#like aliens travelling back in time to meet a guy who is clueless but does things of cosmic significance

[ssugarsp00n]

Am I insane or is Homestuck greatly influenced by the Book of the New Sun?

[meenah-chan]

Quintessence

A Lucifer x MC’s Over-protective! Sister fanfic

4.45k words

Genre: Angst

Trigger Warnings: mentions violence, self-inflictions; Read at your own discretion.

Chapter 1: click here

Chapter 3: click here

"Is this a some sort of punishment?"

"You're really lucky... I am quite jealous, if I may say."

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

With the noisy, yellow demon unconscious, the only sound on their way to House of Lamentation is MC's periodic yawns from the lack of night's sleep and the rumbling wheels of their suitcase on an empty road.

"We're here! Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone. They should be in the dining room right now." Starting to feel the exhaustion she's been holding back since meeting the other-worldly creatures, Alexandria let her sister half-drag her off to somewhere.

"I'm home!" Pulling her to a room, the first thing she saw is a large dining table filled with food and... Five more demons. Five male demons.

"MC, we're leaving." She tugged on the female's hand, still attached on her own, but in turn resisted her slight force.

"What? No, we won't." The teen raised an eyebrow from her sudden demeanor.

"MC!! I MISS YOU!!" A brown-haired guy came rushing towards their direction with open arms. Yet, before he could even latch his arms around the girl, Alexandria pulled her away, causing the male to hug nothing but air.

"MC! Why did you avoid— Huh?"

"MC, w–who is she?" A purple-haired tensely asked, anxious of the stranger in their home.

"She's my sister—"

"Ahhh!!" Alexandria and MC flinched from the sudden outburst of the man who came running at them moments ago, which caught her off-guard.

Suddenly, her hand was yanked away from her little sister's grasp and was held a few centimeters to the demon's eyes.

"Wha... such a..." He then stretched the said arm out and tenderly stroke it up her shoulder, "What a flawless, plump, porcelain skin..." then let go and cupped her cheeks with both hands.

"Such a refined beauty. But wait..." The male narrowed his eyes for a second, "Are you not sleeping well? Your face is a tee~ny bit dry and a bit of bag under your eyes." The demon gave her a sad pout.

"I usually appreciate such flattery. However, right now, I can only sense it as an assault from a stranger I just met. So will you please refrain from your harassment?" Regaining her composure, she snapped at him.

"Asmodeus, stop harassing our guest unless you wanted punishment." Asmodeus instantly raised both his hands up from the domineering voice on the doorway. Lucifer appeared with a beat Mammon.

"Whoopsy! My bad. What a rude way to greet a wonderful guest such as yourself." Asmodeus sends her a wink before returning to his seat.

"MC, will you introduce her to everyone."

"Hmm! Everyone, meet my sister, Alexa! Due to certain circumstances, she'll be staying here with us all throughout my stay here."

"Pleased to meet all of you. I'm Alexandria Evergreen, MC's older sister. I'm here to watch over her. I hope to have a conflict-free relationship with everyone."

"No, the pleasure is ours." A blonde-haired man replied, "I'm Satan, the fourth eldest. I maybe the Avatar of Wrath but I assure you, I'm the nicest and most logical person here." But her instinct says otherwise as she felt an odd atmosphere around the green-eyed man.

"Bush e'shi, shoo shais shoo hamp 'o shibi." Her eyes travelled to the oranged-haired man who seemed to be emptying the table stuffing himself.

"Beel, you shouldn't talk while chewing." A drowsy, navy blue-haired guy yawns beside him. "MC, he means you said you have no siblings." He rubbed his eyes before turning his attention to the older sister. "Hello, I'm Belphegor, Beelzebub's twin and the youngest. I'm also the Avatar of Sloth. This guy beside me is Beelzebub, the Avatar of Gluttony and the sixth oldest." The scarfing guy nods and she returned the gesture.

"Oh that? Yes, I don't have one back then, but our parents got married a few weeks ago. We're originally childhood friends."

"WoOAAAHH~!! That's just like the anime 'My Dearest Childhood Friend became my Sister after our Parents got Married but now the Aliens Invaded the Earth so We Became Heroes and Stop the End of the World!!' and that is really LIT!!" The demon, whom she thought was timid a while ago, squealed in one breathe, and it certainly caught her by surprise.

"That noisy one is Levi." MC sweatdropped.

"I'm Leviathan, the third oldest and the Avatar of Envy."

"And don't forget about the sweet and charming Asmodeus here~~ I'm the fifth eldest and the Avatar of Lust. You can call me Asmo-chan~~" he winked for the second time.

Yet contrary to his positive attitude, Alexandria cocked an eyebrow. "So you mean..." Her gaze followed Mammon wobbling to the table. "That crook right there is the second oldest?"

His head snapped at her. "Oi! Gotta problem if I'm the second oldest?"

"Yeah, in more ways than one." She curtly replied. "So, if you're the Avatar of Greed, you being a crook does make sense."

"Oi! You don't have to say it twice!"

Ignoring Mammon, she faced the oldest. "And you're the Avatar of Pride, I suppose?"

"Yes, and let me properly introduce myself to you." He placed a palm above his chest. "I'm Lucifer, the oldest of the seven brothers and the Avatar of Pride. I'm the one who leads this household and tend to all of these problem children." Satan, Mammon and Belphegor glared daggers towards him.

"Ha! More importantly, I have a juicy piece of news to you guys." Mammon grinned which alerted Lucifer.

"Not a word Mammon."

"'Ya see, that's no normal human right there. A few hours ago, she just made THE Lucifer on his knees and tied him in a pact with her."

The five brothers' eyes popped out of their skulls and jaws dropped. Even Beel almost choked.

"Pact... you say?" 5 pairs of eyes darted between a grinning Mammon, a displeased Lucifer and the new female.

"You're right. She's not an ordinary human but let me clear two things." The menacing red-eyed demon crossed his arms and raised his chin. "The only one on his knees, or rather, on his back is none other than you Mammon. You're the one knocked out after just three blows from her. You're also the one who caused this series of unfortunate events... Don't ever think I'm done with your punishment yet."

"Eek!" Making shrieked and cowered in fear.

"Wait– She what? I know Mammon is weak but, she really knock him out with three blows??" Asmodeus exclaimed.

"Are you really sure she's a human?" Satan added.

Although Beelzebub is also shocked, his brows twitched in realization, glancing at the two female. "MC, Miss Alexandria, you probably haven't eaten anything yet. You should eat."

"I think I'll pass. I'll get some shut-eye first." MC awkwardly laughed. Beel is pretty amazing in his own way...

"I thank you for the offer, but I also needed some rest." She slightly smiled.

Lucifer stepped closer beside her. "If that's the case, then you should stay in MC's room for now. Mammon will clean the room beside MC's for your use later."

Glancing at the oldest, she shook her head. "Providing a room for me is more than enough. I can tend to it just fine. And I can't impose to you anymore than I already did."

"But you're a guest. It's only natural for us to ensure you'll have a great time staying here."

"But I insist. And I'm not a guest. I'm the one who made my way here so it's only natural for me to help here in exchange for my stay." She paused as she crossed her arms. "Unless, freeloading is a thing here. That'll be bad, for encouraging irresponsibility and decadence."

"..." Lucifer speechlessly furrowed his brows.

Seven pairs of eyes were both shocked and amazed to see someone actually have the guts to run their mouth against one of the strongest demon in their realm without breaking a sweat.

"She really is not a human. There's no way a human can stand her ground against Lucifer." Asmodeus gaped.

"Or maybe she's just clueless of Lucifer's true power... Though I could use her help to mess with him." Belphegor and Satan snickers at the same time as if having the very same thought.

"To not even have the natural instinct to flee from danger is just dumb." Alexandria ominously glance towards Belphegor, Satan and Leviathan, causing a chill run down their spine.

"Then please excuse us. MC shall be my guide." Drawing back, she bowed towards Lucifer and the others before pulling MC and their luggage out of the dining room.

"MC... I must say, our time here will be anything but harmonious..." The older sister sighed.

"But I'm sure you'll have fun. There's no boring times here" MC just laughed awkwardly.

"Oh well, all I want is a peaceful time you. Even an hour or two a day would be nice."

-----

Forget their peaceful time, getting along with most of the brothers is hard, except Beel who is too nice to her to be considered a bother. All the other brothers do was try to steal MC away.

Well, Asmodeus is an exception. He's not trying to take MC away. He's trying take both of them away for his beauty and night out shenanigans.

A few days have passed, and she was also made into a student to be with MC as much as possible.

"Hey Alexa-chan, I'm just wondering... Is there anything you can't do? At this rate you'll end up stealing MC's heart faster than any of us. You're too dreamy, you might as well take her as your bride." Asmodeus pouts as he lazily pokes through his steak Alexandria prepared for dinner.

"O–Oi! The hell are you saying, Asmo?" A flustered Mammon yelled, sitting beside MC.

The older female sighed and glance at Asmodeus, sitting beside her. "Just eat Asmodeus, you're just hungry. And I told you to not call me Alexa."

"But aren't I right? You're so in love with her enough to follow her here. And you're not really her sister by blood, so it's possible."

"If I told you, you and Mammon look good together, you should marry each other, what would you feel?"

"Eww! That's the grossest thing I ever heard." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"She really hates you, lololol." Levi snickers at Mammon, sitting across him.

Mammon narrowed his eyes at him, tapping his knife on his plate.

"I never saw this child that way. I'm more like a mother to her more than anything." She points to the 'child' next to her, too busy stuffing her face with the food to notice she is the topic on the table. "Saying that, I didn't protect that child just to fall for any demon."

"Aww... And I thought it'll also be interesting if there's that kind of plot twist." Asmodeus look down, only to find his plate empty. "Hey! Beel, give me back my steak!" His eyes darts across him, towards the orange demon chewing happily.

"I thought you don't want it anymore so I ate it." He smiled innocently as Belphegor and Satan laughed in amusement, witnessing the whole theft.

Alexandria glance around the room, searching for a certain person she haven't seen since yesterday night. "By the way, where's Lucifer?"

"He's probably still in his study, it's the time of the month he have tons of work to do." Satan replied.

"He'll probably coop himself until tomorrow or the day after." Belphegor added, finishing his meal.

She gave a second glance in the table, void of any trace of any food left, sweeping to the also empty plate of her sister.

"Hmm... MC did you eat well?"

"Yes! I really missed your steak!" The teen beamed at her, having a drop of sauce on her lips.

"What am I gonna do with you." She giggled as she wipe the stain off. "Come on, you should rest for the night."

After sending her to her room, Alexandria strolls towards the kitchen and left with a tray on hand, walking towards the library.

She passed by the tall shelfs with several missing books of all sorts of fields. Going further in, she knocked on the door inside the library.

"It's Alexandria, I brought you something." Hearing no response, she let herself in.

The first thing that attract her eyes is the tall pile of paper wall on the table and the male who is almost hidden by it, black circles around his eyes.

"Are you still alive?" Lucifer's flipped towards her, finally noticing her presence.

"Ohh, it's you. What do you want?"

"You probably haven't eaten anything since this morning. I brought you some sandwiches and fruit shake." She set the tray down the small table in the middle of the room and took the plate of sandwiches and the large cup of fruit shake, moving towards Lucifer's study table.

"Here, taking a breather won't hurt." Red orbs darted between the plate, the cup and her face before reluctantly taking it after a sigh and setting it down the free space is the table.

"This is a nice study. It's cozier than mine back in human world."

"What's your deal?"

"Well, I like the fireplace. I can't have one in my apartment."

"If you need nothing, then leave. I don't have time to waste."

"Yeah, I need to do something." She took a few leaves of paper from the desk and scan through it. "Hmm... I see... As expected..."

"What is it you need to do?" Lucifer raised his eyebrow.

"I'll help you with this papers. With us two, we can finish it by morning."

"Hmmp! There's no way I'll let a human mess with the financial statements of the Devildom."

"If it's about the difference of terms and flow of currency, then I have already studied about it."

"...Huh? How..." The demon suddenly remembered the several books missing from the library's shelf. "Ahh... But then, how did you learn how to read our language?" His brows furrowed.

"There's no way I could have extensive knowledge about pacts and such if I can't read the original texts about it."

The lady in front of him never failed to impress him. And yet, "The answer is still a no." Stoic expression returned his face.

"Then let me rephrase it. My master is having a hard time," Lucifer almost slip out of his chair from her words. "...and I can do something about it, so I want help however I can."

"Did you just say 'Master'?"

"Yeah, based on our contract, you're technically my master. Though you can't take advantage of me, which is a good thing..."

Lucifer wouldn't admit it. He can't admit it. But being called master by this capable human who always amaze him has stroked his ego more than he could ever felt from anyone, he can't even stop himself from grinning.

"You really know your way with words. But don't get me wrong. I only allowed you because you've went so far just to do what you want." A smile was also plastered on her face.

"Yes Master Lucifer, if you say so." She chuckled a bit before taking the papers Lucifer choose for her to do.

Sharing a few conversation while working, they really did finish by morning as she predicted.

------

"Alexa, why aren't you in your room? Did you woke up early?"

"Yeah, something like that." With a bit of sleepiness clouding her head, Alexandria chose to eat light breakfast before taking a rest. Good thing it's weekend.

MC moved her attention at the demon on the end of the table. "Lucifer, it's really unusual. You've finished quite early."

"I just discovered a breather had been rather helpful." He stealthly stole a quick glance towards the lady busy eating her food.

The only sound on the table after that is a few yawns— from the usual sleepy Belphegor; and Leviathan and Mammon, probably from overnight gaming marathon they could never finish tonight as Lucifer is out of his confinement.

Everyone has their own world when Alexandria breaks the silence.

"MC, you told me you're hanging out with Mammon and Asmodeus today, right?" She place down her utensils as the girl glance at her.

"Yeah, we're going to shop some clothes on Majolish. Why? You're coming anyways, aren't you?"

"No. I have some business today, but I'll leave you to Beel. Is it alright with you Beel?" She scan the face of the food-loving demon whom just finished his food.

"I don't mind." He smiled softly.

"Thank you. Please do bring her safe and I'll treat you to Madam Scream's of anything you want."

"Madam Scream's...? Really? With anything I want?" Beel's eyes sparkles as drool pools down his empty plate.

She gave him a broad smile. "Yes, anything."

"Alexa, you probably don't know what you're saying. Beel will definitely bust your pocket in no time." Belphegor yawns as he took a bite on his toast.

"But I'm aware of Beel's appetite. Let's just say I'm loaded enough to feed 10 Beels for at least 1 month." She swiped a black card in air with her middle and index finger.

"Hey... Is that..." Satan raised an eyebrow.

"WOAHH!! The legendary black card! Imagine how many Ruri-chan collectibles and games I could buy with that." Sleepiness flushes out of Leviathan's system as he stared at the black card.

"Can feed... 10 Beels..." The sixth-born's drool intensifies.

"Hmm? When did you get one? You should've just asked me to process it for you." A surprised but rather unfazed Lucifer asked.

"I told you I don't want to be a bother. Though I admit getting one is not an easy task."

"Hey Alexa-chan. Are you sure you don't wanna join us shopping?" The fourth-born playfully twist her bangs around his fingers. "And while we're at it, let's have a full body Super Beauty Mud Course~"

She touched her chin in thought. "I'll think about the mud course, but not today."

But then, a demon, who should be hyper at the sight of a premium item, was rather silent.

"Hey Alexa-sama... Can I touch it?" The second-born teleports beside her, orbs sparkles gold and fingers twitching on air in a perverse way. "Please. It'll be a dream come true to hold it in my arms for even just a second."

"I refuse." She slid it back her wallet as fast as she swiped it out. "Show me first that I could trust you." She pinched the tan nose facing her, grinning.

Cherry red orbs observes the sight of the lively table, a curve tenderly forms across his face.

"O-Oi! Let go–" *Ring ring*

The sound of a phone rung through the spirited atmosphere, which wiped the smile off Alexandria's face.

Picking up the cup of tea with her free hand, she gulp it down before letting go of Mammon.

"Take care while shopping later, MC." She ruffled her sister's hair, "Thank you for the meal. Now, if you'll excuse me." ...before leaving the room.

"Then, I'll also retire for today and take a rest. Don't make a mess while I do so." Feeling tired of his restless shift, Lucifer decided to leave and retire to his room.

On his way, he heard the familiar voice of the lady behind her door, seemingly distressed.

As unethical as it seems, the oldest's curiosity of the enigmatic female wins him over and decided to stood his ground.

"I told you Father, I can't right now, that's why I'm telling you to just let me quit...... If I tell you, you'll definitely try to take me back there....... No...... Not telling......."

He could hear the series of loud sighs and frustration beyond the door.

"No, I don't want it. Brother deserves the company more than I do. So please think it over again.... Yes....... Yes, I will. Then, bye." He then heard a beep ending the call.

On the verge of stepping away as to not get caught, the next thing he heard render him motionless in place.

"I'm not even a your real child to begin with. If I continue there, I'll actually end up killing myself..." Unconsciously, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Alexandria jolts in surprise as her door opened out of nowhere.

"Wha..." Surprise was imminent on her face yet, realizing it is the first-born, her brows scrunches. "Don't you know knocking is a common courtesy?"

"What do you mean by you not being your father's real child? And what do you mean about killing yourself?" He ignores the annoyed expression of the woman. There's no way he could let this information pass under his nose. Not with this girl who made him concede more than he expected, and certainly not because of that grim words.

"What do you want?" She narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"Killing yourself is something I could not ignore. And, I want to know more about the human who have the audacity to force a pact with me." He returned the same gaze with crossed arms above his chest. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the lady yield for the first time.

"Alright. I guess as a demon who have a pact with me, you have the right to know. We are, after all, connected by soul in spite of everything... Let's go to your office or something. I don't want anyone to hear this like you did."

"Right now, Satan is probably cooped in the library. He'll certainly asked why we're together. Let's go to my room instead. It's quite spacious for someone to eavesdrop."

She followed behind the oldest brother, careful not to be seen by anyone. Entering the room without meeting anyone down the hallway gave her a sense of relief.

"Even your room is nice." She casually strolls in the room, brushing her fingertips on the bones in the pillar, the candelabra, the gramophone, and scanning a few picture frames above the fireplace.

"You may want to start your story this instant or I'll pull the words out of you by force." Growing impatient, Lucifer took a sit at an angle on the corner of his bed, arms drapes his chest again.

With another sigh, she sat on the length of the bed partially behind the man, placing both her palms on the bed as she face the furnace.

"Too eager, aren't we?"

"Unlike you, I want to take a rest." Alexandria chuckled of his remark.

"It's true I'm not a real child of the current family I'm in. I am adopted after all." Her Aquamarine eyes glows a hue of orange as she stare at the dancing fire in the furnace. "It's no secret to MC. I did met her in an orphanage after all.."

"She's a volunteer that time when we're still young. Is that good enough? Am I off the hook already?"

"No. That doesn't answer my second question. You're still hiding... something." The strained smile he witnessed on her face almost made him regret continuing his statement.

"Is this a some sort of punishment?" A self-reproachful laughter rings the room, "You're good with picking your card if it is."

"You can say that. But I'm also curious of you."

"Yeah, yeah... But it'll be a long story. Is it alright with you?"

"I have the whole day available. And you?"

"I also have nothing to do. I just gave MC a sister-free day or she'll get tired of me."

"Then, continue your story." He moves facing the same fireplace.

"Ahh, right... If I remember correctly, the Great Celestial War... It's a conflict within your family, right?"

Lucir flinched from the sudden question. "...Why did you ask?"

"I just thought we may have the same sentiment... or maybe not."

"..."

"Anyways, MC knew nothing about what I'm going to tell you, so it's our secret, okay?" She waited for his reply before continuing.

"You see, I also have a big family. I'm the oldest with my six, adorable siblings. They're 3 set of twins. Amazing, right?" She smiled at him, softly.

"We're living a normal, happy life. I'm really satisfied with our big family I feel it to last forever... Or so I thought." The softness in her face disappeared into a grimace. Colors in her eyes disappeared as she travel back to time.

"I was 9 at that time when that night happened. It was freezing I couldn't feel my fingertips. Snow was falling hard when I witness everything."

"Unlike that fire, the place was rather cold and dark. My struggling brother's neck in his bare hands, my limp and beaten mother trying to pry him away from my brother, the bloody corpses of my 3 sisters, my 2 other brothers writhing in pain... and that sickening smile on my father's face." She spat, grabbing Lucifer's comforter with her fist. Lucifer watched the scorching flame reflected in her eyes as if it's her own.

"There's no way I could ever forgive him for what he have done..." She rid of her shoes and hugged her legs, facing Lucifer as she lay her cheeks on her knees. "Like how I could never forgive myself for what happened."

"Forgive yourself? That's a foolish way to put it. You didn't do anything wrong."

Bluish orbs draw itself towards his own as she gave him a bitter smile. "You can say that because you don't know everything."

"Then tell me what I don't know."

"Let's just say that a drive to protect MC and a drive to live are two different things. And I've been searching for the latter to no avail."

"You're really lucky to still have your brothers. I am quite jealous if I may say." She wore her shoes again and amble her way to the entryway. "It seems like this is as far as I could tell you right now. Maybe I'll continue it next time. If you'll excuse me." She bowed before closing the door.

In contrast, Lucifer couldn't utter another word. Perhaps it's because of the pact above his chest which connects them, but he felt his heart ache slowly since she started telling her story.

And right now, he feels an unbearable pain. An unbearable pain as if he's reliving his own scars.

He stared at the same scorching fire, and as though imitating her, he tried imagining the grief he have felt of losing someone dear.

"...lucky, huh... I guess I really am..." Clutching the fabric above his chest, he felt a pang of guilt from his curiosity.

If anyone asks if I hate Mammon for bullying him here too much— the answer's no. In fact, he's my # 2 (sometimes # 1 coz Luci). I really love him and his dorkiness! But he's just so adorable when he's flustered that I end up picking on him a bit too much (maybe that's also the reason why I love Luci and he's my first if not because of my occasional Mammon hype).

Anyways, it's a good thing I posted it now. I've been proofreading it for the umpteenth time cause I don't have any friends to ask nor share sentiments with the Obey Me Fandom (sad life of an otaku). I have many revisions but I'm quite satisfied with how it turns out again. UwU

And I didn't even noticed it's already 3 a.m. so I'm gonna peace out now~~

Chapter 3

MASTERLIST

[shananigans402]

1-65 will do, please. Thanks fuck face :)

I knew exactly who this was and I was so tempted to not reply, but your punishment is having to read through all my answers and remember them forever or you fail the friend test. To everyone else, please do not click unless you want to be very bored, my answers are not interesting lol

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? Nope

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? Assuming 5 is the most, 1. Maybe 2. 

3. The person you would never want to meet? The person who sent me this (jk I’m excited for our eventual meet up where we hit up a strip club first thing 🙏)

4. What is your favorite word? I answered with ‘conniption’ the other day and still have not found a word I like more.

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be? Already answered this, fruit tree! I also like palm trees, maple trees, and willow trees. I know that’s not the question, I’m just saying random shit now.

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? It took me a long while to remember where I was this morning. I honestly don’t remember, I was rushing to get ready for an early morning meeting.

7. What shirt are you wearing? My Orlando Strong shirt 

8. What do you label yourself as? Lesbian

9. Bright room or dark room? Bright room

10. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping? Possibly checking on a feverish little beeb who was going through it with her second dose of the vaccine.

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far? No idea. I like various ages for different reasons, but this age so far is not bad. 

12. Who told you they loved you last? Probably my sister 🤷‍♀️

13. Your worst enemy? The person who sent this ask.

14. What is your current desktop picture? The apple pic of Catalina island that changes based on time of day (yes it’s the default, don’t judge me)

15. Do you like someone? Lol yeah I hope so 😂

16. The last song you listened to? Pretty Girl by Hayley Kiyoko 

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? Definitely @raginage

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? I feel like I can only attack Raginage so many times. Can I pick a fictional character? This week I was real mad at Dave in The Darkness. BaBe!​

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? Lol no one, you’re talking to a person who feels very uncomfortable with anyone doing anything nice for them.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) Not this again. Last time I said eyes? Still no pics, sorry

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? What would I look like? Do I get to design myself like a sim? I honestly don’t know what I’d do because I doubt the world needs another clueless white man walking around, so maybe just stay at home. 

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? Nope. And my last answer to this was awful. I do think I have a fantastic ability to annoy my friends but in a way that’s just amusing/endearing enough to make them still want to talk to me 😌

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? Unique? Uhm well my two big fears are confined spaces and deep water so a submarine is like my worst nightmare.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. Oh this is going to sound so odd. To be clear, I’ve had better sandwiches, but my go-to is provolone, turkey, roast beef, and spicy brown mustard or whole grain mustard. Please don’t judge me.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? Travel budget for future trips to visit my buds and get into trouble and eat food. I know $100 won’t go far, but it’s something.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? Well, after my last answer I want to visit my friends! But there are too many people to visit and I only have one ticket. So change of plans. I’m going on a solo trip to Greece. Or Argentina. Or Iceland. Or Bali. Damn, I’m indecisive. 

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? Rabble red blend. Just a solid red wine. Also because @viola-lloyds stole my answer the other day (Juneshine; to be fair I asked her this question but whatever) and I don’t want to copy her.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? Oh I answered this one, something about respecting others. Yeah, a nice rule like that. Want to establish some healthy communication on this island.

29. What is your favorite expletive? It’s still fuck

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno? But what about my PLANTS. Can they count as loved ones? Probably my laptop, I know that’s lame but like...I have a lot of stuff on here. Or the collection of cards I have that my granddad drew little drawings in, I want to get them all framed.

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? To be honest, I don’t know if I’d change big life events in case it altered the trajectory of where I ended up. So idk maybe the ending of Bly, let’s give those lesbians have a happy ending!

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! Italy! But wait, let’s get back to this sleeping with celebrities and super-powers bit...

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? Oh that’s a really tough question. I always wanted to meet my great-grandma Olga because she seemed like a really awesome lady. 

34. What was your last dream about? I can’t remember, this is bothering me because I wish I could! I’m sorry. My gf recently had a dream where I kissed a dude right in front of her. It made us both very uncomfy lol

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? I hate this question because I can only think of one thing.

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? For surgery, yeah

37. Have you ever built a snowman? But of course!

38. What is the color of your socks? Not wearing any? I was wearing blue ones earlier. Jfc my answers are so boring.

39. What type of music do you like? Lots! I tend to listen to indie, classic rock, and some pop

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Sunsets!

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? Chocolate or a variant (chocolate peanut butter, chocolate caramel)

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer) LA Rams or Seattle Seahawks. I know they’re in the same division. It’s tough. (Please don’t ask me why these teams)

43. Do you have any scars? Yep, mostly from burning myself on ovens. I simply get too excited for my food.

44. What do you want to be when you graduate? I...have graduated? 

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Well bestie recently said I have “lesbian hands” and I think that’s code for man hands so maybe that hahaha

46. Are you reliable? I try to be!

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? How many more times will I watch The Darkness before I learn my lesson? (Related: When does other bestie finally admit to her fetish?)

48. Do you hold grudges? Not typically, no

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? A dog and an otter? Can we domesticate otters? No, a horse and a large bird, create a pegasus and then free travel.

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? Oh god. I don’t even know where to start today tbh. Damie and pokemon and cosycon and looming and feet and [redacted] and developing apps for VP. So many fantastic conversations. 

In real life, probably the time I was at a laundromat in Italy and this guy wandered in with a beer, sat next to me and my male roommate, assumed we were a couple, and proceeded to give us bizarre life advice. I wish I could remember more of it, but it was so odd.

51. Are you a good liar? Hmm I’m okay at it I think, that is, I can convince people I’m serious when I’m actually joking. But I don’t like actually lying if it’s not just teasing someone. 

52. How long could you go without talking? Probably a few days if I had to.

53. What has been you worst haircut/style? The haircut I got before studying abroad! It was too short and I was so sad.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake? For a birthday? No. For fun? Absolutely.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own? Not well, no

56. What do you like on your toast? Butter and/or honey and/or jam

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of? My beautiful depiction of a scene of chapter one of Private Dancer. 

58. What would be you dream car? An electric car of some sort. I don’t know enough about cars tbh

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. Nope but sometimes I’ll play music and dance and maybe softly sing.

60. Do you believe in aliens? Yep! Definitely 

61. Do you often read your horoscope? Almost never unless someone sends it to me.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? Already answered, A

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? Dinosaurs! 🦕

64. What do you think about babies? What do I think about them? They’re pretty cool. Just tiny little humans. 

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of. I was very nice and let you correct your mistake and submit one after the fact:

In your opinion what is the best thing you can cook, like your speciality? My favorite thing to make is pasta, I started making my own sauce and I’d love to make pasta from scratch sometime.

[theradioghost]

some recs for my podcast mutuals who are burnt out on horror & sad plot stuff

aka I’ve been seeing a few flavors of people exhausted by several of the most popular podcasts around here being pretty dark right now & I have attempted to put together a tasting menu of some stuff I think might help alleviate that burnout (& which also deserves some more love)

1. I'm okay with stuff that’s still on the dark or macabre side, I'd just like something that isn’t 100% characters I care about suffering horribly all the time, maybe some laughs in there

The Beef and Dairy Network: Like a seriously disturbing body horror podcast, except British satirical comedy! About cows! You kind of have to listen to it to get what’s going on tbqh it’s nearly impossible to explain but if you like horror and are just tired of being depressed about it maybe try this one. NOT for the easily nauseated.

Wooden Overcoats: black comedy sitcom about two rival funeral homes on a small island, one run by The Most Perfect Man On Earth (tm) and the other run by two misanthropic twins with a knack for disaster (and their hypercompetent assistant (and a mouse who wants to be an author)). this one is about watching the protagonist suffer horribly all the time but like, this time it’s usually a lot funnier and honestly he deserves it

Death by Dying: (so far very short) dark comedy about the resident obituary writer of idyllic Crestfall, Idaho, who sets out to tell the stories of how the town’s residents died and ends up uncovering a lot of other things, like conspiracies, and man-eating cats, and a poet’s vanishing childhood home, and what his friend the Angel of Death isn’t telling him about what’s in the dark woods. has very strong ASOUE or Pushing Daisies vibes, that sort of dark whimsy and really distinct narrative voice

Arden: “true crime” comedy-ish mystery podcast feat. two of the best bickering hosts anywhere and a whole third host called homoerotic tension, trying to solve a decade-old Hollywood mystery. secretly a shakespeare adaptation. one of the hosts is michelle agresti. an airline run by killer robots is involved, somehow. it’s a perfect storm

2. I’m good with some plot and higher stakes, but I need something more kind and hopeful right now:

Middle:Below: 10-minute episodes about a man who travels between the worlds of the living and the dead to solve the problems of restless ghosts, and the three friends he does it with -- a ghost, a cat, and a writer. their tagline is “remember: bad things will happen.” this is basically a lie, this show is extremely sweet

Alba Salix: high fantasy medical workplace comedy about hospital staff in a fairytale-ish kingdom, namely one grouchy witch, one distracted fairy, and one extremely disgruntled teenager sentenced to community service. also comes with the miniseries The Axe And Crown, which is about a gay troll bartender, his clueless landlord, and his bombastic niece, and also is one of the most heartfelt touching pieces of audio fiction I’ve ever heard?

Dark Ages: also a high fantasy workplace comedy, but in this one the dysfunctional cast work at a magical natural history museum, which thanks to recent events is now hosting the mythical Dark Lord on top of all the usual problems caused by their complete incompetency.

Solutions to Problems: a sci-fi relationship advice show feat. human host Janet and alien host Loaf. also feat. banter, illegal time travel, what to do when the AI that controls the air you breathe is your on-again-off-again girlfriend, and how to avoid your many spouses when they insist you need to come back to the homeworld and spend some time with your spawn.

Victoriocity: steampunk buddy-comedy mystery show, in which misanthropic detective Archibald Fleet (aka Tom Crowley but he’s grouchy this time) and intrepid newbie journalist Clara Entwhistle (aka an absolute ray of sunshine) uncover some Secret Plots within the government of a very different victorian london. if you like the “opposing personalities come to care deeply about one another as friends” trope this one is for you

Inn Between: not an actual play, but a show about the developing relationships of a party of RPG-esque adventurers as they rest at the inn between campaigns. you don’t see the adventures, just the crew growing closer and learning about one another in their moments of peace.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris: sci-fi adventure about a stranded biologist and a ragtag crew of smugglers who set out to resist an authoritarian government, solve a mystery, and prevent a second human-alien war. as far as I can tell their plan for accomplishing this is to be as funny, gay, and adorable as possible, and to dismantle oppressive systems via the power of found family tropes. also via the power of linguistics.

3. just give me the fluffiest, funniest, sweetest, most relaxed, lowest-stakes thing you have:

Everything is Alive: meditative, deeply touching show where Guy From Public Radio holds interviews with inanimate objects. the interviews are super genuine and beautiful and I think they’re improvised, or at least they sound very natural? for people who want to be profoundly moved by a can of generic brand cola (you may not know but you are one of those people)

Standard Docking Procedure: a self-described “hopepunk” scifi sitcom about a group of employees on a space station, dealing with the little daily misadventures of difficult tourists, traffic control disasters, nonexistent love lives, and each other. Has an explicitly stated purpose of staying happy, lighthearted, and comforting.

Love and Luck: tied for absolute most heartwarming audio drama in existence. the story of the relationship between two Australian men, told through voicemail messages, as they fall in love, start a cafe, build a supportive and loving local queer community of close-knit friends and chosen family who help one another through thick and thin, and also find out that they can do magic apparently (IMPORTANT NOTE: there are some darker events and themes tackled in the plot starting around the latter half of the first season, but the focus of the story itself is always on how people support and help one another through trauma and difficulty, and the explicitly stated core premise of the show is that every character will have a happy ending and be okay.)

Quid Pro Euro: Look Around You-esque satire of old 80s and 90s instructional tapes where Felix Trench tells you what the European Union will look like in the far-off year of 2000. I don’t know anything about the European Union but I cackle like a witch when I listen to this

The Cryptonaturalist: I know you’ve seen his tweets. well it’s that but a podcast. just a man with an extremely nice voice talking about fantastical creatures like salamanders that swim through parking lot asphalt or foxes that roam the shelves of libraries at night. in between he reads poetry and generally talks about nature in the most beautiful way you could imagine. this show feels like a peaceful walk in the woods.

The Hidden Almanac: a podcast made 90% out of gentle fantasy worldbuilding, as a somewhat grumpy man in a plague doctor mask tells you about the history of his world and distributes gardening advice. has an immense archive of four-minute long episodes. it’s best to listen in order, because there is continuity, and be aware that about the first year or so has dropped off most feeds. written and performed by much-loved fantasy writer and artist Ursula Vernon and her husband Kevin.

Startripper!!: the other forerunner for most heartwarming audio drama in existence. seriously, you cannot imagine how much joy Startripper!! will bring into your life. it’s just the travelogue of one little alien with a heart full of enthusiasm and love setting out to see the universe and making friends along the way with just about everyone he meets, including his extremely loveable spaceship AI. I really mean it. listen to this show if you listen to nothing else.

Cabin Pressure: BBC radio workplace comedy about the dysfunctional crew of the world’s smallest airline. not only utterly hilarious but will tug on your heartstrings more than you could possibly imagine (this does not look at first like a found family story but it so very much is). warning for bendytoots cucumberpatch but like, in the one and only valid role he’s ever played. you definitely cannot find this show by searching its name on the Internet Archive.

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance •  Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 25: The Girl Who Waited 

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Chapter summary: Amy gets separated from each other and when the Doctor finally finds a way back, they find a much older Amy Pond waiting for them. Now he has to watch as the little cluster of Ponds (including Avalon herself) decide which version of Amy they should bring back home. It makes the Doctor ask himself if his own relationship with Avalon will one day end up as broken as Amy's and Rory's nearly was.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel​ @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Can we please meet her? I promise I won't cause trouble?" Avalon was asking, or rather trying to ask calmly. She was trying her best not to look as annoyed as she was. She was currently at the bottom of the console stairs against the rail with the Doctor in front of her, pressing a trail of soft kisses down her neck. She'd succumbed to him quite easily since he'd chosen to keep wearing that dark brown coat she seemed to love so much. He'd figured it out very fast. Now Avalon wasn't complaining one bit about that but she was hoping to use this current moment of pleasure for both to get something she'd been wanting for some time now.

"Jane Austen was and is one of the most renowned writers. And for someone like me, it would be amazing to meet her," Avalon explained with her best soft tone, "I think it's good to get some perspective outside of Zelda. Please, won't you take me?"

The Doctor finally lifted his head to look at her. "That depends..."

"On?"

"We get to make it a date," the Doctor smirked.

"Done and done!" Avalon quickly took the deal, "So we're going, then!?"

"Sure, why not? Haven't seen Janie in a long time."

Suddenly, Avalon's joy faltered and she put a hand on her hip, "No, hold on, you call her...Janie?" she tilted her head, "So you know her then...? And you even gave her a little nickname."

"...so...?" the Doctor did not like where this conversation was headed to.

"So?" Avalon blinked and nearly pouted, "Doctor!"

"This is going bad very fast," the Doctor frowned, mightily confused, "Let's get back to the kissing, I liked the kissing, kissing was fun and peaceful."

"How long have you known this 'Janie'?" Avalon did air quotation marks, "Does she know about me now?"

The Doctor sighed. While it was a bit, or a lot, of fun to see Avalon getting so worked up over a woman he could hardly care less about, he had to stop her before she truly became angry. Last time she stopped talking to him for a week. He pulled Avalon against him and put a finger over her lips, "Ava, I happen to give nearly everyone I know nicknames," he pointed out, "I call Amy 'Pond 1', Rory 'Pond 2', and then I call Lena 'baby sister'. It just so happens that I met Jane Austen and call her 'Janie'. I appreciate Janie, and I love all our friends but it's all friendly I promise."

"But do you know if the writer likes you more than a friend?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Cos, she may, you know...and then when we get there...she'll take you away...and then try to kiss you or something."

The Doctor let out a small laughter, "We're friends, that's all!"

"That's never stopped anyone before!"

"Okay, but I have a you now. The only lips I will be kissing are these," he tapped Avalon's lips with a smile, "Now, can we please get over this jealousy scene and return to kissing?"

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah...but we're going to see Jane Austen, right?"

"What ever you want, love," the Doctor promised as he leaned over to kiss her again. In no time he had Avalon kiss back and resume their moment alone.

"Can you please stop snogging my best friend in front of my wife and I?" came Rory's plead as he and Amy walked in from the downstairs corridor.

The Doctor lightly sighed as he pulled away from Avalon, "Maybe we should go on that date right now..." he offered to Avalon who chuckled.

"Oh no, you're not," Amy shook her head, making the pair look at them, "You two have been blowing us off for your dates for weeks now. We-" she pointed between her and Rory, "-were promised time and space, not 'chuck us out to the nearest planet while you two have dates'."

"We just wanted to be alone," Avalon tried to excuse.

"And do what? Snog all the time? Those are not dates," Rory wagged a finger at them both.

"Don't know they sound like dates to me," Avalon bit her lip and looked up at the Doctor who snickered.

"C'mon guys, I'm happy that you're both doing well in this relationship, but don't you think it's time you co-live with us?" Rory asked and gestured to himself and Amy, "And you know, move away from stage 1?"

"Stage one? What's stage one?" the Doctor made a face and looked at Avalon.

"It's this silly human idea about relationships," the ginger sighed and draped her arms around his neck, "See, stage one is the one where we can't keep our hands off each other. We kiss and kiss, and you know...sometimes...go beyond that."

Rory cleared his throat and gave them sharp looks, "It doesn't always go beyond that."

Amy chuckled at his over-protection and stepped in to continue the explanation, "And stage two is the part where you finally settle down and start co-existing with other people. So, for example, you two could stop this stage one thing and try to coexist with us."

"Is there a stage three?" the Doctor curiously asked.

"That's marriage and you are not getting there yet," Rory answered mightily fast and with a pointed finger at the Time Lord, "Stage 2, stage 2 is perfectly fine."

"Guys, thanks for your input but we're okay," Avalon cut in and leaned on the Doctor for a reciprocated hug.

"We're not trying to push your or anything," Amy clarified their intentions, "It's just...there's a lot more to relationships than kisses."

"Believe us, we know," the Doctor wrapped his arm around Avalon's waist.

Of course he loved the kissing and all but he and Avalon were both on the same page when it came to the point of their relationship. It wasn't fooling around, they loved each other. He had no doubt in his mind that he would give anything to make her happy. Avalon felt the same. It just seemed like Amy and Rory had to be clued in.

"I've got a compromise," the Doctor spoke up, "How about we go to one place altogether and then afterwards, we go have our date?" He ended up looking at Avalon for the answer.

"That sounds good," she nodded, "Anywhere in mind?"

"Has to be amazing," Amy pointed.

"And fun," Rory added.

"Apalapucia!" The Doctor happily declared when the TARDIS stopped. He was really excited to show the Ponds, including his Pond, the gorgeous planet. It would be a leisure trip for them and hopefully a little fun date with Avalon too.

"Say that again?" Amy tilted her head, confused like the others.

"Apalapucia."

"Apalapu...?" Avalon tried to repeat the word but found it was harder than it seemed. "Are you just making up words now? Because we've talked about this."

"Cia," the Doctor tapped her nose, amused at her effort. "Apalapucia!"

"Apalapucia," Rory tried last and got it on the first try. He grinned proudly.

"Apalapucia. What a beautiful word," Amy considered it with a small shrug.

"Beautiful word, beautiful world," the Doctor assured, "Apalapucia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller."

Avalon made a face at that, "So then how come we're not going to number one?"

"It's hideous," the Doctor declared, "Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" he grabbed her hand and led her and the Ponds towards the doors, "I give you..." he threw open the doors to show them an empty white space with a double-set, grey doors across.

"Doors," Avalon finished with him, her head tilted and arms crossed as she studied the new environment.

"Doors," the Doctor was disappointed his little moment hadn't turned out how he planned, "Yes...I give you doors..."

"Oh yeah, definitely better than number one," Avalon remarked as they stepped out.

"Well on the other side of those doors I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor said as he walked over to the doors with her and Rory.

"Have you seen my phone?" Amy finished putting on her jacket and remained at the doorway of the TARDIS.

The Doctor stopped and turned around, even more so disappointed no one was really seeing the grandness of the planet. "Your phone phone?"

"Yeah."

"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone," Amy sighed as he failed to realize the reason for her phone. She wanted to capture it all and he didn't see that? Total clueless alien, that's what he was.

"On the counter, by the DVDs," the Doctor gestured.

"Thank you," she waved and headed inside the TARDIS.

"How do we get in?" Rory was in front of the doors that were locked.

"I don't know, push a button," the Doctor shrugged and pointed to the panel beside the doors which had two buttons, one green and another red.

Rory pressed the green button and opened the doors, revealing another white room with a table in the center and a large, magnifying glass on top.

"OK, so, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor gave up.

"No kidding," Avalon chuckled, "Is this like Sherlock Holmes or something?" she walked to the table and looked at the magnifying glass.

"Hey?" they heard Amy from the other side, the doors had closed after they'd walked into the room, "Hey, it's locked."

"Yeah, push the button," Rory called out. They waited a couple seconds but Amy never came inside, "Where is she?" Rory sighed as he headed for the doors and opened them up. He peered out and still saw no Amy, "Where on wherever we are is my wife?"

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked as the Doctor took a seat at the table, beside her.

"Playing Sherlock Holmes," the Doctor shrugged and pressed a button on the magnifying glass. Immediately, they both saw a blurry picture of Amy through the glass.

"Oh..." Avalon blinked, "...Rory, I think we found her..."

"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory returned to the room and stopped beside them to see his wife through the glass, "Whoa! No, but, she's not... she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."

"Where am I? In fact, where are you?" Amy seemed to be looking around the glass, also confused.

Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room opened up to reveal a white handbot on the other side. Both Avalon and Rory stood straight and looked at the robot that had no face but did have real hands.

"Its hands..." Avalon pointed, already creeped out. That just wasn't right.

"Hands! Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Ava," the Doctor seemed less than concerned with their new guest.

"Welcome to the Twostreams Facility. Will you be visiting long?"

"Er, Doctor. Something's happening," Amy tapped the glass and made the Doctor look down to see the image was fading.

"Amy! Stay calm! Stay still!" the Doctor tried to get the image back.

"I don't think she has much of a choice," Avalon remarked to him, "Where is she?"

"Will you be visiting long?" the handbot asked again and reached for the trio.

" Good question, bit sinister," Rory panicked as the handbot started backing only him, "What's the answer to not get us killed?"

"Because that always works?" Avalon called.

"How about some help, then, Ava?"

"I'd love to...but I have no idea how to stop that," Avalon went after the handbot while the Doctor continued working on the glass, "Plus, have you seen those hands?" She stared at the rubbery-looking hands on the robot.

"Will you be visiting long?"

"And where have you been?" Amy's voice drifted over, sounding a bit irritated, "I've been here a week!"

"A week!?" the Doctor was appalled to hear, "A week?! I'm so sorry! Aha! Same room, different times. Two timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream."

"Doctor, it's going again!" the ginger cried as the image flickered.

"Will you be visiting long?"

Avalon stepped in between Rory and the robot and kicked it back, "We don't know!" she yelled at it, "Now stay back."

"Come on. Gotcha! There. Stabilized, settled, shh!" the Doctor exclaimed once the image started appearing back on the glass.

"Thank you boyfriend for your help," Avalon called and made the Doctor look up to see her and Rory with the handbot.

"I told you I was coming up with a better label!" He said with a frown.

"Well, next time come help us and I'll remember that!"

"Sorry," he quickly stood up and hurried over to them.

"Why has this got hands?" she hoped she would finally get an answer on those hands. The more she looked at them, the creepier they were.

"Organic skin," the Doctor explained, "Ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room. But why not just give it eyes?"

"Will you be visiting long?"

"I just answered that stupid question," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"As long as it takes," the Doctor answered then returned to the magnifying glass, "Amy, what exactly did you do?"

"I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button."

"Ah... Amy, there are two buttons," Rory called, "Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?"

"I pushed the red waterfall," Amy quietly responded.

"Great," Rory rolled his eyes and opened the doors to go retrieve his wife.

"All because you wanted to update Twitter," Avalon joked as she joined the Doctor at the table.

"No, I didn't!" Amy frowned.

The doors reopened and in came Rory, looking confused and a bit irritated, "I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn't there!"

"So you can't follow her directly. You know, it's never simple!" the Doctor groaned, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know," he turned for the robot.

"Statement... rejected," the handbot's two blinking lights on its chest stopped at a red light, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen7."

The Doctor quickly covered his mouth and nose with his jacket's collar, "What?" At the action, Avalon and Rory did the same.

"What's Chen7?" Avalon asked, her voice slightly muffled with her cardigan's sleeve.

"The one day plague."

"What, you get it for a day?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"No, you get it, and you die in a day."

"We should've gone to number one," Avalon mumbled.

"There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now," the handbot lowered its hands and put them together, transporting away and leaving trio in the room

Slowly, everyone lowered their jackets, the Doctor being the first to heave a heavy sigh, "Sterile area, I'm safe."

Amy smacked the glass from her side and made everyone look back, "What about me!"

"Chen7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians," the Doctor explained and calmed her nerves.

"And Time Lords, apparently," Avalon added.

"Yeah, like me. In that facility, I'm dead in a day," the Doctor didn't want to think about that and instead focused on their friend, "Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass. Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?"

Amy shrugged, "Nothing. I wasn't hungry."

"No, because Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."

"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes? That's horrible," Rory made a face and shook his head.

"No, Rory, it's kind. You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for 24 hours and watch them die, or sit in here for 24 hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?" the Doctor didn't wait for an answer as he picked up the glass.

"Doctor!?" they heard Amy shout in distress, "Doctor, don't leave me!"

"We're here, Amy," the Doctor was holding the glass where they could all see the frantic ginger, "We're right here."

"Where are you?" she looked around, "Am I looking at you?"

"Turn left, just a fraction," he instructed, "Bit more, stop. That's it."

"Eye to eye?"

"Eye to eye to eye."

"Hello," Rory waved once Amy was looking straight at them.

"Amy, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out," the Doctor explained while using the sonic on the glass, "Until then, you're on your own."

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked him.

"Locking onto Amy. Small act of vandalism, no-one'll mind."

"Mm, yes, and how many times has that actually been the truth?" Avalon made the question only a mere second before an alarm went off, "Oh, look at that..."

The Doctor knew there was no time to waste and so explained to Amy what she needed to do, "Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"

Amy hurried to the door of her room and pressed the button, looking back at the glass just as they opened for her, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on."

As soon as Amy was gone, the trio ran back into the TARDIS to go and save her. The Doctor put the time glass into the console, "This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it," he explained to the others while attaching a cable to the glass. Unfortunately, as soon as he did that, smoke spewed from the console. The Doctor ignored it and pulled out a tool chest from underneath, "Now then, I know you're in here. Um... erm.. Haha!" he pulled out black-rimmed glasses and put them on, "How do I look?"

"Ridiculous," Avalon and Rory answered simultaneously.

At that point, the Doctor felt like the remark 'they are so family' would've been good, if only Avalon knew.

"Glasses are cool," he said instead and put the glasses on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."

"Oh, hello," Rory gave a small wave.

"Uh, Rory..." Avalon pointed to the large monitor behind them where the Doctor was visible, clearly the glasses being the camera filming it.

"Rorycam!" the Doctor cheered.

"Conceited," Avalon spat, "You think you're so handsome..."

"Funny cos about an hour ago you weren't telling me otherwise," the Doctor sent her a smug smile. Avalon straightened up, clearly no words in mind to respond back which only made the Doctor's smug smile widen with triumph, "So, we're breaking into the Twostreams," he turned for Rory, "Now, I can't go in, the Chen7'll kill me on the spot. You will be my eyes and ears."

"Rory-cam," Rory nodded, "Rescue Amy. Got it."

"We'll be in and out, no problem," Avalon added.

"N-n-n-n-n-no," the Doctor promptly turned to her, "I specifically left your name out. You won't be going either."

She raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

"Dangerous."

"My name," she pointed at herself with a smile.

"Ah, no your name is Avalon Harm-"

"Don't finish that," Avalon pointed at Rory, "You know I despise that name. Now I'm going and that's that."

"But-" the Doctor went to argue but Rory cut in and pointed for the console. They could figure out what they were going to do after they set into Amy's timestream place.

It was no surprise that the TARDIS would put up some kind of fight as they tried crossing timestreams. But in the end, the box finally allowed them to land in the correct timestream.

Rory stepped out of the TARDIS with the glasses on and the time glass on a belt worn across his body, "Red Waterfall! We made it," he cheered and looked around the gallery room.

Inside the TARDIS, Avalon was trying to get herself out there to help Rory but the Doctor was refusing to let her arm go. No matter how strong she was, she just wasn't stronger than him.

"I can go help," Avalon argued with him, "C'mon!"

"Ava, I would feel much better if you stayed here with me," the Doctor pleaded to her to rethink this, "Stay here, yeah?" he tugged her closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Avalon heaved a big sigh and looked at him, "Hey, we've spent an awful lot of time together lately. This is serious and my friend's out there, on her own. Let me go help."

"Rory's going to help and we can help from here," the Doctor gestured to the console.

"Okay, look," Avalon decided to try something else, perhaps the one thing that could make him understand, "Last time we went on a trip, all of us, Amy took the bullet for me and saved me from becoming a wooden doll. She's in trouble now and it's my turn to save her. You understand that, right?"

The Doctor of course understood that. Amy had told him about the reason why she'd become a doll in the first place; it would've been Avalon if Amy hadn't intervened and she was not going to let her granddaughter suffer.

"I'll be sure to make up for this later, okay,?" Avalon assured and leaned up, "With lots of kisses here and there," she smirked as she made her promise, even giving him a previous of her kisses to make her point.

"I hate that you have this power over me," the Doctor sighed with resignation. No, actually, he did not hate it. Who would hate to be kissed by her? Not him!

Avalon smiled in triumph, trying not to seem as smug as she really was, "Don't know what you're talking about," she kissed him a second time, "Gotta run," and she planted a third kiss which became a bit deeper than the last two, "Woah," Avalon blinked with a partial daze, "Gotta run...ish..." she shook her head and recollected herself, "Rory!" she called as she ran out.

Rory had been busy looking at the different collections the planet had in the gallery room, "Managed to convince him, huh?"

"Uh, yes," Avalon flashed a smile and closed the TARDIS doors.

"Dare I ask how?"

"Um...I don't think you want to know," Avalon fixed part of her hair and walked up to him.

Rory sighed, "This is just too weird sometimes."

Avalon rolled her eyes, "So then, Doctor, how do we find Amy?" She looked at the glasses.

"Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it," came the Doctor's voice, "I'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If I can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?" Rory pulled out the Doctor's sonic and held the time glass in front of him and Avalon. As soon as the sonic finished on the glass, they all saw dozens of people in a blurred image, all milling about.

"And there they are. 40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands," the Doctor informed as the two companions stared in awe.

"Are they happy?" Avalon frowned, wondering if being locked in a facility could be better than dying.

"Oh my Ava," the Doctor sighed, "Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."

Rory lowered the glass in time for he and Avalon to catch a person running towards them, dressed in armor and with a katana aimed at them. They barely had time to process when the person knocked them both down.

"We come in peace!" Rory found no other words coming to mind, "Peace, peace, peace, peace!"

"Yeah Rory, cos that's gonna work!" Avalon rolled her eyes and sat up, flicking the katana at his throat, "Nice sword..." she had to remark.

"Ava!" Rory scolded. Leave it to her to praise a weapon being used against them. River Song was definitely her mother.

"I waited," the person finally spoke.

"Sorry, what?" Avalon looked up, half irritated with the scold.

"I waited for you," the person repeated and pulled the katana away. "I waited!" she pulled off her helmet to show herself. It left both Rory and Avalon quite stunned.

"Oh my..." Avalon's eyes widened at the sight of a much older Amy.

Rory's mouth had fallen open and while he tried to put his thoughts into a coherent sentence, all that came out were stammers. "A-Amy..wh-what's..."

"Doctor, what the hell is going on?" Avalon found it easier to ask the question.

Unfortunately, all that came out of the Time Lord was, 'Er..." He had no idea how he could've messed this up.

"Amy," Rory stood to his feet and helped Avalon, both still staring at the older ginger.

"I think the time stream lock might be a bit wobbly," the Doctor finally said something coherent.

"You think?" Avalon snapped.

Amy drew her sword to strike and scared the two. "No, please!" Rory pulled Avalon behind him, "Please!"

"Duck," Amy ordered and immediately the two did, allowing her to sink her sword through a handbot's head behind them. She put away her sword and moved over to the handbot, bending down beside it and pulling out a small, black box, "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to re-program. Using my sonic probe."

"Amy," Rory called again, his voice quiet.

"Rory," Amy didn't spare even a glance as she worked.

"Amy!"

"Rory!"

"Oh for goodness sake, why are you doing that?" Avalon pointed to the box Amy held.

"I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands. Anaesthetic transfer - if they touch you, you go to sleep."

"But you're still here?" Rory asked.

Amy stood up, staring at them both, "You didn't save me," she bluntly said and strode off.

"But this is us doing the saving," Avalon called as she and Rory hurried after her, "The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!"

"I've been on my own here a long, long time. I've had decades to think nice thoughts about him. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."

"40 years alone?" Rory asked in horror.

"36 years," Amy made a face, "Thanks..."

Avalon elbowed Rory and gave him a look, making him realize his error, "No. Right, I mean... you look great. Really. Really."

"Eyes front, soldier."

"Still can't win then, eh?" Avalon tried to humor them but it didn't work.

"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate The Doctor," Amy declared with certainty, "I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life." She leaned closer to Rory, but not for him. She was looking directly into his glasses. "You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Raggedy Man? You told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."

"Amy..." the Doctor began but he didn't get to finish. Lately, he seemed to be getting everything wrong with the Ponds. He tried his best to keep them out of harm's way and yet something always happened to them. Last time, all three of them had been captured inside a fake dollhouse with killer dolls. Before that, they'd been chased around by the Scream. It was beginning to take a toll on him.

"You've got nothing to say to me!"

"Behind you!"

Amy turned to see two handbots closing in on them. She tossed her staff to Rory, ducked and put the handbots hands together, deactivating them. "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day," and once again, she made to leave.

They went out to an outer corridor and tried catching up with Amy who didn't even look back at them, "OK, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening," Rory tried to reason, Avalon giving a small nod though she wasn't very sure about anything now.

"We locked on to a time stream, Rory. This is it," the Doctor regretted informing him.

"But this is wrong," Avalon frowned at the situation.

"Incredibly wrong," Rory added.

"I got old, Rory, what did you think was going to happen?" Amy rolled her eyes, assuming the worst from them.

"Hey!" Rory was not about to have that and so grabbed Amy's arm and forced her to stop and look back, "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."

"Don't touch me. Don't do that," she gave the order but didn't sound so sure of it as she left.

"This isn't you," Avalon made a face and went after her, "This isn't our Amy!"

"36 years, three months, four days of solitary confinement, Avalon," Amy stopped in front of some doors and turned to them, "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?"

"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" the Doctor decided to question, only irritating her more.

"I made it. And it's a sonic probe!"

"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory blinked.

"Probe!"

"Give it up, Amy, you're not winning that one," Avalon had to advise as they entered the temporal engines room.

They followed Amy through a curtain she clearly made and found a small, isolated room where a Handbot stood at the corner. Rory stopped and forced Avalon as well when he saw the robot, "Oh!"

The handbot turned to them and allowed them to see a makeshift smiley face drawn where its face should be. Amy went across the small room, "Don't worry about him. Sit down, Rory."

Avalon giggled as both Rory and the handbot sat down, "You named the handbot after Rory?" she asked.

"Needed a bit of company."

"So, he's like your..."

"Pet."

"Somehow that's not making it better."

Amy pulled out a tube of lipstick and opened it up, meanwhile the other two studied the handbot, "Is it safe?" Rory asked.

"Yep. I disarmed it."

"How?" Avalon wondered just as they both saw the hands of the handbot chopped off.

"Oh, you...disarmed it," Rory slowly said, feeling a bit off about that.

Amy changed her mind on the lipstick and put it away, "Oh, don't get sentimental, it's just a robot. You'd have done the same."

"I don't know that I would have," the Doctor spoke up again, making Amy spin around and look at the glasses.

"And there he is - the voice of God. Survive. Cos no-one's going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that."

"Is that really all I taught you?"

"Don't you lecture me, blue-box man flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got - all I've had for 36 years - is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is - a probe. And I call my life what it is... Hell."

"Amy Pond, I am going to put this right," the Doctor assured, "You said you learned from an Interface. Can I speak with it?"

"Doesn't work in here," Amy informed then checked her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now," she looked at Avalon and Rory, "Stay or go?"

"We're coming with you," Rory stood up and looked at Avalon for her opinion.

"Definitely," the ginger agreed with a nod.

"Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever," Amy tried to seem casual as she left, "When I first came here, I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I've reprogrammed it now. It'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" Rory raised an eyebrow, "That's genius!"

"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor cleared his throat, "But temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve is held within."

"Ah! Oh, very, very "ah!" Interface, I need to run through some technical specifications. Rory, give me to Amy a minute."

"Here you go," Rory pulled off the glasses and moved to put them on Amy but the ginger refused.

"Amy just do it," Avalon sharply looked at her.

With a huff, Amy took the glasses and put them on, "They look ridiculous," she frowned.

"That's what we told him," Rory sighed, "Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" Everyone laughed but once Amy abruptly stopped, so did Avalon and Rory, "What is it?" he asked.

"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36 years," Amy quietly acknowledged.

Avalon sadly looked between her friends, knowing they must have been thinking about the time they had lost. She sighed and touched Rory, ending their moment, "We should leave them...you know, to let them work?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rory nodded and walked out with her.

They wandered through the garden Amy had led them in through and took a look around, both wondering if this was where Amy had spent some time in...on her own.

"You don't...you don't blame the Doctor for this, do you?" Avalon felt the need to ask Rory as they walked.

Rory felt the concern in Avalon's tone and didn't want her to worry, "No...no," he sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, "He is never on time."

"Hm, 14 years," Avalon smiled lightly.

"Mhm," Rory nodded and they both chuckled.

"I just...don't want to have problems between the people I really care about," Avalon sighed. "And right now, Amy is really mad at the Doctor. I don't know who to defend first."

"Avalon…" Rory suddenly stiffened when he spotted a handbot coming towards them.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just like the others had.

Rory pulled Avalon behind him and backtracked together.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just as it touched Rory's face with its hand.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as he fell to the ground. "Oh great!" She looked up to see the handbot that would surely be going after her now.

Amy arrived in time to stop the handbot. She cut its head off with her sword and looked between the two, "Rory?" she knelt beside him.

"Glasses," Rory pointed.

Amy stood up and turned away, "You stupid..."

"You saved us," Avalon smiled at her.

"Don't get used to it," Amy muttered.

Rory stood up and studied Amy for a moment, specifically her eyes, "Have you been crying? A little bit?"

"Shut up, Rory," Amy tried to order but her voice was far too weak for that.

"You have, haven't you?"

"Woman with a sword. Don't push it."

"OK, so here's the plan," the Doctor spoke up, "Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in two streams it's extra wobbly," in the meantime he spoke, Amy handed the glasses back to Rory, "I've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together. We're bringing her out of the then and into the now! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably - almost probably...and then, Amy Pond, I'm going to save you."

Amy stared into the glasses, her eyes narrowing, confusing Rory and Avalon. One would think she'd be ecstatic that they'd found a way to truly save her. "No," she took out her probe, "Time's up, Handbots coming!" And she hurried out, leaving Avalon and Rory to follow.

~ 0 ~

Amy was striding back towards her secret hiding place in the engine rooms, doing her best to ignore the pleas of everyone who wanted to 'help' her.

"Amy, you've got to help us help you. I need you to think back 36 years ago. Amy? Amy!?" the Doctor was the primary insistent one to talk to her.

Without a word, Amy went inside the engine rooms and left Avalon and Rory outside. Avalon noticed several smudges on the doors and walked up to them, "Funny...if I didn't know any better I would say this is...lipstick," she glanced back at Rory questioningly.

Rory moved over and lifted the time glass to the doors, allowing them to see a message in red lipstick Amy had left for them. Rory sighed, "You told her to leave us a sign. And she did. And she waited. Oh, Amy."

Avalon opened the doors and went inside, marching straight to Amy, "Okay, why won't you help yourself? You wanted us to save you but look at you?"

Amy shook her head, still refusing, "He wants to rescue Past Me from 36 years back, which means I'll cease to exist. Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."

"But that's...that's good, isn't it?" Even Rory was confused about her attitude. Being rescued meant that she wouldn't have to go through the solidarity she'd been forced into.

"I will die," Amy enunciated slowly for them, "Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at Twostreams, who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won't be me."

"But you'll die in here," Avalon scratched her head. "Isn't that...isn't that better?"

"Not if you take me with you. You came to rescue me, so rescue me."

"Leave her and take you?"

"We could take this Amy with us, easy, but if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued," the Doctor warned in case they actually decided to go with that.

"So I have to choose - which wife do I want?" Rory took a small breath, already knowing that couldn't and wouldn't end well.

"She is me," Amy pointed to herself, "We're both me."

"You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you...I promised."

Amy didn't say a word and instead went inside her small room, leaving the two to think about it.

"Rory..." the Doctor began.

"This is your fault!" the human spat.

"Rory!" Avalon was disappointed he went back on his word, "You promised..."

"I'm sorry Ava but it is," Rory huffed and spoke to the Doctor, "You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."

"That is not how I travel," the Doctor snapped.

"Then I do not want to travel with you!" Rory pulled off the glasses and threw them to the ground.

Avalon was torn between the two sides but even more so angry with Rory. "You said you wouldn't blame him! How…" She shook her head. "If you haven't noticed, it's a pretty big universe with millions of different problems. It is impossible to know what the current state of a planet is all the time."

"36 years, Avalon, 36!" Rory pointed to the closed curtains. "She spent 36 years on her own!"

"And you think I'm not as upset as you are? I love Amy! But this wasn't anyone's fault! It's like when you blamed yourself for accidentally shooting Amy after the Pandorica opened."

"That's different," Rory sighed, really not in the mood to argue with her as well. He was too confused and angry, a horrible combination that he was aware of.

"Yeah, cos it was you. You didn't mean to do it, you didn't know who you were, it was impossible. What's happened here was also impossible."

"Ava, Rory," the Doctor called again, sounding like he was giving a test, "Is the time glass still on?" he asked them, "If the link's still active, I think I can hear Amy. Our Amy."

Rory slowly lifted the time glass in front of the small room of Amy and saw none other than the young Amy through the glass, sobbing quietly to herself, "Oh, Amy," Rory entered the room still holding the time glass. He went straight to the present Amy and knelt down to where she sat, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."

Amy did as told and looked him in the eye, "I will not help her."

"Oh yeah?" Avalon couldn't believe that was her friend and was not going to stand for it, "Alright, then," she gently pushed the time glass up in front of Rory's face where the young Amy was sobbing to herself, "Look us in the face and say that again," she challenged Amy.

"Rory? Rory is that you?" the young Amy turned from the wall, "Rory, where are you?"

Rory used the sonic on the time glass and allowed the young Amy to see them through the glass, "Same place as you - and a bit ahead."

The present Amy peered into the glass, "I remember this," she mumbled.

"But who's she?" the past Amy studied herself, "There's no-one else here, but... me."

Rory handed the glass to the present Amy and took Avalon out with him, hoping the two Amy's could get on the same page to allow for some type of plan.

"You realize what's gonna happen in there, right?" Avalon quietly asked him.

"What?" Rory looked at her with concern.

"Two Amy's, in one place, well sort of...there is going to be some shouts and colorful words."

Rory shared a smile with her, "She's not you."

"Hey, River's her daughter and she's got some colorful vocabulary, she had to have gotten it from somewhere," Avalon pointed out, "And let's face it, you don't have that."

"Shush, Ava," Rory mockingly-scolded her.

"Ha, in other words, I win the argument," Avalon said with pride, making him (and managing) chuckle.

Suddenly, Amy stepped out of the room, "I'm going to pull time apart for you," she looked at Rory. Avalon stepped away as the two couples hugged and kissed, "OK, Doctor, Twostreams is back on air. Right, OK, so this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable," the Doctor nearly had a chuckle.

"Oh so you meant Amy," Avalon laughed.

"Well actually my mind drifted to you," the Doctor said and ended her laugh right there and then.

Avalon crossed her arms and glared at the glasses, "Terrible danger you're getting yourself into, Fairy Tale Man."

"Anyways, back to crossing time streams?" Amy cleared her throat and ended the ensuing argument. She led them out to the outside corridors, "I'm trusting you to watch my back, Rory."

"Always. You and me, always," Rory nodded with assurance.

"Hey, and me," Avalon waved a hand, making them chuckle.

"Cos here's the deal... you take me too in the TARDIS. Me too," Amy turned to them, ending the amusing moment.

"But that means that there'll be two of you, permanently, forever," Rory realized.

"And that way we both get to live."

"But two Amy's together..." Avalon couldn't quite wrap her mind around that. By all logic, that couldn't very well work.

"Can that work?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, it's your marriage."

"Doctor!"

"Perhaps, maybe, if I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, re-calibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar, yes, maybe, yes. It could do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox."

Avalon remained quiet at that, he was lying. He had to be. She may not be some Time Lord or that big of a genius but she wasn't stupid either. Paradoxes could not be sustained unless you had a paradox machine, and she wasn't aware the Doctor had one.

"Right. Amy..." Rory put on the glasses and saw the young Amy, "And Amy. The wife and the wife, right."

"That won't get confusing," Avalon remarked quietly.

"OK, Amy - Past Amy – stand by the door. Future Amy, you too," the Doctor ordered, "Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr... probe?"

Amy sighed, "It's a screwdriver," she handed it over to Rory then went to the doors.

Rory used the sonic on both Amy's then returned it to her.

"Rory, sonic it, double our power. Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then," the Doctor continued on with the instructions, "We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought. Something so powerful that it can rip through time. Rory, sonic the plinth front. Inside you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring. That's the regulator valve. After we've rebooted, you have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS. Pull out the red and green receptors, re-route blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow. Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science. It's just quantum physics."

"Does he ever stop for air?" Rory made a face to Avalon.

"Eventually," Avalon mumbled with a smirk.

"Eugh," Rory pretended to shiver and continued with his work. No grandfather should ever have to hear that.

"Now the lever," the Doctor called, "Throw them in order! Amys, start thinking the most important thought you've ever had. Hold it in your head and do not let it go! Lever one."

Rory pulled the lever and immediately the two Amy's started to think of one common thought.

"She's doing the Macerena," Rory blinked.

"Aww..." Avalon smiled, knowing exactly the importance of that dance.

"Our first kiss," Rory whispered.

"Lever two, Rory," the Doctor ordered, "Lever three."

Rory pulled the levers and made the time glass shattered. Little by little, the young Amy appeared across them.

"Oh, Amy!" Rory exclaimed.

Amy glanced to her older self and blinked, "Oh, my God."

Rory ran over and hugged Amy, both incredibly happy. Avalon watched and smiled with true joy, though she became a bit sad for the older Amy, and soon it was the same story for the young couple.

"Sorry..." Rory quietly said.

"Hello," the older Amy greeted.

"Hello," the young Amy waved.

"I don't know what to..." they both began but stopped when they realized both of them were talking at the same time.

"Weird," Avalon and Rory whispered.

"OK, this is weird. Right, just stop doing that," the two ginger became defensive, and irritated.

"How about Amy One speaks first?" Rory suggested.

Both gingers turned on him, "Which one's Amy One?"

"Oh, wrong move," Avalon made a face.

"I am," both gingers argued, "No, I am! Rory! Rory, just stop doing that!"

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Avalon yelled and succeeded in quieting them down.

"Ah!" Rory hissed as the glasses started sparking.

"Oh. Rory, Rory, take the glasses off. You're getting temporal feedback," the Doctor called to him as Rory threw the glasses to the floor, "Whoa! Calm down, dear! Ava, Rory, Amy, we've created a massive paradox and the TARDIS hates it. She's self-phasing, trying to get out of here. What's nasty Amy done to you? Just calm down, dear. Hang on in there. Ava, Rory, you've got eight minutes left. I'm sorry, you're on your own now."

"We're not on our own," Avalon tried to look at the positive side, "There's Rory and me and...two Amy's," she made a face, "Yeah, maybe this is bad."

"We're not on our own," Avalon looked around, "There's Rory, and...two Amys," she made a face, "Okay yeah, this can go bad real soon."

"Do not be alarmed," handbots appeared.

"Incoming!" Rory exclaimed as several more robots appeared for them.

'With me," the present Amy handed her younger self the staff.

"I don't get one?" Avalon frowned with disappointment.

"Absolutely not!" Both Amys immediately declared, flinching Avalon.

"Okay, freaky how you both do that," she mumbled as Rory took her to their positions.

"Amy, Kate Hayler, year ten hockey," called present Amy.

Young Amy immediately got the idea, "Go for the shins!" she smashed the handbot's shins and flipped the robot over on its back.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as a Handbot appeared in front of her, "We need weapons!" she kicked the handbot back.

"They're cutting off the Departure Gate. We can't get back to the TARDIS," Rory had glanced back the way they'd come in as he tried battling out his own handbot.

"Side door!" present Amy offered, "We'll go behind them!"

~ 0 ~

As they made their way down the staircase, the two Amys had started a conversation that didn't end so well...

"Think you're coming with us, just like that?" younger Amy was demanding an answer, and fast, from her older self.

"Yeah, just like that."

"Rory, talk to her!" young Amy looked at Rory who was ahead of them, with Avalon.

"Now, ladies..." the man began but Avalon cut through, heavily annoyed with the argument.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Avalon shouted, "You sound like snobbish children!"

"Oi!" both Amys frowned at her, 'Don't talk to me that way, I'm your-"

"Amy," Rory had caught where the sentence was ending and stopped running, giving each of his wives sharp looks.

Avalon noticed the little looks shared between all three, and it surprised her more that the disagreement had vanished and a common agreement had appeared, "What? What is it?"

She received no such answer and was instead pulled away, continuing their route for the TARDIS. Soon again, the disagreements had risen up between the two Amys.

"Where are you going to live?" young Amy was asking her older self.

"Not with you, don't worry. I'll go travelling. Pop back for Christmas, maybe Easter."

"Amy, you always say, cooking Christmas dinner, you wish there were two of you," Rory tried to humor but it seemed not to be working.

They followed the older Amy up to a room with shut doors. She used the sonic on the doors to get it open.

"Why can't we just teleport inside?" Avalon curiously wondered.

"It's not a teleport, it's a time jump."

"They can't shunt within the same timestream," young Amy said.

"Yes," her older self agreed.

"The TARDIS is in the Gallery," Rory reminded as they finally entered the room.

"Gallery closed."

The older Amy ran up to a table in the center and pressed the buttons, "Controls are stuck. They've locked them from outside."

"Well can't you unlock them?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, give me a minute and your cutest smile," she winked just as Rory smiled, "That's the one."

"Can you stop flirting with me?" he cleared his throat, "You're old enough to be..."

"I've known you my whole life. How many games of Doctors and Nurses?"

"Eugh," Avalon shivered as she went up to them, "Now I get why you do that with the Doctor and I. Totally, completely, unnecessary."

Suddenly, all the doors of the room opened up to reveal handbots, "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness."

Older Amy chucked her staff to young Amy while Rory tried using the sonic on the controls, eventually pressing the correct button and opening the doors to the room the TARDIS was in. Older Amy took lead with her sword and staff to use on the handbots they came across with. Everyone else made a run across the room while pushing several more handbots out of their way.

"Go! I've got your back!" Older Amy shouted to them as she took care of more handbots.

Young Amy was touched by a handbot on the face and gave a shout as she fell to the floor. Upon seeing that, Rory ran over to her, with the Mona Lisa portrait, and rammed it on the handbot's head, successfully shutting it down. He then picked up Amy and started running again.

"Is she okay!?" Avalon followed after him as they headed for the TARDIS.

"Hopefully!" Rory kicked the TARDIS doors open and rushed inside. He set her down on the floor just as the Doctor came over to check on her.

"It's just an anaesthetic. She'll be fine," he quickly stood up and ran for the doors, making eye contact with present Amy. She knew what he was going to do and so dropped her weapons and charged across the room for the TARDIS. The Doctor willed himself to shut the doors, "I'm sorry," he breathed as he locked it.

"What are you doing?" Rory stood up angrily.

"I lied to her, Rory," the Doctor confessed, looking at the door where present Amy had arrived and was pounding on it to be let inside, "There can't be two Amys in the TARDIS. The paradox is too massive."

"She'll die!" Rory shouted.

"Technically, she wouldn't," Avalon slowly stood up, quietly rubbing her arm, "I mean, if time is rewritten then technically she'll never have existed."

"But she happened!" Rory couldn't stop shouting, "She's there!" he violently pointed at the door.

"No, she's not real," the Doctor brought himself to say it.

"She is real, let her in!"

"Look, we take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. Which one do you want?" the Doctor grabbed Rory and put him in front of the doors, his hand over the latch, "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair," Rory spat, "You're turning me into you."

"Your choice, Rory..."

"I, er.." Rory faced the doors, his mind going blank for a second.

The Doctor returned to young Amy and Avalon, checking the unconscious ginger a final time before heading for the console. Avalon tried touching him but he shook her off, not wanting to face her after what he'd done.

"Rory? Please," present Amy put a hand on the window of the door, making Rory do the same, "The look on your face when you carried her. Me. Her. When you carried her away, you used to look at me like that. I'd forgotten how much you loved me. I'd forgotten how much I loved being her. Amy Pond, in the TARDIS. With Rory Williams."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," Rory declared and moved to turn the latch open.

"If you love me, don't let me in," Present Amy surprised him with the request, "Open that door, I will, I'll come in. I don't want to die. I won't bow out bravely. I'll be kicking and screaming, fighting. To the end."

"Oh, Amy. Amy, I love you," Rory took a long sigh, knowing he would have to listen t her request.

"I love you too. Don't let me in," present Amy pleaded, "Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come. The days I can't have. Take them, please. I'm giving you my days."

Rory let go of the latch and stepped away from the door, "I'm so, so sorry..."

With that, the Doctor de-materialized the TARDIS from the planet. They had moved Amy to one of the chairs by the console and checked to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. She would just be sleeping for a bit more.

"Did you always know it would never work? Saving both Amys?" Rory asked the Doctor, the two sitting on the staircase looking after Amy.

"I promised you I'd save her and there she is. Safe," the Doctor patted the man's shoulder.

"Yeah, there she is," Rory had to agree on it.

As they stood up, Amy began waking up. The Doctor headed for the corridors to give them some time. Avalon was coming out from the corridor with a blanket for Amy.

"Hey," she tried to greet him in an attempt to start a conversation with him since he was seemingly trying to avoid her.

The Doctor mumbled a 'hey' back but moved around her and continued his way to the corridors. She looked down for a moment then walked towards Rory, getting the surprise to see Amy awake...and questioning for her older self.

~ 0 ~

Later in the night, Avalon crawled out of her bed and grabbed a white blanket to drape over her shoulders. She hadn't slept very well, mostly because she didn't really feel tired, but it was more to the day they had. She hoped that perhaps something to drink could do the job. Of course a normal person would go for a tea...Avalon went with a strawberry milkshake. She had a nice pink milkshake in front of her, topped with whip cream but absolutely no cherry on top. Just as she was about to take a sip, the Doctor entered, unaware she was in there.

"Hey," she decided to greet him again and managed to surprise him.

"You're...not supposed to be awake," the Doctor eyed her suspiciously, seeing the blanket still over her yet a brand new milkshake in her hands.

"I wasn't tired," she shrugged, "Insomnia, remember?"

"Right..." the Doctor looked to the side. She would still think it was insomnia and not that tonight was one of those nights she didn't need the rest.

"You want some?" Avalon slid her glass to him, "It's strawberry."

"What? No cherry?" he eyed the glass.

"Eugh, I don't like them," she crinkled her nose at the thought of a cherry on her drink. "It just ruins the milkshake."

He smiled at her, making a mental note for future references. It would go under the same list that involved never giving her anything with fish.

"Fairy Tale Man, are you mad with me?"

"What? Never!"

"Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not-"

"Please don't waste time in denying what is so clearly true," Avalon sighed again and looked down, "I know perfectly well when people are avoiding me and you, sir, are doing it."

The Doctor knew she was thinking of the people in Leadworth who tried their best to avoid her at all costs and on no account did he ever want her to think he was one of them. "Okay, so maybe I didn't want to talk...but it wasn't because you did something," He took a seat next to her. "It was because of what I did."

"What you YOU did?" Avalon raised an eyebrow and straightened up, "And what exactly was that? Cos I think I missed it."

"What happened today...I...it's a bit complicated to forget," the Doctor sighed, "Especially when it's my fault."

"No," Avalon reached for his hand, "It's so not your fault. You didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Well my little accident caused Amy to live 36 years in solitary, nearly made you and Rory die and-"

"What is the point in thinking of what happened and could've happened when it's all over?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "We're okay now, don't bother yourself with that stuff."

"That 'stuff' is important to me," the Doctor frowned, "One little error and bam, Amy's dead. Or one little slip and oh look, Rory just got squashed. Lena did good in leaving, honestly."

"And me? What, you think I should've left too, then?" Avalon urged him to answer then groaned when he just looked away from her. "This is not happening," she mumbled to herself as she stood up and promptly moved over to sit on his lap, her arms around his neck. "I thought you never wanted me to leave..." she forced him to look at him with a hand under his chin.

"I don't," the Doctor quickly clarified, "But I can't help worrying what could happen to you." His mind kept flashing him bits and pieces of his profile he had from the Teselecta. Each day brought him closer to his supposed death day and because he still had all the Ponds with him, it meant he would be dragging them to that day as well. He couldn't do that to Avalon. If the Silence and Kovarian did manage to kill him then he would at least make sure she was okay. If he was dead, then they would finally let her and the rest of her family live in peace. That was the only bit of peace he could find in all that mess, but right now he still had Avalon and he didn't want to lose her. So what was he supposed to do? He brushed his hand against her cheek. "Ava, I love you. I would never want to leave you." Want being the operative word. He would never want to leave her, but if it ever came down to her safety and their relationship...he would choose her safety in a heartbeat. It was what he promised Rory, after all.

"Doctor, I know that you feel guilty about what happened but...it wasn't your fault. You can't go around blaming yourself for everything bad that happens. That's unfair."

"I can't help it," the Doctor admitted. "You are my responsibility-"

"No, we're not. We choose to travel with you. We choose to explore and whatever consequences there are. It's about time you start realizing that and I'm gonna make sure that you do."

"Yeah, what are you going to do?" The Doctor looked at her with a small, amused, smile.

"Well, for starters," she reached for her milkshake on the table and took a sip. She then offered him some. "It's therapeutic."

The Doctor laughed. "Right." He moved the straw over to his side and drank from it. "It really needs a cherry though."

Avalon crinkled her nose. "Absolutely not! Unless you want to be single again. Go on, take another drink. I'll make more but you have to stay around so I can keep reminding you that nothing was your fault."

The Doctor wouldn't argue against having that type of night with her. He just knew that it wouldn't matter what she said to him because he would always want to keep her and her grandparents safe.

[dnawield--a]

actually fuck it I feel like babbling

Anodite!Ben is so in tune with his alien half- way more than his human half. He finds out later in life, so the summer with Gwen when she found the Omnitrix was more of Gwen teaching him self defense, and his grandpa showing him how to shoot a laser gun. He’s significantly more skilled in hand-to-hand combat than he is in his main verse, and MUCH more weapon savvy in the Gwen 10 verse.

He’s not. As close with Gwen in this verse as he is in main verse, but more in the sense of he doesn’t feel comfortable being as obnoxious with her, even when it’s on friendly terms. He’s a bit more respectful (sounding anyway- he has NOTHING but respect for Gwen in main verse), and looks at her more like a leader than family. Sometimes he’ll crack a joke with her, but there tends to be an awkward tension between the two since Ben seems more distant with her in this verse.

It’s also because his powers awakened when he was alone, and more abrupt. Since Ben wasn’t into magic like Gwen was when they were kids, and never took to really understanding any of the stuff Hex would use on them when they fought, he spent a good year on his own (from 13-14), during a time he and Gwen didn’t hang out much (haven’t figured out why- probably similar reasons Ben took the watch off before OV gave us a possible reason he took the watch off, which was maybe just letting the teens actually live like normal fucking teenagers for a short time). He’d just go out in the middle of the night, fuck around in the deep woods just figuring things out.

He still has ADHD and is still autistic in this dimension, so paralleled with Gwen who’s more about focusing, Ben. Doesn’t do like. Meditation or reading since he a) doesn’t like to read, b) wouldn’t know WHAT to read aside from magic or witch books which he’s not keen on buying, and c) will get distracted. However, when he’s developing a new skill using mana, he tends to hyperfixate on it until he can do some cool shit or be able to do it without using up that much energy. He’s already REALLY high energy in his main verse, and it still carries over in the Gwen 10 verse. He also developed a routine with going out into the woods late in the nights until early in the mornings that it’s nearly over a year of constant self training. He’s very in tune with his emotions, and has accidentally destroyed some parts of the forests due to frustration. You have to get him SUPER SUPER SUPER pissed for him to start to lose control of his powers.

His preference is to create things out of his mana that ranges from whole ass mech suits to surround himself (that he and Gwen had to investigate and Gwen for a long time going “what the FUCK how do a WHOLE MECHA go missing??’ and ben somehow managing to pull off being absolutely clueless until he decides to tell her about it), to weapons made from mana, the platform stuff that Gwen does in canon, and Ben eventually decided to play hero for a bit to test out his powers outside of the woods, and learned his mana can just make shit, so he just designed his own costume and changes into it while he plays hero. He’s silent when he’s in “hero mode” ‘cause Gwen sometimes showed up, and didn’t want his voice to give him away.

His mana’s green ‘cause fuck you I’m keeping the green aesthetic (and Gwen’s omnitrix is blue ‘cause also fuck you), but his body shifts into anodite!mode.

Verdona makes a comment about this when they meet her the first time at how tf he still has his human body when he’s CONSTANTLY changing into anodite mode and he’s like “huuuh???? i don’t get the question- anyway check out my big energy sword!!! cool huh?!” Him and his grandma actually get along, and Ben just tells her, Iunno- lemme think about the whole destroy my body thing. Maybe ask me in two or three years,” which is lit the ONLY reason she doesn’t pull what she tried with Gwen ‘cause he actually is debating on it. He doesn’t care much about being human, and is like, “bruh I can do MORE STUFF if i JUST destroy my body? AND I can just learn to make a whole new one? lit but lemme think about it and see if i still vibe with that in a couple years.”

Verdona visits way more in this verse, though Gwen isn’t vibing too much with it since Verdona is constantly seeing if Ben is willing to destroy his body NOW since she can’t be bothered to wait the equivalent of a week to her for Ben to be like, “alright let’s get this bread *destroys human body* oh heck  yeah we got the bread.” Also ‘cause Verdona tends to be a bad influence on Ben since she just ups his desires to do w/e the fuck he wants, which is often going HAM on bad guys and ‘causing some public property damage ‘cause he’s vibing and moving literal mountains, and slowly picks up on warping reality around people that annoy him.

The issues with anodite!Ben lie more in he’s a lot more. Morally grey. The SECOND Verdona mentioned how there is mana in every living thing, and you can absorb it, Ben has always had that on the back of his mind, and he HAS completely drained one enemy (haven’t decided which- probably a low stakes guy like Ssserpent) because of some other factor that made him snap and go, “Nope I’m angy now you go die while I just take your mana :/” which. KINDA DOESN’T SIT WELL WITH GWEN OR HIS GRANDPA. idk when Kevin comes into all of this, maybe when Ben’s alien side if still a secret to his family and is the only one to identify WHAT kind of alien ben’s alter ego is, which is nice ‘cause then Ben just fucks around on the extranet to look up more about his alien side. Which is 10x funnier when they all meet Verdona and he’s like “yeah Kevin figured it out so I just looked up info on it. what you told me I already read on like 50 different sites.”

He has a bit of a fall out with Gwen and Kevin, probably showing he’s going a teeny bit too chaotic to be safe, and they end up being enemies for a short time (probably an evil arc). Ben DOES end up accidentally destroying his own body, and just going HAM on their cousin Sunny. She ends up being REAL scared of Ben, and even Verdona shows a bit of discomfort. He ends up just chilling as an anodite ‘cause he doesn’t feel comfortable going to Anodyne now. Verdona herself even says that might be for the best that he waits since she’s worried he’ll get hurt. That’s what she says anyway. With how bad he ended up hurting Sunny, she genuinely is both worried for his safety, and the safety of OTHER Anodites on the planet.

He does EVENTUALLY go to Anodyne for a couple decades when he’s like 40, and then comes back. The other Anodites vibe with him, and he genuinely enjoys being there. He mains a pretty high chaotic energy all his existence, and he’s slowly showing them just ‘cause they’re super powerful doesn’t mean they can’t learn to have some kinda fucking morals. He wants them to know being human was pretty cool, and they could learn shit from them. He always boasts about Gwen and Kevin and their escapes together, and uses them as role models for other Anodites.

They only started listening to him ‘cause he never shuts up and every single time they tried to fight him to shut up, he just kicked their asses for trying to kick his ass. Eventually they just learned to let him ramble, but ended up actually liking what he was talking about and rolled with it. Some Anodites DID decide to go travel back to Earth and actually learn more than just keep going along with the rest of the Universe. A lot of them still go “it’s not that great man,” and he’ll always be like, “Hey but now you know for sure,” and they hate that. But he had a point.

[katbarton]

WHO: @katbarton, @emily-barton, @maxceden, @frankie-drake, @harpersinclair, @evanalbert

WHAT: The Nameless crew has a meet up to discuss the situation.

WHEN: 11/2, Late Night

EMILY

Emily was as still as a statue, waiting for the others to arrive. She didn't know who exactly was involved yet, though she could imagine a couple. It didn't feel right to be sneaking around in the dark of night, when something was happening, but she had to. Riss was home and safe, with Tegan to watch over her. Kat needed her. "What time are we supposed to meet?"

KAT

"Anytime after ten, should be here any minute now. If something comes up, Max will text me." Kat holds up her phone, but doesn't look away from her laptop screen. "You're making me nervous. Stop it."

MAX

Max shows up alone, having pissed Harper and Evan off. As she walks towards the pair, she raises her brows, still in confusion over Emily's involvement, but doesn't say anything beyond a "Hey. Harper and Ev are on the way."

KAT

Kat looks up then, "They good? Harper didn't get caught up in the shit, did she?"

MAX

"Nope, she's as clueless too. Said she'd be late though, so maybe she's trying to see what's up." Max shrugs and takes out her phone to check for any incoming news or texts. Nothing yet.

KAT

"I've been trying to hack into the city hall security feeds since all this shit happen, but everything's down. Not like shot, cause then it'd show no signal or static or something-- but like totally fucking down." Her attention is back on the laptop. "I've got the news up in another browser. Should get an RSS alert if something is released."

EMILY

Emily doesn't do more than nod at Max, unsurprised at her presence. She didn't make it a point to know all of Kat's friends, but when said friend was a drug dealer, well she got some extra scrutiny. Her phone beeped with a message, and she turned to them. "Pull up BBC. If the news outside of the city is reporting this, there must be some credibility to it."

KAT

"BBC? Fuck--" Frantic typing and then a news feed is pulled, the volume loud enough so they could all hear. "Hostage situation... what the fuck?"

FRANKIE

Frankie finally shows up with confident grin on her face and absolutely relaxed body language, a big contrast to everyone else already there. "Hey kids. Great night for a walk, huh?" She wiggles her eyebrows playfully before leaning against a wall, looking for a pack of cigarettes. "Heard the news yet? Hostages and shit. Just awful."

EVAN

Evan was annoyed and frustrated, and really just wanted to be at home; instead she made it to the meeting area and leaned against a wall. She glanced around the room to see who was there, ignoring Max for the time being and waiting to see what would happen next, pulling out her phone to get the updated.

KAT

Kat looked up as Frankie arrived and couldn't help the crooked grin that twisted at her features. "Hey, fucker. Yeah-- we're hoping to try and figure out if it has shit to do with those weapons we found out about."

MAX

Max stays silent at first, wanting to be able to hear the news feed. Her eyes squint a little, as if it'll allow her to hear better. And when Evan and Frankie approach, she purses her lips. "Any thoughts?" She gestures to the laptop, speaking to everyone all at once.

EMILY

Emily isn't bothering to crowd around the screen, instead tapping away at her phone to send messages out. "It's too much of a coincidence not to be. Scene around City Hall isn't pretty. And I'm pretty sure that these beat cops are carrying around some of those military grade weapons." She hands her phone to Kat, zoomed in on the picture that clearly show assault rifles in the hands of uniformed officers.

FRANKIE

"So what? They brought out the big guns 'cause they knew there'd be hostages or somethin'? Doubt it." she shrugs, looking through her own phone; not at the news, or her contacts, but Instagram, going through profiles of men and women she knew at the NEPD. "Most likely the weapons would be there anyway. Unless it's all an act and that's all just an excuse to shoot something real nice, but that would be like a major conspiracy. Like, Nicolas Cage type of stuff"

HARPER

With her bag slung over her shoulder, Harper did her best to walk as inconspicuously as she could from the station to their meeting place. The NEPD was just about locked down, but more to keep people out, rather than in. At least, civilians, that is. She spots Max and Evan immediately, and recognizes most of the others- except the addition of two women she had never seen before. Resisting the urge to flash her badge, or reach for her pistol, she did her best to stay calm as she moved closer. "Damn, this shit's getting wild. Even Starbucks is closed. #smh."

KAT

Kat scrutinizes the picture and then looks up as Harper walks in, gives her a little smile and stands, laptop left on the ground. She starts pacing, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Instinct says that they got the weapons because they wanted to do something with them soon. Could lead to them using them because they knew the hostage situation was coming, but that would mean they either caused the hostage situation or planned it with another group." She shook her head. "It's too conspiracy theory-- but other evidence suggests that maybe this is the lead in to something else? Something bigger?" She looks back to Emily's phone, swiping around the photo, then starts pacing again. "Can't wrap my head around it. Harper did you find out anything?"

MAX

Max works her jaw back and forth, crossing her arms across her chest, but silent still. She's shaking but tries to hide it, opting instead to listen to the conversation happening around her, coming up with every possible scenario she could think of. When the attention turns to Harper, she takes out a cigarette and lights it. Still quiet, though.

HARPER

"Who're the newbies?" She drawled, one brow raised, her question directed to no one in particular. While she didn't regret getting involved, the more people who knew that she was, the more likely it was that her involvement might get out. And she definitely did not need that. "Not gonna lie, I was doing my actual job for most of it, but once I got the heads up, I tried to put my ear to the ground. Most of the talk is happening behind closed doors, but there's plenty of conspiracy theories traveling amongst the NEPD peasants. Which do you wanna hear 'bout first?"

KAT

"Hit me with the conspiracy theories."

EVAN

Evan took a deep breath and pushed off the wall, gathering with the group, her hands slipping into her pockets.

FRANKIE

"Hey lady, I'm Frankie Drake. I'm one of the gals," she waves childishly and goes back to what she was doing, hoping to find any indication that the cops knew about the weapons before that day. No such luck yet.

HARPER

"Sup," Harper purses her lips, unimpressed with Frankie's introduction. In a different setting, she could actually see herself getting on with the blonde, but in this particular instance, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. Still, it wasn't her operation to run, so she keeps her mouth shut about it for now. "It's everything from us to aliens. Some are saying it's a Nameless plot, and some think it's an inside job. A way to forces the public into willing submission. Honestly, all the Captains are locked up, trying to strategize, and they're bringing out the big guns. Literally. Idk where all this shit came from, but I've seen a couple of the "special ops" guys running around with semi automatics or whatever."

EMILY

Emily has kept her distance mostly until now, though she wonders whether any of them would recognize her from the tabloids. They don't really seem like the type. "Emily. I'm with her," she nods at Kat. If they need more than that, then they could kiss her ass. "So the police are clueless as usual, we've got idiots running amok in the city as usual. Lee and Covington are as good as dead and they have weapons of war. Am I missing anything?"

EVAN

"Sounds like you've got it." Evan quipped, glancing over at Emily before rubbing her forehead. "This is a shit show."

MAX

Max has her brows pinched for now, ignoring the exchange between the newbies and Harper. She knows there may not be any trust there but she trusts Kat and if Kat's bringing them in, that's enough for her. She shakes her head, "Nope. Sounds about right." She nods her head to Kat, "Anything from higher ups?" she asks, referring to anyone Kat may know higher up within the Nameless.

KAT

Kat pauses in her pacing around the warehouse to pull out her phone and get in touch. Almost immediately there's a few pings back and she shakes her head. "It's not our guys. And none of them can get into city hall feeds, either. And these fuckers are better than me. Something is going on. I don't have a good feeling about any of this."

HARPER

Harper ran a hand through her hair, her foot tapping agitatedly, itching to pace. But she held back, not wanting to let out how anxious the whole thing had her feeling. Her gut was twisting and turning, and she knew whatever was going on, couldn't be good. I've been texting the guys back at the station, but no one seems to have high enough clearance. And no one's heard from our Captain since it all went down." She paused, looking at Kat with a weary sigh. "You're sure? Because, like, this is a little intense, like damn..."

FRANKIE

Frankie's attention is piqued again when they mentioned the higher ups. As far as she knows, nothing is happening on her end as well. Probably for the best not to mention anything, though — never a good idea to overshare in places like this. "Any way of hacking the people doing the hostaging? Or the hostaged" Probably a dumb idea but what does she know? She's the one tricking people, not cellphones. "Do the sci-fi thing and turn on their microphones or somethin'"

KAT

Kat had to laugh, it wasn't funny, but.. nervous laughter was definitely a thing. "Yeah.. uhm, I could try Lee's phone? Anyone else we know in there? Covington?"

EVAN

The entire thing was a lot and Evan didn't really know what she was doing there. She rubbed at her face and bit down on her bottom lip. "Covington for sure. But I've got no idea who else is in there."

KAT

"Okay, gimme a sec." And she sat down at her laptop again, waving her hand. "Keep talking."

FRANKIE

..... "So how about them Giants, huh?"

MAX

Max quirked a brow at Frankie's quip and opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly. It wasn't worth it, they had bigger things to worry about.

KAT

After a few minutes, Kat growled and chucked her phone across the room. "I can't get into the motherfucking COCKSUCKING phones!"

EMILY

Emily immediately crosses the room to pick up Kat's phone and pockets it. "Okay, so we know they have some kind of technical expertise. But now that we've confirmed it's not.. us," she hesitates over the word briefly. "I think the best thing we can do is get back to our lives, because meeting in a warehouse in the middle of the night looks suspicious no matter what's going on."

HARPER

Harper rolls her shoulders, letting out an exhausted sigh. This "meet up", if it could even be called that, has pretty much wasted her time. They didn't know anything, and she didn't know much of anything either. "I agree. Until we know more, there's no point in loitering around and kicking around conspiracy theories all night, ya know. We all got our contact points," She continues, looking pointedly at Max, "So maybe our best bet is to keep contact on the minimum until we've got a better feel for things." While she won't admit it, the presense of new faces had her even more on edge, and at this point, she just wants to get back to the station to try and see if she can catch word of whatever is going on.

KAT

Steeling herself, "Alright-- hold on, before we separate. I'm installing an app on your phones we can use to contact each other without being monitored by the government. I'm also gonna install some shit to help block them getting into regular texts and shit, but it's not foolproof." She went around and held out her hand for them to get her the phones. "The app allows you access IRC channels, but you can't release any personal information, and you can't use any real names. You have to have a handle. Mine's grim.angel, and that's how I keep in contact with everyone. You should already have your handle if you're in with us. If you're not, you will after they grab you."

EVAN

"Grab us?" Evan questioned, an eyebrow quirking as she looked around the room.  "Fantastic. Looking forward to it." She said with a roll of her eyes.

[thewiseworm]

Star Wars AU That We All Deserve

Logan Mekalanos

- Human, through and through

- J E D I MASTER Like his father before him

- Grew up in the Order and is considered one of their best. Doesn’t have many friends though he knows and gets along with most of the Jedi in the Order

-His Master was (is) Dottie Hynse, who took him on at the age of ten and trained him into Knighthood until the age of 24. They have a close, if snappish relationship with each other, and Dottie still swings by to check in on him

-He is well aware of her breaking the Code with the pilot Larry, but hasn’t said anything to anyone other than his Master. Everyone has....needs after all. Dottie bopped him over the head the first time he suggested that

- Had his eyes torn out by a Sith Apprentice, got bionic eyes to replace them. He woke up to Dottie’s voice and his Master’s hand on his after the incident

- The largest fight they had was about him going back out on the battlefield after that. It took place before he had his eyes replaced, and he eventually broke down at the thought of not being able to travel the stars. Cue Dottie hugging him

- Has one (two) attachments: The stars (and his Master)

- T R A N S, a wonderful, handsome transman in the middle of transitioning, he wears flowing robes to help pass. Dottie is the most supportive Master

- Demiromantic Demisexual

- Is sent to save and retrieve Senator Alcyone after he goes missing

- Roman both gets on his nerves and earns his respect in the exact same moment. Not many without the Force would stand up against the Sith the way the Senator has

- Virgil fascinates him, having never seen a species like his. The smuggler is the least of his concern in the trio however and provides a welcome relief of sanity compared to the other two

- Patton, the “Sith” Lord, took him by surprise, leading to their first encounter being a loss for the Jedi. The lack of yellow eyes both concerns and gives him hope, seeing as that much Darkness would mean Logan would be duty bound to slay him

Patton Goode

- Human

- “Sith” Lord, actually a Grey Jedi

- Trained under Remy until he was pressed into service for the Separatists and the Sith. Gained his red saber during that time, eventually went on the run with Virgil, deserting the army and becoming a smuggler instead

- While training with Remy, got to know many people around the local systems. He loved the diversity and friendliness that people showed even in the midst of the war

- caught Dooku’s attention, and as such, trained under the man for a period of time. He hated pretty much every minute of it, which only fueled his being pushed towards the Dark

- Was ordered to terrorize several planets and people that reminded him of the people he had grown up with. Which lead to him hating anyone in a position of power, hating the innocents that get caught up in their power struggles

- Concerns Virgil with the way he talks. Does not hesitate to kill criminals and people he believe deserve it, believing that their deaths are the best way to stop their atrocities. Mentioned his own death in the same vein off-hand once, but Virgil’s never forgotten

- Genderfluid, though he leans mostly towards masculine. Bisexual, with a preference towards males

- Born deaf. He can lip read with the best of them, and Virgil helps him cope when people aren’t facing him. Often wants to strangle Roman for the way that he turns away in the middle of a sentence

- Follows his heart, regardless of the Light or Dark sides creeds and principles. He’ll listen to the Force and his friends. He lives with the Passion of the Sith but the Morality of the Jedi. Logan hates it

- Pining after Virgil basically since they’ve met, help him. Virgil is just so strong and brave and handsome and steady and kind and-! The moment Virgil laughed for the first time he was gone r i p

- Logan is an amusement and a hero all rolled into one. Patton respects him following his morals, and appreciates that Logan doesn’t mind stopping to help out the little guys

-Roman pisses him off. Patton Fights The Man, and Roman is The Man. Roman doesn't see his privilege and the people who love him and the power that he wields and it makes Patton want to wring his neck. (A little hypocritically)

Virgil Quill

- Part Alien, passes as human if he dresses carefully, though his skin is a light purple that looks pale in the right lighting

-Other alien features include: The tiny spores on his hair and crotch that he hides with floofy hair and carefully tucking them in his pants, raised scale like skin with spikes that start around his waist and dot his legs down to his heels, raised dark stripes that start at his waist and wind upwards to around his shoulder that release low electricity with high emotinos

-Basically? Mom was a plant alien while Dad was a Human. Got his last name from his Dad

- Naps in the sun whenever he gets the chance. Does he photosynthesize? .....yes, to a degree though he still needs to eat.

-Prefers to just let people think he’s human, easier anyway

-has hundreds of siblings. Alpha Mother aka Mom had tons of children, all of them with varying degrees of her species. The more plant like the most likely they are to stay home. Those that do leave tend to do great things that cast a shadow over Virgil

- Stole a ship from under his sisters’ noses from Alpha Mother to do great things of his own, but got caught up in smuggling from inexperience. Panicked on his first run and shot the rest of the crew to release the slaves on board and flew away without another word

- Realized he could keep doing that and help protect some of the people who need it most

- got caught during a normal smuggling run during his second year on the circuit, and meet Patton there. Saved Patton’s life and ended up stuck with a sort of Sith since then

- Ended up with a large electrical scar that spans his left side from their punishment before he escaped with Patton. It still causes him muscle pain and spasms, as well as the occasional headache

- Aporagender, who strongly identifies as male. Pansexual, he don’t care, humanity’s strangely concerned with the binary anyways and fuck that

- Anxious Bean

- Pining for Patton, also since they’ve met, hELP HIM. Patton’s been through so much and is still so kind and has saved his life so many times before and have you seen the light hitting his hair??

- Logan scares him, just a little bit. Law enforcement + a freaky obsession with his species, no thanks. He is a nice break from the other two and their arguing however

- Roman is a never ending source of entertainment and concern. Princey is clueless about so much despite being a Senator, yet still rushes recklessly into everything. Virgil’s debated locking him in the cabin to make him stop

Roman Darrold Alcyone

- ALIEN PRINCE!! Second in line for the throne so he became Senator for his planet instead

- Covered in red markings, two slashes on his face, and spiraling marks all along the rest of his body. He’s as red as he is white. Has blue colored Vitiligo that don’t cover his markings. Colorful Boy

-He glow. His marking glow in correspondence to his feelings and how high they are. Being Roman, that means he emits an almost constant light

- His skin can stand up to ridiculous temperatures, being able to stick his bare hands in lava without getting burned. Most acids won’t bother him either, leading to his people becoming master metalworkers and their planet a difficulty to visit without proper preperation.

-In turn, because of his high internal temp, gets cold, really, really easily. He’s susceptible to the cold

-His older brother being Emilie Picani Alcyone. Emilie adores his brother and Roman adores him right back. He learned how to ride a horse, wield a sword, fire a blaster, and so much more from Emilie

- Became a Senator partly to help sue for the peace and help that Emilie insisted their people needed. His brother was needed on planet so Roman would be the one to go shout at the rest of the galaxy for him

- Could never compare to his older brother, who was always faster, smarter, kinder, stronger. No one ever truly said anything about it to his face, but Roman knew it anyways. Life might have been easier if he could hate Emilie, but he never could

- Knows that he’s expendable compared to Emilie, but has only voiced that thought out loud once. It made Emilie cry and clutch at him tightly apologizing. Roman still hasn’t figured out for what

- Polygender and Polysexual

- Autistic and has ADHD r i p his focus. He struggles to read other people’s emotions the most, and often runs them over with his own interests and need to be stimulated. Has wandered off from the group more than once when something’s caught his attnetion

- Smuggles himself onto Moxiety’s ship to escape the Sith occupation of his planet with vital information concerning the war

- Can occasionally be found in the back of the ship, tracing the stars in the direction of his home. Always when he’s alone though, because he feels like he can’t let the others know how scared and confused he is

- Logan confuses the hell out of him. He can’t even get the most basic read on his emotions or thoughts so he butts head with the Jedi without meaning to. Would adore having his approval and respect though

- Virgil seems strangely attracted to him?? He keeps leaning into Roman’s side?? Which Roman appreciates when he’s feeling so alone but at the same time?? Why?? (Heat + Light = Sun, and Virgil’s plant brain like)

- PATTON PISSES HIM OFF. He doesn’t grasp responsibility or the greater good at all, and doesn’t respect him and how dare he judge him without knowing him!! Roman’s doing what he thinks is right!!

[misdre]

i said a few days ago i could just write a post about my rei/max headcanons and why i ship it and such, and i just really love rambling about these two, so here is my little reimax brainstorming post that i spontaneously felt like writing. (this is all based on animeverse, obviously.)

☆ well, first i'll say that despite whatever headcanons and interpretations, i first and foremost ship characters just because it's fun, so basically It's Not That Deep and i never claim anything as canon at all, i can literally list my first reason for shipping them as rei and max being so nicely complementary characters design-wise (long dark & short fair hair, light & dark eyes, different skin tones, purple-red & yellow-green, white & black, my self-imposed cat & dog and moon & sun allegories all that kinda stuff that just works out nicely) that's all i need to enjoy a ship honestly. i don’t like the practice of undermining other possible pairings because yours is “correct”.

☆ rei and max both basically come to japan as foreigners pre-series (max speaks the language with an accent so i take it he's not too adapted to the country yet, even if he got some of the culture from his dad’s side) which i like to think brings them together early on, since they have a shared experience of not quite belonging. i like thinking of it as a sort of over-arching feature of their friendship that sets them apart from the rest of the team. (on the other hand though, there's the obvious clash of max being a rich kid from new york and rei from the backwoods of china..... i haven’t explored that much, other than rei being completely clueless about technology and max eventually forcing him to get a cell phone because he cant keep writing letters forever for cucks sake)

☆ really obvious from my art and all but i headcanon rei as sensitive and easily flustered, based on his gentle personality and how he tends to be swayed by emotions (and lack of self confidence which isn't exactly ever laid out i think, but that's how i read him losing his way so easily), and his arrogance especially at the beginning is just him putting up a front and looking down on people at first out of wanting to feel superior himself. i actually headcanon rei to underestimate and brush max off big time at first over his favour for takao whom rei is totally amazed with at first - i mean, is ever since, but in s1 takao is still New and Exciting. max on the other hand is seen impressed with rei's strength from the start, and he isn't fazed by his arrogant attitude, nor does max ever particularly put himself on a pedestal so he doesn't mind the one-sided sentiment. max is also really patient, and i like to think that his smarts and personality gradually draw rei in, especially because rei wants to think of himself as rational and mature and a big brother of sorts -- since he’s got so much experience travelling, and has had the big brother-like role in china (i headcanon him as a bit older than the rest of BBA, i mean how else would he ever have had the time to travel) but, as said, he’s easily swayed by emotions instead. the fact that max seems so childish but has this surprising depth to him gradually makes rei acknowledge him as a blader too.

☆ the thing about their friendship is that it's very stable and sort of subtly constantly on the background. i don't even headcanon there to be any dramatic turning point of them suddenly becoming closer or anything, they're just naturally drawn to each other and end up spending time together a lot. i think of them as the observant half of the BBA team, and they work amazingly well as a team early on (synchronised moves already in s1 like wow) as something that just comes very naturally to them from thinking alike and being together. (during the domestic bits of s2 they are basically always together, like just sitting in the dojo by the two of them tuning their beys together, it’s actually really cute) there isn't the sort of dramatic element in their relationship that there is between them and takao, and kai to an extent, because they never consider each other rivals but rather are always on the same side. half of g-revolution is them banding together (in spirit) to position themselves as takao’s rivals and they work for a shared objective (which they, by the way, apparently agree on just between the two of them and meet up at like death o'clock in the morning without telling anybody else before leaving together in the beginning of g-rev. and then they return to the same place later in a dramatic sunset to reminisce about that morning, i've always wanted to write a fic about how gay that actually looks) ANYWAY point being...... what was my point. that rei and max are just forever low-key together, even when they physically aren’t.

☆ basically my canon-compliant reimax includes a lengthy friends-to-lovers mutual pining of them making the perfect pair for a really long while and being close to the point of others probably thinking they're already dating when they themselves haven't even discovered or admitted they have romantic feelings yet and everyone’s just "what".

☆ back to headcanon land, also pretty obvious from my fanworks, but i hc max as the more assertive one by a mile, and my usual depiction is that he actually is aware of his feelings for rei (starting from wherever i choose that to start. “forever” is a good pick) and probably knows that rei feels the same, but max just loves teasing the hell out of him for it because rei's reactions are so emotion-based (against his own will. he'd want to be a calm and rational adult so bad) and he takes himself so seriously. max sees through rei's tough act pretty much from the start and only finds it endearing. and max is the kind to perpetually surprise everyone else, either on purpose or just by the virtue of being so much more than he seems to be, so in turn rei is infatuated with the complexity of max's character (and also just his cuteness but you know) but somehow repeatedly finds himself fooled by max anyway, e.g. rei would sure as hell think max is all innocent and cute and would probably think it scandalous if max ever found out he's having such INAPPROPRIATE thoughts about him, but then it's max making the first move by casually throwing some pick-up line at rei (....or slapping his ass or whatever) which max isn't ashamed of doing in the least. that's the sort of dynamic i headcanon them to have.......when it's not just a smooth sailing of them easily moving from friends to boyfriends, anyway, which i can also more canon-compliantly imagine. like one day they just end up making out and go "oh" and it makes perfect sense to both. that also works. which do i like better?? i love all of it. (alternatively, they're just both too dense to make the first move and the girls, hiromi and mao usually, wind up being their wingwomen who have to spell their obvious feelings out to them. girls because they are so much smoother at this stuff than guys. also, it's somehow a running thing in my imagined settings that kai is the only other BBA member who knows of them, just because he's the only one actually sitting there quietly observing everyone. and he is groaning internally all the time because these idiots just don't get it. like i could literally write a fic like this from kai’s POV. actually i have a zillion different settings for how reimax could happen and this post isn't supposed to be a masterlist of them, but that's a couple of thoughts)

☆ not a surprise but i have like a compulsive need to depict max being crazy about rei’s beautiful hair, and also his build in general (the tips of rei's ears are an erogenous zone by the way) -- i guess i headcanon max to be much more actively *attracted* to people (pan max is my way of max) and it’s very natural for him to find rei’s characteristics attractive, while at rei's end it's more of a "i have no idea why i feel this way about him what is this we're both guys it shouldn't be like this ohmygod did i just think he was cute for a second no it can't be oh no." i also think that rei would have a harder time dating another guy and dealing with what other people would think about it and all, being from the boonies as opposed to max being from a big american city. which then could also contribute to rei addressing his feelings much more slowly or being alien to the whole concept altogether. but i don't care to address real world issues in my 100% fictional noncanon fanworks, so i don't think about that aspect much.

this is probably enough rambling for one post, tl;dr i sure am attached to an imaginary relationship of a couple of cartoon boys