#honestly i just want project rene to come out i feel like we need a clean slate even if it they do stick with the multiplayer aspect 🤢

[cerubean]

💌 simblr asks: what EP and/or GP would you like to see in the future?

ty for the ask!!

i desperately want a bands pack!! we need more instruments in general and i’d also love to see a more fleshed out fame system for musicians and singers since get famous primarily focused on acting

[cinamun]

TAGGED by @simmerstellar ! Thanks friend!

Come get to know me y'all!

1. What’s your favorite sims death? I haven't had a sim die from anything other than old age in a HOT minute but I saw a LP and the murphy bed death seems so unecessarily violent lmfao.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? BOTH! I consider my style Maxis Mix. We love a nice combo of both.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Not anymore but at one point I had to. Let me explain: I don't know if it was a glitch but like after every meal with grannie's cookbook, Indya would gain weight instantly. Didn't happen with anyone else (although everyone else are athletes of some sort). She's always and forever thick but something was definitely up with the food mods I was using. Anyway, we're good now since I'm not playing her HH exclusively anymore.

4. Do you use move objects? Absolutely. Its too restrictive! Gotta play test when I do though because routing errors make me irrationally angry.

5. Favorite mod? Wickedwhims. I don't care! If I want my sims to get freak-nasty I have a blog for that and WW never fumbles. If I want them to do cute little intimate things, WW is there. If you don't like the smut, I feel bad for you son.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I've gotten pretty much ever iteration of this game except for almost all of the kits and the star wars pack.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? ALIVE. I don't understand the other one honestly lol. We're going LIVE as soon as I press play so....

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Obvs Indya Drake!

9. Have you made a simself? Yes! But she needs help lol I'm not good at that at all so there's a resemblance but she doesn't really look like me. When I do gameplay with her I say she's my "sorta-kinda self sim" lol

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? gloomy, neat, loner, romantic

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black but like BLACK Black, not the BLUE Black lol.

12. Favorite EA hair? All of the afro textured ones.

13. Favorite life stage? Young adults.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Gameplay mostly stories but I love to decorate!

15. Are you a CC creator? I will recolor the shit out of something! That's about it lol

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? All my mutuals and anyone who reads my story! #Squad

17. What’s your favorite game? The Sims 4 is the only game I play. Don't @ me.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nope.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope, but I have been asked to make a channel and got that far at least. No videos lol.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? If anything, less alpha and more maxis match.

21. What’s your Origin ID? [redacted]

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? All of the ones that do it for FREE and for the love of the game. I donate too because I understand its not easy, but also not worth a month long paywall or conveniently forgetting to publicly release something.

23. How long have you had a simblr? 2015 are my earliest posts I think.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Gshade and Photoshop Elements 2020

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Cottage Living is the goat IMO even though I don't play it much anymore. I do very much enjoy Island Living and Growing Together will round out a nice top 3.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I haven't really thought about it. I just figure the sims 4 is nearing the end of its era and we're gonna start hearing about project rene more and more.

oh! tagging @shesthespinstersimmer @bridgeportbritt @iplaysims4 @beebeesiims @thegloomiestwhim @hazelminesims @therichantsim @omgkayplays @softerhaze @crsentfairy

please ignore if you don't do these or already did this!

[liferoaming]

My Favourite Films

It’s been a year since I have posted on my blog. After coming out of a toxic eight year relationship, moving four times, ending up in a Covid Camp and losing my father to cancer, I can honestly say this has been the most stressful year of my life.

What has helped me through? I have to say that it is films.

They can be beautiful, they can offer escapism but also realism. At the same time, they provide hope and a connection.

Since most of the world is in lockdown, I thought that I would make a list of films that are my favourite that can also help you through these tough times. I hope that you watch them and they offer the same kind of journey they have given me.

1. Lost In Translation

“Let’s never come here again because it will never be as much fun.”

My all time favourite film. No sex, no swearing, no violence...just pure beauty throughout. Directed by Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), this is a film about loneliness and questioning life during the early stages and older stages of adulthood. It follows Charlotte, a wife of a famous photographer and Bob who is a famous actor, during their time in Tokyo. They find a connection with each other as they question the path they are on, realising that they are both stuck. It offers humour and beauty, with a stunning soundtrack and an ending that you will think about for days after.

2. A Sun

“He visited me too.”

This Taiwanese film, made for Netflix, is directed by Chung Mong-hong. A film about regret and forgiveness, as it shows two life changing decisions made by a father’s two sons. Outstanding performances and breathtaking cinematography, this will take you on a journey about family dynamics with an unexpected twist.

3. Us And Them

“We have everything in the end, just not each other.”

A Chinese film directed Taiwanese singer-actress, Rene Liu. The story provides a journey into China’s coffin housing. The film follows a couples timeline of their relationship whilst facing economic doom. Filmed in black and white but also colour scenes, the film paces between past and present. You will need tissues for this film because it is a frustrating watch as the story shows their struggle for trying to make their love last through the strains of poverty.

4. Burning

“The morality of nature is like simultaneous nature...” If you have ever experienced social class anxiety or wish to understand how it feels, then this is the film for you. A psychological thriller with an unexpected, yet shocking ending. Directed by Lee Chang-song, the film tells the story of Jong-soo who runs his father’s farm. Jong-soo runs into an old school friend, Hae-mi and they start a relationship. Hae-mi takes a trip to Africa and returns with a male friend, Ben, who is confident and successful but has an unusual hobby. Only the hobby is actually a metaphor much darker than you could imagine. You can view Jong-soo’s lack of confidence and his inability to interact amongst the high earners, showing the isolation that most people these days experience. The North Korean radio shows fragmented youth, living on the edge of possible conflict and being unsure of the future. During the film Hae-mi goes missing and Jong-soo becomes suspicious and starts to investigate her whereabouts. The film although slow paced but slowly builds up, offers stunning cinematography which will have you gripped without giving too much away to its audience.

5. Imperial Dreams

“In the hood you carry truth in your heart while reality stays stashed outside...”. John Boyega gives an outstanding performance in this hard hitting Netflix film of a gangster that wants to change his path in life. With the system against him and being in debt to the state, it gives you the insight of how difficult it is for African-Americans that want to break away crime and life in the projects when everything you do is a constant struggle as the local police are always around the corner, waiting to arrest you. This beautiful and emotionally story offers hope and honesty as Bambi (John Boyega), continues to do everything the “right way”, even though everything is against him.

*I will keep continuing to update my list, please keep checking! Thank you*

[springsaladgaming]

i love the demo up to now but im getting very mind blind vibes from this (mysterious traumatizing childhood event which tore your family apart, determinable relationship with your brother, unapprochable older RO (ansel and ambrose), cold edgy RO where you have to be kinda rude to get their attention (teagan vs k), and just like, general vibes) and like this isn't a bad thing but i think it's important to keep in mind and make sure your story has its own remarkable distinguishing features

This story is loosely based off of a short story that I wrote when I was in University about a decade ago. The two stories don’t have anything in common in terms of plot anymore (especially since the short story was Postmodern realistic fiction and HEAVILY influenced by Chuck Palahniuk), but the entire family dynamic was based on the main character, then called Jamie, who was struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, and his family, who seem to be oblivious to what’s going on with him. Sun is a pretty close equivalent to the brother in that story, whose name was Graham. Graham was the successful older brother, the one who, in Jamie’s eyes, was everything his parents ever wanted out of a kid. He was also the only one in the family who seemed to notice what was going on with Jamie. The parents in Ninelives are also very similar to the parents in that story, only the family dynamic had to do with the mom giving the dad placebos for an imagined medical issue and lying about it for years. Jamie inadvertently discovers this and has to decide between exposing this or keeping it secret. (The two stories actually start in the same place; the bathroom. Only, in the original story, Jamie was in the bathroom after a failed suicide attempt, trying to OD on the very meds that his father took, which is how he discovered the placebo thing.) I was eventually planning on turning that short story into a novella with the main theme really touching on visibility of mental illness, but between all the writing I was doing for school and some personal issues in my own life, that short story got dusty in a digital folder on a USB drive I have somewhere. Can you believe those used to be a thing? But I digress.

I have read Mind Blind, and I’m not going to pretend that it (as well as other IFs I have read) didn’t influence me to start this project. So you aren’t totally incorrect. There are similarities, but the similarities don’t come from me basing my content off of Mind Blind. Rather, prior to deciding to try my hand at writing IFs, Mind Blind reminded me so much of this short story from college that I finally decided to revisit it, albeit reshape it into something new. And, hey, that’s Structuralism, baby.

So I can definitely understand feeling these similarities at first glance. That being said, it’s also quite early in the story still, and there is a lot the MC doesn’t know, even about their own brother.

So I guess what I ultimately want to say is, give it time. I don’t personally find the characters that similar, but I also have the advantage of knowing what’s going to happen in the story. It’s definitely my goal for this story to be its own unique beast, and I hope to live up to peoples’ expectations of that. The last thing I want is to rip off of someone else’s content. >.< It’s something I always try to keep in mind when I feel inspired by other works.

I want to touch on this subject more, and I love talking about my characters, but I don’t want to ruin anything for people who want to go in blind, so I’ll talk about the rest under this cut. No spoilers, just more background information.

Ansel is actually one of the most approachable characters in the story. If you’re referring to a specific scene that occurs with a specific choice, there is a reason that he is unapproachable in that situation, and it’s something you will get to talk about with him should you trip that flag. The thing about Ansel is, there’s enough going on with him already, even after a single day, that a player might choose to be suspicious of him. And for good reason. I want to say more on that, but honestly it’s hard to talk about what’s going on with him without touching on major spoilers, so I’ll just say that Ansel is probably the easiest character to get close to (besides maybe Rene), provided you don’t let your suspicion stop you.

Sun is in a similar boat as far as the “hard to talk about without spoilers” thing. There’s something more to his overprotectiveness besides just being a loving sibling. Ulterior movies is definitely a somewhat large focus of some of this plot, and this could become a conflict with more than one character, depending on what the player chooses to pursue. Can’t say more on Sun without heading into spoiler territory either, but your relationship with him could end up really terrible for completely justified reasons later, or you can keep it pretty great, or it can be a mix of the two. I wanted that to be determinable as well as fluctuating with him because sibling relationships are rarely ever one or the other, and I didn’t want to impose that choice on players, especially not since I was already imposing a bad relationship with the parents. I hate taking away player agency when creating their character, but there are some things I just have to do to railroad the plot in the right direction. I didn’t want Sun to be one of those things.

Teagan ultimately appears a little bit tropey. I would go so far as to say there is one of him in a LOT of interactive fictions out there. Tropes aren’t necessarily a bad thing - this is how we, as a society, have formed recognizable archetypes. But that’s something I want to work on with him. My goal is to give him his own flair. Once we start seeing Teagan interact with characters like Alex, Lucia, or Rene, he should start to show his true colors a lot more. One of my major goals with this story is giving the ROs significant opportunities for personal growth, and Teagan is one of the people who needs this the most. 

As an addendum to Teagan, he actually doesn’t respond well to people being rude to him, even though sometimes it might seem that way. 🤣 Poor guy is pretty socially inept and doesn’t have a very high emotional intelligence. Ansel also doesn’t challenge him to be better, which doesn’t help. If he smiles or smirks in response to a comment or a dialogue choice, it would be safer to err on the side of caution and make zero assumptions on what it means. There are a couple of smile/smirk scenes in there that are actually considered negatives for him. I’ve been having a little fun with this, because the choices that might seem like the “right” ones to increase relationship when we’re talking about other IFs or visual novels, for example, are often not the right ones with Teagan.

The good news here is that getting to know the characters and getting close to them in Ninelives is more about just spending time with them and learning about them than it is about making “wrong” choices. I play a lot of visual novels, and one of the things I’ve always disliked about them is how often a single wrong dialogue choice (one that usually seems arbitrary at the time) locks you out of certain routes or brings you to a game-over screen. I’ve really never like that. Between that and the fact that fully-released CSGs don’t have a save feature, one of the things I decided early on was to remove anything that resembled a game-over mechanic or a complete failure to achieve something. When applying that to character relationships, that means players are going to get ample opportunities to get to know the characters without locking themselves out of friendships or romances. This doesn’t mean there are no consequences to being an asshole to the characters all the time, but consistently failing to pick the "best” reactions with characters isn’t necessarily going to ruin your chances with them either.

[marvelmadam08]

Baby Blues 5/?

Summary: The lack of sleep makes Alex very irritable and paranoid.

Warnings: Swearing (at mom), jealousy, FOMO?

A/N: The first weekend I have off and I spent Saturday getting my hair done (6 hours), and today speed typing/editing and debating how to spell karaoke and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. 

~~~~~~

4 Weeks Old

Today wasn’t a good day. Dodger played around in the mud during his morning walk and before Alex could give him a bath, Renee accidentally left the back door opened. They managed to catch him before he got too far, but the carpet in the hall was beyond a scrub brush and seltzer water. Ace refused to go down for his nap, and he was irritable and fussy, which triggered Alex’s migraine.

“Alex, I’m telling you- just let him cry it out.” Renee watched her daughter pace back and forth, bouncing Ace in her arms

“I can’t just let him cry Ma, I have to try and soothe him.” Alex groaned “I’m gonna try to swaddle him.”

"Try the colic hold again." 

“I’m not doing the colic hold again, he nearly fell out of my arms the last time.”

Alex trudged in the direction of the nursery, her mother followed. Dodger came from his hiding spot in the kitchen and claimed his spot on the couch once they left. 

“He did not, he was trying to support his head on his own.” Renee looked closely at her grandson while Alex swaddled him “Your brother’s head was kinda large for his body at first too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with his head, Ma.” Alex laid Ace down in his crib, his cries changing to loud whimpers “He doesn’t like this.”

“Because you never put him down.” Renee gently tugged at Alex’s sleeve “But now he can try to go down for his nap- alone.”

“Ma, I can’t just ignore him.”

Alex caught the small quiver in Ace’s lip before she was pulled from the room and his crying started again.

“I know this hurts right now-”

“Yeah no shit.” Alex snapped before covering her mouth with her hand “I didn’t mean- I’m sorry, you’re only trying to help me.”

Renee pats Alex’s shoulder “I’m not gonna say it’s okay, but I will tell you that I know what you’re going through. This is just a technique, it doesn’t work for all babies or moms, but you won’t know if you don’t try.”

Alex softly nods, apologizing to her mother once more.

“I’m gonna go make some tea, you need a nap too.” Renee states obviously “Go lay down.”

She kissed her teeth “I don’t wanna-”

“Alexandria.”

“I’m going.” Alex huffed out, dragging herself to her and Chris’s bedroom

Ace could still be heard crying, but Alex resisted her dying urge to run and pick him up. She could feel her confidence slipping away from her with each passing second. What if he never stops crying? Could he be hurt and she just wasn’t paying close enough attention to him? Is her mother gonna come back with a switch for swearing at her?

The only thing that made her feel worse was having Chris away for another week. This time he’d be in L.A., working on another project of his. Meanwhile Alex hadn’t sat down to write anything since Ace was born, she never had the time anymore. 

“A little rough morning but we’re working on it.” Renee’s voice came closer “How’s Mexico?”

Chris’s voice started to come in over the phone. “It’s hot, I never did like working in extreme heat. But it’s feasible.”

“Well you don’t have to wear head to toe uniform either, so that’s a plus. You left your phone in the living room.” Renee handed Alex her phone before leaving again 

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Chris examined Alex’s surroundings “Where’s Ace?”

“I put him down for his nap.” Alex sighed deeply. “I’m- trying the self-soothing method.”

“Any luck?”

“No, because he’s still crying.” she said a bit more intensely than intended “I honestly don’t know what it is. I’ve feed him, burped him, changed him, and he just won’t-” Alex spotted someone, a woman, behind Chris “Who’s that?”

Chris looked around “Oh, Michelle is here if you wanna say hi.”

Alex didn’t truly get the chance to answer until the phone was handed over to Chris’s co-star Michelle. She was all smiles, the sun giving her skin a fresh glow, and her bikini showing off her petite figure. Alex met Michelle once before during a reading of the script, Alex being a writing consultant for the show at the time. They got along well, Chris making a joke about his two wives being good friends.

“Hi Alex, congratulations. Chris has been showing me pictures of the baby. He’s beautiful.” Michelle spoke cheerfully

“Oh thank you. Hope my husband isn’t giving you as hard of a time.”

Michelle laughed “No, he’s an absolute joy. And such a good singer, we all went to karaoke last night and it was so much fun. I wish you could’ve been there.”

“We gotta do it again with the whole cast though. Jaeden couldn’t come to the bar with us and he really wanted to go.” Chris spoke 

“Anyways, we’re getting ready to start so I’ll give you back to Chris.”

Chris, now hiding under a beach umbrella, smiled “Al, I swear we gotta come here for vacation, the beaches are amazing. I guarantee you’ll love it.”

“Not if Ace keeps me up all night.” Alex paused and turned her attention to the baby monitor sitting on the nightstand

“Well we could get someone to watch him, and then I can keep you up all night.” Chris joke went unheard “Al?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sounds fun.”

“I love your enthusiasm.” He looked off to the side “Okay, Al, I gotta go. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Alex blew a kiss to the screen before ending the video call

She tiptoed out the room, returning back to the nursery again. Peeking in, Alex watched Ace sleep, the small little snores were music to Alex’s ears. 

“I normally don’t like to say I told you so.” Renee whispered. She handed Alex the hot cup of tea

“Since when?” 

“How’s Chris doing?”

“He’s having a great time in Mexico.” Alex frowned behind her mug “On the beach, going to karaoke bars, surrounded by beautiful women in skimpy bikinis.”

“Don’t do that, Chris would never even look at another woman.”

“I know, I just- I don’t know, I guess I’m just feeling left out?”

“He’s not doing it deliberately, you know that right?”

Alex nods “Yeah, it’s work and he’s allowed to have a bit of fun.”

“So are you.” Renee quickly adds “Now, what does my baby want to do for fun?”

“I wanna take a shower and a nap.”

Renee kissed Alex’s cheek “Go, if he wakes up I’ll look after him.”

“Thank you Momma.”

“Anytime.”

[djmunden]

Thousand Scars Author Interview

Hey guys, back with a new isolation interview! I’ll have an SPFBO author interview ready for the weekend, but I’d like to bring back an old survivor of the Scar den in Deston Munden. Hope you guys enjoy! 

First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?

Hello again! I’m Deston J. Munden, former SPFBO writer and now resident stuck in the house author. I’m a science fiction and fantasy author who is surviving all this craziness by stuffing his head full on Dungeons and Dragons characters and learning how to cook neat food. I’m the author of two series, Dargath Chronicles and Dusk Orbit Blues, both which are getting an audiobook real soon. It’s a pleasure to be back.

How do you develop your plots and characters?

I’ve been asked this quite a few times and I never feel like my answers are satisfactory, but nevertheless true. They just kinda come to me. There are small inciting events that makes me want to develop a character or a plot. It could just be me sitting and reading. It could just me be playing a game or roleplaying a completely unrelated character.  From there, I put them on what I called the simmer mode. I slowly develop them in my head until they are ready for the drafting phase.

Tell the world about your current project!

Dargath is a fun, high fantasy world that I created a while back. It’s a world where everyone has magic and no one is truly human. I wanted to create a world where magic was a common stance and everyone has a degree of it that is unique to them. Also, I wanted a world where the reader doesn’t go in with the natural biasness of starting with a human. Yes, there are human-like races, but I wanted to have this mystical feeling to everything. The world is split into two continents, eight races, and plenty of subraces. It’s rich in history, politics, and turmoil while also having that classic dungeons and dragons type of feeling to the world. If that seems like your type of thing, try me out!

Who would you say is the main character of your latest novel? And tell me a little bit about them!

Ser Torlyek is the main character of the novel that is coming out later this year. I’ve been marketing him as Neville Longbottom meets Thor from the MCU and Steven Universe. He’s my first autistic main character who adores knights and honor beyond anything else. He’s also a complex character who has a deep backstory with his family. Duke’s Brand follows him as he comes to terms with who he is now as well as him making friends along the way. I hope that you guys enjoy him as much as I enjoyed writing him.

Have you been to any conventions? If so, tell me a little about them!

I’ve been to so many conventions! They are some of my favorite places to go for vacations. They are so lively and powerful, and you get to meet so many fellow nerds. My goal this year was to finally sell my books at a convention. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Now, I’m going through convention withdrawal. If you never gone to a convention before, I’ll honestly suggest that you try it out. There are so many cool things that you can find and you’ll meet so many cool people.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I realized that I wanted to be a writer when I was young. Luckily, none of my teachers tried to squash that love. Instead, they tried their hardest to cultivate the talent that they saw. I always wrote fan fictions and loved the creative writing assignments given to me. But, it wasn’t until after college where I realized this was a career I could do. Self-publishing opened an entirely new opportunity for me and ever since I’ve been pushing myself more and more to expand my dream into a reality.

If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?

Rome, hands down. There’s so much history there that I would love to explore and set a story within. I think it would be fun to explore the mythology and the people of rome and wrapping that up in a story that I would write.

What advice would you give new writers?

Finish. That. First. Draft. I’ve seen so many new writers get into what I call the world building loop or worse the first chapter loop. Its when a new writer keeps world building or writing the first chapter endlessly until the end of time. That is not how you’re going to improve. You’re going to have to finish that first draft at one point or another. Not to say pre-writing is not important, however, if you’re stuck on it you need to start on the first draft. As a new writer, learning how to finish a project is key.

What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the worldbuilding?

Too many. I usually get inspiration from history, cultures, food, architecture, generally whatever that I think would make my world feel richer and livelier. Each of the races are inspired somewhat after certain regions of our world albeit blended in such a way to better fit the region I’m going for. I’ve used things from Africa, the Middle East, Medieval Europe, Egypt, etc to make my world feel stronger and cohesive. It’s a fun experience as a history and culture nerd.

What inspires you to write?

I enjoy it. That’s the long and short of it all. Writing is a passion of mine. I love sitting down at the computer and letting my imagination go wild. There’s a magic to it all. I used to write after I finished my schoolwork in class just for fun. I didn’t realize that was weird until my teacher saw me doing it while everyone else was playing games on the computer. Writing is my creative outlet and without it I might burst.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

The hardest part for me is keeping the pace with everything. There’s a lot that goes into be an author. Some days I just want to sit down and write, but I know I can’t do that all the time. There are days where I’m going to have to research, do my social media, and market the books I already have released. Managing my time has become quite difficult.

What is your routine when writing, if any? If you don’t follow a routine, why not?

My routine is usually 8-4 every weekday. If I don’t follow this schedule, I will and can work myself to death.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write in any of your books, and why?

This is spoiler territory. There’s a certain scene in Tavern that I really enjoy that has made people lose their marbles and I always laugh manically about when I get a message about it. Recently though, I’ve been getting a lot of “OMG” about a certain scene in the middle of Dusk Mountain Blues. It makes me giggle. I might be evil.

What these two scenes have in common is that I throw the reader for a loop. I love doing that.  

Did you learn anything from writing your latest book? If so, what was it?

Writing Duke’s Brand and Dusk Ocean Blues taught me a lot how to condense my writing style a bit. Lately, I’ve been trying to hone my writing style a bit. I feel like writing these two books has helped that a lot going forward.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? A gardener or an architect?

I am definitely a pantser. I’m all about writing it and winging it until I get to the second draft.

If you had to give up either snacks and drinks during writing sessions, or music, which would you find more difficult to say goodbye to?

Definitely snacks. I can give up music if I had to, but snacks I need to survive. I can’t imagine how I’ll get through certain parts of my novel without snacking on some chips or some other ungodly unhealthy food or beverage.

Which is your favorite season to write in, and why?

Spring. There is something about the temperature and the outside environment that brings out the power in me.

It’s sometimes difficult to get into understanding the characters we write. How do you go about it?

It’s all about learning how that character ticks. The big thing I’ve realized about getting in the mindset of a character is knowing their motivation. A person drive and ambition tell a lot about the character as a whole and getting into the mindset of them. You gotta realize what they want to realize who they are. From there, I think, their personalities, dreams, relationships, etc becomes more apparent the more you write it.

What are your future project(s)?

Dusk Ocean Blues (Book 2 of Dusk Orbit Blues)

Undergrove (Book 3 of Dargath Chronicles)

Dusk Country Blues (Book 3 of Dusk Orbit Blues)

What is your favorite book ever written?

I’m pleading the fifth here. I enjoy all the books that I’ve written so far. There are parts where I feel like I’ve done better in this book while others in that one. So at the end the day, I can’t choose.

Who are your favorite authors?

Traditionally Published: Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Michael J. Sullivan, Robert Jordan, Scott Lynch, Jonathan French, Brent Weeks, Sean Grisby, and Gareth L. Powell, Renee April.

Self Published: James Jakins, Emmet Moss, Deck Matthews, Andy Peloquin, Bernard Bertram, Garrett B. Robinson.

There’s probably a million more.

What makes a good villain?

A good motivation and a strong personality. I’m the type of person that enjoys a big personality in my villain over sheer fear and power they may possess. The villains that have a good time while also having depth speak out to me. Yes, I do enjoy the looming dark lord type villain as well, but if I can somehow get both I’m a happy camper.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Cooking! It’s my favorite past time other than video games and tabletop RPGs. I’m not as good as it as other people, but I’m trying my best and I’m learning every day!

If you couldn’t be an author, what ideal job would you like to do?

A chef! Like I said before, cooking is a fun hobby and being a chef/cook would be a fun job for me. I also like to bake, so a baker would be not too far behind. I just like working with food.

Coffee or Tea? Or (exult deep breath) what other drink do you prefer, if you like neither?

Tea! There are so many different types of teas and most which I can drink (because I can’t have a lot of caffeinated beverages). I prefer fruity teas, but I’m willing to try any of it.

You can travel to anywhere in the universe. Where would you go, and why?

Whew. I don’t know. I’ll probably want to try to find new planets to explore, specifically with new life.

Do you have any writing blogs you recommend?

No. I don’t have any writer blogs that I’ll recommend but check out the #writerblr tag on tumblr if you need any inspiration!

Do you have any writer friends you’d like to give a shoutout to?

Nicky Ball, Kathryn York, Hallie Fleischmann, Chris Barber, Dave Deickman, Emmet Moss, Bernard Bertram, and Deck Matthews to name a few!

Pick any three fiction characters. These are now your roadtrip crew. Where do you go and what do you do?

Clay Cooper from Kings of the Wyld, Matrim Couthon from Wheel of Time, and Wayne from The Alloy of Law.  

We’re gonna go on a rock-star tour and we’re gonna cause some trouble.

What superpower would you most like?

Super Strength. I know that’s a simple power to want to have but it would just make my life a whole lot easier. Being able to pick up a lot of things would be amazing.

What are two of your favorite covers of all time? (Not your own.)

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

It’s a very difficult time right now for the world. When quarantine and pandemic comes to an end, what is the first thing you would like to do?

Travel more and meet some of my online friends. My goal this year was to travel more, get out there, and meet some of the people that I’ve been talking to for ages. The quarantine and pandemic put that to a screeching halt. I want to go to more conventions, I want to see more places, and I want just enjoy life more. This whole situation made me realize that I haven’t been out nearly as much as I want to be.

Finally, what is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?

Remember to follow me everywhere below and it was great coming back!

Website: www.djmunden.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deston-J-Munden/e/B07Q2D6948/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SrBuffaloKnight

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordjmunden/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/D.J.Munden/

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18874896.Deston_J_Munden If you have Kindle Unlimited, both of my books are available there too!

[saiilorstars]

The Beginning of Everything

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Face claim: Marjorie de Sousa)

// Story Masterlist // 

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Ch. 7: Partners in Crime

Chapter Summary: Renata struggles traveling with the Doctor after Martha's departure. She tries to follow the Doctor through his crazy ways of helping people but she just can't help but point out how many rules they break! And the Doctor doesn’t make it any easier when he tries to argue with her.

"It's crazy-"

"Of course humans wouldn't be able to detect any-"

"-what you're saying-"

"-extraterrestrial signals but I have the-"

"-I mean what's the point of-"

"-TARDIS constantly checking for anything strange and there it was," the Doctor pushed the monitor so that it was in front of Renata. "Adipose Industries. Bunch of conspiracy theories-"

"Doctor, the humans are always looking for crazy theories-"

"Well it happens that these are not so far off. We really should just pop in and check to make sure everything is alright."

There was a clear 'why' written across Renata's face. "What is your obsession with planet Earth?" That was one question she'd been asking ever since she met the Doctor on Gallifrey. Up to now, she suspected there wasn't a clear answer.

The Doctor just smiled at her question. "Renee, I really think we need to check it out. Just a couple of investigation scenes and-"

"Which will involve us breaking in and lying to officials - no, no way!" Renata turned away from the monitor, intending on going into the corridors so that she wouldn't have to listen to anymore of the nonsense.

"Oh we're not going to be doing anything bad!" the Doctor reached forwards and grabbed her arm.

"Really?" Renata pulled her arm and crossed them. "What does your little plan entail, exactly?"

"Just, you know, bit of the pyschic paper and-"

Renata stopped him with a hand in his face. "Psychic paper? You mean that little portable lying booklet?"

"That's...a strange name to give it but...sure," the Doctor nodded his head.

"And in that little paper we're going to lie and say we're some other people to get ourselves into the Adipose headquarters?"

"Um...yes," the Doctor had to contain himself under Renata's scolding face. To him, honestly, it was both funny and a bit scary how serious she got sometimes. He'd come to learn that it was often.

"Do you hear yourself?" Renata raised her hands in front of her, making it clear she wanted no part in this plan. "You're going to go in that building, interrupt business and for what? Conspiracy theories?"

"Renee, I'm going," the Doctor left it clear, turning for the console and preparing the controls to land on Earth. "Question is, will you be coming to make sure I don't get into trouble or will you be here."

Renata's eyebrows raised almost increduliously. "Am I to be your babysitter?"

"Well, no, but you seem so determined to give yourself that role…"

"Doctor!" Renata huffed.

"Well, you are!" the Time Lord turned around to defend himself before she decided to smack him on the back.

"We've been at this for a month-" Renata gestured between them, "-and you can't seriously understand that I am against the lying and breaking in?"

"You didn't have trouble in 1913," the Doctor mumbled under his breath.

Renata's eyes widened. "I was doing that to fit in! Not to break in all silly-nilly!" A small smile began spreading across the Doctor's face. "Why are you smiling?" Renata crossed her arms, expecting there to be some joke she hadn't caught like usual.

"You said silly-nilly, but somehow I'm the one that uses childish words."

Renata air-strangled him but brought her balled hands to her mouth. "Sometimes I just can't with you!"

"So you've said in this past month," the Doctor said all proudly which only irritated Renata even more.

One month she had been in the TARDIS with the Doctor after Martha left them, and somehow she hadn't strangled the Doctor into his next incarnation. Yes, the Doctor had done everything in his power to make sure she felt welcomed in the TARDIS - which she truly did. And yes, he was never purposely rude to her and he was always attentive to what she needed or where she wanted to go. But that didn't stop him from frustrating her with his childish antics and constant rule breaking and running.

Renata honestly wondered how he had made it this far without regenerating again.

Every day he had somewhere new he wanted to go and almost every time there was something he just needed to help and save which would then bring along danger and a lot of running. When they weren't travelling, the Doctor was 'fixing' the console and causing things to break. He was a fast talker when he was excited and thus had Renata's ears nearly fall off when they were together discussing things of home or some experiences they've had.

It truly felt like they were those young Time Lords again still messing around in her foundation.

Renata tried pushing those feelings away, every day, but being so close didn't help. Now there she was...bickering away with him...and remembering everything she'd fought for so long to forget.

"Renata, c'mon, it'll be fun," the Doctor smiled incredibly wide and held out a hand for her, wiggling his fingers.

She hated herself. She truly did. Renata took her hand, ignoring the Doctor's face momentarily go smug, and let him bring her back to the console.

~ 0 ~

A couple of hours later, the two embarked on a journey for Adipose Industries. As the two walked along a busy street, Renata continuously looked around like they were already going to get caught. The wind blew much of her blonde hair on her face, making it more difficult for her to keep a 'look out'.

"I see it," she said to the Doctor once she caught sight of the large building meant to serve as headquarters for the company. "But there's plenty of security check, I'm sure."

"Good thing we're going through the back," the Doctor pulled her to the left to go along the building towards its back.

Renata's head did a double-take in the process. "The back? What? Like actual thieves?"

The Doctor preferred not to get into a whole argument on the technicalities of what they were doing. Renata grew even more self-conscious as they arrived to a fire exit.

"What are you doing?" she nearly hissed when she saw him pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"Getting us in," he motioned as he flicked on the sonic.

"Oh my God, we're actually breaking in - ah," she put a hand over her chest and looked around, properly frightened.

The Doctor hid his amused smile in his work. It was actually rather adorable the way she got so worked up over things he did so normally. When the door opened, they crossed into a set of solitary corridors. All the noise came from their quick strides.

"Doctor," Renata had another near attack when she saw a security guard walking opposite of them. Her arm curled around his on instinct.

Without conflict, he just pulled out the psychic paper and flashed it at the security as they passed on by. "John Smith, Renata Cartwright, Health and Safety."

"How do you do that so calmly?" Renata whispered to him despite leaving the security guard well behind.

"Do what?" the Doctor repeated rather cluelessly.

"Great," Renta unwinded her arm from his and sighed, "You don't even realize you do it anymore."

After making it to the higher levels, they discovered that there was to be a private lecture from the very head of the company herself.

"You don't think they'd notice two unregistered people waltzing into the lecture room?" Renata had to ask as she followed behind the Doctor in a hallway.

"That's why we're not going there, clearly."

"What?" Renata stopped, dumbfounded. "Then where are we going?"

"Projector room, c'mon!"

Renata slowly continued to follow. "But...how are we getting in?"

~ 0 ~

"Health and Safety. Film department," the Doctor once more showed his psychic paper to a man working the computers in the projection room set right above the lecture room.

Renata shook her head behind the Doctor.

They were able to see the head, a blonde woman with glasses who went by 'Miss Foster', describe the components and process of her company's products to the small audience. "Adipose Industries. The 21st century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule, one capsule, once a day, for three weeks. And the fat, as they say…the fat just walks away."

Renata couldn't help scoff as she listened. "Do all the humans have an obsession with thinness?"

Beside her, the Doctor nudged her to be careful with her words. He motioned to the man working the computers who was giving Renata a curious look for her statement.

"U-uh," Renata flustered and looked at the window again. "I meant...the lot of humanity."

The Doctor gave a discreet shake of his head, fairly amused. Renata was one woman who did not know how to travel. That was novelty.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you think we're playing our luck here?" Renata walked right beside the Doctor through an aisle of small cubicles.

The Doctor had a bright idea to go to one of the employees and pick up a couple more information.

"Just relax, Renee," the Doctor wondered if he would ever get tired of telling that to her. Because everytime they traveleld somewhere, it was the same thing. She was overly nervous about getting caught.

They came into the cubicle of a young, dark-skinned woman who was in the middle of a call with a customer.

"John Smith, Renata Cartwright, Health and Safety. Don't mind us," the Doctor whispered so as not to interrupt her phone call. He let Renata take a seat first then took the one next to her.

Soon as she was done, the Doctor got straight to questioning. It truly amazed Renata how well he did it. There was no faltering, no stuttering, not a trace of nervousness in his face.

"If you could just give us a list of some of your customers we'll be on our way," the Doctor finished it off with a big nice smile.

The employee, Clare, seemed more than happy to oblige.

"That's the printer there?" the Doctor stood up for a moment, unknowingly giving Renata a hearts attack thinking he might get caught by Miss Foster. She'd only been in the room 15 minutes ago, what's stopping her from coming back?

"By the plant, yeah," Clare nodded.

"Brilliant," the Doctor beamed but Renata yanked him down to his seat again. Soon as her hand let go of his arm, he sprung right back on his feet. "Has it got paper?"

"Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked," Clare found him amusing.

Renata did not. She grasped the Doctor's arm and pulled him down with all her might. "Sit down!" she hissed. She then smiled at Clare. "Anyway, if you could print that off. We'll be on our way. Thanks."

The employee typed on her computer for a moment before giving them the 'ok' nod. Renata stood up followed by the Doctor but stopped when she heard the Doctor ask, "Oh, what's that?"

Renata turned around to see Clare giving him a piece of paper.

"My telephone number," the woman answered his question.

Renata raised her eyebrows.

The Doctor looked between the paper and Clare. "What for?"

There came a smirk across Clare's face. "Health and Safety. You be health, I'll be safety."

The Doctor stammered for an excuse. Renata...did not.

"I am going to report you!" she threatened the woman as she snatched the paper from the Doctor and slammed it on Clare's desk.

"What-"

"You can expect a call from your superiors tonight!" Renata grabbed the Doctor by the arm and yanked him out of the cubicle.

Honestly, she thought. Where was that human's professionalism!?

~0~

Night time fell and instead of going back to the TARDIS like Renata believed, the Doctor dragged her to continue investigating. This time they were set to pose as employees of Adipose Industries who made house visits. As the Doctor flashed his psychic paper to a lucky customer they were visiting, Renata rolled her eyes on the side and began to count the many times he'd done something like this and gotten away with it.

She couldn't count that high without losing her place.

Now sitting in the customer's, Roger's, living room, they listened to him how the pills had worked for him in so little time.

"I've been on the pills two weeks now, I've lost fourteen kilos!" he finished excitedly.

"That's the same amount every day?" asked the Doctor.

"One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning."

Renata's brows knitted together. "I-I'm sorry...how...how is that?"

"That's when I get woken up," Roger answered in a matter of fact tone. "Might as well weigh myself at the same time."

"U-um…" Renata glanced at the Doctor to see if he was as confused as she was.

He was. "Could you...could you tell us more about that please?"

"Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes."

"But with no burglars?" Renata asked to be sure.

"Nothing. I've given up looking."

The Doctor still did not falter. "Tell me Roger, have you got a cat flap?"

Renata made a face at that but nonetheless she followed the plan. Roger showed them to the cat flap on his front door, more than happy to show another person in case this one actually figured it out. "It was there when I bought the house. Never bothered with it. I'm not a cat person."

The Doctor had already begun screening it with his sonic. "No, I've met cat people. You are nothing like them," he murmured.

He's met cat people. Renata inwardly sighed. Of course he's met cat people.

"It's that what it is then? Cats getting inside the house?" Roger frowned.

"Well, thing about cat flaps is that they don't just let things in, they let things out as well…" the Doctor said slowly, still coming up with ideas to follow.

"Like what?"

"The fat just walks away..." The Doctor pushed himself back on his feet and turned to Roger with an excessive smile. "Well, thanks for your help. Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so."

"Probably forever," Renata added. "You could just try the regular eat healthy and exercise thing..."

The Doctor stiffened when he heard a small 'bleep' from inside his jacket. "Ooh, we gotta go, sorry."

"What-"

The Doctor hurriedly opened the door brought Renata along with him. He reached inside his jacket to pull out a device he'd hand made earlier that day.

"When did you make that!?" Renata gave a face at the device, fearing it would explode like the last thing he made.

"This morning! Now hurry!" He let go of her completely and picked up his pace. Renata was also not good at running.

Groaning, Renata did her best to keep up.

She managed to catch up when he made a stop by the corner of one street. He banged a hand on his device, ignoring Renata's sarcastic 'that'll make it work' then ran off again.

"What are we looking for!?" Renata panted when they stopped again.

Not answering, the Doctor held up the device for a better signal. He waved it around then lowered it to check the readings. When it dinged, he beamed and ran again.

"Oh my God," Renata groaned and chased after him. They were nearly ran over by a rushing van in the process. However, soon as it passed by, the Doctor turned in the same direction to follow it...apparently, the signal was coming from it.

He finally came to a stop at an intersection and was disappointed to find the signal gone.

~ 0 ~

Much later would find the Doctor examining one of the golden capsules of the Adipose company. He was looking at it through a magnifying glass, far interested in its components. "Ohh, fascinating!" he gawked. "Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…"

"Are we still on that?" Renata's voice stopped him in the middle of his discovery. He glanced back to find her leaning against the corridor's threshold.

"Well, uh, I was…" the Doctor motioned the magnifying glass still in his hand then lowered it.

"Still investigating," Renata finished for him, giving a small shake of her head. "Honestly Doctor, don't you ever get tired of fixing everyone's problems?"

Because she had asked in a simple, curious manner, the Doctor entertained it. "What do you mean?"

Renata shrugged her shoulders as she came off the threshold. "I mean just what I said. You always go and find a problem - like Sto's government and a broken water pipe - that you have to fix. Last week it was some planet's default engineering settings and today it's…" she had come up to him in the while of her explanation and took the Doctor's magnifying glass from, "...Adipose," she looked at him through the magnifying glass, her brown eyes enlarging from the glass.

"Are you asking me why I help people?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, finding the question too far even for her uptightness. Because yes, it only took a month to realize that Renata was uptight.

Knowing how that sounded, Renata ventured to clarify herself. "I don't mean that you shouldn't help people I just…" she thought about it for a second, "...isn't there the Shadow Proclamation to help with cases like these? They are the police and it should be up to them how things get fixed. I don't see why you have to keep doing it."

"The Shadow Proclamation is never that good," the Doctor gave a roll of his eyes, clear dislike for the place. "And I like helping. I can do it, don't see why I shouldn't."

"Yeah, I can see that you like to," Renata chuckled.

"And I can see that you not so much." And the Doctor truly appreciated how Renata was doing her best to keep up with him in his shenanigans.

"I do! You have no idea how much I love to help people, but...when I did it...it was with...our people."

"You don't like to help the humans, then?"

"I do, if I have the chance then...sure," Renata nodded, but it was easy to tell that she wasn't all that into the idea. "But in the end...they're just humans to me. For so long they were only a means to hide myself from the rest of our kind. I miss helping my kind, you know? People I can share my ideas with, my perspectives, my everything. People that would understand me."

The Doctor tilted his head, a faint smile writing itself across his lips. "Renee, what did you used to do back on Gallifrey?"

The question set Renata into nervous state. "U-uh...l-like my...my job?"

"Yeah," the Doctor didn't catch any of her nervousness, too curious imagining her in different positions. "Cos you're all uptight and-"

"Hey," Renata pointed at him but he went on.

"-strict on rules so...I would think of you as one of the teachers at the academy."

Renata blinked, for a moment in disbelief. "You think I was a teacher?"

"Well," he straightened up. "Were you?"

"No," Renata shook her head. "I wasn't."

"Then, what were you?"

Renata stared at him for a minute, the ongoing battle within her taking a bit more than she thought. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about telling the Doctor more about herself - in fact, she already had. Bits and pieces had been exchanged between the two about their past lives on Gallifrey but Renata was always careful not to disclose too much about herself that would risk her identity with the Doctor.

"I...was…" her eyes flickered to the side, "...I worked at a foundation."

Technically, she wasn't lying.

Those were the rules she set herself for. Loopholes.

"You did?" the Doctor became even more curious.

"Mhm. I worked with all sorts of people in need. Children who weren't quite ready for the academy came for some lessons. People who just needed help, whether emotional or physically but didn't have the resources were always welcomed to stop by," Renata looked into the distant, remembering more and more about her foundation. She missed it so much. She missed her workers, her kids, her friends…

"Renata?" the Doctor gently shook her arm to get her out of her thoughts.

She realized she'd let herself think far too much and released an awkward breath, smiling in a flushed manner. "Sorry," she waved a hand at her face.

"No, it's okay," the Doctor softly said, reaching for her waving hand. He liked seeing her remember their home due to the fact she hadn't disclosed much about herself on Gallifrey. He had made it his mission not to get overexcited and push Renata to tell her stories when she wasn't ready. To say, she hadn't even said whose family she was from. But still, the Doctor was forcing himself to be patient.

"Do you want some dinner?" Renata was the one to pull him out of his thoughts this time. With a warm smile on her face, she took his hand. "It's all set up like usual."

The Doctor smiled, forgetting his investigation from then on till the next morning. Renata made it a custom that they were to have dinner every night like normal people. She made pretty damn good meals.

"C'mon," Renata said quietly, still smiling as the two headed for the corridors.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Renata was not the least bit surprised to have the Doctor practically pounding on her bedroom door shouting for her to wake up because they had to go back to Adipose Industries. Swooshing herself out of bed, she got ready and came out of her room...and then smacked the Doctor on the chest and stalked for the console.

"I hate mornings!" was the only explanation the Doctor got for being hit.

They left the TARDIS in an alleyway close to the Adipose Industries building and once more used the fire exit to gain entrance. The Doctor led the way down the same empty corridor but this time stopped midway and turned to a storage closet.

"What...are you doing?" Renata blinked as he opened the door to the small room.

"We need to hide, c'mon," the Doctor didn't wait around for her to warm to the idea and pushed her inside first. As he sonicked the door shut, Renata raved with her back to him.

"Are you mad!? This is wrong!" her hands waved above her head. "First of all, we're bound to get caught! Second of all, it's just wrong!"

The manner in which Renata had said her last statement made the Doctor turn around questionably. "Why? What's wrong?"

In her moment, Renata whirled around to face him and bumped into him because he was literally standing right in front of her. Her eyes blinked rapidly trying not to overthink it. Meanwhile, the Doctor was still demanding to know why she was so freaked out.

"Renata? Why did you say it like that?" his eyebrows knitted together in the manner they always did when he was confused.

Renata slowly looked up to meet his gaze and soon wished she hadn't. She found that she was vulnerable to his long look no matter how she felt at the moment. It threatened to give her identity up.

"Renata?" the Doctor finally broke through her thoughts which, admittedly, were making her face warm. "Well?"

"...it's just inappropriate…" Renata quietly said, turning away and walking the most she could inside the small room which turned out to be seven small steps.

The Doctor scoffed, giving a sway of his head. "Really? But it's not to live inside a TARDIS with me?" the moment turned sideways with alarmed eyes the Doctor regretted his response. "N-n-n-n-n-no! Forget I said that!" and he rushed up, but because of the small room he nearly rammed into her.

"Doctor! Just stop!" cried the blonde, swatting him away with her hands.

With a big sigh, the Doctor listened and retreated to the door. He took a seat on the floor, back up against the door. He watched Renata look for a spot of her own until she settled for a small box positioned over another.

"Renee…?"

"Hmm?" Renata wearily glanced over to the Doctor, hoping that whatever came out of his mouth would not send them into another round of bickering.

"On Gallifrey...were you part of...high society? Before you married off, of course."

"Why would you think that?"

The Doctor made a gesture at her. "Just...just the way you act...the way you think. It has all the...makings of a high class Time Lady."

Renata looked down, her fingers fiddling with each other. "And you hate that," she recalled from oh-so-long ago.

The Doctor wasn't about to lie and say he was best friends with that part of their people. "I mean, they weren't particularly the best people for me to spend time with."

"So then why do you tolerate me and my...uptightness?" came Renata's honest question. She knew she was not the ideal companion and she doubted she ever would be.

A warm smile spread across the Doctor's face. "Because I like you of course - you and everything I know about you so far. You're not like the others of your class and I'm happy. Otherwise it would have been a real shame for such a pretty woman with big hearts to go to waste."

Renata's face softened. "Doctor…"

"You working at a foundation just proves it," the Doctor shrugged. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask.. " he cleared his throat, suddenly nervous, "The foundation...did it...did it happen to be…the Auxilium Foundation?" It was like Renata's whole world just stopped. The Doctor was too delved into his own memories to notice it. "There was only a couple foundations and...and you seem the sort to want to help Gallifreyans despite what Time Lord society thought. Was it?"

Renata couldn't bring herself to lie more, at least not in that moment. It was too many memories, too many fond memories she couldn't get rid of. "Yeah…" she passed a hand down her hair, secretly shooting him a glance. "How do you know about it?"

The Doctor released a breath, a dreamy one actually that sped up Renata's hearts in the second."Oh, I, um...I knew someone there…"

"You need to see it, Zuriah. I bet the pictures don't do Earth justice!"

Zuriah laughed softly while the Doctor rambled onto her about what he'd learned of Earth that morning. She shook her head at him and moved on around the empty tables, soon to be filled up with their daily visitors, to set up some of the materials. "Now I know why you probably failed some of your coursework in the Academy. Did you ever stop talking in those classes?"

The Doctor sent an unamused glare her way. "I'll have you know I have my moments of silence."

The scoff Zuriah gave in return was one of clear disbelief. "Just help me out here, please?" she motioned with her hands to the mess of toys on the ground. "Some new recruiters' kids found my stash of toys and didn't exactly learn the rule of 'put it away'."

The Doctor rolled his eyes but got up to help. "So, do you think you could somehow incorporate this planet in your activities?"

Zuriah waved him off. "I don't know. We haven't done the schedule for next week. Perhaps..."

"Oh c'mon! You know you'd love to!" the Doctor hurriedly threw some toys into the bin she'd set up. He followed her around the tables, rambling on about the benefits her people would get if she incorporated Earth into activities.

"Look, Doctor, maybe we could - AH!" she had stepped on a toy and slipped backwards. Her basket went flying in the air along with the materials. She herself would've fallen to the floor if the Doctor hadn't caught her.

"Hm, didn't take you for the klutz," the Doctor smirked at her. Zuriah looked up, her face flushed when she realized their closeness. The Doctor felt it too, but he didn't think about telling her of it. Although he did take notice of how many freckles were over Zuriah's face...they were lovely...

Renata was utterly stunned to see such a soft look on the Doctor's face. He was clearly remembering something...

"Zuriah, that was the, uh..." the Doctor shook his head out of the memory but no matter how much he tried, the freckled-face ginger still smiled at him. It'd been so long since he thought about her...

~0~

After a full day passed, the Doctor finally declared it was time to leave and investigate. Since they had fallen into bits and pieces of conversation after the foundation topic, Renata was itching to get out of there. She was afraid that the Doctor would begin to ask questions about 'Zuriah' which was her before she picked her graduating name.

You can't hide it forever, Renata. The same sentence passed her mind over and over but somehow she still couldn't act.

"Where exactly are we headed now?" Renata inquired once they were striding down the dark corridors.

"Up to the office of course," the Doctor flashed a smile that warned it wasn't technically literal.

Renata would have questioned further had it not been for him pulling her into a hasty walk. They found the staircase and went up...and up...and up…

Of course he meant the roof. Renata actually blamed herself for not seeing this earlier.

The Doctor went straight for the edge and sonicked the cables holding…

"What are you doing?" Renata slowly approached the edge, eyes glued onto the Doctor who was in the process climbing into a window cleaner's cradle.

"Getting a look at the office, what else?" the Doctor shrugged then motioned with a hand for her to join him. Instantly, Renata incredulously blinked. "Don't give me that look! C'mon!"

Nervously, Renata inched closer to the edge and took one look down to the high view. "Um...is this a bad time to tell you...I have a fear of heights…"

"Not surprised," the Doctor said. He then reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her slowly. "But for another time!"

"Doctor…" Renata struggled to let the Doctor bring her into the window's cradle.

"In you go," the Doctor slipped his other arm around her waist to get her into the cradle.

As soon as Renata felt the cradle wiggling a bit she gasped and latched onto the Doctor for dear life. "We're going to die! We're going to die! We're going to die!" she cried with eyes shut.

There was a fierce determination in the Doctor not to laugh. But he was still thankful that she couldn't see his face right now.

"This is it! This is where you finally kill me!" and because the Doctor didn't know who Renata was, he thought she was just talking about their short time together...when in reality Renata was remembering all the adventures their younger selves took because of him.

"Calm down, it's not moving," the Doctor peeled her off him and aimed the sonic at the controls. Renata gasped again when the cradle descended. "And duck!" he ordered when they were nearing Miss Foster's office.

"You're gonna get us caught," Renata whispered.

The Doctor ignored her and poked his head just slightly above the cradle to peer into the office. He saw a young dark-skinned woman being tied to a chair by body guards while Miss Foster watched. Unknowingly, an old friend was also watching from the other side of the office, right in front of its door.

"What's going on?" Renata curiously asked, still not taking the risk by peering herself.

"Can't hear much," the Doctor mumbled. He could see Miss Foster showing her prisoner a capsule.

"Well, it is a window-"

"Donna!?"

Renata made a face and looked up to find the Doctor, stunned, staring ahead. "What? What is it?"

'Donna?' she watched the Doctor mouth.

What she didn't know was that across the office stood the Doctor's old friend, Donna Noble who was also stunned to see him there.

"DOCTOR!' she excitedly mimed back, her face right in front of the door's porthole.

'But... what? Wha... What?!'

Renata tried following along but the Doctor was just opening and closing his mouth to her.

'OH MY GOD!' Donna continued miming happily.

'But... how?'

'It's me!' Donna pointed her thumbs at herself, as if the Doctor hadn't yet made the connection it was in fact her.

'Well, I can see that!' the Doctor gestured his eyes then pointed at Donna. Beside him, Renata was still hopelessly lost. She was not risking herself to see who it was.

'Oh this is brilliant!' Donna would have laughed if she could.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was perturbed. 'But what are you doing there?'

'I was looking for you!' Donna pointed at him.

'What for?!'

Now Donna, being Donna, did her best to mimic what she was saying which went along the lines of…

'I, came here, trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Heard this lot. Looked. You! Cos they…' But when she happened to jerk a thumb to her right she found that Miss Foster, along with the tied-up woman and her body guards, were staring at her.

The Doctor too had caught it.

"Are we interrupting you?" MIss Foster loudly, sarcastically called to Donna.

'Run!' the Doctor urgently mimed for Donna then aimed the sonic ahead to lock the door of the office and give Donna time to run. Without notice, he waved the sonic above and pulled the cradle above.

"DOCTOR!" Renata nearly cried when the cradle shot up.

"Sorry! Sorry!" the Doctor hopped out of the cradle fast and turned to help her out.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on!? Besides probably getting caught - like I told you!"

"Old friend of mine-" the Doctor grunted as he pulled her out, "-in a bit of trouble! Hurry!"

They ran back for the door that laid the staircase. Despite Renata asking questions of who this 'friend' was the Doctor didn't answer many as he was focused on helping Donna out before she was hurt. They came down another set of staircase where they bumped into a redhead. Donna had encased the Doctor in a big hug, ecstatic with finding him. Renata's eyes just flickered from one to the next.

"Oh my God! I don't believe it!" Donna laughed but suddenly stopped to give the Doctor a look over. "You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?" The Doctor sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Yeah thanks Donna, not right now."

"Well…" Donna finally noticed that the Doctor was not alone. "Hey-" but that was all she could say to Renata before the Doctor saw the guards and pulled them both up the stairs.

"Doctor! There are guards!" Renata had looked below to see several guards coming after them.

"Yes, I've noticed!"

Donna was too cheery to be affected by the guards coming for them. As they made it back to the roof she explained the events that led her to the building. "Cos I thought, how do I find the Doctor? And then I just thought, look for trouble and then he'll turn up! So I looked everywhere, you name it - UFOs, sightings, crop circles, sea monsters. I looked, I found them all…"

During this, the Doctor had started working on the cradle controls with his sonic. Renata had half a mind to scold him for even thinking about using the damn thing! But she was quick to discover Donna had a rambling mouth much like the Doctor.

"...like that stuff about the bees disappearing, I thought, I bet he's connected. Cos the thing is, Doctor, I believe it all now. You opened my eyes. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day, I mean that's gotta be a hoax!"

"What d'you mean the bees are disappearing?" the Doctor picked the sentence up by random.

"I don't know. That's what it says on the internet!"

"Doctor!" Renata helplessly watched the Doctor get back into the cradle, and was even more astonished to see Donna so easily getting in as well. "Aren't you even going to question why you're getting in?" she demanded from the ginger.

"I figure it was to escape?" Donna glanced at the Doctor but quickly looked back to Renata. "I'm sorry, what's your n-"

"Renata, get in!" the Doctor urgently said.

"What for!?" Renata argued. "They'll just bring us up again! I'm not here to go up and down like a stupid amusement park ride!"

"No no no, cos I've locked the controls with a sonic cage. I'm the only one who can control it," he promised. "Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own. Which is very unlikely."

The door burst open again and out came Miss Foster.

"RENATA!"

Flinching, Renata clambered into the window cradle. Soon as she was in, the Doctor made it go down.

"How are we getting out!?" the blonde held onto the railing as they went down and down, but suddenly they started going dangerously FAST faster.

The Doctor managed to stop it with the sonic but the force knocked all three down for a moment. Being the first one to get up, he aimed the sonic at the window. Up above, Miss Foster ordered to the building to be deadlocked.

The Doctor retracted the sonic. "Can't get it open!"

"Well, smash it then!" Donna had grabbed a large spanner from the floor and used all her might to shatter the window.

Renata helplessly looked from Donna to the Doctor, wondering how much worse it could get. Her answer came in the form of sparks and smoke from the cradle. "She's cutting the cable!" she shrieked after looking up and seeing Miss Foster aiming some sort of laser pen at the cables. At her words the Doctor and Donna instinctively grabbed on but Renata hadn't had the time and so when the cable broke and the cradle lurched to the side, she was flung back screaming.

"RENATA!" the Doctor wanted to go in after her but calmed after seeing her feet dangling under them.

She'd manage to get ahold of the broken cable and was currently, and dangerously, swaying back and forth. "DOCTOR!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor tried reaching for the cable sustaining her to pull her back up but he just couldn't.

"Doctor!" went Donna this time who was staring up, seeing Miss Foster about to break the last cable.

Angrily, the Doctor aimed the sonic above just at the right moment to make it spark and fall out of the woman's hand. He caught the second sonic and climbed up the cable to another window. He managed to get it open and ordered Donna to follow him.

"I'm not gonna fall am I!?" Donna asked for the blonde below who was crying out in terror.

"Get in! Get in!" the Doctor didn't want to waste time answering obvious questions. His hearts was racing unbelievably fast as he thought of Renata so close to danger (and because of him).

Meanwhile, Renata was crying out to be helped. Her eyes were stinging with tears and from the hard wind hitting her from every direction. She was sure her hands were slipping from the cable and that at any moment she would fall and splat on the ground like the television showed.

Oh God I was wrong - this is how he finally kills me! And yet Renata felt not an ounce of anger with the Doctor. It was just so like him to get near danger, like a taunt, and then get away from it like nothing. It was actually one of the things that attracted her after getting to know his ways. Her hearts pounded like never before yet it was not a new sensation for her.

"AH!" she screamed all over again when she felt hands on her ankles. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

"Renata, it's me!" the Doctor managed to cut through her screams. "I've got you! Stop kicking!" He slowly pulled her down and into the office he and Donna coordinated would be the room of the next window down. "There we go! I've got you!"

"Oh my God! I thought I was going to die!" Renata clung to him with teary eyes. "Oh you stupid, stupid man!"

The Doctor soothed her with a hand on her back and regretted he couldn't do more at that moment on account of still being on the run from Miss Foster. "We have to go, I'm sorry," he pulled away and felt a pang of guilt seeing her tear-stained face.

He took her and Donna out of the room but not before untying the journalist in the office and telling her to go home. They only made it to the call center because Miss Foster and her guards were already waiting for them.

"Well then," Miss Foster pulled off her glasses and raised her head at the trio, "at last."

"Hello," Donna nervously laughed, the thrill of the chase still clouding bits of her.

The Doctor was just the Doctor who said 'hello' to everyone. "Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor."

"And I'm Donna!"

Renata crossed her arms, deciding the Foster didn't need her name.

"Partners in crime," Foster concluded, eyeing Renata who seemed to falter every now and then from her brave stance. "And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology."

"Oh yes, I've still got your sonic pen. Nice, I like it," the Doctor raised the sonic pen to give another look. "Sleek, it's kinda sleek." He let Renata and Donna give it a glance as well, but Renata lowered it down.

"I don't think it should matter the form of the thing that nearly killed me."

The Doctor winced and retracted the pen from Renata. "Now-" he looked at Foster, " if you were to sign your real name that would be...?"

"Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class."

"A wet nurse?" Renata gawked for a second. "What...and you're using humans as surrogates?"

Foster gave a curt nod. "I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost."

"But who gave you the right to use humans as cows for your reproduction methods!? It's against Shadow Proclamation rules!"

Beside Renata, the Doctor silently laughed that she would ignore a planet being lost because of 'rules'. "How do you mean lose a planet?"

"Oh, politics are none of my concern. I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents," Foster made a gesture, shrugging her shoulders.

"What, like an outer space super-nanny?" Donna crinkled her nose.

"Yes, if you like."

"So... so those little things they're, they're made out of fat yeah, but that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her." Donna still couldn't shake off that horrible feeling of seeing a nice woman like Stacey disappear into little white blobs of...fat?

"Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. Makes them a little bit sick, poor things."

"What about poor Stacey!?" Donna incredulously returned.

"Enough," Renata's sharp edged voice cut through the womens' conversation, and the hand she had for Donna was, frankly, irritating the ginger. "Seeding a level 5 planet is against galactic law - you should know that!" she said to Foster who merely raised her eyebrows.

"Are you threatening me?"

The Doctor then put an arm in front of Renata. "We're trying to help you, Matron. This is your one chance; cos if you don't call this off, then we'll have to stop you."

Foster smirked. "I hardly think you can stop bullets." And just as she said it, her guards flanking her took aim.

Alarmed, Renata stepped back.

"No, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, one more thing, before... dying…" the Doctor settled for the blunt word. "Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic devices against each other?" he once again gestured to his sonic and Foster's sonic pen.

"...no?" Foster doubtfully answered.

"Nor me, lets find out!" the Doctor happily pointed both sonic objects at each other, activating them at the same time. A high-screeching rang in the room, causing everyone to squirm uncomfortably and a glass pane behind to shatter.

"Come on!" Donna was the one to pull both aliens out of there.

In the process, the Doctor took the lead and ran them down an empty corridor, stopping by a door of a cupboard.

"No more cupboards!" Renata nearly pleaded. Small spaces meant more talking and more talking meant more chances to risk her identity.

"Not quite," the Doctor opened the door and started throwing out the storage's supplies.

"You can't just throw those things out!" Renata said, scandalized as he created a wad of mess on the floor. "Those are some employee's utensils!"

"Another time, Renata!" the Doctor rolled his eyes, this time a smidge of honest annoyance for her lack of priorities.

"Renata?" Donna repeated the name, looking a bit confused as she studied Renata head to toe. "So you're not Rose, then?"

Recalling the name, Renata scowled. "No I am not! Why would you think that?"

"Dunno…" Donna shrugged, "...blonde...and stuff."

"I'm not her," Renata's eyes briefly glanced at the Doctor and saw him working. There was glowing green machinery built into the wall.

"Well, I'm Donna Noble by the way," the ginger held a hand to Renata, realizing that they hadn't been introduced properly.

"Renata," Renata shook Donna's hand. She looked over at the green panel and frowned. "Okay, what's this for?"

"It's the inducer. For the Adipose. It's wired up the whole building...I...I'll need some time," the Doctor paused, running a hand through his big hair.

"Then get to it," Renata made a motion. "I'm not sure if I can distract but...but I can certainly try." The Doctor made a face at the prospect of that idea. "I can to you know," the blonde insisted now more than ever.

"Okay."

Renata bubbled with instant anger. "Listen to me you idiot," she began sharply, "I nearly fell off a window's cradle because of you!"

"Which I will make up for later, I promise!"

"That's not the point!" Renata's voice cracked and she took it a sign to calm down. With a sigh, she put a hand on her forehead and took a moment for herself. "Sorry," she said a minute later, truthfully.

"I get it, I do," the Doctor didn't stop his work but gave her an honest face. "You're making an effort and I do see it and appreciate it." Renata lowered her hand from her face and smiled.

Donna silently studied the two aliens in front of her, a bit curious of what they were and just who was Renata overall. Renata crossed gazes with her and realized she had yet to ask something important.

"How do you two know each other?" her finger pointed from Donna to the Doctor.

"I met him on my wedding day - the big starship in the sky at Christmas?" Donna waited for Renata to remember. "That was us."

Renata blinked as something donned. "It was you who drained the Thames!" she turned on the Doctor with an accusing finger. The Master had never clarified the happenings of that evening, but then again she wasn't exactly in the mood to be talking to the Master during that period.

"It was such a crazy day," Donna continued. "In the beginning, I thought he kidnapped me actually," Donna had a small laugh.

"You too!?" Renata incredulously asked of the Doctor. "What, did you throw her over your shoulders too?"

"No, I didn't!" the Doctor defensively said.

Renata huffed. "Well, that's unfair."

"What do you mean?" Donna fit in the pieces together quick. "Did he do that to you?" Renata nodded and gestured being thrown over a shoulder. "Doctor," a great smirk took over Donna's face as her eyes landed on the Doctor, "I didn't know you were that sort of man."

The Doctor looked mortified at her assumption. Renata face palmed. "I meant a thief!" she exclaimed.

"I was not a thief!" the Doctor stopped for a minute to argue. "You-" he pointed a finger at her, "-were being stubborn!"

Renata's eyes blinked rapidly and her mouth parted slightly. "M-me? You're saying it was my fault? What part of 'you threw me over your shoulder and brought me into the TARDIS' did you forget about?" The Doctor said no more but his scrunched face said the words alright.

Donna burst into laughter, making the argument stop. "I'm sorry, but...what?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing honestly. The Doctor had actually slung the poor woman over his shoulder and forced her into the TARDIS? No, hold on, the woman had to be forced in the first place? Who wouldn't want to travel the stars!?

Grumbling, the Doctor returned to work.

"It's really not that funny," Renata crossed her arms and muttered. "Least Martha didn't laugh."

"Martha?" Donna repeated. "Was that a friend at the time?"

"Yeah. My only human friend who I still keep in contact with," Renata thoughtfully said, since Joan was dead and she had left the family in 1959.

"Is she here? In the TARDIS?"

"No," the Doctor said then. "She was brilliant... but... I destroyed half her life."

Renata's annoyance was gone the moment she saw his guilt-ridden face. "You did not," she softly said then looked at the surprised Donna. "Martha decided it was time for her to go back home. But she's fine. She's good."

"Oh," Donna nodded then thought for another moment. "What about Rose?"

"Still lost," the Doctor mumbled, missing Renata purposely looking away. He had yet to tell her anything of Rose and he frankly didn't know when. He actually thought that perhaps Renata would be scandalized to know he had developed an attachment to a human. He was, for a lack of a better word, scared of her reaction.

Renata, on the other hand, thought his lack of explanation arose from the fact she wasn't trusted enough, and that perhaps he didn't see her as a friend at all. By this point, she knew who Rose was. The Master had taken joy rubbing it in her face that the Doctor had exchanged her for a human.

"I thought you were going to travel the world?" the Doctor suddenly remembered it was Donna's grand plan after her failed marriage.

The cheery face on Donna was quick to fade away. "Easier said then done. It's like I had that one day with you and I was gonna change. I was gonna do so much. Then I woke up next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there. And I tried. I did try, I went to Egypt. I was gonna go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I must have been mad turning down that offer."

"What offer?" the Doctor failed to recall.

"To come with you." But now Donna was a bit nervous that since Renata seemed to be on board maybe the Doctor was good on companions.

"You didn't want to go into the TARDIS at first?" Renata was a smidge more impressed with the woman. Usually, every human jumped at the chance to get into the TARDIS.

"I didn't understand," Donna tried to explain herself. "I was...I was all emotional...and-and...just…"

Renata swayed her head till she met the Doctor. "I mean...I wouldn't mind, honestly."

The Doctor was surprised to hear such easy acceptance from her. "Really?"

"Yeah, maybe we would bicker less," Renata recalled that was her excuse for when Astrid Peth had asked to come with them. It was true, as much as she loved the Doctor - and boy did she - there were moments where she just needed a break...or at least someone to stop her from strangling him. She was sure that the feeling was mutual.

"Oh yes!" Donna cheered.

'Inducer activated.'

Renata peered into the cupboard to see the green machinery. "What's it doing now?"

"She's started the program," the Doctor groaned.

'Inducer transmitting.'

"And...what does that mean?" Renata now stared wide-eyed at the machinery.

"Up to now the customers have only been losing weight but the Matron has gone up to emergency pathogenesis."

"Oh no." Renata glanced at the end of the corridor where they could see doors. She was sure that outside swarms of little Adipose were going to be gathering real soon pathogenesis.

"That's when they convert…" Donna, too, remembered.

"But that's skeletons, organs, everything!" Renata exclaimed. "A million people are gonna die!"

"Gotta cancel the signal!" the Doctor took out the golden capsule they'd gotten the previous day and pulled one of its end to reveal a chip inside. "This contains the primary signal. If I can switch it off the fat goes back to being just fat." He hooked up the capsule to the machine hoping to God he was right.

'Inducer increasing.'

The Doctor panicked. "No no no no no, she's doubled it, I need... Haven't got time! It's too far, I can't override it! They're all gonna die!"

"Can we do anything?" Renata asked, Donna nodding her head in agreement.

"Sorry, this is way beyond you - and I mean no disrespect but I have to double the base pulse, I can't…"

"Doctor, tell us what do you need," Donna sternly cut him off. Rambling was no good to anyone.

"I need a second capsule to boost the override, but I've only got the one. I can't save them!"

Donna blinked, remembering something very important. She reached inside her pocket to take out a second gold capsule. Renata laughed when the Doctor froze in shock.

"Here!" Donna waved it in front of his face till he snapped out of his stupor. He nabbed it and hooked it into the green machinery, making all its lights shut down.

A couple seconds, a loud horn filled the place.

"What the hell was that?" Donna frantically looked around.

"I suppose it would be...the nursery ship," Renata said.

"But when you say nursery you don't mean a creche in Notting Hill?"

"Nursery ship," Renata repeated.

'Incoming signal.' the machinery had come back to life for a minute and began with a voice that spoke a different language.

"Hadn't we better go and stop them?" Donna made a gesture for them to leave.

"Hang on, instructions from the Adiposian First Family," the Doctor put a finger on his lips to listen in. "She's wired up the tower block to convert it into a levitation post!"

"But now she's the one in trouble," Renata said soon after she heard.

The Doctor didn't waste a chance and hurried back for the roof. Renata and Donna ran after him. When they got up all they saw were blue beams levitating thousands of Adipose babies into the large nursery ship in the sky.

Most of them were smiling and waving at the trio.

"What you gonna do then? Blow them up?" Donna curiously asked the Doctor beside her.

"They're just children," the Doctor made a face for a brief moment. "They can't help where they come from." Besides, something told him that if anyone threatened those children they would come across a raging Time Lady. God help those fools.

"Doctor, there she is!" Renata called as soon as she spotted Foster coming up in one of the blue beams.

The Doctor ran up to the edge with Donna. "Matron Cofelia, listen to me!"

Foster stopped right at their lever. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it will be too soon."

"Oh, why does no one ever listen? I'm trying to help! Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?"

"What, so that you can arrest me?" Foster's eyes briefly flickered to Renata.

"No, you're going to want to listen," Renata promised. "Because the families you worked for know that it was a crime to breed on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice!"

"I'm far more than that. I'm nanny to all these children."

"Exactly!" the Doctor frantically waved a hand. "Mum and Dad have got the kids now, they don't need the nanny anymore!"

And just then, the blue beam sustaining Foster disappeared and she fell all the way down screaming. Donna hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder and Renata covered her mouth.

Sometime later, when the police arrived to the site, the Doctor and Renata, along with Donna, exited the building. The Doctor chucked the sonic pen into the nearest trash bin.

"Oi, you three!" the journalist the Doctor had thought followed his instructions to go home was coming up to them...tied to a chair again.

"Didn't you let her go?" Renata whispered to the Doctor, blinking rapidly.

"I did," the Doctor defensively replied.

"You're just mad. Do you hear me?" the journalist cried. "Mad! And I'm gonna report you... for madness!"

Donna silently watched the woman leave, barely able to hold her laugh back as she said, "You see, some people just can't take it."

"No," agreed the Doctor.

"But some people can. So, then - TARDIS!" she excitedly said and grabbed the two aliens by the arms, pulling them away.

They headed back to the alleyway where the TARDIS had been left...and apparently Donna's car as well.

"That's my car! That is like destiny!" Donna laughed. "And I've been ready for this." She rushed up to the car's trunk and opened it to reveal a series of suitcases. I packed ages ago, just in case. Cos I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…" she pulled out the top luggage and loaded them into the arms of the Doctor, who was too stunned to say a word at the moment. "...he goes anywhere, I've gotta be prepared." She then loaded more into Renata's arms.

"You've got a... a... hatbox?!" the Doctor found his words after Donna loaded him with one last box.

"Planet of the Hats, I'm ready!" Donna declared and shut the trunk of her car, excitedly heading for the TARDIS. "Do I need injections though, do I? Like when you go to Cambodia, is there any of that? Cos my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and-"

Renata suddenly began to laugh hard, making Donna stop just outside the TARDIS doors. Even the Doctor was oddly staring down at the Time Lady. Donna eyebrows furrowed together, thinking Renata was laughing at her.

"Oi! What's so funny!?"

"This!" Renata motioned with her arms to the luggage and then the situation in general. "You're so funny! I love you!"

The Doctor gaped. "Wow…" he had never seen such a reaction from Renata, so lively and happy…

Renata walked up to the TARDIS, sobering slowly from her laugh. "I like you, I do. Doctor, can we take her?"

"I'm not a dog," Donna made a face. But it did feel better to know Renata wouldn't mind if she came along with them.

"It's really fine with me," the Doctor admitted, staying right where he was. "It's just...it's a funny old life, in the TARDIS."

Donna knew that sort of tone well. It came when one was fired or the casualness from her mother. "You don't want me."

"I'm not saying that-"

"But you asked me," Donna frowned, glancing at Renata for some help.

"Doctor, it really is okay with me," Renata shrugged. "It's your TARDIS. You can bring whoever you want." She wished he would make up his mind faster because Donna's luggage was getting heavier by the second.

"I wouldn't mind either. In fact, I would love it," the Doctor clarified, letting the luggage in his arm drop to the floor. "It's just...the last time, with Martha, it... it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I would want nothing more than a mate-"

"You just want to mate?" Renata blinked, eyes impossibly wide. Beside her, Donna was losing it believing in what Renata heard.

"You're not mating with me, sunshine!" Donna shouted.

The Doctor had a hard time keeping up with both women who'd heard horribly wrong. "Renata! I didn't say that-"

But Renata was trying to control herself after her first outburst. "No, no, that's fine. What you want to do in your TARDIS is your business-"

"What - no!" the Doctor once more tried to cut in but then came Donna.

"He better find someone else cos I'm not into that sort of alien thing, no sir!"

"STOP!" the Doctor finally cut over both of them. "I said a mate! Nothing more!" he frantically waved his hands.

"...oh," Renata looked away, embarrassed yet relieved.

The same applied to Donna. "Well just as well, because I'm not having any of that nonsense. I mean you're just a long streak of... nothing," she motioned to the Doctor who took it with an unamused face. "You know, alien nothing." She then passed a casual glance at Renata and shrugged. "You could probably find yourself someone quick. Kind of curvy."

Renata laughed.

"There we are, then. OK," the Doctor was glad to have things clarified and corrected.

"I can come?" Donna anxiously asked.

"Yeah. Course you can, yeah."

"I'd love it!"

"Great," Renata pushed the TARDIS door open to begin bringing Donna's things.

"Car keys!" Donna suddenly remembered, gasping.

"What?"

"I've still got my mum's car keys! I won't be a minute!" she held a finger to them and ran away.

Renata started to laugh again as she returned. She stopped at the doorway and smiled. "I think I'm gonna like her. She's so...spunky."

"Yeah, she is," the Doctor agreed and left his part of luggage inside.

"And you know," Renata stopped him just outside after he came out, "It really is your TARDIS - even though you stole that too," she mumbled and the Doctor rolled his eyes, "So you can bring anyone in without having to consult me. And...do whatever you want inside."

"Yeah…" the Doctor sucked in a large breath, "...no thanks."

Renata couldn't help the stupid smile that quickly set on her face. She forced it away as best as possible. "I-I mean...it's it's your choice…"

"Renee," the Doctor tilted his head, close to laughing at the subject they were somehow talking about again.

"I'm only saying! I respect rules and...and in here-" Renata gestured to the inside of the TARDIS, "-they're whatever you want-"

"Renee! C'mon," the Doctor laughed. "None of that please. We should focus on the fact we're having a new guest in the TARDIS who I am sure is going to love your dinners."

Renata smiled. "You think so?"

"Oh yeah! Who wouldn't?" the Doctor reached for her hand and brought her inside the TARDIS.

A couple minutes later, Donna came rushing in, happy than ever. "Off we go, then!"

"Here it is, the TARDIS. It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside…"

"Oh, I know that bit," Donna interrupted the Doctor's favorite bit. "Although frankly, you could turn the heat up."

"So, whole wide universe, where do you want to go?"

"Oh, I know exactly the place," Donna smiled widely with just one spot in her mind. "Two and a half miles, that way!" she jerked a thumb to her left.

Although confused, the Doctor and Renata obeyed. It became clear where they were headed when they saw a street lined with similar houses. Donna hurried to the doors, to get them opened. It was almost an instant when she saw her grandfather looking up into the sky through his prized telescope. She waved ecstatically below. Renata and the Doctor waved from behind, although neither was sure if the grandfather would see them. Still, it didn't hurt to be nice.

Afterwards, when all was calm, Renata started for the corridors. "I'm just going to get dinner started. Donna, allergic to anything?"

"N-no…" replied the finger, fairly confused. "Though if it's alien meals then I wouldn't know would I…?"

Renata chuckled. "Fair enough." She disappeared soon after.

Curious, Donna looked to the Doctor who seemed quite at home. "Uh...since when do you do dinners? Last time I asked you disappeared into the night."

The Doctor smiled and looked up from the console after setting them in the time vortex for a peaceful night. "Oh that's just Renata. She does that every night. Sort of our tradition actually."

"Sorry, I never asked...are you and her…?" Donna gave a meaningful tilt of her head.

"No!" the Doctor quickly clarified before word made it to Renata. "No, we're not! Actually," he moved around the console, "Renata is one of my people. She's a Time Lady. Last one."

Donna didn't know what happened to the Doctor's home but she assumed it was not good. It was incredibly good to see that the Doctor was not alone anymore.

[survivor-kuwait]

Episode 5 - "I think I jumped the gun with this one, but I wanted to strike first." - Corey

Willow, I’m going to win this for you. Chloe is next. Anyone who voted you out is next. They’re all gone #LibraStrong Thanks for being a great friend

Cloe came back and thats fine with me. Since she is Ian’s sign partner amd I feel like I have a strong connection with him maybe she’ll work with me. I hate this bottom five goes to warzone thing. It really messes up social and strategic plans. I hope i can avoid tribal again. I dont want to go. I got a vote steal, I dont know of I sent in a confessional about it or not. Im glad I have it and now im looking for the idol.

- - -

Me: Gets of work at 2 Challenge: Due in 5 hrs Me: Go gets McDonalds

- - -

I did the challenge and I got 11. I hope that good enough to keep me away from the bottom 5. It sucks that we have 9 people on our tribe which means only 4 people will be safe this round from the warzone. I just want to stay away from it as long as possible. Dont like going there because it is so stressful.

The fact that I’m so close to an idol and now am basically on a deadline to get it in case things go south here is TERRIFYING! I’m separated from my allies except Corey who I like, and nervous on how to do this. Losing the tiebreaker and the fact that I had a 50/50 chance of doing it in 11 guesses is making this feel like a perfect storm that would absolutely lead to a really awful elimination for me. I just gotta work!

Someone got to MY advantage before me, the AUDACITY to take MY ADVANTAGE.  It's not that I want two advantages, it's that I don't want other people to have them.  Just who do you think you are?  That wasn't there for you to just pick up, I HAD DIBS.  Someone here does not respect the virtue of dibs and therefore they are not a Bro. If you are not a Bro then you aren't my bro.  If you aren't my bro then what are you? I'd say you're dead to me, but you're more like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense, you've been dead the whole time.   We after that ass Jimmy, we after that ass.  https://twitter.com/beforefamepics/status/1039687902643539968?lang=en

Warzone sucks amd I dont like being in it. I feel good hopefully but Im still wary. Warzone still makes me nervous. I have Renee in here so atleast there is someone I can bounce of strategy with out being paranoid. There are people who ive been in warzone with before and others I havent. Matt S. Seems like a great guy and Renee has talked to him on our tribe so hopefully we wants to work with us. Tbh I dont know who i want gone. Still open minded this round.

Maynor messages me 1 time after the split: MAYNOR IS MY #1 ALLY FOREVER!l?!! Idk if it’s true but I love him and gave him my idol clue , and I support him, also based off nothing besides the fact we have been throughout few warzones together I trust Jacob and Madison and trace so hopefully I don’t die this round either xoxo Gossip girl

So my first warzone is pretty much as terrifying as I thought. I don’t think my name is in the mix but I’ve never been fully confident in this game. I feel like I can trust Corey and he’s trying to enact this plan to vote Renee. People seem concerned about saving chloe but I don’t really have a preference either way. If it’s bwtwwen Renee and Chloe then I hope it’s renee but I won’t be sad if it’s chloe. I’m just trying to be under the radar and I hope that’s gonna work

I'm immune??!??! This challenge always goes poorly for me and here I am. My little gay ass in the Final 18? Like YAYAY? I survived 6 boots which is 1/4 of the game already and I'm living!!! I hope that it can speed up, cause I'm really bored and I really want to find something on this damn idol board and I thought i found sumnthin, but an UGLY already got their grubby hands on it. So I'm defeated on that aspect too. But you know what, I'm seeing another round! And that is great for now!!

So I’m back in the war zone again after actually trying for a challenge. My hangman method wasn’t the worst but not the most fantastic. Being in the war zone is not fun. But this time I have people discussing the vote with me so that’s less scary. Maybe I’m gettin somewhere

So far, its been quiet again. But so far Cloe’s name has been theown out because she has already been voted out. I’m good with voting out Cloe. I just hope no crazyness happens the last hrish. Im already being stressed about my project dont need the vote to be stressful.

This round is going to be somewhat hectic. For the first time I feel I am in real danger, let’s see if it works out.

It looks like everyone is down to vote for Cloe. I’m really hoping I can trust these heathens when they tell me its gunna be Cloe or if Im being duped really hard. Im so paranoid cuz I really want to do good in this game. Hopefully bonds help me out if somehow the worst happens and Renee goes. Injust dont want it to be me. 

No warzone woohoo, now I just need Corey or Devon to leave and I’ll be set.

Woot woot, safe again from tribal. I wanted to come into this game and be more social than I have ever been before. I can already see myself struggling with that and I need to work on it. It’s one thing to be aware of it but a whole other thing to actually make sure I get my shit together and do it. This time I’m actually going to make sure I do it.

I'm real happy I'm the last one to not go to the warzone bc I feel like people will kill me immediately if I give them the chance. I love Matt and Owen.

Going into tribal council tonight, I am nervous. I am not letting jacob or madison in on the plan which can only hurt my game in the longrun. I think I jumped the gun with this one but I wanted to strike first as I usually wait but always end up losing allies that way. Hopefully, with damage control, I can be okay. If somehow the vote ends up on me, rip! Can't say I didn't try - I just may have tried too hard too quick. I hope the bonds I have made until now are strong enough to get me to another day here. I am hoping to see Renee walk out - otherwise, Chloe. I just hope I didn't screw up too bad.

This round i am finally not going to tribal!! Two rounds was enough for me. Especially after the last one, that vote was A LOT. Double tribals ain't fun when its one round of voting and two people leave. A whole other strategy goes into that. So Chloe comes back and from retrograde and i was a little nervous because i was part of voting her out. But then I talked to her when she was back and she was really cool, she said she had stuff going on irl which is why she wasn't around which i totally understand because that's been the case for me recently so I am not holding it against her now (because originally that is why I wanted to vote for her when we did). Honestly the fact that she went THAT hard in retrograde to come back really just changed my opinion of her. It definitely showed that she wants to still be here (at least more than Willow did)  and i really respected that. Made me see her in a new light. When I first encountered Renee in this game I was excited to see her, she was excited to see me and we briefly chatted but I wasn't too sure how closely we would be working together. then for this Guess Who challenge Renee asks for my help because she got stuck and asked if i could look over her parameters to see if I saw anything because she was missing something. turns out she did have a miscommunication with the hosts and it got her a less than favorable score and she ended up going to tribal. I briefly talked to Owen about the challenge, just keeping those lines of communication open to suss out if him and i are working together or not. I am still not 100% if we are explicitly working together. I have been unsure about this tribe and safety. I cannot tell if it is normal that no one is talking because we are safe, or if people just are not talking to me. Could be a little bit of paranoia, but I could also just not be desirable for social interactions. Only time will tell, i guess.

[valeriemperez]

Hi Tati, hope you are well. I have question for you, as you always have the best insight and answers. After tonight's amazing episode and all the Westallen goodness. My mind is running with thoughts about the consequences that will follow Barry with pulling the energy ball thingy from the speed force. What do you think that means in regards to the speed force not having Barry DNA or sensing him anymore? Will it come for him yet again? I really hope not. 😢

I feel like they have to follow-up with the Speedforce losing its Barry DNA, or else they’re gonna look kind of silly. But I’m sure Cisco and Caitlin can just whip up another one of those balls, lol, so it could honestly get taken care of in one line.

Do you think we ever going to see Bart Allen? Now that Jefferson and Lynn knows about Anissa and vice versa, when do you think Jennifer will know about her superhero family?

We are 100% gonna see Bart Allen, it’s just a matter of when. I am kind of thinking he’ll pop up in the 100th episode, which would be a nice nod to the enduring legacy of The Flash and the West-Allen family.

And I really need Jennifer to learn soon. Lynn mentioned testing her this week, so they better do that and explain why to her. She’s in danger as it is, and everyone else knows. Plus I think it could be an interesting storyline for her, feeling left out because her dad and sister have powers and she doesn’t (yet). She can bond with her mom over having to worry on the sidelines.

I heard a rumor that Mick might get the fire totem because fire is his main source of attack. Do you think the rumor could be true?

Given that Sara is getting a totem in 3.15, I expected hers to be the fire one since it’s in their possession. But I really do feel like everyone who has a totem by the time of the Big Battle will either be a Legend or a Bad Guy, so it’s possible Mick gets fire and she gets a different one. There’s six total, and so far it’s Zari and Sara versus Kuasa and Nora (though Amaya could take it back). That leaves two more: one for Darhk and one for WallyMick?

Do you think the Arrow writers are planning to kill off Dinah so Black Siren could become the new Black Canary? What’s your thoughts on Ray/Nora?

I wasn’t thinking kill her off, but I did wonder if Black Siren would get “redeemed” while Black Canary would go bad. Now though, it seems like BS stays playing both sides, so I think Dinah will stay as she is a little longer.

Ray and Nora have excellent chemistry, and I loved him trying to help her and her finally being receptive. But I’m very iffy on it becoming romantic. I mean, he met her as a child, she’s possessed by a demon, and they just met so it’s too early to call.

Next week Tuesday is the beginning of March Madness. IW/WA fans should try to reach out to other Fandoms for viewership for the RUNIRISRUN Episode. We will definitely lose viewers because of basketball and that needs to be counteracted. Encourage people from non CW superhero shows to watch that episode.

We should! Ratings are down across the board, so we really want 4.16 to at least stay at a 0.7.

Why do you think Arrow make a big deal about fatherhood from Oliver, Cayden and Quentin‘s perspectives but ignore Diggle and Rene being fathers as well?

Honestly? I think they value white men’s stories about everyone else’s, and that’s the long and short of it. They couldn’t care less about how Diggle being a father affects him, which is why he took on the mantle of Green Arrow for the sake of William without thinking about his own son. And now they’re fine with Rene essentially abandoning the daughter he was fighting for because… reasons.

What’s your thoughts on the Krypton tv show? Are you going to review it when it premieres? Dd you think the Arrow writers will kill William off?

I don’t like Goyer’s work, so I wasn’t looking forward to Krypton at all. But a few early comments/reviews suggest it’s better than anticipated. 

I do not expect William to die, and if he does then the writers really hate Oliver. That kid’s his legacy right now.

On last week Ladies with Gumption you said you wanted Cheetah to be play by a WOC but I feel like it would be a bit unfortunate implications. Because Cheetah’s animalistic as fuck, savage and subhuman. A white director, with white writers and producers, making the first significant WoC character of the series into that kind of villain looks heinous. I don’t think they have enough self awareness to do that character justice if it was played by WOC. Thoughts?

@fallinginloveinaflash will be answering this question on the podcast this week, so look out for her answer! For now I will say you bring up some excellent points.

Do you think Oliver will actually go to prison or be revealed as Green Arrow publicity permanently? Do you think Rene will be killed off?

He def won’t go to prison permanently, but they might end the season with him being carted off only to immediately resolve it in the premiere lol. 

I do think Rene’s a goner one way or another. =/ Hopefully he takes Zoe and leaves on his own rather than dying.

What’s your thoughts on a Shazam movie? Do you think Warner Brothers will go through with it or will it be in development hell? What’s your thoughts on a Lobo movie with Michael Bay directing? Do you actually think Warner Brothers will make a movie with that character considering the political climate?

I think Shazam has the potential to be a really fun movie on its own, and I hope the DCEU has learned its lesson. They should be hands off for once and see what it gets them. I’m not a fan of Michael Bay, so him directing Lobo sounds like a miss for me. With the right kind of person behind the project, they could actually make it a brilliant political commentary… But they won’t.

[katexthexbatwomanxkane]

A Shocking Truth// Self-para

(( @centralcitysfinest-rp thanks Kelly and Angee for both helping me sort this one out. I feel like this one will be a pretty interesting self-para. Also I really hope I got this right. If anything needs to be changed please let me know!))

Kate had snuck aboard the Waverider. It was easier than she expected. Though she wasn’t going to let her guard down, not when she knew the A.I. on board was trying to kill someone she cared about.

She had wished that Barbara would of given her a layout to the ship. Something that would make it easier to navigate, and with her not running her usual com advice, Kate was on her own.

The only thing that made it easier for her to slip on board without being noticed were Spoiler, Red Hood and Harley playing major distraction outside. Not that any of them asked for her help. Though she understood that maybe they wanted to keep her away from all this.

Making her way through the ship she could hear Barbara’s voice, as well as the evil A.I. Taking another step a large door slammed shut in front of her. Kate tried to go back the way she came, but it was sealed off as well. She could still hear Barbara’s voice, if not a little muffled.

“You thought I hadn’t noticed you Kate?” The cold emotionless voice said. “I will give you credit for slipping in, but you will remain here.” It said.

“Please you honestly think I can’t make my way through that?” Kate asked slipping a small hand torch out of her belt. The flame sparked against the door as she drew it close.

“I have no doubt that you will break through that. However I wish to speak to you. I was having trouble reaching you, but you have done the hard part for me.” Oracle said.

Kate tried to ignore the A.I. while she welded her way through the door. It was a slow process, but it was at least working. “Kate you must know the dangers of Batman Incorporated.” Oracle said. She scoffed at the A.I.’s words. There was that name again, one Lena had said existed on her Earth.

“Think of Reene.” The A.I. said. Kate stopped her torch and looked over. “Are you threatening Renee?” She asked with a scowl.

“I do not threaten, I inform.” Oracle said. Kate shook her head. “Yeah right. You are just trying to delay me from getting to Barbara.” She said turning back to the door.

“I have done my research, I know she is alive.” Oracle said. “You do not yet know the dangers that you put her in so allow me to explain about the timeline, the one before Barry Allen, The Flash, changed it.” Oracle continued.

Kate continued working without saying anything. She didn’t need to know about who The Flash was or what he had done. It was problematic enough knowing the Bat-family’s secret identities. “You see Kate, before he made Flashpoint, you had caused Renee’s death.” The A.I. said flatly.

“Don’t you dare!” Kate said standing up looking at where the voice had been coming from. A panel on the wall showed the A.I.’s chosen face, similar to that of Barbara. “I would never ever endanger her life.” Kate said through gritted teeth.

“You are correct. You would not hurt her on purpose, however a choice you made cost your fiancé her life.” Oracle said. Kate took a step back, she couldn’t believe what she had heard. Fiancé? Renee? “You may not believe me, however I have evidence to prove this.” The A.I. said.

“You’re lying, you have to be.” She said. A hologram projected itself in front of Kate. It was a copy of the Gotham Gazette, a chilling photo of Batwoman holding a female officer’s body in her arms. Kate felt a wave of nausea rush through her as she recognized the officer.

Her hand jumped to her mouth to stop herself from puking. The headline read, “Batwoman Responsible for death of an officer.” The by line said it was written by Vicky Vale. “You may still doubt me, but it is all true, every word in this print is true.” Oracle said.

Kate stumbled back til she pressed up against the wall. “Renee…” She said softly. The doors that held her in the hall lifted. Oracle no longer thought she was a threat. “If Batman Incorporated goes through, then you would loose Reene. I am trying to save you from that heartache Kate. With Barbara’s death, I can save those you love.” The A.I. said.

Looking over at the panel, Kate slid down the wall til she was sitting. She was about to say something until she heard Barbara’s voice from down the hall. A deal she was about to make with the A.I. had snapped Kate back into reality, back from the edge of breaking down.

Standing up she went to take a step towards Barbara’s voice. Only she didn’t make it to far, Oracle had lowered a mechanical arm down from the ceiling. It jammed into Kate and delivered an electric shock to Batwoman.

Kate felt the world fading, the A.I. saying that it had to save lives, by taking Barbara’s, and that Kate couldn’t interfere.

As Kate opened her eyes, she was no longer on the Waverider. No longer was she in her Batwoman suit. Her head was pounding as she slowly sat up from her bed. “Ugh…” She said. A note sat on her bedside table.

Grabbing it she couldn’t focus on the words. As her eyes adjusted she could make out the note. “I could not let you interfer. Barbara made her choice. She sacrificed herself to save everyone. I returned you home as a courtesy. ~Oracle” it read.

Kate reached for her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Barbara’s number was gone. She typed it in from memory and pressed call, only she got a disconnected message. Letting out a sigh she rubbed her head.

Flipping though her contacts she saw Renee’s number. Pressing call she held the phone to her ear. Kate had expected it to go to voice mail, but she was shocked as she heard a groggy voice answer. “Hey Renee…” Kate said with a horse voice.

“Sorry to of called you so late.” She apologized. “No everything is fine.” She said trying to cover. Kate closed her eyes as she held the phone to her ear. “Actually…” She said trailing off. “It can wait Renee, you have work in the morning, but would it be okay if I came by to see you say this weekend?” Kate asked.

“No I know we agreed on giving each other space, but…” She trailed off again. “A recent case hit me hard and I need to see you in person.” She admitted as her voice faulted.

Kate felt a few tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry I really didn’t mean to wake you up, I’ll call you tomorrow.” She said trying to hang up. Letting out a sigh a small smile crossed her face. “This is going to sound stupid, but I love you Renee.” Kate said.

“No I’m not drunk.” She said with a soft chuckle. “Look I will try and explain in person when I come and visit, but just know that even if we never get back together, if this really is the end of our relationship I love you. I always will even if you move on, because you are so important to me Renee.” Kate said.

[hannahsmusings]

Renee

*I look up at him as I suddenly feel wrapped in warmth, being slightly zoned out as I thought about the question I had just asked that I didn’t notice him shrug the jacket off* Thanks. If you get cold, please don’t hesitate to take it back. *I snuggle into the jacket, not realizing just how chilly I actually was until now, my stomach doing somersaults when I was instantly surrounded by the scent of his cologne, the smell being so familiar to me now due to all the time we’ve spent together over the past two days, my heart feeling like it was going to leap out of my chest* *I gaze at him as he answers, my eyes widening as he says Scotland, staring at him in disbelief* That’s exactly what I was going to say. I’ve been obsessed with Scotland forever. I did a school project on Scotland, specifically the highlands, and I’ve dreamed about going ever since… *I was raised on Disney movies, believing one day my prince would come and that soulmates existed but Jake told me it was all bullshit, love wasn’t easy like that and I needed to let go of those false hopes but being with Tom and realizing how in-sync and alike we were without even trying, it just being so natural and easy, started making me think otherwise again* 

____________________________________

*grins and shakes my head at how cute you were, having noticed you always seemed surprised when I did gentlemanly things for you, wondering why that was as I couldn’t understand why someone as beautiful and smart as you wasn’t treated like a queen by all the guys that probably held affection for you, feeling lucky just to be by your side right now* No it’s okay, I’m fine. *smiles softly at you before my brows lift in surprise as you say Scotland too, breaking out into a bright smile and eyes lighting up that we seemed to be so similar* You’re kidding. *grins, the more time we spent together convincing me that something about us just clicked, we worked and honestly I’d never felt such a pull towards anyone before* Can you imagine it? In the snow, a little cottage with a fire surrounded by hills and trees...*clearly imagining it with a soft smile* We could go to listen to the bagpipes at the castle..*smiles before my eyes widen a little at my words, realising I was imagining you there with me and knowing that I wanted that, I wanted to experience travelling with you and sharing memories and experiences, already knowing in my heart that you’d be an important person in my future* *blushes as I realise how forward my words were, smiling shyly as I look down at our laced hands* I mean, you know..*fumbles a little with a shrug* If you wanna join me in my daydreaming..*laughs a little but already seeing that Scotland would be important to us, if there ever was an us like I hoped*

[thenerddess]

Maggie Says Stuff: Arrow 6x04

This is one of the best episodes of Arrow we’ve been given. Season six as a whole is killing it and this episode is a perfect example that when Arrow gets it right, this show is incredible on every level. Here are my highlights and a few predictions as always at the end:

➴ Date, Dessert and Role Reversals (Oh my!)

Let’s be real, the majority of this is going to be me gushing over Oliver and Felicity. And there is so much to gush over and unpack. Let’s do it!

Sitting through three seasons of of angst, hurt and lies, it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it came to Olicity. But I am so happy I hung in there because we have come full circle and it is a masterpiece to watch it unfold like this. This feels earned and it’s given a depth to their relationship that wouldn’t have been there had they not been through all they have endured. Oliver and Felicity have both grown so much and this episode encompassed all of that growth and character development beautifully.

We open the episode with Oliver and Felicity on a date and get an open honest discussion about their past (including the infamous first date) and the acknowledgement from Oliver that he wasn’t ready three years ago, not like he is now. Felicity still wants to take it slowly and do it right and Oliver is all for it. Their date is cut short when Felicity is called away by Team Arrow which Oliver humorously acknowledges what it must be like to be Felicity all those years when Oliver was called away on GA business. 

After Team Arrow business is handled, Felicity heads back to her apartment, calling Oliver to come over for “dessert”. Uh-la-la! But an intruder interrupts Felicity night in the form of Alena, Felicity hacktivist ex-friend from Helix, who needs Felicity’s help to stop Cayden James from destroying the internet. I think. Felicity is reluctant to trust her but feels obligated to stop Cayden James since she helped free him. They come up with a plan but are held up by a dessert seeking Oliver who immediately wants to help Felicity. But Felicity has got this and tells Oliver as much. 

Of course old habits die hard and Oliver follows Felicity and Alena to an underground club where they are trying to acquire a piece of tech that can help them stop Cayden. Oliver busts in taking out a room full of muscle and almost jeopardising Felicity’s mini mission. Here we get a heated discussion between Oliver and Felicity. Both trying to protect the other. Oliver is throwing his body on the line to protect Felicity, as always there is no choice to make. And Felicity is trying to protect Oliver from himself and the FBI who have Oliver on 24/7 surveillance. 

After Felicity and Alena’s plan is thwarted by Cayden James himself (hello Michael Emerson), Team Arrow comes to the rescue and saves the day. But Alena is shot in the scuffle and Felicity is left feeling hopeless and guilty. Oliver shows up and gives her an incredible Felicity Smoak-esk pep talk. Felicity questions how Oliver managed being the Green Arrow, Mayor, boyfriend and brother for all those years. Oliver sweetly tells her that it was because she was always in his ear, figuratively and literally, telling him never to give up. Oliver just wants to do the same for Felicity and he does an incredible job. Even when Felicity is called away again on TA business, Oliver tells Felicity how proud he is of her. You can see it means the world to Felicity to hear that from Oliver, especially when in the past Felicity felt like Oliver didn’t trust her and wasn’t there to back her plays. It’s such a sweet yet incredibly important moment for these two.

Felicity and the team head out into the field to stop Cayden James from unfolding his evil plan. As Team Arrow holds off Cayden James’ minions, it is left to Felicity to save the internet. At least, I think that’s what was happening *shrugs* Felicity has to make her way solo through a building of baddies but never fear because Abs Watch is here! In the most perfect and amusing role reversal to date, Oliver takes over comms and guides Felicity to the server room. There are a few bumps along the way but Oliver does a pretty good job and Felicity is able to make it to the room and stop Cayden’s programme from attacking. We even get an iconic Olicity callback when Oliver tells Felicity that she can stop James and that he believes in her. At which point I was on the floor. It’s everything that is right and that works when it comes to Olicity and I was thoroughly delighted.

There were a few Olicity kisses this episode. We got the adorable apologetic goodbye/apology kiss when Felicity has to leave their date early, kissing Oliver all over the face. Awwwww! We got a sweet, heartfelt kiss after Oliver’s pep talk. And then we got dessert. Kind of. Oliver finally makes to to Felicity’s for “dessert” where we have Oliver pushing Felicity up against the loft wall and Felicity trying to climb Oliver like a tree using his tie as leverage. It’s incredibly hot and intense and we were all living our best Olicity lives in that moment. They make it as far as the couch when Oliver phone interrupts them. It’s Slade who needs Oliver help. Of course he does! 

➴ Stray Arrows

- Michael Emerson is so good as Cayden James. There is this quiet menacing creepy vibe about him. He seems in control but also at any point he could snap. I love it! 

- I was weary of Alena at first but it seems like she’s okay. I was happy that she pointed out to Felicity that mass producing the chip in her spin should be the first project for her and Curtis tech start up. Thank you! Helix Dynamics is no Smoak Tech but it will do. For now. Queen Inc here we come :)

- Rene continues to bring the humor and delight me. I seriously love his character this season. As I’ve said before, I really like the way they are using the newbies this season. They are back up and there to serve Oliver, Felicity and Diggle’s story. I’m sure we’ll probably get an episode or two centred on one or more of them at some point but I really don’t mind if we do. 

- MVP holy trinity = 1. The woman at the restaurant who was excited about Oliver and Felicity being back together and is voting against the anti-vigilante bill. Me af! 2. Curtis the self proclaimed biggest Olicity shipper. Oliver and Diggle will fight you, Curtis. :) 3. Alena who is happy they are back together. She’s a fan!

- Dear Oliver and Felicity, When you are travelling to the Island of Multiple Orgasms, for the love of google, put your phone on airplane mode or turn it off completely. Love, The entire Olicity fandom.

- Black Mold is epically underwhelming. I know her fans are here for a redemption arc but I think it’s too far gone. She snapped the neck of a dude begging for his life on behalf of his kids. I know Slade killed Moira but at least he had the mirakuru as an excuse for his murderous crazy pants. I think the most her fans can hope for is a frenemy relationship much like Malcolm had with Team Arrow. 

➴ Predictions

- Cayden James tricked Felicity into leaving her signature on the hack he forced her to stop. Agent Watson is going to be all over this and I’m pretty sure Felicity is going to be in big trouble at some point. Probably around the mid season finale.

- We know Cayden James and Black Mold are working together. I think Richard Dragon is also working with them but we’ll won’t find that out for a few more episodes.

➴ Final Thoughts

This was honestly my favorite episode in a long time. It’s top five material. Oliver and Felicity were perfect. This is what we’ve always wanted for them and we are finally here. I am excited about Slade coming back next episode and Felicity is going to be on the Flash next week. Yay! I’m so happy to be super excited about Arrow again. What a delight! 

[potter-imagines]

Being Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Daughter...

Lin would cry the day you were born but he would also brag a lot.

He’d shower you with gifts but he was also careful not to overdo it

Chances are, (depending on your age and whatever year you’d picture this for) you’d be friends with a lot of the Hamilton cast/ and or their kids

There’s no doubt about it you’d be a freestyling genius much like him and musically talented.

And Lin would be so proud of this

Lin’s heart would melt every time you called him ‘dad’

He is probably one of the most caring, sweetest, and involved father out there.

And if your mother wasn’t in the picture, Lin would be sure to work to fill in her shoes.

He would attend all your school events and extra curriculars too.

On mother’s day he would plan a brunch inviting his sister and mother over making sure you knew you weren’t alone when it came to the amount of females in your life.

Whenever he goes to Richard Rodgers Theatre or goes to work for whatever project he’s working on he is constantly pulling his phone out to show his fellow coworkers pictures of you

He can’t help it

But one thing is for sure, Lin would make sure you knew how strong of a woman you were. Being a strong activist for equal rights Lin knew how easy it was for girls in today’s society to feel weak and defeated by the powerful and he never wanted you to experience that. So he would make post-it notes and stick them in your lunchbox, on your mirror, and anywhere he could find with sayings such as…

“I am woman hear me roar!” “Though she be but little, she is fierce!” “A strong woman looks fear in the eye and gives it but a wink.” “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”

And because your father is one of the most encouraging and inspiring figures in the world, not only in tweets but reality as well, he excels at giving the best, most needed pep talks when you’re down in the dumps.

Lin had you speaking Spanish as soon as you said your first word

Lin would practically document your entire life. He liked taping you and taking pictures while you were doing casual activities such as coloring, singing, dancing, playing with your dolls, running around the house, etc.

Tobillo basically being your best friend

That dog follows you wherever you go

Lin has thousands of videos from when you were learning to walk, practically waddling around and Tobillo was right on your heel the entire time following you.

The whole Hamilton cast would be obsessed with you

Especially Phillipa

That girl loved you as if you were her own

And if you were old enough, you would join the Schuyler Sisters in their inbetween shows closet talk.

Sleep overs at Jasmine and Anthony’s while your dad is out of town

And they would absolutely LOVE having you over

You made them want to have kids that much more and Anthony loved taking you to the movies and Jasmine loved taking you out shopping

Speaking of shopping, Renee, Jasmine, and Phillipa are always spoiling you with the newest trends and what nots.

The Hamilton cast would be like another family to you

Always running around backstage with Groffsauce, who usually was assign babysitting duty.

The Schuyler sisters- as well as Leslie teaching you how to harmonize

Daveed loved helping you with your freestyling

You and him always got in heated battles- in good spirits of course

Playing childish games during intermission and between shows with Oak, Daveed, and Anthony.

Trying to braid your dad’s hair during his Hamilton days

Let’s be real, Lin would dedicate Dear Theodosia to you

And during Stay Alive (reprise) and It’s Quiet Uptown he had genuine tears pinching at his eyes as he fathomed the thought of losing you

But Lin would always run to you and spin you around every night after shows

The two of you would walk hand and hand together home and Lin would sing you to sleep every night

He’d love making you breakfast and basking in that domestic life

I could see him making some of the best pancakes in the world

And one morning when you were little, you convinced him to let you have a sip of his coffee

“Daddy, what’s that black stuff in there.” “It’s called coffee, bebé.” “Can I try some?” “Uh, I don’t think so, Y/n. You wouldn’t like it.” “Please, papi.” “Oh alright.”

Like he predicted, you hated it. The liquid burned your throat and young little you cried at the bitterness for at least a minute which broke Lin’s heart.

Lin would be the type of parent that would love to show you off to family and friends but when it came to posting pictures of you on social media, he usually made sure your face was covered, just to keep an element of privacy in his life.

But he does love tweeting stories about you or cute things that you do

Your childhood years would be a little hectic. Lin probably wouldn’t be around as much as he wants with filming, acting, composing and all but he would make an effort of a lifetime to be as involved as possible.

By your late teens you had already seen much of the world but that didn’t mean you were bored by any mean. Adventure was in your soul.

Lin would spend a lot of time with you during his time working with the film Moana. He liked to come to you to find inspiration.

Family trips to Disney World and Land

Lin is constantly trying to help you with his homework

“You know I was a teacher.”

Coming to him when you start learning about the American Revolution

“Well I mean you came to right person. I did write an entire musical about this stuff. Just use the album for a reference, it’s mostly accurate.”

Walking into your house one day after school infuriated as you set your pop quiz on the Schuyler Sisters in front of him, a large 9/10 circled with red pen.

“And I quote, I’m the oldest and the wittiest… My father has no sons… dad you cost me a perfect score! Why did you lie in the lyrics, I thought you said I could trust them!” “I’m sorry I forgot they had other siblings!”

Similar to your father, you swore like a sailor

Which also meant you were constantly getting scolded and death glares from your father who claims “He didn’t raise you to speak like that.” Even though you both know he did.

But honestly I could see Lin being into girl drama. Like when he picks you up from school and sees an annoyed look on your face he’d just shake his head and say,

“Spill the tea, honey. I’m ready!”

And on your bad days after dropping you off at home after school, Lin would drive to the nearest DQ and Chick-Fil-A and movie store returning home with gifts in toll.

He was one of the only people in the world you trusted enough to tell everything too

Dad jokes, so many dad jokes.

“Dad I’m thirsty. Do we have any-“ “Hi thirsty nice to meet you I’m Lin-Manuel.”

Being very close with your grandparents

Your grandpa teaching you how to cook

Your grandma would spoil you tbh

Girl talk with your Aunt Luz

Your dad would be really big on making sure you knew and understood the importance of equality and treating others with respect. 

Weekly meals at their place where your grandpa is also telling tales

“You know pequeño, when your father was your age I couldn’t get him to shut up!” “Papi-“ “He was always doing his rapping, talking fast and never making sense but he had passion just like yourself so don’t you ever give up on yourself carino. If your father did he would not be where he is today- and neither would you.” “Thank you abuelo.”

And when you finally do make it, doing whatever or being wherever that may be, you’ll have Lin’s as well as the rest of your families support because Lin knows exactly what it feels like to have millions of people doubt you and laugh at you for doing the unexpected so his support will never run out.

When Lin finds out you have a passion for writing and composing, he immediately takes you with him for a daddy daughter date to the studio.

He pretends to be out of ideas for a song and you play along knowing it would be a lot less painful to take the easy path.

“Well there are a few different projects I’ve been working on lately. They aren’t too good… pretty shitty-“ “Y/n.” “Sorry… but uh, you can have a look I suppose.”

Becoming a co writer beside your dad on his next project

Going on walks and hikes together with Tobillo

But for real though Lin would be insanely protective over you

Like when it comes to you Lin always needs to know where you are and constantly has eyes on you

When you got your first boyfriend/girlfriend Lin would FLIP

You’d suddenly become a player in the game ’21 questions’ or more like 101 questions when it came to your dad

He demanded meeting your significant other and no matter the gender, he held his strong demeanor and hardly cracked a smile- well until he saw how happy you looked in their presence.

But eventually he’d come to term with it. Although he would always see you as his little girl, he knew you had to spread your wings and he was not about to hold you back from doing so.

And when you finally land a lead role on an upcoming Broadway show, Lin is ecstatic.

Every day he calls you to ask how rehearsals are going partly because he’s interested and excited for you but also because he remembers his restless days and nights where he’d come home so stressed he’d forget to eat for days. He didn’t want to see you go through the hardships he did.

Ironically enough the new production is held, opening night, in the same old theater you grew up in, Richard Rodgers. Home sweet home. 

And on opening night you can guarantee your father is sitting front row with four bouquets of various flowers surrounded by all your family and friends as well as a handful of the original and new Hamilton cast.

And he would cry. A lot.

But he would also be that dad that right before the show starts, as the lights are dimming, he stands up and shouts,

“Go Y/n!”

His proud dad tweets would be never ending that night

After the production he was sure to be the first backstage and the first to hug you.

“You did it, you did it! I’m so proud of you, mi ángel. Congratulations!”

You’d be lying to yourself if you said your dad didn’t have a surprise party planned for after the play because he did.

Not to be a downer but there would be days where Lin would cry himself to sleep thinking he hasn’t done enough, or given you the life you deserve. He worked himself far too hard to make sure you had everything you could ever need and knew you were loved, but sometimes he couldn’t help but fear the worst.

Although at times he can be overbearing, you wouldn’t want it anyway else.

This was so fun to write oh my lord, hope you enjoyed!

-Daizy xx

[thelastyearinmyforties]

Day 92: The things I read...

I am a reader. I love to read. LOVE. I’ve read two books in the last two weeks and am a third of the way through another, which I started at lunch today. I read fast, and when I get engaged in a story - which is sometimes from page one but many times after a chapter or two - I can hardly stand to put a book down. I stayed up too late the other night finishing one of those books and could easily stay up all night to finish the one I’m reading now. But part of me wants to wait a bit so I can hang out with these characters a bit more. I just love to read! I love to escape into the land the characters inhabit whether that’s the north side of Chicago (in my current book), a dystopian future on an unknown planet, Victorian Europe or the streets of New York City. It’s probably the most relaxing thing I do other than actually going to the spa. 

When I was a kid I was all about Nancy Drew. I read all of them and over the years have been picking up old copies from used bookstores to rebuild my collection. But it wasn’t just about Nancy…I read everything I could get my hands on and for several years read above my grade level. In high school I read fiction, primarily that which was written by Stephen King. I mean he did write a book about me after all. Fine, it wasn’t really about me but at least he spelled my name right. After high school I lost interest in reading, likely because college requires a different kind of reading and I felt like I couldn’t read anything else. When you’re required to read something the joy of it is completely lost. 

Somewhere toward the end of college I picked up a little non-required reading when Field of Dreams came out. After seeing the movie I decided I wanted to read the book, Shoeless Joe, by WP Kinsella. And then I wanted to read other books about baseball, and for a year or so that’s all I read. Then came grad school and well, it was back to a different kind of reading. 

At some point my mind shifted and I only had a desire to read non-fiction, so I read more books about baseball, biographies and autobiographies and that sort of thing. I read semi-regularly but I wouldn’t have called myself a reader, which seems insane now, but you know, life changes and many things change along with it.

After grad school and my year-long internship I started reading a lot of Christian books, many by Chuck Swindoll, designed to inspire and motivate, and I loved them. I know now I was really trying to figure out who I was and where I belonged. I knew I was a Christian but I never felt like I totally fit in. I read books about being single and how that was okay and how I should wait for Mr. Right (still waiting by the way, but that’s a separate blog). I read very little else during this time of my life and while I read a lot I don’t think I would have called myself a reader. I’m a tiny bit embarrassed to tell you that I read the entire Left Behind series. Yes. Every. Single. Book. And I think I even knew they weren’t great as I was reading them but for some reason I didn’t feel like I would be a good Christian if I didn’t read them. Trust me, I know better now. But beyond those books, I was still reading primarily non-fiction, and I might have said I liked to read but I wouldn’t have said I was a reader.

But then came a little series of books about a young wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. I heard about the books but didn’t actually care until then I started seeing the preview for the first movie, and I knew I needed to read the book before it came out. So I bought the paperback and read it on a plane ride to visit my mom. I finished it that night. To be fair, the first book is pretty short. While on vacation I bought books two and three, also in paperback, and I read one while I was there and the other on my way home, finishing it shortly after I got back. And then I had to WAIT. Book four wasn’t out yet and I was dying. I needed it. But here’s the other thing you need to know…I decided that since I started buying the series in paperback that I couldn’t buy the hardcover version. This is still a thing for me with all the books I buy. So I waited for the paperback to come out. I know! It seems insane now. Like I couldn’t check it out from the library or just download a digital version? Maybe digital versions weren’t a thing then. Anyway, the point is, Harry Potter made me a reader again, and I will forever be grateful to JK Rowling for that. I now own all the books in paperback and actually own a hardcover set of the UK versions, which is actually pretty cool.

And then came chick lit and authors like Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner who made me realize that it was okay to be smart and single and that if I was myself the right guy would come along (still waiting!). I found other authors through them, and then…well, then my closest friend on the planet wrote and published her first novel and my world of reading changed dramatically.

First and foremost, reading Tasha’s books (Tasha Alexander…look her up and buy all of her books!) made me realize that I actually like historical fiction and mystery. To be fair, there’s a little romance in them, too, and that certainly doesn’t hurt. I have learned so much about writing and reading and the world of publishing from Tasha, and it’s all made me love reading even more. It’s certainly made me a better writer, and I get giddy every time she sends me an early draft to read. 

Through Tasha I found other genres and other authors - several of whom I now consider good friends. I jump from the cozy mysteries of Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey) to the thrillers of Andrew Grant (Tasha’s husband) to the delightful novels of Renee Rosen and Allie Larkin and Christine Son (now Fickel) and the genius that is Bill Cameron. While Bill’s thriller series was a little extreme for me, his new young adult series is one of my favorites - I need more Joey in my life, sir! And there are more. So many more. And of course I continue to find other authors as I explore bookstores, where I usually get myself in far too much trouble but I don’t even care. They’re books!! I do have an eReader but if given the choice, I will always, always, always choose the physical book. There’s just nothing like the feel of the paper, the way the spine cracks, and the way the cover invites me in.

In the past few years I’ve also Kickstarted a couple of books by new authors and without the magic of the internet I never would have known about them. Had I seen the books in the store I’m not sure I would have read them but after supporting them through the process of making the books, I count them among my favorites: Nick Miller’s Isn’t It Pretty to Think So? and Jack Cheng’s These Days: A Novel. I discovered Nick Miller on tumblr and his book was the first project I ever backed. I love that. 

So yeah…now I read all the time. And it’s primarily fiction but I jump around from genre to genre as I mentioned above. The last two books I read were young adult novels - Paper Boats by Dee Lestari and Flower by Elizabeth Craft. I found both of these randomly while searching for other things. That is quite often how I find some of my favorite reads. The book I’m currently reading, Windfall, is the latest novel from one of my favorite YA authors, Jennifer E Smith. Honestly, since I decided I didn’t actually have to be a young adult to read YA books, it’s become my favorite genre. I still love good chick lit, which most seem to call women’s fiction now - Sarah Pekkanen, Allison Winn Scotch, Alyssa Goodnight, and of course, the wonderful Jane Green, who I will never get enough of. I love cozy mysteries and historical fiction and while I’ve tried to love thrillers the truth is, I really just love Andrew and his are the only ones I read. 

I can’t fully explain why I love YA so much. Maybe it’s the joy of living a youth I didn’t experience. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m almost 50 and I want to relive some of those younger days. Mostly I think it’s just the fact that I love good stories and YA authors write some of the best ones around. Don’t even bother trying to argue that point with me. You will lose. The fact is, I’m young at heart. I tell people all the time that I’m actually 12 so it makes sense that this is my favorite genre. 

This has been a very long post but clearly I’m passionate about this topic. I came by it very naturally. Both of my parents are avid readers - mostly non-fiction for them, and my step parents are readers, too. Between the five of us we probably own 3 million books. That might be a slight exaggeration. Or it might not be.

If you stuck it out this long, thanks! If you just skimmed and got to this part more quickly than others, that’s okay. Now you’ve got more time to read a book. See what I did there? 

So tell me…what do you love to read?

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

A Story about a Balaur and a Dakotaraptor

Oh Geez what have I done 

Just, picture a universe like Zootopia, but the animals are all Reptiles (including birds) from 70-66 Mya (The Maastrichtian age). Also, they aren’t physically anthropomorphized. 

Trigger Warning for emotional abuse, weed and alcohol, I guess? Anyways this is the story of the Adorable Sapphics: 

By Tas on http://tasmagorical.id.au. Thanks to @ryuukiba for giving me important Spanish Insults. It’s long, but feel free to reblog. 

I first saw her in my Intro to Philosophy class.

I was only in the class because my girlfriend of the time – Jinny, an Anzu from my hometown who came with me to this strange, giant university – wanted to major in Philosophy, and well, I need to fill some electives, I guess.

The teacher was rambling about something that I didn’t give a flying pterosaur crap about – I think it was ethics, which is embarrassing in retrospect – and I was just staring around the room. It was an “international” school, meaning that people from around the world came just to attend the world-famous classes. A giant Deinocheirus, one of the weirdest people I had ever seen, ever, was sitting in back, chewing on a piece of… water plant? A Simosuchus was in the front, and couldn’t really take notes – being quadrupedal and all – so he was using his tail, and it was an amusing sight. An Alamosaurus – who was much too big for the classroom – had a hole cut out of the wall of the room for him – and he was falling asleep in class.

And there she was.

Sitting a few rows from the front, on her own, using one of her feet to take notes. This was amusing in and of itself – did she not use her fingers buried in her wings to grab things, like I did? Jinny didn’t, but Jinny didn’t look much like me, either, and she just looked like a mini version of me.

I looked closer at her foot, and saw she had two Big Claws.

Two!

I watched her in surprise, now completely disconnected from Philosophy. Who cared, anyway?

She had two pens in her claws – using one to manipulate an actual pen, for notes, and the other a highlighter – to highlight back over her notes.

Wow, I thought to myself, maybe she could give me some tips on being a better student. Or at least, she could for this class. I was pretty good at calculus, didn’t need help with that.

“Setha!”

I looked over at Jinny, brought back rather rapidly to reality.

“Have you been paying attention at all?” Jinny laughed, the sound coming out like a loud, abrasive caw.

“Not really,” I shook my head, “I told you, Jin, I’m just not that interested in all this.”

“Then why did you take the class with me?” Jinny demanded angrily as the professor wrapped up and we all shuffled to leave the lecture hall; a Quetzalcoatlus had to fly up and peck at the Alamosaurus’ face to get him to wake up.

“I dunno, cause you wanted to take it together?” I snapped back.

“So stupid,” Jinny muttered as we left the room. I could feel my head feathers puff up in annoyance, but I tried to keep it to myself.

I looked around wildly for the two-clawed girl. I had seen so many others, closely related to me, who had big claws as well – there were the small cousins of mine from home, the Acheroraptor – but there was also Adasaurus, from the same place as Deinocheirus; and Atrociraptor, from a few miles North of where I lived. There was even Austroraptor, who was as big as I was, but from South America!

I had never seen anyone like her.

I finally locked eyes on her. She looked so small – but I knew plenty of distant relatives of mine who were small – but she also walked differently. More like my distant distant relatives, you know, the ones who were experimenting more with the air? And branches and stuff?

Anyway, she was cheerfully getting out of her seat when another animal walked up to her – it was one of those weird digging things, you know, the kind that dig up insects all the time and just kind of run around? He was a big one, much taller than the double-clawed girl, and he kind of shoved her forward with his nose.

I felt my feathers raise more in annoyance.

“What are you looking at?” Jinny asked.

“Oh – uh – nothing,” I said, and we walked together through the campus to our next class.

“Maybe you’ll return to normal in calc,” Jinny groaned.

“Usually do,” I offered, but the image of the digger pushing the double-claw forward was burned into my brain.

Still, being a freshman was hard – and I had other things to worry about. Like intro to chemistry. Which was probably going to kill me – slowly – in a vial of acid – used in the laboratory portion.

So I studied a lot. My best friend from home – Mik, a Tyrannosaurus who was increasingly getting huge and terrifying – was really good at chemistry, so we usually spent our time studying together.

“So are you going to actually come with me to the review session, or are you going to sit in your dorm and play video games with Nikko?” Mik asked as we poured over textbooks together, two nights before the second exam of the term (and I needed to pass).

“Nikko is busy trying to find a girlfriend,” I snorted. Nikko was our newest friend from the school, who Mik had met in his Biology class. He was a Velafrons, and he was terrible at speaking English, but man, could he swear and yell at us for not even trying at Spanish, so to each their own.

“Dammit,” Mik groaned, “I guess a relationship between a hadrosaur and a tyrannosaur is too crazy anyway?”

“Dude, you’re literally wanting to bang what you could consider a prey species,” I snorted at him.

“Yeah,” Mik sighed, “Why did he have to be straight?”

“Cause them’s the breaks,” I paused, “But no, I guess I’ll go to the study session tonight.”

“Thank God,” Mik groaned, “You need it.”

“Watch it,” I snarled.

“You know you haven’t been able to beat me in a fight since we were kids,” Mik paused, “Don’t try it.”

I snorted again and went back to studying, burying my nose in the book.

“By the way,” Mik said, “On the subject of Romance –“

“Oh no,” I groaned.

“Jin says you two like, never hang out anymore?” Mik asked.

“Jin only gives a crap about philosophy and history and all this shit that’s meaningless to me – and oh man, she’s just gotten more annoying about being against religion – like I’m not religious but does she have to belong to a club that’s literally a militantly atheist group? Really? How freaking rude, right?” I snapped.

“Well you know I agree. I don’t know why you dated her in the first place. We made fun of her in junior high,” Mik shook his head.

“Look, I’m a lesbian, tail is hard to come by,” I paused, “And she… had a nice phase in high school.”

“You mean that phase when she tried to make Ethel and Jacob atheists? Because she ‘didn’t care’ that they were ya know, Avialan, and therefore Jewish, but she did care that they believed in God?” Mik snorted, “There’s a reason they didn’t come here with us.”

“How are they doing at Hell Creek U, by the way?” I asked.

“Oh good,” Mik said, “They’re probably going to get married soon, honestly. They don’t see the point in waiting around.”

“Aww!” I gasped, “That’s so sweet. Are you going to go?”

“Dude, I’ve been friends with them since we were hatchlings, of course,” Mik paused, “Do you think it’ll be like Greg and Winnie’s wedding?”

“Because… they’re all Avialans?” I asked, laughing, “You do know there are differences between Avisaurus and Brodavis, right?”

“Yeah, course I know that,” Mik said defensively.

“Like, I don’t think that Ethel and Jacob will have as many water-related components –“

“I’m sorry, I was just wondering if there would be commonalities, that’s all!” Mik snorted.

“Well we’ll find out,” I paused.

“But back to the main topic,” Mik said, “You go to Maastrichtian University. The biggest school in the whole world. Reptiles from far and wide come here to get a fantastic education. You can definitely find someone nicer than Jinny.”

“You really want me to get rid of her, huh?” I laughed.

“If she could stop saying that I, because am a Tyrannosaur, am naturally violent, that would be great, that’s all I’m saying,” Mik roared.

“Yeah, okay, I’m going to break up with her,” I said, “You have a point.”

“Thank God,” Mik groaned, “Racist piece of shit –“

I snorted loudly and buried my nose back in atomic structures, but honestly, the relief at realizing I didn’t have to be with the only lesbian (that I knew of) from my home town was Huge.

Jinny didn’t take it well, and honestly, I don’t really care that she didn’t – she was a huge bitch. But now, of course, I was stuck in philosophy.

The things I do for love, I thought dejectedly as I sat in a different corner of the room, next to an Albertonykus, named Renee, I knew from the LGBTQ+ club (she was bisexual, but in a stable relationship with a boy from home, so that was a bust).

“What do you think we’ll suffer through today?” she asked.

“I don’t have a clue,” I groaned, “Why am I in this class.”

“Because you liked a mean girl and didn’t break up with her until after the add/drop period?” Renee offered.

“Why are you in this class?” I asked, sighing deeply.

“Because Lim is a philosophy major back at ‘Shoe College and I’d like to know what he’s talking about,” Renee laughed, “See, I, unlike you, am in a happy relationship –“

“Don’t rub it in,” I shook my head sadly.

“Ahem!” the professor called out. I quickly turned to pay attention, filled with embarrassment so my feathers puffed up all over.

“This week I would like you all to work on a project on personal perceptions of the existence of higher beings,” the professor began, “You’ll be working with someone I will pair you up with based on previous papers. I think it is extremely important that you work with someone with a different perspective on the subject than you.”

I nodded. Made sense.

“This is a rather large lecture hall, so your partners are all in a document on the online class portal,” she explained, “Emails are provided so you can get in touch with your partner. Now, back to the arguments presented by Fluffcart –“

I opened up my computer, wondering who I’d get paired with. Reading down the sheet, I was being matched with Nami, a name I didn’t recognize, so I pulled up my email.

Hey, looks like we’re partners for this thing – where do you want to meet up? I typed, tapping my claws against the floor.

I didn’t get a responding email for the duration of the class – though, I supposed, I should have been a better student and paying attention anyway. In fact, I didn’t get an email until later in the day, while I was hanging out with Mik and Nikko.

“You are so bad at Super Smash Dinos, Setha, I don’t know why you even try to play,” Mik teased.

“YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR FEET, DON’T EVEN – “ I shrieked.

“Tiny armed tonto,” Nikko laughed.

“How dare you make fun of my arms –“

“Estás bien way, ‘course I’m making fun of your arms-“

“You fucker –“ Mik flicked his tail at Nikko, hitting him in the back of the crest.

“Ow! ¡Fíjate, pendejo!” Nikka shouted, “Keep those feathers away from me –“

I got a buzz from my phone, so I picked up while they bickered over video games, reading quickly.

Hey Setha, Let’s meet in the student center tomorrow at eight. I can’t really do later than that. ~ Nami

I sighed. Eight was when I had LGBTQ+ club, but, if she couldn’t do another time, well, there you go.

Sure, see you then. I’ll be the tall as fuck raptor, I sent, snorting quietly as Nikko beat Mik single-handedly. Literally. Nikko was playing with one hand. Nami didn’t respond to my message, so I just went back to playing.

I hardly ever went to the student center, mainly because I was super broke, and didn’t really feel like spending money I didn’t have on crappy junk food. It was also crowded and loud, and so many students were just… everywhere. Not my thing.

“Are you Setha?” a thick accent greeted me with. I looked up from my bad phone game – Angry Pterosaurs – and up into the most adorable, perfect face I had ever seen.

It was the two-clawed girl!

“Oh, hi! Nami?” I greeted, trying to not get too flustered. She was so small and gentle looking.

Oh no.

Not again.

How many times must I fall for a straight girl?

I had seen her since then with the digging boy – I didn’t know the kind of animal for either of them, they were from somewhere I wasn’t familiar with – and it was painfully obvious they were together.

“Yes, hi,” Nami said, sitting down, “I’ve seen you in class, nice to meet you –“

“Nice to meet you, too,” I paused, “I – uh – guess we should get started, then?”

“Yes, sounds good,” Nami said, “Let us see here – the assignment says we should discuss our differing perspectives of the possibility of the divine, and then explore those perspectives, and write up a report about the differences and similarities.”

“Right, well, I’m easy,” I said, “I’m agnostic.”

“Ah,” Nami nodded, “I see.”

“What about you?” I asked, tapping my claws against the floor again. I was much too flustered by how pretty she was. How could anyone’s feathers be so green? Was that even possible?

“I’m Jewish,” she said, “Avialan, you see.”

“You’re… Avialan?” I asked in confusion, “But you look like… a raptor, you know, like me.”

“No,” she shook her head, “I’m a Balaur. We’re Avialans from Romania.”

“Wow that’s… really interesting,” I paused, “Why do you guys look like raptors?”

“Why does anyone look like anything?” Nami said sharply, “Does it matter?”

“No,” I shook my head, “No, it doesn’t, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked.”

Nami nodded in satisfaction and pulled out her planner, “Well I go to shul every Friday and Saturday, of course. I suppose you could come with me, and we could talk afterwards about everything, if you don’t have other plans?”

“No, I shouldn’t,” I said, “Um, I don’t really have… services, being agnostic and all.”

Nami laughed, “No you wouldn’t, would you? Well we can just talk here about it if you’d like.”

“Uh… sure,” I paused, “I mean, we don’t have to get this all done so fast, we have a few weeks –“

Please let me hang out with you more –

“Oh, I don’t have a lot of free time,” Nami said sadly.

“Why not?”

“Coyle likes us to spend all our time together,” she shrugged.

“Coyle?” I asked, trying to play dumb.

“My boyfriend,” Nami said, “A Bradycneme.”

“Ah, okay,” I said, “So he… doesn’t let you do things on your own?”

“Not really, no,” Nami sighed, “Really, just my classes and shul.”

“So he’s not Jewish either?” I asked.

“Well, he’s a Digger, not an Avialan, so…” Nami laughed.

“People convert,” I offered.

“True,” Nami paused, “No… he doesn’t show much interest in it.”

“Oh,” I said, “I’m sorry.”

“It alright,” Nami said, “Anyway, so, tell me about what you believe?”

“Right, well, I guess I just don’t think about it much?” I said, “I wasn’t raised in any particular faith. It just didn’t matter to me much. I say I’m agnostic because I don’t really know if you can empirically prove whether or not there’s a God, and well, I like to believe in what I can prove.”

“Why?” Nami asked, writing down some stuff as I talked, lifting up her leg and using her toes like I had seen on that first day of class.

“I dunno. I’m a physicist,” I paused, “I like numbers, and calculations, and reasoning through things. It makes sense to me. I find a problem and I solve it. The universe can really be reduced to numbers, and… I dunno, I like combining them and finding answers through that. Measuring things, testing things, and using that to find my answers. That’s what matters to me, that’s what helps me understand the world. I question it. And I questioned God… I guess I did. I dunno, I never really thought about it extensively… but the times I did… I questioned God, and I couldn’t find evidence either way, and that was good enough for me…”

“Hmm,” Nami paused, “I see, yes.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said, grimacing.

“Oh you didn’t!” Nami said, “No that was very polite.”

“It… was?”

“Yes. Coyle is much ruder about how he’s an atheist. Keeps trying to get me to stop going to shul,” Nami looked embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have said that much.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” I said, feeling furious that someone would treat this girl I barely knew so rudely.

“I’m famished,” she looked at her phone, “And I have some time before he’s done with his writing club.”

“Do you wanna go to the burger place? Serves some great Mammals,” I offered.

“Uh… I’m an herbivore,” she said, looking even more embarrassed.

“Oh! I shouldn’t have assumed, I keep forgetting you’re not a raptor,” I groaned, “That’s completely my fault.”

“We can go to the sandwich place,” she offered, “They have kosher veggie wraps.”

“Okay!” I said eagerly, glad she wanted to spend so much time with me when I had literally put my foot in my mouth.

“So for you, physics is a religion?” she asked as we got in line. She was so much shorter than me.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I admitted, “I don’t really… worship it? But it makes sense to me. It’s how I understand the world around me.”

“So what made you take philosophy?” Nami asked, “I mean, it’s also very logical, of course, but it’s not really… empirical.”

“Ugh, I had the worst girlfriend in the world and she’s a philosophy major, so I took it with her to take a class with her,” I groaned, “We’re broken up now.”

“You’re gay?” Nami asked.

“Uh… yeah,” I said, now feeling scared.

I’d had people be dicks to me before.

“Are you in the LGBTQ+ club?”

“Yup, I’m missing it right now,” I sighed.

“I wish I could go,” Nami lamented, ordering her sandwich and moving out of the way for me to do the same.

“Oh – are you…?” I didn’t finish my question.

“I’m… yes,” Nami paused, “I’m asexual, but I’m panromantic – I’ll date anyone.”

“Ah, gotcha,” I said, suddenly very cheerful indeed.

“I’ve only ever dated boys though,” Nami explained, “I had a… wonderful boyfriend in high school, but. Well. I’m with Coyle now.”

I didn’t push it.

“Why can’t you go to the club?” I asked, changing the subject for her. She looked especially uncomfortable, her feathers puffing up dramatically.

“Coyle doesn’t want me to,” Nami said simply, “He’s… very protective.”

“I see,” I said.

I didn’t like Coyle.

“Well, you should still hang out with people other than him,” I said, “Want to do something this weekend after we do stuff at your shul?”

“Oh… I… well,” Nami looked torn, “I would like to, yes, I think, but I don’t… I’ll make an excuse.”

“You should!” I eagerly wrote down my dorm room on a piece of paper, “My friends and, I we play a lot of video games.”

Nami laughed, “That sounds like fun. I can say I have a thing with my shul, he won’t question it.”

I nodded, but I still felt uncomfortable inside.

Mik, Nikko, and their new friend Tuoma – a trans girl Kritosaurus that Nikko met through his biology lab – were all in my dorm when I got back, playing Dinorio Kart.

“Eyyy there she is!” Tuoma greeted.

“Hi guys,” I paused, “Don’t you all have like, a huge biology test tomorrow?”

“We’re having a study break!” Mik protested.

“How are you guys expecting to get into medical school if you don’t study?” I snorted, sitting across from them.

“I am doing no such thing,” Nikko reminded, “I’m going to grad school.”

“Right, then it’s the other two who are stupid,” I shook my head.

“Hey!” Mike groaned as he lost, “Come on, Setha –“

“Don’t come on me, if you flunk out I’m gonna be all alone…”

“So how was your meeting with your philosophy partner?” Tuoma asked.

“Um,” I paused, “Good…”

“What’s wrong?” Mik asked instantly, stopping mid game.

“Oi! ¡Cabrón!” Nikko shouted.

“If you think that someone’s in an abusive relationship, but you barely know the person, what do you do?” I blurted out.

Everyone fell silent and looked at me in worry.

“I’m… not sure,” Tuoma sighed.

“Maybe befriend them?” Mik offered. Nikko nodded in agreement.

“I… I mean, I’m going to try, obviously. I just… I’m scared for her, and I don’t know her like, at all,” I sighed.

“Well, ease into it. Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems from the outside,” Mike said soothingly.

“Maybe…” I frowned, “She’ll be hanging out with us Saturday evening, after I do stuff with her for our project.”

“Ah – Tuoma’s bringing a new friend too!” Nikko said.

“Oh?” I asked, pulling out dried meat from Mik and my’s bowl of snacks.

“Yeah, their name is Qindo, they’re agender, we met at the trans support group,” Tuoma explained, “Thought they’d make a fine addition to ‘getting high and attempting to play Super Dinorio Bros’ club.”

“Ha! Awesome,” I laughed, “It’ll be an interesting evening for her.”

“What’s her name? What is she like?” Mik asked.

“Remember when I told you about a girl in my philo class with two foot claws?” I held up my foot and swiveled my claw back and forth in demonstration.

“Eww, get that out of my face, stinky,” Tuoma laughed.

“Yeah, I do,” Mik snorted.

“Well it’s her,” I paused, “She’s an Avialan, actually.”

“An Avialan? ¿Realmente?” Nikko asked.

“Yeah. A vegetarian, too,” I paused, “I really stuck my foot in my mouth, to be honest.”

“Kept assuming she was a raptor?” Mik laughed. I threw a pillow at him.

“Yes, you dumbass,” I paused, “She looks like a weird Adasaurus, okay? Geez.”

“So what’s your philo project about?” Tuoma asked.

“Religion, oddly enough,” I paused, “So I’m going to go with her to Shabbat stuff this weekend.”

“You know, we never went with our friends from home, that should be interesting,” Mik offered.

“I hope so,” I paused, “I’m looking forward to it, for sure.”

Mik stared at me critically for a minute before shouting, “Oh my God.”

“What?” Tuoma asked in confusion, looking between us rapidly.

“Setha’s fallen for her!” Mik laughed loudly.

“Fuck you, too!” I shouted, so embarrassed I wanted to melt into the floor.

“She’s in love! Oh no! Oh this is fucking typical!” Mik roared with laughter, making Nikko shout in instinctual fear.

“Leave me alone!”

“Why are you like this?” Mik chortled.

“Hey – you had a giant crush on Nikko before –“

“HEY”

“Wait you did?”

“I…”

“This should be interesting,” Tuoma said, sitting back and munching on some leaves in glee.

“I thought you were cute, but then I realized you were straight –“

“I mean, yeah, but like, I’d still be flattered, man!” Nikko shouted.

“I didn’t think you wouldn’t be – “

“So why didn’t you tell me?”

“Cause I was embarrassed!”

“I’m a flexible person! I mean, I’m not attracted to you, but like, I wouldn’t freak out about it! Again, I’d be flattered!”

“Well by the time I realized you would be I had gotten over it!”

I snorted loudly, satisfied that they were off the topic of my crush on Nami, and opened up my computer to work on an online homework assignment for calculus.

That Friday, I met Nami at her shul, which was just off of campus. It was a small place, but quiet; I wandered through the halls curiously, looking at all the pictures and names on the walls.

“It’s much bigger than the one from my home,” Nami said quietly. I turned around to see her, feeling embarrassed when I nearly knocked her over with my tail.

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yes,” she paused, “We’re still… recovering from. Well. Everything that happened.”

I nodded. I didn’t bring it up, for her sake. She already looked sad, and she hadn’t even said allowed the word.

“Do you get along with the people here well?” I asked.

“It’s a modest place, so yes,” Nami smiled, “It’s my one relaxing moment of the week, really.”

“I’m looking forward to participating,” I nodded as we went into the hall together, sitting together and taking out prayer books.

It was a beautiful, if quiet, affair. Almost everything was sung, and everyone was really friendly. Wine was drunk, and candles were lit, and I didn’t really know what was going on – or how to say, any, of the words – but it was nice. Nami looked really relaxed and happy, which made me happy, much to my chagrin.

God dammit.

Afterwards we all went to another room and sat down to eat dinner, which was almost entirely vegetarian, so I couldn’t eat it. Still, I enjoyed sitting there, listening to everyone talk.

“We hardly ever see Balaur anymore, but it’s really nice to have Nami with us,” an Enantiornis named Lolla said.

“So what are you going to write about in your project?” another Enantiornis named Poppy asked.

“I dunno, I think just… well, I liked what your Rabbi was saying about social justice and all that. I dunno, my main perception of religion has always been… thou shalt nots, that sort of thing,” I explained.

“Well, yes, but that’s not how it is here, or at least, not in this shul,” Nami said happily.

“Sin is more missing the mark, than some sort of inherent state that we’re all trying to escape,” Poppy nodded, “And it’s much more about fulfilling mitzvot than anything, really.”

“Belief in God is important, but it’s also about community, and coming together, and studying Torah,” Lolla explained.

“And debating the meaning of it!” Poppy laughed.

“Oh yes, can’t forget that the biggest part of being in this tribe is… arguing,” Lolla giggled.

“Nothing is really dogma, there is no one ‘right’ way to be Jewish,” Poppy said.

I wrote everything down in my phone, nodding and listening as they continued to discuss. It was really enlightening and interesting, and it was nice to learn about how Nami had grown up.

The next morning I met Nami there again – way too early in the morning. I was so tired I needed coffee.

“Sorry,” she greeted, not even saying anything before offering that comfort.

“It’s alright,” I yawned, “What am I in for this morning?”

“Torah, of course!” Nami said happily, “Come on.”

There were more prayers and singing that I didn’t understand, but also reading from their Torah, which was beautiful, ornate, and huge. They read that in Hebrew, too, and I just listened to the poetic sounds of the words, amazed at how I had no idea what was going on – but I felt connected to everything anyway.

We then met with more of Nami’s congregation members, talking and laughing as we ate lunch, with people discussing and debating the Torah portion for that week – even though I had no idea what it was, they still managed to talk about it and eagerly discuss, and eventually I caught up with the story as I listened.

“So, do you think you know what you’ll write about?” Nami asked as we walked back to campus together.

“Yeah I do – do you?” I offered.

“I’m not sure. You kind of gave me less to go on,” Nami laughed, “I’m hoping to learn more about you and what you believe tonight.”

“By watching me goof off with my friends,” I snorted.

“Well, that’s what you saw me do, didn’t you?”

“Fair point,” I frowned, “You weren’t really goofing off, though.”

“It’s still fun, to me, anyway,” Nami paused, “I’m a Jewish Studies major. Well, double major. That’s why I’m in philosophy, I need to take a few philo classes.”

“What is your other major?” I asked.

“Geology,” Nami grinned, “I like studying fossils.”

“Really?” I gasped in surprise.

“Course!” Nami paused, “I appreciate the ancient, whether it’s Torah, or the ancient fossil ancestors of Avialae, or just those weird mammal relatives from before the Great Dying.”

“That’s so neat,” I exclaimed, “We should talk about that more.”

“Heh, alright,” Nami nodded.

“You seem more cheerful than when we met,” I offered as we stepped back on campus, heading towards my dorm.

“Well, Shabbos is my time,” Nami explained, “Time just to myself.”

“Yeah,” I frowned, but I didn’t push it.

Which, of course, didn’t sit well in my stomach.

“Ey! You must be Nami!” Mik greeted as we went inside.

“Hola!” Nikko greeted.

“Hi,” Nami said shyly, sitting down in a corner. She was easily the smallest person there. Tuoma was there too, and her friend Qindo, who was a Champsosaurus.

“Setha’s told us so much about you!” Mik grinned. I hit him with my tail.

“Right, I’m Mik, I’m Setha’s friend since we were like, freshly hatched,” Mik began, “This is Nikko, a dork from Mexico –“

Nikko swore a long string of angry Spanish words in response.

“Tuoma, our other friend from Biology –“

“Hi,” Tuoma greeted cheerfully.

“And Qindo, who is also new –“

“They’re weird, I’ve been here five seconds and I’ve determined this –“

“What are your majors?” Nami asked nervously.

“I’m premed,” Mik paused, “So is Tuoma.”

“I’m going to go into genetics,” Nikko said.

“I’m an English major,” Qindo explained.

“And you know I’m physics,” I offered needlessly.

“Ah, I’m Jewish Studies and Geology,” Nami paused, “Qindo, do you know a Bradycneme named Coyle?”

“Ugh, him? He’s a dick,” Qindo said immediately.

I groaned softly.

“Uh… he’s my boyfriend,” Nami said.

“Oh. Um. Uh,” Qindo looked like they wanted to melt into the floor.

“Anyway!” Mik said, “Have you ever had edibles, Nami?”

“I… what?” Nami asked, laughing weakly as we all sat around the dorm.

“You know, pot brownies, that sort of thing,” Tuoma offered.

“Oh I – no? I have never had pot of any sort,” Nami said, looking embarrassed.

“This should be interesting,” I giggled as we all took some from the plate Qindo was holding. Mik then put in Dinorio Bros as Nami stared out into the distance, just chewing on the brownie.

“I should probably have asked if this is Kosher,” Nami said softly.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry,” I groaned, “I should have thought of that.”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Nami sighed.

“I’m pretty sure it is?” Tuoma grimaced, “I didn’t… think of it. Sorry Nami.”

“Not your fault, just mine. I forget to check sometimes,” Nami shook her head.

We sat around and let it set in, me reaching that lovely euphoric state I looked forward to every week. Nami perked up considerably as it hit her, and we all started shouting at each other and playing games, laying and being ridiculous as we failed spectacularly. We weren’t good at the game high, or anything. It was just fun to be terrible – as a group.

From then on, Nami joined us every week, because she just lied to Coyle and said that she was doing stuff with her shul. She started personally preparing the brownies, and none of us minded – in fact, she was better at it than Tuoma. We got an A on our project (which ended up being an elaborate discussion of the perceptions of God and the similarities between agnostic and Jewish thought) and I even managed to pass Philosophy despite having never, not once, paid attention during lecture.

Even though I still found Nami beautiful – both inside and out – I didn’t really get to see her except Saturday evenings. We weren’t majoring in the same thing, so we didn’t really take any classes together past that point, and even though I think she knew how the rest of us thought of her boyfriend, she didn’t break up with him.

So I dated a few other girls - including Tuoma, for a bit, though we broke up amicably – but never really stayed with any of them.

“Yo Setha!”

“Yeah, Mik?” I asked, looking up from my project. We were juniors, now, and I was doing a lot of research with one of the professors on optics and electromagnetism.

“Look man, we should take a class next semester – the whole group,” Mik offered.

“All of us?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah!” Mik paused, “Cause look – there’s this class on Dinopology, the history of the evolution and culture of Dinosaurs – shouldn’t we do that?”

“I mean, Qindo might object,” I snorted.

“Qindo can suck it, come on, it’s an intro class that none of us have taken – not even Nami! Let’s do it!” Mik said eagerly.

“You know full well Nami won’t be allowed to do that without Coyle,” I snarled.

“Wow, you haven’t even tried to seem like you approve, have you?” Mik laughed.

“Do I have to, really?” I paused, “At least when she isn’t here.”

“No, I guess not. I just kind of… I dunno. At least he isn’t physically hurting her or anything,” Mik sighed.

“Yeah, but come on, Mik,” I paused, “You see how she is with us – after a full day of being with her shul, and then with us, and not seeing Coyle at all – versus seeing her randomly in the week. She’s a completely different person.”

“I know,” Mik sighed, “But we’ve gone over it a thousand times. She won’t tell us why she’s with him, she won’t break up with him, and there’s nothing really we can do about it, without ensuring that she won’t even be able to hang out with us the small amount that she does.”

“Yeah,” I groaned, “I guess. But count me in for Dinopology.”

“Excellent,” Mik grinned.

Nikko and Tuoma were automatically on board, and Qindo’s reaction was essentially “Might as well learn how you people think, I guess.”

“I dunno,” Nami sighed as she got to the dorm on Saturday, pulling out brownies from her bag.

“Come on, it’s not like Coyle is a double Jewish Studies and Geology major,” Qindo said, their mouth filled with a large mammal steak we had cooked earlier.

“Yeah, you can’t have taken every class together,” Tuoma nodded.

“We want you with us! It won’t be the same without you,” Nikko begged.

“Please? We had so much fun in Philosophy together,” I said.

Nami looked at me sadly, “I can try. He just kind of insists that we take all the electives together, since we can’t take major classes together.”

“Well you should ask tomorrow! Then text Setha or someone,” Mik paused, “The rest of us should sign up for sure. Please do ask to morrow, Nams, registration is this week.”

“I will, I will. It definitely fits into my schedule, weirdly enough,” Nami paused, “Nikko, what are you doing?”

Nikko had decided to attempt to balance my stuffed animals on his head.

“… No sé,” Nikko admitted, his speech very slowed down.

“Oh no,” Tuoma giggled.

“Someone keep him away from sharp objects,” I grinned.

The next morning, as I attempted to work through the haze of a morning hangover and finish up my report, I got a text.

Coyle says that I can take it as long as he takes it with us…

I sighed. Better than nothing, I supposed.

Sure, I responded, We should probably know him better, I guess.

You can’t tell him about our weekends, Nami immediately responded, I just told him I knew all of you from classes and such.

Well, I quickly typed back, That’s not a… total lie?

Just what I thought. Thanks Setha. You’re always so understanding about this.

I gulped quietly.

And so guilty about that understanding.

Yeah, ‘course. I’ll let everyone else know.

“Fuck that!” Qindo said, literally calling me after I texted them.

“I know, but –“

“Come on, Setha, you more than anyone would be pissed about this!”

“Of course I am, but I’d rather Nami get to enjoy something with her friends for once! Geez, Qindo!” I shouted back.

“I’m with that dick in all my other classes, and this isn’t even something I’m interested in!”

“Look, we’ll all take a class you want first semester next year, and Coyle will not be allowed to come, how’s that?”

“Fine,” Qindo sighed, “Fine. You all owe me.”

I had never really had to interact with Coyle before – in Philosophy, I just kept sitting with Renee more often than not – so I really didn’t know what I was in for as I entered the large lecture hall the first day of the next semester.

“Hello,” Coyle greeted, in a gruff, angry voice.

“Hi,” Tuoma greeted cheerfully.

“I recognize some of you,” Coyle looked at Mik critically, who he definitely would have missed seeing in a class, “So you’ve all taken classes with Nami?”

“Yup,” Mik answered immediately, “I took a geology elective.”

Nami nodded, “I told you that, Coyle.”

“Yes,” Coyle said slowly, “So why Dinopology?”

“It’s an elective we can all take?” Qindo said sternly.

“Right,” Coyle sneered, sitting with us. The professor started talking about the subject and I took notes quietly, seething that this complete dick was with us.

“For the first week of class, I want you to pair up and work on a presentation on the origin of Dinosaurs…”

Of course, Coyle paired with Nami, but at least she was having a class with us for once.

“I just want to pry her away from his single fingered, grubby hands,” Mik sneered as we all watched a movie during the week, Nami of course not there.

“I want to smash his cabeza into his cuerpo. Cabròn,” Nikko hissed.

“Nikko, take a deep breath,” Tuoma soothed, nuzzling her head against his. They had started dating only a few weeks ago.

“Seriously though, the boy is infuriating,” Mik growled, “Maybe me and Xin could go and teach him a lesson.”

“You and your Tarbosaurus boyfriend attacking him sounds wonderfully appealing,” Qindo sighed dreamily.

“Any move we make will just make him reign in his control more. The two live together,” I sighed, “There really isn’t an option.”

Mik looked at me in annoyance, “Why are you like this?”

“What are you on about?”

“We’ve been friends with Nami for two fucking years and you are still just as in love – no, MORE in love – with her as you were when you first saw her!”

“Leave me alone!”

“But you won’t do anything to save her from this situation!”

“She doesn’t love me back, so it doesn’t matter, you douchecanoe,” I hissed.

“So you’re saying the only reason to save her from a terrible relationship is, so you could be with her?” Tuoma asked angrily.

“That doesn’t seem like love,” Qindo said quietly.

I growled, “That’s not what I meant – “

“It sounds like what you meant!” Mik roared, “Setha, I can’t believe you!”

“It’s not what I meant at all – I mean – look,” I sighed heavily, “You’re right. That was a terrible thing to say. I didn’t mean it. I really didn’t. I just. Don’t want to risk having her get into an even worse situation because I intervened, or anyone intervened, and it didn’t go successfully. What I meant by what I said was just… I dunno. Maybe if I saw that she liked me back or something, I could try and use that as a reason for her to get herself out?” I offered.

Everyone relaxed considerably.

“I still think you should try regardless,” Mik grumbled.

I frowned, but focused on the movie.

Eventually we were given a huge project – a research one, where we had to study a topic in dinosaur evolution, and write a paper and make a presentation for the class – and we had to pair up with other people, so Nami and I worked together. Mik took Coyle, mainly because Mik wanted to find an excuse to eat him.

“No one would ever know, I’m telling you,” MIk insisted.

“Do not eat him, Mik!” Tuoma shrieked as I, Nikko, and Qindo cackled in the corner during the exchange.

I met with Nami during the week, us sitting in my dorm while Mik was out doing other things.

“So, what do you want to do for the project?” I asked, flipping through the pages of the book.

“I don’t know,” Nami sighed, “I’m so tired.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I looked up from the book, frowning at Nami sadly.

“No,” Nami shook her head, “Let’s just pick a topic.”

“How about the evolution of Avialans? You know that really well cause of your major,” I offered.

“Eh,” Nami groaned, “Yeah, I do, but consider: I know it too well.”

I laughed appreciatively, “How about the evolution of Titanosaurs, then? Doubt anyone else will want to do that.”

“Sounds impossible,” Nami grinned, “I’m on board.”

I snorted and we got to work, compiling as many sources as we could. The project would be a long, drawn-out one, and take most of the rest of the semester, so we got to hang out alone a lot without worrying about Coyle.

“Okay but why would your favorite character be Neville!” Nami laughed.

“He has so much untapped potential!” I grinned, “He’s the most underrated character in Harry Potter –“

“But Hermione!” Nami insisted, “An Avialan Icon!”

“Hermione is great! A pure rolemodel! Adorable! Not as great as Neville!” I grinned.

“What kind of Lesbian are you –“

“A perfectly good one, thank you very much!”

Of course, we saw completely eye to eye on other pieces of media we both loved.

“The most infuriating part of Star Wars,”  I said as we took a break from examining fossil evidence charts, “Is that everything in episode three is completely avoidable.”

“SHE JUST HAD TO GO TO AN EGG DOCTOR!” Nami shrieked.

“That’s all she had to do!” I agreed.

“Then they would have actually kept track of her condition!” Nami nodded.

“Made sure she was healthy!”

“Focused on the important things!”

“Maybe even,” I fake gasped, “Tell Obi-Wan!”

“Oh no, such logic is impossible for Anakin and Padme!” Nami snorted, “How far Padme had fallen…”

“She was such a good character before three ruined her,” I agreed, “On the Clone Wars, especially.”

“Oh don’t bring that up,” Nami groaned, “I still get mad about how that show makes me feel worse about Order 66 –“

We also discussed, well, non-media related things as well.

“I hate that Nikko doesn’t have enough accommodations,” Nami sighed.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up from the powerpoint we were working on.

“I mean…” Nami frowned at me, “I mean, he’s got a bad leg, right? He should have easier ways to get to classrooms and stuff, but this school is terrible at large-sized elevators.”

“You’re right,” I sighed, “I never really… thought about that. Since he hardly ever, you know, talks about it?”

“We should do something about it,” Nami offered.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Write to the school! Raise awareness! We really aren’t disability friendly at all!” Nami demanded.

“When are we going to do that, miss maximum-load-of-classes?” I offered.

“Um… at some point,” Nami admitted.

“We should, I agree,” I paused, “We’ll talk to the others about it on Saturday.”

The night before the project was due, she had been spending more time with me than with Coyle, and she acted like it – much more confident, much happier, much more excited about, well, everything.

“Nams?” I asked tiredly as we worked late into the night, piles of papers around us as we composed a large paper.

“Yeah?” she looked at me, her eyes drooping with sleepiness.

“Why do you stay with Coyle?” I murmured.

Nami sighed deeply, “I suppose I should tell you the story, I guess.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I quickly offered.

“No, I want to,” Nami closed her laptop and stared at me for a long time.

“I dated this guy in high school. His… name was Olne,” Nami paused, “He was an Elopteryx. A troodont.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“We were… I really loved him,” Nami was crying now, “I really, really loved him.”

“What happened to him?” I asked softly.

“He got into a car crash,” Nami drew in a shaking breath, “Didn’t live very long afterwards.”

“I’m so sorry, Nams,” I whispered.

“He was so sweet. And nice. Like you, really,” Nami paused, “I mean, he liked the same things as you. He was nicer than you are.”

I stuck my tongue out at her, which made her laugh.

“But… Coyle was his best friend. He was so upset after what happened. We just kind of… fell in together, because, well, we both knew what the other was going through,” Nami sighed, “He was so… scared of everything after that. He got overprotective. Constantly worried, since we’re in a new country and everything, that the unknown will cause something to hurt me.”

“That’s… not what I was expecting,” I admitted.

“He’s very mean, I know,” Nami paused, “And… controlling. But his heart’s in the right place.”

“Except you’ve been living here for two years, Nams,” I paused, “And you… I dunno. You’ve adjusted really well. You can take care of yourself.”

Nami sighed heavily.

“And you don’t… seem to be in love with him,” I muttered quietly.

Nami looked up and stared at me critically, “No, I don’t.”

“Then?”

“I’m not sure how he’ll react,” Nami paused, “And I have no where to live. And he’s a reminder of home”

“You can crash with me!” I offered eagerly.

Nami laughed, “Are you sure? Mik takes up a lot of room.”

“I’m used to Mik,” I said dismissively, “He’s basically my brother.”

“Very true,” Nami paused, “Thank you for being understanding, Setha. I’ll think about it”

“Of course,” I agreed, “It’s up to you, obviously. And I understand not wanting to give up a reminder of home. Why do you think I put up with Mik?”

Nami laughed appreciatively, and we got back to work.  

We turned in our paper the next day and delivered our presentation, and it was one of the best ones of the class. Nami looked so happy, and confident, that I was shocked to not see her that Saturday at our weekly hang.

“Maybe I should text her?” I asked softly.

“I’ll do it,” Mik sighed, “If nothing else, I think Coyle ‘trusts’ me now.”

Qindo growled softly.

Mik texted quietly as we all sat around, staring at each other worriedly.

An hour went by without a response, and our worry only grew.

“This is my fault,” I groaned.

“What do you mean?” Tuoma asked.

“I mean – I encouraged her to break up with him. I shouldn’t have done that,” I cried.

“Look, we encouraged you to encourage him,” Mik said, “It’s all of our faults.”

“Definitely,” Qindo agreed.

“I know, but… I won’t be able to live with myself if…” I cried.

“If what?”

“He could be hurting her… like, physically,” I whispered.

Mik looked at his phone again – nothing.

“I’m going to their apartment,” he said softly.

“No, I’ll go,” I said, “If we need to emergency extract her, you’re the better choice for that; let me ruin any chance of me seeing her again.”

“Setha –“ Nikko said.

“Just, let me go,” I shook my head, “This is my mess.” I left the dorm in a rush and ran across the campus, running as fast as my fluffy legs could carry me. I even flapped my wings a little to get some slow-moving Alamosaurus to move out of the damn way.

I had to, eventually, just hop onto them and over them, to keep going towards the student housing apartments on the other side of campus, running through the small streets that reeked of weed and alcohol, running up some stairs to their small apartment.

I could hear shouting.

My heart clenched in my chest and I rammed my head roughly into the door.

“OPEN UP,” I screamed.

Coyle opened the door, glaring at me. He was covered in blood.

“You!” he shouted.

“Yeah, me, you dick,” I pushed him out of the way, “Did you hurt her?”

“No, she hurt me!” Coyle roared.

I looked around for Nami, and found her in the middle of the room, looking ruffled and angry. In fact, she was completely disheveled, but she didn’t look to be bleeding – but her claws were covered in blood.

“I told him – I told him I was leaving him – and he tried to… He tried to attack me so I fought back!” Nami hissed, “What, did you think these claws were just for Supreme Studying Techniques?”

I grinned in pure, utter pride.

“You bitch –“ Coyle hissed.

“Come at me again, I dare you,” Nami shouted. Coyle did, though, and he was bigger than her, so he pinned her down.

“HEY!” I shouted, but they both ignored me. Nami kicked at Coyle roughly, scratching at his stomach, making him scream in pain and back away.

“Eventually you’ll tire out!” Coyle hissed.

“Not before you run out of blood!” Nami snapped.

I didn’t want to see her get any more bruised and beaten, so I ran forward, shrieking at the top of my lungs. I pulled him off of her and held him back loosely, not drawing blood with my teeth.

“Let go of me you bitch!” Coyle roared.

Nami threw out another kick, more blood coming from him, and I dropped him on the floor.

“We’re done. I don’t need you, and Olne would be ashamed of you,” Nami snapped.

“You take that back!” Coyle demanded.

“No,” Nami paused, “I’ll be having Mik collect my things. Goodbye, Coyle.” We left the apartment together, Nami limping heavily.

“What did he do to you?” I asked quietly, horrified that she had gotten hurt at all.

“Ugh,” Nami sighed, “He tried to use his large size to overpower me. I think he broke my leg, maybe? But I could still kick, so I did.”

“I’m proud of you,” I said honestly. Nami laughed.

“Thank you for encouraging me to do that. I’ve wanted to… well, since we met, to be honest, but I never had the courage,” Nami sighed.

“Why did you want to when we met?” I asked, helping her walk by just straight up putting her on my back, walking slowly to the student health center.

“He was getting insufferable? Surely you noticed. I’m not… okay, I wasn’t… really about drugs but I joined you guys just to have some way to avoid him. I’m just. I was scared of him. He’s big and well, he has a lot of emotional weight on me,” Nami sighed.

“Still, that’s just. An odd thing to say,” I sighed.

“I’ll tell you some time,” Nami explained, “Let’s just get me to a doctor, yeah?”

“We certainly shouldn’t let Tuoma and Mik practice on you,” I laughed. Nami laughed with me, as we went together to the center. She did have a slight fracture, but it was easily patched up.

She moved in with me and Mik and it was wonderful – and honestly, Coyle was way too afraid of Mik to try anything.

“To Nami’s freedom!” Nikko cheered the first weekday we actually all got to hang out together.

“To Coyle’s butt being kicked! Literally!” Tuoma cheered.

“To never having to look at Coyle’s stupid face again!” Mik laughed.

“Unless it’s to kick it!” Nami giggled.

“HUZZAH!” I cheered.

We all clinked together our glasses of wine and laughed, drinking and cheering together about the beauty of this latest development.

“So what do you want to do with your newfound freedom, Nami?” Qindo asked.

“I want to figure out who I am without the dick,” Nami said honestly. Mik laughed loudly and Tuoma clapped.

“But besides that, what I really want is to just be happy,” Nami paused, “I think being with him kept me in a shadow for… all of college. I haven’t been able to move past my past.”

“Well, we’ll help you any way we can,” I said happily.

“Any way?” Nami asked, grinning at me.

“What are you asking?” I snorted.

“Never mind,” Nami paused, “Let’s play some rock band?”

“Oh no,” Mik groaned.

“Oh yes!” Nikko cheered.

“I love watching you being completely unable to do anything!” Tuoma giggled.

“This isn’t fair –“

“Mik, you’re the largest predator on the planet, you don’t get to talk about what isn’t fair,” I grinned.

“Setha, you’re a dick.”

“Thank you!”

Nami was laughing more than I had ever seen her do, and the sight just gave me hope and joy. She was free, and she was happy, and that dick would never hurt her again.

Senior year we all got a large house together off campus, but Nami and I were the first to move in – Mik was off volunteering in some of the poorer countries, giving health care to people who really needed it; Nikko and Tuoma were on vacation at the Nemegt; and Qindo was still working their crappy summer job at home.

“Hey Setha?” Nami asked as I put up my posters in my room.

“Yeah Nams?” I answered, looking over at her and getting flustered as I always did when I looked at her beautiful, adorable green face.”

“Um. Can I talk to you?” Nami looked rather flustered herself.

“Sure,” I agreed, stepping down and cocking my head to the side, “What’s up?”

“Er, so you wondered. Back in the spring. About how I knew I wanted to break up with him from the moment I met you?” Nami asked.

“Yeah?” I said, what a strange thing to bring up.

“Er… well, okay,” Nami laughed nervously, “This is really hard for me to say, because, um, I’m still in… a weird headspace. After Coyle.”

“Of course,” I frowned.

“Er… you see… I think you’re really cute,” Nami admitted. I felt myself flush in amazement.

“You… do?”

“Yeah,” Nami said, now talking very fast, “Yeah, you see, well, I thought you were really pretty, and I love how brown your feathers are, and I watched you in class and the way your feathers would perk up whenever you saw something you actually cared about on the computer, and well, I was really excited to see it was you that I was working with, but I didn’t want you to know because I knew Coyle would like, not approve of me having friends, because who can trust these Americans right, so I just pretended to not like you, but then you were so respectful and kind and thoughtful at shul, and I was like, I have to hang out with her more, and it was so nice to have somewhere to go and someone to hang out with every weekend who wasn’t from shul, and I just had so much fun with you, and you were always so nice to talk to, and so pretty, and I just. Wow. I’m rambling, I’m sorry,” Nami said.

“Don’t be!” I said, my heart pounding loudly.

“Um, so yeah, I think you’re pretty, and funny, and smart, and interesting to talk to, and you can be nice, but you’re really brave, and yeah,” Nami rambled, “Um… I like you.”

“I like you too,” I said immediately.

“You do?” Nami breathed.

“Dude, the first time I saw you I was just, fascinated by you, and how beautiful you were, and I was so curious about everything you are, and when we talked and went to your shul you were so sweet and thoughtful and you just want the best for everyone, and hanging out with you was so great and I was so glad you wanted to, and I just – yeah,” I stopped, feeling embarrassed.

Nami’s four curved claws were all tapping together in happy unison.

“I just, think you’re really beautiful, and wonderful, and I’m happy we’re friends, and I’m happy you’re in my life,” I said firmly.

“I’m happy you’re in my life too,” Nami paused, “Because eyou’re really beautiful, and wonderful, and a great friend, and, well, I wouldn’t have stayed with Coyle forever, but you definitely helped me get out of that… faster.”

“Thank God,” I said honestly. Nami laughed softly.

“Well… um… do you wanna…” Nami paused.

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” I asked immediately. Nami nodded eagerly and I bounced with excitement, my floof going every which way as I did so.

“We should go on a date,” Nami said eagerly.

“We should,” I paused, “First… can I… nuzzle you?”

“Oh!” Nami looked embarrassed and flushed again, her feathers all sorts of directions, “Yes! Yes please!”

I leaned down to her and gently nuzzled her, pressing my snout into hers. She felt nice and soft and fluffy, and she smelled like the fruit they ate at her shul, and I couldn’t help but giggle. She giggled too, and we pressed our noses together for a minute, before pulling away and laughing with each other.

“Well then,” I said.

“Yes,” Nami grinned.

“Wanna go see a movie?” I asked.

“Ooh yes!” she agreed, and we walked out of the house together, laughing and talking about nothing in particular –

And we have made each other infinitely happy since.  

[kelsieengen]

Today on the blog I’m thrilled to have an author interview. I’m part of a new JL Anthology that releases later this month, and some of us are participating in a blog tour with interviews. If you’ve been following along, thanks for joining us today. If you haven’t been following along, then check out the prior interview, here.

Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today, Shannon! I’m so excited to have you here! I gotta say, I loved your short story based on the Emperor’s New Clothes… “An Empire of Fools” was awesome, so I’m thrilled to get to have the chance to interview you today regarding your new short story, “Sands”!

Okay, first, some icebreaker questions:

Q: What is your favorite hobby? (Besides reading and writing.)

A: I like to keep busy with home improvement projects. Shelves, painting, upholstery… maybe I should make a bookshelf. Also way too much Netflix than is healthy for an aspiring writer. Looking forward for when the kids are older so I can get back into martial arts.

Q: Ohh, maybe I should have you over to my house to do some home improvements for me! What are two things that not many people know about you?

A: Not many people know that I write. And that I enjoy making banana bread to cheer people up.

Q: And how did you get started writing?

A: I took the first step. Write a word. Then I just didn’t stop. Then I realized that it was all wrong and writing is really in the editing and planning. So then I wrote another word–then another. I started writing the same way everyone else can; instead of saying “I’ll get to that novel someday,” I said, “I’ll get to that novel.”

Q: Awesome. I’m so glad you finally decided to pick up the pen and start! Okay, now on to the “real” questions about your upcoming release. What inspired you to retell/write this legend?

A: Being an immigrant working between two worlds myself, I wanted to explore the duality of what it meant to be two different people as a whole of yourself. In my life, names play a great part of what defines you, and while researching myths to write about for the most recent anthology, I came across the Egyptian myth of Isis and Ra. In one version of this myth, Isis poisons Ra with a snake and compels him to tell her his true name, giving her power over him, in exchange for the antidote.

This inspired me to use names as a stepping stone to work through two main characters that were torn between each other and who lived two different lives depending on the name they themselves decided held power over them. In the modern sense, it was easy to choose the children of Chinese immigrants to America on a study abroad trip to Egypt to accomplish the story.

Q: So what did you wish to accomplish with your retelling? What feeling did you want your reader to walk away with?

A: I wanted a reader to seek the true story. The myth worked as a nice window-dressing for the underlying story of a torn family, and ultimately helps the two main characters overcome their animosity toward each other. I hope the reader comes away from the story learning that not everything is set at face value, and sometimes the answers we seek are buried deep within.

Q: That’s so true, and one of the reasons I love “Sands.” Now, I know you’ve written retellings before, but how do you find them different from writing other types of stories? Are they easier or harder than coming up with a story from scratch?

A: I find myself trying to keep the heart of the original story at the core of my retelling, staying as true to the source material as I can while offering a new spin on it. I feel that straying too far from the source moves a story from “retelling,” to “inspired by,” and if it strays too far, “an original story with elements of X.” If I change a character’s name and the original story is nowhere to be found, then for me, I have failed at a retelling. Of course, that’s just my policy, and I do enjoy original, fresh takes on old tales.

Retellings are no more easier or harder than original stories, I think. Each story needs scaffolding to build upon. Even if that scaffolding has been erected before you begin building, it still needs to be torn down and examined to make your own home.

Q: Were there any difficulties in writing “Sands”? How did you overcome them?

A: So many. I had trouble telling the story without blatantly saying outright what the characters were feeling, their family history, and their past. I wanted to keep it ambiguous, but while still dropping enough hints for the reader to figure everything out. I fought back and forth putting things in and taking things out. Ultimately, I allowed the judgements of beta readers to guide my final edits. If anyone said “I want more info, but I THINK this happened…” I knew I was on the right track. If a reader told me they couldn’t make heads or tails of what I was on about, I revised. Admittedly, this was one of the harder stories I’ve had to write.

Q: What draws you to retellings/legends?

A: I’m a fantasy enthusiast at heart, so anything with other worldly charm draws me to it. I get enough modernity in my life–I’d rather read about the impossible.

Q: Where would a reader look if they wanted to know more about the legend you used?

A: The myths themselves are a bit jumbled, being so old and written and rewritten by the ancient Egyptians depending on what God was popular at the time, so I based my retelling on several myths, including the journey of Ra across the sky, Sekhmet and Hathor, the eyes of Ra (another bit of duality), how the murderous rampage of Sekhmet was calmed with beer, the unmaking of the world through Atum, how Isis obtained Ra’s true name and how it gave her power, and others sprinkled about the story to be discovered. A quick visit to your local library could house hundreds of different variations of the myths.

Q: Who (book or author) inspires you, your writing, or this story? What is it about them that inspired you?

A: I’ve always been inspired by Stephen King. While I don’t write horror, I enjoy his process and his ability to tell a straightforward, character-filled story. He inspires me by creating something from nothing, and then twisting it into something else entirely.

Q: If a reader wished to read more by you, where would they find you and your writing?

A: They can check out earlier anthologies. I contributed to JLA8 with the whimsical “Of Orphans and Magic” and, as mentioned, JLA7 “An Empire of Fools.” I occasionally release shorts on my dust-gathering wordpress site, https://syfieldwrites.wordpress.com/, which honestly I promised I would update for sure soon.

Q: Are your other pieces similar to your legend?

A: I try to create tones with stories like a musician develops songs. So while all my other works (and works in progress) have similar beats, the music is unique to each. It’s all about that underlying rhythm.

Q: If not, what can the reader expect from your other pieces?

A: Whatever moves me at the moment. 🙂

  Thanks SO MUCH for joining me on my blog today. I’m so glad to have you here. It’s been amazing to learn how another writer works and to know that we aren’t alone with our struggles in writing.

Don’t forget! Our new anthology is out the end of April (the 27th to be exact), and there are more author interviews to check out, linked below. Follow the blog tour by checking back sometime next week,

  Shannon Yukumi works as an interpreter and translator, ghost writes, creates fiction in their spare time, and parents two children in Japan. Language tends to get away from them, but they claim that that isn’t their fault.

Feel free to poke around their Twitter account (@WritesSy) or website (https://syfieldwrites.wordpress.com).

Blog: https://syfieldwrites.wordpress.com

Twitter: @WritesSy

You can find Shannon’s other works here:

“An Empire of Fools,” Fractured Ever After, Rowanwood Publishing, LLC

“Of Orphans and Magic,” The Magic Within, Rowanwood Publishing, LLC

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In case you missed the other interviews:

https://83louross.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/author-interview-renee-frey/

https://blog.reneefreyauthor.com/2020/04/author-interview-i-love-reading-and-i.html

  Seeds of Lore

Steeped in tradition and universal truths, mythology and folklore are two sides of the same coin. In this collection, nine stories reshape such legends into new tales brimming with adventure and magic.

Deities don’t always have the answers: a mother goddess and her loyal queen bee search for a cure as the land withers around them; a war goddess chooses a mortal champion, but her gift of power comes at a price; and a grieving god travels to the underworld to rescue his best friend.

The trickery of fae is a legend of its own: a clever young man must outwit a wily leprechaun; a lost girl finds herself at the forest queen’s mercy when she stumbles upon a solstice celebration; and a rebellious girl must find her phone after a gnome steals it to punish her disobedience.

Even mortals can become myths in their own right: a determined prince rides out to discover who keeps stealing his father’s golden apples; a dissatisfied youth charged with keeping Excalibur safe fights against the tradition forced upon him; and a teenage boy has mere hours to prevent the end of the world after his father accidentally releases an Egyptian god.

Step into ancient worlds and new locales as you rediscover old truths.

Pre-order today

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Author Interview: Shannon Yukumi Today on the blog I'm thrilled to have an author interview. I'm part of a new JL Anthology that releases later this month, and some of us are participating in a blog tour with interviews.