#plus the reception definitely made us look at it differently to what the author was going for

[llitchilitchi]

tbh i have mixed feelings about ks being mlm representation, like on a surface level it could be considered that, but i think its too much a reflection or real horror stories around gay people? like especially considering the murder guy is straight, it represents more a story of a gay man as a victim of straight violence - i dont think this is necessarily bad, just for me its also not good rep of homosexuality in horror or sexual horror - especially since homosexuality is used quite a bit within sexual horror to condemn homosexuality, which i think could implicitly be represented through the stalker guy's obsession with the straight murder guy which ultimately leads to his sa and torture, as if he was asking for it (not that i think thats what the writer intended, just that it does reflect other aspects of queer sexual horror)

this is /nm ofc, just my interpretation ! sorry again if its a little rambly, media analysis is just like my favourite thing psksks

okay so I got this a couple days ago while we were discussing this and first I want to apologise for not answering this sooner, I've been busy, and secondly, as much as this conversation is probably over this is something that's been stuck in my mind since I first read it

this one gets heavy so this is a last warning for anyone to skip over this ask, we're talking about killing stalking here so all the tws that come with that will be discussed

I see where you're coming from! we do have to ask what we consider mlm/queer representation in media though. is killing stalking even mlm? one of the protagonists is gay, yes, but it isn't exactly Men Loving Men, it's a gay man being taken advantage of because of his infatuation with his abuser (who is straight).

besides, this is a psychological horror/thriller kinda story, so the sexual horror is somewhat expected, even if it is reflective of the horror real queer people undergo. it's something women go through in relationships with men, too, and there are several stories that are realistic-ish (the first to come to mind would be Jennifer's Body, and, in a way, Rosemary's Baby.) there are many stories that depict straight relationships like that and since I personally believe in 'stories with queer characters and same sex couples shouldn't be just pure and sweet and it's better like that, actually' it never was an issue to me that the main couple was two men.

the story also never came off as condemning homosexuality. while it was somewhat used against yoonbum it didn't read like the author herself was condemning him for being gay. the tone might have changed in the later chapters, if it did then that's just awful. but as far as I remember it was on the side of parodying classic yaoi tropes, as in pushing them to such an extreme it was the author more or less screaming at the readers THIS IS MESSED UP!! THIS IS WRONG AND NOT RIGHT!! NOT BECAUSE IT'S GAY BUT BECAUSE IT'S RAPE AND ABUSE!!

especially the intro, if Yoonbum was a woman the stalking would still result in abuse and rape, so I don't think it was intended to be read as 'if he wasn't gay this wouldn't have happened' cause hell, if Sangwoo was a woman the story would most likely read the same!

it does beg the question of why the author chose to write both protagonists as male, which I suppose, the best answer is 'why not?'

I get that writing these stories is tricky, especially with how people still view same sex relationships as either bad or as a fetish for them to indulge in (I'm talking fujoshi culture and straight men being into lesbian porn, for example), but I do feel like the best way to normalize queerness is writing any story with a queer character. including a story like killing stalking. (and before anyone comes at me with 'so you're saying that-' as long as it's not condemning them for being gay it's fine. as long as it's not saying All Queer People Bad it's fine. if the character is fucked up and gay then that's fine.)

tbh the only way I could see this story as being 'bad queer representation' would be if yoonbum was straight and sangwoo gay, tho I guess even that could be argued over. but you get what I mean by this, probably /genuine

[snickerdoodlles]

Feel free to just ignore this if you really dislike the phrase that much, and then I will just try to remember never to use that phrase for your stories again, but I wanted to let you know that I consider "crack taken seriously" to be one of the highest accolades to give an author. Because they took something that anyone else would have made into a one line gag and filled it with life; with joy and fear and insight and inspiration; brilliant worldbuilding and inspired character development.

I don't like most humor. It usually just comes off as mocking and mean to me. But crack taken seriously is when someone takes the bitter absurdity of those "funny" bits of our world and cracks it open to show that there is an entire story full of beauty and hope inside, not just the momentary embarrassment and frustration I expected.

And also, it's just really hard to do. Most people don't have the imagination to find an entire universe in a silly joke, much less the skill to write it. Douglas Adams is crack taken seriously. And Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkin, William Gibson. Anyone who thought of something radically different than our reality, and then wrote it so well that we all saw our own lives reflected in it. In fact, it showed us ourselves reflected so clearly that it taught us things about ourselves we never thought to look at; changed us in ways that a story that pandered to our expectations of how the world works never could.

Done right, absurdity and silliness leaves the reader receptive to considering radical ideas they might have ignored in any other context. I find it an amazingly powerful literary device. Most cracky fanfic doesn't go that far, of course. But even when it's just used to give a different interpretation of a cannon scene, not political commentary, it hits me harder than more conventionally structured works trying to do the same thing. And I can't write it at all so I find it really technically impressive when someone pulls it off. The timing and pacing is really hard to do!

( crack taken seriously tends to be something that makes me giggle or go "WTF?" at first, but ends with me sitting in stunned silence, thinking "OH." I mean, there are variants, it's not like a rule, but that's kind of the core feeling I get from it.

It's an actual unique genre in my mind, not literally something silly treated as serious)

Oh friend it's okay, I don't actually need anyone to change up their tagging systems for me! And thank you for sharing your thoughts on the 'crack taken seriously' tag 🥰 I do objectively know most people mean it in a good way, it just also catches me off guard every time because the pieces of my writing that I think people label me as a 'crack' writer for aren't what I'd label as 'crack', so there's a disconnect for me (ie something like my necromancy AU I haven't written yet, where Chay can just raise the dead as he pleases and I use that to dig into Big's relationship with personhood, is crack taken seriously to me; stuff that just plays off silliness like an accidental pony-play or ridiculous friendship shenanigans i'd just tag as humor). plus, the definition for 'crack' is all over the place-- I always assume the nicer definitions for my own sake, but I'm not entirely sure sometimes.

so in a combination of my own writing insecurities and the definition mismatch, I feel very...odd? ig? about the label. it's very much a me thing, I know that, but sometimes the specific combination of tags left on my stuff feels more like "this person's a crack writer BUT--" and it kinda feels like I'm being put on the backfoot/dismissed, or that what I like to write is somehow 'less' and needs to be justified to be liked. this is still a me issue, but sometimes the disconnect hits strong and I just feel baffled for the day.

[wesimpforxiao]

Inception: Chapter 4

"Tch!"  Your forearm blocked a particularly heavy strike from Childe.  It was sure to be bruised tomorrow, but the pain was so freeing.  Maybe you should be attacking the Fatui more often if fighting made you feel THIS good.

"Don't tell me you're tired already," Childe smirked.  "I haven't even gotten to see you use your vision yet!"

The lanterns lighting the city below vaguely illuminated the mountainside in which the two of you were fighting.  It was the perfect view of both city and sea.  Childe was interested in seeing the fantastic firework show, but the way things were going right now, he was more interested in testing your limits.

"Enough about that already," you growled and thrust your elbow into his side.  The small 'oomph' that he exhaled made you a little too happy.  He's wanted a fight with you ever since he came back that day, and even more so since you reunited.  Who were you to refuse him now?  Sure, you've refused in the past, but the anger and bitterness that came flooding back while you were at the festival needed  relief.  Ajax needed to know how much he hurt you all those years ago, whether you directly told him or not.  

Childe, oblivious to the reason behind your sudden willingness to fight, was more than delighted to fight you.  You must've been pretty desperate to change the subject of your phobia if you chose fighting as the alternative!  That didn't stop him from feeling a little bad for pushing the subject, but the thrill of battle soon overcame the guilt and a new fascination overwhelmed his senses.

He was right.  You are like him, even if it's just when you're angry.  He can hone that: train you into becoming a warrior to be reckoned with.  Childe held no intentions to convince you to join the Fatui, but instead prevent your potential from being wasted.  He'd give you the opportunity to grow from amateur to expert.  If you managed to surprise him in this moment, only archons would know exactly what he thought of you.

The harbinger steadied himself and threw his forearm out in time to block your swing, then countered with one of his own to your gut.  It wasn't often that he trained in hand-to-hand combat, but that didn't make him any less deadly.  He had to pull his punches to prevent from hurting you--though if we're being honest, he completely forgot to do that after the first couple minutes.  It's not like you minded anyway. Childe was also slightly impressed at your strength; your looks were definitely deceiving and it worked to your advantage.  He had underestimated you.

No wonder his men were complaining about the vigilante so much.

He caught your roundhouse kick aimed for his head and threw you off balance.  The grass didn't soften your landing.  The sole of his boot sat square in the middle of your chest as he towered over you.  "Not bad," he praised with a raising of his lips.  "I can see why you chose antagonizing the Fatui as a hobby."  Something flashed in your eyes, but Childe wasn't sure what it was.

Your fist slammed into the side of his knee, knocking him off of you.  As he fell you grabbed his arm so he'd land on his back.  You were the one on top of him now with your knees pinning his shoulders into the grass.  "Do you even remember?"  

Childe blinked, and the bloodlust and thrill that was in his eyes was gone.  Remember?  What are--  You were struggling with something dark; your hands pulled the grass out from besides his head, eyes wavering with the slightest bit of hope swirling in the depths of pain.  Seeing your expression, Childe parted his lips to speak.  "Reed--?"

"Heh, forget it," you sniffed, swiping the bottom of your nose with your thumb and sitting up straighter as you vacantly analyzed the blood that now painted your finger.

BOOM! C-r-a-c-k-l-e....!

The Mingxiao lantern exploded somewhere behind you.  The lights from the explosives cast a prolonged glow that illuminated Childe beneath you, but you were still staring at your hand.  It was hard not to think about that night with your father.  What could you have done to change the outcome?  What could have helped you reach Ajax when he returned a different child?  Based on your fight just now, he's never stopped looking for something to take his anger out on; a cruel contrast to the friendly toy seller demeanor.  Meanwhile, Childe: What would've happened if you had fallen into the Abyss with him?  

The lights were beautiful from Childe's point of view, but not for the common reason; they were blocked out save for the ones peeking out from behind your shoulders and head.  You were backlit with bright colors--reds, blues, greens, yellows and oranges.  Each cast a soft glow to your silhouette.  The thoughtful look on your face while you refused to look his way was enticing, what with the sweat that slowly rolled down your temple and the forming bruises splattering across your arms.  And the bloody nose he gave you--the blood that slowly trickled its way down to your upper lip--sent a pleasurable chill down his spine.  You were a breathtaking mess of art.

He briefly wondered if you thought the same of him, but you never glanced down even after the lights of the lantern had faded.

...................

A few miles westward, at the base of Mount Tianheng. Ten minutes before the release of the Mingxiao lantern.

"Alright boys," a dark figure emerged from the shadows of the mountain and scanned the crowd of twenty-plus men all dressed in black robes.  The gruff voice that erupted from the man was enough to silence the hushed whispers between comrades in arms.  "Our scouts confirm the whereabouts of the target in the Northland Bank.  Security is minimal as expected.  Our primary objective is to retrieve those documents.  Understood?"

Silent nods all around.  Not one uttered a word, their obedience absolute.  This was the man that compensated them fairly compared to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa.  Injustices laid out against them by their superiors in the Liyue division of the Fatui will be paid in due time. Now that there were enough committed to the cause, the master's plan will be put into action.

"The Fatui will fall," he bellowed.

"The Fatui will fall! The Fatui will fall! The Fatui will fall!"  The servicemen dispersed as quickly as they heeded his words, shouts of determination fading into murmurs then silence.

"Charlie," the leader gestured towards his right-hand man.  "A word."

"Yes, sir?"  The brunette's wolf-like ears perked up at the voice of his master.  It wasn't unusual that he was given a separate mission during times like this, so he prepared himself with a jaw clenched in anticipation.

"Though I doubt any of them would be caught in this operation by either party, I am not risking you for...obvious reasons.  I have a separate matter to discuss with you."  Eyes like a snake's watched Charlie with both thoughtfulness and pride.  Charlie was by far the most trustworthy, being one of the few recruits that were in this group the longest.  He's succeeded all expectations, to say the least.  "You've mentioned before about a rogue citizen attacking the Liyue Fatui?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any new information on them?"

"Well," Charlie shifted his weight to his other foot and pulled at the collar of his jacket.  "According to one of the agents, it's a she.  The lack of evidence she leaves during expeditions indicate she's had some time to plot her attacks and escape routes...she's more of a threat to them than those who are joining our ranks--at least on the agent-level.  Master Childe seems rather unconcerned with her."

"I see.  Well, if you're up for a greater challenge, find her.  And when you do, recruit her.  With her skillset, the destruction of the Liyue Division will happen a lot faster."

"Yes, sir."  This challenge wouldn't be easy.  It was unusual for there to be someone like him in the ranks of the Fatui, but perhaps this could be an advantage for finding this vigilante that's been the talk of the Fatui for so long.

....................

Childe had parted ways with you a few minutes ago and decided to check in with the bank before bed.  The city streets were still bustling with partiers and night owls, so he took the shortcut through neighboring alleyways to avoid the foot traffic.  

He still couldn't figure out why you went quiet after sparring.  Wasn't sure if he missed something--a cue, a word, a phrase...what was it?  And why was it bugging him so much?  His chest was tight and palms sweaty, his heart was even racing a bit.  It was unusual for him to be so on-edge.  His worries were rudely interrupted when he reached the stairs that led up to the bank.  

Millelith.

"Why aren't you helping us?! We told you everything we know! We need those documents back!"  Nadia was practically screaming at one of the authorities.  "I told you, those documents are im--" Spotting Childe, she let out a sigh of relief.  "Oh thank Her Majesty--We've been robbed, Master Childe."

"Robbed?"

"Mm, yes.  The safe was broken into, but not a single mora was taken.  The reception desk is in disarray, as is Andrei's office...papers are strewn about this way and that, and the documents Andrei was holding for you are missing."

"...I see."

"And these...these imbeciles aren't helping!  They're saying there's nothing to do but make a report!"

"I understand the situation.  I'll be taking it from here.  Please return to your post, Nadia."

She turned on her heel.  "Yes sir!"

Childe faced the Millelith again now that it was just him and them remaining.  "Any leads?"

"N-No, sir." The taller one, who was seemingly the one in charge of the investigation, held a stern expression as he stared eye-to-eye with the harbinger.  "No witnesses.  Whoever pulled this off did so with help.  The theory is at least five people were involved."

"Five?"  Childe couldn't help but scoff at such a ridiculous idea.  "And there were no witnesses at all? That's not possible."

"Sir--"

"No! You don't understand.  That's impossible.  Our security is too tight for even one person to slip through.  There had to be someone.  Are you sure you crosschecked those who are on duty?"

The guard just shrugged.  He wasn't even interested in hearing what Childe had to say!  Even the other guards that were accompanying him appeared bored and even annoyed that they had to deal with the Fatui.

Seeing this, the harbinger pulled at his hair.  Steady now, he reminded himself, Don't lose your temper here.  "If I may, I'd like to speak with your leading supervisor."

"You're lookin' at him," the lead guard answered with an arrogant smirk that pissed Childe off even more.

"Tch--Whoever's in charge of you."

"Sorry, but he's off-duty at the moment.  You can speak with him at the civil affairs tomorrow evening."

"Right."  Childe grit his teeth and took an extra deep breath to calm himself.  Of course, it didn't work.  Damn them!  If I could have it my way, they'd be lying in a pool of their own blood right here and now for their audacity to ignore a crime against us--We fund them, for crying out loud! Perhaps I should send for the Tsaritsa's wisdom-- If it weren't for Lady Signora keeping him in the dark in regards to Morax's gnosis, he wouldn't feel like a dog on a tight leash right now.  The great weapon of war forced to heel for the sake of the cryo archon's image.  Childe made his way for Andrei's office with clenched fists.

Sure enough, it was trashed.  Every document, every book, every folder lay strewn about or trampled on.  Nadia and another agent were busy sorting through and placing each in their respective places; Andrei was out near the docks so it would be awhile before anyone managed to get ahold of him...

Childe knelt at the safe under the desk that sat before the set of double-paned windows.  It was empty.  Every single letter from the Tsaritsa was inside; each detailing next and future steps for the Fatui and Northland Bank; classified documents that updated him of the politics occurring in the Motherland; evidence of...certain matters that would no doubt give the Qixing enough power to ban the presence of Fatui in Liyue.  All of it was gone.

Who'd go to such sophisticated lengths to get their hands on these?  The Qixing abide by the law, so they wouldn't do something so unorthodox.  The Millelith were definitely biased and held grudges against him, so they're not entirely ruled out...What was the suspects' goal?  A smear campaign?  If it is, they got it.  

If he hadn't been away from the office, surely they wouldn't have been so bold as to pull off a bank heist.  But one good thing came out of this:  You definitely weren't involved since you were with him.  Wait...whoever did this must've been watching him.  You could be involved if you had help, but you've never mentioned anyone helping you.  So you and this situation were completely unrelated.  That had to be the case.

Regardless, his every move is being watched.  The only question that remains is, by who?

[nctrsn20]

Starbucks and Movie

CHARACTERS ― Winwin (WAYV), Chua Nina Liling, Hendery (WAYV), Lucas (WAYV)

GENRE ― wayv as mafia, nct as mafia, mafia au

AUTHOR’S NOTE/WARNINGS ― fluff all the way!

SUMMARY ― Winwin just wants to spend time with his best friend, but his friends keep on stealing her away from him.

‘i’m on my way, gonna drop by Starbucks first though, do you want anything? do the Wayv guys want anything?’ - Lingling

Winwin looks up from his phone. From the kitchen aisle, he could see Lucas and Hendery in the living room - watching a movie.

‘I want the usual, and the others’ said no thanks. come here safely!’- Winwin

“When is Liling coming again?” asked Lucas as soon as he saw Winwin walking towards them, taking a seat in the middle of them. Winwin could only groan, this is the 4th time the tall guy had asked him.

“Soon, Xuxi, soon,” Winwin muttered, leaning against the couch.

“Oh, is this a date then?” Lucas turned towards him, wiggling his eyebrows. Winwin could only look away, turning towards Hendery and he knew the latter was going to take Lucas’s side, following Lucas’s action.

“You guys are so annoying,” Winwin stood up, earning giggles and laughter from the both of them. “But we know you love us!” Hendery yelled at the back.

“But he loves Liling more!” Lucas yelled back and Winwin could only ignore them, going towards the 2nd floor where the common area is located.

It is much more peaceful here.

‘But he loves Liling more!’ Lucas’s words rang into Winwin’s mind, somehow her face showed up on his mind, making him slightly blush the more he thinks of her.

Lucas isn’t wrong, Winwin indeed loves her, but he doesn't want to make it obvious - but his own members make it more obvious that he gets annoyed by them whenever Liling comes over.

Usually, Liling comes over to spend time with Winwin but it ends with the WAYV members surrounding her - asking her to play FIFA with them.

Winwin swore that today, he wouldn’t let the other members take her away from him.

Just as he was having his own moment, checking his phone, his phone rang somehow Chenle’s name showed up on his phone screen - Winwin didn’t hesitate to answer him.

“Hey, Lele. What’s wrong?”

“Gege, could you come to the headquarters? I know Liling is here to see you but somehow Liling is at the headquarters. I think she kind of went the wrong way, i mean since she went the headquarters’ way i just let her in.. Sorry gege!” Chenle let out a nervous chuckle at the end, and Winwin immediately stood up - already going down the stairs.

“It’s okay, Chenle. Thank you for informing me, I’m heading there now!!” He ended the call with Chenle humming. Quickly putting on his slippers, Winwin went to the front, walking towards the side, going to the back way.

It’s kind of complicated with NCTs’ residence.

The main NCT headquarters is located in the middle, while the respective 3 groups reside right behind the headquarters - with 127 residences in the middle, while Dream and Wayv’s residence are the sides.

A huge swimming pool is located in the middle where everyone would gather to just chill or have a swim - where parties would also be made mostly by Taeyong and Ten.

“Liling.. You have been here often and yet you are still confuse,” Winwin whispered to himself, as he entered the back way towards the headquarters.

She feels kind of out of place.

She just arrive in Korea after a day. For a year, she has been working in France, along with some of the Elinovas Angels girls.

Liling wanted to visit Winwin after like a year of not seeing each other although he had personally went to France along with some of the Wayv members to watch the fashion show.

But that was just him attending, he didn't even say 'hi' to her afterwards - he did send a bouquet of flowers saying he enjoyed the show, but that was it.

He didn't personally see her, and she was honestly sad - but Liling knows he had somewhere to go which involves with NCT's businesses, since had contacted her immediately.

Now entering the building, men in suits were looking at her weirdly, somehow looking at her up and down and it definitely makes Liling feel extremely uncomfortable - though her profession had that kind of reaction but the way they stare at her is different from how her audience stares or looks at her.

And somehow, the place is big as hell.

She didn’t know Winwin lives in an office building.

She was awkwardly walking aimlessly, looking towards the main reception area. There were men literally standing behind the reception area and she didn’t even dare to go there.

They look scary in her eyes.

‘I really need to call Sicheng,’

“Liling!!” Just as she was trying to call him, Liling looked up to see Winwin emerging from the sides. There was an immediate smile coming from her as soon as he came towards her.

“I told you to come to Wayvs’ house, not the headquarters!” Winwin kind of scolded her, at the same time looking around. He was shielding her face with his body, not wanting men to know or notice her.

Liling could only smile sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Sicheng. It’s kind of confusing.. I’m still confused with your new living conditions.” Liling pouted slightly towards Winwin.

He could only sigh while helping her carry three paper bags that had the Starbucks logo on it.

“Thanks for— wait, why are there like 12 drinks here!? Don’t tell me..” Winwin trailed off, looking towards Liling who was smiling awkwardly. “I know you said the members didn’t want anything but I just bought it for them, who knows they would want it later,”

Winwin swore his heart skipped a beat with how kind she is. She is always kind towards him and his own members, even when he and his friends are seen as someone bad.

“Let’s go,” Winwin muttered under his breath, at the same grabbing Liling’s hand with his free hand, somehow pulling her to the way where he entered the lobby - with Liling shrieking slightly with his sudden action.

“Lingling jiejie!”

“Hi Lingling noona!”

As soon as they exited out of the headquarters, going towards the backway, somehow Chenle and Jisung were hanging out near the pool area - shouting Liling’s name while waving at her.

Liling could only wave back, with the paper bags on her hands while the other arm was being held by Winwin. He didn’t glance towards Chenle and Jisung’s way at all - and that’s because he is trying to hide his reddened face.

The fact that he is out here, holding hands with her while guiding her in - he didn’t even think that his other members would tease him.

“Those boys are getting cuter as the days pass!” Liling cooed, and once they kind of reach Wayv’s residence, Winwin let go of Liling’s hands as took out her slip ons.

“Here, wear the slipper.” Winwin got his own slippers that he usually used in the house, putting them right in front of her. Liling quietly wears them, following Winwin at the back as he leads her to the open kitchen.

Not knowing there were other presence there.

“Oh— Lingling! My favorite girl! Come— Woah!”

Lucas was the first one who saw her since he was the only one in the kitchen, he was going to engulf her with a hug when Winwin decided to slightly push Liling out of the way - smoothly grabbing Lucas’s arm, pulling him out of their way.

“Oww! You don’t have to be so physical and jealous about it! I was just going to hug her!” Lucas whines, at the same time glaring slightly towards Winwin who looks kind of unbothered.

“...Exactly,” Winwin folded his arms, his brows lifting up.

“Liling!” Hendery appeared into the kitchen, and somehow she went towards him, hugging the other man tightly - which caught both Winwin and Lucas’s eyes.

“See! He hugs her too! Why didn’t you stop Guanheng!?”

“That’s because he was being careful with her.”

“That’s not fair! I was being careful with her too!” Lucas whines, still pouting towards Hendery and Liling who were exchanging conversation at the side. “No, you don’t. You look like you were about to crash here.”

“Wha— I didn’t even hug her!” Lucas fought and Winwin just shrugged while walking past the giant guy. “Okay, okay boys. Stop fighting! I brought Starbucks for all of you.” Liling yelled to get their attention and that’s when the three boys went towards her side.

Liling began to distribute the drinks towards the others. Winwin was smart.

He somehow pushed all of the hands of the two boys, he was the only one who made skin contact with her - passing the drink to the two guys.

The two men could only give a side eye towards him.

“Thank you Lingling!” Hendery thanked the girl as he walked out of the kitchen, not wanting to disturb Winwin and his crush. “Yeah! Thank you for the drink! If you need anything we are in the— Okay, okay! I’ll leave! Geez!” Lucas somehow was being pushed out of the kitchen by Winwin.

He went towards her side, leaning against the counter-top - watching her walking back and forth towards the fridge and the top cabinet. “You know, you don’t have to be so mean to them you know,” Liling commented as she took out a plastic bag of bread, before glancing towards Winwin with a slight smile.

She quickly looks away, and that’s because she didn’t want to look at him for too long - the way he is leaning the counter, the way he is only staring at her makes her all shy.

Not to mention that his hair is slightly curly and fluffy and he was wearing a white shirt and black jeans plus the way he was leaning and staring at her, he looked attractive.

“..They were about to steal you away from me, especially that Lucas, when I want to spend more time with you,” Winwin whispered, his eyes still looking at what she was making - which were sandwiches.

Liling heard him clearly, as she slowly looked at him. He didn’t even look flustered nor embarrassed. Liling couldn’t help but smile shyly, still making the sandwiches.

About 5 minutes later, she made about 10 of them - knowing the others are with them.

“That looks good.” Winwin’s eyes fixed onto the plate and Liling wiggled her eyebrows. “C’mon! Let’s watch some movies!” She mindlessly grabbed Winwin’s arm as they went towards the living room.

And as expected, Winwin knew his friends would steal her away from him - but sticking to his words, Winwin would always be there, basically being the fourth person - which Liling didn’t mind at all.

An hour later, Liling was wrapped in a blanket while being in the middle of Winwin and Hendery - with Lucas being on the other side of Hendary, while focusing on the movie they had on.

Liling had no problem watching the movie but Winwin, he seems can’t be in focus on the movie for some sort of reason. He had stolen glances towards Liling and Hendery - he was troubled by how close they were sitting next to each other.

Of course Winwin knew that Henderya and Liling are just friends, not more than that - besides, Hendery has a girlfriend. According to Lucas, Hendery and his girl have finally made things official.

Winwin’s worried glances had caught Liling’s attention, turning towards him. “Sicheng, you good?” Liling whispered towards his side, not wanting to disturb the other two, who seem to be in no problem watching the horror movie while cuddling with each other.

Winwin just nodded, before turning towards the big projector. Blinking towards him, Liling thought that he might be cold so she decided to share the blanket with him. Winwin could only look at her with confusion, as she threw the cloth on top of his legs.

As the movie continues as the time passes by, the two somehow become comfortable - Winwin not minding how Liling is leaning against his shoulder.

Moments later she fully had her side overlapping with his, her head fully leaning against his chest - she was hiding from the jumpscares.

Winwin noticed that beside her was awfully quiet, to see Lucas and Hendery basically sleeping while cuddling each other.

‘They aren’t even watching, instead the movie is watching them,’

An hour passed by and Winwin by now wasn’t aware of Liling, until he noticed the weight on his chest - seeing the girl basically sleeping on his chest, her hands wrapped around his waist.

He knows she was unaware of this, if she is, she should be flustered by now or she would have jumped a few seats away.

Smiling slightly, Winwin could only put his chin on top of her head, at the same time he snaked his arm around her back, pushing her slightly towards him.

He just wishes he could be open with his feelings.

[ MASTERLIST ]

[supremeuppityone]

Author’s note: This was created for the Klaroline Fall Bingo Event @klarolinefallbingo.

Prompt: Thanksgiving

                                    _________________________

           “Seriously, who gets married on Thanksgiving?!”

           Klaus wryly replied, “That’s your objection, love?” Nodding toward the front of the room, he said, “Not Elvis officiating the wedding or Cher playing the wedding march?”

           “Nope. It’s exactly how I want my wedding to go — celebrity impersonators are a must-have. Besides, accordion music is the language of love,” she retorted, trying to smooth out the wrinkles of her travel-worn knit dress. Had she known Bonnie and Enzo would decide at the last minute to get married, she wouldn’t have stuffed her only dress in a corner of her luggage.               

          Thanksgiving in Las Vegas had been a spontaneous suggestion of Bonnie’s, something so completely out of character that Caroline was irritated she hadn’t been suspicious right away. But her sister had bribed her with reservations at the exclusive Arcadius Lounge, which promised a gourmet feast of all things pumpkin and cranberry, so she stopped asking her usual pesky questions.

           Klaus eyed her appreciatively, his voice low as he rumbled, “I always knew you were a secret romantic, sweetheart. Even when our debate about unionizing cannabis workers grew so loud we were kicked out of the library, I could tell you were the sentimental type.”

           She bit back a laugh as Bonnie and Enzo pulled a few robot dance moves as they walked together down the aisle. She studiously ignored Klaus, pushing down those inconvenient feelings she’d developed from when they were in college. Their little group of friends was incestuous enough between Bonnie and Enzo, Rebekah and Stefan, and Kol and...everyone else.

           Sure. Keep telling yourself you aren’t interested. How much did you bribe the manager to ensure your room was right next door?

           “Wise men say ‘Only fools rush in.’” As the Elvis guy continued, Caroline realized he’d adapted the introduction to the wedding vows into Elvis’ song, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” She and Klaus looked on in amusement/horror as he perfectly timed his arthritic pelvic thrusts to the “like a river flows to the sea” chorus. Classy.

           Still, she grew misty-eyed when she saw how unbelievably happy Bonnie was as she and Enzo joined the Elvis guy in performing a few of his signature karate moves. “You and Bonnie are sisters,” Klaus leaned in, his breath on her cheek making her skin tingle pleasantly. “Is your family planning a reception when you fly home?”

           Hopefully their family had no idea where they were. “Oh, um...it’s complicated. I’m sure you noticed when we were in school that Bonnie and I never went home for the holidays and made ourselves scarce for the annual Parents’ Day activities. It’s because we had to cut our family out of our lives. They’re...um, a destructive force and we just couldn’t handle them anymore.” They were the only ones to escape the Gemini Coven.

           And now Bonnie was bringing Enzo into this mess. At least he hadn’t fainted when they made his tattoo dance across his arm. Plus, they were kind enough to put a glamour spell on it so it was the correct Chinese symbol for courage. (No one should be walking around with a tattoo that said lusty noodle.)

           If only their magic was always so predictable — when they’d first arrived on campus, Caroline’s hair turned a different shade of purple for nearly two weeks after she cast their protection spells. Every time she’d run into Klaus with his flirty winks and knowing smirks, the color would change, forcing her to come up with lies that sounded more and more ridiculous. Not to mention Bonnie’s stupid insistence that her magic could be affected by strong emotions...

           Klaus politely waited until drag queen Cher finished her impressive rendition of “If I Could Turn Back Time” (odd choice for a wedding, but somehow, with the Elvis guys singing backup, it worked.) “I certainly can sympathize with you. My siblings and I had a similar situation with our parents. It took some time, but we finally made a clean break. Self-care is important.”

           “Self-care, yes. Definitely,” Caroline muttered.

           He seemed to be searching for something in her expression, and whatever he found there caused his brow to furrow. “Caroline,” he began in that accent that always made her ache, “are you —”

           Whatever Klaus started to say was cut off when Kol suddenly stumbled into the chair beside them, sloshing his drink over the rim. “Abraham Lincoln’s a cheap bastard,” he whined, “he used Whiny Camel Vodka in my martini. Haven’t had to drink that swill since uni.” Tossing a flirty smile over his shoulder at the impersonator behind the bar, he added, “at least he’s a tasty little stovetop treat.”

           “Stovepipe,” Caroline corrected in amusement.

           Klaus’ troublemaking brother waved her off, loudly whispering, “No, little bird, he insisted he was a top!”

           They both frantically shushed him, not wanting to miss the next wardrobe change for drag queen Cher. It was shaping up to be spectacular with her frothy “Turn Back Time” 80s wig almost touching the paper wedding bells hanging overhead. She suddenly was aware of how close they were sitting; the warmth of Klaus seeping into her skin was making her hot and cold and did he always have to smell like delicious fall spices and seriously how much longer was this wedding anyway?

           “You guys ditched me last night,” Kol said petulantly, leaning over until he was practically in Caroline’s lap.

           “You got drunk and tried to fight a horse.”

           Huffing indignantly, Kol replied, “You didn’t hear what the bloody horse said.” He slowly blinked, glancing between the two of them as though he just remembered something. With an impish grin, he revealed, “You know, Nik bribed the clerk at our hotel so his room was next to yours. Seemed like a bloody waste to get two rooms to begin with. Although I applaud that you two are shagging at a frequency that requires two beds. Bravo!”

           Where the evening could’ve gone next was anyone’s guess, but the adorable flush staining Klaus’ cheeks made Caroline feel undeniably giddy about the outcome...

           And that was when the altar erupted in purple flames. To Enzo’s credit, he didn’t seem especially freaked out when a strange man sporting black, soulless eyes flicked his wrist and caused Elvis guy to fly across the room. Drag queen Cher pulled off one of her enormous platform stilettos, brandishing it like a rhinestone-bedecked baseball bat, and Caroline made a mental note to send her an enchanted wardrobe if they managed to survive this mess.

           When the intruder tried to grab Bonnie, Enzo sucker-punched him, which made Caroline snort in amusement despite the terror she felt. Their sadistic coven leader had had that coming for years.  

           “Your days of running from our coven are at an end,” he swore, that malicious spark in his furious gaze filled Caroline with dread.

           “Kai! We put you in one prison world; don’t think we can’t shove you in another one,” Bonnie growled, channeling her power to send Enzo and the wedding chapel staff to their safe house in a wisp of smoke.

           Caroline looked over her shoulder at Klaus, who seemed torn between confusion and terror. Like most of her dates. Just before she magicked him and Kol away to the safe house, she winked and said, “I told you it was complicated.”

[thejudgingtrash]

Now hold up I would personally love to hear a full rant on this supposed adaptation I have never heard of until now. Like, legitimately, I wanna know what you have to say about this cause you seem to be one of the most valid PJO blogs

Uhhh what??? Me one of the most valid PJO blogs??? What kinda crack have you been smoking WHAT afahsgjskdh.

But still thank you 😊🥺🙈

Alright, you wanted a rant. You got a rant. Fuck the positives let’s just straight up jump into my aggression.

WARNING: Massive rant with a lot of swear words. If you can’t handle the heat, feel free to ignore this. I personally haven’t worked in Hollyweird, but I had some behind the scenes stuff here in Europe going on for a short period and also the trusty words of my college professors. So here will be a lot of prediction and speculation involved. Yes, I know that I’m a huge hypocrite for voicing my opinions based on stuff that hasn’t been pushed through in months and that I could be easily proven wrong in a few weeks/months. Still thank you should you actually take the time to read through this tomfuckery.

If things are wrong, please DO correct me!

Links to further reads will be included partially.

TL;DR: Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

Okay. First things first:

DISNEY

DOESN’T

GIVE

A

SINGLE

FUCK

ABOUT

YOU

Disney is a fucking multi-billion dollar corporation with many, many, many studios, stations, brands and franchises worldwide. The Percy Jackson franchise is a dime in a dozen. Disney doesn’t give a single fuck about the PJO fandom in general.

Disney doesn’t give a fuck about you 20-something year old with your 9 year old blog discussing which toilet paper brand Percy uses. And Disney also doesn’t give a fuck about you 16 year old, writing the worst fucking Solangelo fanfic I’ve read so far on this hellsite. Like goddamn.

Trust me, they know you are interested. They know they got you hooked. They see the numbers, they see the like/reblog ratio, they see the Twitter engagement. They see you with #disneyadaptpercyjackson. They see the petitions, they see how excited you were for the musical. You don’t get to be a gigantic conglomerate like Disney with playing stupid.

Also to you fuckfarts saying oH nO I wOn’T wAtCh It I dOn’T cArE aBoUt NeW sTuFf. Congrats dipshit. You are STILL alerting followers and people about what’s happening and creating more buzz, giving more awareness and adding to the transaction costs. You really cheated the system, you little edgelord. Again:

You are nothing but a number. You are a fucking walking dollar bill. You are a consumer waiting for a new shiny product to fill the void in your life for 45 minutes weekly or by two hours at some point.

The PJO movies 1. & 2 happened for a reason. Because Fox saw a popular book series á la Harry Potter, Twilight (and The Hunger Games) and wanted a piece of that action. They wanted your fucking money. Them entirely fucking up and ignoring Riordan’s advice is on them of course. But still. The movies happened. (And also saw people saying they were flops. Reception wise: hell yes. They are awful adaptations (not per se awful movies, there’s a difference). But money wise?? They made together over 245 million dollars in profit. Of course, that isn’t today’s Marvel level but it’s still fairly decent. Also don’t forget that the second movie still got greenlit. Interest was still there despite part one. You disliking something doesn’t turn it into a flop)).

Again, Disney doesn’t care about you. THIS is what Disney cares about:

1. MONEY

2. PROFIT

3. ENGAGEMENT

4. TOTAL GROSS

5. CONVERSION RATES

11. …. “Artistry“

So in terms of money, we gotta speak about the on-going woke culture. You know, lgbtqia+ stuff, poc representation and all the good shit we want and need in our life, right?

Well, I got bad news for ya. Disney being money hungry has its massive downsides. Because where is the money? In the east. Well and what happens if we include the woke stuff? Possible censorships (even retroactively! You know Gravity Falls went through that), bans, etc.

So all of you talking about representation and artistic vision and being bold and brave and blablabla… Throw that into the fucking trash. We can probably be glad if we get Grover back as the token black kid and a few other minorities sprinkled here and there. Open gay Nico? Doubt it. Your afro-latino Percy head canon? Definitely keep that but unlikely to be realized. And also, if you think that Annabeth wouldn’t get turned into the blandest whitest “I dOn’T nEeD nO mAn“ radfem, I got some bad news for ya…

The likelihood of everything being dumbed down, toned down with the exception of a few adult jokes or being even partially censored (depending on certain regions) is very, very high.

Also what makes you think we’re even getting close to the Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo saga? I doubt you will see The Seven for a long time unless Riordan really says fuck it and throws his final ace card into Disney’s filthy greedy mouth.

So if Disney doesn’t have the fandom’s interest at heart, what are they interested in? Well… MONEY. Also NEW engagement. They know your funky ass is going to tune in. They know people will pirate the shit (Me waving like a maniac), they all KNOW that. Again, they aren’t stupid.

So: MORE engagement. MORE money. How do we get even more engagement? By luring new people into the fandom. Who is most likely going to get lured into a family friendly show/movie series because let’s not forget that we’re talking about Disney+? The targeted audience of the books. Who is the targeted audience of the books? MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. 11 to 14 year olds. Disney wants those kids’ (well their parents’ hard earned) money. They want to sell products, in that case books + Disney Plus subscriptions + possible merch. There you also have the likely future rating for the fucking show. Sorry to disappoint everyone that was hoping for gritty Game of Thrones filled with 12 year olds (like seriously wtf?).

Now that that’s settled, let’s talk about the outlook on the show/movie and Riordan’s influence that you people clearly overestimate.

How much power or say does Rick Riordan actually have?

ZERO. ABSOLUTELY NONE.

He’s in the worst fucking lose-lose-situation you could imagine.

Disney owns the books and Fox owns the movie rights. Wait. Fox got bought. By whom you ask? DISNEY, what a coincidence! In Rick Riordan’s own words:

Disney has him by his fucking balls and could crush them at any minute. And if you think, that Disney is letting go of that sweet sweet intellectual property you are fucking mistaken. Riordan isn’t a J.K. Rowling who OWNS the Wizarding World. You have no idea what Disney are capable of with massive lobbying that goes so far to influence copyright laws in the States (LINK)

So you can stop harassing him about a fucking Netflix adaptation as well! Or petitions that do nothing but annoy people.

These negotiations take up YEARS to get the simplest stuff done. No need to shit your pants whenever Riordan’s tweeting stuff.

Still: would Disney be fucking mad to do this without him? Absolutely!

Should Disney involve him to prevent a PJO movie 2.0 scenario?

Yes, they definitely should!

But CAN Disney do this without him?

OF COURSE THEY CAN! THEY OWN EVERYTHING.

In Riordan’s own words:

Read carefully what he has written. He doesn’t say he’s going to halter productions, he’s saying HE WON’T BE A PART OF IT. This also makes me curious about WHO approached WHO in the first place (my guess Disney tried to make some amendments because Fox ain’t shit and trying to alienate the author again would be a goddamn stupid move). Disney has the fucking film rights. Of course they can pump out shit without involving him. They could pull a Fantastic Four (the awful 2015 version) just to keep the rights and for the fuck of it.

There are the following possibilities with Riordan’s involvement:

1. Riordan as a producer: Dude’s gotta be loaded. We know that. But backing the production costs many, many, many millions and I don’t know if he’s THAT loaded. Also film producing isn’t his forte.

2. Riordan as a screenplay writer: Now we’re getting closer to something. Yes, many productions these days have authors directly involved which is great! But also can go the other way around (J.K. Rowling and her Grindelwald fiasco. Author’s do NEED to learn when to stop intermeddling with their franchises, just saying) Book writing and screenplay writing are two very DIFFERENT disciplines. You don’t have the liberties of book writing when it comes to film. The screenplay is the guide for the entire production, the visuals, the set design, the whole atmosphere of the product, the very first thing that needs to be done so that directors, designers and lastly the casted actors know what they have to do. Everything has to come to a point in a very short time and there are many, many, many versions of a screenplay before a final raw draft gets handed out. If that isn’t in Riordan’s interest (which I can completely understand) then that’s simply not happening

3. Riordan as a guide: Directors, screenplay writers, etc. sit down with Riordan on a regular basis to show him the written screenplay, which actors they have in mind, the whole vision and he has a mini veto right.

If you ask me, a mix of scenario 2 and 3 is the most likely to be the most successful. That means, that Riordan needs to have a good faithful team, that sticks closely to the source material. That isn’t guaranteed! Again: look at the PJO movies. But of course, we don’t know the internals of these meetings.

So… now the final part. The whole fucking “Animation vs. Live action“ debate. Well, both sides have their pro’s and con’s. And both sides are filled with a bunch of fucking morons. I won’t try to get you to either side.

But to those that want are begging for a live action version with age-appropriate actors I have the following to say:

FUCK

YOU

IN

PARTICULAR!

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT CHILDREN TO GO THROUGH THE HELL THAT IS DISNEY AND THE SHADY SHIT GOING ON THERE SO THAT YOU CAN BE ENTERTAINED FOR SOME MERE MINUTES?!

Oh my god…. You people REALLY really want a fourth wave Me Too movement in 15-20 years. Not every Hollyweird kid has a helicopter parent hovering around them on set and many do get abused/robbed by their parents. And the people involved in the production! Of course, animation has still a chance of this happening but the risk is somewhat lower when it just comes to voice acting.

Tbh, I actually wouldn’t mind an aged-up cast again just to prevent this as best as possible. Unfortunately, child actors will always be needed.

I have nothing much to add to this, I’ll just drop a link to an old small post from me about that right here (LINK)

Personally I lean more towards animation but in the big picture I won’t care. (Also the whole animation is for kids and dumbs down the whole narrative for PJO is fucking stupid, boo boo the fool. You being in your late teens/twenties and grown out of the targeted audience is the cause of nature. Animation can be mature or would you show Attack on Titan or South Park to your 8 year old cousin?)

I’ll be just tuning in to see if this is as messy as I’d expect it to be or to be pleasantly surprised.

Also again: this process is a long one. It’s going to be exhausting, depressing, demanding, pushing.

From the meetings now that will take a very long time, to a screenplay, which can take YEARS in finalizing, to hiring staff, location hunting and set design (should they go the live action route), to casting, to costume design, to rehearsing/production, to filming, to dispersing, to editing, to fx, to finishing, to marketing, to publishing, NOTHING IS SET IN STONE! This is a very, very, very, wanky process despite contracts and everything on paper. Let’s not forget, Disney can afford some good lawyers.

And even if everything goes as smoothly as possible. Higher up people could see the final edit of everything with editors having scenes close to the books in an a/b/c/d cut and some producer says NO! I want an c/a/b/d version that again fucks up the dynamics of the books. Or something terrible: everything is shot and done and THEN it get’s postponed. Or even fucking worse: SHELVED to be NEVER RELEASED. Aka Henry Selick’s career after Coraline (Coraline from 2009 is STILL his latest release because of his fucked up Disney contract and them cancelling his shit). Millions of dollars wasted and we won’t get to see ANYTHING. This is all very possible and happens constantly in the film business AND at Disney. This is nothing new.

And there’s nothing we can do about it. No one cares about Riordan, no one cares about the books, no one cares about the fandom.

DISNEY holds the cards. DISNEY gets to decide. Neither Riordan, nor you nor me hold ANY power in this.

So kids… what have we learned today? In conclusion:

Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.

WHEW.

[saiilorstars]

Star-Crossed

Previous Story || Current Masterlist

Chapter 1: A Different Christmas

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 10th Doctor x Female OC

(Minerva’s face claim: Victoria Camacho)

(Kaeya’s face claim: Michelle Trachtenberg)

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Story Summary: Minerva & the Doctor are now together and ready for their next set of adventures with Donna Noble! However, things get complicated when secrets of Minerva's family are revealed and Minerva is forced into a certain process. How will Minerva & the Doctor react when they figure out the ultimate secret of the Moontsays? What will Minerva become in the end? *Second in the Monsoon Seasons*

Chapter summary: It’s Christmas on the Titanic, the perfect setting for Minerva’s and the Doctor’s first date..until there’s a count-down for the ship to crash land on Earth. 

Author's Note: For those who have read the last story, this story will no longer follow Minerva's POV and will have certain scenes without Minerva and the Doctor that I deem important to the story.

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Minerva and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, wanting to clarify where the hell they had landed in. Minerva was actually a bit nervous due to the name Titanic being scrawled over the life preserver. That name hadn't led to good events...

The pair stepped out into a supply closet, the Doctor closing the door of the TARDIS, wiping his hands and taking Minerva's to lead them out. He wasn't quite used to holding her hand so openly and so he hoped he wasn't pushing her or making her a tad uncomfortable. But as they entered a new room decorated for Christmas with crowded people dressed for a fancy occasion, Minerva gasped at the sight and pulled him by their interlaced hands to a window. .

She didn't mind one bit.

"This is outer space!" she exclaimed, blinking as she looked out the window.

"Right..." the Doctor mumbled as he took a turn at the window.

"Attention all passengers. The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol 3, also known as Earth. Population: Human."

~0~

Minerva fixed the last of her dress before stepping inside the console room, about to call she was done when she heard the low grumbles of the Doctor. The Martian stood with his back to her, beside the console, his arms seeming to be fixing something on his front.

"Anything the matter?" she asked shyly as she made her way over.

The Doctor turned around, gesturing to his undone bowtie, "I don't like them," he declared, about to make a whole lecture on why he would never ever wear a bow tie despite what she had once told him about his future self...until he really saw Minerva.

Minerva noticed his look lingering on her and shifted nervously, tugging on a side of her dress, "Martha usually helped me fix myself for you," she began her excuse over her appearance, "She was the eyes behind my back," she tried looking over her shoulder for any flaw she could've missed.

"No, you look...wow," the Doctor whispered, his eyes trailing her over.

Minerva wore a laced black dress with three-three-quarter sleeves. The dress went above her ankles and was quite simple in reality. There was a lace cover, nearly like a sheath, that formed a deep V-neckline while the dress's under layer covered her chest. She accompanied the dress with beige stilettos. Her hair was left down, only two braids connecting in the back with a beige ribbon tied as a bow.

"Thank you," Minerva mumbled, her face flushed, "Do you need help with that?" she pointed to the Doctor's unfinished bow tie.

"Uh, yes," he blinked, remembering how uncomfortable Minerva had been when that Zian had trailed her with his eyes. He most definitely did not want to make her feel like that again.

"It's your unlucky suit," she remarked, a playful hint in her tone.

"Yeah, I'm really hoping we can break that cycle this time round."

"Perhaps we can, you look really good," she said shyly, focusing on his bowtie, "It's funny, you know," she started speaking again, her face refusing to be any other color than red, "I would think you'd be good at tying your own ties, even if they were bow ties."

"I'm a bit nervous," he confessed.

"Of what?"

"Us...this ship...but mostly us."

"Well I'm not gonna bite, if that's what you're worried over."

"You wouldn't hurt a fly."

"I don't know, maybe if I get really crossed I may get a fly swatter," she playfully warned and earned a laugh.

~0~

The pair walked through the reception room of the ship, hand in hand, both studying the surroundings. There was a band ahead, playing 'Winter Wonderland'.

"Merry Christmas, sir, ma'am," a steward passed by.

"Merry Christmas!" Minerva exclaimed after him, the feeling of Christmas doing really well for her after such a horrible year...even if it never technically happened.

They walked into the room from earlier, where people were mingling about while waiters served and the band played. They passed a rather loud man, Rickston Slade, who was talking into a mobile, "It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my vone. Now do as I say and sell."

"That's not very nice," Minerva watched the man go, "...just like mom and dad."

"C'mon," the Doctor tugged her into a different direction, any thoughts of her parents would make her upset and that is something he would not stand for anymore. They approached a robot, golden angel dressed in a white robe with a halo, "Evening. Passenger 57. Terrible memory. Remind me. Uh, you would be..."

"Information: Heavenly Host supplying tourist information."

"Good, so, um... tell me - 'cause I'm an idiot - where are we from?"

Minerva giggled, covering her mouth so she wouldn't interfere.

"Information: the Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures.

Minerva cleared her throat, finishing up her giggle, this being a serious matter to her, "So the 'Titanic', huh...who exactly thought of that name?"

"Information: it was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth."

"Did they tell them why?"

"Information: all designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, president of Max - Max - Max..." the Host started malfunctioning, repeating its last words until its voice became higher in pitch.

"Ooh, bit of a glitch," the Doctor reached into his pocket for the screwdriver.

A chief steward hurried over to the pair, "Sir, ma'am, we can handle this," he waved for assistance and two more stewards arrived to take the Host away, "Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, sir. Merry Christmas," he followed the other two employees, "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?"

"Hm, see this is why ships aren't called the Titanic anymore...they start malfunctioning..." Minerva shook her head, stopping when she noticed the Doctor looking at her with a fond smile, "...what?"

"You're really adorable, do you know that?"

"...my grandparents used to tell me that," she shrugged, her cheeks turning to a pink tinge, "Plus uncle Aaron."

"Would you care for a dance?" he stepped up to her, one hand behind his back and the other offering to her.

"You know how to dance now?"

"I always danced for you, to make you feel better," he took her hand, "Now I do it because it's our date, our first date."

"Oooh, I like the sound of that," she immediately grinned.

"So do I," he led her over to the dance floor where several couples were dancing.

They positioned themselves as usual and started to dance, the Doctor actually doing a decent job. Perhaps John Smith had seeped a little through him.

He dipped Minerva, grinning proudly at the fact she was blushing deep red again, "You know, I should've done this the last couple of times we've danced..."

"Done what?" she whispered.

He raised his eyebrows, his playful grin fading as he pressed his lips to hers. He slowly brought them back up from the dip without breaking their kiss.

Before Minerva felt herself get really lost into the kiss, she pulled away, feeling so hazy, "Wow...yeah, that would've been nice."

"My beautiful complexion," he reminded, thinking of the 1950's and even the guinguette.

"Ugly complexion," she corrected sadly.

"Nah, I see beauty both inside and out. And your complexion has made you stronger, cliche or not."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, you're certainly complex...and...very good looking," she breathed, her blush deepening, "Has it made you stronger?"

"Fair game, Clever Girl," he conceded, "But...maybe not stronger, but it's definitely added perspective to my life. I've lost so much and it's made me realize that I can't waste time. I may have all the time in the world but it's nothing if I'm gonna be alone for it."

"I'm here, and I can promise you I will always try to be there...for as long as I can."

He smiled, however a sad one. Time would be a mighty strong issue for them...but he didn't want to think about it, at least not right now. Not when, after such a horrible, dark year had passed, or technically hadn't, there was finally something, someone, that made it all better.

"Doctor, I know this is off topic and all...but I just have to ask," Minerva bit her lip, hoping she wouldn't ruin this date...and potentially her relationship.

"Ask away," he grinned.

"You're really going to help Kaeya, right?"

His grin faded and he looked down at her, "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because I want to make it clear that I won't stand in the way or make one of those jealous girlfriend scenes if you're going to help her. I don't want you to go back on your word just for me. I want to help her too."

"I'm going to help her, I promise," he nodded.

"And...if you still have lingering feelings for her, well...it may be best to get that out in the open."

"Are you doubting my feelings for you?" he stepped back, ending their dance for the moment.

"It's not doubt," she continued with nervousness, "I know you feel something for me but put yourself in my shoes. I spent a year thinking, debating what your feelings were for me...what they were for Rose and Kaeya. I just want you to be sure of yourself because when Kaeya comes back, she's gonna want to be with you and I don't want my heart broken...I don't think I deserve that."

He sighed deeply, understanding Minerva's feelings. He beat himself up for all the pain he caused her throughout the last year, and even the year before where he practically ignored her. She didn't have an easy life and looking at it now he made it even more complicated. He added death threats, confusion, emotional pain; that was all him. But he knew, he was sure of what he wanted. He wanted...Minerva. Kaeya, she was still apparently the woman he met centuries ago, only sick, and what they had was something he would never forget. She was his first love and sure, it may not be entirely erased but it wasn't like he loved her anymore. He had a soft spot for her, but he wanted Minerva. Even before thinking of Kaeya he felt more inclined to Minerva, especially after 1913. He didn't want to leave her side, he wanted to make sure she was always alright, and most certainly happy. But beyond that, he wanted to be with her at all times.

When Kaeya returned, he would help her, but that would be it. He would still be friends but...that was all he could offer.

He reached for Minerva's hand, reconnecting them for their dance, "I know it's hard to trust me and my feelings, I get it. But I want you, no, I need you, to understand who I choose. Without realizing it, my hearts had already chosen you...my mind was just a bit slower."

"Twenty-six more brains than I and you're slower?"

"When it's about you then yes," he nodded, "But listen to me, I won't ever break your heart. Because if I do, I will personally throw myself into a black hole."

"It's me, then?" she asked meekly, "You chose me?"

"You're clever, listen to my words carefully," he pressed his forehead onto hers.

"And when Kaeya returns?"

"She'll receive our help and I'll set things straight."

"What if she's not happy? I wouldn't be..."

"There's not much I'd be able to do for her then," he shrugged.

"I'm really glad to hear all this," she admitted, nervously smiling, "You pick me..."

He cupped her face and smiled, "Of course I pick you, Clever Girl," he gave her a kiss to prove his words had been real.

~0~

A young blonde waitress, Astrid, accidentally bumped into Rickston Slade, and dropped her tray of drinks.

"For Tov's sake, look where you're going! This jacket's a genuine Earth antique," Rickston growled, looking down at his wet shirt.

"I'm sorry, sir," Astrid got down to pick up the shards of broken glass from the floor.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart. Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn is going down the drain."

"Hey, that's no way to speak someone," Minerva walked over, the man almost scoffing there was a second woman trying to annoy him, "It's Christmas."

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, "The woman dropped her drinks on me!"

"It was an accident. And my name is Minerva, you don't have to take that tone with me," she crossed her arms, "You do better if you speak in a proper manner."

"I am one of the most important people you'll ever meet, sweetheart," he sneered, "And you would do best to shut the hell up!" Minerva flinched at his high voice, "Do you know who I am?"

"No, but do you wanna know who I am?" the Doctor cut in angrily, walking in front of Minerva, "I'm gonna be the one to shut you up if you talk to my girlfriend like that again. Now vamoose."

"But she's the one that-"

"I said leave," the Doctor stepped up, gritting his teeth. He was not gonna let some snooty humanoid alien yell at his Clever Girl. He knew she was more than capable of defending herself, seeing as she had spent so much time being on her own, but now he was her boyfriend and he would defend her from people like that man.

Rickston huffed and walked off, giving Minerva a nasty glare.

The Doctor watched the man go, turning around only when he was sure Rickston was truly gone, "Minerva?" she gave him a hug, nodding her thanks, "Miss?" he looked at the waitress who quickly met his gaze at his call.

"Thank you both," Astrid said, "I didn't mean to cause trouble, honest. I was walking and I tripped, and..." she sighed, this would certainly put a dent in her job duration.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault," Minerva let go of the Doctor and helped her pick up the remaining glass from the floor.

"Oh n-no, no, this is my job," Astrid tried to shoo Minerva's hands away.

"Please, if I didn't let the maids at my house serve me, what makes you think I'm gonna allow it now?" Minerva shook her head, smiling at the thought of her actually letting someone serve her, "I don't think so!" she set the last of the glass on the tray and stood up, Astrid following.

"That's quite a change from all the passengers I've served," Astrid confessed, sheepishly.

"You'll come to realize my girlfriend is not like anyone else you've met," the Doctor announced, rather proudly as he wound an arm around Minerva's waist. He wasted time in realizing that as well, he would make everyone see it on the first spot.

"I see that," Astrid nodded, seeing Minerva blush at the remarks.

"I'm the Doctor," he held out his free hand for the blonde.

"Astrid Peth," she shook his hand.

"Minerva Souza," the brunette held her hand out as well, Astrid nodding and shaking it next, "Merry Christmas, by the way. Hope someone's told you that before us."

Astrid chuckled at the nonsense, "No, no one ever really does."

"Well, here's a second time around, Merry Christmas."

"Thank you ma'am."

"Oh please don't," Minerva shook her head, glancing up at the Doctor, "Ma'am makes me feel old."

"That's how I feel when they call me 'sir'," he grimaced.

"You enjoying the cruise?" Astrid asked the two.

"We think it's lovely," Minerva replied, glancing around, "I've never actually been on a cruise. And it's a shame cause if it ever drowned, I would be the first to survive."

The Doctor chuckled, "Cause that doesn't sound conceited!"

"What? It's not my fault I'm a good swimmer! Coach said I could've made to the Olympics if I wanted."

"You had a coach?"

"Yeah, that was the one good thing my parents did for me. They let me take swimming classes. I was really good!"

Astrid glanced from one to another, highly amused at their lack of attention span. They acted like she wasn't currently there and not in a bad way either. They seemed so focused on each other, so...inclined to each other.

"I'd like to see you then," the Doctor nudged her, "The TARDIS sure won't hide the swimming pool from you."

"She's angry with you, you shouldn't hit her with a hammer," Minerva rolled her eyes, by chance seeing Astrid again and remembering where they currently stood, "Oh, I am so sorry Astrid! We didn't mean to ignore you, really, we're sorry." She never wanted to make anyone feel like they've been ignored, and Astrid seemed so nice that she was most definitely on that list.

"No worries, maa..." she paused as Minerva gave her a sharp look, reminding her of the name she was supposed to use, "...Minerva. No worries, Minerva."

Minerva nodded, "So are you liking the cruise? If I do remember the lessons," she glanced at the Doctor, recalling his many lessons of the great outerspace, "Planet Sto is quite far from Earth."

"Oh, it doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, traveled all the way here...and I'm still waiting on tables," Astrid gestured to her tray and walked away, stopping by a table near a window.

"No shore leave?" the Doctor asked, the pair following her.

"We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading off to the stars and I always dreamt of...It sounds daft."

"Believe me, I've always dreamt of traveling the world. One could say I'm making it..." Minerva smiled, resting her head on the Doctor's arm.

"You dreamt of another sky. New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there's all that life out there?" the Doctor smiled, bringing the brunette closer to him, both thinking the same way of their travels, of their lives.

"So...I take it you two travel a lot, then?" Astrid guessed with full certainty it was that way.

"All the time. Just for fun," Minerva replied.

"Well, that's the plan. Never quite works..." the Doctor sighed.

"Must be rich, though," Astrid said.

"Haven't got a penny," the Doctor whispered, Astrid's eyes widening, "But she's loaded," he nodded to Minerva.

"I'm not 'loaded'," Minerva crossed her arms, "My parents do have a good economical status...but that's them. I'm just Minerva, the stowaway."

Both smiled at each other, Astrid standing there awkwardly until they finished up their little moment, "How did you get on board?" she asked. She knew there was tons of security around the ship. How did those two manage to sneak in?

"Accident. We've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her. Left the defenses down, bumped into the Titanic. Here we are. Bit of a party, I thought "Why not have a first date here?" the Doctor smiled at Minerva.

"I should report you two," Astrid looked between them, the thought never crossing her mind.

"Go ahead and try," Minerva smirked, knowing she wouldn't do it.

"I'll get you a drink..." she declared instead, leaning forwards and whispering, "...on the house," and she walked off.

"She seems lovely," Minerva remarked and turned to the Doctor, "And thank you, by the way."

"For what?" he frowned, what had he done now?

"For defending me against that snooty man," she reminded, "It was awfully nice hearing you say 'girlfriend' several times."

"Well that's what you are to me," he stepped closer, "Um...I mean...if you'd like to be..." it had occurred to him that while they did establish a relationship, he hadn't technically asked her if she wanted to be called his girlfriend.

She leaned up, only having to do it slightly with the heels she was wearing, and pecked his lips, "I think it's fantastic. I've got a boyfriend for the first time in my life."

"First kiss, first boyfriend..." the Doctor beamed, "...I'm off to a good start!"

"Wonder what else you might be the first of..." she smirked and winked, walking off.

It took the Doctor several minutes to realize her implication and when the light bulb went on...he blushed like a tomato!

~0~

Morvin and Foon Van Hoff sat at their table, trying to ignore a group of first-class passengers on the next table who were laughing and pointing at them due to their dress attire. It wasn't their fault they had fallen for a trick that said they had to use country-western outfits.

"Just ignore 'em," Movrin said to his wife.

"What's going on with them?" Minerva plopped herself on the chair beside Morvin, the Doctor sitting beside her.

"Yeah, something's tickled them," the Doctor agreed.

"They told us it was fancy dress. Very funny, I'm sure," Foon rolled her eyes.

"They're just pickin' on us because we haven't paid. We won our tickets in a competition," Morvin explained.

"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in "By the Light of the Asteroid". Did you ever watch..."

"Is that the one with the twins?" the Doctor asked.

"That's it. Oh, it's marvelous," Foon laughed.

"Probably not good enough for that lot," Morvin sighed, motioning to the laughing crowd, "They think we should be in steerage."

"Well, that's not nice," Minerva glanced back at the passengers.

"Certainly can't have that," the Doctor reached into his pocket, Minerva smirking when she realized. He held the sonic at his side and aimed it behind him. The champagne of the passenger's table popped its cork and sprayed them all.

"Did-did you do that?" Foon asked the Doctor, blinking as she looked from him to the passengers.

"Maybe," he shrugged and put away his screwdriver.

"Oh, we like you," she said.

"That makes three," Minerva sighed with content. He beamed and pecked her lips.

"I'm Morvin van Hoff," the man reached and shook the Doctor's hand, "This is my good woman, Foon," he gestured to his wife as he moved on to shake Minerva's hand.

"Foon. Hello, I'm the Doctor," he shook her hand, "This is my lovely girlfriend." Oh yes, he will definitely love saying that from now on. "Minerva Souza."

"Nice to meet you," Minerva shook Foon's hand.

"Pretty little thing," Foon smiled, "Although you could use some more meat on you, have a buffalo wing."

Minerva chuckled, "No thank you."

"Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated. Red 6-7," a man's voice called from a distance.

Foon took out a ticket, "Red 6-7. That's us," she stood up followed by Morvin, "Are you Red 6-7?"

"Oooh, can we?" Minerva looked at the Doctor.

"This whole not able to deny you anything is gonna get me into trouble, I can see it," he shook his head, yet smiled nonetheless at her beam, "C'mon!"

"Come on," Morvin put an arm around Foon, "We're going to Earth."

"Heeey..." Minerva's head lulled to the Doctor's, her eyes sparking with an idea, "...want to add a third person to this trip?"

"Who?" the Doctor looked around, they didn't quite know anyone around the ship.

"I've got you that drink," Astrid showed up with two glasses for the pair.

"Oooh," the Doctor nodded with realization, "Oh yeah, sure!"

Minerva clapped her hands excitedly, "We've got a treat for you!" she announced to the blonde, taking her tray and setting it on the table, "Starts with 'Planet' and ends with 'Earth'," she linked arms with Astrid and walked away, the Doctor following behind.

"Red 6-7 departing shortly," Mr. Copper announced as a crowd of passengers gathered around him.

"Red 6-7 plus two," the Doctor held up his psychic paper.

"Uh, quickly, sir, and please take two teleport bracelets if you would," he passed out three of the bracelets to them.

"But I'll get the sack," Astrid whispered to the pair.

"Brand new sky," Minerva said, handing her the bracelet.

"To repeat, I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of U.K. ruled over by good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worshiped the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve the people of U.K. go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner... like savages."

Minerva raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me? I don't eat turkey for Christmas...much less Turkey people."

"Excuse me, sorry, sorry, but, um...where did you get all this from?" the Doctor asked, making a face at that 'history'.

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics. Now stand by..."

"I smell bullshit," Minerva mumbled.

"Language," the Doctor gave her a sharp look.

She leaned up and gently kissed him, "I think you'll come to realize I can say what I want."

"Sure," he whispered, wishing she'd give him another as proof of that.

She chuckled, "Men."

"And me! And me! Red 6-7!" a high pitched voice rang through the crowd, a small red-skinned with short spikes on its head alien pushed its way through the crowd.

"Well, take a bracelet, sir?" Mr. Copper handed a bracelet to the alien.

"That won't be good," Minerva's eyes widened.

"Uh, but, um, hold on, hold on. What was your name?" the Doctor was mildly concerned for the alien's fate if seen by the humans.

"Bannakaffalatta."

"OK, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late-night shopping, tons of people. He's like a walking conker. No offence, but you'll cause a riot 'cause the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties..."

...but they were beamed down to the Earth.

The group arrived on an empty, London street in the dark night.

"Huh..." Minerva looked around, confused by the solidarity of the streets.

"Now, spending money," Mr. Copper turned to the group, "I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to by trinkets or, uh, stockings or the local delicacy, which is known as "beef" but don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing."

"That is seriously wrong," Minerva crossed her arms, noticing the Doctor still looking around, poor thing confused of the loneliness of the streets.

"It should be full. It should be busy. Something's wrong."

Astrid, meanwhile, looked around in awe, "But it's beautiful."

"Well this is just a street," Minerva shrugged, "Quite deserted by the looks of it..." she mumbled the last part.

"But it's a different planet. I'm standing on a different planet. Th-there's concrete...and shops, alien shops, real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells. It stinks!" Astrid gasped, "This is amazing! Thank you!" she hugged Minerva.

"Well technically, you're the alien here," Minerva pulled away.

"You're human?" Astrid blinked, stunned at the fact, "Proper human?"

"Yeah, I just happen to be with an alien who snuck us in."

"Amazing! Can we go to the alien shop? Er, I mean shop?"

"Well, I guess we could take a look," Minerva tugged on the Doctor's hand, "Unless you want to keep looking at the solitude."

'I'd rather look at you," he admitted without thinking, immediately blushing when he realized what he said.

"Oh, I like that," she chuckled, swinging their locked hands as they led Astrid to a newsstand across the street.

"Hello there! Sorry, uh, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?" the Doctor asked the elderly man of the stand, all bundled up with winter clothes.

"Oh-ho, scared!"

"Right, yes. Scared of what?"

"Where have you been living? London at Christmas? Not safe, is it?"

"Why?"

"Well, it's them, up above," the man pointed up to the sky, "Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof," he pointed at the small TV that was showing a clip, "And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames."

"This place is amazing," Astrid sighed in content.

"And this year, Lord knows what. So everybody's scarpered, gone to the country. All except me...and Her Majesty," the man stood up proudly and looked at the TV.

Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she will be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear.

"God bless her!" the man saluted, "We stand vigil."

"Well, between you and me, I think her Majesty's got it right. Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about," the Doctor declared.

"Cause this time the man responsible is on a date," giggled Minerva.

"Oh ha ha," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "You know, you've been involved in all-"

But the trio were teleported back to the ship, leaving the newsstand man gaping at their disappearance, "Then again..." he slumped back to his seat.

"...the events too, Minerva," the Doctor finished now in the ship again, "Oi, I was in mid-sentence," he said to Mr. Copper.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets..." Mr. Copper reached for them.

A chief steward joined them, "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, we seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."

The group then started disbanding.

"That was the best, the best!" Astrid gave another hug to Minerva before she returned to her work.

The Doctor walked over to the chief steward, Minerva following, "What sort of power fluctuation?"

But the chief steward walked away.

"Oh you know there's something wrong," Minerva crossed her arms.

~0~

Midshipman Frame was watching the meteoroids in the ship's bridge, "That's a bit odd, sir, the meteoroids are changing course. Still, we can put the shields up to maximum just in case."

"As you were, Midshipman," the captain instructed.

Midshipman Frame looked over and saw the captain pushing buttons on an instrument panel, "Sir? You're magnetizing the hull, sir. It's drawing the meteors in."

"Port turning Earthside."

"I take it that's deliberate..." Midshipman Frame frowned.

"Port turning Earthside."

"Bit of a light show for the guests?" he tried, none of it making sense, but still...

"Something like that," the captain mumbled, continuing his work.

~0~

Back in the reception room, everyone was having a dandy time. The Van Hoff's were eating at their table, Rickstone Slade was winning at roulette, Bannakaffalatta was dancinng and Astrid was busy serving, flashing smiles to the Doctor and Minerva.

The Doctor put on his glasses and took out his screwdriver to use on the frame. Minerva joined him, a drink in her hand, "You know now that we're together I can say this freely," she began to say and he looked up at her, "You look adorable in those glasses."

He beamed, "Oh really? I thought you weren't a fan of them."

"I like geeks," she grinned, recalling Martha's words, "And I like you and all your weird traits. Hm, attraction between geeks really is very weird."

"I don't think you're a geek," he leaned over to kiss her, cupping her cheek as he pulled away, "You're just clever. And I love it."

She blushed, "I like you too."

"The fastest, the furthest, the best...my name is Max."

The Doctor returned to work on the frame, finally opening it only a few seconds later. He changed a few of the settings until the screen showed the Titanic and its surrounding, "Oh no..." his eyes widened, the shields had been turned down!

"What? What is it?" Minerva asked, leaning forwards to get a better viewer.

He ignored her and ran to the window, seeing the meteors approaching. He glanced back at Minerva, his hearts beating in concern...for her.

~0~

Back in the ship's main bridge, a communications whistle sounded, followed by the Doctor's voice, "Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in West 0 by North 2."

"Who is this?" the captain asked.

"Never mind that. Your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and now shielding!"

"You have no authorization. You will clear the comms at once."

~0~

"Yeah? Just look starboard!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Doctor!" Minerva's voice made him turn around, watching her being "escorted" by two stewards. She had been left with the task of keeping watch...and that hadn't gone so well.

"You let her go right now!" the Doctor left the comms and stormed for them.

"Come with us, sir," the steward took him into custody as well.

~0~

"But he's right, sir. The shields have been taken offline," Midshipman Frame went to an instrument panel.

"Step away from there," the captain ordered.

"But we have to re-energize them."

"I said step away, Midshipman."

Midshipman Frame looked up to see the captain aiming a gun at him.

~0~

"You've gotta listen!" Minerva struggled with the steward's grasp as she and the Doctor were hauled through the reception room.

"You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down!" the Martian argued.

~0~

"They promised me old men," the captain explained to the Midshipman.

"I'm sorry, sir?"

"On the crew. Sea dogs, men who'd had their time. Not boys."

~0~

The Doctor managed to break free from the stewards, forcing himself to leave Minerva for a couple seconds so he could warn the other passengers. He ran up to the stage where the band was playing, "Everyone, listen to me! This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb -" a Host covered his mouth and pulled him away.

"Let us go!" Minerva tried kicking but in vain.

~0~

"I'm sorry, sir. It's my duty!" Midshipman Frame reached for the panel when the captain fired at him.

~0~

The Doctor and Minerva were taken out of the room, the stewards having to use more force on the Doctor than the brunette, "Look out the windows!" the Doctor shouted to a group where Rickston was present in.

Astrid, Rickston, and the Van Hoffs slowly made their way to the windows. Even Bannakaffalatta excused himself from a conversation to go and see, "Them, friends," he went over to the windows.

Rickston's eyes widened when he saw the meteoroids growing closer.

"If you don't believe me, check the shields yourself!" the Doctor continued to shout.

"Sir, I can vouch for him!" Astrid started following them.

"Look, Steward, he's just had a bit too much to drink," Morvin tried, also following.

"Sir, something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports are down," Mr. Copper joined in.

"Now now!" the chief steward waved them off.

~ 0 ~

Back with Rickston, he stepped back as a small rock broke through a window and landed in front of his feet.

"Oxygen membrane holding. Oxygen membrane holding."

Rickston turned to a Host nearby, "You there. Has anyone checked the external shielding?"

"Information: you are all going to die."

He ran over to a steward, "Where's the Chief Steward?"

"That way, sir."

~0~

The chief steward was taking the Doctor and Minerva down the maintenance corridors, Astrid, Mr. Copper, Bannakaffalatta and the Van Hoffs following after them.

"The shields are down, we are going to get hit!" the Doctor frantically insisted.

Not only were they about to be hit, but he had just promised Minerva that nothing would hurt her...and yet here they were.

Why would he ever think a date on a Titanic would be a good idea?

~0~

Midshipman Frame laid on the floor with a gunshot on his abdomen, "You're going to kill us."

"I'm dying already. Six months. And they offered me so much money... for my family," the captain explained.

~0~

Rickston had caught up with the others in the maintenance corridors, demanding from the steward, "Oi! Steward! I'm telling you the shields are down!"

"Listen to him! Listen to him!" the Doctor said.

~0~

The captain remained at the wheel...

"Red Alert. Red Alert."

~0~

Outside the ship, the meteoroids were heading straight for them...

~0~

The meteoroids struck the side of the ship, everyone inside thrown onto the floor.

~0~

Hosts lined up in front of employees...ready to kill.

~0~

Minerva banged straight onto a wall, her head making the first, and possibly the worst, contact, "Ow!"

"I've got you!" the Doctor pulled her to him as soon as he could reach for her, "It's okay..."

...he didn't really know if it was okay.

The panels were becoming undone and falling down, possibly hurting the others. But it was finally coming to a slow halt, the Doctor the first to get up with Minerva at his side, "It's stopping..." he looked around, hearing the ship groan a bit as it finally did stop.

"I rest my case about the Titanic," Minerva mumbled, her head pounding.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor checked her, seeing the bow on her hair tainted at its edges with red. He quickly checked her head, finding a cut that didn't look too bad, but yet...

...there was a cut...with a blood...on his date...his girlfriend...

"It's just a small cut," she sensed his oncoming guilt. She reached for her bow and tugged it off, seeing the red blotches on it, "Nothing to worry about."

"But you're..."

"Okay," she smiled up at him, "There's more people to worry about right now."

He sighed, "This is a really bad name for a ship..." then he glanced at his suit and frowned, "Either that or this suit is really unlucky."

"Still look amazing in it though," Minerva mumbled, thinking she hadn't been heard.

He had to smirk, "Well..." he cleared his throat, "Is everyone else alright?" he moved over to a steward who laid on the floor and checked his vitals, "He's dead."

The chief steward stood and walked up to the surviving group, "Ev-everyone... Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small collision."

The Doctor walked over to a comms panel.

"Small?" Morvin scoffed, the whole ship had been blasted and this was small?

"You know how much I paid for my ticket?" Rickston demanded.

"Does this really come to money?" Minerva frowned, disgusted at the fact that was all he cared for.

"If I could have silence, ladies, gentlemen..." the steward tried again.

"Again, who the hell are you!?" Rickston demanded.

"I am gonna be the first human to knock you out."

"If I could have silence, ladies, gentlemen..." But the rest of group, save Minerva and the Doctor, started arguing, "Quiet!" he shouted and they stopped, "Thank you. I-I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruiseliners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience. But first I would point out that we are very much alive."

"Are you all right?" Astrid turned over to Mr. Copper, helping him with a cut on his head.

The Doctor joined the group, putting his arm around Minerva's waist, the woman still glaring daggers at Rickston. He wanted to prevent another injury from happening. Minerva seemed alright to him, despite her affection insecurities, but he wasn't sure how the whole Master and Kaeya really affected her and he wanted to be there in case she cracked or anything. He'd have to run certain tests after this date to see just how much she'd really been affected.

"She is, after all, a fine, sturdy ship. If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the - the situation," the chief steward went to open a hatch.

"Don't open it!" the Doctor exclaimed, but it was too late.

The chief steward was sucked put into space by the vacuum. Everyone grabbed onto a piping near them before they were pulled out as well. The Doctor struggled and made his way to the comms where he used the screwdriver on the computer to replace the shield.

"Oxygen shield stabilized."

"Everyone all right? Minerva?" he quickly turned back to her.

"Yeah," she nodded, pulling on the side of her dreSs.

"Astrid? Foon? Morvin? Mr Copper? Bannakaffalatta?"

"Yes," the little red alien answered.

"You, what was your name?" the Doctor turned to Rickston, trying his best to be polite but the fact the man had repeatedly yelled at Minerva wasn't helping.

"Ah, Rickston Slade."

"You all right?"

"No thanks to that idiot."

"The steward just died," Minerva glared at him, not that he cared.

"Then he's a dead idiot."

"That's it!" the brunette stepped forwards.

"Okay! Why don't you come with me, yeah?" the Doctor quick pulled her away from the group and brought them to the hatch opening.

"I don't like him!" she grumbled.

"I think we've noticed," he patted her back.

"Sorry, missing the big picture here. What happened? How come the shields were down?"

"I don't think it was an accident," he sighed, "And there goes our nice, first date."

She smiled softly, "Hey, what's a date without some adrenaline?"

"Minerva, I'm sorry...I'll get us out of this, I promise."

"Oh, I don't doubt you will. You always do."

"You trust me just like that?" the Doctor asked, a bit perplexed at her calm manner despite nearly dying.

"Doctor, there's something you should know: I trust you with my life."

He blinked, "Really?"

She nodded, "You don't have to promise me anything, I know you'll do it. In a stupid, moronic way...but you'll do it. Just like always."

"Good," he nodded, smiling brightly, loving he had all her trust despite the many trips gone wrong they had taken, "And this won't be the exception!"

She pecked his lips, "No it won't."

"All we need to do is get to the Reception room," he swung his arm around her shoulders, turning to a window in front of them, "We can take everyone on board and...oh."

Minerva just smiled, the TARDIS floating outside, "Like I said, you'll get us out of here in a stupid, moronic way, but we'll get out!"

"Is something wrong?" Astrid stepped over, seeing their attention locked on the window.

"That's my spaceship over there," the Doctor pouted, Minerva giggling to the side.

Astrid peered into the window, frowning when saw just a blue box, "That's a spaceship?"

"Oi, don't knock it," the Doctor scolded.

"It's a bit small..." she tilted her head, "...aren't you a bit cramped?" But she glanced over to the pair and saw them quite close and together, "Right," she smiled, only thinking of what that box could provide for them, "It's your snogging box."

"It's not," the Doctor shot her a look.

Minerva looked around, playing innocent, "Well we haven't exactly tried it yet," she mumbled, attracting his attention in a snap, her cheeks flushing pink, "We haven't exactly 'snogged','" she whispered to him, her gaze stuck on her playing fingers.

"Ooh..." he looked back to the window, his face flushing red at the thought of actually snogging her. That...that could be nice...

Astrid smirked, she could just tell those two were barely beginning their relationship by the amount of times they blushed, "So, um...that blue box?" she reminded them.

"Oh, yes, well," the Doctor cleared his throat, "It's a bit distant now. Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest center of gravity and that would be...the Earth."

"We've got a long journey to do," Minerva slipped under the Doctor's arm on her shoulders and walked over to a comms.

"Where to?" Astrid asked, the Doctor following her.

"Well, up to the main bridge of course, that's where you steer the ship, aka, our way of getting back to earth and getting the TARDIS."

"Clever!" the Doctor dropped a kiss to Minerva's head.

"I try to be," she shrugged, looking at the other guests, "And we promise we'll get you out of here," she told them, seeing their worried faces, well, really only focusing on the Van Hoffs and Mr. Copper, Rickston could bite it.

""Deck 22 to the bridge. Deck 22 to the bridge. Is there anyone there?" the Doctor called.

~ 0 ~

Midshipman Frame moaned and clutched his side, reaching for the comms, "This is the bridge."

"Oh hello, sailor. Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air. The oxygen field is holding. But the captain..." Midshipman Frame looked over to the captain's body buried under wreckage, "He's dead. He did it. I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try."

Minerva heard the despair and guilt in his tone and moved the Doctor a bit to speak into the comms, "Hey, don't worry, we believe you," she spoke softly, "Just stay calm. Tell us your name. What's your name?"

"Midshipman Frame."

"Nice to meet you, sir. We're a bit curious to know of the state of the engines..." Minerva looked at the Doctor for confirmation, smiling with pride when he nodded.

"They're um...hold on," Midshipman Frame pushed himself forwards and groaned.

"Have you been injured?" the Doctor asked at the sound.

"I'm all right. Oh my vot. They're cycling down."

"That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?"

"Yeah."

"The moment they're gone, we lose orbit."

"What!?" Minerva nearly choked at the words, "But earth..."

"Oh yes. If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth. Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core."

"This is never going to work."

"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge," the Doctor switched off the comms and turned to Minerva who seemed terrified.

"Doctor, Martha is down there...my grandmother..." she looked out the window again.

"And they'll be alright," he assured, "No one is going to die."

"We're going to die!" Foon cried at the mention of the word.

"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Mr. Copper asked.

"We're just a cruise ship!" Astrid was also close to tears.

"Okay, okay. Tch, tch," the Doctor stepped beside Minerva, taking her hand in am effort to calm her in the process, "First things first. One: we're going to climb through this ship. B...no...two: we're going to reach the bridge. Three - or C: we're going to save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low Four or D or that little "iv" in brackets they use in footnotes...why. Right then, follow me."

"Hang on a minute," Rickston called, stopping the pair before they turned around, "Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion of the people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?"

"...No," Rickston blinked, stepping back.

"In that case, allons-y!" the Doctor reverted to his childhood ways and turned around, leading the others away and noticing Minerva smirking to herself, "Anything the matter?"

"Nothing, that was just really hot," she whispered, her face flushing a deep red.

The Doctor smirked and kissed her head, loving that he could have that affect on her...oh yes, he definitely liked where this relationship was going.

~0~

The group came to a metal door that led into a stairwell littered with debris and sparking cables.

"Careful. Follow me," the Doctor went ahead and cleared the way for the others.

"Rather ironic when this is very much in the spirit of Christmas. It's a festival of violence," Mr. Copper began another of his lectures, missing the big confusion on Minerva's face, "They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric."

"Actually, that's not true. Christmas is a time of - of peace and thanksgiving and..." the Doctor trailed off, "...what am I on about? Christmas is always like this," he shook his head and uncovered a dormant Host.

Not for me," Minerva spoke up, "Christmas used to be nice..." the Doctor watched her as she grew quiet, "...Back with my grandmother, and the snicker doodles..."

"Hey, you'll have your snicker doodles tonight, okay?" he promised her, "We can bake those cookies again and I promise to try and not make a mess this time round."

"Snicker doodles on Christmas, with my new boyfriend?" Minerva considered it, practically bursting with joy even if she was on a dead ship that was going to crash into her planet, "Yes, please!" she pecked his lips.

He beamed and returned to the host beside them, "We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble."

"We can do robotics, both of us," Morvin volunteered, Foon stepping beside him.

"We worked on the milk market back on Sto. It's all robot staff."

"See if you can get it working," the Doctor nodded them to go ahead, "Now let's have a look," he took Minerva's hand and led them up the stairs with the rest of the group.

"It's blocked," Astrid remarked when they stopped in front of a big wreckage in front of them.

"So what do we do?" the Doctor asked.

"We shift it!" Minerva exclaimed.

"That's the attitude. Rickston, Mr Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta... look, can I just call you Banna? It's gonna save a lot of time."

"No! Bannakaffalatta!" the red alien said firmly.

"All right then, Bannakaffalatta, there's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through."

"Easy. Good," Bannakaffalatta squeezed through the opening, the ship lurching as he did and sent loose debris on the them.

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Rickston cried, looking up in case something else fell down.

"Oh, Rickston, I forgot. Did you get our message?" the Doctor asked as he searched for a way to move the debris.

"No. What message?"

"Shut up!"

Minerva surprised the Doctor with a kiss on his cheek, "I really like you."

He smiled softly at her, her calm attitude despite the severity of their situation was quite attractive as well, "I like you too," he blushed, giving her a short kiss on the lips.

"Bannakaffalatta made it," came the little red alien's voice from across.

"I'm small enough, I can get through," Astrid volunteered and began making her way through the hole.

"Me too," Minerva looked down at herself with disappointment, "I tell you it's gonna be quite interesting trying to kiss you," she looked at the Doctor and compared their heights silently.

"I find that..." he leaned to her and whispered, "...hot," she blinked and blushed real hard, the Doctor chuckling as he gave a small kiss on her cheek.

"And I'm out," she said with a shaky voice, following into the hole where Astrid had gone.

"Careful!" he called after her.

"Thing is, how are Mr and Mrs Fatso gonna get through this gap?" Rickston demanded.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, the man's attitude was not going to ruin his mood with his girlfriend, "We make the gap bigger. So start," he handed Rickston a piece of metal.

"We can clear it from this side," Astrid Caledonia as she helped Minerva out of the hole, "Just tell me if it starts moving."

"Thanks," Minerva stood to her feet and dusted herself off. She then noticed Bannakaffalatta laying on the floor. "Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?"

"Sshhh," he put a finger on his mouth.

"What is it?" Astrid moved over, Minerva behind her.

"Can't say."

"Are you hurt?" Minerva studied him but saw no physical injuries.

"Ashamed..."

"Of what?"

"Poor Bannakaffalatta," he lifted his dress shirt to reveal cybernetic components, turning his head away from them in shame.

"You're a cyborg," Minerva remarked, a tad surprised.

"Had accident long ago. Secret."

"No, but everything's changed now," Astrid said softly, seeing the alien in full shame, "cmCyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married."

"Marry you?" he turned his head over to them.

"Well, you can buy me a drink first. Come on. Let's recharge you," Astrid pressed a button on his torso and stood up, "Just stay there for a bit."

"Tell no one."

"We promise."

"What's going on up there?!" the Doctor called, alarmed at the silence. Minerva was never that quiet, or quiet at all.

Minerva glanced at Astrid with a mischievous smile, "You wanna see something funny?"

"We're on a ship that's about to crag and kill six million people including us...I'll take what you got," Astrid sighed, really in the mood for a genuine laugh.

Minerva sauntered back to the hole, seeing the Doctor on the other side, "I just got engaged to Bannakaffalatta!"

"WHAT!?" There was a loud bang from the other side that made Astrid jump in her spot.

Minerva glanced back at Astrid, her eyes eyebrows wiggling. She just barely holding her laughter in.

"Excuse me!?" the Doctor rubbed his head on the other side. It had crashed into the pipe above him. Minerva had gotten to the other side only two minutes ago, what the hell happened!? He supposed that she was just that gorgeous anyone would ask her to marry him, that's why Zian had tricked her into marrying him after all...

"I'm just kidding, Doctor!" Minerva laughed, unknowingly making him breath out in relief.

"Minerva!" he shouted, her laughter just increasing.

"Martian!" she mimicked his tone.

"That was funny," Astrid concluded, chuckling herself.

"Told yah," Minerva smirked and continued with her work.

~ 0 ~

"Almost done!" Morvin called up to the trio of men upstairs.

"Good, good, good," the Doctor moved to a comms, "Mr Frame, how's things?"

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one."

"What is it? Are they losing air?"

"No. One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host."

The Doctor immediately looked down to the Van Hoffs where they had just finished up the Host.

"It's working!" Morvin exclaimed happily.

The Doctor rushed down as the Host took Morvin by the throat,

"Kill. Kill. Kill."

"Turn it off!" the Doctor ordered as he came down.

"I can't, Doctor!" Foon cried.

"Go!" he arrived and shooed Foon away. He took out the screwdriver and used it on the Host, "Lock! Double deadlock!" exasperated, he put away the screwdriver and used his hands to help Morvin free, "Okay, go upstairs!"

"Run, darling, run!" Foon called to her husband and he ran up the stairs.

"Information: kill, kill, kill..."

"Rickston! Get them through!" the Doctor shouted.

"No chance!" the man went in himself through the hole.

"Rickston!" Mr. Copper called after him.

"I'll never get through there," Foon shook her head.

"Yes, you can. Let me go first," Mr. Copper started going through the hole.

The Doctor ran up to the comms, the Host following, "It's the Host! They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?"

~ 0 ~

But inside the main bridge, Midshipman Frame turned to see another group of Host heading for the open door, "Kill. Kill. Kill," they chanted.

The man closed and locked the door in time, only catching the hand of one of the Host.

~0~

Minerva, Astrid, and Mr. Copper were currently trying to help Foon through the hole,

"No, I'm stuck!" she cried.

"Come on, you can do it!" Minerva urged, glancing at Rickston who stood to the side and just watched.

Mr. Copper was using a metal pole as a lever to widen the space, struggling actual, "It's going to collapse!" but Foon finally made it, leaving Morvin and the Doctor, "Rickston, vot damn it, help me!"

"No... way," Rickston shook his head.

"Coward and useless!" Minerva moved over and helped Mr. Copper.

"Morvin, get through!" Copper yelled.

Morvin was having a bit more of a struggle to get through the hole, the chants of Host nearing behind as the Doctor ran up to the hole.

"Doctor, he's stuck!" Astrid yelled, able to see the man just slightly around Morvin.

"Mr Van Hoff, I know we've only just met but you'll have to excuse me," the Doctor placed his hands on Morvin's rear and pushed him through.

"That's it," Astrid helped Morvon, "We've got you. Doctor, come on, get through."

The Doctor however, turned to the Host which was literally right behind him, "Information override! You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

Minerva and Mr. Copper were straining to hold open the hole, "Doctor! We can't hold it!" came her strained voice.

"Information: Deck 31."

"Thank you," the Doctor grinned and scrambled through the hole, "Let go!"

Mr. Copper and Minerva released their grip on the pole, the beam crashing onto the Host's head.

"Oh thank God!" Minerva encased him in a big hug, her heart nearly beating out if her chest. He hugged her back, both forgetting for a moment that there were other people as the enjoyed their embrace, knowing for the moment they were both okay.

~ 0 ~

At the bridge, Midshipman Frame turned to see the hand of the Host that was locked between the door and wall moving. He yelped and turned a handle that shut the door completely, cutting off the hand. But he looked through the window of the door and saw a line of Host's waiting for him.

~ 0 ~

The group opened the door to find a clear room, a kitchen of some sorts. There was even a table with some food on it.

"Morvin, look, food," Foon pointed and walked towards it.

"Oh great. Someone's happy," Rickston rolled his eyes.

"Don't have any then," Morvin moved to his wife, not about to let him make her cry again.

"Ow!" Rickston flinched, "Did you just...ow!"

"Sorry," Minerva had walked past him with a smirk on her face.

She elbowed him...twice.

The Doctor headed to the comms, concerned for their friend up at the bridge, "Mr Frame, you still there?"

"Yes, sir, but I've got Host outside. I sealed the door."

"They've been programmed to kill. Why would anyone do that?" the Doctor asked, his mind still trying to come up with a valid list of reasons and of the culprit.

"That's not the only problem, Doctor. I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means..." Midshipman Frame sighed, guilty of yet another problem of the ship, "No one can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the Titanic, you can't get to the bridge."

"Yeah, right, fine. One problem at a time," the Doctor made a face at that, he'd have to worry about it later, "What's on Deck 31?"

"Um, that's down below. It's nothing. It's just the Host storage deck. That's where we keep the robots."

The Doctor looked at a scanner beside, putting on his glasses, "Well, what's that? See that panel? Black. It's registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light."

"Never seen it before."

"100% shielded. What's down there?"

"I'll try intensifying the scanner."

"Let me know if you find anything," the Doctor removed his glasses, "And keep those engines going!"

Minerva walked over, seeing the concern on his face and feeling bad she couldn't exactly help him, "Hey..." she bit her lip, feeling really stupid that was all she could say.

But he smiled, pressing a hand onto her cheek, "I'm getting you out of this, I swear," she nodded, staying still as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Astrid felt a little embarrassed for intruding on the pair's moment but she felt like everyone needed to eat if they were to continue their trip up to the reception room, "Sorry," she smiled dimly, "Saved you some. You might be a Time King from Gaddabee but you need to eat, and I know humans also have to eat for survival."

"Yeah, thanks," the Doctor took the plate from the blonde.

He moved Minerva to a seat and together sat down, Astrid across them. He picked up a piece of food and held it to Minerva, but she shook her head, "I'm not hungry," she frowned.

"But you gotta eat," he insisted. He'd already faulted her at this date thing and he wasn't about to let her pass out on account of a nutritional issues.

"My stomach feels kinda funny," Minerva continued to refuse the food, clutching her stomach and shaking her head.

"Mm, that would be on account of not eating," Astrid pointed, in the middle of eating her own plate.

The Doctor nodded her thanks for the help as Minerva reluctantly let him feed her. Though after a couple seconds she started smiling, "You're looking at me like that again."

"Looking how?" the Martian frowned.

"Like the time when we visited my grandmother and ended up in 1969."

"You just reminded me of 1913, that's all. The things you said...the way you moved...everything," he whispered, rubbing a thumb over her cheek. His hearts fluttered at all the kisses he had given her, the moment he had fallen in love with her as John Smith...

How long would it be until he, the Doctor, fell in love with her?

"So..." Astrid smiled at their silence, the two were currently staring at each other with those smiles the couples of earliest stages wore, "...how old are you, Minerva? I'm a bit clueless on human education."

"Recently eighteen," Minerva took a bit of more food.

"Hm," she glanced between Minerva and the Doctor, finding the two to look not so different based on ages, "Doctor, you look good for 903."

"You should see me in the mornings," the man had a mouthful of food in his mouth.

"It's not pretty," Minerva declared, the pout on his face making her giggle, "But now that we're together, perhaps I could think you looked very cute...handsome..." her hand trailed down his face, "...hot..."

Astrid shook her head at the pair, knowing it was better to leave them as they got deeper into their moments. She stood up and walked to the others, the pair not even noticing her departure.

"I think you look cute all the time of day," the Doctor remarked, watching her blush rapidly.

"That's because by the time you see me I'm usually always dressed and stuff..."

"May I remind you that I have seen you in your nighties several times now, your hair all messy..."

Minerva considered his words and realized he was right. Without realizing it, the Doctor had been allowed in her room early in the mornings and late in the nights, or whatever it was called in the TARDIS. Though everything was kept to friendship, Minerva knew it wasn't something common for her to let a man into her room like she did with the Doctor. It actually made her blush because they'd been on the same bed, sometimes her in her pajamas, nighties, and also pretty close...

"Hm...well," she considered the right words as her tongue seemed a bit slurred from her thoughts, "All that is gonna be changing. Just because we're together now...it...it doesn't mean we're...we're gonna, um..." her cheeks flushed red at where her thoughts had drifted to. She might have joked about it earlier but it didn't mean she was ready to take that large step in her relationship, in her life...

The Doctor chuckled, knowing exactly what she had meant, "Minerva, nothing that you don't want, or not ready for, is going to happen."

Minerva had to smile in relief, "I'm sorry. It's just...I know this is ridiculous and stuff, but I'm young...I don't, I've never actually..."

"It's alright. There's nothing wrong with that. Let's just focus on our relationship, yeah? We can finish getting to know each other, give each other a few kisses here and there..."

She chuckled, "Just a few?"

"Just a few," he assured, no where near meaning those words.

"Doctor, it must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day," Mr. Copper called from the other end of the room, making the pair glance back.

"So it is. Merry Christmas," the Doctor said to them and returned his gaze to Minerva, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she whispered, watching him lower his head to press his lips on her for a Christmas kiss.

"Mm, Christmas kiss," the Doctor pulled back, mere inches from her lips so he could steal another one from her, "I like."

"How things have changed from last year," she reminded, their last Christmas just after losing the Tyler's plus saving Donna.

"I gotta find a mistletoe..." he murmured, not even caring about their last Christmas.

Minerva laughed, pushing him slightly back, "Doctor!"

"This Christmas thing, what's it all about?" Astrid asked, sensing the holiday had to do with a lot of kissing since that's what they seemed to be doing a lot.

"Long story. I should know, I was there. I got the last room," the Doctor shrugged, remembering that event.

"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them? They can send up a rocket or something," Mr. Copper suggested.

"We don't have spaceships," Minerva frowned, slightly irritated with the man's lack of knowledge of her home.

"No, I read about it. They have shuffles, space shuffles."

"Mr. Copper, I'm human...we don't have that."

"Mr Copper, this degree in Earthonomics,... where's it from?" the Doctor asked, amused by Minerva's irritation.

"Honestly?"

"Just between us."

"Mrs. Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners."

"That makes sense..." Minerva mumbled, taking more food into her mouth.

"You - you lied to the company... to get the job?" Astrid blinked.

"I- I wasted my life on Sto. I was a travelling salesman, always on the road and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic."

"Hm, I suppose it is, yeah..." the Doctor smiled in thought of the planet, glancing at the one person that stood out from the whole race.

Minerva caught his look and turned to look at him as well, slightly perplexed, "You think I'm exotic?" he nodded, his smile softening, "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not..."

"So she's human," Astrid pointed at Minerva, "And I understand why she would know so much about it, but you..." her finger drifted to the Doctor, "How come you know it so well?"

"I was sort of...a few years ago, was sorta made... well, sort of homeless, and, um there was the Earth..." the Doctor looked down for a moment, his actual home was gone and Earth seemed like it was always calling him there...like a second home...cause there was someone else he could be with now...

Minerva rested her head on his arm and reached for his hand, "You're not homeless anymore. You got a family in me, Martha, and hey, even my grandmother when she finds out."

He faintly smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "Thank you."

"The thing is, though," Mr. Copper sighed, too in depth with his big problem to focus on the pair, "If we survive this, there will be police and all sorts of investigations. Now the minimum penalty for space-age fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. Well, I won't survive ten years."

"I won't let that happen," Minerva immediately said, looking up to see the man. He was surprised she would say something like that considering they didn't even know each other. But Minerva saw in him her grandfather, and how could she allow someone like her grandfather to be imprisoned?

There was a banging on the door, the Doctor jumping from his seat and rushing to a door at the other end, across from the one being banged on, "A Host! Move! Come on!"

The pounding increased, even a dent forming from the force that made Astrid scream. The Doctor used the sonic on the other door and opened it, revealing another room that happened to be the engine room. There was a makeshift bridge that was created by a fallen strut...above the engines.

"Is that the only way across?" Rickston frowned at it.

"On the other hand, it is a way across," Minerva sighed, this time agreeing with the man of the way to get across.

"The engines are open," remarked Astrid, also not happy.

"Nuclear storm drive. Soon as it stops, the Titanic falls," the Doctor explained.

"But that thing, it'll never take our weight," Morvin stepped towards the edge.

"You're going last, mate," Rickston gave him a quick look.

"It's nitrofine metal. It's stronger than it looks," the Doctor tried to explain as he worked on the door, getting it shut.

"All the same, Rickston's right. Me and Foon should -" Morvin's foot stepped on a weak piece of metal where the railing gave way...and he fell down towards the engine.

"Morvin!" Foon cried, running up to where her husband had just been.

The others watched in horror, as if that didn't just happen...

"I told you! I told you!" Rickston exclaimed.

Minerva turned to him, outraged he was so snooty and selfish he wasn't even remotely perturbed a man had just died, "SHUT UP!" she screamed, actually making him flinch at the volume of her tone.

Foon turned to the Doctor, hysterically crying, "Bring him back! Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor!"

"I'm sorry, I can't..." the Doctor looked at the opening, still shocked himself.

"You promised me!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

"Doctor, I rather think those things have got our scent," Mr. Copper had turned to the door as stomping of the Host's were nearing the group.

"I'm not waiting," Rickston shook his head and started crossing the bridge.

"Careful! Take it slowly!" the Doctor called, disliking the man for his attitude as well but his death was not something he would ever wish...

There was a tumbling as the ship rocked, making Rickston nearly fall, "Vot help me," he mumbled to himself as he continued.

"You're okay. One step at a time. Come on, you can do it," the Doctor urged.

"They're getting nearer!" Mr. Copper exclaimed.

"Seal us in," the Doctor muttered to himself, using the sonic to shut the door on them.

"Leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?"

"Never say trapped, just inconveniently circumstanced," the Doctor turned around, moving for Minerva, he didn't feel right leaving her alone in this room...or anywhere, now that he thought about it. After the Master, he'd be damned if anyone could separate them.

"Maybe he's all right. Maybe - Maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something. I don't know. Maybe he's unconscious," Foon was saying in hopes, unable to grasp the idea that her husband was actually dead.

Astrid was beside her, trying to calm the woman, still solemn herself of the event, "I'm sorry Foon. He's gone," she hugged the widower.

"What am I going to do without him?" Foon sniffled.

"Yes! Oh yes! Who's good?!" Rickston had hopped off the bridge on the other side, completely unharmed.

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next," the Doctor instructed.

"Bannakaffalatta, small," he nodded, stepping onto the bridge.

"Slowly!" the Doctor called, glancing between the door and the bridge, the Host continuing with their pounds behind the door.

"They've found us!" Mr. Copper gasped.

"Minerva, Astrid, get across right now," the Doctor started pushing Minerva towards the bridge, motioning Astrid to follow.

"No, what about you?" Minerva managed to turn and stop the Martian.

"I need you to go first," he tried to push again but she wouldn't budge, making her sigh, "Minerva, please."

"Not without you," she said quietly, dead serious.

She didn't wait a year to finally be with him to be separated on their first date. Beyond that, she just wouldn't leave him, friend or girlfriend, she just wouldn't.

He took a heavy sigh and resigned to get everyone else started across the bridge, "Astrid, Mr. Copper, please don't argue and just go," the pair glanced at each other and nodded, "Foon, you've got to get across right now."

"What for? What am I gonna do without him?" Foon sniffled, still gazing down to where her husband had fallen through.

"Doctor! The door's locked!" Rickston called from the other side, gesturing to the locked door.

"Just think... what would he want, eh?" Minerva moved over to Foon.

"He don't want nothing, he's dead!"

"No, when my grandfather died, he made sure to tell us he wanted us to live our lives and not to cry over him. He wanted us to be happy," Minerva insisted, trying to move Foon but the woman was sobbing.

"Doctor, I can't open the door. We need the whirring key thing of yours!" Rickston called again.

"We can't leave her!" the Doctor shouted.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!"

The Doctor looked at the group and Minerva, knowing very well that he couldn't risk her safety, not now, not when he had just gotten her. He rushed to Minerva and Foon, "Mrs. Van Hoff, I am coming back for you, all right?" he tugged on Minerva's arm and brought themselves to the bridge, moving Minerva first.

But as the two stepped on, the metal of the bridge creaked at the additional weight it had to sustain.

"Too many people!" Bannakaffalatta glanced back at the pair.

"Oi! Don't get spiky with me! Keep going!" the Doctor shooed him off.

"It's gonna fall!" Astrid continuously looked down at the engines, afraid she'd slip and fall...and die.

"It's just settling! Keep going!"

But the Host stopped pounding...

"They've stopped," Astrid frowned, glancing back at the door that was silent now.

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta suggested.

"Why would they give up?" the Doctor mumbled to himself, no one chasing after him ever gave up...

"Never mind that. Keep coming!" Rickston motioned them to get to him. Why would they waste time like this? If an enemy was chasing them, and suddenly left they should run.

"Where have they gone? Where are the Host?" the Doctor ignored the man, focused more on the danger of missing Hosts...and then Minerva tugged on his arm, she looking up with wide eyes.

"Doctor...angels can fly," her mouth fell open at the Host's above flying down towards them.

"I usually love it when you're clever, but on this occasion, I'm gonna have to say I don't like it."

The same group of Host were gliding down from above, encircling the group, "Information: kill," they reached for their halos.

"Arm yourselves! All of you!" the Doctor ordered, all of them reaching for pipes or bits of metals to defend themselves.

The Host threw their halos at them, each of them swatting it away for the first couple of times. However, one halo managed to graze the Doctor's arm and another Mr. Copper'Copper's leg. Minerva's pipe was flung down by a halo, nearly knocking her down as well.

Astrid dropped to her knees, "I can't," she looked up at the endless halos coming their way.

"Bannakaffalatta stop! Bannakaffalatta proud! Bannakaffalatta, cyborg!" Bannakaffalatta lifted his shirt and discharged energy towards the Host, knocking them all out except for one that fell on the bridge behind the Doctor.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics. Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" the Doctor turned to the little alien, Bannakaffalatta falling to the ground almost immediately.

Astrid went to his side, "He's used all his power!"

"Did good?" he asked her.

"You saved our lives" she smiled at him.

"Bannakaffalatta happy."

"We can recharge you, get you to a power point and just plug you in!" her smile started fading as Bannakaffalatta eyes threatened to close.

"Too late."

"No, but...you gotta get me that drink, remember?"

"Pretty girl," Bannakaffalatta closed his eyes and died.

Muffling her tears, Astrid went to button Bannakaffalatta's shirt but Mr. Copper reached for his power source.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me," he apologized sincerely.

"It's the EMP transmitter. He - he'd want us to use it," Mr. Copper removed the transmitter, "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can reuse it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."

"Do you think? Try telling him that," Rickston pointed behind the group, turning to see the Host that had landed behind begin to move.

"Information: reboot."

"Use the EMP!" Rickston shouted.

"It's dead!" Mr. Copper shook his head, lowering the EMP.

"It's gotta have emergency..." Astrid took the EMP to take a look at it.

"Doctor," Minerva reached out for him, the Martian moving up to confront the Host. He lived to give her heart attacks.

"I gotta try something," he mumbled, before directing to the Host, "No, no, no. Hold on. Override loophole security protocol... Ten! 666! Oh. 21, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Um, I dunno, 42! Uh, one!"

The Host actually stopped midway and stood passively, "Information: state request."

"Good...right," the Doctor, internally sighing of relief that for the moment they weren't going to be killed, "You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

"Information: no witnesses."

"But this ship's gonna fall on the Earth and kill everyone. The human race have nothing to do with the Titanic so that contravenes your orders, yes?"

"Information: incorrect."

"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?"

"Information: it is the plan."

"What plan?"

"Information: protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."

"Well, you could have warned me."

"Let me try," Minerva whispered to him, preferring him to back away.

"Sh," he blocked her way of walk with an arm.

"Information: now you will die."

It prepared to strike, the Doctor completely moving in front of Minerva, but a lasso was thrown over the Host's head and tightened around its body by Foon.

"You're coming with me," Foon closed her eyes and jumped over the side, pulling the Host with her down to the engines.

"Nooooo!" the Doctor shouted, looking down as Foon fell to her death.

"Poor Foon," Minerva sighed.

"No more," the Doctor muttered, so done with the deaths. Next thing he knew it could be Astrid or Mr. Copper, or even worse, Minerva.

~ 0 ~

The group made it into another set of maintenance halls, the Doctor giving orders as soon as they entered, "Right. Get up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper. You've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS. Astrid, you're in charge of this," he held the EMP to hers, "Once it's powered up, it'll take out Hosts within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Minerva, take this I've preset it. Just hold down that button. It'll open doors," she gave her a kiss on the forehead and moved on to Mr. Copper.

Minerva stood there, dumbfounded for a couple minutes till she realized he was practically saying goodbye, "Hold on..." she grabbed Rickston's arm and handed him the screwdriver, "Open the doors, don't lose it."

"All right!" he nodded, not caring who ordered now as long a it got him out of this ship.

"Doctor!" Minerva trailed after the Martian as he handed Mr. Copper a first aid kit.

"Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power point?" he blatantly ignored Minerva for a second.

"Under the comms," she nodded to the power point, following him to learn how to re-charge the EMP.

"When it's ready, that blue light comes on there," he explained.

"Martian!" Minerva stomped her foot, knowing she sounded like a child but it was the only way to grab his attention, "Astrid, can we have a moment?" she asked softly, "Please?" Astrid nodded and walked away, sensing the oncoming disagreement between the pair.

"Minerva," the Doctor sighed, acting as if he was currently working on something mega important.

"You're talking as if you're not coming with us," she informed, however she doubted he hadn't realized yet.

"There's something down on Deck 31. I'm gonna find out what it is."

"And what about me, huh? You expect me to keep going with everyone else and leave you?"

"Frankly, yes, I do," he nodded, locking his gaze on the machine.

He didn't want to face her and her big, shiny jade-green eyes that would get him to do anything she wanted. And not this time, he could not do what she wanted this time, it was far too dangerous.

"Doctor, I'm not going to leave you."

"And I'm not taking you," he said, purposely cold.

Hopefully, she'd get irritated and leave on her own. Later on, he'd apologize to no means end until she forgave him. But for now, she needed to go away.

"I'm coming with you!" Minerva raised her voice, she was so not letting it go.

"No, you're not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Minerva paused, suppressing her anger as best she could, yet her voice was still raised when she spoke again, "And why not?"

"Because I won't lose you!" the Doctor finally looked up, that last part coming out in a shot that shut her up and had the group silenced. Minerva blinked, processing his words again and again in her mind. He sighed, regretting his shout upon seeing her startled face, "Minerva, I just got you. I won't risk your life for anything. I don't know what's down there but it's gotta be pretty bad if it doesn't care that a whole planet is gonna be wiped out. So you see, I need you to stay with the group, in the Reception, away from Deck 31."

Minerva's heart fluttered at his immense care for her. But even through all that, she just couldn't grasp the idea of leaving him alone to face the big ole enemy. It was wrong.

"Minerva, please, please, stay with the others," the Doctor pleaded, moving around for her, "I'll come back, we'll bake those cookies and then I'll find us a mistletoe and I'll kiss and kiss and kiss you till you forgive me, okay?" he placed his hand over her cheek, "I promise I'll come back."

She opened her mouth to retaliate when he interrupted her with a kissed. She loved the way she felt about him, but she knew that would lead to him getting what he wanted through a kiss.

"Okay," she whispered as he parted from her.

Her agreement made him breathe a little easier, knowing she would be far away from the biggest threat on the ship besides the actual ship crashing, "Thank you," he breathed.

"But I'm not happy about it," she informed as he took her hand and moved her beside the charger.

"I know, and I'll do my best to make it up to you afterwards," he assured, because they would survive this.

"I expect a very good kiss," she said, watching him blush.

"Um, I think it's done charging," Astrid slowly approached them, wanting to make sure they were really past their disagreement before joining. The EMP was past charge but the pair had been so caught up with each other to notice, "It's alright," she plucked it off and turned to them, "So, you two okay now?"

"Yeah, he's just got one heck of an apology to make after we get the TARDIS," Minerva smirked at him.

"I'll take you to those ice mineral lakes, we can go to Manet, and even Marie Antoinette?" he tried to see if that was making her smile, and one she did, he continued, promising himself he would take her to see all those things, "Agatha Christie? Um, Ooh, how about Rio?"

"Wow," Astrid blinked, all those places and people sounding so amazing, "Wow, um, all that sounds terrific. I take it you guys travel a lot?"

Minerva scoffed, "That's what he does for a living. I just kinda tag along."

The Doctor wound his arm around Minerva's waist, "She's not a tag along, she's my girlfriend and a rightful traveler in the TARDIS. That's what we are, just travelers. Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss, just the open sky."

Astrid could imagine it, after all that was all she wanted to do in life, travel and see the world, "Listen, uh...I'm sort of...unemployed now and I was thinking the blue box is kinda small, but I could kinda squeeze in. Like a stowaway."

Minerva and the Doctor shared a glance, meanwhile Astrid stared at them with such hope.

"It's not always safe," the Doctor informed, still gazing at Minerva for help.

He didn't know what to think about Astrid's request. It had been mere hours since Martha had left the TARDIS. Minerva was also puzzled on what to say, but something deep inside told her Astrid was her a year ago. All her life, Minerva wanted to go see the world, be productive and do something. She could see the same gleam in Astrid's eyes and she felt like she couldn't turn the blonde away...but ultimately, it was the Doctor's decision that would make it or break it. The box of wonders was his and only he could decide who to bring on board.

"I wouldn't cause any problems," Astrid added, nervously seeing the pair thinking of it for too long, "I've got no one back on Sto, no family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you? Please?"

The Doctor glanced at Minerva, wanting her to be okay with a new passenger, a female besides Martha, to come along. He didn't know just yet if Minerva was the jealous type, he knew for a fact he was, but she hadn't shown any jealousy traits so far. Granted, Martha had never shown the least bit interest in him so perhaps Minerva just hadn't been exposed to any jealous causing situations. But he had hurt her, with Rose for ignoring her, and then with Kaeya and his confusion, he wouldn't hurt her anymore. No more. He would always take her and her voice into consideration and he would start now.

Minerva gave him a small nod, truly wanting Astrid to accompany them, "I think she would make a fine companion."

Astrid beamed at her response, that was one down, and now for the other...

"Yeah, I'd like that, too," the Doctor agreed, also seeing in Astrid that little spark of curiosity that all his companions had.

Astrid squealed, jumping and hugging the pair, "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Alright, alright, m now let us go so we can get you out of here," the Doctor struggled to free himself from Astrid's grip.

"Right, sorry," she stepped back, sheepishly fixing her uniform, "Just excited."

The Doctor nodded and walked towards a comms nearby, the ship lurching and rocking them as he reached, "Mr Frame, you still with us?"

~ 0 ~

Midshipman Frame was at the wheel, nearly having fallen from the lurch as well, "There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left!"

"Don't worry, I'll get there."

"The bridge is sealed off!"

~ 0 ~

"Yeah, yeah, working on it. I'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow," the Doctor left the comms and turned for the group, "Mr Copper, look after these two please," he set a hand on Minerva's shoulder, "Astrid, look after him. Rickston, um...look after yourself. And I'll see you again, promise," he pecked Minerva on the lips, moving to leave when she yanked him by his arm back to her, "Minerva, I thought we discussed-"

But she had grabbed him by his lapels and pulled him down to her level for a very large, deep kiss that left them both panting for air when they had finally pulled away from each other.

"That is what I expect as the beginning of your apology when you get back, got it Martian?" Minerva kept her arm wound his neck, refusing to let go until it was very clear.

The Doctor could only nod, for a woman who never kissed anyone she sure had some moves that left him like putty in her arms.

She smiled with satisfaction, unwinding her arm and stepping back, "You take care, okay?"

"Y-yes, I'll see you later!" he winked and ran off.

"Well, c'mon then newest box of wonders companion," Minerva swung her arm around Astrid's shoulders as they headed for the reception room.

"Box of wonders?"

"Yeah, it's my nickname for the TARDIS. It's brought me so many wonders," she sighed in content, "I'm sure it'll bring you many too."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor ran into a small kitchen where in less than two seconds he was surrounded by four Host. He grabbed a pot by the handle and was fully prepared to use it as a weapon, "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Security protocol one! Do you hear me? One! One!" he shouted and they all stopped, "Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save my life, am I right?"

"Information: correct."

He frowned, "No, that wasn't one of them. I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?"

"Information: no."

His frown turned into a pout, "No, no! No, no, no. That wasn't one either. Blimey. One question left. One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me. I'm not a passenger. I'm not staff. Go on, scan me. You must have bio records. No such person on board. I don't exist therefore...you can't kill me. Therefore, I'm a stowaway and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority. And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question: am I right?"

"Information: correct."

"Brilliant. Take me to your leader," he dropped the pan, smiling with content, "I've always wanted to say that."

~ 0 ~

The group arrived into the reception room, Astrid using the EMP to bring down the awaiting Host.

"Rickston, seal the doors, make the room secure. Mr Copper, keep an eye on the Host," Minerva instructed, Astrid give him the EMP, "Astrid, do you think you could check the computer for the SOS?"

"Who put you in charge?" Rickston frowned at the girl's authorative tone she had taken.

"When the Doctor isn't here, I''m second in command," Minerva walked over to Astrid who had slammed her fists on the computer, "What is it?"

"It's down," Astrid turned to the teleport bracelets, an idea popping into her head, "Oh..."

"Yeah, I remembered they were still up here," Minerva moved beside her.

"Should we?" Astrid asked her, unsure how she should manage this new "companionship" in the best way, "Or do we listen?"

"Astrid Peth, if there's one thing you should know about traveling with the Doctor is..." Minerva strapped on the teleport bracelet, "...never listen to what the Martian orders you to do, especially when he's your boyfriend."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was being willingly escorted down to Deck 31, the Host storage facility. There were small structural damages and small fires, but that wasn't of concern for the Doctor yet.

"Now that is what you call a fixer-upper. Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?" he asked, two doors sliding open behind him, making him turn around, "Ooh, that's clever. That's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in that, eh?" a small vehicle started wheeling out, "Sit through a supernova or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves onboard like this and I should know, 'cause..."

The vehicle was actually a giant life support system for Max Capricorn, the head of the ship and company...only he was just a head now, "My name is Max," his gold tooth glinted.

"It really does that," the Doctor paused in surprise. But he had to snap out of it fast, he had to hurry and deal with this guy so he could get back to Minerva and begin that apology...

"Who the hell is this?" Max asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Hello."

"Information: stowaway," the Host responded.

"Well..."

"Kill him," Max ordered.

"Oh, no, no! Wait, but you can't. Not now. Come on, Max...You've given me so much good material like...How to get ahead in business. See "head"? "Head in business"? No?" the Doctor was really losing it there.

"Oh, ho ho, the office joker. I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."

"I can't think why..."

"176 years of running the company have taken their toll."

"Yeah, but...nice wheels," the Doctor gestured to the car, all in all it was a pretty nice thing.

"No, a life-support system in a society that despises cyborgs. I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram. Host, situation report."

"Information: Titanic is still in orbit."

"Let me see," Max moved forwards and the Doctor stepped out of his way, "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong?" he frowned as he stared down at the running engines, "The engines are still running! They should have stopped!"

"When they do, the Earth gets roasted. I don't understand. What's the Earth got to do with it? It's got really lovely people..." the Doctor nearly pouted, how could anyone want to destroy Minerva?

"This interview is terminated."

"No, no, no, no, no, no!"

Neither of them noticed Astrid peeking around a corner. She was actually pretty nervous of what she could do down there on her own. After insisting with Midshipman Frame to get her and Minerva teleportation power to come down here, they'd only managed to get him to agree sending one of them. Minerva stated that she would come and so Astrid agreed, understanding that the brunette had someone she deeply cared for down here while Astrid really only wanted to just help. The best way to help was letting Minerva do what she wanted. Unfortunately for them both, the power had gone wrong and Astrid was sent instead, leaving a pretty peeved Minerva behind.

"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! I can work it out. It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me," the Doctor frantically asked, the sudden death of his not a play thing anymore. He had a girlfriend to get back to, he could not just die anymore, "...Business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes. The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."

"My own board voted me out. Stabbed me in the back."

"If you had a back. So..."

Astrid moved forwards...

"You scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value. Oh, but that's not enough. No, 'cause if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."

"And... the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder," Max smirked, it truly was the perfect plan.

"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber."

"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Pentaxico Two where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of...metal."

"So that's the plan. A retirement plan. 2000 on this ship, 6 billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered. And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser," the Doctor spat, angry this man was responsible for the Van Hoffs death, Bannakaffalatta's, Minerva's safety...for revenge.

"I never lose..." Max declared.

"You can't even sink the Titanic."

"Oh, but I can, Doctor. I can cancel the engines from here."

An alarm started to sound...

Engines closing.

"You can't do this!" the Doctor cried, two Host holding the Doctor by the arms and pulled him away from Max.

"Not so clever now, Doctor. A shame we couldn't work together. You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh! Oh, Host! Kill him," Max ordered, the Host not holding the Doctor removed it's halo to strike the him.

"Mr, Capricorn!" Astrid shouted, freezing everyone in their places, even the Host. She was currently in a forklift, "I resign," she started the forklift and went towards Max.

"Astrid, don't!" the Doctor struggled to stop her, the Host still holding him back

Astrid lifted the front of Capricorn"Capricorn"s life support vehicle, managing to bring up its tires. However, his rear tires still had enough traction to cause a standoff. The Host that was about to strike the Doctor threw it's halo at Astrid, missing her for a part of the forklift instead.

"He's cut the break line!" the Doctor exclaimed, but the blonde didn't listen.

She lifted the fork higher, completely lifting Capricorn off the ground, and stepped on the gas. But just as she was about to fall forwards along with the forklift and Capricorn, there was a blue light and Minerva flashed on the step of the forklift.

"What are you-" Astrid blinked, seeing Minerva's eyes completely blue for a brief second and her arms covered in bits of ice before she was yanked off the forklift, landing on the edge of the cliff.

"Minerva!" the Doctor called, completely terrified.

It all happened too fast.

Minerva looked at the Doctor, her eyes reverting to jade-green, before he could notice, her eyes watery as she knew what would happen. She tried to jump off the forklift before it fell down.

Her hands managed to grab onto the edge, "I can't...I'm slipping," she started to sniffle as she looked down to the running engines.

"No!" the Doctor tried breaking free from the Host, their leader still wasn't completely 'dead' and so his orders were still intact.

"Come up, Minerva," Astrid grunted as she tried pulling the woman up, "Come...up!"

The Doctor finally broke free from the Hosts and started running towards the women.

"See the world, Astrid," Minerva offered her a sad, teary smile.

...and then her hands slipped from Astrid's.

"NOOOOO!" the Doctor fell to his knees right beside Astrid, looking down in horror as his Minerva, his Clever Girl, his girlfriend plummeted down to her death. He had to look away, a coward he was that he couldn't dare look at his failure.

He had failed Minerva, completely failed her.

Titanic falling. Voyage terminated.

"Doctor!" Astrid shook his arm, understanding he was shocked of the death, but there was still a whole planet to save, "Please! Help us!"

No one saw a blue light rush down before Minerva actually hit the fire underneath. The clever girl faded, only the tips of her hair faintly touching the fire.

The Doctor was struggling to force himself, to remember the other 6 million people on the planet. That included Martha Jones and Minerva's grandmother...

...but Minerva...she...she was...no...NO.

"Please," Astrid begged, in tears for the loss they just witnessed, "Save us."

But the Doctor looked down the engines...there was no one anymore. Minerva had probably submerged down the raging fires...

He winced terribly at the thought...had she died before reaching the fires? Or was she being burned alive? He looked away, unable to see the place of his fail...of her death.

"Doctor!" Astrid suddenly gasped, "The bracelets! The teleportation bracelets! She had one on, and..."

He blinked...seeing where her thoughts had gone to.

"If the ship is saved then maybe a fraction of power could be left and..."

The Doctor had already bolted to his feet and ran off.

Astrid quickly jumped to her feet and ran after him.

~ 0 ~

Midshipman Frame screamed as the Doctor and Astrid literally broke through the floor of the bridge.

"Deadlock broken."

The Doctor climbed through tandem stood, Astrid struggling but eventually doing it as well.

"Ah, Midshipman Frame at last!" the Doctor greeted, for politeness reasons, but the face he wore was not the kind to greet...

"Uh, the Host!" Midshipman Frame reminded.

"Controller dead they divert to the next highest authority and that's me," the Doctor headed for the wheel.

"There's nothing we can do. There's no power. The ship's gonna fall."

"Titanic falling."

"Yeah, yeah, what's your first name?"

"Alonzo."

That actually managed to surprise him, "You're kidding me..."

Both Frame and Astrid glanced at each other, "What?" Frame asked, confused.

"That's something else I've always wanted to say...Allons-y Alonzo," the Doctor mumbled to himself, recalling Minerva's giggles at his "stupid made up word".

He had to hurry. He had to...his mind was all jumbled up and the only thing he could think of was her, the clever girl, the one who just needed to come back. And he was gonna make it so.

The ship lurching reminded him of the problem. He tried to steer as they fell straight towards the Earth's atmosphere, Frame and Astrid screaming for their lives. The ship burned as the speed ignited.

And alarm sounded and the Doctor used his foot to check, his eyes widening at the impact zone.

"Oh great..." the Doctor muttered, using his foot to dial, "Hello, yes, um...could you get me Buckingham Palace?" he paused for alarm moment until they answered, "Listen to me! Security Code 771! Now get out of there!"

~ 0 ~

The Queen of London rushed down a hallway of the Buckingham Palace, still in a dressing gown and curlers.

A footman ran beside her, carrying a corgi, "Open the door!"

~ 0 ~

The newsstand man stepped out of his Kiosk and looked up at the sky, seeing the big ship, "Don't you dare, you aliens! Don't you dare!"

~0~

Engine active. Engine active.

The Doctor pulled back on the wheel, sending Frame and Astrid back against the wall. With great strain, the Doctor regained control of the wheel, managing just by a hair you moss the Buckingham Palace. He gasped deeply, unable to believe he had actually managed to save the whole bloody planet...and fail one person, the most important person.

~ 0 ~

Outside the Buckingham Palace, the Queen was waving at the passing ship, "Thank you, Doctor! Thank you. Happy Christmas!"

~ 0 ~

Sensing they were out of trouble, Astrid and Frame let out a big relief, even managing a laugh. The Doctor, on the other hand, remained somber, steering in silence. He had to place the stupid ship on idle so he could rush back to the reception room...

~ 0 ~

"Doctor," Astrid called in a feeble voice, the man still standing at the wheel, "We did it..."

"Not the person I strive to saved," he muttered then ran like the wind to the reception room, "Rickston, sonic, NOW!" he yelled, Rickston and Mr. Copper flinching. Rickston threw the sonic over, "Mr. Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?"

"I don't know. They should have," Mr. Copper looked around, seeing Astrid and Frame walk in, "Where's, um..uh..." Astrid shook her head.

"Minerva fell, Mr. Copper. She fell. What's the emergency code?"

"Uh, let me see..."

"What the hell are you doing?" Midshipman Frame asked, the Doctor working on the teleport machine like mad.

"I can bring her back."

"If a passenger has an accident on shore leave and they're still wearing their teleport, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis so that we can just trigger the shift," Mr. Copper explained.

"There!" the Doctor stood and turned around, a faint glowing beginning to appear, "C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" the glow turned blue, but nothing happened, "Only halfway there. Come on," he adjusted the inner workings of the teleport, "Feed back the molecule grid, boost it with the restoration matrix," but the teleport sparked, "No, no, no, no! Need more phase containment."

"Doctor," Astrid called, already knowing it just wouldn't work.

"No! If I can just link up the surface suspension..."

"Doctor, she's gone," Mr. Copper said, sorrow for him already bursting within.

"I just need to override the safety. I can do it!"

"Doctor, let her go."

"NO!" he yelled, making everyone jump. He kicked the teleport in frustration and turned around, showing them all he was close to tears, "I just got her and I lost her! I can't just let it go!" that was the most ridiculous thing he ever heard of, how could he let the most amazing woman go?

"But there's nothing to do," Astrid softly said, the guilt stirring inside her. Minerva was dead because of her.

"I can't do anything!" the Doctor shook his head, dropping to his knees as he stared at the blue glow across, simply light was what it was. He couldn't even bring Minerva's ghost back... "I failed her, I lost her..."

He had done everything to keep her safe, everything in his power. He sent her back to the reception room to keep her alive while he would deal with Capricorn. He promised her snicker doodles for Christmas, a big grand apology after he returned. He promised her he would be back...and she died.

She was gone.

How could he possibly move on from this? How would he explain to Martha that he had let her best friend die just hours after they had left her. How would he explain that to Isadora? He promised her he'd take care of Minerva with his life...how could he explain her death?

Astrid looked at the blue light suddenly speed out the window. She slowly approached the Doctor, cautiously placing her hand on his shoulder, making sure he wouldn't lash at her or anything. When she heard him begin to quietly weep, she dropped to his side, giving him a side hug, both mourning a good woman.

~ 0 ~

Somewhere in an open space in London, the TARDIS awaited...a faint blue glow at its top, just fading as the Doctor, Astrid, and Mr. Copper approached.

The Doctor remembered Minerva's promise to Mr. Copper to save him from jail. He couldn't let Copper go, that would be against Minerva's wishes. If he could please her in the slightest, even in her death, than he would. Astrid, having no where else to go, was brought along, but he would have to talk about their offer to bring her along the TARDIS...

Without Minerva, he just couldn't.

"So, Great Britain is part of, uh, "Europee" just across the British Channel you've got Great France and Great Germany..." Mr. Copper was explaining, really doing it to try and distract the Doctor, the man solemnly walking ahead of he and Astrid.

"No, no, it's just - it's just France and Germany. Only Britain is great..." the Doctor mumbled, barely heard by the pair.

"Oh, and they're all at war with the continent of Ham-erica?"

"No, well...not yet, uh...could argue that one," he sighed, arriving at the TARDIS, "There she is. Survive anything."

"The box of wonders," Astrid smiled at the blue box, the Doctor wincing and glancing back at her.

Those were Minerva's words...

Astrid smiled sheepishly, seeing the Doctor's remembrance, "She told me about it...the box of wonders," she walked towards the box, placing a palm on it, "She said it brought a lot of wonders to her..."

The Doctor stepped towards her, gathering the courage to let her down easily, "Astrid-"

"I don't want to come along anymore," she said quietly, seeing him blink in surprise, even Copper was a bit shocked and he didn't even understand what was fully going on, "I can't. Not, not after what happened," Astrid sighed, "She died because of me. I can't travel in this box, being happy...when this happened. I can't. I won't."

The Doctor nodded, respecting her wishes. He was secretly thankful he had declined all on her own. That was one less problem he had to deal with.

"I'll stay here, on Earth, if that's possible," she continued, walking backing to Copper.

"Just lead a quiet life, please," the Doctor said, she nodding.

"And, uh, what about me?" Mr. Copper looked between them. Astrid was young she could easily find a job, even marry a nice human man...but he, am old man, what could he do to survive?

"Give me that credit card," the Doctor held his hand out, "Take care of each other, this will be for you and her."

"But that's just petty cash, spending money. It's all done by computer. I - I didn't really know the currency so I thought a million might cover it."

"A million? Pounds?" the Doctor gaped.

"That enough for trinkets?"

"Mr Copper, a million pounds is worth 50 million credits."

"How much?" Copper and Astrid blinked, glancing at Rachel other.

"50 million and 56."

"I - We've got money!"

"Yes, you have," the Doctor handed them back the card.

"Oh my word. Oh my vot! Oh my goodness me! I – Ya-ha!"

"It's all yours - Planet Earth. Now that's a retirement plan. But just you be careful, though."

"We'll take good care of each other," Astrid assured, "He'll be like my grandfather, I'll be good to him."

"But I can have a house, a proper house, with a garden, and - and a door, and..." Copper was just too excited about all this, "Oh, Doctor, I will made you proud," he hugged the Doctor, "And - and I can have a kitchen with chairs, and windows, and lace..."

Astrid chuckled, but stopped as the Doctor turned around, unlocking the TARDIS, "Doctor..." she called, making him freeze but not turning back, "...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I won't ever forget Minerva, ever. She was the first, kind passenger I met...and I've worked for a very long time. She saved my life, and I couldn't save hers. That's something I can't and won't ever forgive myself for."

The Doctor nodded, glancing back to see her give him one last look before turning to Mr. Copper, both walking away.

He unlocked the door, moving to step inside...but he couldn't. He couldn't face the console, a lonely, lonely box...with Minerva's rooms, her things still there. He left the doors and walked to the lake. He stared out, the city lighted up for Christmas night. Everyone was out there, celebrating Christmas with their family, their friends, their loved ones...

He would've been celebrating as well, a new type of Christmas. One where he would kiss his girlfriend under a mistletoe, until she couldn't breathe cause of her lack of a respiratory bypass system. She would then teach him, yet again, how to bake snicker doodles, and he would make a mess again. She would kiss him, tell him it's alright then salvage a batch of cookies for them. They would eat their cookies, make some brownies and get hot chocolate...

It would've been perfect.

But he failed her.

And for some reason, his mind couldn't help but drift to last year...he should've realized from the beginning of that past year. When they lost Rose, and he realized how much he ignored Minerva, he resolved to focus entirely on Minerva and learn who she was. He didn't realize it then, their closeness, their bantering...it was because something had clicked. Something small, but that was how it started, no? He didn't want Minerva to see Leonardo Da Vinci anymore cause he claimed to her, and himself, that the man was twice her age and not good enough for her, but in reality...he might have been a little jealous. He didn't know it but his hearts did. How could he not realize his feelings for her sooner? How could he have been so stupid? He had to go and waste all that time because of his feelings for Kaeya. Minerva, she had always been there for him, even when he didn't deserve her. She always stood by him, comforted him, and was just...a best friend. He waited too long, wasted too much time, and now...now the clever girl was just gone.

And it was his fault.

He should've ran faster, faster to grab her hands and pull her up. He didn't understand what she was doing in the engines in the first place, along with Astrid. He left them both to go and deal with the problem himself. But Minerva was Minerva, and he should've known she would've tried to come and help him. He should've done something...how useless he turned out to be. He could save everyone, six billion people of a planet...and he couldn't save his girlfriend?

There was a strong glow of blue emerging behind him, cutting off his solitary thoughts. He glanced over his shoulder just as a strong, icy-cold wind picked up. He turned around to see a blue light across from him, glowing stronger with each second.

"Show yourself," he ordered, not in the mood for another enemy.

A collection of silver particles collected at the center of the light until a form, a humanoid form, began emerging. The Doctor could hear overlapping words being whispered, but he couldn't make them out.

He covered his eyes as the light became an all-time brightness, nearly blinding one. And when it disappeared...

...Minerva fell forwards, unconscious.

"Minerva!" the Doctor shouted, running over and falling to his knees beside her, lifting her body up to his lap, "Minerva!? Minerva!?" he shook her, unable to grasp what had happened.

She was freezing cold, something no human could ever withstand. He listened intently to her heart and caught a faint beating, a normal beat for a human. While he checked her over, he didn't see that same blue light reappear at the top of the TARDIS, swirling around for a second or to before racing up to the sky and beyond.

"Minerva? Minerva, please wake up," the Doctor begged, his voice breaking as the Clever Girl remained unconscious, "Please, don't go. I need you, please," he pushed strands of her hair off her face, growing frantic and desperate as her eyes stayed closed, "I promise you I'll take better care of you. You'll be my life, my everything. Stay and I'll show you how much you mean to me, please," he shook her gently.

His hearts zinged when he felt her slightly move. She quietly fussed, her eyes opening halfway, "It's cold," she mumbled, her eyes snapping shut as her head lulled to his chest.

He let out a big laugh, a big shaky laugh with tears in her eyes. She was alive. She was alive and cold, but alive. She was with him again, in his arms, breathing! He couldn't grasp that idea of it happened but that cold, prickly wind seemed familiar...

But right now, he didn't give a damn.

...she was alive!

Minerva's eyes finally opened again, feeling doozy but she supposed that was what could happen after you died and came back to life, "Hi..." she whispered.

The Doctor's eyes shimmered with tears, "Hello," he whispered.

"Is it still Christmas?" her eyes looked around, slowly realizing she was in his lap with her Christmas date dress and he in his unlucky suit.

"Just for you."

"And Astrid? Is she okay?"

"Yes, you saved her you little hero," he tapped her nose, making her smile, "You died saving her..." his own smile faded, "...you died."

"I didn't die..." she closed her eyes as she tried recalling what had happened, "...I didn't even touch the fire. There was this light...and it was cold," the Doctor nodded, knowing he'd have to look into that as well, "But I had to save Astrid. She wanted to see the world and I already saw it. There was no more power to go down, but then...a blue light..." she whispered as she remembered that right before suddenly finding herself being teleported there had been some light near.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," the Doctor begged her, resting his forehead on hers, his eyes closing as he took her in, her vanilla scent, her heart beat, her breath, her everything. She was here again and she would never leave.

"I'll try," she stared at him, feeling guilty for putting him into that state.

But she had to do it. She couldn't let Astrid die, not when the blonde wanted to see the world like she did. Astrid had to survive and if Minerva died, she died trying to save another person. She couldn't think of a better reason to die: die to help someone else.

"I swear to you, Minerva Souza, I will never let you go again," he shut his eyes hard, like he was making a wish that he hoped with all he had would come true. But he was making an important promise, a swearing, that he intended to live up to until he died, "I am going to take care of you, make you happy, give you everything you deserve."

She smiled softly, her heart, beating slower as it was, skipped a few beats and there, "My Martian..." she whispered, her hand reaching up to his cheek, "...you are incredible."

"You know what?" the Doctor's eyes opened and lowered to her lips, "You've got to let me make my apology."

She noticed where his gaze had fallen to and managed to blush through her prickly cold skin, "I've gotta apologize too..."

That was his cue and he went straight for it. He kissed her with so much emotion, so much hunger, for her. He had to show her how much she meant, even if it was too early, even if it was their first date, she died and she had to know what that caused. He lifted her up in his arms as he stood up, the kiss never breaking as he fumbled his way to the TARDIS, the doors, for once, opening with ease. They closed after them, even locking on their own as the pair headed for the console.

The Doctor set her to her feet, his arm winding around her waist, his lips still attached to hers. His free arm found the controls and started up the TARDIS. The ship lurched soothingly for the first time, now in the Vortex.

"Mm, guess what?" the Doctor pulled back only slightly as he still meant to kiss her more and more.

"What?"

"I met an Alonzo today," he informed, her eyes widening, "Mr. Frame of the ship."

"Alonsy Alonzo, hm," Minerva thought about it for a second, her hands staying put on his face, "Guess I should congratulate you for that," she pulled him back to his lips, setting soft, sweet, kisses on them, "You know what?" she mumbled against his lips.

"What?" he asked, muffled by their kisses.

"We're making out," she teased, biting back a chuckle, "My first make out."

"Hm, I just snogged the cleverest human," he smirked, kissing her a bit harder for effect.

"I'm making out with an alien," she pulled back, the thought of their different origins barely coming into mind.

"Is that a problem?" he asked with genuine nervousness.

She pretended to think hard on it, "Mm...I'm not sure...you're an alien...I'm a human..."

"Minerva..."

"Martian," she giggled again, and he sighed, "Why kiss a human when I can snog a Time Lord, ahem, Martian."

"I am not a Martian," he said tiredly. He cursed Donna Noble for giving her that name...

"Hm, I prefer Martian's to snog, perhaps I could go find one then."

He refused to let her go, "Maybe I can be a Martian for a little while."

"I thought so," she winked, resuming their snog session.

~ 0 ~

Isadora Lozano was busy baking snicker doodles for Christmas. She'd be spending it alone as her daughter was busy working and her son was some where in Switzerland apparently. There was a knock on the door, however, and she left her work to go answer the door.

She found her granddaughter, Minerva, with the Doctor...with interlaced hands. She raised her eyebrows, looking between one another. She just chuckled when they both blushed, no idea how to explain how it happened. But it wasn't a surprise, it was quite obvious, even from 1969, the Doctor's eyes glimmered each time he looked at Minerva. And Minerva, well, it was just plain obvious the moment she had returned.

"Think you can set two more plates for us, grandma?" Minerva asked.

"It would be am honor to spend Christmas with my granddaughter again, and her new boyfriend," she stepped aside and let them in.

"Merry Christmas, grandma," Minerva encased her in a big hug as soon as she had turned after closing the doors.

Minerva had died, and without saying goodbye to her grandmother. Now, she was alive, with her boyfriend and her grandmother. The Doctor figured after such an awful experience perhaps Minerva would like to spend a Christmas with her grandmother as well. He could run all those tests on her after Christmas. After the Master, Martha's departure, and the Titanic, she deserved a nice peaceful night. Minerva was completely excited to share a Christmas with him and her grandmother, claiming now she could teach him how to really bake the most delicious snicker-doodle cookies in the world with the help of the original baker, her grandmother.

[emospritelet]

Manifesto prompt : dat handshake in front of press.

I’m really enjoying writing these two. Happy to take more prompts!

[AO3]

x

Belle was nervous, and irritated with herself because of it.

She told herself there was no need; whatever came of the evening she had already made her point. News programmes were covering the story; the BBC and Sky had already started running pieces on the state of local authority funding and municipal libraries, and the clip of her confronting the Prime Minister was all over social media. It was likely that the next day’s headlines would provide more coverage, and she was pleased that the news outlets were talking about the issues that affected real people in real towns, rather than the usual infighting at Westminster. She was aware that it was probably too late to save Avonleigh’s library, but while there was a glimmer of hope, she was determined to keep fighting.

To that end, she used the little time she had before book club to dig out the research she had been doing when trying to plead for the library’s continued funding. Everything was still in the colour-coded binder she had put together for one of her many meetings with the Council. She even had the presentation she had designed, prompts on a handful of cards to accompany the Powerpoint slides saved on a memory stick, although she very much doubted the Prime Minister would want to see it.

Belle thought she would have difficulty concentrating in the book club, but given that the members were more interested in talking about her impromptu television appearance than about Little Women, it didn’t really matter. Merida even showed her a YouTube video of her rant, edited to include captions of what Sutherland was allegedly feeling at the time. Which seemed to alternate between being outraged and turned on. The other club members thought it was hilarious.

“You’re my hero,” said Leroy, grinning at her above his bristling black beard. “Look at Sutherland’s face! I’m willing to bet no one ever talks to him like that.”

Leroy was short and stocky, a gruff hospital porter with a heart of gold and a secret, burning love for Astrid, the pretty nurse who worked shifts and could only attend book club every other week. He always looked around for her eagerly whenever he arrived, and the look of disappointment on his face when she wasn’t there made Belle’s heart melt. 

“Gave it to him with both bloody barrels!” chuckled Merida, tossing fiery red curls over her shoulder. “Serve the bastard right! Like he has the slightest clue what goes on in towns like this! Bloody London elite! They’re all the same!”

“He’s Scottish,” Belle pointed out, and she sniffed.

“Yeah, but he’s posh Scottish. They’re a breed apart, Belle, you mark my words. Plus he’s an MP. They go down to the House of Commons and check their morals at the door.”

“They can’t all be like that,” said Belle, wondering why the hell she was defending politicians when she had spent years cursing them out.

“Maybe not all of ‘em,” acknowledged Merida. “But our MP definitely is. Bloody Leopold White. When was the last time you saw the bastard in this town?”

“Last election,” said Leroy. “Came to the hospital and got in the damn way. Bet he does the same thing this year.”

Merida snorted, shifting in her seat.

“Someone should unseat the bastard,” she said, and her eyes widened. “Hey, Belle! You should run!”

Belle sighed.

“I have zero interest in running for Parliament,” she said. “I just want to save the library, and I probably won’t even be able to do that! In two months’ time I’ll be out of a job!”

“Just keep the pressure up,” said Merida. “They’ll have to do something, it’s all over the news!”

“Yeah, and in a few days’ time, they’ll have moved onto the next story, and no one will care,” sighed Belle. “I’ll just have to make the most of it while I can. I’ve done some interviews, I’m speaking to the Prime Minister tonight, and I’m going to contact the Council tomorrow, see if public opinion has changed their minds. I doubt it.”

“Maybe we should protest,” suggested Merida. “Keep the momentum going. I can make placards.”

“I can wave the placards and yell stuff,” offered Leroy, and Belle pursed her lips.

“Alright,” she said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll let you know what Mr Sutherland has to say for himself.”

“Just don’t let him sweet-talk you,” warned Merida. “These politicians are masters at wriggling out of their responsibilities. They’re all great at talking without saying anything, you know? If he makes any promises, get them in writing. Or on camera. Or both.”

Belle grinned.

“I’ll try.”

x

She was surprised not to encounter any cameras on her short walk from the library to the Swan Hotel, but there again she supposed none of the reporters wanted to miss the meeting. Anna met her in the hotel reception, smiling briefly and gesturing towards the corridor behind her.

“We’re in the Marchland Suite,” she said. “The press are crammed into the room next door, waiting to capture the two of you meeting. They’ll probably fire questions at you, but don’t feel you have to answer.”

Belle nodded, suddenly, painfully nervous. She fingered the strap of her satchel, in which the folder containing her research was sitting. Her bag had already been searched by two large men whom she presumed were Sutherland’s security team, and the formality of it all made her very aware that she would shortly be in a room with the most powerful man in the country. It made her feel tiny, insignificant, and she took a deep breath, trying to draw courage into her lungs. Anna gave her a sidelong look as they mounted a flight of stairs.

“Chin up,” she said. “He doesn’t bite.”

Belle nodded wordlessly, and the next moment they were stepping through a doorway into an opulent room decorated in pale cream and sage green, filled with waiting reporters. Anna led her through the throng towards a set of double doors, rapping smartly three times with her knuckles. Cameras started whirring, a ripple of flashing lights exploding in the air, and Belle could feel her pulse thumping in her throat and behind her eyes as the doors opened and the Prime Minister stepped out, nodding to the waiting reporters and smiling broadly as he adjusted his cuffs. 

The flashes of two dozen cameras were creating a strobe effect that was making Belle want to squeeze her eyes shut. It was all a little overwhelming, and she felt herself freeze in place as Sutherland stepped towards her, reaching out with his right hand. He was dressed in a different suit to that he had worn earlier, but it was just as expensive, and fitted him just as well. His tie was blue, his shirt crisp and crease-free, the cuffs just poking out from beneath his jacket to display gold cufflinks. To Belle’s great surprise, she found herself imagining what he looked like first thing in the morning, unshaven and dishevelled with heavy eyes. The image that came to her mind was also shirtless, and her eyes widened as she wondered where the hell that had come from. Her cheeks flushed a little, and she told herself to get a bloody grip.

“Miss French,” said Sutherland, smiling as he grasped her hand. “Good of you to come.”

His hand was warm and smooth, his fingers closing firmly around hers, and he used his other hand to pat and squeeze her upper arm, as though sending her some sort of reassurance, or holding her in place. It made her eyes narrow, but she nodded a little stiffly, shaking his hand. He had a politician’s smile, white teeth and fake warmth that didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were nice eyes, though, and she wondered what he looked like when he was greeting someone he actually wanted to meet.

“Prime Minister,” she said cautiously, and his smile widened a little.

“I’m grateful that you took time out of your busy evening to meet with me,” he added. “Hopefully we can have a constructive discussion.”

“I hope so, too.”

The flashes were off-putting, making her feel somewhat dazed, but Sutherland didn’t seem to notice. She supposed he was used to it. He was still shaking her hand, and she realised it was so each of the cameras could catch the perfect shot. He was clearly adept at working the press to his advantage, and it made her very aware that this encounter was as much for his benefit as for hers. Probably more so. It also made her want to pull back, but she stared into his eyes, feeling her jaw tighten as she stood firm. Eventually he let go of her hand, and she resisted the urge to rub her palm against her thigh.

“Well, if you could come this way,” said Sutherland pleasantly, gesturing to the room behind him.

“Belle, what are you hoping to achieve tonight?” called a reporter, and Belle blinked, her brain suddenly blank in the face of flashing cameras and thrusting microphones.

“I - uh…” she faltered. “I…”

“We’re just opening a dialogue,” said Sutherland smoothly. “Miss French raised a number of interesting points in our last meeting, and I want to make sure that the people’s voices are heard.”

Our last meeting? Interesting way to say I yelled at you in the marketplace. Belle swallowed hard, her throat dry, and lifted her chin. Come on, you can do this!

“What’s your opinion on the Government’s record on public funding?” asked a balding man with thick glasses, and Belle rolled her eyes.

“I believe my opinion on that topic is already doing the rounds on social media,” she said dryly. “Maybe you missed it.”

There was a ripple of laughter. Sutherland had placed his hand on her shoulder, a light pressure that she knew was designed to get her walking. She dug in her heels, shoulders lifting a little.

“Do you still believe the library can be saved?” asked another reporter eagerly.

“I’ll believe that until they lock me out of the place,” she said, and there was a babble of voices as they all asked questions at once. A woman in a bright pink coat shoved forward a little.

“Belle, do you think this is a genuine overture on the Prime Minister’s part, or just a photo opportunity?” she asked.

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” she said. “I’m not holding my breath.”

Sutherland’s expression was blank and impassive, but a tiny muscle twitched in his cheek. She felt his fingers tighten a little, and the white-toothed smile slithered back into place.

“Right, well, I promised Miss French a private meeting,” he said. “If you could excuse us, please, we have a lot to discuss.”

There were more shouted questions, but Anna stepped into the line of sight, motioning to the reporters to move back. Belle allowed herself to be steered through the double doors into a plush meeting room, a shining mahogany table and eight chairs on one side, and a squashy leather couch and two armchairs around a glass and chrome coffee table on the other. The doors behind her closed, shutting out the noise from the waiting press, and Sutherland stalked to the table, placing his palms on its gleaming surface and fixing Belle with a dark-eyed stare.

“Well, Miss French,” he said, his voice a little lower and rougher than it had been before. “I believe we have things to discuss.”

[atruththatyoudeny]

281018 - Happy 1D Fanworks Appreciation Day! Today I want to dedicate my 1D fanworks appreciation post to the “Larry Abroad Fic Challenge” over @larryabroad. I just love all the different ideas and the way all these amazing authors filled their prompts with so much imagination. Thank you all for taking part in this challenge and giving us so many fantastic fics! So, give them a read and show them some love!

POMPEII | A Dangerous Night (To Fall In Love) by FallingLikeThis / @suddenclarityharry || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ historical | mythology | angst | prophetic visions | 7k Harry has visions and sees the destruction of Pompeii before it happens. Now, how does he tell his best friend what's to come?

CHRISTIANIA, Denmark | From Christiania with love by sweariwouldnt / @sweariwouldnt || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ friends to enemies to friends to lovers | drugs | police training | violence | 18k It's Louis' first field training day as a future police officer. It doesn't quite go to his plan. Or, maybe, it goes exactly to some bigger plan.

MADURODAM, The Netherlands | All The Small Things by GMTYUniverse / @goodmorningtoyouuniverse || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ airplane meeting | fluff | mentions of grief | 18k The one where Louis & Harry meet and go on a shared adventure to miniature Netherlands due to a faulty plane, Louis' restlessness, Harry's excitedness and a healthy dose of fate & infatuation at first sight.

NEW YORK CITY, USA | You've Been Taking Up My Mind by styleandsin / @styleandsin || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ music festival | strangers to lovers | famous/not famous | 10k Harry's always been a fan of Louis Tomlinson, and when he gets a artist pass for a music festival (thanks to his best friend's new popstar boyfriend) he doesn't expect to actually meet Louis.

BOSTON, USA | When it feels so good, but it's bad for you by notasawrap / @notasawrap || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ famous/not famous | meet-cute | light angst | past abuse | |36k "I'm gonna..." he mumbles, moving away to look Harry in the eye. The green-eyed man's mouth is half open, his pupils are blown and his cheeks are furiously red. The light shining on his face leaves Louis out of breath at the way he looks. "Beautiful." Harry smiles contentedly, leaning down to press his forehead against Louis' "May l—?" He tries to ask, but Louis interrupts him with a gasp, his head moving up and down in affirmation. He wants it, God, he wants it so much that his fingers ache from how long it took him to get it. Harry giggles, beginning to press kisses along Louis' jaw, pressing his open mouth on his skin, so slow that Louis just wants to turn around and get it on his own; his lips against Harry's. "Just... please," Louis begs, bouncing on his tiptoes, his voice dying at the end of the sentence. He swallows when Harry's tongue licks the corner of his mouth and the next second, their lips collide. Louis' eyes closed and his hand tightens on Harry's neck, an appreciative hum coming out from his throat.

GIRAFFE MANOR, Kenya | When I Run Out of Road by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ historical | 1930s | travel | friends to lovers | fluff | light angst | 24k It's 1932 when Harry Styles sets off on an adventure to the African continent and the most popular new travel destination: Nairobi. He has reservations at the best club in town and plans to stay for a few weeks. What he doesn't expect is to meet and get to know a wonderful family along the way. The Deakins are sponsors of the Royal Ballet, traveling with the company to see them perform in Nairobi for the first time. They take Harry under their wing, treat him like part of their family, and change his life in ways he never imagined.

NEWFOUNDLAND, Canada | Take It To The Limit by taggiecb / @taggiecb || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ fluff | tragedy | minor character death | original character death(s) | angst | grief/mourning | break up | post-break up | emotional hurt/comfort | 35k Louis Tomlinson enjoys the simple life. He has his house, his family, and his friends all in the tiny town of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. When he isn’t spending the winters plowing out the residents and keeping Liam and Niall company at Payne’s pub, he’s out on the open water doing the one thing that he loves the most, fishing. Harry Styles is a traveler. He lands in the tiny town to try to find himself. What he finds instead is a beautiful blue eyed man who seems to have everything figured out. But even a brick house can be damaged by a storm if it’s big enough. Can Louis’ perfect life and their relationship survive the tumult that’s coming?

ANTARCTIC RESEARCH STATION | When the Sun Won't Let You Sleep by allwaswell16 / @allwaswell16 || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ enemies to lovers | light angst | mentions of grief | 30k Four years ago, Louis Tomlinson left the UK to live on an Antarctic research station for reasons best left in the past. He’s carved out a life for himself on the ice and has dedicated himself to his research, his friends, and especially the Halley VI research station. He’s less than thrilled when he learns that Harry Styles, a glaciologist from another base who once broke his heart, will be coming to Halley, and he’s definitely unprepared for the upheaval Harry brings with him. 

MELBOURNE | I Left My Heart In Melbourne by EmmyLouWho || [AO3] ✘ online dating | fluff | 8k Or: only Harry Styles could manage to fall in love using a dating app... without actually using the dating app.

SEA OF STARS, Maldives | No better place than right by your side by velvetnoodle / @velvetnoodle || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ stangers to lovers | fluff | humor | meet-cute | 5k Louis' in the maldives for a friends destination wedding when he meets harry at the reception. they agree to a no-strings-attached hook up: no last names, no phone numbers, no personal info, and no promises. only, the universe has other ideas. aka the one where harry just won't leave louis alone (but he really doesn't mind)

LOS ANGELES, USA | Promise Not to Fall by dimpled_halo / @dimpled-halo || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ canon divergence | friends with benefits | friends to lovers | 1D Hiatus | fluff | pining | long-distance relationship | 38k When One Direction goes on hiatus, Harry and Louis reconnect, becoming the friends they once were during their days in the X Factor. It doesn’t take long for their friendship to evolve into friends with benefits, unable to resist the physical attraction between them. Things get complicated when feelings get in the way.

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, Orlando, USA | You've Got This Spell On Me by lovelarry10 / @chloehl10 || [AO3] || [tumblr post] ✘ Harry Potter setting | getting together | long-distance relationship | 29k Louis has been living in Florida for 3 years now, and loves his job working at Universal Orlando Resort, particularly in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He's on a countdown to finally head home to Doncaster, but the arrival of a curly-haired boy from Holmes Chapel throws Louis' last few weeks in the Sunshine State into complete disarray...

MARRAKESH, Morrocco | Subtle Trouble and The Universal Waves of Love by enigma_scars / @kawaii-yakuza || [AO3] ✘ 15k Harry is a sad and pathetic human who lives on his father's word's. Said father is a rich asshole with no heart and only morals that favour him. Louis is a travel agent whose life was saved from a huge debt because said Harry is a lawyer who works at Louis' friend's firm and said lawyer doesn't like to lose his cases. They meet again almost 4 years later in the middle of Marrakesh. But you just can't be gay in the middle of an Islamic nation. However, confessions are made; emotions are formed and then it's time to leave. Tragic time-line skip. Both realize that what they did was pretty stupid. Harry quits his job to go find Louis. Louis and Harry live together happily ever after. Plus a side of nostalgic other lifetime flashbacks that neither of them knew they lived together. Basically the gay soulmate AU+Marrakesh tourism™.

SCHÖNBRUNN PALACE, Austria |  In you, I see the dreams that I have always longed for by littleshoran / @grumpykitin || [AO3] ✘ royalty | fluff | 5k When Louis' parents find him a suitable wife to rule the country with, he has no idea how to let them know that he would rather not. Everything clears up a bit once the handsome brother comes into the picture.

FORT MYERS, USA | The Finding Sea by angelichl / @angelichl || [AO3] ✘ friends to lovers | pining | light angst | 17k They met at the ocean, in a way. It makes sense for them to fall in love at the ocean too. Harry is in love with his best friend. They go on vacation together.

KLEINFELD’S BRIDAL, NYC,USA | We'll Paint the Town by kotabear24 / @kotabear-24 || [AO3] ✘ Say Yes To The Dress Fusion | famous/ not famous | 4k In which Louis can't flirt, Lottie does all the work, Harry just wants to get her in a damn dress, and Niall is an aggressive affirmer. It ends well for everyone.

CHICAGO, USA | Bright Lights, Windy City by harrygotthebee / @harrygotthebee || [AO3] ✘ strangers to lovers | 8k The one where Harry makes an ass out of himself in front of the cute tour guide and decides to take a chance that could alter his future.

[themagiciansreccenter]

Author Spotlight: @cirquedereve

Every week we interview a writer from The Magicians fandom. If you would like to be interviewed or you want to nominate a writer, get in touch via our ask box.

How long have you been writing for?

I've been writing since I was 6, but working seriously on original stories and fanfiction since I was 15.

What inspired you to start writing for The Magicians?

I was absolutely riveted by the show. It has the familiarity I love from other urban fantasy series, but it was totally unique. Plus, the potential for femslash is through the roof!

Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? What it is about them that makes them your favourite?

Probably Margo, Kady, and Marina. Margo will probably always be my favourite; I always veer towards the women who seem like bad girls on the surface, but have so much hidden depth to them. Plus, even in this day and age, it seems rare to have WOC (especially those who aren't white-passing) at the forefront of a narrative. With Kady and Marina, they have added complexities, and there is always so much they say without words. Plus, all three have THE BEST one liners!

Do you have a preference for a particular season/point in time to write about?

My current piece is set in season 4, and it is one of my favourites, if that counts? But season 3 will always hold a special place in my heart.

Are you working on anything right now? Care to give us an idea about it?

Yes! I am working on what was originally a Battleking one-shot. It's a canon divergence story where Marina suggests an alternative to save Eliot... Getting married.

How long is your “to do list”?

It is down to two things right now! One fic, and one original story. I can't account for how long it will REMAIN at two things, though.

What is your favourite fic that you’ve written for The Magicians? Why?

I've only written the one so far, "It's A Wife Thing". I love it because I'm trying to blend headcanons I've had since season one and the main plot of the fic with the show. It's also the piece that got me out of my years-long writer's block!

Many writers have a fic that they are passionate about that doesn’t get the reception from the fandom that they hoped for. Do you have a fic you would like more people to read and appreciate?

"Just to Bring You Home" by @high-queen-margo! I am an absolute sucker for BattleKing, and the way they write Margo and Kady's dynamic never fails to make me flail happily!

What is your writing process like? Do you have any traditions or superstitions that you like to stick to when you’re writing?

I actually got into this terrible habit a few years ago. I was trying to catch character voices, and ended up using screenplay format to write down all the dialogue and action I thought up, before adding prose. Then I did it again, and again. So now it's my process. Outside of that, I put on different writing playlists, and go to town!

Do you write while the seasons are airing or do you prefer to wait for hiatus? How does the ongoing development of the canon influence and inspire your writing process?

So I made the 'mistake' of starting this when the season was airing. Normally I will only write one-shots while seasons are airing, and multi-chapters during hiatus. I try not to let canon influence my writing process (it's hard, though!), but I am always open for inspiration! The Dewey heist, and the musical ep definitely got me pumped up for writing!

What has been the most challenging fic for you to write?

Probably this one. I have many chapters planned, and scenes written, which makes it feel exhilarating and daunting. I've been trying out new writing habits as well (mainly to keep writing, even if I'm not feeling inspired), which makes it that much harder.

Are there any themes or tropes that you like particularly like to explore in your writing?

Too many! I've discovered I'm a massive fan of Meet the Parents, which is something to look forward to. I'm also really big on saying the things that would normally be left unsaid, if that makes any sense.

Are there any writers that inspire your work? Fanfiction or otherwise?

NK Jemisin, and Libba Bray for SURE! And as a QWOC, of course Malinda Lo.

What are you currently reading? Fanfiction or otherwise?

I'm reading basically anything in the femslash tag for the Magicians on AO3. I'm also rereading Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, which features some incredible worldbuilding!

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

"Just write". I know it's a stereotype, but sometimes that is all you can do. Even if it is a paragraph, or sentence, or even a word. Just write something. That's more than you had.

Are there any words or phrases you worry about over using in your work?

I tend to text very formally, and without contractions, and I sometimes forget that they're used ALL THE TIME. It can take away from the character voice, and that worries me a lot. Also, things like "definitely", or "just" show up in my writing a lot, so I do my best to catch them.

What was the first fanfic that you wrote? Do you still have access to it?

Publicly? Something for The O.C, I think. I was really into Alex/Marissa I could probably find it if I looked hard enough, but I don't use that account anymore.

Rapidfire Round!

Self-edit or Beta?

Beta, all the way!

Comments or Kudos/Reblogs or Likes?

Ideally, comments, but i love getting kudos emails, too. They make me so happy.

Smut, Fluff or Angst?

Fluff! I am a sucker for all the sweetness

Quick & Dirty or Slow Burn?

It depends on my mood, i guess. Usually slow burn?

Favourite Season?

Season Three

Favourite Episode?

4x10- All That Hard, Glossy Armour

Favourite Book?

The Magicians Land

Three favourite words?

Shitticket, douchecanoe, and amazing

Want to be interviewed for our author spotlight? Get in touch here.

[mittensmorgul]

Hey mittens! I have a new friend on tumblr who is struggling. She wants to be a writer but her fics aren't being seen. She's frustrated. She wants to give up. I've given her the best advice I can give. I'm a small blog but I keep writing all the time. Trying to give her advice, but not sure what else I can do. She's in her mid twenties, lives at home, doesn't have a job or a car but desperately wants to. She's stuck and needs help. What else can I do and what advice would you give? Thank you!

Heck, I have no idea. D:

Write good? >.>

(haaaaa three hours after I started typing this, with the intent of replying privately, I’ve officially invested too much time in it not to post it… under a cut for length, and because I have officially run out of mental energy and real-world time for dealing with it for today…)

I mean, I see advice all the time on how to get seen/noticed around here, and half the advice conflicts with the other half. It’s hard to even guess what worked for anyone sometimes.

There’s networks she could join (I have no idea how networks work, and I’ve been here nine years, so someone who actually uses networks would probably be better to ask about how to do that, but I do know that the point of them is for a group of people to see/reblog member works, so that might help her get noticed).

There’s also things like Profound Bond and Writers of Destiel. These are discord groups, but they both have a tumblr presence (especially @profoundnet which she could look into.) They run challenges, have a really vibrant community over on discord with hundreds of members, and regularly reblog member works on tumblr.

Plus, making friends, working with beta readers or other writing partners will help find new friends and followers who will help spread her works, too. Volunteering to beta read when a “bigger” writer puts out a call can also help– not only in building friendships with other authors but also gaining experience with writing as well as editing.

Interacting with other authors on tumblr, reblogging their work and commenting– even if it’s just “OH GOSH I LOVE THIS” kind of stuff– ESPECIALLY with other “smaller writers” and thereby spreading the word around about each other’s writing will help grow up a community around all of you.

None of us started out popular, you know? And “popularity” is definitely a relevant term. When I started writing fic, I lucked into a situation that I attempted to recreate with the Christmas collaboration thingy I ran, but ouch that proved to be way more work than I really had the time or energy for. I’d be happy to help others run that type of collab and offer advice, but heck if I’ll ever do one myself again. :P

A lot of fic challenges are a good way for new writers to get noticed, too. There’s a TON of challenges out there. Now, something like the DCBB or one of the other larger and more established challenges might not be the easiest place for a newbie writer to cut their teeth. There is A LOT that goes into challenges that newbies are just not prepared for (rules, deadlines, etc., because knowing how to write, edit, and post on a concrete deadline where others are relying on you to know what you’re doing without needing an undue amount of help from the mods isn’t something you want to learn on the fly in a high-pressure situation like that… there’s an assumption when signing up for something like the DCBB or the Pinefest that in doing so, a writer is CERTAIN that their skills– including TIME MANAGEMENT and the ability to collaborate with an artist and follow all the rules (YES, ALL OF THE RULES) and meet every deadline– are up to the task.

So, that said, I’d highly recommend some of the other smaller, more laid-back fandom challenges. There’s new ones popping up all the time, and a lot of them are geared toward specific types of fic (canon fic, certain tropes, etc.), so there’s a built-in audience for their work. Not to mention that in smaller challenges there’s actually more room for exposure, and not having your work drowned in a flood of hundreds of other long works, potentially many of them by already established authors, coming out in the same time period. Readers are literally spoiled for choice in those situations, and an “untested” author posting a 20k+ fic might fall by the wayside while “guaranteed thing” authors works get more attention, you know? Readers have a limited amount of time they can commit to reading, and with SO many choices available, are actually more likely go for the “tried and true” author they’re already familiar with before investing in an unknown author. Profound Bond is just starting the @casdeanflipfest, for example, with a smaller wordcount minimum, and therefore a more reasonable length work for readers to take a risk on an author they’re not familiar with. I might not have time, as a reader, to invest in every 60k fic that crosses my dash, but I will drop everything to read a 5k fic for half an hour, you know?

There’s also event-specific tags that offer opportunities to be seen by a wider audience. For example, for the last few days, the DCBB folks have been encouraging folks to tag Valentine’s Day themed works #dcvday. This is a very laid-back and casual way to put your works out to an audience who’s looking for exactly that type of thing, you know? Other situation-specific tags like this happen frequently (like Dean’s birthday fic, or the Destiel Anniversary fic, or holiday fic, for example).

There’s also fic collections. For example, right now the @destieltropecollection is collecting fics for this year’s lists: http://destieltropecollection.tumblr.com/post/182800717844/destieltropecollection-destiel-trope-collection. If you have fic that fits into any of these tropes, fill out the form and submit them to be added to the masterpost. They’ll be posted in May, a different trope’s list each day. People looking for that specific trope will have a handy list, and you can reach a whole new audience that way. :)

Take writing prompts, if that’s something you’re comfortable doing. People with cute lil fic ideas will LOVE you for fleshing out their ideas and turning them into something beautiful. Or GIVE writing prompts to other authors who accept them. You never know what sort of creative collaboration that might spark. If you have a fic idea based on someone’s post, by all means TALK TO THAT PERSON! Express your excitement about their idea, ask if it’s okay to turn their little headcanon or writing prompt into a longer fic, and I can almost guarantee that the original poster will be THRILLED.

Take fan art as writing prompts, as well! As much as authors Die Of Squee if an artist is inspired to draw something from one of our fics, ARTISTS ARE EQUALLY FILLED WITH SQUEE if you’re inspired to write fic based on their art. Just, if you do this, please please PLEASE actually communicate privately with the author or artist in question before you do anything with it. Make it clear you’re writing out of love for their thing, and not in a selfish grab for attention, you know? Otherwise it feels a little too much like stealing. It’s a fine line, but it’s all a matter of perception to everyone involved. That communication and collaboration is key.

That said, I think 99% of it all is pure luck. But because of that first challenge I did, the next fic I posted was (miraculously!) reviewed by destielfanfic, which I don’t think is the sort of exposure most authors get on their first long fic… This was also early 2015, when there was a sort of Boom Market for fic, and I don’t even think the atmosphere for fandom is still exactly the same, you know? It feels a lot more decentralized, and a lot of the “big writers” from back then have left the fandom entirely, or else don’t write much at all anymore.

But fandom is a cyclical thing like that. People come and go, popularity rises and falls. I think my best advice is to develop friendships with people who are in that same general region of that arc as you are, you know? Build a community, support each other.

I see bitter posts all the time about how “popular” people don’t want to support newcomers, and “elite cliques” of folks are conspiring to hold on to their popularity by keeping others down, and that’s just bullshit. The little group of people I generally hang in tumblr circles with have been my friends for years, at this point. Most of us are kinda stunned that we’re all still around, you know? We all showed up around the same time, and went through these sorts of struggles together. We’re still here, and most of us recognize that we’re only considered “popular” at all by attrition. We survived while other folks rage-quit the show or the fandom. I know that’s not a particularly encouraging-sounding bit of advice, but that’s literally how the vast majority of us got recognized. We just… didn’t quit.

I was blogging on this dumb site for four years before anyone really started to notice me. (and I still know that the perception of my personal popularity FAR outweighs my actual popularity, you know? I’m not one of the elite 1% of writers around here, and I know it, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t post long fic serially, and that shows in my total hit counts on AO3. Serial posting artificially inflates hit counts, and keeps works at the top of the results page week after week, and I’d personally just rather post a complete fic to stand on its own. But that’s a dilemma for another post.) Then again, I started out mostly reading meta and squealing about the show, occasionally commenting, asking questions, or adding my thoughts to posts. I learned the lay of the land, so to speak (who was receptive to these sorts of additions and conversations starting on their posts and who wasn’t, and the social conventions surrounding it all), while lurking and not even really trying to get noticed. I made friends with people before I ever started writing fic.

(but I also have a background in original fiction writing, so I already knew quite a lot about author culture in general, and had a lot of experience writing myself before I started to write fic, which likely helped me personally quite a bit. I was able to jump into writing chat groups and had a bit of writing cred even before I published a single fic, because I’d been writing original novels and had already cultivated a group of “Professional Author Friends,” participated in writing critique groups (which comprise Alpha and Beta Reading in fanfic writing circles), and therefore knew how those social circles functioned, you know? I mean, some of the authors from my “Professional Author Friends” circle, who I’ve been friendly with for more than a decade now, have gone on to Big Things in Publishing. And clearly I never did… aah health crises that knocked me off that train. But I realized I’m happier writing fic, without all the pressures that come from professional publishing, so I still consider it a personal win. But I was able to take a lot of that knowledge and experience with networking and building communities with me and transfer it to fandom, so I know my experience is not everyone’s experience.)

I think the main key thing is to create that sort of community. A lot of new writers go directly to the perceived “most popular” authors in fandom, as if they somehow held the key to understanding how to become more popular, or expecting the “popular” bloggers to “pay it forward” and give them a hand up (whether it be through asking questions or reblogging their fic posts, beta reading for them or whatever it may be). But even there, there’s a limit to pretty much everyone’s time, in a real-life sort of fashion. The more popular or widespread an author’s works become, the more up and coming writers will also see their work, and I get how people want to hitch themselves to that, you know?

Not to mention, most of us are entirely baffled by being thought of as popular writers. And again, I’m still sort of on the fringe of that kind of Big Fandom Popularity myself, and still kinda baffled as to how I got here.

But we’re all just people, with limited amounts of time to engage with other people, and a limited number of spoons in our respective drawers for social engagement. I do TRY to do what I can, but between beta reading for my already-established writing buddies (which I still only have limited time for, I AM SO SORRY ELMIE I SEE THE THINGS AND WANT TO READ THE THINGS BUT I CAAAAAAAN’T AND I’M MAD ABOUT IT OKAY?!), and still want to engage with current canon and write and read meta about it, and still want to actually write my own fic, not to mention helping to run the Pinefest (even though Cass does the bulk of the behind the scenes work, I take on a lot of the day to day general upkeep of it all) and still have to engage with reality and my human family that I live with and like… pay my bills and cook dinner and all that boring shit, not to mention coping with those chronic illnesses that knocked me off the Professional Paid Writer train in the first place… it’s not easy to balance out, you know?

It’s not so much a function of “I got mine, so screw you.” I just needed to make that clear, since I’ve seen that sentiment bandied about recently (again), and it’s just insulting. I think the main takeaway here is that Fandom is a Baffling Ordeal, and the key to winning in any way is to build up a community around yourself. If you want to achieve success as a writer, push yourself to write better. Find people you trust to beta read for you. And maybe most importantly, never “promote” your own work with negativity.

I see way too many writers who add notes to their work like, “ugh this is probably terrible.” Just… never do that. Have confidence in yourself, love your own writing, or at least present it with enthusiasm, if you ever expect anyone else to take that risk and read your words, you know?

So really? It boils down to perseverance, networking, and putting in the work to become the best writer you can, with no small portion of sheer luck. There’s no secret magical formula to success, aside from building a community that makes you happy. I’ve discovered that people are really attracted to happiness and positive energy, you know?

Heck I’m worn out just from spending five hours on this post now, in between Real Life Adulting I needed to take care of for an hour. I hope it all makes sense, but I’m gonna go surf my dash for a while and hopefully recover enough brain power to do the rest of the stuff I need to today D:

[doedipus]

I finally finished moyashimon

it’s honestly one of my favorite anime/manga that I’ve read in a long, long time. there are definitely some aspects of the work that frustrate me, but it’s not quite enough to sour the work as a whole in my eyes. if you’re in the mood for a really chill slice of life series with a lot of well-developed and respectfully portrayed female and queer characters, definitely give it a shot.

first of all, to anyone who’s only seen the anime adaptation, definitely, definitely, definitely look into the manga. some of the best parts in the series happen after the anime ends, esp. the craft beer adventure in volume 8 and american road trip in volume 10. plus, if you’re like me and are mostly drawn to the work because of kei, her involvement in the story only starts ramping up immediately after the anime ends, and she’s essentially the main character of the last 3 volumes. Plus, ishikawa and his team have a lot of fun with the medium that doesn’t always translate into animation.

All in all, picking up the manga is 100% worth your time if you’re even vaguely intrigued by the premise

more detailed thoughts and a handful of good reaction images under the break

I think overall the beer, france, and america arcs are the high points of the series.

The beer arc sticks out to me mostly because of stuff happening in real life during the time I was reading it. Basically, some of my friends talked me into taking a beer tasting class at uni with them. I’d never really liked beer very much beforehand, but it turns out I was just drinking the wrong kinds of beer. I’ll put my life on the line for a good IPA now that I know what that even is.

The beer section of moyashimon has mutou go through a similar process- she starts out by going on a huge tirade about how craft beer sucks and it’s only appealing to pretentious weirdos, and then over the course of the volume, they go over what different kinds of beer are like, how they’re made, etc. It ended up giving me a good idea of what to look out for in the beer class, and it was fun being able to compare what I was sampling to what the fermentation lab crew talked about.

There’s also a pretty cute gender-affirming moment for kei in there, where the gang gives her a women’s costume for the faux oktoberfest celebration the book culminates in. it’s a small plot point, but I liked it a lot.

The france and america arcs are pretty similar and I like them for basically the same reasons. Essentially it boils down to them tying really dynamic plotlines in with the usual culinary intrigue. There��s a real sense of tension to what’s happening in the story, and the food stuff is more directly related to what’s happening in the story than it usually is. In a lot of the other plotlines, the writers have a tendency to frontload all the technical stuff into one or two extended dialogue scenes, which can be kind of hard to get through in comparison

I also found ishikawa’s assessment of american food pretty fun to read through, and a lot of his comments make me want to try out some western restaurants in japan if I ever end up going there. For instance, he has the characters talk a lot about how burgers and stuff are much sweeter than they’re used to them being in japan, and it’d be neat to have a point of comparison for that.

Also the america arc is where kei and marie probably do gay things, which I am very down for

ultimately, I think upwards of 90% of people who stumble upon this series now, 5 years after the last chapter and last episode were released, are here specifically for kei. she’s the strong bad to sawaki’s homestar: you might not know it yet, but she’s the reason you’re here. if you’re impatient and wanna speedrun straight to the part where she transitions/goes full time/whatever, it’s halfway through volume 4 of the manga and episode 10 of the first season of anime. there’s a lot of fun plotlines that happen before that point that really deserve attention on their own merit, though.

I’m a big fan of kei’s characterization. she’s possibly my favorite trans (or trans-adjacent josou danshi, post-colonialism ho!) character I can think of, and certainly the best I’ve seen written by a cis author. being manga, there’s some dumb missteps that happen, but they seem to be mostly a result of the creators not knowing better rather than them just putting her in to gawk at like a lot of other creative teams tend to do. plus, I think a lot of it boils down to localization error. for instance, the scanslation I read consistently has characters and margin notes refer to her as “he,” but like, japanese doesn’t really use gendered language the way english does, so it’s more representative of the scan team’s biases than the writers’.

One of the things I really like about Kei’s depiction is that the author doesn’t try to make excuses for her behavior. There’s no throwaway line in her backstory about how her parents saw three crows and a capybara on the way home from the hospital and decided to raise her as a girl. She’s clearly attracted to Sawaki, but that’s never framed as her primary motive for transition. She just flatly explains that she thought about it real hard and decided that this was best for her. To me, that’s a much more compelling narrative than one where it’s something either foisted upon the character or something they just sort of haphazardly stumble into.

Another thing that sticks out to me about Kei is that she exists in a series that doesn’t construct its cast as a harem around a singular main character or the reader, which gives her much more room for personal motivations and interests. Like, even though I love Luka from steins;gate to pieces, she and the rest of the female cast in that series really only exist in order to be Okabe’s, and by extension, the viewers’ romantic interests. This ends up sort of limiting their ability for character growth because at the end of the day, they all have to remain available and receptive to Okabe’s advances. As a result, Luka can never really call Okabe out for mistreating her because the writers won’t risk making her route or subplot unappealing. The same goes for plenty of other series trans characters find themselves in, and it shows. So many of them are either smug tricksters there to tease viewers or utterly submissive waifs, and often lack development beyond what’s necessary to get otaku motors running.

Since Moyashimon doesn’t use that kind of restrictive casting structure, the author is able to untie Kei’s sense of self-worth from how Sawaki feels about her and allow the romance subplot to take a back seat while the cast works on their various projects. As a result, she ends up being more independent than most other trans characters and her self-confidence is more genuine. She’s designed from the ground up to be a more complete character, and it makes her inclusion in the main story as well as her subplot with Sawaki feel organic.

on the other hand, as punlich​ pointed out in their post, the series does take a couple passes at introducing characters that seem to be designed with the intent of giving the reader an outlet to vent their sexual frustration around kei, particularly marie and madoka. the former is frequently referenced within the work as being a cis palette swap of kei, and madoka is another of itsuki’s proteges who begins insisting that she’s going to marry sawaki shortly after she’s introduced and receives little characterization beyond that. Marie ends up being a strong character in her own right, but the work probably would’ve been better off if they’d given her basically any other design.

at least in my reading of the work, neither is really taken seriously as a preferable alternative pairing to kei/sawaki, since marie ends up being more into kei than sawaki in the end, and madoka just makes sawaki uncomfortable more often than not. it’s a clear step up from works like steins;gate, re:zero, blend-s, or oregairu, where the trans or GNC character is the one who’s never taken seriously to the point of being a joke inclusion more than anything. still, it’s irritating that the creators would feel the need to include that sort of character, given how they’re usually pretty good about not harem-izing their cast.

uh, and speaking of that, fuck most of volume 11. the central plotline for that section is that the school holds a beauty pageant for the cast, which is, uh, wildly out of character for the series to say the least. it’s to the point where I’m inclined to suspect some form of executive meddling. like maybe they were gonna get dropped due to lack of readership and the brass told the creative team to do a dumb fanservice arc or something. they talk in a sidebar about how they changed editors around the start of this arc, so I have a hunch that has something to do with it?  I guess only they would know, though. it’s not like I can read any interviews or anything lol.

there’s still good content in there, and like I mentioned earlier, it’s when kei starts to really dominate a lot of the screen time, which is a big plus. it’s just dumb and out of place.

I also kind of found the conclusion to kei and sawaki’s “will they, won’t they” subplot really unfulfilling. namely, there really isn’t a conclusion to it at all. at the end, it’s clear that kei’s finally become comfortable with her attraction to sawaki, but sawaki is still kinda hesitant about going anywhere serious with someone he’s been friends with since forever. and like, I can get that, it’s sort of a natural aspect of where that arc would have to go, it’s just a frustrating note to end on. it seems likely that they would get together in the future, at least. (and that’s why you should read my fanfics!)

One thing I really liked about the ending section is sawaki comes up with some proactive uses for his superpower. for most of the series, it’s just a vehicle for ishikawa to exposit about his fascination with microbiology and fermented cuisine, which works great with the lower-key tone the series went for. still, the ways he uses it at the end are pretty clever, and it would’ve been neat to see him go on to use it in other ways. It’s frustrating that one of the uses he comes up with involves doing mouth-to-mouth with madoka, however.

I kind of get the feeling that the series got cut short because a lot of plot threads get addressed and tied up really quickly and sloppily in the last four or five chapters, while a ton of others just sit there. idk if it was a popularity thing, or if ishikawa decided to go all-in on maria the virgin witch, or some other factor, but I guess that’s kind of the nature of serial fiction. it just goes on as long as the creators and publishers are engaged with it, and then it’s over and they all move onto something else.

I’m being pretty hard on the ending portions of the series, but honestly pretty much everything not directly related to the beauty pageant or madoka is really solid. I’m just laying it all out there so nobody gets caught off-guard by the jankiness more than anything.

For one reason or another, moyashimon really struck a chord with me, and it’s kind of hard to put into words why. A big part of it is that kei is a character that I feel a sort of kinship with, which is a rare occurrence as a trans person. She feels like a real person that I’d meet through a message board or discord lobby. The rest of the cast has shades of that as well- the students feel like people I could have met in school, and itsuki harkens back to aspects of professors I’ve had, from his weird sense of humor to his rather alarming past working for the military. It’s easy for me to subconsciously insert myself into their fictional friend group. I guess it’s kind of like how people tend to engage with redlettermedia or ensemble let’s play channels like game grumps or super best friends play. Reading about the gang’s antics confers a sense of belonging that I’m perpetually starving for.

Another aspect of it is that it’s just fun to indulge in someone else’s hyperfixations for a while. It’s why sci-fi authors like heinlein and crichton are so influential, and why internet personalities like cgp grey or jon bois are so engaging: they’re really adept at articulating how utterly captivating some concept or ideology is to them at the moment. Somewhere between most and all of what ishikawa has to say about food and microbiology goes directly over my head, but the passion he has for those topics is readily apparent in every jargon-infested, chart-saturated debate he has his characters get into, and I love it. In that sidebar he goes on about his relationship to his editors, he mentions that the top boy editor chewed him out a couple times for basically trying to sneak a textbook into the magazine. It ends up being compelling based on passion alone, even if I only really internalized a fifth of what he actually had to say.

Is moyashimon for you? Ultimately I don’t think it’s really for anyone besides ishikawa himself. But if you’re at all like me, chances are you’ll fall in love with this bizarre and charming edutainment series anyway. If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I can’t recommend checking it out highly enough.

[architectnews]

TechnipFMC Office, Krakow

TechnipFMC Office, Krakow Work Place, Southern Polish Interior Architecture Photos

TechnipFMC Office in Krakow

24 Feb 2021

TechnipFMC Office

Architecture: The Design Group

Location: Krakow, southern Poland

TechnipFMC Office – technical space for an engineer The new TechnipFMC office takes us to the world of water stories. It influences emotions and imagination in such a way, that it is really hard to give up thinking about this unique place. How was it possible to create such a space on the four floors of the Krakow office building, that reflects the ambience of the underwater depth and sea associated with the TechnipFMC profession? This is what we ask the authors of the interior design, The Design Group and the TechnipFMC project team.

Krakow – development Eldorado Recently, the capital of Małopolska has been called a development Eldorado. And it is not only about residential buildings popping up like mushrooms, but also about modern office space. A new place of this type on the map of Krakow is the Podium Park complex, commissioned in 2020, which has BREEAM certificates at the highest possible level – Outstanding. It is undoubtedly one of the most modern and ecological office building projects in Poland. It is the complex of three interconnected 11-storey buildings with a total leasable area of over 50 thousand. sq.m. It is in one of the towers of Podium Park that the four floors of TechnipFMC office are located.

Underwater and on the surface The main design idea of the office is closely related to the activities of TechnipFMC. It is a concern with global reach, providing technological solutions for the energy industry, specializing in innovative solutions of oil and natural gas extraction. It works in both offshore, onshore and above-water projects.

The client expected that the appearance of the new office should, on the one hand, refer to the architecture of other headquarters of the concern, and on the other hand, stand out from the rest.

– Bearing in mind this client’s need, we decided that the design office would refer to what TechnipFMC does, i.e. designing machinery for oil and gas extraction from the seabed. Therefore, we have designated four levels: the first floor is the underwater space, the second is the water level, the third and fourth floors are decks of watercrafts used in marine operations. Our client liked our concept very much – explains arch. Konrad Krusiewicz, founder of The Design Group.

– TechnipFMC is a world leader in energy projects, technologies, systems and services, in addition, we provide our clients with deep expertise in subsea and surface projects. We are the leader of change and we believe in innovations – explain Agnieszka Radomska-Przedlacka and Dariusz Włodarczyk from the client’s project team. – The new office in Podium Park, apart from ergonomic aspects and a new space for employees, contains many details that refer to our installations, tools, materials and the way engineers work. We would call it such “flavors” that are noticed by our employees from Krakow, but also from global projects located in different parts of the world, where TechnipFMC operates – they add.

Technically and roughly The main task of The Design Group architects, in line with the client’s assumptions, was to show the elements characteristic for TechnipFMC’s activities. It is technically and rough here – such space was required by the client who wanted to create a place that not only tells a lot about the company itself, but also favors the strict minds of the engineers working here. The most prominent feature is recreating the climate of TechnipFMC floating equipment – we have here uncovered installations and cabling, industrial lamps, trusses, containers and yellow technical barriers. There is also piping running along the internal facade of the building in the void zone, from the second to the fourth floor. Another interesting solution is covering the walls with painted trapezoidal metal sheet, or spreading expanded metal on the ceilings. In the space of the Krakow office, there is also a real recycled container door.

Functional arrangement The TechnipFMC office in Krakow has several unique solutions created especially by architects from The Design Group. Among them it is definitely worth mentioning the so-called void, i.e. a free space integrating floors 2, 3 and 4 and connected by glazing with floor 1. This original TDG idea allows you to look from the first floor to the other levels of the office, almost as we can observe the world while under water. The void zone is also a symbolic integration of all teams working on each floor, where open spaces, collabs and rooms are located. In the previous location, this connection was impossible, so the client was very anxious to ensure that all employees in the new office had a sense of consolidation.

The first floor of the office, i.e. the underwater level, is a collab area designed for collaborative work. It was maintained in navy blue, and the sand-coloured carpeting refers to the seabed. The walls are finished with a special light diffusing structure – to give the most of the underwater nature of the world. The shape of the seats proposed by The Design Group (especially for this zone) resembles the underwater installations produced by TechnipFMC.

The second floor (water surface) has representative functions. This is where the reception desk and event space dedicated to, among others, town hall meetings are located.

– The event space consists of four conference rooms equipped with mobile walls that allow any arrangement of this place and a small warm up and cool down zone. According to research by Herman Miller, this division is useful for both personality types: extroverts and introverts. Depending on their predispositions, they can conduct small talks over coffee at a convenient time, e.g. just before or after a conference or training – says architect Marta Konarska from The Design Group, responsible for the concept of TechnipFMC.

In brand colors The Design Group designers also had to face the challenge of including the TechnipFMC brand colors in the design of the office.

– On each floor of the office (except the first one) there is a kitchen and a coffee point with a different color of the ceiling – blue, red and purple. They refer to the brand colors of TechnipFMC – says Martyna Bosek, architect of The Design Group, who is part of the design team for the implementation of the TechnipFMC office.

Red, blue and purple, which dominate the company’s logotype, have been supplemented with raw concrete resin. It can be found on the floor and walls in the reception and event area. The element warming the arrangement is a wood-like laminate used on the walls in offices. However, there are many more references to the characteristic TechnipFMC logo here. They are present in various details of the interior design of the office, which clearly reflect the unique dynamics of the triangle, e.g. in glazing under an angle or selected furniture.

The next levels of the office are characterized by different brand colors of the trapezoidal metal sheet, which is the core of each space. In offices, meeting rooms and work rooms, the ceiling is decorated with expanded metal modules painted black, under which installations and mineral wool also in the same color are attached. Therefore, closed offices meet the acoustic requirements. In addition, this solution is aesthetically interesting because there is an impression of space between the mesh and the ceiling.

Special solutions The already mentioned unique arrangement solution located in the Void zone is an installation made of small glass balls, designed by Dariusz Włodarczyk in cooperation with Plus Lighting. It represents the so-called Subsea Tree, the company’s flag product, which is deposited on the seabed, used to control the extraction of the raw material. This installation crosses the office floors and is clearly visible from the mezzanine of each floor and through the glass ceiling / floor between floors 1 and 2.

– We had the pleasure to participate in an extraordinary project, where we delivered several thousand balls made according to an individual pattern made of blown glass. For each of them, we have planned its place for nearly 1000 pieces of lines suspended from the previously prepared structure. Each line is topped with a brass ball for stiffness and perfect representation of the installation. The whole thing was illuminated with framing spotlights so that the light brings out the depth of this project – explains Michał Paduch from Plus Lighting.

Noteworthy are also solutions that reduce the negative impact on the environment, such as LED lighting, installation of filtering and water heating systems in taps, collective containers for waste segregation, high energy household appliances, increased number of plants or ecological hygiene measures.

Due to the size (approx. 65875sqft) and different space requirements of TechnipFMC employees, the project was very complex and demanding. The end result is an office tailored to the client’s needs. It is the place where employees can enjoy suitable working conditions and inspire with its outstanding arrangement values.

TechnipFMC office in Krakow – Building Information

Design Team: The Design Group

Client: Technipfmc Size Approx: 65875sqft Year: 2021 Location: Krakow, Poland Industry: Oil&energy

Photos: The Design Group, Fotomohito

TechnipFMC office, Krakow images / information received 240221

Address: Warsaw, Poland

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Comments / photos for the Visma Software Office Krakow page welcome

Website: Warsaw

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[themagiciansreccenter]

Author Spotlight: @minister-for-femslash

Every week we interview a writer from The Magicians fandom. If you would like to be interviewed or you want to nominate a writer, get in touch via our ask box.

First things first, tell us a little about yourself.

Hi I'm Minister-for-Femslash, also known as Mini. I grew up on a tiny island that nobody's ever heard of and I now live in a tiny village that nobody's ever heard of. I'm an aspiring writer who probably watches too much television.

How long have you been writing for?

I've been writing since I was about fourteen.

What inspired you to start writing for The Magicians?

For me, it was the small, subtle moments. Those moments that don't command the viewers attention but just exist. Those pieces of dialogue that reveal so much about the characters, who they are and how they feel in a way that just makes me want to pick that moment apart, analyse it to death and then build an idea around it.

Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? What it is about them that makes them your favourite?

Right now, I love writing for Penny-23. His use of the term “soulmates” to refer to Julia is so fascinating that it just makes me want to explore everything about him and what happened in his timeline, what made him use that term and what he feels when he looks at Julia-40, because it must be so hard to look at the face of the woman he loves and know that it's not her.

Do you have a preference for a particular season/point in time to write about?

I just tend to keep up with the show, to be honest. Wherever the show is, is usually the time period I'm writing for.

Are you working on anything right now? Care to give us an idea about it?

I always have something brewing, but right now, I have some personal deadlines I've been neglecting that I need to get finished, so fics are on the back burner. There is a Kady/Penny/Julia piece I've been wanting to write for a while, so hopefully I'll be able to get to that soon. I also have an Alice/Julia piece that's half finished but I'm really not happy with how it's working right now. Maybe in a few weeks I'll go back to it and try again.

How long is your “to do list”?

Too long.

What is your favourite fic that you’ve written for The Magicians? Why?

So It Turns Out You're Not My Soulmate is probably my best fic, but my personal favourite is the sequel You Love Me So Much You Did It Twice. I just had so much fun coming up with the little plot twists, finding ways to include characters like Humbledrum, Rafe and Abigail, and Bayler, as well as exploring different dynamics and relationships that we don't see much of on the show like Alice/Fen, or Julia/Margo. Plus, multiple Julias, that's always a good time.

Many writers have a fic that they are passionate about that doesn’t get the reception from the fandom that they hoped for. Do you have a fic you would like more people to read and appreciate?

I mostly write for myself, my fics are usually the stuff that I want to read. So as long as I'm happy with a piece I tend to treat other people liking it as a bonus. But if I had to give an answer it would be You Love Me So Much You Did It Twice simply because, even though I loved every minute of writing it, it was just so time consuming and it did kind of take over my life, for a little bit at least.

What is your writing process like? Do you have any traditions or superstitions that you like to stick to when you’re writing?

It's a little slap dash. If a thought or an idea strikes me, I'll just go ahead and write it, which means a lot of the time I have lots of small scenes or moments that I then have to find a way to slot together into something cohesive. But I do write everyday, which is something.

Do you write while the seasons are airing or do you prefer to wait for hiatus? How does the ongoing development of the canon influence and inspire your writing process?

I do write while the seasons are airing, and because my fics tend to follow the plot of the show, canon has a huge influence on then. Each new episode brings a flood of new ideas.

What has been the most challenging fic for you to write?

I Just Want To Feel Warm Again. There was just one particular moment that I could not figure out how to make work, no matter how many times I tried.

Are there any themes or tropes that you like particularly like to explore in your writing?

Every since the show brought them up, I've been really fascinated by the other timelines and the consequences of Jane's interference on the group's dynamics/relationships.

Are there any writers that inspire your work? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Joss Whedon was a big influence on me as a teenager, but now there are too many brilliant authors/writers to list them all.

What are you currently reading? Fanfiction or otherwise?

It Should Have Been Me by Susan Wilkins, but I've almost finished so I'll probably be starting No Tomorrow, the second in the Killing Eve series soon.

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

It can be fixed in editing, so get your first draft finished then work it out.

Are there any words or phrases you worry about over using in your work?

I definitely overuse the phrase, “and again, and again.” Also “after a moment”/”a moment later.” You'll find those phrases littered through my fics.

What was the first fanfic that you wrote? Do you still have access to it?

It was a Naomi/Emily from Skins fic, and no I don't have access to it, which is probably a good thing. It really wasn't very good. I can however still remember a lot of it and I cringe.

Self-edit or Beta?

I self-edit, although I should probably get myself a beta.

Comments or Kudos/Reblogs or Likes?

Comments. Nothing makes me happier than reading why people like a particular fic. They also make me want to write more.

Smut, Fluff or Angst?

Angst. Definitely angst.

Quick & Dirty or Slow Burn?

Quick and Dirty

Favourite season?

Season Three

Favourite Episode?

Twenty Three. I've watched this episodes more times than I can count. It's just brilliant.

Favourite book?

The Magician King

Three favourite words?

Bish, bash, bosh. Said in that order.

Want to be interviewed for our author spotlight? Get in touch here.