BELATU DUMFUK KADROS, self-sacrifice is nowhere near as sexy as you think it is! You are goddamned well grounded mister. >:(
Can I just take a minute to talk about the fact that the ship is named Zero-Sum Sex Game? Aside from being a very nerdy dirty joke, it's also pretty creepy. Taken literally, it's... actually not possible to use that phrase to describe healthy consent. I probably shouldn't take it too literally, since first of all it's obviously an in-universe joke, and also there's a couple ways to fudge the terminology to make it less squicktastic. (Say, if the marginal utilities summed to zero, rather than the absolute utilities. Or if the "score" being summed is, like, orgasms instead of general sexyfeels.) On the other hand, trolls. It's really not impossible that a troll could name their ship after a rape joke and get away with it.
i was hoping i'd get to explain that name! because yep, it is 100% a rape joke. the name translates to something like 'rapemobile' : the zero-sum is a blockade runner, meant to penetrate enemy lines to deliver its payload, but if it fails it'll be destroyed— devoured—chewed up for parts and information and ransoms. one side is going to be taking brutal advantage of the other, that's the game. so like, it's both the boastful nasty way a teen boy on xbox live would say 'i'm gonna rape you in the face, bro!', but it's also as thoughtfully and poetically evocative as a name like 'the fragile blossom(/asshole) of victory unfurls' or 'valiant risk courts(/obnoxiously harasses) a deserved reward'. trolls are a really fun bunch of shitheads to play with.
OMG is this where the suspiciously painted definitey trolls with real and not at all sculpy horns are coming in? :D:D:D i am totally absurd levels of excited for that, u dont even no.
yea, i'm kinda saying pancho worked that out with her unit commander, and that the medical unit had a good supply, since they're on planet. i've been distracted today so i keep not writing bel's convos with pancho or like... even mentioning... that they happened... whoops.
BEL YOU PROBABLY SPATTERED YOUR BOYFRIEND BOSS WITH YOUR FLUIDS oh lord do trolls even have any sort of protection of course not. DON'T GET YOUR CAPTAIN WITH THE WEAKENED SYSTEM DUE TO FUCKING LEG BOTCH OF DOOM SICK PLEASE
Oh my gods, does Twitch actually differentiate between Bel and Murfey by their hair? Like, Bel is "giant blueblood guy with bishie hair" and Murphey is "giant blueblood guy with terrible hair". If that is the case, then: bwaaaaaaaaaah. *melts into a puddle* *oozes to bed because nope I cannot handle I am too pale towards this fictional character*
aaahaahaa y'know, earlier I was trying on this AU in the ol "find a verse in which my OC is not screwed" game, and came to the conclusion that this was probably not one of those, since 1) rust 2) tiny 3) insane 4) verse-specific, her lusus would almost certainly have been culled on ascension for disruptive behavior... but, BUUUUT, if she's in the same airspace as Twitch, at least that would make her not the biggest pale-bait on the ship. Which she would take as a win. Shit's embarrassing. *edit* Well, briefly, anyway. Then she'd probably settle back into her usual pinballing between hypervigillance, scrupulosity and ineffectual rage at the universe. ... she tends to spend a lot of time headbutting walls.