All of them seem to have various shades of grey and earth tones as their main skin colour, streaked with vibrant colour. Most of them have only one colour dancing across their skin, but some have two or three different ones.
Dewdrop is smart, one of the most intelligent people in his town. He wonders if he’ll develop this marbling too, and which colour represents the fire element.
After some time of careful observation from afar, he makes his way closer. He ends up befriending a demon with multiple colours decorating his dark skin. His name is Swiss, he has a wicked smile, and sitting by the fire one night he tells Dewdrop about what is really going on in the world.
“Have you noticed that the leader of the angels seems to stay hidden away from any potential harm? That he’s been around for a couple of millennia now? Your parents have given you a good education, you know about the nature of magic. Weren’t angels supposed to only live for a few hundred years?” Swiss says in a low voice, the fire crackling in front of them.
And Dewdrop realises that they’ve been lied to for so long they’ve missed what was right in front of them all along.
Evil is in charge. It changed its name to Good and has been terrorising the world for over two millennia. But the universe will always demand balance and even the most powerful evil can’t control nature enough to permanently exterminate good.
These demons, Swiss and thousands more living in the outskirts of civilisation, have leaned into the nature of the universe. They embrace their good sides and their bad sides, their light and their dark.
Cause no harm but take no shit.
Live with the world, not against it.
They aren’t truly demons. They’re certainly not angels.
They are ghouls.
And Dewdrop decides that is what he will be too.
And he will take down the angels and kill their leader.
favorite stage of qunt hatesex has to be when they've been hooking up long enough that the hate has started to phase out and it's just kinda regular sex atp, and they're both aware of this, and they're both absolutely fuming about it. i may be kissing your ears but i am NOT your friend and i will DIE on that hill
trying to write star trek with actual PlotTM while caring about workers rights is a nightmare. they don't even have WEEKENDS. where are the other shifts? tell me you have a 3-shift system at LEAST 3 shifts worth of people need to be on that ship, ideally 4. and look, going back to the weekends thing, i get that these ships are structured after naval ships, submarines, etc and thus have more of a seasonal deployment structure to them, with months of constant on-call duty interspersed with weeks of shore leave. but uh. this is space. if you're on a 5-year exploration mission you don't get to just pop on home for a two week vacation. you need weekends and vacation time you can spend on the ship, in addition to brief shore leaves on new planets. does Voyager ever address this i feel like it has to come up at some point on Voyager (<- has only gotten through S1)
