#*will smith presenting wife pose*

[gedwimora]

seeing ppl reblog em's promo like

[coochiequeens]

Good News for women in literature

CNN — 

The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection.

She later began writing longer prose works, most notably “The Vegetarian,” one of her first books to be translated into English. The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman’s attempt to live a more “plant-like” existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty.

Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901. The prize, announced in Sweden on Thursday, carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million).

In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol described Han’s win as “a great achievement in the history of Korean literature” and a “national occasion.” He added: “Han has turned the painful scars of our modern history into great literature.”

Much of Han’s work poses the question, voiced by a character in her 2019 novel “Europa,” whose protagonist is wracked by nightmares: “If you were able to live as you desire, what would you do with your life?”

Although many of Han’s protagonists are women, her prose works are often narrated from the perspective of men.

“Before my wife turned vegetarian, I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way,” her novel “The Vegetarian” begins. “However, if there wasn’t any special attraction, nor did any particular drawbacks present themselves, and therefore there was no reason for the two of us not to get married.”

A selection of Han Kang's books on display at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Jessica Gow/AP

Originally written and published in Korean, “The Vegetarian” was translated by Deborah Smith, who was 28 at the time. Smith, by her own admission, was “monolingual until the age of 21,” and only chose to pursue Korean due to a lack of English-Korean translators.

The Swedish Academy lauded Han’s work for her “unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead.” Through her “poetic and experimental style,” the Academy said, Han “has become an innovator in contemporary prose.”

Anna-Karin Palm, a member of the Nobel Committee for literature, said readers unfamiliar with Han’s work should begin with “Human Acts,” a 2014 novel reflecting on the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, when more than 100 civilians were killed during pro-democracy demonstrations led by students in the South Korean city.

“Human Acts” shows how “the living and the dead are always intertwined and how these kinds of traumas stay in a population for generations,” Palm said at Thursday’s announcement ceremony.

But Han’s “intense, lyrical” writing almost acts as consolation in the face of this historical violence, Palm added. “Her very tender, precise prose in itself almost becomes a counterforce to the brutal noisiness of power,” she said.

Han’s novels rocketed up South Korea’s bestseller lists following the announcement. As of Friday morning, her books occupied all of the top 10 spots in popular online retailer Yes24’s chart for Korean titles. The bookseller told CNN over the phone that three of them — “Human Acts,” “The Vegetarian” and “I Do Not Bid Farewell” — had racked up combined sales of 70,000 units during the 14 hours immediately following the news.

At the Seoul flagship of bookstore chain Kyobo Book Centre, shoppers welcomed Han’s win. “I’m very proud of her,” high-school teacher Choi Ji-hye told CNN, adding that she had been “shocked” to hear the news.

For engineering student Kim Jee-heon, meanwhile, the announcement sparked a newfound interest in the author’s work. “This is my first time hearing about her, but… I was really amazed to hear that a Korean woman writer had won the prize, so I came here to look for her books.”

Elsewhere, several high-profile figures paid tribute to the novelist via social media, including musicians RM and V, members of the K-pop group BTS. “I read ‘Human Acts’ in the army,” the latter wrote on Instagram Stories. “Congratulations!”

Before the announcement, Ellen Mattson, another member of the committee, detailed how the judging panel sets about selecting each year’s literature laureate.

“We start with a very long list of around 220 names,” Mattson said. “Then we have to navigate through this enormous mass of names – and there we need the help of experts from different parts of the world.”

Eventually, the committee reaches a collection of “about 20 names,” which is then narrowed down to a shortlist of five authors. “That’s where the real work starts,” Mattson said.

Each committee member then has to “read everything by these five writers” as they begin to home in on a single winner.

Announcing the award, Mats Malm, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Han was “having an ordinary day” and had “just finished supper with her son” when he phoned to congratulate her.

“She wasn’t really prepared for this, but we have begun to discuss preparations for December,” he said. The Nobel Prize award ceremony takes place in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

[hollywoodandstagebeauties]

John Banner (28 January 1910 – 28 January 1973), born Johann Banner, was born on this date 114 years ago and died 51 years ago today at the age of 63. He is best known for his role as Master Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that the inmates of his stalag were planning mayhem, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, "I know nothing! I see nothing! I hear nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, "I see nothing, nothing!").

In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, underwent basic training in Atlantic City and became a supply sergeant. He even posed for a recruiting poster. He served until 1945. According to fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Robert Clary, "John lost a lot of his family" to the Holocaust.

Banner appeared in over 40 feature films. His first credited role was a German captain in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. He played a Gestapo agent in 20th Century Fox's Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943). His typecasting did not please him – he would later learn that his family members who had remained in Vienna all perished in Nazi concentration camps – but it was the only work he was offered. Banner himself was held briefly in a prewar-concentration camp.

Banner made more than 70 television appearances between 1950 and 1970, including the Lone Ranger (episode "Damsels In Distress", 1950), Sky King (premiere episode "Operation Urgent", 1952), The Adventures of Superman (4/5/57, The Man Who Made Dreams Come True.)Mister Ed, Thriller (episode "Portrait Without a Face", 1961), The Untouchables (episode "Takeover", 1962), My Sister Eileen, The Lucy Show, Perry Mason, The Partridge Family, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (episode "Hot Line", 1964), Alias Smith and Jones, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (episode "The Neptune Affair", 1964), and Hazel (episode "The Investor", 1965).

In the late 1950s, a still slim Banner portrayed Peter Tchaikovsky's supervisor on a Disneyland anthology series about the composer's life. This followed a scene with fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) as Nikolai Rubinstein. In 1953, he had a bit part in the Kirk Douglas movie The Juggler as a witness of an attack on an Israeli policeman by a disturbed concentration camp survivor.

In 1954, he had a regular role as Bavarro in the children's series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Two years later, he played a train conductor in the episode "Safe Conduct" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, appearing with future co-star Werner Klemperer, who played a spy. He played Nazi villains in several later films: the German town mayor in The Young Lions {1958}; Rudolf Höss in Operation Eichmann (1961); and Gregor Strasser in Hitler (1962). The year before the premiere of Hogan's Heroes, Banner portrayed a soldier in the World War II German "home guard" in 36 Hours (1964). Although it was a non-comedic role in a war drama, Banner still displayed some of the affable nature that would become the defining trait of the character he would create for television the following year. By coincidence, during the final moments of 36 Hours, John Banner's character meets up with a border guard played by Sig Ruman, who had portrayed another prisoner-of-war camp chief guard named Sergeant Schulz, in the 1953 film Stalag 17, starring William Holden. In 1968, Banner co-starred with Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin and Bob Crane in The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.

According to Banner in a newspaper interview, before he met and married his French wife Christine, he weighed 178 pounds (81 kg); he claimed her good cooking was responsible for his weight gain to 260 pounds (120 kg), as of 1965. This helped gain him the part of the kindly, inept German prisoner-of-war camp guard in Hogan's Heroes. Banner was loved not only by the viewers, but also by the cast, as recalled by cast members on the Hogan's Heroes DVD commentary. The Jewish Banner defended his character, telling TV Guide in 1967, "Schultz is not a Nazi. I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in any generation."

After Hogan's Heroes was cancelled in 1971, Banner starred as the inept gangster Uncle Latzi in a short-lived television situation comedy, The Chicago Teddy Bears. His last acting appearance was in the March 17, 1972, episode of The Partridge Family. He then retired to France with his Paris-born second wife.

Less than one year after moving back to Europe, while visiting friends in Vienna, John Banner died from an abdominal hemorrhage on his 63rd birthday. He was survived by his wife Christine; they had 8 children

Source: Facebook

Classic Retrovision Milestones

[scarubaru]

James Wood wrote an essay targeting post-modern fiction, specifically books like White Teeth, Infinite Jest, and The Underground. You can also include the likes of Pynchon and Murakami in this corpus of work, though the last author isn't mentioned in Wood's essay. Anyway, the gist of this essay was that these books are awash with ideas and information and numerous plots and sub plots, and that this is all very impressive, from a technical standpoint, but it doesn’t really have any impact. You’re not enticed to return to any of these books once you’ve read them, not like say, Madam Bovary, to give Wood’s example. He calls the style of writing in these post modern novels Hysterical Realism.

Now I think Wood is being kind of a crank here; he has a particular set of literary sensibilities, and he gets prickly when those are overlooked. When you’ve been a critic for as long as he has that’s probably a hard thing to avoid. And I enjoyed White Teeth, and The Underground. Their density and intricacy is what makes them interesting to me. Wallace I've not read, so I can't assess the criticism leveled at him. Still, I agree with Wood on his assessment of lack of impact, though I'd phrase it a bit differently.

One way you can go about writing a story is to ask "wouldn't it be weird if." That's how a lot of genre fiction is written. Wouldn't it be weird if there was a society where people could change gender at will? How would they conceive of gender? What would the societal and political implications of this be? And then you see where that takes you.

Books like White Teeth, The Underground, and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle ask a lot of 'wouldn't it be weird if' type questions. It's kind of baked into their premise. They are so long because they pile on these questions, these plot threads, and try to connect them by the end. The issue is, and this is where lack of impact rears its head, they rarely follow up on these questions.

So take Wind up Bird Chronicle: Wouldn't it be weird if one day my wife vanished, and in the process of trying to find her I crossed paths with a psychic prostitute and a traumatized war veteran from Japan's Manchuria campaign? Yeah, that would be pretty weird, and Murakami keeps you reading by presenting these scenarios, but they never go anywhere. There are no implications to any of these scenarios. The story climaxes, these plot threads connect, briefly, and the story ends. Toru, the protagonist, is as detached as he's been since page one.

Murakami's ability to pose these 'what if' questions, to compose characters based on them, and then connect them through hundreds of pages is impressive. Ditto for Smith. Her characters are less passive than Murakami's, but they're still tangled in a web of eccentric plot threads that seem eccentric for their own sake. You as the reader are being shown a cabinet of curiosities, and they're all organized and presented neatly and methodically, but once you've gone through it all and read the little placards you can't help but wonder what it is the curator is trying to convey.

I'd argue genre writers are much better at posing and answering 'wouldn't it be weird if' questions. They want to dive in and explore the implications, and they're not afraid to get their hands dirty in the process, so to speak. If Gethen, the planet in The Left Hand of Darkness, were incorporated into a Smith or Murakami novel, it would be a throw away plot point. You may get twenty pages of description about politics, history, culture, and an emphasis on how utterly 'weird' it all is, but at no point would the author try and see where that weirdness might take them.

Finally, to stretch all this to its breaking point, I would argue that when Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary, he wasn't asking 'wouldn't it be weird if' but rather, 'what if.' He wasn't interested in didactic finger wagging, and so he could conceive of characters, put them in situations, and follow them. It was a story that 'could have happened', and so the term Realist Fiction. That's the sort of fiction Wood appreciates.

When you start wondering how weird it might all be, you have to let your characters get caught up in that weirdness. It's not enough to relegate the weird to an aesthetic choice, and the characters can't be passive spectators, otherwise you get a tangle of plot threads that, when viewed as a whole, aren't terribly impactful.

[thyfaithfailnot]

Essay #15: What is Truth?, Pt. 5

Disc.: The following is a non-profit essay intended for educational purposes.

All talks, dictionary definitions, and scripture verses belong to their respective owners and/or publishers. No copyright infringement intended.

This concern, like all of the other ones presented to me, troubles me. I’m not surprised by it, but it troubles me nonetheless.

Concern #2:  Why did God tell Joseph Smith to cheat on his wife?  

This concern refers to the revelation Joseph Smith received about plural marriage. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the practice of plural marriage, except that I was teased and ridiculed about it the most growing up. I believe that a large reason why members of The Church are hesitant to talk about their religion is because they don’t understand plural marriage and are afraid of defending it. With that being said, I think this will be a good, spiritual exercise for me to learn and grow in this topic.

***

While preaching on the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His Apostles, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” 

“Some say thou art John the Baptist,” the Apostles answered, “Some, Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” 

Jesus then asked a very important question, one which we must all ask ourselves: “But whom say ye that I am?”  (Matthew 16:13-15; KJV).  

The RSV poses the question more simply: “But who do you say that I am?”  

Who was this man, who dared come and teach something that was so different from what the people of that day and time were used to? 

After a moment of silence and stillness, Simon Peter answered softly, but resolutely, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16; KJV). 

The CSB version of the same verse reads: “Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” The NIV reads the same as the CSB. In all accounts, they refer to Jesus Christ as The Savior, The Redeemer, The Messiah, The Son of the LIVING GOD. 

Yes, my friends, God is ALIVE! He does, in fact, live today, just as He lived during the time of Adam and Eve, the time of Christ, and The Middle Ages. His time spans from eternity to eternity, from beginning to end. God’s course is one everlasting round, as are His truths and His gospel.

Going back to Matthew 16 for a minute, after Simon Peter testifies of Jesus, The Savior says to His Apostle: “Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven” (Matthew 16:17; KJV). 

The other translations of The Bible read very similarly. Simon Peter’s testimony was given to him by The Father through the power of The Holy Ghost. This is a powerful thing! All testimonies have to be born to our hearts, minds, and souls from The Father through the unspeakable power of The Holy Ghost (Doctrine & Covenants 121:26).  

After blessing Peter, Jesus says something that hopefully doesn’t get glossed over or misunderstood. 

“Thou art Peter,” says The Savior, “and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:13-18 KJV). 

Such a powerful verse here!  What is this “rock” that The Savior is referring to?  As we have gone through this account, I think that it is plain to see that this “rock” is Jesus Himself.  

1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”  

I love the plainness of this scripture. I love how, as we search out for spiritual truths, spiritual vista’s are  opened to us. 

Furthermore, in looking at the word “rock” in The Bible’s footnotes it reads: “Here is a little wordplay upon “Peter” (Greek petros= small rock) and “rock” (Greek petra=bedrock) Christ is the stone of Israel”.  

We can look at John 1:42, which says, “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”   

I really like 1 Corinthians 3:9-11: “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

This scripture makes it very clear to me that Jesus Christ is the sure foundation upon which we can build. And what is even clearer is that we don’t have to build anything alone; He will help us to build. How I love and adore Him!

Matthew 16:19 reads: “For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.”  

It is important to have that constant revelation. We have a need for revelation, both personally and as a church.  

Amos 3:7 says: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”  

There was a need for a prophet back in the Old Testament times and there is surely still a need for one today. And, in that same vein, there is a need to communicate to God's children today. God still loves His children today, just like He loved them back in Old Testament times.  

John 6 teaches about individual apostasy. As mentioned before, Jesus taught things that went against traditions that had been upheld for decades. Some followed The Savior’s new teachings, but most rejected them. 

Verse 66 shows us some sobering words: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”  

The RSV is more straightforward with its translation: “After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.” 

Like all scriptures, this verse is just as much canonized scripture as it is a historical record. It was just as applicable to the people back then as it is for you and I today. Jesus is telling us in our own mother tongues: “Some tough things are going to be asked of you. I know that you can handle it, that is why I am asking it of you, I trust you, I love you and I will forever be with you.”  

Whenever a prophet speaks, people will always try to discount, poke holes in, and/or pervert what The Lord is trying to teach. Our ways are not God's ways. We do not see what God sees, nor do we think how He thinks. Our vision is a limited vision; we cannot see eternity, nor is the human mind able to grasp the full scope of eternity.  

Sarai gave Hagar to Abram as his wife (Gen. 16:1–11).

Jacob received Leah, Rachel, and their handmaidens as wives (Gen. 29:21–28, 30:4, 9, 26).

If a man takes another wife, he shall not diminish the first wife’s possessions (Ex. 21:10).

David and his two wives went up to (Hebron 2, Sam. 2:1–2).

In all these accounts listed, you will see that this practice was certainly not easy.  In the matters of the heart, which marriage is one of the most tender of the matters of the heart, most certainly, this would be a very difficult thing to do. But as one can plainly see, The Lord has directed that His people practice this from time to time.  Do I know what that purpose was? No, I do not. In one sense, I can see that sometimes the Lord wants to see if we will obey His Commandments. We are all sent here to find our faith and decide whether or not we will keep The Lord's Commandments.  As I read and ponder over the scriptures and become familiar with the stories and doctrines contained within, the one overarching principle I see is that The Lord is going to ask us to do hard things sometimes.  

I know and have a testimony that God loves and honors the chastity and virtue of all women, and that He would NEVER, EVER ask any man (let alone one of His prophets) to cheat or commit adultery on their wife. The Lord has made that very plain in The Book of Mormon, in which He proclaims, “For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women” (Jacob 2:28).

If I were asked why The Lord instructed the prophet Joseph Smith to practice plural marriage, I would answer that I wasn’t sure why. I did not live at that time, but I do have family that had joined the church at that time, so I have heard many stories of those early church history times. My family joined the church in 1840, right in the heat of persecution.  Only one of my family members engaged in plural marriage, but little is said of it in the family history accounts. He took on a second wife due to his first becoming ill and he wasn’t able to help tend to her properly, so to defend it would be fruitless. What I will say is that we ought not to counsel The Lord. 

To quote Jacob 4:10: “Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.” 

To put it simply, we don’t know all the answers. What we do know is that when a prophet speaks as a prophet, we ought to listen, and, just as importantly, we should show our love to God by obeying His Commandments. 

“If ye love me, keep my commandments”  (John 14:15).  

“What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”

~Doctrine & Covenants 1:38

I don’t think it gets much simpler than that. The world has always mocked when a prophet speaks, even when Jesus walked the Earth. It was so back then, it was so in the early days of the restoration, and it is so today. The road to discipleship has never been an easy road to walk. Many have walked it before, and many walk it today, but I would daresay that the path of discipleship is not well worn.  

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

In 1972, Thomas S. Monson gave a talk in General Conference entitled “Finishers Wanted”, in which he recited an anonymous sonnet I really like:

“Stick to your task ‘til it sticks to you

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise,

Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task ‘til it sticks to you,

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.”

I love the line “beginners are many, but enders are few”.  If you look for imperfections, you will find them.  Looking for the good and the honorable takes effort.  After Jesus died, The Church grew for a little bit, but people kept pecking away at it until the priesthood power was ultimately taken from the Earth, as was prophesied. 

Final thoughts

Choose to see the good. Choose to see God's hand and power. Choose to believe. Choose not to doubt.

“There is nothing noble or impressive about being cynical. Skepticism is easy—anyone can do it. It is the faithful life that requires moral strength, dedication, and courage.”

~Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf; “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe”; General Conference October 2015

The bottom line on this concern is that God is going to ask His people to do hard things.  Like Elder Uchtdorf suggests, a faithful life requires moral strength, dedication, and courage. Like our pioneer forefathers, ours is not an easy lot. There is no testimony without the “test”. I have a testimony that God continues to reveal His will to the prophet of the world today. God’s will is different from the will of the world.

[ashflynns]

☄〔 HUNTER SCHAFER, TWENTY ONE, TRANS FEMALE, DREAM TRAVEL 〕╰ ASHLEY FLYNN just came over half - blood hill . you know , the child of HYPNOS who was claimed two months ago ? i’ve heard chiron say that she is PLAYFUL & EMPATHETIC , but if you ask the aphrodite kids , they’d say she’s LAZY & TACTLESS . i’d say they remind me of sleepy smiles and under-eye bags, messy buns and an unmade bed, running from your problems with bare feet & trying to hard to keep your friends but losing them anyway, especially since she’s FOR THE NEW CABINS . ( ✎ joey , 24 , she/her , bst . )

*insert nice graphic here aka for the love of god someone find me a photoshop link*

hi! its your resident sea witch joey here ready to bombard you with an encyclopedic knowledge of the greek pantheon and uk criminal law?? i guess??? if u dont already know, i’m the one with six (6) cats. i combined my task and intro because im LAZY and bad at intros so i’ll use paige’s stats as a crutch whoops. ash is the lazy laid-back stoner friend everyone needs. she has no trauma because she DOESN’t DESERVE IT so maybe the real trauma will be the friends we make along the way.

𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕤 .

name :  ashley finn

nicknames : ash, whatever cute names u wanna give her

birth date :  4th february (aquarius squad speak up!)

gender :  trans female

pronouns :  she/her

ethnicity : white

nationality : irish american

hometown : ?? idk american towns SUE ME but she’s from SOMEWHERE in oregon

demigod abilities : sleep manipulation, dream manipulation, dream travel

cabin number & godly parent :  cabin fifteen, hypnos

how did their godly parent meet their mortal parent? :  hlhglkhg so i thought it’d be funny if they met when ash’s mum participated in a sleep research study. i think i’m hilarious.

𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 .

faceclaim : hunter schafer

height :  5′11″

hair colour : blonde

eye colour : blue/green.

dominant hand : leftie!

distinguishing features : her hair’s actually super curly she just straightens it a lot bc curly bedhead is a bitch to brush through in the mornings.

dress style : ugh this is gonna be hard to explain but like. you know those alt hippy stoner girls?? like that. likes baggy clothes and neutral colours. a lot of quote unquote ugly clothes with clashing prints. band t-shirts and whatnot.

𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕡-𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 .

go - to  weapon : HAH implying she willingly participates in capture the flag. she’d go for a xiphos because it’s the most basic dfkjg

ambrosia :  garlic bread. yeah she’s that kind of bitch

favourite camp location :  zephyros creek!

their opinion of their godly parent :  really unbothered tbqh. but she’s a very laid-back person to begin with. a ton of her school friends had absent dads. if she hadn’t come to chb so early then maybe the whole ‘i have powers with no explanation’ would’ve caused some resentment but hey, he’s a god. he’s a busy man. and being raised by a single mum made up most of who ash is, so it’s not like she’d change anything.

age they were claimed :  this year baby!

how they were claimed :  look dad’s timing was off but as far as he was concerned he claimed ash when percy made the deal. ash kinda always knew it was gonna be him so it was no surprise.

stance on the new cabins : for  the  new  cabins.

their opinion on lyssa pentelute :   as far as ash is concerned, lyssa’s whole shtick is just an excuse to shit on the kids who don’t have to suffer the same way she did. so, uh, she’s kind of a bitch? i have this in a bit more detail down below.

quests :  i’m gonna tentatively put no for now (unless anyone else on quests decides they’d like to have dragged ash along!)

𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 .

positive traits : playful, empathetic, laid-back, friendly but not a pushover, patient

negative traits :  lazy, tactless, aloof,  spacey, struggles to express said empathy, lack of focus

mbti :  Iinfp-t, the mediator

alignment : neutral good

hogwarts house :  hufflepuff

kinsey scale : JUST ASK IF SHES A LESBIAN OKAY?? THE ANSWER IS YES.

archetype :  somehow she matched equally with the innocent child and the wise old man *insert so what is the truth meme*

what candle scent are they :  vanilla

goals & desires :  well this one was tricky bc ash is a simple girl with simple needs and really just doesn’t want anything to change. she wants a life without the pressures of work and commitment, but that’s just not gonna happen, is it? her short-term goals are to practice fighting that urge to stay in bed all day and try to be a bit more productive. it’s not going well.

fears : explained more below but basically she has a fear of destroying all her relationships due to a lack of connect with the world

hobbies : when she’s not napping? probably gaming, going on nature walks, baking treats.

habits :  biting nails is the worst one. spacing out. you know that thing where you just?? stop focusing your eyes?? but you’re still tuned in to the conversation? that.

𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 .

so hear’s the short version kfjglkdfgjd ( for NOW ):

ashley’s mum, niamh, is third-gen irish immigrant. ash didn’t have a luxurious life or anything. they mostly lived off benefits or whatever niamh could pick up from her extremely lucrative dog-walking business. how she met hypnos was a literal joke. they met when she participated in a fucking sleep study and i guess they hit it off. typical story of dad fucks off/single parent yadda yadda. there’s no real ~~trauma~~ to ash. yeah, transphobia sucks and high school really sucked all but her mum’s been super supportive since she first came out and no one at chb has given her shit yet. niamh’s still around and ash goes back home every couple of months to visit her. they have a pretty good relationship. it’s all cool.

i feel cliche saying she was a ‘dreamy’ girl but dreamy or spacey really is the best word for it. mixed with your typical demigod adhd you get a kid who really struggled with school. well, it’s not like she struggled - ashley’s a smart gal - but the teacher’s struggled with her. i guess it was hard for them to understand that ash actually does her best thinking when she’s asleep.

struggles to keep friends - maintains a persona of aloofness and apathy but actually cares way too much. the narcolepsy hinders her ability to form proper connections ( although she’ll argue the sCiEnTiFiCaLlY pRoVeN fAcT that napping with someone for half an hour does more to build trust than anything else ). and no one’s really that fond of ash popping into their dreams. maybe they shouldnt have so much to hide, huh?

her biggest ‘’’ inner struggle ’’’ shall we say is the pressure to be productive. let’s face it, she IS a lazy bitch, and that’s pretty much an inherited nature. getting a job sounds like hell, she sucks at combat training, she really could NOT be bothered with camp politics and god wars and whatever else. why can’t she just sleep and dream walk all day? monster’s are out there man, she’s gonna die some point soon anyway. but that doesn’t mean  she doesn’t feel guilty about it all. it’s kinda hard not to.

so, moving on to the ISSUE AT HAND. so when you walk through dreams and you sleep for 20 hours of the day, it’s not hard to figure out who your dad is, even if he never turns up. like, seriously, who else would it be? so yeah, sure. she was only claimed a couple of months ago. but she wasn’t completely in the dark like some of her other campers, and she respects that, truly. she got the luckier end of the stick and its not hard to understand the resentment among the minor demigods and the unclaimed.

HOWEVER, she’s very much FOR the new cabins. as explained above, lyssa’s a bitch whose taking her mummy issues out on others. ash loves bunking with the hermes kids but she’d like a space of her own and at the end of the day who the fuck is lyssa to make that decision?

𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒 .

pinterest! (its a wip there’s not much IM SORRY)

spotify (now this is the one thing i will never let u down on)

wanted connections coming soon!

[iwantutobehapppier]

cAkE wIfE bRi!!!! What, what... What?!

“Gotta be inside you if you’re gonna say things like that, doll.”

I love how utterly desperate they are. It's sexy and full of love. Only you could warm my lady bits and my heart at the same time.

This is exactly what I needed to read after long ass day at work. Thank you, you beautiful poetic noble land mermaid.

P.s. you're the tiny bear and I'm the big one.

Risk

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: filthy smut with a smidge of fluff, language kink, breeding kink, subtle D/s undertones, marking, exhibitionism if you squint, 18+

Word Count: 1.7k

Y’ALL, I AM IN A MOOD THIS WEEK, OKAY??? HOPE YOU ENJOY. FUCK.

You love it when Bucky talks dirty. That’s a given.

He does it in English, mostly, but sometimes he likes to play a game with you – likes to break out his repertoire of languages and catch you off guard. It’s always at the most inopportune times, too: on a mission, usually, or in public. Places where he knows you’re stuck with him whispering the dirtiest things imaginable into your ear, things you just can’t understand.  

You love it. He knows.

Keep reading

[serxeinxx]

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐉𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔!!

⁰⁰¹.pairings: various x fem!reader | ft. gojo, geto, toji , choso, nanami

⁰⁰².warnings: none!!

⁰⁰³.genre: fluff, crack, celebrity au + sfw !!

⁰⁰⁴.notes: I SWEAR MY MIND IS GOING HAYWIRE BC OF THIS AHAHHAHHA + and when i say next week that im supposed to post this, but fuck it let's post it 😋

⁰⁰⁵.other links: navigation ; gen.masterlist ; jjk.masterlist ; taglist form

𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐎

— His pose with you was funny and cute at the same time, He picked up your gown and toss it while the camera went forward on the both of you. Both of you smiled widely and clearly just enjoyed the moment, His pose was different because it shows that he was presenting you, as his wife to the camera like will smith (the meme, but make it sweet <33). The small clip between you became viral. In the end, he asked for the clip and made the video as his live wallpaper.

𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎

— You both agreed to to the glambot thing, but in reality both of you always wanted to do it. It’s fun and memorable. What you didn’t know is that Geto has his plans of his own. You both first agreed that you both would do something flashy, just make it fun. What he did was very unexpected. As the camera starts rolling he held you hand and kissed it, like a true gentleman he his. You reaction was priceless. Your eyes widen and your mouth was agape, the people behind awe in surprised too.

𝐓𝐎𝐉𝐈

— Clearly this man has a lot of tricks up on his sleeve, just like the 3/4 shirt he wore in the event, you were wearing this stunning green dress that matched his eyes. You pleaded him that you should both do the glambot. But eventually, he agreed. You both nodded in the instructions, and where to stand. As the man counts down  3 to 1, you placed a hand on your hips, meanwhile he’s on the back, you have no idea how he’ll pose and hoped for the best. Soon enough the camera started tolling, you felt a warm breath on the crook of your neck and stiffened. Hands crawling on you waist. The results were amazing! although it made you blushing like hell, and he just chuckled darkly on the video.

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐎

— This man is literally the sweetest on earth, The funny bit was that both of your personalities were contrasting, with his sleepy eye look, and your beaming personality and with your eyes, fully opened. The people finds it cute. It’s the opposites really do attract. The time you both were posing for the glam bot, He held your hand and twirled you around like a princess. You both smiled. Like a prince treating his princess.

𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈

— Hands down for this man because, A man like him who was almost too formal can be full of surprises too. Same as toji, he was not fond of doing shots. But if it’s you who wanted it, he’ll simply let it slide. It’s you after all, this man is totally whipped for you. You both prepared for the camera to go forward, the man signaled to go and he suddenly let you fall and caught your back and waist to give a sweet kiss. The pose was like in the end of a waltz where the guy caught his partner’s back, leaving a intimate atmosphere all round you.

© 2022 serxeinxx. All Rights Reserved. Do not repost. Do not plagiarize.

[brian-in-finance]

Kenneth Branagh winner of the Writing (Original Screenplay) award for ‘Belfast’ poses backstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Oscar delight for Kenneth Branagh as he scoops best original screenplay gong for Belfast

Sir Kenneth Branagh has won his first Oscar for his most personal film to date, paying tribute to the ‘amazing city’ which inspired it.

Branagh took the award for best original screenplay for his black and white, coming-of-age film Belfast, set in the city at the outbreak of The Troubles.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Kenneth Branagh (2nd R) accepts the Writing (Original Screenplay) award for Belfast from (from L) Jennifer Garner, Elliot Page, and J.K. Simmons onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Accepting the trophy at the 94th Academy Awards in LA on Sunday night, Branagh said his story was “the search for hope and joy in face of violence and loss”.

He paid tribute to those the Belfast cast and crew had “lost along the way”, including actor John Sessions and Professor Jim Dornan, the father of Belfast’s star, Jamie Dornan.

“We miss them, we love them, we will never forget them,” he said.

“And we will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland.”

Kenneth Branagh accepts the award for best original screenplay for "Belfast" at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The 61-year-old Oscar winner, who left Belfast with his family when he was nine years old, is the first person to be nominated in seven different categories across his career. He told the star-studded audience that winning the Oscar meant a lot to him.

Belfast was written and directed by Branagh during lockdown and tells the story of his early years growing up in the Tiger’s Bay area of north Belfast. When sectarian rioting broke out and Catholic families were warned to leave the mixed neighbourhood, Branagh’s parents made the decision to relocate to England.

The movie stars Judi Dench, Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds and Gilford schoolboy Jude Hill. The actors all attended the Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre although Branagh and best supporting actor nominee Hinds almost missed out after testing positive for Covid over a week ago. The pair, who isolated in New York, were given the all clear to go after testing negative.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: (L-R) Lindsay Brunnock and Kenneth Branagh attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

It was a night of emotional speeches and high drama, with King Richard star and best actor winner Will Smith apologising to the Academy after storming onto the stage and appearing to hit presenter Chris Rock in the face. The comedian had made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, which seemed to anger the actor.

Smith, who played Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, in King Richard, became tearful as he apologised for his behaviour.

“This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award,” he said.

“It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father just like they said … just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things.”

There were emotional speeches too from best actress winner Jessica Chastain, star of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, who spoke about discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. She urged people who felt lonely or discriminated against to believe that they were loved unconditionally.

And winner of best supporting actor gong Troy Kotsur, star of Coda, which scooped best picture, delivered a moving speech in American Sign Language with an interpretor.

He said: “My dad, he was the best signer in our family.

“But he was in a car accident and he became paralysed from the next down. And he was no longer able to sign. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You are my hero.”

Coda also won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

Jane Campion, as expected, walked away with the gong for best director for her gothic Western The Power of the Dog. She had been predicted to win best film too, but Coda scooped the top prize in the end.

While Hinds lost out to Kotsur, his Belfast co-star Judi Dench also missed out on the best supporting actress award. It went instead to Ariana DeBose, star of West Side Story.

Belfast Telegraph 1

Oscars 2022: Belfast’s Ciarán Hinds misses out on gong with Troy Katsur winning best supporting actor

Ciarán Hinds attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Ciarán Hinds has missed out on the Oscar win for his performance in Belfast after the best supporting actor gong went to Troy Kotsur, star of Coda.

The 69-year-old north Belfast man, who plays the young Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Pop’ in the seven times Oscar-nominated film, had been an outsider for the Academy Award, with Kotsur and Power of the Dog’s Kodi Smit-McPhee the frontrunners in the category.

Hinds, a first time Oscar nominee, had been a fan favourite though, in recognition of his almost 50 years’ career. But on Sunday night, the golden statuette went to the star of the coming-of-age movie Coda, making him the second deaf actor to win an Oscar.

Helene Patarot, left, and Ciaran Hinds arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Hinds, who was accompanied to the Oscars by his actress wife Helene Patarot, almost didn’t make the Oscars ceremony after he and Branagh both tested positive for Covid over a week ago.

The pair missed the PGA Awards and spent time in isolation in New York. Their joint attendance at the Oscars was in question right up to the day before the ceremony but both were given the all-clear to attend after negative test results.

After receiving his first Oscar nod last month, Hinds, who also starred in Munich, Road to Perdition, Rome and current RTE crime show Kin, said he was ‘astounded, thrilled and deeply grateful’.

Belfast Telegraph 2

Oscars 2022: Belfast stars on the red carpet - in pictures

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: (L-R) Judi Dench and Sam Williams attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Caitriona Balfe arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Jude Hill, left, and Shauneen Hill arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Amelia Warner and Jamie Dornan attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Belfast Telegraph 3

Remember… we will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland. — Sir Kenneth Branagh

[riversofmars]

Sometimes 13 just poses as a student and attends rivers lectures.

Hellooo! I’ve been saving this prompt for a long time cause I love it so much and now finally did something exciting with it! This is actually a little collaboration I did with @serawalkerwrites. She keeps getting asked to write for DW and never has, so we decided to do a little thing together! Basically, we took turns writing paragraphs! She's written the River bits and I wrote for 13. Really fun thing to do because our styles are quite different but it worked :D Apart from the fact that she made me write in present tense which I hate lmao! Also, if you like American Horror Story or Ratched, check out her stuff!

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 2300

Read on AO3 or below

Like The First Time

“I might be younger and far prettier than the other Professors at this University, but that doesn't mean I don't expect the same level of good behaviour from my students,“ Professor River Song barks up the rows of lecture hall seating, slapping her papers on the desk. She tosses her bouncing curls of hair and brings her hands to her hips, watching the chatting students in the back row and waiting for them to take notice. That blonde girl seems to whispering at some speed, with enthusiastic hand gestures to boot. “That means you in the back row!“ She raises her voice again, finally getting the young blondes attention.

The Doctor hadn’t been able to stop herself. When River had started talking about the Venusian tomb she’d visited not long ago, it had been a perfect opportunity to tell the other students about the time she’d been invited to a funeral service there. It’s an incredibly stupid thing to do, of course. She isn’t meant to interact with anyone - as strictly speaking - she isn’t meant to be here. For a start she isn’t actually a student at Luna University; for another, she could very well be causing some damage to the fabric of space and time. Visiting her wife earlier in her timeline is risky… but she hasn’t been able to stay away. Sometimes, when the Doctor misses her a lot, she sits in on her lectures, right at the back. She knows River won’t recognise her and she never speaks to her… there’s no harm no foul is there? However, a slip up is bound to happen eventually.

Now, as she looks at River, who is shooting her piercing glare from the front of the auditorium, the Doctor realises she’s messed up. The Doctor looks left and right to the other students, hoping it’s one of them River is scolding.

“Yes you, don't act like I cant see you -“ River lifts her eyebrows at the petulant student. “Forget it, I’m not shouting at you from down here, stay behind after class. Then we’ll talk, and believe me you won’t like what I have to say.“ River rolls her eyes away, a taut huff tumbling from her lips to find her inner calm once again, before continuing. “Now where were we…“

The Doctor shrinks back in her seat, her neighbouring students giving her sympathetic smiles. Others just snicker and smirk. River has a reputation for strictness, no-one messes with her…The Doctor’s made a big mistake. She glances to the exit; she can still escape this situation. But if she does, she’ll never be able to come back. Perhaps it’s time to face her wife at last. She gnaws her bottom lip anxiously and tries her best to sit still for the remainder of the lecture.

As a shrill bell rings out, signalling the end of class and an end to the Doctors torture, River watches the troublemaker while she packs her things. Students rise to their feet, stuff their bags with books and file out in an eager swarm, heading into the midday sunshine. But not this student. She’s bouncing down the steps to the front, an epic grey coat and too-short trousers have her piquing River’s interest before they start talking. “Ah, good. At least you decided to be smart this time and not run-off out the doors. I would have found you,“ River informs the girl, whose swinging her arms and looking guilty. If this were any other circumstance, then River might have bought her a drink. But as it is, she's her student, however adorable she is. “Care to tell me what is so pressing you had to take time out of my lecture to talk about it?“

“Ah well, you know, the whole thing about the Venusian tomb, just brought back some memories to when I was learning Venusian aikido. There was this one time when I was invited to a funeral at one, which - you know - is a big deal for any outsider and…“ The Doctor starts rambling, unable to stop herself. A grin spreads across her features, hoping to entertain River with her story, as she had done so many times in the past. River always liked to listen to recounts of her adventures.

“Venusian Aikido?“ River folds her arms, skeptical. “They don’t teach that to just anyone. I happen to be a black belt myself.“

“Oh I know.“ The Doctor grins.

“It’s not on my resumé,“ River parries, her eyebrows lifting into an arch. “So someone told you. Perhaps at this funeral, you supposedly attended?“ River laughs doubting the girls claims. “No-one just gets invited to a Venusian funeral, or a wedding, or any kind of ceremony unless you’re a honoured noble. Which you clearly cannot be, no offence Sweetie but -“ River pauses. She stares at the blonde and her mismatched clothing, then bunches her lips. “What did you say your name was?“

The Doctor doesn’t answer immediately. This is it, the moment of truth. She could just tell her… surely there’s no harm in it. This is River Song after losing her parents in Manhattan, and before Darillium; there is no real reason to keep her identity from her. Apart from the fact that she isn't sure how she will react. They didn’t see each other for so long in between Manhattan and Darillium, enough for River to come to doubt if the Doctor had ever truly loved her. Her words still echo through the back of the Doctor’s mind now. The Doctor doesn’t and has never loved me. - But you are the woman who loves the Doctor. - Yes I am. I never denied it. But whoever said he loved me back? Those words still haunt the Doctor, even after spending 24 years with her in which she’d done everything she could to convince her of just the opposite.

“Jane Smith.“ The Doctor answers at last with a thin smile.

River lets out a loud chortle. “Jane Smith? Of course it is,“ River replies not believing her for a second. Who has the most standard name of all names like that? River postures a little, shuffles her papers around into a neat pile already thinking of the lunch that’s waiting for her in the refectory, because she's not getting any truth from this girl. “I don't recall your name on my student register; so…how about you tell me the truth.“ River hooks her bag over her shoulder and takes a long stride forward, claiming the podium as her space, the lecturer to the student. River examines her, because if she’s not her student, then who is she? All beautiful round eyes and choppy blonde hair, River certainly doesn't recognise her. Should she, recognise her? “Or you can come to my office and explain yourself there.“

“I uhh…“ The Doctor swallows hard. Of course she doesn’t believe her, people rarely do initially; but usually she can use her psychic paper to back up her identity. She knows River would see right through that if she tried it, so that isn’t an option. “Well, I’ve actually got somewhere else to be. A really very important…thing. A thing that can’t wait, so…it was really nice talking to you, brilliant lecture. Slightly exaggerated in some parts but - you know - got to keep the students engaged…“ Her eyes flick to the door. She’s parked her TARDIS in a supply closet, so it’s not far away.

“Are you calling my stories embellished?“ River trails after this Jane Smith towards the door, flabbergasted. She’s a bone fide time traveller, she knows her subject matter better than anyone in the known universe, except  - “It’s not as though you can possible know better? How old are you anyway, twelve?“ She carries on trying to get under the girl’s skin, who is clearly hiding something.  “Where on earth are you going? You realise that’s the closet.“

“Why are you following me?“ The Doctor had hoped to simply shake her but River seems to have different ideas. She doesn’t dare open the supply closet door, River would see the TARDIS and she would be done for. But where else could she possibly go? She looks around anxiously for a way out.

“Mmm it seems you might be trapped…“ River drops her voice to a knowing whisper. She smirks, delighting in watching the girl fret.

“I just… forgot which way I… uhh…“ The Doctor struggles for a response suddenly aware of how close River is getting to her. And that smirk… She knows it all too well. Like a lioness stalking her prey. She can’t even think of a credible lie to get her out of her predicament.

“Which way you meant to go?“ River bobs her finger on her lip pretending to think hard about it. “My office is this way, if you didn't get the hint earlier.“ River ghosts her hands over the girls hips, rubbing into her hipbones with her thumbs and sucking her lips and humming. “Jane Smith. I appreciate the code name. You can slip me your paper later, I’ll be sure to mark it up a grade, well, depending on your performance of course.“ River winks coyly.

“I…“ The Doctor’s mouth suddenly feels really dry, she can’t speak. Flirting and reading innuendo isn’t exactly her forte but River can’t possibly be more obvious with her advances. Is this what River is like when she isn’t around? The Doctor isn’t sure whether to be flattered or hurt. They’re not exactly exclusive but she doesn’t like her nose rubbed in it like this. But at the same time, perhaps this is an opportunity… She could be with River without having to reveal her identity… but is that something she wanted to do under false pretences?

“Good talk, come along!“ River grins and leads the way across the lecture hall to the staff door, and unlocks it with a quick key-twizzle, then presses the door open wide to wave ‚Jane‘ through. River uses the opportunity to loop her arm around Jane’s waist and scoops her in the right direction down the hall towards her office.

The Doctor doesn’t know what to do. Things are moving fast, River doesn’t even give her a chance to protest. Her hearts seem to skip their beats when River pulls her along.

Once inside, River tosses the door shut and wastes no time in pushing Jane against it, roaming her hands up and down her sides and snapping the elastic braces. “These are retro, but I can go with the flow, off they coooome…“ River sings as she yanks them off Jane’s shoulders, then the coat, and where is the edge of this t-shirt? River is keen to feel her hands up Jane’s abdomen, and the flush of her skin. River knows her hands are rough - years of archeological digs will do that to a girl - but Jane is young and sweet enough to need a little roughing up.

“River…“ The Doctor tries to protest, this was moving too fast. Her breath catches when River untucks her t-shirt. The Doctor is still getting used to this new body and she suddenly feels very hot.

“First names already? My my…“ River tosses her mane of hair out the way as she leans in to kiss Jane on the neck, biting her and enjoying teasing her far too much. “Sweetie you do give yourself away, even in this body,“ River tickles her teeth along the Doctor’s collarbone searching for the next spot to bite. “I mean, I like it darling, but give me a heads next time -“ River explores the Doctor’s petite body with enthusiasm. “My apparatus is your apparatus and all that, got to get my head around it.“

“You knew?!“ The Doctor blurts out and pushes her off, holds her at arms length. “And you just played along?!“ She’s breathless from River’s kisses but her outrage overshadows her arousal.

River unbuttons her shirt confidently, tearing the sides apart and presenting her body to the Doctor once again, even if it’s all new for the Doctor, River is still River. “Well what did you think? I do this with all my students, Jane Smith?“ She smiles a broad, proud River smile and holds her hands out for the Doctor to take. “I’m married, remember?“ Mutually exclusive is…a bit of stretch, there might be other husbands here and there, but there is only one Doctor. “So, wife, how about a little ride on the merry-go-round with this new body?“

The Doctor just stares at her for a moment. It’s been a while since Darillium but she still recalls every moment, and River is just as beautiful as she remembers. And just as much of a temptress. She bites her lip, suddenly feeling very insecure. It would be her first time in this body…and it’s her first time being a woman as far as she can remember. That’s a lot to be anxious about.

Softening the come-on, River takes the Doctors hands and steps closer to her, squeezing her hands in reassurance. “I knew it would happen eventually, a wife and not a husband. It’s okay, you know.“ River takes a deep breath, and kisses her wife properly for the first time. Her lips are thinner softer and taste of cinnamon, but she kisses back just like her husband did. Her Doctor. “I love you. This adorable new body is just a bonus,“ she says gently, then kisses her nose for extra effect.

The Doctor can’t help but chuckle as she looks up to her. This was new. She is shorter than her! Though only due to River’s ridiculously high heels.

“I love you, too.“ She whispers nuzzling into her crook of her neck as she wraps her arms around her. River smells exactly the way she remembers, like sunshine on a spring day. “I’ve missed you so much.“ She confesses.

[sistervee]

ALEXANDER

KING PHILIP (val kilmer) canon;king of macedonia. drunk. asshole. father of a bastard.

ALLELUJAH! THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL

THE AGENT (ALT FC JENSEN ACKLES); canon divergent. he did not stay in heaven, but was sentenced to a life in hell with the porcelain doll. he sings about fidelity and lust.

ALL TOO WELL BY TAYLOR SWIFT

BRANDON MURPHY (dylan o'brien) canon/oc hybrid; based on taylor swift’s short film ‘all too well’

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR

ABEL MORALES; (oscar isaac) canon; oil tycoon and the guy who always takes the morally high road no matter what because he has something to prove tm.

BATMAN FOREVER

BATMAN / BRUCE WAYNE (val kilmer) canon;

TWO-FACE / HARVEY DENT (tommy lee jones) canon;

BLUES BROTHERS

ELWOOD BLUES (dan aykroyd) canon;

CADDYSHACK

TY WEBB (chevy chase) canon; lackadaisical golfer with too much money

COLUMBUS DAY

JOHNNY COLOGNE (val kilmer) canon; thief extraordinare

CONSPIRACY

WILLIAM ‘SPOOKY’ MCPHERSON (val kilmer) canon; marine with horrific ptsd that he tries to chase away with drugs and alcohol to no avail. shell of who he used to be.

DEJA VU

PAUL PRYZWARRA (val kilmer) canon; tired TM fbi agent. divorced. works WAY too much.

DEXTER

HANNAH McKAY; (yvonne strahovski) canon; dexter’s serial killer girlfriend and step mom to harrison morgan

DEBRA MORGAN; (jennifer carpenter) canon; cop, dexter’s sister, mouth of a sailor.

DEXTER MORGAN; (michael c. hall) canon; serial killer, former or present blood splatter analyst depending on verse. current on dexter: new blood.

HARRISON MORGAN; (jack alcott) canon; dexter’s son w/rita, step son to hannah mckay

BRIAN MOSER; (fc tbd) canon; dexter’s older brother, also a serial killer, posing most recently as a prosthetic doctor

DOCTOR DETROIT

CLIFF SKRIDLOW / DOCTOR DETROIT (DAN AYKROYD) CANON;

DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG

CAPTAIN HAMMER (nathan fillion) canon; superhero with super strength, super good looks, and super… uh… hammer.

THE DOORS

JIM MORRISON (jim morrison / val kilmer used interchangeably because they are twin souls fight me)

DOUBLE IDENTITY

DR. NICHOLAS PINTER (val kilmer) canon; doctor without borders physician, framed, blackmailed, untrusting.

DRAGNET (1987)

SGT. JOE FRIDAY (dan aykroyd) canon;

DUNE

DUKE LETO ATRIEDES (oscar isaac); canon; duke of the house of atriedes from the planet of caladan. father of paul. loves his family and his people and cares for them in a way most dukes do not.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

EDEN (angelina jolie) oc; former black ops, was sentenced to life on the island for murdering a man who tried to sexually assault her. 

EVIL DEAD / FRIDAY THE 13TH FRANCHISES

ASH WILLIAMS (BRUCE CAMPBELL)

CLAY MILLER (JARED PADALECKI)

EVERETT ANDERSON (VAL KILMER) OC

JASON VORHEES (ADAM BALDWIN)

LINDA (SMITH) (AMY GUMENICK) evil dead canon;

EVIL EYES (2009)

JEFF STEN (ADAM BALDWIN)

EX MACHINA

NATHAN HAMLET BATEMAN (oscar isaac); creator of bluebook (think google), nathan spends his time at his reclusive estate in alaska working on creating the perfect AI.

FARENHEIT 451

LUKE MCKENNA (val kilmer) oc; after beatty burns montag alive bc he mad af, beatty gets removed from his post and mckenna comes in to replace him as captain. (i utilize val kilmer in spartan as the fc).

FELON

JOHN SMITH (val kilmer) canon; after his wife and daughter were rxped and murdered, he found their bodies and a reckoning happened. approx. 17 people were murdered which included the two men that did it and their entire families. he has no regrets about it. 

FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

FERRIS BUELLER (matthew broderick) canon;

FIREFLY

MAL REYNOLDS (nathan fillion); captain of the ship called serenity, smuggler, sarcastic little shit

JAYNE COBB (adam baldwin); “public relations” on serenity, mercenary

INARA SERRA (morena baccarin); companion, considers serenity her home

SIMON TAM (sean maher); doctor who broke his sister out of an alliance facility that was performing brain experiments on her

RIVER TAM (summer glau); simon’s sister, genius, psychic, trained in ballet and martial arts, will kick your ass if the right code phrase is uttered.

FULL METAL JACKET

ASHLEY JAMES BUCKLEY AKA ANIMAL MOTHER (adam baldwin) canon

JAMES T. DAVIS AKA JOKER (alt fc val kilmer) canon; recast of joker to kilmer bc i do what i want

GHOSTBUSTERS

ESTELLE ADAMS (MILLIE BOBBY BROWN) oc; simple girl, average childhood, loves to work on cars with her dad.

DANA BARRETT (VENKMAN) (SIGNOURNEY WEAVER) canon

ALEXANDER ‘ALEX’ RAYMOND HATHAWAY (DARREN CRISS) oc; Alice’s (@quiietpatience) son from her second marriage. video game designer. lives in california. visits NY frequently to see his mama. Hates his father (see below).

ADELMO GEOVANNI BARRIOS HERNANDEZ (OSCAR ISAAC) oc; second ex husband of Alice (@quiietpatience). he’s a real asshole, manipulative, controlling, etc. etc.

GARY GROOBERSON (PAUL RUDD) canon; 

SERESA KRAUSE (MEG RYAN) oc; (originally based in stranger things); waitress, and verse dependent, aspiring broadway star

MISSY MILLER (YVONNE STRAHOVSKI) oc; went to columbia with the boys tm. broke peter (doctorvenko)’s heart in public in front of everyone and went on about her pumpkin spice latte

TRISTAN ‘MASS’ OWENS (ZACHARY LEVI) oc; navy seal who was stationed in the Right Place at the Right Time and married a pretty woman (@quiietpatience) because it was ‘normal’. They divorced when he finally came out that he was gay.

JANOSZ POHA (PETER MacNICOL) canon

CALLIE SPENGLER (CARRIE COON) canon

EGON SPENGLER (HOWARD RAMIS / JOHN KRASINSKI) canon

PHOEBE SPENGLER (MCKENNA GRACE) canon

TREVOR SPENGLER (FINN WOLFHARD) canon

RAY STANTZ (KJ APA) REAL GHOSTBUSTERS CANON; FOR MOVIE CANON RAY (DAN AYKROYD) PLEASE VISIT DOCTORSTANTZY!

PETER VENKMAN (CHEVY CHASE / MATT BOMER FOR THE RGB VERSE) canon;

OSCAR (aka OZZIE) BARRETT VENKMAN (paul wesley) canon/oc hybrid;

having grown up as a “ghostbuster legacy” oscar, or as he likes to call himself, ozzie found himself intrigued by the occult. he spends a lot of time in ray’s store and he’s a leader of the new york ghost corps which are ghostbuster fans that are keeping the ghostbusters alive by attending conventions and parties and of course, he leads a paranormal investigation group as well. he is a local expert on all things occult and he loves it. leather jacket, motorcycle, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth are his aesthetic.

WILLIAM LINDEN; (VAL KILMER) OC

in the script for ghostbusters III, the ghostbusters created a machine that would transport them to an alternate version of new york so they could save it. my oc is based on this premise.

ghostbusters became so popular, they formed the ghostbusters corporation. one of the new members, william linden, worked with egon spengler to create this machine to save an alternate version of new york they had been alerted to.

in other canon, william is transported to [ insert your fandom here ] when the machine malfunctions. it zaps about 24 hours of his memory and he can’t figure out exactly how to replicate the conditions to return home.

JAMES VERNE (TIMOTHEE CHALAMET) oc; james was raised in summerville by his grandmother as his parents were in and out of drug rehab and jail. he started driving his grandma to doctor’s appointments at 14 and the cops look the other way because they know his circumstances and he obeys all the laws aside from the age. His grandmother is very well known and liked in the town. She is now bed ridden and taking a turn for the worst and he’s in constant fear of what happens to his 16 year old self when she passes? He doesn’t show it, though, on the outside he’s very happy and optimistic and well liked by the kids in town and their parents alike.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

ROMAN CRAIG (dan aykroyd) canon; smooth talking investor (formerly)

HALLOWEENTOWN/HALLOWEENTOWN HIGH

DYLAN PIPER CROMWELL (GREGG SULKIN)

HARD CASH

MARK CORNELL (val kilmer) canon; corrupt fbi agent working to launder money with the local mob.

HARRY POTTER

DRACO MALFOY (TOM FELTON/NEELS VISSER) CANON;

SEVERUS SNAPE (ADAM DRIVER) CANON;

SIRIUS BLACK (KIT HARINGTON) CANON;

HEAT

CHRIS SHIHERLIS (val kilmer) canon; caught up in the mob life. now on the run.

HOUSE OF WAX (2005)

BO SINCLAIR (BRIAN VAN HOLT)

THE HUNGER GAMES

GALE HAWTHORNE; (liam hemsworth) canon; i have been writing gale since 2012 and no longer know where book, film, and my headcanons end and the other begins *shrug*

SENECA CRANE; (wes bently) canon;  gamemaker just trying to survive under snow’s thumb by being as brutal as possible. tortured soul. 

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

LLEWYN DAVIS; (oscar isaac; darren criss - younger) canon; struggling folk musician in the 60s just trying to make it big.

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996)

MONTGOMERY KNIGHT (val kilmer) canon;  former neurosurgeon, has become more of a vet these days on the island of dr. moreau where there are genetic experiments on animals. twin brother of chris knight (real genius)

KILL THE IRISHMAN

JOE MANDITSKI (val kilmer) canon; cleveland pd detective who is Tired™ and desperate to bring the mob down in his city

KRAMPUS (2015) & GERMANIC LORE

KRAMPUS (adam baldwin for human form); canon/lore hybrid

THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN DYNASTY BY TAYLOR SWIFT

BILL JOHANSSON (val kilmer, 1996); canon/oc hybrid; bill is the heir to the standard oil name and money. he’s 37 and unmarried, driving his parents crazy. the problem is all the women in his parent’s circle are too stuffy and status-obsessed. his life changes when rebekah harkness shows up and turns the town upside down. heavily affiliated with brokenegoed.

THE LAST SHIP

MIKE SLATTERY (adam baldwin) canon;  commander (XO or captain) of the ddg-151 uss nathan james. trying to save the world from a pandemic.

TOM CHANDLER (eric dane); canon; captain of the ddg-151 uss nathan james. trying to save the world from a pandemic and also his family.

KARA FOSTER; (marissa neitling) canon;  lieutenant aboard the uss nathan james ddg-151 destroyer, tactical action officer, expert marksman, has a thing for a charming smile

HANNAH SLATTERY (millie bobby brown) canon/oc hybrid;  oldest daughter of high ranking naval commander mike slattery. girly girl, mama’s girl, loves fashion and social media. heterosexual. (age range 16-21)

AJ SLATTERY (madison mclaughlin) canon/oc hybrid;  middle daughter of high ranking naval commander mike slattery. tomboy, loves sports, daddy’s girl, lesbian. (age range 15-21)

LUCAS SLATTERY (colin ford) canon divergent;  youngest child of high ranking naval commander mike slattery. loves dinosaurs, alligators, and science! prefers not to be labled as anything, he just digs cool people. (age range: ~9-21)

THE LITTLE MERMAID

PRINCE ERIC (zac efron) canon;

LOST BOYS (VERSE)

TATE LEE (COHEN & TATE; ADAM BALDWIN)

MINDHUNTERS

JAKE HARRIS (VAL KILMER) canon; fbi instructor at quantico. thinks outside the box. loves cake.

MONSTER MAKERS

SHERIFF JAY FOREST (ADAM BALDWIN)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (2009)

SARAH MERCER PALMER (JAIME KING)

TOM HANNIGER/HARRY WARDEN (JENSEN ACKLES)

MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN

DR. STEVEN MILLS (DAN AYKROYD) CANON;

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S (VARIOUS) VACATION(S)

CLARK GRISWOLD (CHEVY CHASE) canon;

PREDATOR 2

ADAM GARBER (ADAM BALDWIN)

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT / THE TEN COMMANDMENTS MUSICAL (2009)

MOSES (val kilmer) canon; yes, the actual moses. i do not rp with animated fcs or use one and i will be using val kilmer as the fc and not accepting discourse on this matter. he did an amazing portrayal. my decision is final. ope

REAL GENIUS

CHRIS KNIGHT (val kilmer) canon; actual genius, party god, avid slipper collector. college senior or college professor (verse dependent), twin brother of montgomery knight (the island of dr. moreau 1996)

RED PLANET

ROBBY GALLAGHER (val kilmer) canon; with three ex-wives and an elvis obsession, robby was chosen to be the first group of astronauts to colonize mars after the introduction of algae to mars in 2025.

REPRISAL (HULU)

JOHNSON (david dastmalchian) ETHAN HART (mena massoud) JOEL KELLY (rodrigo santoro)

REVENGE FOR JOLLY!

CECIL (oscar isaac); canon. constantly drunk and/or high, cecil is the cousin of harry, embarks on a journey to find and destroy the man who killed jolly, harry’s beloved dog.

THE SAINT

SIMON TEMPLAR (val kilmer) canon; orphan, thief for hire, master of disguises, he has no idea who he really is

THE SALTON SEA

TOM VAN ALLEN / DANNY PARKER / JIMMY FINN (val kilmer) canon; after tom’s wife was murdered, he became danny and seemed to be spiraling into drugs and alcohol, but it was all a well-thought-out ruse to bring down the two corrupt law enforcement officers who were responsible for his wife’s death. after he got his revenge ten-fold, he became jimmy and moved away from the salton sea. you can find him anywhere but california.

SCREAM QUEENS

DR. CASSIDY CASCADE (TAYLOR LAUTNER) canon;

SPARTAN

MASTER GUNNERY SGT BOBBY SCOTT (val kilmer) canon; he is a no nonsense, unquestioning his orders marine to his very own death. once he has a mission, literally nothing will stop him from completing it. he suffers from PTSD and is covered in scars from head to toe. he has night terrors from the PTSD and as such, does not allow himself to sleep often. he runs on caffeine and spite.

SPIES LIKE US

AUSTIN MILLBARGE (DAN AYKROYD)

EMMET FITZ-HUME (CHEVY CHASE)

STAR WARS

KYLO REN / BEN SOLO, or as i like to call him KYLO BEN (adam driver) canon;

POE DAMERON (oscar isaac); canon

WAYFINDER (john krasinski) oc; personified wayfinder because ~magic~ and i do what i want.

STEPHEN KING’S IT

EDDIE KASPBRAK (JACK DYLAN GRAZER / JAMES RANSONE) canon;

TOM ROGAN (ERIC DANE) TRIGGERING CONTENT canon;

STRANGER THINGS

NICK ABANO (OC; MANAGER OF FAMILY VIDEO; ALEX LAGINA)

BILLY HARGROVE (DACRE MONTGOMERY)

STEVE HARRINGTON (JOE KEERY)

DUSTIN HENDERSON (GATEN MATAZZARRO)

JIM HOPPER (DAVID HARBOUR)

TOMMY RADER (OC; ADAM BALDWIN)

SUPERNATURAL

CASTIEL (val kilmer) canon; emphasis on endverse, selectively will write other versions of cas

WAR (val kilmer) canon; one of four horsemen of the apocalypse. he’s on a red motorcycle… he’s comin for you!!!

DEAN WINCHESTER (jensen ackles) canon;

MARY WINCHESTER (amy gumenick) canon divergent;

SAM WINCHESTER (jared padalecki/tbd) canon; SUPER SELECTIVE

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 

CHARLIE HEWITT SHERIFF HOYT (R LEE ERMY/YOUNGER: JENSEN ACKLES)

ERIC HILL (MATT BOMER)

JED “BUBBA” & “LEATHERFACE” SAWYER (ADAM BALDWIN; MIXED CANON WITH A LEATHERFACE 2017 BASE)

SALLY HARDESTY (AMY GUMENICK)

THE THIRST

LENNY (ADAM BALDWIN)

TRADING PLACES

LOUIS WINTHORPE III (DAN AYKROYD) canon;

TRIPLE FRONTIER

SANTIAGO ‘POPE’ GARCIA (oscar isaac) canon; former delta force special ops, santi currently owns a security firm that has a contract in colombia working closely with law enforcement.

THUNDERHEART

RAY LEVOI (val kilmer) canon; former fbi agent, part cherokee who is just trying to discover his ancestor’s roots and spirit

TOMBSTONE

JOHN HENRY ‘DOC’ HOLLIDAY (val kilmer) canon; former dentist, has tuberculosis, currently a gambling man who moves from town to town making money and sometimes, when the need arises, murderer, *shrugs*

JOHNNY RINGO (michael biehn); canon; cowboy. gunslinger. multilingual. general asshole. rowdy drunk.

WYATT EARP (kurt russell); canon; THE wyatt earp. guilty former law dog. looking for the rest of his life, having trouble finding it.

TOM CLANCY’S JACK RYAN (AMAZON)

JACK RYAN (john krasinski) canon;

TOMMY BOY

RAY ZALINKSY (dan aykroyd) canon; the auto parts king, based in chicago, owns a wildly successful chain of auto parts stores.

TOP GUN

RON ‘SLIDER’ KERNER (RICK ROSSOVICH) canon;

TOM ‘ICEMAN’ KAZANSKY (VAL KILMER) canon; perfectionist navy pilot, winner of top gun 1986, will write him from teen to present day as admiral and chief naval officer of the entire us navy

TOP SECRET!

NICK RIVERS (val kilmer) canon; international heartthrob / edgy rock ‘n’ roller. think elvis but spoofed.

TWILIGHT

JACOB BLACK (taylor lautner)

ARO SELINOFOTO VOLTURI (adam driver)

VAULT OF THE MACABRE II 

VINCENT (CANON/OC HYBRID) (ADAM BALDWIN)

WHITE COLLAR

NEAL CAFFREY (MATT BOMER) CANON; criminal informant. trying his Best. or not.

WILDEST DREAMS BY TAYLOR SWIFT

LIAM ANDERSON (val kilmer in the ghost and the darkness era) canon/oc hybrid; hot headed actor in his prime filming a movie in africa and ready for an intensely passionate affair with his co-star oOP

WILLOW

CASSANDRA: (natalie dormer) oc; con artist.

MADMARTIGAN (val kilmer) canon; expert swordsman who lost a random, very important baby to a hawk. it’s a long story.

WONDERLAND

JOHN HOLMES, AKA JOHNNY WADD, PORNSTAR; (val kilmer) canon; addicted to drugs and an adult film legend w/a 14 inch… you know…

WONDER WOMAN

DIANA PRINCE / WONDER WOMAN (gal gadot); canon; i ship wonderbat and superwonder so much wow

THE X-FILES

KNOWLE ROHRER (adam baldwin) canon; alien hybrid, long time friend of john dogget.

FANDOMLESS OCs

MARCO ARCELIO; (oscar isaac) oc; fandomless; very popular actor just wanting a sense of normalcy

BEKAH ROSSELLINI; (gracie gillam) oc; fandomless; medic, photographer, lover of fun

CHRISTIAN DANTE FLORES MEDINA (darren criss) oc; based on taylor swift’s ‘august’. aspiring broadway performer!

BEN AINSLEY; his family is from old, old money and he uses that to book up time on hunter reserves in africa so actual hunters can’t hunt. he hates hunting and has never killed an animal. instead, on his trips, he explores the reserves.

LUCAS MATSSON; lucas is a history professor at a large university. his favorite things are egyptian and nordic lore. he has originals and replicas of armor, royal garbs, and weaponry for every period of world history. SINGLE SHIP WITH THXWXLF.

[coochiequeens]

Men are getting away without prison time due to “it would be bad for their mental health” but battered women who act in self defense 🤷🏻‍♀️

AU — Brisbane. A former nurse avoided a prison sentence after a judge determined that it would be too difficult for an individual with a transgender identity to spend time behind bars. Reluctance of judges to convict or sentence to prison defendants who identify as transgender, even for serious crimes, appears to be growing in Brisbane. 37-year-old Chloe Jessica Earle, who is male and identifies as a woman, pleaded guilty to two counts of Extortion and a count of Stalking. Michael Bonasia, mitigating, told the judge that his client would be at risk if placed in prison. The barrister submitted findings of a psychological report, which determined that prison would be incredibly detrimental to the physical and mental health of his client. “I can’t ignore the fact that as a transgender person with male genitalia if you went to a male jail, your safety would be at risk,” Brisbane District Court Judge Paul Smith said at sentencing. “There is no guarantee if you were sent to a female jail. In fact, it may be the reverse.” In lieu of prison, the judge handed the defendant a 12-month intensive corrections order, which is to be served in the community.

The defendant, who was previously named Clinton Earle, advertised escort services in an online ad in 2019. Arrangements were made for a $300 per hour sexual encounter with a 28-year-old man who worked as Director at a company. The two exchanged raunchy texts and the potential client shared a nude selfie. After sending $300 for the first hour and a $100 deposit, the would-be client canceled the plan to meet and blocked Earle’s phone number. When told his girlfriend and workplace would be alerted, the Director transferred $900 more. The extortion attempts continued, and police were notified. While on bail, Earle extorted a man who had declined to meet following a sexual phone conversation. The 48-year-old transferred $200 after Earle called back and got aggressive. Earle received $500 more after posting messages about the man on social media and calling his wife. He continued the attempts at extortion. There is a growing pattern of judges refusing to give a conviction or prison sentence on the grounds that the defendant is ‘transgender’.

Vetea Joseph Bunton, also of Brisbane, was found in possession of a mobile device that contained “15 images depicting young boys between the age of five years and 16 years posing naked, performing oral sex or engaging in anal intercourse, either with other young people or adults.” He pleaded guilty. An attorney presented a forensic psychologist report, which determined that the images were downloaded out of “curiosity” while struggling with “transgender identity” and “sexual identity.” A judge rejected the argument and sentenced Bunton to probation, but in 2019, a Court of Appeal ordered the record of conviction expunged due to such “unusual circumstances” as Bunton’s “psychological profile.” Jeffrey Terrence Anderson of Brisbane was convicted of raping a 12-year-old child and two six-year-old children while he was babysitting. While Anderson was in prison, corrections officers found a three-page story in which he detailed a fantasy of raping a three-year-old. He was discovered with images of children as late as 2017. A psychologist observed: “Anderson’s belief that the risk of re-offending would be mitigated by becoming a woman is not supported and somewhat naive.” Still, a judge accepted Anderson’s claim that the cross-sex hormones he had begun using in prison decreased his urges to rape children. Anderson was released from prison on June 4, 2020.

For his part, Earle was a registered nurse for 17 years before his life went on a downward spiral in 2014. He was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after starting cross-sex hormones at age 20. Earle lost friends and family who could not cope with the change. “My twin stopped speaking to me for a fair while because he was grieving the loss of Clinton,” Earle told Daily Mail Australia. A friend of 27 years permanently cut all ties with Earle because he would not “go back to being Clinton.” Earle’s mother, with whom he has always been close, nearly dropped dead at the sight of him. “Mum came into my bedroom, saw me and ended up going into cardiac arrest due to the stress.” Dating was not much better. “Men want to f*** you but they don’t want to date you. They only see you as a sexual person.”

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.

Arthur had feature roles in three Frank Capra films: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), films that championed the "everyday heroine". Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).

James Harvey wrote in his history of the romantic comedy: "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur. So much was she part of it, so much was her star personality defined by it, that the screwball style itself seems almost unimaginable without her." She has been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady". Her last film performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George Stevens's Shane in 1953.

Arthur was known as a reclusive woman. News magazine Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman." As well as recoiling from interviews, she avoided photographers and refused to become a part of any kind of publicity.

Arthur was born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, to Protestant parents, Johanna Augusta Nelson (1871–1959) and Hubert Sidney Greene (1863–1944).[7] Gladys' Lutheran maternal grandparents immigrated from Norway to the American West after the Civil War. Her Congregationalist paternal ancestors immigrated from England to Rhode Island in the second half of the 1600s. During the 1790s, Nathaniel Greene helped found the town of St. Albans, Vermont, where his great-grandson, Hubert Greene, was born on September 1, 1863.

Johanna and Hubert were married in Billings, Montana, on July 7, 1890. Gladys's three older brothers—Donald Hubert Greene (1890–1967), Robert Brazier Greene (1892–1955) and Albert Sidney Greene (1894–1926)[8]—were born in the West. Around 1897, Hubert moved his wife and three sons from Billings to Plattsburgh, so he could work as a photographer at the Woodward Studios on Clinton Street. Johanna gave birth to stillborn twins on April 1, 1898.

Two and a half years later, Johanna gave birth to Gladys Georgianna. The product of a nomadic childhood, the future Jean Arthur lived at times in Saranac Lake, New York; Jacksonville, Florida, where George Woodward, Hubert's Plattsburgh employer, opened a second studio; and Schenectady, New York, where Hubert had grown up and where several members of his family still lived. The Greenes lived on and off in Westbrook, Maine, from 1908 to 1915 while Gladys's father worked at Lamson Studios in Portland, Maine. Relocating in 1915 to New York City, the family settled in the Washington Heights neighborhood – at 573 West 159th Street – of upper Manhattan, and Hubert worked at Ira L. Hill's photographic studio on Fifth Avenue.

Gladys dropped out of high school in her junior year due to a "change in family circumstances". Presaging many of her later film roles, she worked as a stenographer on Bond Street in lower Manhattan during and after World War I. Both her father (at age 55, claiming to be 45) and siblings registered for the draft. Her brother Albert died in 1926 as a result of respiratory injuries suffered during a mustard gas attack during World War I.

Discovered by Fox Film Studios while she was doing commercial modeling in New York City in the early 1920s, the newly named Jean Arthur landed a one-year contract and debuted in the silent film Cameo Kirby (1923), directed by John Ford. She reputedly took her stage name from two of her greatest heroes, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and King Arthur.[citation needed] The studio was at the time looking for new American sweethearts with sufficient sex appeal to interest the Jazz Age audiences. Arthur was remodeled as such a personality, a flapper. Following the small role in Cameo Kirby, she received her first female lead role in The Temple of Venus (1923), a plotless tale about a group of dancing nymphs. Dissatisfied with her lack of acting talent, the film's director Henry Otto replaced Arthur with actress Mary Philbin during the third day of shooting. Arthur agreed with the director: "There wasn't a spark from within. I was acting like a mechanical doll personality. I thought I was disgraced for life." She was planning on leaving the California film industry for good, but reluctantly stayed due to her contract, and appeared in comedy shorts instead. Despite lacking the required talent, Arthur liked acting, which she perceived as an "outlet". To acquire some fame, she registered herself in the Los Angeles city directory as a photo player operator, as well as appearing in a promotional film for a new Encino nightclub, but to no avail.

Change came when one day she showed up at the lot of Action Pictures, which produced B westerns, and impressed its owner Lester F. Scott Jr., with her presence. He decided to take a chance on a complete unknown, and she was cast in over twenty westerns in a two-year period. Only receiving $25 a picture, Arthur suffered from difficult working conditions: "The films were generally shot on location, often in the desert near Los Angeles, under a scorching sun that caused throats to parch and make-up to run. Running water was nowhere to be found, and even outhouses were a luxury not always present. The extras on these films were often real cowboys, tough men who were used to roughing it and who had little use for those who were not." The films were moderately successful in second-rate Midwestern theaters, though Arthur received no official attention. Aside from appearing in films for Action Pictures between 1924 and 1926, she worked in some independent westerns, including The Drug Store Cowboy (1925), and westerns for Poverty Row, as well as having an uncredited bit part in Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925).

In 1927, Arthur attracted more attention when she appeared opposite Mae Busch and Charles Delaney as a gold digging chorus girl in Husband Hunters. Subsequently, she was romanced by actor Monty Banks in Horse Shoes (1927), both a commercial and critical success. She was cast on Banks's insistence, and received a salary of $700. Next, director Richard Wallace ignored Fox's wishes to cast a more experienced actress by assigning Arthur to the female lead in The Poor Nut (1927), a college comedy which gave her wide exposure to audiences. A reviewer for Variety did not spare the actress in his review: "With everyone in Hollywood bragging about the tremendous overflow of charming young women all battering upon the directorial doors leading to an appearance in pictures, it seems strange that from all these should have been selected two flat specimens such as Jean Arthur and Jane Winton. Neither of the girls has screen presence. Even under the kindliest treatment from the camera they are far from attractive and in one or two side shots almost impossible." Fed up with the direction that her career was taking, Arthur expressed her desire for a big break in an interview at the time. She was skeptical when signed to a small role in Warming Up (1928), a film produced for a big studio, Famous Players-Lasky, and featuring major star Richard Dix. Promoted as the studio's first sound film, it received wide media attention, and Arthur earned praise for her portrayal of a club owner's daughter. Variety opined, "Dix and Arthur are splendid in spite of the wretched material", while Screenland wrote that Arthur "is one of the most charming young kissees who ever officiated in a Dix film. Jean is winsome; she neither looks nor acts like the regular movie heroine. She's a nice girl – but she has her moments." The success of Warming Up resulted in Arthur being signed to a three-year contract with the studio, soon to be known as Paramount Pictures, at $150 a week.

With the rise of the talkies in the late 1920s, Arthur was among the many silent screen actors of Paramount Pictures initially unwilling to adapt to sound films. Upon realizing that the craze for sound films was not a phase, she met with sound coach Roy Pomeroy. It was her distinctive, throaty voice – in addition to some stage training on Broadway in the early 1930s – that eventually helped make her a star in the talkies. However, it initially prevented directors from casting her in films.[19] In her early talkies, this "throaty" voice is still missing, and it remains unclear whether it has not yet emerged or whether she hid it. Her all-talking film debut was The Canary Murder Case (1929), in which she co-starred opposite William Powell and Louise Brooks. Arthur impressed only a few with the film and later claimed that at the time she was a "very poor actress ... awfully anxious to improve, but ... inexperienced so far as genuine training was concerned."

In the early years of talking pictures, Paramount was known for contracting Broadway actors with experienced vocals and impressive background references. Arthur was not among these actors, and she struggled for recognition in the film industry. Her personal involvement with rising Paramount executive David O. Selznick – despite his relationship with Irene Mayer Selznick – proved substantial; she was put on the map and became selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1929. Following a silent B-western called Stairs of Sand (1929), she received some positive notices when she played the female lead in the lavish production of The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929). Arthur was given more publicity assignments, which she carried out, even though she immensely disliked posing for photographers and giving interviews.

Through Selznick, Arthur received her "best role to date" opposite famous sex symbol Clara Bow in the early sound film The Saturday Night Kid (1929). Of the two female leads, Arthur was thought to have "the better part," and director Edward Sutherland claimed that "Arthur was so good that we had to cut and cut to keep her from stealing the picture" from Bow. While some argued that Bow resented Arthur for having the "better part," Bow encouraged Arthur to make the most of the production. Arthur later praised her working experience with Bow: "[Bow] was so generous, no snootiness or anything. She was wonderful to me." The film was a moderate success, and The New York Times wrote that the film would have been "merely commonplace, were it not for Jean Arthur, who plays the catty sister with a great deal of skill."

Following a role in Halfway to Heaven (1929) opposite popular actor Charles "Buddy" Rogers (of which Variety opined that her career could be heading somewhere if she acquired more sex appeal), Selznick assigned her to play William Powell's wife in Street of Chance (1930). She did not impress the film's director John Cromwell, who advised the actress to move back to New York because she would not make it in Hollywood. By 1930, her relationship with Selznick had ended, causing her career at Paramount to slip. Following a string of "lifeless ingenue roles" in mediocre films, she debuted on stage in December 1930 with a supporting role in Pasadena Playhouse's ten-day run production of Spring Song. Back in Hollywood, Arthur saw her career deteriorating, and she dyed her hair blonde in an attempt to boost her image and avoid comparison with more successful actress Mary Brian. Her effort did not pay off: when her three-year contract at Paramount expired in mid-1931, she was given her release with an announcement from Paramount that the decision was due to financial setbacks caused by the Great Depression.

In late 1931, Arthur returned to New York City, where a Broadway agent cast Arthur in an adaptation of Lysistrata, which opened at the Riviera Theater on January 24, 1932. A few months later, she made her Broadway debut in Foreign Affairs opposite Dorothy Gish and Osgood Perkins. Even though the play did not fare well and closed after twenty-three performances, critics were impressed by her work on stage. She next won the female lead in The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, which opened on September 8, 1932, at the Broadhurst Theatre to mostly mixed notices for Arthur, and negative reviews for the play caused the production to be halted quickly. Arthur returned to California for the holidays, and appeared in the RKO film The Past of Mary Holmes (1933), her first film in two years.

Back on Broadway, Arthur continued to appear in small plays that received little attention. Critics, however, continued to praise her in their reviews. It has been argued that in this period, Arthur developed confidence in her acting craft for the first time. On the contrast between films in Hollywood and plays in New York, Arthur commented:

I don't think Hollywood is the place to be yourself. The individual ought to find herself before coming to Hollywood. On the stage I found myself to be in a different world. The individual counted. The director encouraged me and I learned how to be myself.... I learned to face audiences and to forget them. To see the footlights and not to see them; to gauge the reactions of hundreds of people, and yet to throw myself so completely into a role that I was oblivious to their reaction.

The Curtain Rises, which ran from October to December 1933, was Arthur's first Broadway play in which she was the center of attention. With an improved résumé, she returned to Hollywood in late 1933, and turned down several contract offers until she was asked to meet with an executive from Columbia Pictures. Arthur agreed to star in a film, Whirlpool (1934), and during production she was offered a long-term contract that promised financial stability for both her and her parents. Even though hesitant to give up her stage career, Arthur signed the five-year contract on February 14, 1934.

In 1935, at age 34, Arthur starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in the gangster farce The Whole Town's Talking, also directed by Ford, and her popularity began to rise. It was the first time Arthur portrayed a hard-boiled working girl with a heart of gold, the type of role she would be associated with for the rest of her career. She enjoyed the acting experience and working opposite Robinson, who remarked in his biography that it was a "delight to work with and know" Arthur. By the time of the film's release, her hair, naturally brunette throughout the silent film portion of her career, was bleached blonde and would mostly stay that way. She was known for maneuvering to be photographed and filmed almost exclusively from the left; Arthur felt that her left was her best side, and worked hard to keep it in the fore. Director Frank Capra recalled producer Harry Cohn's description of Jean Arthur's imbalanced profile: "half of it's angel, and the other half horse." Her next few films, Party Wire (1935), Public Hero No. 1 (1935) and If You Could Only Cook (1935), did not match the success of The Whole Town's Talking, but they all brought the actress positive reviews. In his review for The New York Times, critic Andre Sennwald praised Arthur's performance in Public Hero No. 1, writing that she "is as refreshing a change from the routine it-girl as Joseph Calleia is in his own department." Another critic wrote of her performance in If You Could Only Cook that "[she is] outstanding as she effortlessly slips from charming comedienne to beautiful romantic." With her now apparent rise to fame, Arthur was able to extract several contractual concessions from Harry Cohn, such as script and director approval and the right to make films for other studios.

The turning point in Arthur's career came when she was chosen by Frank Capra to star in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Capra had spotted her in a daily rush from the film Whirlpool in 1934 and convinced Cohn to have Columbia Studios sign her for his next film as a tough newspaperwoman who falls in love with a country bumpkin millionaire. Even though several colleagues later recalled that Arthur was troubled by extreme stage fright during production, Mr. Deeds was critically acclaimed and propelled her to international stardom. In 1936 alone, she earned $119,000, more than the President of the United States and baseball player Lou Gehrig. With fame also came media attention, something Arthur greatly disliked. She did not attend any social gatherings, such as formal parties in Hollywood, and acted difficult when having to work with an interviewer. She was named the American Greta Garbo – who was also known for her reclusive life – and magazine Movie Classic wrote of her in 1937: "With Garbo talking right out loud in interviews, receiving the press and even welcoming an occasional chance to say her say in the public prints, the palm for elusiveness among screen stars now goes to Jean Arthur."

Arthur's next film was The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936), on loan to RKO Pictures, in which she starred opposite William Powell on his insistence, and hoped to take a long vacation afterwards. Cohn, however, rushed her into two more productions, Adventure in Manhattan (1936) and More Than a Secretary (1936). Neither film attracted much attention.[44] Next, again without pause, she was re-teamed with Cooper, playing Calamity Jane in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) on another loan, this time for Paramount Pictures. Arthur, who was De Mille's second choice after Mae West, described Calamity Jane as her favorite role thus far. Afterwards, she appeared as a working girl, her typical role, in Mitchell Leisen's screwball comedy, Easy Living (1937), with Ray Milland. She followed this with another screwball comedy, Capra's You Can't Take It with You, which teamed her with James Stewart. The film won an Academy Award for Best Picture with Arthur getting top billing.

So strong was her box office appeal by now that she was one of four finalists for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). The film's producer, David O. Selznick, had briefly romanced Arthur in the late 1920s when they both were with Paramount Pictures. Arthur re-united with director Frank Capra and Stewart for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), with Arthur cast once again as a working woman, this time one who teaches the naive Mr. Smith the ways of Washington, D.C.

Arthur continued to star in films such as Howard Hawks's Only Angels Have Wings (also 1939), with love interest Cary Grant, The Talk of the Town (1942), directed by George Stevens (with Cary Grant and Ronald Colman, working together for the only time, as Arthur's two leading men), and again for Stevens as a government clerk in The More the Merrier (1943), for which Arthur was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (losing to Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette). As a result of being in dispute with studio boss Harry Cohn, her fee for The Talk of the Town (1942) was only $50,000, while her male co-stars Grant and Colman received upwards of $100,000 each. Arthur remained Columbia's top star until the mid-1940s, when she left the studio, and Rita Hayworth took over as the studio's biggest name. Stevens famously called her "one of the greatest comediennes the screen has ever seen," while Capra credited her as "my favorite actress."

Arthur retired when her contract with Columbia Pictures expired in 1944. She reportedly ran through the studio's streets, shouting "I'm free, I'm free!"[46] For the next several years, she turned down virtually all film offers, the two exceptions being Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), in which she played a congresswoman and rival of Marlene Dietrich, and as a homesteader's wife in the classic Western Shane (1953), which turned out to be the biggest box-office hit of her career. The latter was her final film, and the only color film in which she appeared.

Arthur's post-retirement work in theater was intermittent, somewhat curtailed by her unease and discomfort about working in public. Capra claimed she vomited in her dressing room between scenes, yet emerged each time to perform a flawless take. According to John Oller's biography, Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew (1997), Arthur developed a kind of stage fright punctuated with bouts of psychosomatic illnesses. A prime example was in 1945, when she was cast in the lead of the Garson Kanin play, Born Yesterday. Her nerves and insecurity got the better of her and she left the production before it reached Broadway, opening the door for a then-unknown Judy Holliday to take the part.

She did score a major triumph on Broadway in 1950, starring in Leonard Bernstein's adaptation of Peter Pan, playing the title character, when she was almost 50. She tackled the role of her eponym, Joan of Arc, in a 1954 stage production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, but she left the play after a nervous breakdown and battles with director Harold Clurman.

After Shane and the Broadway play Joan of Arc, Arthur went into retirement for 12 years. In 1965, she returned to show business in an episode of Gunsmoke. In 1966, the extremely reclusive Arthur took on the role of Patricia Marshall, an attorney, on her own television sitcom, The Jean Arthur Show, which was canceled mid-season by CBS after only 12 episodes. Ron Harper played her son, attorney Paul Marshall.

In 1967, Arthur was coaxed back to Broadway to appear as a midwestern spinster who falls in with a group of hippies in the play The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake. In his book The Season, William Goldman reconstructed the disastrous production, which eventually closed during previews when Arthur refused to go on.

Arthur next decided to teach drama, first at Vassar College and then the North Carolina School of the Arts. While teaching at Vassar, she stopped a rather stridently overacted scene performance and directed the students' attention to a large tree growing outside the window of the performance space, advising the students on the art of naturalistic acting: "I wish people knew how to be people as well as that tree knows how to be a tree."

Her students at Vassar included the young Meryl Streep. Arthur recognized Streep's talent and potential very early on and after watching her performance in a Vassar play, Arthur said it was "like watching a movie star."

While living in North Carolina, in 1973, Arthur made front-page news by being arrested and jailed for trespassing on a neighbor's property to console a dog she felt was being mistreated. An animal lover her entire life, Arthur said she trusted them more than people. She was convicted, fined $75 and given three years' probation.

Arthur turned down the role of the female missionary in Lost Horizon (1973), the unsuccessful musical remake of the 1937 Frank Capra film of the same name. Then, in 1975, the Broadway play First Monday in October, about the first woman to be a Supreme Court justice, was written especially with Arthur in mind, but once again she succumbed to extreme stage fright, and quit the production shortly into its out-of-town run after leaving the Cleveland Play House. The play went on with Jane Alexander playing the role intended for Arthur.

After the First Monday in October incident, Arthur then retired for good, retreating to her oceanside home in Carmel, California, steadfastly refusing interviews until her resistance was broken down by the author of a book about Capra. Arthur once famously said that she would rather have her throat slit than do an interview.

Arthur was a Democrat and supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.

Arthur died from heart failure June 19, 1991, at the age of 90. No funeral service was held. She was cremated, and her remains were scattered off the coast of Point Lobos, California.

Upon her death, film reviewer Charles Champlin wrote the following in the Los Angeles Times:

To at least one teenager in a small town (though I'm sure we were a multitude), Jean Arthur suggested strongly that the ideal woman could be – ought to be – judged by her spirit as well as her beauty … The notion of the woman as a friend and confidante, as well as someone you courted and were nuts about, someone whose true beauty was internal rather than external, became a full-blown possibility as we watched Jean Arthur.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Jean Arthur has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd. The Jean Arthur Atrium was her gift to the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

On May 2, 2015, the city of Plattsburgh, New York, honored her with a plaque in front of the house where she was born (94 Oak Street).

On October 9, 2019, Plattsburgh unveiled a large commissioned mural of the actress by artist Brendon Palmer-Angell on a wall behind the bank building at 30 Brinkerhoff Street.

As of 2019, the Adirondacks Welcome Center near Exit 18 on the northbound lanes of the Northway (I-87) in Queensbury, New York, featured a ground plaque of Jean Arthur, among other famous persons connected to the Adirondacks region, as part of the Adirondacks Walk of Fame, similar in style to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

[saiilorstars]

Next Stop Everywhere

Chapter 22: The Human Love 

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 10th Doctor x Female OC

(Minerva’s face claim: Victoria Camacho)

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Chapter summary: The Doctor trusts Minerva and Martha to keep him hidden while the Family hunts him down. He only forgot to mention to them what to do if he ever fell in love with someone...

// Story Masterlist // 

A laser beam shot right above us, making the Doctor, Martha and myself fall to the floor while the poor console took the blow and sparked like crazy.

"Did they see you!?" the Doctor helped Martha and I to our feet, "Either of you!?" Martha and I looked at each other, both scared and confuse, "Did they see you!?"

"I...I don't know," I answered slowly.

"We were busy running!" Martha said frantically.

"It's important," he gritted his teeth at us. "Did they see your faces?"

"They couldn't have!" I tried to say coherently since my thoughts were all over the place. "It's not possible."

The Doctor dashed to the console, "Off we go then!"

Martha and I followed, the Doctor staring at the rotor with intent. But a warning beep cut in with a bunch of symbols sprawled on the console screen.

"Ah!" the Doctor grabbed the screen and read it, "They're following us," he returned to the controls.

"But that's not possible, you have a time machine!" I frowned.

"Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the universe," he stood straight and paused for a moment, "They're never gonna stop," he ran a hand through hair and thought, "Unless...I'll have to do it," he turned to us.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked, quietly.

"Minerva, you trust me, right?" I nodded, "And you Martha, you trust me?" she nodded as well, "Good, cos it all depends on you two," he went under the console for who knows what.

"But...what are we supposed to do?" Martha asked as we watched him in confusion.

He stood up and held out a pocket watch, "Take this watch, cause my life depends on it," he grabbed my hand and placed the watch in it, but also took out...

"Ah!" I hissed, jerking my hand back as Kaeya's necklace touched my palm, "Doctor!"

"Sorry," he grabbed my hand again and placed the necklace's chain on my palm, "Keep it safe. Hidden. And the watch, "Minerva, the watch is-"

I gasped as I sat upright on my bed, slowly realizing it had just been a dream. But it had been the same dream. The one I kept having every single night since we arrived here.

"Just a dream," I whispered to myself as I got out of bed, "A dream," I picked up Kaeya's necklace and placed it around my neck, barely feeling the sting as it bore a cloth underneath the two suns and moon, courtesy of Martha, "Same old dream..." I moved to the mirror, making sure the necklace was properly placed and pushed my hair over my shoulders. There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"Morning!" Martha exclaimed as she entered, dressed in a maid's outfit, "How are we feeling today?"

"Like I'm stuck in a never ending circle," I turned to her, she walking over with a sharp look.

"Bad dream again?"

I nodded, "The same one."

"It's funny, you know, because he dreamt that too. Last night..."

"How is he?"

She looked back with a knowing smile plastered on her face, "Same old, same old: clueless." I smiled dimly, watching her go to the wardrobe and start rummaging through the dresses, "Oblivious. Yeah, the only difference is the hearts. What do you think?" she pulled out a light green and pink dress.

"I don't really care," I shrugged, "I'm not supposed to know what I'm wearing, remember?"

"Well, your...brother, wants you well dressed, remember?" she plucked out a blue dress from the closet and set it on my bed, smiling at it, "I think this one will turn heads...alien-disguised-as-human head..."

"Please, truly not the time for that," I walked over to the bed. "And as for my 'brother', I could care less. He's a prune."

She chuckled, "A gullible prune, thank god!"

"Thank the heavens for that. It let me stay close to the Martian. Even if he doesn't notice me, hm," I smiled sadly, looking a the dress, "Guess that hasn't changed either, huh?"

Martha stared at me for a minute, "C'mon," she grabbed the dress and my hand, "You've got to look lovely. Or your brother will kill me!"

"He can't fire anyone without my consent, remember? I'm his sweet, innocent, little sister." And we both laughed at the poor man.

Martha sat me down at the vanity desk just like every morning. "Brush," she held her hand out.

"Martha, I can do it. I already don't like how you ended up in this place, you are not going to 'serve' me."

"I don't serve you, I help you. Serve would indicate that I'm being forced to. Here, it's just one best friend helping her other best friend get ready for the day."

I sighed, "But you don't-"

"Minerva give me the brush!" she half shouted, actually making me flinch. I reached for the brush and handed it to her.

"So...did he really dream of the same thing?"

She nodded, "Mhm, crazy ideas to him."

"Yet so real..."

"He dreamt of us too. He can kinda let me slide, but he was seriously stuck on why you're there."

"Well, it's a bit odd for a school teacher to be dreaming with his housemaid and the headmaster's little sister isn't it?"

"When you say it like that, yeah!" she chuckled.

I was posing as the headmaster's little sister...how'd that happen was actually some luck. I'd like to think it was Kaeya wanting someone to be with the Doctor because seriously, it just had to be luck from the spirits. When the Doctor changed into a human, his 'residual awareness' thing only worked for Martha. I theorized Kaeya's necklace had interfered with the signal, leading Martha to declare the woman was getting on her bad side because it was messing with her best friend. Oh that Martha! What ever was the case, I had to remain hidden in the TARDIS for about two days until I could come up with my own story and get myself stationed at the school.

And then Kaeya had acted...

Her necklace activated and got me to the letters of a miss Lisabetha Greene, otherwise known as the headmaster's younger sister. They were step-siblings that had never met each other. Their only means of contact was through letters. As bad as it was, I had to intercept the letters, stop them from reaching the headmaster so I could present myself to him as her.

That's when Kaeya had helped me again.

The necklace had abilities that would just rise when needed, without my consent. It let me gather up some dresses from the nearby shops without paying a cent. It allowed me to gather information of Lisabetha to every extent possible without tipping anyone off.

All feelings against Kaeya set aside...her necklace was pretty cool.

And so when I felt prepared, I showed up to the school where the Doctor and Martha resided, merely two days later, and posed as Lisabetha Greene, the headmaster's little sister. And wow was the man gullible. A simple, innocent look was all it took for it to go.

For two months, the necklace has allowed me to keep all letters of Lisabetha, the real woman, to stay away from the school. But lately, the necklace had stopped granting me its few perks and just been...a necklace. I wondered if it meant I had used its energy up, something I feared the Doctor would be crossed about once he returned. But I also thought it was Kaeya's way of telling me everything was fine and the necklace didn't need to be used anymore. There was just one trick about Lisabetha that kept me on guard...

"Ready?" Martha questioned while I looked at myself in the mirror.

I wore a Dresden blue, cotton dress that went down to my ankles. It was high-waist with a pin-tuck detail around the bodice and cuffs. It had mid-sleeves with the cuffs having ruffled lace trims. There were white, tinny buttons finishing the front of the gown and white grosgrain ribbon trims outlining the hems of the skirt in three rows. It had a straight-across neckline with a white lace covering the trims. My hair was left down as usual with two twists on either side of my head.

"I suppose," I sighed, giving myself one last look before turning to her.

"Not so exciting, huh?"

"When you're a blind woman in 1913, there's not much to do."

She sympathetically smiled and linked arms with me, "Sorry about that."

"Not your fault, anything if it means I can stay."

...Lisabetha was blind.

~0~

"And please remember to pick up the newest braille books dropped off this morning," the headmaster, my brother, was saying.

"Yes, brother," I replied, keeping up the act just fine. After two months, it was getting a little easier not to let my vision slip up. I took it as a play role like the few I had when I attended school at home. I had played a princess, a witch, a wife...so now I played a blind sister.

"There's a literature one I'm interested for you to read..." the man continued, but my gaze was captivated by one of the newest teachers...John Smith.

But when he happened to glance over, I quickly turned my head, lost in the darkness again. It had been like this for two months...and it was killing me.

~0~

"Now Martha, I don't literally need a body guard beside me twenty-four seven," I muttered to the woman as we walked down the corridor on the second floor.

"They were orders by the headmaster," she shrugged.

"And ever so obedient, are we?" I raised an eyebrow.

"When it's convenient, yes," she suddenly turned us around, "Because it just so happens that Mr. Smith is coming this way..."

"Yeah, with a pile of books, mark my words the man will drop them all in less than two minutes. That's if the human version of him can garner that extra minute because we all know the Doctor couldn't."

"Ouch, you're bitter today," she made a face.

"Sorry, it's been, um...a crappy day, alright?" I moved Kaeya's necklace by the chain to reveal a burned part of my skin underneath, "The damn thing is stinging through the cloth."

"Take it off, Minerva," Martha whispered, dead serious. She had zero patience when it came to the necklace and Kaeya altogether.

"I can't. I promised the Doctor I wouldn't."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm sure he," she nodded towards the Martian, "Would say otherwise."

"Yeah well he's not exactly with it at the moment, is he?"

"You wanna see how he shares similarities with the Doctor?"

"What are you gonna do?"

She smirked, "Attraction between geeks is ever so weird. Wonder how weird it'd be with the school teacher and the headmaster's little sister."

"Martha, don't you dare!" I exclaimed, but she was already making her way over to the Doctor Smith.

She simply winked and went over, "Mr. Smith, do you need help with that?" she took the book that had fallen from the pile he held in his hands.

"Thank you Martha," he sighed, letting her take half of the books from him.

I stood here, awkwardly, not able to directly look at them because of my 'blindness' but I worried Martha would do something she shouldn't...as usual.

"Don't you have some responsibilities to attend to, Martha?" he asked her, curious.

"Yes I do, sir," she nodded towards me, "I was appointed to accompany Miss Greene, today."

"Martha," I called, unfortunately having to revert to my act, "Martha?"

"Honestly Martha, how irresponsible of you to leave her alone," the Doctor scolded her before directing himself to me, "Miss Greene? Are you alright?"

"Uh...yes." That was a perfect response, wasn't it?

"Sorry, Miss, I thought Mr. Smith could use some help. He was carrying an awful lot of books," Martha explained innocently.

"I hope you don't mind using your employee for today, Mr. Smith," I said quietly, nervously.

"Oh, no, no, go ahead. I noticed you've taken a liking to her."

"How can one not? She's amazing. But about these books...perhaps I could help as well?"

The Doctor's eyes widened at the idea, "No! Of course not."

"Why not?"

"You're...you're the headmaster's sister, you can't be doing this work..." he fumbled to come up with a good response. I found it amusing how he stuttered. He definitely sounded like the Doctor in that moment.

"I'm sure two or three books shall not hurt anyone, Mr. Smith," I reached out for two books from his pile, "Where can we drop them off?"

Seeing no other option, he sighed, "Right this way," he gestured, only to remember a minute later I couldn't 'see', "Oh!" he scrunched his face.

I chuckled, "It's quite alright."

"I'm sorry," he began, sounding just like the Doctor again.

"It's fine, can we get going?"

"Here," Martha took more books from him, just the amount for her to still be able to see, "You take her."

The Doctor sheepishly linked an arm with me, "Shall we?" I blushed and nodded, letting him lead us, "So, um, Miss Greene, what were you doing around here?"

I smiled, "I hope you don't mind my directness, but I'd prefer if you called by my name, Lisabetha," Martha smirked ever-so-discreetly.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he nodded.

"And you're John, right?" I asked, innocently.

"Yes, yes it is."

"It's very nice to meet you," I held a hand out, the Doctor slowly taking it and shaking it.

"Likewise," he replied quietly, my only regret at the moment not being able to meet his gaze.

Feeling my face warm up, and the fear of being caught, I unlinked our arms and turned around to face both, "Tell me, John, what were these books for?"

"Oh, um, just...for the students," he shrugged.

I took steps backwards, nodding, hoping we'd keep the conversation going, "What are your favorite genres?"

"Miss Greene," Martha eyed me, a hint of concern in her eyes for a reason.

"Um, historical?" the Doctor tried, looking past me.

"Oh! I love history too," I smiled.

"Miss Greene," Martha nearly hissed.

The woman had brought me into the situation and now she was crossed?

"Martha, it's quite rude-" But one of my feet lost ground to step on?

"Lisabetha!" the Doctor dropped his books and lunged forwards, catching me just in time before I toppled down the staircase. So that was what Martha had been trying to do. Whoops!

"Stairs, right," I breathed, my heart racing inside my chest to point of nearly bursting.

"Miss Greene, are you okay!?" Martha moved hurried closer to us.

"Y-yes," I grasped the Doctor's sleeves as I took a deep breath. Our closeness had me blushing within the minute. He was holding me so tight that, even though it was probably ridiculous, I felt safer than ever. "Thank you, John."

He smiled softly, "It was nothing."

Martha cleared her throat, the usual smirk plastered on her face.

The Doctor helped me straighten up on my feet, "Right then, let me, um...just," he gestured for the books then realized I couldn't see again and sighed, scrunching his face once again, "Sorry."

While he went to pick up the books we had dropped, Martha and I shared a quick look, she smirking and me scolding her. By the time the Doctor had stood up, I was blind again.

"John, would you like me to take some books, again? I promise I won't drop them again," I held out my hands for them.

"Lisabetha, you really don't have to..."

"But I want to," I wiggled my fingers, "Please?" And just like that he handed me two books again. Apparently, my sweet smile worked on him too!

We linked arms and went down the stairs properly, Martha in front of us. She stopped by the landing, turning for a wooden noticeboard on the wall, "Have you heard about this, Miss Greene? Mr. Smith? It's the annual dance at the village hall tomorrow."

"Yes, Laura was speaking about it yesterday," I replied.

Laura was an actual friend I made outside the school. She was a bit pretentious and sometimes ignorant to my 'blindness'. But she was a nice person overall...usually.

"She was thinking of going," I continued, "She said it was nothing formal but rather fun by all accounts. Do you think you'll go, John?"

"Me?" he sounded confused.

"Will you be going?"

"Uh, I hadn't really thought about it," he thought more on it, "And-and you?"

"Me?" Now it was my turn to be confused, "No, I suppose not. No one would ask a blind woman. They think she can't dance. Well," I looked away for effect, but really, it was to hide a blush, "I'll have them know I probably know more than they do. Oh well, can't exactly prove it."

"Well, I should imagine that you would be...um...I mean, I never thought you'd be one for..." he moving around me and Martha, looking slightly nervous for some reason, "I mean there's no reason why you shouldn't-if you do, you may not...I probably won't, but even if I didn't then I couldn't..." he started backing away and I knew there was a stair case but I couldn't really warn him, now could I?

"Mr. Smith, the stairs," Martha said, the man backing away from us.

"What about them?" he looked at her, even more confused.

"No, they're right behind you!"

He managed to turn and see but overbalanced and fell backwards down the stairs, the books flying all around. Martha turned away while I ran to the front but saw it was too late, the poor Martian had taken quite a blow.

"Wow..." Martha moved beside me, both staring down.

And then I elbowed her in the ribs, "This is your fault!" I whisper-shouted.

"Ow," she rubbed her side, frowning, while I shook my head at the fiasco.

~0~

"Is he alright!?" Martha burst into the Doctor's room right before I told her not to overreact.

"Excuse me, Martha. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking," I heard Matron Joan's voice snap.

I entered the room, looking as high authority as I could to save my friend, "I sent her in, actually."

"Oh, um, good afternoon Miss Greene," she quickly retracted.

Martha looked back and smirked, silently thanking me for the defense. She returned by my side and walked us further inside, "John, are you feeling better?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

"It was just a tumble, that's all," he mumbled, groaning when Joan tried to clean a cut on the back of his head.

"It didn't sound like it..."

"I'm fine," he assured, faintly smiling.

"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked Joan.

"I have. And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you," Joan replied slightly irritated.

Martha nodded, remembering she wasn't supposed to know more than the woman, "Sorry, I'll just...tidy your things," she said to the Doctor and went to do just that.

I wasn't about to let someone snap at my best friend, and so, "Joan, my brother, the headmaster, was looking for you."

"Really? What for?"

I shrugged, "How should I know? He barely tells me anything that goes on in this school. Still, you should ho find him. I'd tell you where he was but," I pointed at my eyes, "Don't really know."

She daintily smiled, "I'll just go search for him."

"Yes, yes, go ahead," I gestured with an arm and she walked out of the room.

Matron Joan was another friend I had made, probably a better one than Laura. She was kind, she was caring, a good nurse too. The only thing I disliked about her was the way she treated Martha. No matter how important keeping the Doctor hidden was, I would not let anyone disrespect my best friend. No exceptions.

"Sorry, John, it seems like my brother has taken your nurse away," I offered an apologetic smile.

"Oh no, if the headmaster was looking for her. Let her do her job," he said, "Don't mind a petty injury."

"Are you really okay?" I asked, still concerned it had harmed him in other ways. He was human now and just as breakable as Martha and I, "Martha said there were books scattered all over the stairs. I thought you were hurt."

"I assure you Lisabetha," he stood up from his chair and walked over, "I am fine. Would you like me to accompany you back to your room?"

"Um, no thank you. My room contains nothing more than two boring books that my brother has left as an assignment."

"Not interesting?"

"They're completely tasteless in plots and intrigue. I'm better off staring at a wall. Or in my case, the darkness."

"Sir, I think maybe one of your tales would make a better story for Miss Greene," Martha spoke up.

"You have stories?" I asked.

"Not stories per say," he shrugged, "They're dreams."

"Ah, and, what kind of dreams are they? If I may ask."

"You'll think I'm deranged," he smiled, sheepishly.

"Why? Is your imagination that big?"

He laughed, "Well, see, I keep imagining that I'm someone else and that I'm hiding..."

My smiled slightly faded, "Hiding? In what way?"

"Um...well...see..." he sighed, "Almost every night, I dream...this is going to sound silly..."

"Tell me."

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts."

It did take me by surprise that he was dreaming about this, Martha hadn't told me about that, "Oh..."

He laughed, embarrassed, "I told you."

"Well, I could be judge of that," I said, feeling slightly brave all of a sudden.

"Really? How?"

"Well, unlike Matron Joan, I don't have any tools, but I do have a hand," I waved it, "And excellent hearing. May I?"

"Uh, sure," he stepped up.

I put my hand on his chest and felt one heart, as it should be. I knew I was blushing like mad but I acted like nothing, even if his gaze was currently locked on me, "There's one."

"Aha..." he stared intently, not looking very bothered that he had a woman he'd only met an hour ago putting her hand on his chest.

I moved my hand to where his other heart was supposed to be but felt nothing, "Just one."

"Aha..." he blinked and suddenly shook his head, "...I mean, yes."

"Human as they come," I smiled.

"You know, I wrote down some of these dreams in the form of fiction..." he looked around, "Um...not that it would be of any interest..."

"Didn't I just say my books were horrifyingly boring?"

"Really?" he looked on, shocked at the idea I actually wanted to hear his 'silly' stories.

"You'll just have to narrate that's all,"" I chuckled.

He smiled and walked to his desk, "Well...I've never shown it to anyone before."

"That makes me the first? Now, I feel special," I said, Martha gave a smirk as the Doctor walked back.

"Would you like to sit down?"

"Yes, that's alright."

He guided me to the couch and sat me down, taking a seat beside me with his journal in his hands, "I call it the Journal of Impossible Things."

"Quite the title," I remarked, seeing it as the perfect title for all the adventures we had.

He turned the pages and stopped at one that contained a sketch of the console and the monitor screen. On the next one was a gas-mask victim he and Rose had apparently battled with, even met some man named Jack Harkness. Never actually did meet the man, now that I think of it. Even when he, the Doctor and Rose had returned I was out of the city for a school trip. From what Mickey told me, Jack had been a very flirty man with everyone, and, the world had nearly ended...

So there was nothing new there.

"What's on the pages?" I asked innocently, seeing him turn the page just after...where a Dalek was sketched. My breathing hitched for a second, thankfully not loud enough to be noticed.

"Well, I don't know exactly what these would be called," the Doctor was staring endlessly at the Dalek sketch, "But they're a bit like pepper bottles. Can you imagine that?"

Pepper bottles? Oh dear, this human mind certainly couldn't captivate the concept of Daleks.

"You have quite the imagination," I remarked nonetheless, the proud smile I received back making it worthwhile.

"Mmm, it's become quite a hobby."

Indeed it had become a hobby of his by everything he had drawn. It seemed like he had gotten everything from his past in snippets. There was the face of the Moxx of Balhoon, and two Autons, then the clockwork robots Mickey talked about with Madame de Pompadour.

"Everything's a bit silly, mind you," the Doctor sheepishly smiled as he looked at the several sketches, "There's more little machines, but with clocks at their heads...sort of clocks anyways," he tilted his head as he studied the robots."

"Vast imagination," I nodded, "And you drew only monsters? Has it been only nightmares?" I wanted to know what exactly he dreamed about regarding Martha and I.

He turned the page and unfortunately for me, I received my answer...a sketch of Rose Tyler's face.

"What's next?" I played dumb, suppressing my pain and jealousy as best I could.

"It's a picture of a girl, ma'am," Martha startled us from behind.

"Oh! Martha!" I frowned, "You gave me a fright!"

"Martha, highly disrespectful," the Doctor scolded.

She had her elbows propped on the back of the couch and a content smile on her face, "He has an eye for the pretty girls, Miss."

"It's just an invention," he said, still getting over Martha, "This character, Rose, I call her, Rose. Seems to disappear later on..."

"Hm, wonder what happened," I mumbled.

And then came the second blow...

"Kaeya," he whispered, a faint smile on his lips as the Silver Monsoon princess came up on the next page.

"And...who's that?"

"Same with the last, an invention," he shrugged, suddenly glancing at my neck, "...though..."

This was one of the moments where I could seriously not mess up on my blind act. Moments like these got me curious about what people were staring at and as known, my curiosity always got the best of me, "What's wrong, John?"

"It's just...she seems to wear the same necklace you have on your neck."

Immediately, I placed a finger on it, regretting instantaneously for the burn I got, "Oh..." I gritted my teeth as the burn passed.

"Where did you get that from?" he asked, curiously looking at it.

"Um...it's a present from...my mother."

"Ah, well, suppose that's it, then," he was about to close the journal when Martha cut in...

"Why don't you tell her what's on the next page, sir?" she questioned, a rather fake, innocent tone in her voice.

"Martha," he gave her quite the glare.

"What's on the next page?" I asked, quietly, hoping to god it wasn't another woman, like Madame de Pompadour. Heard the Martian had snogged her as well. He left trails of women behind him, I swear.

"Uh...you see...um..." the Doctor stuttered.

I reached for the book and flipped the page, "Martha, what's next?" looking away in case it was the mistress.

"Shall you tell her, or shall I?" she questioned him.

He sighed, "Lisabetha, I hope you don't become angry...but I've had several dreams about you as well."

"Really?"

"Yes...and, well...I've taken liberty of...well..." I noticed a small blush on his cheeks as he looked between the journal and I.

"He drew you too," Martha declared, smirking widely.

"R-really?" I blinked, forcing everything inside me not to directly look at the journal.

"I can describe it if you like!" Martha exclaimed like a child, "See, you're on a horse and Mr. Smith is helping you ride it. You're wearing this amazing, beautiful blue dress and your hair is all flowy in the back, and then you're holding one of Mr. Smith's hands while his other-"

"MARTHA," the Doctor gritted his teeth, looking like he could really strangle the woman, "Thank you."

I was blushing madly by this time, seeing the picture for myself while the two battled it out with stares. I assumed it was from the guinguette because it looked like we were wearing the same clothes. Truthfully, looking back at the day, knowing how terrified I was of the horse...it hadn't been that bad after all...

"Apologies, Lisabetha," the Doctor sighed, "I understand if you'd like to stop here-"

"Nonsense," I reached for his hand, "Thank you for your picture. I'm sure it's wonderful."

He nodded, "Yeah..."

"Are you going to show me what's next?"

"Oh, yes! Yes!" he pushed Martha away from us, making the woman return to her duties, and then flipped the page, "Ah, the blue box."

"What box?"

"It's a blue box...like a...like a magic carpet, this funny little box that transports me to far away places."

"Like a doorway?"

"Mm..." he looked on, thoughtfully, "I sometimes think how magical life would be if things like this were true."

"If only..." I smiled, softly.

"I have dreamt, you know, of us..." he said, then suddenly shook his head, "No, wait! Not us as in together 'us' but as in..well..." I tried following but I just couldn't grasp what he was saying, "See, I-I dream...that I travel with you...and Martha."

"Oh...that sounds nice."

"Yes, but in those dreams, you're named differently."

"Like what?"

"It seems you have been named after a goddess, Minerva."

"Wisdom, I like it," I smiled.

"It is. And we have the most amazing times all three of us and...and you can see," he said quietly, staring at me with a soft smile, "You can see everything in the world and it's beauty."

I let out a shaky exhalation thanks to his look, "If only, right?"

"Yeah, if only..."

"Miss Greene?" Martha called.

"Yes?"

"I believe it is time for your lunch. The headmaster will be waiting for you," she walked back to us.

"Right..." I stood up, "...I guess I shall finally leave you, John. I loved hearing about your dreams. Such a magnificent imagination."

"Well, thank you for listening," he stood up, "Not everyone would..."

"You'll come to realize, John, that I am not like 'everyone' else," I remembered our little moment with Lazarus' experiment mentally smiled at the similarity. I made sure the Doctor knew that I was not like any other human, and John Smith would be sure to learn that as well.

"Yes..." he then blinked, ...I mean, thank you Miss Greene."

Martha linked arms with me and guided us to the doors, "And, don't forget you are meeting Mrs. Laura Dubay at the pub tonight."

You know, she said quite too loud. Like she wanted a certain someone to hear us. "Ah, yes," I patted her arm, wishing I could elbow her at the moment.

She closed the door behind and did a squeal in the middle of the corridor, "How's that for progression?"

"It doesn't matter," I sighed, beginning to walk, she hurriedly catching up to 'guide' me, "Because anything he says is not real. He's not the Doctor, he's not himself, he's..."

"Human? Yeah, I know," Martha nodded, "For the same reason, I have a theory."

"Ugh, please, no more theories," China entered my mind and only made me feel worse, "Ever."

"But this is a really good theory!"

"I don't care, nothing of this maters anyways because the minute the Doctor comes back, it all goes to hell. Who knows, he might not even remember any of this."

~0~

"Martha, it's freezing out here," I shivered as I walked out into the cold night, the pub getting on my last nerve with Laura Dubay inside.

"Miss Lisabetha, do you need help?" Jenny, one of the other friends Martha and I had made, quickly rushed over before Martha had the chance.

I shivered, but smiled nonetheless, "I'm alright. You can return to your seat. I was just leaving anyways."

"Would you like us to accompany you?"

"I can make it on my own. This is your free night. Enjoy it."

"Miss Lisabetha, where is your friend?" Martha walker over and guided me to their table outside the pub.

"Laura? Off with some man. Left me as usual. I don't know why she insists on us spending time together if she'll just leave in the end."

"Would you like a drink?" Jenny asked.

"Jenny, you know what I'd like?"

"What?"

"For you to sit down and enjoy your night," I chuckled, "I'll be going home, now. It's very cold out," I shivered once more.

"But someone has to accompany you," she insisted.

"Jenny, it's a lovely night, many stars from what I've been told," I looked up, the sky indeed full of them, "You should enjoy them."

A green light flared across the stars, flaring out of existence only a moment later. Martha had seen it as well, and since I couldn't remark on it I had to keep quiet.

"Did you see that?" Martha pointed up to the sky.

"See what, Martha?" Jenny asked.

"It was...but it was right there!"

"What did you see?" I questioned, standing up.

"Don't worry, Miss Lisabetha, there's nothing," Jenny assured, giving Martha a dirty look for putting me on edge.

"Martha..." I reached out for her.

"I'm here. I'm here," she slowly moved beside me, whispering, "There was something, I swear."

"We should go to the TARDIS now," I whispered back.

She nodded, "Jenny, I'll take her back. She's extremely cold and she could catch a cold."

"Go right ahead. I'll just bring in the drinks and meet you back in the school."

"Matron?" Martha raised an eyebrow, Joan hurriedly running towards us.

"She doesn't look so good," I whispered to her.

"Did you see that?" Joan was out of breath by the time she reached us, "There was something in the woods...this light..."

"Evening, ladies," we heard the Doctor greet from behind.

"Evening, sir," Martha turned us around.

"There!" Joan exclaimed, everyone looking up as she pointed, "Up in the sky!"

"That's beautiful," Jenny gawked.

I took advantage of everyone looking up to steal a quick glance of the sky. Something flew over us, almost like a star. But, I knew better. "What is it?" I played dumb, returning my gaze down.

"There...orgom. Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all," the Doctor replied.

"But it came down in the woods," Joan insisted.

"No, no, no, they always look close when actually they're miles off. Nothing left but cinder."

"Martha," I whispered, trembling for cold and just a bit of fear that we had been caught.

"I'm gonna take a look," she declared.

I blinked, "No you're not-"

"Mr. Smith, can you please do me the favor of escorting Miss Greene back to the school?"

"Wait, what?" I looked around, disliking the idea of leaving her alone when it was our job to keep the Doctor safe.

"And we'll take care of Matron Joan as well," she grinned a smile at me.

Hated her. Hated her. Hated her.

And yet my heart skipped a beat when the Doctor linked arms with me.

Hated myself. Hated myself. Hated myself.

~0~

The next day, Martha and I walked through the woods, destination a good old box of wonders we had to leave behind two months ago. We went inside the barn and I walked up to the box, placing my palm on it and sighing, "I wonder if she's upset we haven't visited anymore."

"Keep talking like she's alive and you'll sound like the Doctor in no time," Martha shook her head.

"How many times have I told you," I started unlocking the doors, "The TARDIS is alive."

We stepped inside, my smile fading as I took in the darkness the console contained. It was nothing like the bright, exciting atmosphere is always gave.

"Hello..." I called, a bit dejected there was no hum in response.

"You're talking to a machine," Martha put a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed, my mind distancing from the present as I remembered what had happened two months ago...

"Minerva, the watch is me," the Doctor said slowly, ignoring my confused look.

"Right...no," I shook my head, "You're YOU," I pointed at him, "That's a watch."

"No, remember, the chameleon arch lesson?"

"I think I listened," I frowned as I tried to remember.

"Those creatures are hunters, they can sniff out anyone- and me being a Time Lord; well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space.

"And the good news is?" Martha moved beside us.

"They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life's bound to be running out so, we hide, wait for them to die. "

"But they can track us down. "

"That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm gonna become human."

"You can do that?" I blinked, for a split second thinking all my aging problems with him had been solved.

He moved around the console, a strange headset lowering down, hanging from a cable, "Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered."

"What does it do?" Martha looked at the headset with distaste.

"Chameleon Arch. Re-write my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human," he returned and took the pocket watch from me and fit it into a section of the headset, "Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you two...you'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in."

"But Doctor, what about Kaeya's necklace?" I frowned, holding it up with my other hand.

"That thing needs to stay away from the TARDIS while I'm not here," he said dead serious.

"Why?"

"Something is brewing inside and I don't know how it'll affect the TARDIS. I trust you Minerva," he returned, holding my hand that held Kaeya's necklace, "Just keep it with you. Don't let anyone else take it. I trust you."

I nodded, "I'll take good care of it, just like you."

"Wait a minute," Martha cut in, seeming to have been thinking of something, "When you say you're going to rewrite every single cell...isn't that going to hurt?"

'Oh yeah, it hurts," he made some wide eyes at the thought.

"Minerva?" Martha snapped me out of the memory, thankfully.

"Sorry," I went ahead to the console.

"It's alright, I was thinking of it too," she joined me while I started up a few controls.

"I never want to hear screams like that again," I whispered, remembering the ones the Doctor gave as rewrote his cell biology. I felt my heart literally constrict and just shatter at the sight of him in that much pain. I would've gone and stopped him if Martha hadn't grabbed and restrained me...not to mention the screams of the woman I continuously dreamed about. My head never seemed to be at peace anymore.

The monitor turned on, the old Martian appearing, addressing the camera.

"This working?" he tapped the screen, "Minerva, Martha, before I change here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS, I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four- no, wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. Four- you two. Don't let me abandon you. And fi-

Martha twisted a dial, speeding up the speech, "We know it by heart, don't we?" she glanced at me with a fake irritated look, "Besides, we've got to know about the meteor. What are we supposed to do then?" she let go of the dial right at the end of the Doctor's speech.

"And twenty three. If anything goes wrong, if they find us, then you know what to do. Open the watch."

"It won't go wrong," I said with determination. Nothing would hurt him if I could help it. He always took care of me, swore to protect me and this time I could return the favor as was fair.

"Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it, to him it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice," he walked off only to return with some final words, "Oh, and- thank you," the recording stopped at his smile, the screen flicking off.

I sighed, "I wish he'd come back."

"Almost there," Martha reminded, "Just one more month."

"You know, I turn eighteen in a month...think he'd remember that?"

She scoffed, "Please, I bet that's, like, marked red and flagged on his calendar!"

"Do you think he'll remember any of this?" I fiddled with a knob nearby.

"I don't think so..." she shrugged, eyeing me with suspicion, "Why?"

"...I want to kiss him," I confessed in a whisper.

"Oooh," she nudged me, getting an embarrassed smile out of me.

"He's human...maybe for a moment, I could just pretend," I tried to explain the silly notion I had, "That's if he even felt something for me in this version."

"You wanna hear my theory again?"

"Not really," I turned away from the console, heading for the doors.

"Oh but it's a really good one!" she ran after me, nearly pleading like a child who wanted sweets before dinner, "C'mon!"

"Forget it Martha, I already feel bad with what I want, I don't want more theories," I stepped into the barn.

"But it could help, and it would tie back to your kiss thing!"

"No," I opened the door of the barn and peered out, making sure no one was around before stepping out into the woods, "I shouldn't even have told you that. It's wrong."

"But it could help with the theo-"

"Martha," I turned to face her, abruptly bumping into her, "Let's forget it," she opened her mouth to retaliate, "Please."

She sighed, nodding and letting go of her 'theory' for the time being. She linked arms with me and started on our way back to the woods. Suddenly, the necklace burned right through the cloth and onto my skin, "Ah!" I grabbed it and this time the burn didn't hurt, instead I gasped, feeling a presence around us...a voice.

"Minerva?" Martha panicked, holding my arm while I put a hand on my chest, "What's wrong?"

"I...can feel," I looked around, "...I can hear."

"Hear what?"

I opened my mouth when an icy numbness took over my head, "Ow..." Martha's eyes widened suddenly, "...what?" She just stared. "Martha, what?" But she blinked and shook her head, "Nothing." "Martha?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It was nothing," she shook her head again, picking up the necklace and turning it over, the cloth still in its place, "What did you hear?"

"I felt like...the watch...a voice inside of it, you know, how the Doctor told us about it? I could hear his voice for a split second. I could feel him, the real him, just for a split second."

"How'd you manage to do that?"

I looked at the necklace she held, pointing a trembling finger at it, "Kaeya did it. She was telepathic in her days..."

"A spirit?"

"I told you, I believe in the afterlife and I believe that woman is doing something with that necklace."

"What did she do, then?" she raised an eyebrow, still doubting my words and probably my sanity.

"Martha, she loved the Doctor. She had unfinished business in this world, and if she died, I think she's still in that thing," I stared at the necklace, "And she wants to help protect the Doctor. I think, for a moment, she got into my head...she made me feel and hear the Doctor. And it felt horrible, Martha," I shook my head, shutting my eyes, barely feeling that icy numbness now, slowly fading away into nothing, "It hurt."

"Spirit or no spirit, this thing is dangerous and you are not wearing it anymore," she declared, putting it around her neck now.

"I promised him I'd wear it."

The Doctor explained that while the TARDIS would be in hiding, it was best to leave the necklace was someone to look after it. The readings he got from it the last time made him nervous cos he didn't know what exactly that energy was. So, he left it with me...

"Kaeya can bite it because she's not hurting you anymore," Martha snapped.

"You think...she was trying to hurt me?" I rubbed my arm, somehow remembering Rose and her threat.

It seemed like any woman that loved the Doctor took me as a threat...even dead women.

"We're not gonna find out," she shrugged and linked arms with me, continuing on our way.

"Let's go find the Doctor, though. I won't feel right until I see that's he okay."

"Mhm," she agreed...and then, "OW!" she quickly took the necklace off, putting a hand on her neck where the necklace had touched her.

"What's the matter?"

"It...it burned me!" she stared at the necklace.

"Funny, it's only ever done it to me. What's changed?"

"Yeah, well, I don't like you either, Kaeya," Martha spat at the necklace like it could actually talk, "Here," she handed it back to me, "And if it burns you again, I say throw it and call it an accident."

"Can you imagine what the Doctor would do to me if I broke the necklace?" I frowned, shaking my head, "He'd kill me!"

"Please," Martha rolled her eyes, "He'd probably hug you and tell you it wasn't your fault and yadda, yadda."

"I have to take care of this, Martha. It's important to him and Kaeya. And sure, I may not completely like Kaeya, but it's the right thing to do. But she shouldn't worry of me and my feelings. Yes, fine, I want to kiss him, but it's not like I'm gonna go do it. He doesn't like me, period. Kaeya should see it."

"I don't like Kaeya," she repeated, glaring daggers at the necklace, "She's hurting you and she knows it."

I sighed, "Let's just go."

~0~

Thankfully, John, the Doctor, was alright and alive. He was with the students in the field of the schools...and they were practicing gunshots. If the Doctor could see himself now. There was a machine gun set up behind a bunker of sandbags, the students in a row, all doing their best to hit the targets across.

"Concentrate," the Doctor instructed.

"He seems just fine to me," Martha remarked, both of us watching with distasteful looks.

"That's not him," I muttered.

"Looks like Matron Joan isn't liking it either," Martha nodded towards the matron a few feet beside us.

"That makes her a good person," I started walking for her, she quickly 'guiding' me to her.

"Matron?" called Martha.

She looked over, a faint smile on her face, "Miss Greene."

"Martha tells me you're a bit displeased," I began, "Is there something wrong?"

"Um...you'll have to excuse me, Miss Greene, but I disagree with the way these students are taught," she sighed, looking ashamed.

"You disagree with the boys being taught how to kill," I spoke the words she couldn't.

"Uh...yes," she nodded, "It's how my husband died."

"I'm so sorry," I said, "You don't have to hide your displeasure. I don't agree with it either."

"Thank you," she whispered, actually looking grateful, "It's nice to know that someone in this school agrees with me."

I nodded, "Rest assure."

"It's a bit strange seeing as your brother is, well..."

"The headmaster, yes," I sighed, "But you will come to realize that I don't agree with most of the things he says. I abhor violence and its tools, such as weapons. My friend..." I paused, yup that friend was just gone for the moment, "...I had a friend, he taught me very well. There's always another way to settle problems. Never resort to violence."

"Wise one, your friend."

"Yeah, he is," I breathed in, watching the Doctor actually praising one his students for getting the target.

"I should be on my way, then, Miss Greene," Joan touched my arm, signaling her departure.

I nodded and she walked off, my gaze stuck ahead, ""I really hope he forgets this afterwards."

"Cease fire!" the headmaster appeared, stopping besides the Doctor.

"Good day to you, headmaster," the Doctor greeted him.

"Your crew's on fine form today, Mr Smith."

"Excuse me, Headmaster, we could do a lot better. Latimer is being deliberately shoddy," Hutchinson began to say.

"I really don't like him," I muttered to Martha, nudging her to walk us over.

"Minerva, maybe we should stay back," Martha whispered.

"I'm trying my best," the boy, Timothy, said.

"You need to be better than the best. Those targets are tribesmen from the dark continent," the headmaster replied.

"That's exactly the problem, sir. They only have spears. "

"Oh dear me. Latimer takes it upon himself to make us realize how wrong we all are. I hope, Latimer, that one day you may have a just and proper war in which to prove yourself. Now, resume firing."

"Oh, now we're definitely going," I frowned, the boy actually seeing how wrong this was and being snapped for it.

"Minerva, we have to remember our places!" Martha desperately reminded, struggling to keep me back.

"I do, and I have just enough authority myself," I nodded with determination and pulled her forwards, towards the men.

Hutchinson started firing again, Timothy feeding the ammunition. But for some reason, Timothy began getting distracted until he stopped his job.

"There's a stoppage, immediate action," Hutchinson looked at Timothy, "Didn't I tell you, Sir, this stupid boy is useless! Permission to give Latimer a beating, Sir?"

"It's your class, Mr. Smith," the headmaster shrugged.

"Permission granted," the Doctor said without a thought.

"Right, come with me, you little oiyk," Hutchinson grabbed Timothy's wrist and pulled him up, leading him away along with the other boys.

"Oh no you don't," I frowned, half angry with the Doctor. This was not him.

"Lisabetha!" the headmaster called, sounding angry, "What is she doing here?" he demanded from Martha, "It's completely dangerous-"

"Stop the boys," I pointed in a random direction, "I need Timothy. Right now."

"I believe that is not in your power," snapped the headmaster, "This is Mr. Smith's class and-"

"John, please?" I called, putting on my best, sweet smile that usually got us out of trouble.

"Bring him back," the Doctor called out to the boys, surprising the headmaster, yet making Martha smirk, "Miss Greene, what do you need him for?"

"An errand, is that alright?"

He nodded, "Yes, of course."

The boys begrudgingly let go of Timothy, the boy confused yet still walking over, "Timothy," I pulled Martha closer, "I need you to find me a cloth. Can you do that?"

"Just a cloth?" he frowned, even more confused.

"Yes, a small one, though a bit thick. Can you do that for me, please?"

"Sure, Miss Greene," he nodded and walked away, the other boys shooting him dirty looks.

"Lisabetha, you can't disregard Mr. Smith's orders," the headmaster walked over and grabbed my arm harshly, "This is his class."

"But he didn't mind," I gritted my teeth, "And please let go."

"You do better if you listen and obey-"

"No!" I shouted, pushing him off. I had a mother who did nothing but that and I'd be damned if I let a stranger do that to me.

"Lisabetha-"

"You are done telling me what to do, do you understand? I am independent and I can make my own decisions. You are not my father, you don't have a right to order me around. From now on, you will act like what you are, my brother. You will guide, you will advise me, but you shall not order me like a child."

The man blinked, "But-"

"Do I make myself clear?"

"That's...that's not how you're supposed to act!"

"You'll come to realize, big brother," I spat those two words out, "That I am not like anyone else. So don't treat me like a defenseless child."

"C'mon," Martha grabbed my arm, the headmaster's reaction a stunned and silent one, "We have to go to the village."

"Apologies, John," I sighed, hoping I hadn't just ruined any sort of friendship with him by my sudden out lash at the headmaster.

"Um, it's alright," he looked between the headmaster and I, "Actually, if you'd like...I'm sure Martha has more duties to attend to. I was thinking, if you don't mind, of course," his gaze still flickered between us, more nervous now, "If you'd allow me to escort you to the village?"

I blushed, lowering my gaze for a minute, "Really?"

"Yes, um, it could be dangerous in the village for two young women to be on their own...out there..."

Martha smirked, "Aha."

"Headmaster?" he turned to the man, as if for approval.

"Go ahead, maybe you can keep her in place," the headmaster muttered and walked away. I had to frown, unable to stop feeling myself as a little person in this era.

"Hey, it's okay," the Doctor walked up, reaching for my hand, "I think it's wonderful you stand your ground."

And again my dear best friend inputted a scoff as she walked away, "There's a shocker," she mumbled. But I was busy blushing and smiling at the Martian in front of me, careful to keep my gaze around and not locked onto him.

~0~

"I have to confess something, John," I said while we walked through the village.

"What is that?"

"I lied...about needing Timothy for an errand," I looked down, "Truth is, I just didn't agree with...with your 'permission'."

"Oh..." he did sound surprised, but he didn't lash out or anything.

"I don't agree with anything, really. Don't think it's just you."

"And when you say 'anything', I'm assuming we're talking about the school?"

I nodded, "Teaching boys how to kill? It's awful."

"But don't you think discipline is good for them?"

"But...it's such military discipline. If there's another war those boys won't find it so amusing."

"Great Britain's at peace, long may it reign."

"1913..." I muttered, "...I don't find myself convinced with the school. That's all. With everything. My brother..."

"Yes, the headmaster can be a little rough sometimes..."

"I really do apologize for my little...scene, with my brother. But I'm tired of the way I'm treated. I will not allow him to treat me like one of his maids with his yells and orders. I'll be damned."

He chuckled, "I really like that about you, you know. I've never seen anyone stand up to the headmaster like that."

"Thanks, but I believe no one has a right over anyone else. No superiority. But then I think it might not be his fault, it's the school's. It's taken him over, all the amusement from gun firings is simply not needed. It only worsens people internally."

"Well, I do admit that mankind doesn't need warfare and bloodshed to prove itself. Everyday life can provide honor and valor and...let's just hope that from now on this, this country can...can find its heroes in smaller places..." I noticed he was becoming absent in what he was speaking about. I looked ahead and saw he was watching a village street but I couldn't make what was so distracting, "In the most..." he continued watching, "ordinary..." he kept looking to and from the street, "Of deeds!" he suddenly exclaimed and snatched a cricket ball from a boy nearby then threw it ahead.

"What's the matter?" I asked, frantically.

Of course, then I saw what was happening back in the village street. Poles besides workers fell down and hit a plank of wood with a brick to its end and made it fly all the way to a piano on a rope. The rope snapped just as brick flew over it and hit a milk churn, making it fall right in front of a woman with a stroller. She had to stop and when she did, the piano crashed into the sidewalk, making her scream at the top of her lungs.

My mouth hung open but I remembered I hadn't "seen" anything so I shut it and controlled myself, "What was that noise?" I glanced over and saw the Doctor in utter shock at his little chain reaction.

"Lucky..." he finished his so-very-long sentence. He took a deep breath and turned to face me, "Miss Greene, may I have the privilege of taking you to the village dance this evening as my guest?"

"Uh..." I felt my heart skip a beat, "Y-yes."

He laughed, excitedly, "Really?"

I nodded, becoming excited myself, "Yes! I'd love to."

"That's great, that's...that's really great," he breathed in.

"So are you gonna tell me what just happened over there?"

"Oh that's a funny story," he linked an arm again.

"Then tell me."

"How's about we go back and I tell you over a nice cup of tea?"

"I actually prefer coffee..."

"Oh, then coffee it will be."

We chuckled and went on our way.

~0~

"You know, I'd like to think the Doctor is a man I wish I could be," the man himself was saying as we walked back to the school, passing a field with a scarecrow, "He does the impossible things with cricket balls."

"To be fair, anyone can do the impossible," I shrugged.

"But he sure has an eye for the ladies!" he chuckled to himself.

"Yeah..." I said with less than enthusiasm about the fact.

"Not me though," he suddenly said, looking at me, "I think if I'd see someone I really cared for, I wouldn't let them walk out on me."

And for some reason, my mind drifted back to the moment the Doctor had asked me to stay with him, right after Donna Noble had left us. I couldn't walk out on him then and now it was even more complicated to do so, but I had promised myself that I would if the moon princess, through some miracle, ever showed up.

"Are you alright, Lisabetha?" he brought me out of my thoughts, looking concerned.

"Sorry, I, um...I was just thinking of a friend."

"Oh, what friend?"

"A good friend...he, uh, left."

"Were you and him...?" he nodded, me shaking my head as soon as I got the message.

"No! Just good friends. He left some time ago and I miss him. That's all."

"Oh, does he have a date for return?"

"Not really..."

"Well, rest assured I can keep you company until he does come back," he grinned, getting a blush out of me.

"I'd like that very much."

He nodded and looked around, spying the scarecrow not far from us, "Oh, that scarecrow's all skewed," we crossed the furrows to reach it and he started stretching it across its frame.

"Ever the artist. Where did you learn to draw?" I asked curiously. The Doctor I knew could barely draw a stick figure!

"Gallifrey."

I stiffened, "And...is that in Ireland?"

"Yes, it must be, yes," but he didn't look nor sound sure.

"But...you're not Irish?"

Not at all, no. My father Sidney was a watchmaker from Nottingham and my mother Verity was..." he paused to think, "...um...well, she was a nurse, actually."

"Oh, I hear they make good wives," I joked, still a bit uneasy with the his uncertainty of the information he was supposed to know by heart.

"Really? Right. Yes. Well, my work is done, what do you think?" and he scrunched his face again at the error, heaving a big sigh, "Lisabetha, I am so sorry. I understand if you'd like to slap me because even I think I deserve it."

I giggled and stepped up, the man bracing himself for a slap. My hands "felt" their way up to his face, one of them resting on his cheeks. I leaned up and kissed his other cheek instead, "Nah, I don't like violence."

If the Doctor were here he would've let out the biggest scoff in the world and then made a proper list of the times I slapped him.

"Oh," he blinked, surprised by my small kiss.

Well, I'd take this kiss as a fill for the one I would never get in my life again.

~0~

"John, I'm still waiting for that coffee," I frowned, shifting on my seat as my back was getting tired.

"And you'll get it, but first you gotta stay still," he fumbled about in that journal of his.

"Hm, I don't know why I agreed."

"Because it was either this, or going back to your room," he took the seat beside me on the couch, "And I do recall you have a distaste for the books you had in there."

"Huh, you're right. Now I remember it," I nodded, seeing a small part of the sketch he had apparently done for me, "I'd ask to see it but..."

He held the journal between, as if to show. I did steal a quick glance from it and saw the sketch of me. It was a simple one of from my neck and up. In comparison to the Doctor, John Smith had the hand of an artist.

"Well, I can describe it to you. If you'd like..." he offered.

"That'd be nice," I nodded.

"I have to ask, first...have you ever seen yourself?" he asked, becoming serious.

"No...I was born blind." I did not like lying but I just had to for his sake and mine.

"Oh," he looked down to the book, "Well, you have beautiful eyes. This brilliant shade of green that just...mesmerize one," he tilted his head as he stared at the picture, "Your hair is exceptionally long. But it's very pretty. A light brunette," I smiled, looking down to hide my blush, "And your cheeks, they have this little pink tinge to them. It's a bit difficult to tell if your blushing or not, mind you. And then your smile...it's beautiful."

"My, I think you're over exaggerating, John," I said, looking up and hoping to dear god my blush had turned down, "If I didn't know any better, I look like one of those creatures you've drawn. The ones with the clocks or the little pepper bottles."

"Nonsense. You're definitely how I described you."

"I think you've made me far too beautiful," I shrugged, "Ordinary woman you can find anywhere."

"I don't think so," he shook his head, "In fact, I've come to realize that you are not like any other woman I've seen."

"Oh, you listen," I flashed a nervous grin, "But still, perhaps you are lying and I have terrible hair," I pointed a joking finger, "Or bad teeth!"

"Now that's not fair for you at all," he scooted closer and pushed a strand of my hair back, actually stroking it for a couple seconds, "If you could see yourself, you're...you're beautiful."

"Oh, John," I looked around with an incessant blush, my nervousness working its way as a smile, "I think you're a bit-"

His finger was placed on my lips and cut off my words, "Don't you dare finish that sentence." And before I knew it, he pressed his lips against mine for a small kiss. It was so brief I barely felt it, but the shock was still there. He pulling back, looking so nervous that I almost found time to smile. "I've never, um..."

I was nervous, yes...but more shocked than anything. Was this right? Or was it like I was taking advantage of the situation where he wasn't even fully conscious...I think I was. But I looked up, and for a moment, our eyes connected and I just had to...and I thought he agreed. He leaned over again, and we kissed once more. It was based upon a lie but I couldn't care, not when my heart was beating at light-speed out of joy. From his side, I felt his feelings pouring out; he could feel something for me and as much as I knew I had to pull away, I couldn't...because for a split second...just for one second...my feelings had been reciprocated by the most wonderful man in the universe.

But then we heard the door open up and broke apart to see Martha coming in, her eyes widening in a second.

"Martha, what have I told you about entering unannounced?" the Doctor demanded, very cross.

"S-sorry," she looked around, "Uh...the headmaster...he was looking for..." she pointed at me with a shaky finger, "...Miss Greene."

"Oh," he looked back to me, "Will I still see you in the evening?" he sounded afraid for some reason.

I smiled faintly, "Yes. Martha will bring me here if that's okay," I stood up from the couch.

"Yes, yes, that's fine," he also stood up and guided me to Martha, "I suppose I'll owe you the coffee."

"Yes, I suppose you do..." I bit my lip, the blush growing deeper, "...until tonight, John."

"C'mon, Miss," Martha linked an arm with me and led us out into the corridor.

As soon as we closed the door, I let out a big and heavy sigh, "I am so sorry, Martha. I may have ruined everything but..." I put my fingers on my lips, "...I don't really care."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling lightly, "It's my theory time," she grabbed my arm and walked us for my room, closing the door with its lock.

"Martha, I'm really sorry though-"

"Shush it, lover girl," she held a hand out, "Theory time."

"No," I plopped down on my bed.

"Yes," she put her hands on her hips, "Gotta hand it to you though, wanted a kiss and you went for it."

"No! See, I kissed his cheek and I thought I would be fine with it, but...he kissed me...and I should've stopped it but..." I sighed, shaking my head, "...I couldn't. I've fallen too deep."

"Minerva, this theory, you really wanna hear it. Before the Doctor left, he explained a few things, remember? He said that some things could start seeping through John Smith."

"So?"

"So, I'm thinking, if the human version is falling for you, maybe it means that the original version might have already fallen," she had the biggest grin on her face that it could nearly break her.

"Martha, you say such silly things," I shook my head.

"What!? Minerva! he," she gestured to the door, "-kissed you! Are you really that stubborn to see it!?"

"This is the human version, and as much as it pains me...whatever happens will be gone in a month. And I hope to dear God that he doesn't remember an ounce of it...because I am gonna take advantage of every moment I have with John Smith. Is that bad of me?"

She just smiled and came over to give me a hug.

~0~

"Lisabetha, you look absolutely wonderful!" the Doctor exclaimed, making me blush for like the millionth time in under the ten minutes that I've been here.

"Thank you," I looked down in an attempt to hide my red face from him, "I'm sure you look dashing as well."

Dramatic sigh...indeed, he did.

I wore a lavender and baby blue dress that went down to my feet. The baby blue layer was covered by a thin, lavender chiffon layer that was lifted to form an upside-down 'V' in the front of the dress, letting the blue be seen. There was a laced blue belt going around my waist, with a silver beading as well as the hemlines of the three-quarter sleeves. The lavender layer went into a deep V-neckline style at the top as well, with the baby blue layer underneath covering up my chest and allowing me to wear Kaeya's necklace right above it. My hair was moved over to one side, one twist starting from my left side and going down where it was fastened with a clip.

"Trust me, not as good as you do," the Doctor walked over, "And, while you're in such a good mood, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" I asked, worried that he might have had second thoughts about our attendance together.

"I may or may not know how to dance," he said, shyly.

I started to smile, remembering the lessons back in China, "I think you may know some steps."

"I'm not really sure..." and poor thing really did seem unsure about it.

"You know, you're not really sure about anything, are you?" I teased, hoping to get a smile out of him.

"Oh, I'm sure about something."

"And what's that?"

He took a step closer, "You."

And cue the blush. "Oh..."

He put a finger under my chin and made me look up. He leaned down for a soft kiss which I very much responded to. Sadly, it only lasted a few moments before Martha ran inside, completely out of breath.

"Martha!" he scolded, "This is getting ridiculous!"

"They've found us! They found us!"

My eyes widened, "What?"

"They found us!" she panted for air, "It's...Jenny, I think...they took her or something...possessed her!"

"Martha, I've warned you," the Doctor grew angry.

"I've seen them and they look like people, like us, like normal!" she continued, ignoring him for the moment, "He has to open the watch!" she looked at the mantelpiece...and it wasn't there, "Oh my god...where is it?"

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor asked.

"You had a fob watch," she pointed, "Where is it!?"

"Did I? I don't remember."

"It's gone?" I asked, nervously, my necklace beginning to burn a bit again, "Ah," I put a finger around the chains, "Kaeya, what is it?" I whispered to myself while the two battled it out.

"But we need it... oh my god, Doctor we're hiding from aliens, and they've got Jenny and they've... possessed her or copied her or something and you've got to tell me, where's the watch?" Martha turned to us, completely frantic.

The necklace desisted in its burn but the icy feeling returned to my head, making me feel the watch was indeed gone...and in someone's hands, "Martha? You've got to calm down-"

She looked back like I had lost it, "Minerva, they're here!"

"Yes, and the watch isn't here...as you said. Maybe we should go out and look for it...at the dance," I hoped she'd catch on that the watch had been moved for some reason.

"Min-"

"Lisabetha, don't listen to her," the Doctor pulled me back, "Martha, 'Minerva' was a dream, and frankly, I think you should go take a rest."

She looked irritated beyond everything, "Oh you complete..." she stepped closer, "...this," she pointed at him, "Is not you. This is 1913!"

"Yes, it is 1913," he agreed, nodding.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry but I've got to snap you out of this," and without a further word, she slapped him.

My mouth drew open, "Oh my god..."

"Wake up! You're coming back to the TARDIS!"

"How dare you! I'm not going anywhere with an insane servant!" the Doctor snapped, grabbing her wrists and dragging her to the doors, "Martha, you are dismissed, you will leave these premises immediately. Not get out!" he pushed her out and slammed the door.

"John..." I said, quietly.

"It's okay, it's okay! I'm here," he rushed back, "I'm sorry for that, I don't know what's gotten into her."

I sighed, "I think maybe things have gotten out of hand."

"You're telling me!" he rubbed his cheek.

"But you know, if she says the watch is gone, maybe it is gone. How about you take a look? Please? For me?"

"Well," he sighed and looked around, "No, I guess it's not around anymore," he linked an arm with me, "Please, let's not let her ruin this evening for us."

But somehow I believed this was far from over...the necklace then continued to burn me.

~0~

"Would you care for a dance?" the Doctor asked, although he was already leading me to the dance floor.

I chuckled, "Sure, will my feet survive?"

"I'm...not so sure," he admitted.

"Well," I said as he grabbed my hand and we stood in our place, "Let's find out," we started dancing and for the moment, everything seemed good, "Look, you can dance," I smiled, my lessons had paid off.

"Maybe it's because I'm dancing with such a pretty girl," he smiled softly, right before we bumped into another pair, "Sorry," he muttered and I laughed.

After the dance finished up, we returned to our table and sat down, "Would you care for some drinks?" he asked.

"That would be fine, thank you," I nodded.

He kissed the top of my head and walked off, leaving me to blush in his absence. I really hoped the Doctor wouldn't remember any of this afterwards.

"Miss Greene?" Joan walked up, "It's me, Joan."

"Hello, Joan," I smiled, "You attended the dance?"

"Yes, I thought it could be nice. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all," I gestured to a random seat, "Did you come alone?"

"No, I brought someone else but...I seem to have lost him," she searched around the room.

"Give him a shout and he'll show up," I chuckled.

"And you? I saw Mr. Smith around."

"Yes, he went for some drinks."

"Minerva?" Martha's voice called, a few seconds later approaching the table, "I've got it," she held the Doctor's screwdriver.

I sighed, "Good. The watch is here Martha."

"How do you know?"

I looked around, ignoring Joan's shocked face at the loss of my English accent and my gain of sight, "Kaeya's burning me again," I lifted my necklace and showed Martha the burned spot, "I can feel her in my head...it's like...she's squishing everything inside."

"Take it off!" she nearly shouted.

"I can't. She's helping."

"Minerva!"

"I'm sorry, but..." Joan stood up, still staring at me, "...what's going on?"

"Please keep the secret until it is time," I told her slowly, "It's something I want to do."

"But...Miss Greene," she gestured to her eyes.

"Oh, now really, Martha. This is getting out of hand. I must insist that you leave," the Doctor returned holding our drinks.

Martha held the sonic screwdriver at him, looking firmly, "Do you know what this is? Name it. Go on, name it," he set the drinks on the table and stared at the screwdriver, slowly reaching for it, "You're not John Smith. You're called the Doctor. The man in your journal, he's real. He's you."

But before he could respond, there was a loud commotion by the entrance, people shrieking and moving away as a man, Clarke if I remembered by the Headmaster's words, entered holding a gun, "There will be silence! All of you!" scarecrows filed in after Jenny and another student, Baines, "I said silence!"

"Mr Clarke! What's going on?" the announce of the dance asked, only to be dissolved less than a second later by Clarke.

I gasped and stood up, "We've been caught."

"Mr Smith, everything I told you, just forget it! Don't say anything," Martha quickly said, moving beside me, "Any plans?" she whispered.

"I'll let you know..."

"We asked for silence! Now then. We have a few questions for Mr Smith," Baines directed himself to the Doctor.

"No, better than that," a little girl holding a red balloon skipped onto the dance floor, "The teacher. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking."

"You took human form," Baines looked on with surprise.

"Of course I'm human, I was born human! As were you, Baines. And Jenny, and you, Mr Clarke! What is going on, this is madness!" the poor Martian frantically asked.

"And a human brain, too! Simple, thick and dull."

"You will leave," I ordered.

"Way to keep it down-low, Minerva," Martha mock-glared.

I covered my mouth, "Martha...I didn't say that," she raised an eyebrow, now staring with concern.

"He's no good like this," Jenny said.

"We need a Time Lord."

"Easily done," Baines stepped forwards and raised his own gun at the Doctor, the Martian stepping back as the crowd gasped, "Change back."

I was going to attempt and stop them but the iciness started up again, halting me in my spot, "Ow..." I rubbed my head.

"Minerva?" Martha frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Doctor shook his head.

"Change back!"

"I literally do not know-"

Jenny suddenly grabbed Martha, snatching her away before I could even reach out, "Get off me!" she shouted, Jenny only smirking.

"She's your friend, isn't she? Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?" Jenny spoke to the Doctor.

"I don't know what you mean!"

"Wait a minute...the maid told me about Smith and the blind one over there," she nodded to me, "...that woman, there!"

"Let's have you!" Clarke grabbed my wrist and pulled me forwards.

"Have you enjoyed it, Doctor? Being human? Has it taught you wonderful things, are you better, richer, wiser?" Baines questioned, standing in the middle of us, "Then let's see you answer this. Which one of them do you want us to kill? Your friend, or your lover? Your choice."

"Make your decision, Mr. Smith," Jenny smiled, wickedly.

"Minerva?" Martha had stopped her struggling as she noticed that I was staring down with a blank expression, "She's not okay!" she exclaimed to the others, as if that would make a difference, "Please, let me help her!"

But inside my body it felt like the cold was taking over. A cold, prickly ice numbing every inch of my body and brain...clearing out things inside my mind...as if making room for another...and failing. Everything was being squished together, one memory over another, the cold spreading and intensifying. My chest and head started hurting like crazy.

"Perhaps if that human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge," Baines smirked.

And then the necklace burned...but it no longer burned my skin...

"NO!," I gripped Clarke's hand, ice beginning to emerge from my fingertips, "You will let go, NOW!" and swiftly I broke free from the man, turning around.

"Minerva," Martha whispered, her eyes widening again.

But it felt like something was compressing my mind...like when Cassandra had taken over my head. Dear God it hurt. "I am not about to let you hurt him," I spoke, my voice overlapping with another, a voice I recognized completely.

"Kaeya?" Martha gaped.

"I didn't wait centuries for the Doctor to be killed in front of me," I/Kaeya pointed a finger at them, "You will leave him, and you will leave him now."

"Who are you?" Baines demanded.

"I am in the body of a feeble human, but not for long," I/Kaeya smiled, "You may recall the Silver Monsoon, I am its princess. I am Kaeya. And under my orders you shall leave the Doctor and his companions alone."

But he held up a gun at me, Kaeya not so pleased.

"Time Lord..." we heard a whisper from the room.

"It's him!" Baines pointed.

Quickly, I grabbed the gun from his hand and fired right past Baines, making him drop the gun he was holding, "Step away from the gun, right now! John, the gun."

He stared on, full of shock and confusion, "But you...your eyes...you can...see? And your voice...what's...your voice..."

"John, the gun," I/Kaeya repeated, louder. When he did I turned back to Jenny and Clarke, "Now I'm gonna ask one time, nicely, to let go of the human right now."

"Well, what do we have here?" Jenny smirked, "Can you see?"

"The human was always capable of seeing, she was merely faking for the safety of our Doctor."

I gasped, putting a hand on my head, looking at Martha with watery eyes, "It hurts. She's in my head and it hurts! Make it stop...please!"

Martha became desperate to be free, "Kaeya! Leave her alone! It's compressing her to death!"

"She will be fine," Kaeya took over again. I/Kaeya pointed the gun at Jenny, a dark feeling taking over my face, "Let go before I kill you. And do not think I shall hesitate for it was people like you that I was killed by. He killed me for a better life. You will suffer the fate he should've had."

"Careful wife of mine," Clarke said, "We don't want any of us dying."

"We'll shoot you down!" Baines snapped.

"And you'll die, end of story. I want Martha freed, NOW."

Baines took a good look into my narrowed eyes, seeing Kaeya was not joking, "Mother..."

"Martha Jones, escort the Doctor and everyone else out of this building," I/Kaeya ordered, Kaeya's voice only getting stronger.

"You need to leave her body alone! She's just human, Kaeya!" Martha pleaded, rushing over to me, "Minerva, can you hear me!?"

"This is for the Doctor, he comes first. Please leave."

She looked past me to the others, sighing and resuming her work, "Alright, you heard her! Go! Matron, please help me!"

While they ushered everyone out, Kaeya and I dealt with the little threat, well Kaeya more than I.

"Kaeya it's hurting me...please..." I pleaded both mentally and externally, my hand over my chest, feeling it compress.

"There is a message to give," she declared.

~0~

"Minerva!" Martha ran to meet me, she, the Doctor and even Joan were still outside the school, a few feet away from it, even after Kaeya's specific instructions.

"What are you all still doing here!?" I yanked off Kaeya's necklace, barely catching my breath, "Kaeya said to run!"

"I could give a crap what that woman said, how's your head?" she studied it frantically, reminding me of the Doctor suddenly.

"She's gone for the moment," I moved past her to the Doctor, Joan a few feet behind, "Are you okay?"

"You're name is Lisabetha..." he whispered, his eyes still wide from the shock, "...Minerva is...she's the-"

"The Doctor's companion, yeah, hello," I waved my fingers, "That's me."

"But..."

"My name's not Lisabetha. I'm not English. And, as you can clearly see, I'm not blind!"

He blinked, "But...you can't be..."

"Clearly I am!" I exclaimed, the tears quick to form at his reactions, "And I'm sorry!"

"Lisabetha," he whispered, stepping closer, "You're not..." he brushed the side of my face with his fingers, "...but..."

I sighed, "My name is Minerva and I'm the Doctor's companion. And you know this because you're him."

"Well don't just stand there!" Martha ran past us, reminding us of that thing we had to do, RUN! "Let's go! Let's go!"

"Martha! We need the watch!" I said, as we ran, "But it's not here anymore! It headed back to the school! Kaeya said so!"

"You two are insane!" the Doctor snapped.

"So are you!" We both replied back.

~0~

We ran back to the school where the Doctor closed the doors and suddenly began ringing a bell.

"What are you doing?" Martha demanded.

"Maybe one can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together!" he replied, still frantically ringing the bell, "Take arms! Take arms!"

"Doctor, you can't," I followed him around, "They're just kids!"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you know who I am and I'm gonna fight," he walked off before suddenly glancing back, "And I'm John."

I sighed, "Martha, what are we gonna do?"

"What in thunder's name is this?" I heard the headmaster walking down the stairs, "Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very simply and immediately exactly what is going on?"

"Headmaster, I have to report the school is under attack," the Doctor walked to him.

"Really? Is that so? Perhaps you and I should have a word in private."

"I promise you, sir. I was in the village with Lis..." the Doctor looked at me, "Your sister. And she saw - heard it - all. It's Jeremy Baines and Mr. Clark from the Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir."

"Lisabetha?" he turned back and I immediately reverted to my act.

"Yes, brother?"

"Is everything he just said, true?"

"It's true..." I sighed.

"Murder on our own soil?"

"Yes..."

"Perhaps you did well then, Mr. Smith. What makes you think the danger's coming here?"

"Well, sir, they said, um..."

"Baines threatened him," I spoke up, "They're gonna follow him and try to hurt him."

"Very well," the headmaster nodded, "Remain on guard," he walked off to give more orders.

"You're helping?" the Doctor asked, confused.

"You can be mad, but if we did this, we did it for you."

He looked for a moment like he'd reconsider but it all went to hell when he started ordering the boys to load up the weapons.

"Doctor, please! You can't do this!" Martha cried, both of us just plainly horrified.

"Maintain position over the stable yard," he ordered a student.

"They're just boys! You can't ask them to fight!" I exclaimed.

"Faster now! That's it," he ignored us.

"They don't stand a chance!"

"They're cadets, Miss Jones, Miss...who ever you are," he threw me a quick look, "They are trained to defend the King and all his properties."

I sighed, this wasn't going to work, "Martha, we have to find that watch," I started wrapping Kaeya's necklace around my neck again.

"No! You can't put that on anymore," she put a hand on mine and stopped me from fastening the necklace.

"I have to. Kaeya can help. She can feel the watch," I fastened it and sighed, "And if she needs to take over my body then so be it. Anything to help the Doctor."

"You know she's taking advantage of that, right?"

"How do you mean?"

"If she's a spirit, she needs a physical body. It's like that Gelth you told me about. They need a body, Kaeya needs a body. She's taking advantage of your feelings for the Doctor to take over your body because you're allowing her to do so without a fight."

"Oh Martha, that's not it," I sighed, "Kaeya...she's...never mind," I swallowed hard and focused on the primary problem, no emotions could get in the way now, "Kaeya..." I whispered, feeling the small prick of ice inside.

"Minerva," she sighed.

"We've got to upstairs, maybe in his office," I grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

~0~

We searched and searched for the damn pocket watch in John Smith's office, and came up with nothing.

"What are you two doing?" Matron Joan's voice startled us. She stood by the doorway, looking crossed for some reason, and even dressed as the Matron once more.

"We're search for the watch, you haven't seen it by any chance?" I asked with ridiculous amount of hope; we were getting desperate.

"No, and you, Miss Greene-"

"Oh my god, that's not me!" I shook my head, returning to the search by Martha, "That's some poor, blind woman halfway across the world."

"Then why have you taken her name? Her position?"

"Because I had to be near the Doctor, alright!?" I nearly shouted. Couldn't anyone understand that? I needed to be close to the Doctor, I needed to watch and care for him while he wasn't completely there.

"Look," Martha cut in, sensing my growing agitation, "We know it sounds mad, but when the Doctor became human, he took the alien part of himself and stored it inside the watch. It's not really a watch, it just looks like a watch."

"And alien means...not from abroad, I take it."

"The man you call John Smith...he was born on another world."

"A different species."

"Yeah."

"Then tell me, in this fairy tale...who are you two?"

"I'm just a friend, but she," Martha placed her hands on my shoulders, "She is so much more whether either of them want to admit it."

"Martha," I shook her hands off me.

"You're human I take it?" Joan asked Martha, giving me quick glances of doubt.

"I'm human too," I nodded, "But this necklace," I pointed to it, "The owner of it is alien too. She can take over the body when needed."

"More like steal and possess," Martha muttered.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her, "We're both human. I'm a student, last year actually. Martha is training to be a doctor-not an alien doctor-a proper doctor, a doctor of medicine. She's good like that," I smiled proudly at her.

"Well that certainly is nonsense. Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of her color," was the matron's response.

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow, "If you base skills over skin color then you are the stupidest woman in the world. Because, Martha, happens to know more than you and I combined about medicine. Martha?"

"Bones of the hand," my good old best friend held up her left hand, "Carpal bones, proximal row; scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform. Distal row; trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate. Then the metecarpal bones extending in three distinct phalanges; proximal, middle, distal," she pointed to each said bone like a professional.

"You read that in a book."

Martha just laughed, "Yes, to pass my exams. Can't you see this is true?"

"I must go," Joan turned away.

"Matron, please, we don't mean to be rude but...if we find that watch we can stop them," I sighed, "Please help us."

"Those boys are going to fight. I might not be a doctor, nor a clever liar, but I'm still their nurse. They need me."

Clever liar.

I think that's the perfect way to describe myself, actually...

~0~

Martha and I were hurrying down the hallways, hoping to find the watch somewhere on the floor, in case it had been accidentally dropped it or something.

On a turn of the hallway, I gasped as I felt the watch, it's insides, being shown to someone...

"Minerva? What is it?" Martha had stopped running and turned back.

"It's Kaeya, she's showing me again. I saw the Doctor, the real him, a memory..." I rubbed the side of my head, another rubbing over my heart.

"How can she do that?" she walked back, looking at the necklace, "It's burning you again, isn't it?" she frowned when I nodded, "Take it off!"

"No, it's helping us. And, I think her telepathic abilities were low. Or...maybe stronger? Oh I don't know! I'm only human!"

"Carrying an alien inside her head," she shook her head, "Who is killing her!" she rose her voice purposely, "If you can hear me Kaeya, get out of my best friend's head! You're gonna kill her and the Doctor will never forgive you for it."

"Enough," I declared.

~0~

"Stand to!" the headmaster ordered the boys, all of them plus the Doctor awaiting to begin their fire.

"I can't believe he's really gonna do this," I sighed to Martha, she and I watching them from inside.

"It's not like he has much of a choice," she tried to make a reason out of the gun use.

"He doesn't use them, that was one thing that made me like him even more," I said quietly, seeing the gates of the school moving from what I assumed were the Family, "No weapons, just a silly little screwdriver."

Scarecrows burst through the gate as it cracked apart, actually walking ones.

"Fire!"

And the boys fired, everyone fired...except the Doctor.

A small smile escaped my lips, "You can't do it."

"Cease fire!" the headmaster ordered, walking over to the bodies, "They're straw. Like he said. Straw!"

"Minerva," Martha nudged me and nodded ahead, both of us now seeing the same little girl with the red balloon.

"Let's go!" I ran for the exits, both of us entering the courtyard just as the headmaster was approaching the girl.

"You child, come out of the way. Come into the school. You don't know who's out there. It's the Cartwright girl, isn't it? Come here. Come to me."

"Mr. Greene, please. Don't go near her," Martha called.

"Listen to us, she's part of it!" I exclaimed, leaving the man perplexed ad my accent had been dropped and my sight regained for the first time in front of him.

"You can...you can see?" he gaped.

"Yes and bigger picture here is I think you should stay back."

"Mr. Smith, tell him," Martha Caledonia to him.

"She was-she was with-with Baines in the village," the Doctor stuttered nervously.

"Mr Smith, I've seen many strange sights this night but there is no cause on God's earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle, sir," and so the headmaster turned to the little girl, "Come with me."

"You're funny," she giggled.

"That's right. Now take my hand."

"So funny," she whipped out a gun and shot the headmaster dead, "Now who's going to shoot me?" she looked around, a nasty smirk on her face, "Any of you, really?"

"Put down your guns," the Doctor ordered the boys as he himself lowered his rifle.

"But sir," Hutchinson argued, "The headmaster-"

"I'll not see this happen. Not anymore," he shook his head, "You will retreat...in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way."

"But sir-"

"I said, lead the way!"

"Go on, then, run!" Baines walked beside the little girl and fired up to the sky.

"Come on!" I gestured for the way, making sure all the boys were away before Martha and I hurried after.

~0~

"Let's go!" Quick as you can!" the Doctor ordered the boys we had managed to help escape, passing them through the stables.

"And don't go to the village!" I called, "It's not safe!"

"And you, ladies!" the Doctor turned to Martha and I.

"You wish!" we snapped, leaving him to blink in surprise.

"I have to insist..."

"We have to decline," I countered.

"Help!" we heard a voice shout.

"Hold on, is that Matron Joan?" Martha listened intently.

"They've got her," I ran back from where we came from, "Kaeya, I'll need some help," I stopped as I saw the scarecrows nearing.

"Minerva, you've got to get back!" Martha exclaimed, she and the Doctor right behind me.

"No, he wouldn't let someone die, neither shall I," I took a long breath, "C'mon, Kaeya, take over again..." There was nothing though, like she didn't care. I frowned, "C'mon Kaeya. The Doctor wouldn't allow anyone to die and you know it." Slowly, the ice pricked at the sides of my head. Poor Matron Joan was barely keeping out of the grasps of the scarecrows when she neared us, "Back," I ordered, my voice overlapping with Kaeya's again. Ice rushed through the ground, freezing everything in its path...including the scarecrows.

"Matron!" Martha called, the woman spinning around at all the ice, "Hurry!"

"It won't last long," I/Kaeya warned, "I'm not ready. The ice will melt."

"How did you do that?" Joan stared at me with wide eyes.

I gasped, feeling Kaeya's presence fade away, yet a sharp pain strike at a side of my head, "Ah!"

"I've got you!" the Doctor lunged for me as soon as my legs gave out.

"As usual," I smiled lazily, my eyes threatening to close, "I'm tired...my head...I'm tired."

"We've got you," Martha assured, moving beside the Doctor and helping him support me on my feet, "Now we've got to run!"

Matron Joan nodded and hurried for another door, only to open it and find more scarecrows on the other side, "I think another way will have to be considered!" she shouted and we turned to run off.

~0~

By the time we found a new hiding place, behind bushes not too far from the school, I felt much better...that and the fact Martha had yanked Kaeya's necklace from my neck and no longer allowed me to use it. As much as I didn't want to admit it, without the necklace my head did feel less crowded and more at peace.

"Doctor! Doctor!" we heard Clark call, nearly singing as a tease.

"Oh no..." I whispered, seeing the box of wonders in their possessions, "Not the TARDIS."

"Come back, Doctor. Come home. Come and claim your prize."

Out you come, Doctor! There's a good boy. Come to the Family," Baines joined the sing-a-long.

"Time to end it now!" added Jenny.

"You recognize it, don't you?" Martha asked the Doctor, making me look over and see him staring at the box in silence.

"I've never seen it in my life," he muttered.

"Oh c'mon, don't you remember its name?"

"No."

"Doctor, don't play stupid, you dreamed of the blue box," I reminded, giving him a sharp look.

"I'm not him!" he voice broke, "I'm not-I'm John Smith. That's all I want to be. John Smith, with his life...and his job...and his love. Why can't I be John Smith? Isn't he a good man?"

"Because we need the Doctor," I said softly, forcing myself to ignore the word 'love'.

""But I want to stay!"

"But you can't!" Martha sighed, "Don't you see?"

"What am I, then? Nothing? I'm just a story," he ran off.

I sighed, "This is not going to be easy."

"I'm so sorry, Minerva," Martha put a hand over my shoulder.

I looked after him, "I knew it wouldn't last anyways," I stood up and went to follow him.

~0~

"Hold on," Matron Joan stopped us all in the middle of a country road, all of us out of breath, "I think I know somewhere we can hide."

"We've got to keep going," I said.

"Just listen to me, clever liar."

"Oi, don't call her that," Martha frowned.

"I don't mean it as an insult, it's just what you are," she showed a hint of a smile, "You're a real clever liar. Faking an accent, plus blindness? How old are you?"

"Almost eighteen," I panted.

"Incredible," she playfully rolled her eyes, "Well, this way," she pointed and we continued to run.

~0~

Joan brought us to a dark house, "Here we are. It should be empty. Oh, it's a long time since I've run that far," she panted for air.

"But who lives here?" I looked around, seeing no one for the moment.

"If I'm right, no one," she opened the font door, peering inside then letting us inside. It was only a simple cottage kitchen with a tea set on the table, "Hello? No one home. We should be safe here."

"Whose house is it, though?" Martha asked.

"Um, the Cartwrights. That little girl at the school-she's Lucy Cartwright, or she's taken Lucy Cartwright's form. If she came home this afternoon and if the parents tried to stop their little girl, then they were vanished," Joan set her hand on the teapot, "Stone cold. How easily I accept these ideas."

The Doctor took a seat on the one of the chairs, poor thing looking horrified at the prior events, "Are you alright?" I walked over to him, bending in front of him.

"I must go to them before anyone else dies."

"No, you won't. We'll have to think of something else."

"But Minerva, we need the watch!" Martha reminded, shaking her head.

"I know, but it wasn't at the school anymore..." I looked back at her, pleading with a look.

"No, you are not getting the necklace back."

"But please?" I stood up and walked towards her, "If Kaeya can feel it then she'll bring us to it!"

"No! Absolutely not! Minerva, she's compressing your head! It hurts!"

"It doesn't matter-"

"YES IT DOES!" she shouted, making me flinch, everything falling silent after that. She sighed, controlling herself to speak again, "You say those famous words but I can see through them, the Doctor can too, and guess what? It does matter."

I sighed, looking down, it was the end of my argument...

"You're this Doctor's companion! Can't you help?" the Doctor suddenly spoke up, angrily looking at Martha, "What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?"

"Because he's lonely," she replied.

"And that's what you want me to become? Lonely?" he looked so broken.

"No, no! The Doctor stopped being lonely long before I came around," Martha set a hand on my shoulder, "She was with him, she always made him better and he made her better. The Doctor wasn't lonely anymore, he's not."

A knock on the door ended our conversation, all of us turning to the door.

"What if it's them?" Joan whispered.

"Mm, somehow I don't think scarecrows can knock," I said before walking over to the door. I opened the door and found Timothy standing there, "Let me guess..." I raised an eyebrow, the boy holding out the pocket watch.

"I brought you this."

"Minerva," it whispered.

"It can talk," Martha blinked, the rest of us hearing her own name being spoken by the watch.

"That's what Kaeya was picking up," I remarked, letting Timothy inside and closing the door, "And I suppose you were the one that had the watch this whole time," I took it from him and walked up to the Doctor, "Please hold it."

"I can't..." he stared it with fear.

"It told me to find you," Timothy said, "It wants to be held."

"But if you had it all this time, why didn't you return it?" Martha asked, slightly annoyed, "You know how crazy we've been looking for it?"

"It was waiting. And because I was scared of the Doctor."

"Why?" I asked, frowning.

"Because...I've seen him...he's...like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."

"Stop it," the Doctor ordered.

"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe."

"Stop! I said stop it!"

"And he's wonderful."

"My thoughts exactly," I murmured with a soft smile.

There was an explosion outside and made the house shutter a bit.

"What the hell was that?" Martha ran to the window.

We joined and saw the 'meteorites' falling from the sky and causing more explosions.

"They're going to destroy the village," I said, sadly.

"Watch," the Doctor said and I turned to see him holding the watch in his hands.

"Can you hear it?" Timothy asked.

"Closer, Closer..."

"I think he's asleep. Waiting to be awaken," the Doctor stared at the watch intently.

"Why did he speak to me?" Timothy frowned.

"Oh, low-level telepathic field. You were born with it. Just an extra synpatic engram causing-" the Doctor gasped deeply, "Is that how he talks?" he looked me with great fear.

I nodded, "That's him. You just have to open it and we get the Martian back."

"You knew this all along and yet you let us..." he trailed off, "Both of you..." he glanced at Martha.

"It was my fault," my best friend stepped up, "Minerva was keeping her distance and then I pushed her to you. This one was me."

"No, Martha," I shook my head, "If I wanted to I could've stopped it. I could've stopped it the moment we kissed...and I didn't. And for that," I walked up to him, taking his hand, "Please forgive me. I beg of you."

"He gave us this list," Martha began, "It was the things we needed to watch out for but this one wasn't included."

"Falling in love? That didn't even occur to him?" he asked, incredulously.

"In love?" I repeated, quietly, stepping back, "You fell in love with me?"

"Like an idiot, I did."

"Noo..." I couldn't even make a coherent sentence, "...I am so sorry."

"Is that the sort of man you want me to become?" he demanded, "Someone who doesn't even think of the possibility of love?"

"But it was always going to end, though!" Martha exclaimed, "The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan. That's why they need to consume a Time Lord. Otherwise, three months and they die. Like mayflies, he said."

"So your job was to execute me," he voice shook with fear.

"People are dying out there! They need him! We need him! Some more than others..." she trailed off, giving me a quick glance.

"Look, the world really needs him," I sighed, "You have no idea the things he can do. And right now, we need those things. I didn't plan for any of this, I swear. We were here to keep you safe and hidden. And I hope, when he comes back, he either doesn't remember any of this or he forgives me," I bit my lip, "But we really need him to come back."

The house shook again with the explosions.

"It's getting closer..." Timothy looked around.

"I should have thought of it before..." the Doctor held out the watch, "I can give them this. Just the watch. They can leave and I can stay as I am!"

"You can't," I said, quietly.

"Why not?" he took my hand, "I know it's early, but I've fallen for you. And, I'm willing to bet you feel something for me."

"But it's not real. The Doctor doesn't love me. We're good friends, just friends. And the world needs him."

"If they get what they want, then-"

"It'd end in destruction," I cut him off, keeping myself as rigid as possible, "I don't know what exactly they need a Time Lord for, but it can't be for good reasons. I can't let that happen." And it hurt, it hurt, seeing him on the verge of tears. "Martha? Do you mind if we talk alone for a bit?" I looked back at her.

She nodded, "We'll be right out there," she took Timothy with her and Joan and closed the door behind them.

I sighed, "I'm-"

But the Doctor broke down and clung to me for a hug. I stumbled back with him, but didn't reject it. I hugged back, really tight and forced my tears to stay inside. I would not let him see me cry. This time, I had to be the strong one.

"What am I supposed to do?" he cried, "I don't believe any of it," he pulled back and looked at me, "I'm real. I'm real."

"Well...in a sense..." I tried meeting him halfway, "...he's not entirely real you see-"

"'He'? I'm a 'he', now?"

I bit my lip, "I'm sorry."

"Lis-Minerva, it's Minerva right?" I nodded, "I'm real. I'm John Smith and I'm real."

"I don't like doing this..." I shook my head, "Tell me about Nottingham. That's where you were raised, right?"

He nodded, "Well...it lies on the River Leen, its southern boundary following the course of the River Trent flows from Stoke to the Humber."

"That sounds like an encyclopedia. Where did you live?"

"Broadmoor Street, adjacent to Hotley Terrace in the district of Radford Parade."

"Those are just facts, don't you see?" I sighed, knowing it was only worsening his state but I had to make him see that all this wasn't real, "When you were a child, where did you play? The secret little places you'd hide when you were in trouble...the hideaways that only a child knows? Tell me about it. Tell me and I'll believe you."

He had no answer, of course and became desperate as the silence grew, "But...how can you think that I'm not real? When I kissed you, was that a lie?"

"Well...no...but..." I walked around him, suppressing my oncoming tears.

"Then? This Doctor person...sounds like some...some romantic lost prince. Would you rather that? Am I not enough?"

"I'm just his friend. And I'm trying to save him."

"But he doesn't love you, I do!" he spun me around, the tears visible in his eyes as well, "What about me, Minerva? Do I not count? I'm real and I love you."

"But it's not real," I insisted, more to myself than him.

"Our kisses, they were real!" He grabbed my arms and pulled me to him, "You felt the same thing I did." He leaned down, brushing his lips against mine, "Tell me you didn't?"

I tried pulling back before I let myself go but he held me tight, not allowing such a thing, "I...I don't know. None of this real."

"Don't tell me they weren't real," he slammed his lips against mine for a kiss.

"...st...sto-" came my muffled attempts to stop him but his lips became so soft and loving, something I had yearned for so long. It was too tempting. And so I gave in.

He started moving us backwards until we hit the back of the couch, my heart just able to resist the urge to burst out from my chest. I wanted to stop, yes...but my hands made their way up to his shoulders instead and his arms wrapped around me. I had to will myself to stop, stop what wasn't real...because it wasn't real.

"Stop," I turned my head, the tears streaming down my face like a water well, "We-we can't."

He put a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him, "You can't say this is false. I've proven you wrong."

"You need to stop before I fall in love with you," I swallowed hard. It actually scared me how real those words were.

"Do it," he gently kissed me again, "Fall in love with me," he murmured against my lips.

"No..." I sniffled, pushing him off, "...don't do this to me, please."

He sighed and moved to sit beside me, his hand taking mine, "Do you love him?"

"Hm?" I barely took a glance at him. I needed to collect myself before I let anyone else see me.

"The Doctor. Do you love him?"

"No, not yet," I rubbed my head, "But he's so extraordinary, I've no doubt he'd make me fall in love with him not so far off in the future."

"And me? What about me?"

I looked at him, softly smiling, "Look at you. You're him, a version of him. Anything I feel for him, I feel for you."

"But it's not real...my feelings for you are real. But the ones you have for me aren't. You see me, you see the Doctor. Your feelings are for him...not for me."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I do care for you, I really do, but none of this is real. And it can't ever happen."

He pulled the watch out again, twisting it around, "If I open it, he comes back?"

I nodded, cautiously watching him, "Yeah."

"And if I don't..."

"Lots of people can die."

"I...I'm confused," he shook his head.

"Look, in the end, it is your choice and only your choice. But if you don't open it because of me, I'll tell you right now that I can't be with you. I won't."

"Why not?"

"Because...it wouldn't be right. The Doctor doesn't deserve to live a life with me without being who he really was. He deserves to be himself and fully conscious of what he's doing. But don't worry, if you think it's unfair, we wouldn't be together even if the Doctor came back."

"Why?" he frowned.

"I age. One day, if God allows, I'll be 70...80 if I get really lucky. But the Doctor doesn't age. I can spend my whole life with him, my whole life...and for him it would only be a mere eighty years he spent out of a long, nearly eternal life," I took the watch from him, "I'm just a ghost for him...one small little human who's gonna die in a second."

"But don't you see, I wouldn't age like he does...I-" he reached for my hand, both of us touching the fob watch at the same time...and we saw...

It was him and I, getting married.

And then I gave birth to..our child. Our first child. Years later we were walking down the park with our three children, swinging our youngest in our hands. Finally, years and years later, the Doctor laid in bed, close to his death.

"They're all safe, aren't they? The children...the grandchildren...everyone's safe?" he asked.

I sat beside him, also aged, " Everyone's safe. They all send their love, John."

" It's done. Thank you," he closed his eyes and peacefully died.

We both gasped, looking at each other with wide eyes, "Did you see?" he asked me.

"Yes..." I whispered, my eyes watering up, "...see, that's what the Doctor and I could never have. If he accepted me, if he felt something for me, it would last for a couple years until I aged...and that's if he didn't mind me aging past into my thirties. I'm just seventeen..."

"I...thought you were twenty five," he whispered, surprised by that only. It figures his oblivion didn't let him hear Matron Joan earlier.

"Don't insult me," I pointed at him jokingly, "I'm about to turn eighteen."

"Stay with me, please," he gripped my hand.

"I can't..."

~0~

"Aliens," I stepped inside the Family's ship, standing across them, Kaeya's necklace in my hand by the chains, "I'm afraid the Doctor is not coming. He's human and that's what he chose to be. But that's okay, because I know of a place that contains an even better life source, better than a Time Lord's."

They took a long sniff, and I rolled my eyes, "You reek of Monsoon," Baines spat.

"Alright, so I went to the Silver Monsoon planet and fell into intergalactic mud," I frowned, "I'm working on it. Plus, its princess has been taking over my body. Sue me, I'll smell like them."

"The Silver Monsoon and its people were pronounced extinct," Clarke informed.

"That's what everyone thinks, and yet..." I swayed my head, acting innocent.

"You shall die."

"Look, this is the princess's necklace," I placed Kaeya's necklace around my neck, allowing her to once again retake my mind and body, "I can lead you to the Silver Monsoon," we spoke together again, "But you must leave this planet forever."

Clark walked up, snatching my wrist, "Like we said, you shall die," and he pushed me for the others.

"No," I frowned, looking down at the floor and seeing the ice rush from my feet, "You shall die."

"Silence!"

I was pushed against a wall, the necklace taking a blow as my face hit the cold wall. Immediately, Kaeya's presence started fading from my head, but a sharp pain increased instead.

"No!" the Doctor's voice made the Family turn around. He gave a clumsy lurch and leaned against the side of the ship, accidentally hitting a few buttons, "Don't hurt her, please. Stop the bombardment. I'll do anything you want, just stop."

"Say please," Baines teased.

"Please."

Jenny turned on a switch and the ship hissed in response, "Wait a minute," she inhaled deeply, "Still human!"

"Leave him be," I exclaimed, rubbing my head, the pain just increasing and even feeling a small prick of ice, "I told you I..."

"Now I can't-I can't pretend to understand, not for a second, but I want you to know that I'm innocent in all this. He made me John Smith. It's not like I had any control over it," the Doctor fumbled with more buttons, catching my attention. John Smith wasn't that clumsy.

"He didn't just make himself human, he made himself an idiot," Jenny remarked.

"Same thing, isn't it?" Baines asked, all of them laughing.

"I don't care about this Doctor and your family, I just want you to go and give me Minerva. So, I've made my choice," he held out the watch for them, "You can have him. Just take it, please! Take him away."

"A Time Lord for a human?" Baines scoffed, "You're an idiot," he snatched the watch.

"Yeah, well, she's worth a million," he smiled softly at me.

"Well don't think that's saved your life," Baines grabbed him by the lapels and pushed him back, "Family of mine, now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord."

They gathered around and inhaled deeply, "Wait...it's empty!" Baines turned to the Doctor.

"What do you mean it's empty?" I raised an eye brow, "It can't be..."

"Where's it gone?" the Doctor asked, sounding just as lost.

"You tell me!" Baines threw the watch towards him.

He caught it and gasped, "Oh, I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection. Like a little ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. But it has got to be said," he spoke like the Doctor again and put on his glasses, "I don't like the looks of that hydroconometer. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through retrostabilizers feeding back into the primary heat converter, ah..." he breathed in, "Cause if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons. But in fairness, I will give you one word of advice," he held out a hand for me, "Minerva, you might wanna stand over here," I quickly stood up and rushed over, "And the advice is...run!"

We ran out of the ship, the Family right behind us.

The ice increased and it felt like one big brain freeze, but one that pained your whole body, actually, "Oh, it hurts!" I dropped to my knees, the last thing hearing was the explosion of the ship.

~0~

The Doctor's POV.

"She'll be fine for the moment," I murmured to Martha as I stepped out of the TARDIS.

"You sure?" there was a severe doubt in her face, and as much as it pained me, she wasn't entirely wrong.

"Doctor, Martha," Timothy approached us, "And Minerva?"

"Um...sort of sleeping," Martha explained, still eyeing me to which I desperately wanted to avoid.

Things weren't right.

"I just wanted to say good-bye," Timothy thankfully spoke up again, "And thank you, because I've seen the future and I now know what must be done. It's coming, isn't it? The biggest war ever."

"You don't have to fight," Martha said quietly.

"I think we do."

"But you could get hurt."

"Well, so could you and Minerva, travelling around with him," the boy nodded to me, "But it's not going to stop you."

"Tim, I'd be honored if you'd take this," I gave him the pocket watch.

"I can't hear anything," he held it to his ear and frowned at the silence.

"No, it's just a watch now. But keep it with you. For good luck."

"Look after yourself," Martha hugged him and kissed his cheek before going into the TARDIS.

"Say goodbye to Minerva for me?"

"Will do," I assured and turned, glancing back, "You'll like this bit."

Martha awaited by the console and silently watched me start the old box up, but there was something in her eyes...accusation.

"Martha, I know, it's my fault," I fiddled with the controls after dematerializing.

"It's Kaeya's."

I looked up, expecting the blow to go to me, "What?"

"What's wrong with Minerva?"

"I don't really know..."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Is she still wearing that bloody necklace?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Doctor! Take it off her!" she shouted, looking frantic.

"Why?"

"You're that oblivious? Seriously?"

"I have a lot of things to think about right now, alright?" my voice rose as well, forcing to remember that none of this was her fault and she was only doing what a best friend would do, stick up for Minerva.

"I would say so," she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow, "Do you remember everything?"

"Most of it, some things are a bit fuzzy."

"But do you remember what John Smith cared for the most during his go?"

I looked away, "Minerva."

"You said you loved her..."

"John Smith said that..."

"NO," she walked over, standing beside me, "You said that. You seeped through and you meant it."

"I don't love her," I shook my head.

"Okay fine, maybe it's a bit early for that. But are you going to deny there's not a little spark or something?" she raised a questioning eyebrow, "Was China just...nothing?"

"Of course not," I blurted, shutting my eyes at the slip.

When I opened an eye, she was smirking as wide as her face allowed, "I knew it," she clapped her hands together, "Oh, I bloody knew it!"

"Martha, calm down, it's not that big of a deal," I rubbed the side of my neck.

"You must be joking me!" she laughed bitterly, quickly forming a dark face, "Seriously, you must be joking."

"Look, I've got to go look into that necklace," I walked past her for the corridors, "Kaeya's essence is roaming about and I-"

"Always Kaeya, huh?" she nearly spat, I froze and glanced back, her dark face turning for anger in less than a second, "And Rose."

"What are you going on about?"

"Do you enjoy hurting Minerva?"

"What? No!" I frowned, where the hell was she getting all this from? I didn't have time for this. Minerva was still unconscious and alone! I had to go be with her!

"Then why can't you admit your feelings to her? I don't think it's a big secret that she likes you too," she waved her hands for sarcasm.

I returned to her, more solemn and serious, this was serious, had been for some time now since I realized it, "Martha...I'm...confused."

"Confused?" she raised an eyebrow, "Of what?"

"I...you know about Kaeya..."

"Yeah, unfortunately," she rolled her eyes, confusing me for a second.

"Minerva, she's..."

"Amazing? Kind? Generous? I mean, c'mon! She allowed Kaeya to use her body as a vessel for her stupid spirit! Minerva is actually sweet and caring and not selfish?"

"What do you mean her body as a vessel?"

"You told me about Minerva, right? That necklace left her some side affects?" I nodded, she continuing right after, her anger just boiling out, "Minerva had her mind compressed by Kaeya, she voluntarily allowed herself to be taken over by the princess. And now she can't even wake up! Kaeya was selfish."

"What?" now I was severely lost.

"She's dead and she still won't let you go. And so who does she take it out on? Minerva. Why? Because that girl is so sweet, so understanding that she would allow Kaeya to take over her body just for you. Kaeya took advantage of that, she took advantage of Minerva's feelings for you. I told her to leave Minerva alone and she didn't. She's selfish. I don't understand how you can love two selfish women."

"Two? Selfish?"

"How can you think, even for a second, that Minerva could ever be less than Kaeya? Than Rose?"

"Martha, you're just confusing me even more-"

"Kaeya and Rose are the most selfish women I've ever heard of!" she shouted, flinching me shut, "Kaeya nearly compresses her to death and Rose was just utterly rude and selfish."

"When did we start talking about Rose?"

"Minerva's told me all about her, Doctor. And shame on you for never noticing. Rose was no white dove, I'll tell you that. But Minerva, she's it. She's the one you should love. If John Smith did, why not you?"

"You don't think I'd like to? Minerva's incredible, and it pains me to know that while I've been protecting her from other people who could hurt her I've been hurting her more. I want to, I want to tell her how I feel and see what she thinks-"

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I'm confused!" I shouted, this time leaving her silent as my anger began to rise, "Because she deserves someone who can commit to her and think only of her. When I look at her, yeah, my hearts beat faster and I get nervous, but then...right in the back of my head, I start thinking of Kaeya...I don't know why...but I do."

"You can't choose between three women, two of those may I remind you are dead. Kaeya died and Rose might as well be pronounced dead because you're never gonna see her again. And I'm not saying you should choose Minerva because she's still here, you should choose her because out of the three, she's the one with the biggest heart. She has qualities that Kaeya and Rose will never have."

"First of all, my feelings for Rose are completely exaggerated here!"

"Minerva thinks you loved her."

"Excuse me!?"

"I'm not gonna say more about it," she shrugged, "But she thinks you loved Rose. And now she knows you loved Kaeya as well. Forget her, forget both of them!"

"Tell me how to do that, then," I said quietly, "Tell me how to magically forget Kaeya because I do want to forget her. But I don't want to forget her because I chose Minerva. I want to forget her because I want to. I want to move on and be free..."

"What you're doing is noble, I suppose," she nodded in concede, "But hear me now, Doctor. Minerva is my best friend, and just like her last one, I will stand up for her. Figure yourself out, but in the meantime do not make Minerva feel like you chose her. Don't make it seem like you've resolved everything. In other words, don't play with her feelings."

"I would never!" she was offending me, really. I would never want to hurt Minerva. Ever.

"I'm just tired, Doctor. I'm tired of seeing Minerva in pain. She thinks she has no hope with you, and poor thing has accepted it. But she'll never say it, she'll never admit her feelings to you unless you do and that won't happen until you sort your feelings out. Just be mindful, Doctor. That's all I want. I know that intentionally you don't toy with her, but sometimes you give her hope, false hope and that's the most cruel kind there is."

I nodded, "I understand."

"And I'll help you sort your feelings out, if you'd like. If you ever wanna talk, I'm all ears. But for now, go to Minerva and take that necklace off. You'll see why I don't like Kaeya after."

I raised an eyebrow, "But wh-"

"Just go," she waved me off, "I'm tired. I wanna get some sleep then come back and take a shift watching Minerva."

"Alright..." I turned away, heading for the clever girl who slept in her room.

~0~

I found Minerva sleeping soundly in her bed, all the covers pushed down to her ankles. She did tell me once she was a crazy sleeper at times. I smiled and walked up, pulling the covers over her again, seeing Kaeya's necklace on her neck. I reached for it and unfastened it, taking it into my hand. I then noticed a heavy burn mark on Minerva where the necklace had been. I frowned, pulling over a chair and sitting close to her, studying the mark.

Kaeya.

I looked at the necklace in hand, had she hurt Minerva purposely? I knew the necklace burned Minerva at times but it was nothing severe, only small burns that would usually sting for a couple minutes then vanish. But the mark Minerva now bore was different. This was a build up of time; the necklace had been burning her for some time and she hadn't taken it off.

My hearts constricted of the idea of Kaeya, her spirit, or what ever form had hurt Minerva. Her mind, her body was being squished together by another entity who easily took control of her. That didn't sound like Kaeya at all. She was sweet, she would never harm someone...why would she do that to Minerva? That's when my anger started up again, and so I placed the necklace far away from us. I didn't want it anywhere near Minerva for fear of harming her. And I didn't want it near me for fear of what I could do to it because it hurt Minerva.

Minerva started moving, her eyes slowly opening, scanning her area before finding me. She smiled softly for a moment then blinked as if she remembered something, and grew serious.

"Is something wrong? Does something hurt?" I moved to stand up when her hand reached for me, "What is it?" I quickly took it.

"Kaeya..." she whispered, her voice feeble.

But I didn't want to hear about her for the moment, I just wanted to make sure Minerva was alright, "No Minerva, just tell me if you need anything. Are you..." but she shook her head, her eyes closing for a second.

"...Doctor...Kaeya..."

"No..."

"DOCTOR," she sounded like she whined, "...Kaeya...is alive."

I blinked, letting go of her hand and leaning back on my chair.

"Kaeya...is alive...and she's...coming back...for you," and Minerva's eyes closed again, falling unconscious, or asleep, again.

If I thought my feelings were screwed up at the moment...now they were just all over the place.

Kaeya hadn't died. She was alive...she was alive...she survived...

...and she was coming back.

[yruslex]

You cant tell me Axel would bring Isa home after everything theyve been through and NOT do the Will Smith presenting his wife pose every chance he gets~

Drew this for my Axel ask blog @axels-inbox