pinejaysong

a cartoon seal with a concerned expression



Recent works

Recent bookmarks

  1. Rec *

    Tags
    Summary

    The Eridian thrills a high sound that doesn’t get picked up by the translator which means that it has no clear meaning. Like when a human gasps or sucks in a deep breath. It actually sounds a little like that. When they notice that I’m staring straight at them they scramble back into their hiding spot and hold very still. 

    A child, I realize with a start.

    That’s a child! 

    “Hey,” I call and the kid squeaks again. I was about to get to my feet but abort the movement and crawl closer on my hands and knees until I'm inches away from the xenonite wall. I wait and it takes me much too long to realize that they don’t have to peek around the corner to see if I’m still there.

    “Hey there,” I try again, my voice low and calm. It’s my teacher voice, the one I use for shy and scared students. 

    Used. 

    The fact that I haven’t had to use it for years and it still comes to me automatically almost knocks the air out of my lungs but this is not about me, it’s about making sure the little pebble doesn’t die of fright from the scary alien. “Hi, I’m Grace. It’s alright, you don’t have to be scared.”

    ***
    How Grace finally gets back into a classroom, where he belongs

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    6,881
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    399
    Kudos:
    5,238
    Bookmarks:
    1,081
    Hits:
    22,036

    22 May 2026

  2. Rec 67

    Tags
    Summary

    After four years of alternating comas, the Hail Mary crew enters orbit around Erid on a ticking clock. Something is wrong with Grace, and time is running out. Rocky does not know HOW, but Rocky will fix it.

    ..........

    There is no other way.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    7,985
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    30
    Kudos:
    278
    Bookmarks:
    67
    Hits:
    1,380

    20 May 2026

  3. Rec *

    Tags
    Summary

    Hours later, Rocky wriggles awake. The pain has eased. His heartbeats have slowed. His cells are still functioning. There is no falling apart. He can hear the scritch-scratch of his five claws on Xenonite. He can hear the machines, humming their false song. He can hear the silent expanse of space. The distant stars. His friends, dead in the hull. And the building feeling, deep in every cell — every fibre of his body — that something is so incredibly wrong.

    Rocky knows this disease. Exhaustion. And all alone in space, there is no cure.

    It is a primal requirement that Eridians sleep only under the trusting gaze of their companions. Rocky spends forty-six years alone in space.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    2,176
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    70
    Kudos:
    1,548
    Bookmarks:
    268
    Hits:
    5,123

    07 May 2026

  4. Rec *

    Tags
    Summary

    Ryland Grace went into a coma 10 days before the Hail Mary launched, and his crew were put into their own comas. Turns out there's a ten-day difference in wake-up time, too; and, unfortunately for Ilyukhina and Yao, ten days is enough time to make first contact.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,804
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    74
    Kudos:
    2,978
    Bookmarks:
    417
    Hits:
    9,941

    07 May 2026

  5. Rec 13

    Tags
    Summary

    Thirty years after

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,043
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    6
    Kudos:
    95
    Bookmarks:
    13
    Hits:
    382

    07 May 2026