children's work
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Listing Series
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all some children do is work by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
06 Oct 2024
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“You are such a galactic nerd,” Anemone grins, “when did you get so serious and responsible?”
Sol swings their legs, looking out at the treeline. Was that a shadow, just there? “Same time you did, I think.”
Anemone abruptly stops smiling, staring out at the gloom. Sol watches a wild hopeye roll around happily in the dust and tries not to look at her.
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Solace endeavours to make it through the last of their teens alive, if not unscathed, and tries to bring their loved ones with them. A retelling of the last two years of my first IWATEX run.
Series
- Part 1 of children's work
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if we're just play fighting, how come that blade's shining by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
13 Oct 2024
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Summary
Cal shoves his hands in his pockets. “That sounds. Less scary,” he admits, “people write about being in love in holonovels and stuff and I think it sounds sort of terrifying.”
Geranium’s eyes crinkle. “I could never really get into romances. They always seem to stop before the good bit, because it’s not as fun to read about showing up and doing the work.”
In the back of his head, Cal hears Solace say "ninety per cent showing up."
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Recalcitrance struggles with coming of age, moving on, and reaching for more. A prequel to "all some children do is work", although it stands on its own.
Series
- Part 2 of children's work
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you're built to balance on two feet by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
04 Nov 2024
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Summary
It’s hard, sweaty work, but it’s good. He’s part of something bigger, something he dreamed of all those years aboard the Heliopause while people told him to grow up and do something useful.
Rex did grow up, and he did do something useful, just not the way they intended.
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Rex realises his world is changing, and him with it.
(now with lovely illustration by PenguinPerson!)
Series
- Part 3 of children's work
- Part 1 of mineshaft
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four chambers, just a standard issue by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
20 Dec 2024
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Summary
Anemone frowns, watching trees and cliffs pass them by. “That must have been hard, to re-learn something you used to be really good at.”
Sol shrugs, smiling. “Yeah, kind of? But I got to come back to it, and fall in love again."
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Anemone grapples with forgiveness, feeling purposeless, and finding her way back to joy. (illustration in chapter 1 by PenguinPerson!)
Series
- Part 4 of children's work
- Part 2 of mineshaft
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we stand upright, build fires at night by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
17 Jan 2025
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Summary
Sol sniffs. “I miss my Dad every fucking day,” they mumble, fresh tears welling in the corners of their eyes, “every day, especially now, I see or hear something and wish I could tell him?”
“Honestly, yeah,” Cal admits, “maybe not in the same way, but…yeah. He was my hero.”
“I just,” Sol’s voice twists, grief and resentment, “I miss my Mom too. We used to be so close.”
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Twenty-five years apart, separated by time and death, Recalcitrance and Geranium reckon with what it means to be a husband and a father.
Series
- Part 5 of children's work
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Children's Work: B-sides by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
23 Aug 2025
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A collection of one-shots set in the continuity of Children's Work. Mostly missing scenes or pre-canon speculation, some requests.
Track 1: Tirah attempts an intervention that does not go at all as planned.
Track 2: Sol confides in Sym about their romantic trials and tribulations.
Track 3: Cal learns something new about Sol.
Track 4: Antecedent, Miles, and the things we can't outrun. (now with beautiful art by PenguinPerson!)
Track 5: Five years after the end of the game, Nimbus has a very ordinary birthday.
Track 6: Cirrus, burning questions, and the family you choose.
Track 7: Nimbus accidentally gives Anterograde some advice that definitely won't come back to bite him.
Track 8: Fluorescent and Symbiosis look forward.
Bonus track 1: Miles on love, sacrifice, and allowing yourself to be used.
Bonus track 2: GET HIS ASS, GRADY!
Track 9: Twenty years after the end of the war, Anemone finds life still has some surprises in store.Series
- Part 6 of children's work
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rather be six feet under than be lonely by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
21 Jul 2025
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Summary
Anemone looks at him, gaze frank and appraising, and he cannot shake the feeling that he’s caught in a plasrifle sight. “I think…”
She trails off, frowning, clearly trying to put her thoughts in order. He used to know what she thought, could play on it, and it’s strange looking at her and having no clue what she’s thinking.
How much can one person change, in three years? Vace knows the answer already. He knows how far he’s slipped.
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The world around him has changed, yet Vace finds himself hanging in suspension, struggling to move on.
(now with an illustration in chapter 2 by wilting-fl0wer!)
Series
- Part 7 of children's work
- Part 3 of mineshaft
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they say there's good grief by Pariahgraph
Fandoms: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game)
05 Jan 2026
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Summary
Sym hums. "No," he says, "I am still learning about many things. But for someone who lives as we Gardeners do, the idea of an individual being irretrievably gone is not one that comes naturally to us. I still don't fully understand…I think I won't until someone close to me dies. I will, perhaps, be the first of my kind to experience that grief."
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Viridescent faces adulthood. Tangent observes an anniversary. Solace finds a few unhealed wounds.
Series
- Part 8 of children's work