#renata would have been PERFECT

[time2commitbastardlyactions]

So Renata didn't get a Coven skin, but Akali got TWO??

If Renata was never going to get one, then I can accept that, but Akali is just such a weird decision...

[volterran-wine]

𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢 || Summer Edition

Greetings humans, once more Nathalie our darling human helper has requested us to answer even more questions. You mortals truly have a whole lot of burning inquries do you not? Well, this time we have established some rules after previous... incidents.

I have been told to inform you all to pick and choose from these emoji's below and send them to the inbox, we shall answer accordingly. Some of them are rather scandalous, all the more fun in my eyes!

And of course, we will gladly char a little bit with all of you as well, Nathalie does not make all the rules around here.

― 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐴𝑟𝑜

💢 - What emotion is the hardest for you to deal with?

💃🏻 - At a party, where would we find you?

🍓 - Do you believe in anything? Religious or otherwise.

🍷 - Do you drink alcohol, and if you do, how much and how often?

🦩 - What is your song of the summer?

☎️ - Do you collect anything?

🧧 - How good are you with money?

💧 - When was the last time you cried?

🫗 - What would you want to be remembered for?

💀 - What kind of sense of humour do you have, if any?

🐈 - Have you ever had a pet?

🏛️ - Best memory with the Volturi?

❤️ - Who is the most important person to you? To what lengths would you go to protect this person?

💋 - Are you a good kisser?

👠 - How do you prefer to dress besides the uniform?

🎒 - What items do you always carry?

🖤 - How do you react to/deal with betrayal?

🌄 - Sunrise or sunset?

🎈 - What is your greatest accomplishment?

🌹 - What kind of personalities do you find attractive?

🩸 - If you knew you were going to die, what would you do/say?

🚨 - Do you have any bad habits?

❗️ - Are you more messy or more organized?

🐞 - What does a perfect day look like for you? What do you do? Who do you see?

💔 - How do you feel about The Cullens?

😡 - Do you hate any vampires?

🏃🏻 - Would you ever leave The Volturi?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠;

Aro ― Caius ― Marcus ― Sulpicia ― Athenodora ― Demetri ― Felix ― Heidi ― Corin ― Afton ― Santiago ― Chelsea ― Renata ― Jane ― Alec ― Eleazar (New)

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬:

You all may request three characters at the most, and only three Emoji's at the same time.

― 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝑁𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑒

[aylinvail]

"On Guisorn, you are not considered to be honorable unless you have been to jail."

Name: Renata Azucena Elizondo Luzuriega a.k.a Rana von Valancius

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 42

Origin: Commissar

Homeworld: Talavera/Guisorn III

Archetype(s): Arch Militant

Backstory: Born as the third daughter of a prominent family in Talavera, Renata Azucena grew up in relative comfort in the sierras of her home planet. Rana was raised with all the trappings of noble life and learned to shoot, dance, and write from her politician parents. In her mid-teens, she was sent to Guisorn (the capital planet of the system) to finish her schooling. Rana’s parents fully intended for their daughter to go through 40k law school and come back ready to go into politics and they got what they wanted… just not in the way they wanted. On Guisorn, Rana becomes fast friends with other sons and daughters of prominent families throughout the Guisorn system (Salazar VI, etc.) who all feel alienated by the fact that Guisorn’s natives treat them like second-class citizens. In the libraries, cathedrals, and recaf shops of Guisorn, the sons and daughters of Guisorn’s colonies start getting fancy ideas about becoming direct subjects of the Imperium instead of being poorly governed through Guisorn. Rana and the rest of the Guisorn Interplanetary Exchange Students begin meeting in secret and planning a long, slow rebellion against Guisorn. They are nearly caught when Rana’s roommate follows her to one of these meetings. She becomes the first person Rana kills, and her ghost continues to Rana across decades and millions of miles. Eventually, Rana graduates, returns home, and gets a cushy job in the Administratum customs. It puts her in the perfect position to watch the movement of goods from other planets to Guisorn. She stays in touch with all her uni buddies throughout this. Talavera, however, is a torn world of divided interests and a thousand small factions. After the family’s gold mines run dry, Rana’s family agrees to betroth her to an heir of the Duchy of Aguillara (Hi Hernan/Heinrix). But… why would a prominent Knight family offer to betroth their only Knight to a lady several ranks below them in exchange for a sizeable dowry? Hernan’s mild temperament and their shared interest in the sciencia militar make Rana and Heinrix good friends… up until it becomes clear that Heinrix, being a Knight pilot of a family of Guisornian descent, does not see himself as a true Talaveran and would rat her out if he knew she was propagandist behind a spreading anti-Guisornian sentiment on Talavera. After Heinrix confronts her about whether she’s the writer of a satirical play that mocks Guisornian friars and administrators for worshiping slate instead of the Emperor (and implying that they line their pockets with tithes instead of sending it to Terra), Rana rats Heinrix out as a psyker — a secret that has long been kept under wraps by the Acosta y Silva’s who didn’t want to lose their only Knight pilot.

Heinrix doesn’t rat out Rana, mostly because he doesn’t suspect her of having reported him, but also he’s delusional and thinks she loved him enough. After Heinrix leaves on a Black Ship, Rana returns to her family home and uses her portion of Heinrix’s estate to arm Talaveran revolutionaries, forming the heart of Talavera’s revolutionary army — the Guardia de Honor de Rosalina, a feared group of sharpshooters who fight under the banner of Santa Rosalina de la Soledad, Talavera’s patron saint. Together, they carry out assassinations on Knight families. Similar groups begin forming in other planets in the Guisorn system.

The revolutionary war reaches fever pitch and finally breaks when a Guisornian friar on Salazar VI hears a confession from a revolutionary officer who admits they’re not sure whether their rebellion is done out of love or heresy against the Emperor. Word reaches authorities on Guisorn and a system wide crackdown begins, forcing the revolutionaries to fight underprepared.

Renata spends her early to mid 20s fighting in secret. The Guardia de Honor de Rosalina become guerrillas hiding in the sierras of Talavera. A string of successful battles earns Rana a new name. It’s whispered in every shadow of every cathedral of the planet: The Pride of Talavera.

Her family, who are sympathetic to her cause, do their best to hide Renata and fund her activities, but they are eventually discovered when a collaborator tips Guisornian enforcers about the identity of the Pride of Talavera. Rana’s sisters are captured, imprisoned, and please, imagine the rest. Her parents are publicly burned at the stake. Because they are family by law, the Acosta y Silvas are also put to the sword.

After days of being left to rot in the sun, kindhearted strangers bury Rana’s parents. She descends from the sierra to attend their funeral, but is discovered by enforcers and taken as a political prisoner. Bad things ™ happen and they only stop because the Salazar VI has answered the call and sent extra fighters to support the Guardia de Honor. They break Rana out of prison, but she won’t talk about what happened.

Renata’s sisters are never found.

Now fighting as a united front, the colonies of Guisorn eventually win the war and settle into a government. Rana becomes part of the revolutionary government, serving as Ministro Mariscal. They try to form a republic in which all the planets of the system are represented, but all the fighting means that the system has been slacking on its tithes. The Imperium arrives and installs their own administrators, effectively forcing the entire system back into the old way of things. Prominent figures in the revolution are taken in for questioning and, to stop them from causing a ruckus again, forced into positions far from their home planets.

Renata Azucena becomes a commissar and serves on Fener, fighting the T’au shoulder to shoulder with the 14th Regiment of Fener. But of course, it takes more than a decade of trauma to break Rana entirely. She becomes known in the Militarum for her hot headedness and arrogance (for her superiors) and for her compassion (for her comrades in arms and the locals). In time, she gets into enough arguments that other officers plot to have her go MIA, but Rana is just too popular with the 14th for it to happen quietly. When the T’au slaughter the 14th, they move in to assassinate Rana… but Theodora’s letter arrives.

Now in her late thirties, Rana spends her years drinking and whoring to forget on Dargonus while Aunty Theodora goes off Rogue Trading, leaving her protectorate in the hands of a fortunately capable administrator (Rana). When Theodora dies and the Maw closes, tensions between the Rogue Traders, the Inquisition, the Drussians, and the Administratum, and the Ministorum force Rana to deal with what could be a repeat of whatever the fuck happened on Talavera.

Please have mercy, Santa Rosalina, and take her.

[dreamerwitches]

I have mixed feelings on the witches, I'm gonna go through them all.

Renata and Ren: It just doesn't feel like the minor bits match up. There's too many bits that are just slightly too different. Like the screen shape and the bone colour and style. Am I being nitpicky? It just doesn't feel like the witch and doppel are linked. Or that they wanted to make this design for the witch and didn't really care that it didn't look like her doppel. I suppose I like how the witch is more organised than the doppel cause my gripe with it is that it feels a little like the parts don't mesh well. Like, what is going on with that pink bit it does not work. On its own, the witch is good. Fine, pretty, but a little bland and simple. As a design taking from the doppel, I think it kinda fails. Too much was changed.

Cyan and Hinano: Ehhhhhhhhhh I think they just made her worse?? Like, there's so little changed cause the doppel is so witch-like anyway but the changes they did do make her look worse XT the bright tubes are ugly and I dont understand the moth-ear-thing additions. Also the skirt is worse too lol. I miss the gas mask though I understand if that was added for Hinano but you can keep it on the witch c'mon! It's just like they removed all the best parts...

Don Rocinante and Sasara: Ehhhhhhhh here we go again. It looks stupid. C'mon she looks so stupid. Not in an uncanny, scary way, she looks so dumb. I included the doppel attack where she does get legs and that was silly but not as much as this one. Otherwise so little is changed mehhhhh. I liked the doppel so you kinda ruined her for me, thanksssss

Shalimar and Emiri: This is one I'm on the fence on. Design on its own, I really like. She's spooky and weird and the colours are great. I have to main issues. 1) does a 13 year old need such a sexual feeling witch and 2) does she link to her doppel well. The thing with curvaceous or sexualised witches is ones like Roberta I know are okay cause she was in her 30s when she became a witch. You could say some like Candeloro are sexualised cause she's got the booba and stick thin waist, it's kinda hard to deal with... I'm also finding it hard to judge cause I don't know if it suits Emiri, I don't know her character very well. So we'll just move on. If I drew it I would make her less adult-looking My other thought when looking at her beside her doppel was 'if this doppel came from this witch I would hate the fact it uses so little of the witch'. So switching it around, im a little mad they used so little of the doppel. It's like they had the idea for the body and wanted to use it and were like 'oh yeah! the doppel!' so stuck it on as a tail... Also the flower things on the doppel arent in the witch at all ughh. If she was just a new witch on her own id love her...

Vayu and Shizuku: Wow! One I actually finally like now! I think she looks super beautiful, the additions work! But she's not perfect... Just like Emiri and Shalimar, I don't see the doppel working if the witch came first. Why is her handbag now the head? It feels like the teapot(?) head on the witch came out of nowhere. But it's nowhere near as bad as Shalimar. She might be my favourite. I've always been 50/50 on Vayu and she improves that score.

Aodamo and Natsuki: This one's a bit boring... it just feels like they stuck on some additions and called it a day. I think if she was stood up straight I'd like her more... Love the teeth on the horn thing. Skirt is fine. Legs look awkward. Sad they removed her puffy sleeves, doesn't make sense as why the doppel would add that aspect.

Overall, it is a little annoying how clearly some of these are just super easy asset copies of the doppels with no effort put in... I think that's fine for say, Vayu as I think the doppel incorporation makes sense. She's a four legged beast so Shizuku is now riding her. But ones like Don Rocinante, Cyan and Aodamo seem like 5 minute attempts. I'm disappointed. Happy to see witches though, I'm only critical because I care about witches being good

[local-pal]

Dooming about Arcane Season 2, send help.

I’m throwing this word vomit on here. I'm sorry in advance.

So, Viktor’s been my favorite League character (for lore purposes only, I don’t reeeeeally play him much) since I can remember. And I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or fear of change speaking here but I didn’t care much for his character in Arcane. 

I don’t think lore Viktor is perfect, far from it. Though his characterization has come a long way ever since he was just a silly evil communist Russian stereotype, he’s not that developed and you can kinda tell the current lore was being held back by having to fit in the already established role he had, and the canon at the time. Like him being kind of a one-dimensional asshole even before he turned into the Machine Herald—because Jayce was also an absolute asshole and assholes only really do well with one another.  His silly goal of turning all of Runeterra into machines, or whatever the writers feel the Glorious Evolution is at the time. Blitzcrank just being shoved in there. His discussion with Jayce being only glazed over. His characterization is also really inconsistent in the games. I can’t blame League of Legends because his model and voiceover are incredibly old (ASU with Arcane, maybe?), but Legends of Runeterra’s feel like the writers didn’t really read through all of his lore and kinda stuck with the old evil communist Russian robot thing a bit. Also, his role as the one enhancing the Underground’s people has kinda been replaced by both Renata Glasc and some other cards of Legends of Runeterra. He doesn’t have much left at the moment.

So a complete retcon might not be that bad? But I’m not at all hyped for the lore being replaced with the one in Arcane. The following is all speculative—Internet-friendly itemized list coming up.

1| The Marketing

Viktor wasn’t really marketed as a main character in Arcane like how Jinx, Vi, Cait, and Jayce were. Honestly, I was surprised he was even there at all when I first watched the series. He didn’t get a skin, didn’t get merch (as far as I know), didn’t get a (now discontinued) Path of Champions story, nor an icon in the game. 

As far as I can tell from the marketing for season two, this is the case again. I don’t wanna sound like I don’t like the characters, because I loved Arcane (I watched it eleven times in the first year!), but I’m not happy with the story focusing on Jinx and Vi again. I felt like their relationship was almost established, with some more screen time in season two to fully cement the way the writers wanted it to go. Like there isn’t much to do unless they want to kill or redeem Jinx, at least from what I can see. I really hope I’m wrong and they do something more interesting with her, though I could not imagine why. 

So, does the marketing imply that the story is not gonna focus on him? I would be extremely disappointed. I think his character is the best to focus on the political themes on Arcane, but I’m not a writer.

2| The Season Is The Same Length As The First One

I don’t feel like there’s enough time in a six-hour show to tackle this as a main plot point and Viktor’s transformation into the Machine Herald; and they said this was the finale. And I honestly fully expected it to be the story of season two. 

Do I sound entitled? I feel like I might come off entitled. Maybe I do feel entitled.

Viktor’s (and by extension, Jayce’s) was always one of the most interesting stories League had for in my opinion. Not much of the Piltover and Zaun lore tackles any themes quite like his, as superficial as they might be. At least it kinda tries to say something about transhumanism and how people from oppressed groups have to try much harder than those from privileged ones (by pointing out the difference in Viktor’s and Jayce's attitude towards work, and both of their origins and perception by outsiders.) This is kinda what Arcane is trying to convey for much of its runtime as well, so it seemed like a good fit.

I highly doubt that’s gonna happen now. At most, they show the beginning of his life as the Machine Herald, but I honestly don’t think we’re getting much of what comes after—things like the work he does in the Undercity, his cult, all of the rumors, a deep look into his philosophy, Jayce’s feelings about his transformation. It seems like there’s not enough time. And I’m not even getting into my issues with his characterization in Arcane. So I guess it’s time for…

3| The Hexcore: Oh my God. Please don’t do this to me, Arcane.

They are sooooooooooo gonna make the Hexcore corrupt him and turn him insane. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. Please let me be wrong. Please let him become radicalized (by the war?) and let all of his further development come from him and not from an entity that’s making him insane. That would make his entire character so easy to dismiss by the story. “Oh, he’s just insane now.”, “Oh, the Hexcore is putting all of its ideas on his head, this is not really him.” (Remember how it’s implied that it’s alive and it learns?)

I think I was always interested in thinking how could this philosophy (the Glorious Evolution) sprout from a somewhat normal person, albeit one under a lot of emotional distress over his banishment from Piltover. How much is it his actual ideology and how much has it been distorted by rumors or so? Because he seemed fairly reasonable in his color story. It seemed interesting to explore—something like the actual man, Viktor; and the legend, the Machine Herald. He even has a cult, come on. 

For what it’s worth, I’ve been dooming about this ever since the third act came out. I thought killing Sky was gonna be a turning point of some sort. I don’t know, I kinda deluded myself while I was watching. I was like, okay, THIS is the beginning of the Machine Herald! But I’m hazy on how act three Viktor is gonna come to similar conclusions to those of the Machine Herald himself. Which is why I’m scared they are gonna take the easy way out and make the Hexcore speak to him. This has been very exacerbated by being told that Arcane is canon now. And I’m sure they’d said they wouldn’t do that. I don’t know what I expected from Riot and how they manage the story. 

I hope I’m so wrong that I’m gonna look back at this and laugh myself to tears at how pessimistic I was being. He did look a little bit evil while confronting the council.

4| Jayce.

Contrasting what I feel about Viktor’s character, I think Jayce’s characterization in Arcane is superb. He might be my favorite character? Though they kinda took lore Viktor’s story and stole it from him. (A bit of a tangent, but if we’re lucky we get some parallelism if Viktor is ever exiled from Piltover without Jayce defending him. Kind of a “he did it for you but you won’t do it for him” kinda way, even when both had a lot to sacrifice. That would be fucking cool.)

I guess I’m worried about his willingness to use weird-ass magic to enhance people, unlike lore Jayce. Where is the Divorce Arc going to come from? Using Hextech as weapons? Are they not gonna present an opposing view of transhumanism? Everyone except Heimer seemed pretty on board, to be honest. And that might change with him getting to see other sides of the Undercity, so I don’t even know.

It kinda feels like they swapped their stories and viewpoints. In Arcane, Viktor is the one to oppose progress by wanting to destroy the Hexcore because it took a life. Though it might be just the guilt of the moment. My Viktor would never oppose progress for something as insignificant as that, come on! (/hf)

They BETTER give me toxic yaoi, too.

5| The Rest of the Lore.

So, are they gonna re-write everything? Jayce and Viktor being the ones pioneering Hextech has so many branching consequences for the lore at large. What happens with Camille? How fast is Hextech gonna develop? Noxus getting involved in the war between Piltover and the Undercity? Where does Swain fit in all of that, or is he not contemporary to these characters? They mentioned building Piltover specifically to flee the unyielding reign of mages; are they gonna elaborate on that? Are the Rune Wars going to be relevant like Heimerdinger said? 

The good thing about Arcane being self-contained used to be that nobody had to think about what they were retroactively changing. This is going to be a clusterfuck.

[gulnarsultan]

Hi darling!

Can I request a poly!volturi kings x fem!reader where the kings don't have time to spend time with the reader but she really needs them. So jane and alec (which the reader is close to) have to tell the kings that they are needed.

Hello sweetie. ❤ I hope you will like it.

You were not selfish. You knew who they were and how important their mission was. But didn't they even have five minutes to spare for their precious wives? As you repeat this question in your mind, your heart begins to break. You also started to spend your time with the guards. You used to make up with Jane, comb and braid your hair. She used to show you her newly bought porcelain dolls. Alec shows you the pictures he made. He was painting you. Felix and Demetri were spending time playing virtual games. You were having girl talk with Renata, Corin, Heidi and Chelsea. Afton and Santiago were helping you with the plants in the garden. Soon your husbands realized that you were no longer spending time with them and you were not striving for it. While they were all in the throne room, the subject was brought up by Aro.

"Our precious wife is moving away from us."

"Aro is right about that. What's wrong with him?"

While Marcus wanted to say something, Jane started to speak.

"She's heartbroken because you don't want to spend time with her. She's trying to heal her heart by spending time with us rather than begging you."

The kings were both surprised and worried when they saw how angry the twins were. When you came to the throne room, Marcus noticed that your golden bonds against them had faded.

"Dear wife. We heard there are some problems."

"No problem. I overcame the problem myself."

"So by getting away from us?"

"You have no idea how it feels to have so-called soul mates who don't even have five minutes to spare for you, Caius. I'm not selfish. I understand if you don't have time for me. And I spend time with friends who want to spend time with me."

"Honey, we love you."

"Love is not just words, Aro. Love is proved by demonstrations. In fact, I have no faith in these strings anymore. I don't even trust the ones you really love anymore."

If they had asked the Kings what was the heaviest physical and emotional blow they have taken in their lifetime, their answer would have been the day you said those words to them. Even if the Kings wanted to spend time with you in the coming days, you stayed away from them. Finally, Caius lost his patience and yelled at you.

"Smug. We are your Kings. You can't disrespect us. You won't turn down our love."

Tears began to flow from your eyes with meaning at these words. The guards were so enraged. You left the throne room and went to an unused room. Curled under the covers, you never went out until evening. Jane and Alec brought you dinner.

"I'd pull out her barbie hair one by one if I could. You're the most perfect person I've ever met in my life. Please don't let any idiot's words hurt you."

"Jane is right."

In a short time, other guards came and joined you. They were all trying to lift your spirits.

"Honestly, I may be unfortunate with a soul mate. But I'm very lucky to have good friends like you."

You had decided to go out into the garden when it was midnight after they had left. You were sitting on the bench by the water fountain and looking at the sky. The kings came to you very sad and embarrassed.

"Can we come dear?"

"Why do you ask for permission? As the king, everything belongs to you."

"I didn't mean to say it like that. I was very angry."

"You don't need to fall in love, King. You have the right to do anything."

"Aro, please forgive Caius and me, honey. Believe me, we're in pain. We feel all your feelings, too."

"Marcus is right. It really hurts."

"I don't believe it. I'm actually stupid enough to think you love me. I was foolish enough to believe that a tyrant like you, especially Cauis, would."

"Please don't say that."

"I don't believe any of you anymore. I don't have good feelings for you anymore. I want to go."

Aro knelt before you and held your hands.

"You don't know what to do without reading my mind."

Aro's hands pushed off and you stood up. A few days passed after this speech. The mood of the kings was in a very bad state. While you were lying on your bed in your room, the Kings had arrived. You ignored them by turning your face the other way. Aro was on your right, Marcus on your left, and Caius between your legs. After five quiet minutes, you noticed that your body and emotions were starting to heal.

"I don't know if I can forgive you."

"Trying will be enough for us."

"I'll do my best."

Now the Kings, or at least one of them, were spending time with you on a daily basis. Although it took a few months for your forgiveness, your bonds were stronger than before. This was a lesson that the Kings would never forget.

[snarky-bee]

for moxie: empress reversed, death reversed, world reversed. for renata: star, chariot reversed

For the artist formerly known as [redacted], Moxie nolastname:

The Empress in Reverse: When has your character felt dependent on another?

ahaha omg wow you have found The Thing. Very easily dependent on another actually. Home life: shit. Just wants to feel like at least someone is looking after her. Ran away from home, fell in with a couple of teens that promised shelter as long as she contributed money and they got her hooked up with running scams and grifts and thefts with them, did not feel she could make it on her own, despite it not being a very *nice* situation stayed with them until the great Badgering incident of [insert date here].

Ayla entirely yes. Moxie started a whole ass business and still only saw herself as being able to have any of it because of Ayla - her home, her gardens, her rescue. Without her what would she be, where would she go.

Duvessa. The only source of her power. Is totally "looking out for me" and "protecting me". Where would she be without her lending powers, how would she have gotten this far without her. If she didn't have Duvessa she wouldn't be capable of anything.

Death in Reverse: When has your character tried to fight change?

Uh? Right now? Actively? The battle between letting Duvessa take away her emotions vs actually processing and learning to accept her own grief. She's in a change phase in her life right now and really hasn't just fully accepted what's happened and what that means. It is an ongoing fight and i fear for anything that may trigger another relapse with this shit.

The World in Reverse: What is your character holding back?

The truth. How many lies she's told herself in the course of making it this far in the adventure.

For Renata Calabria:

The Star: When has your character been most hopeful?

three months after they parted ways, agreeing they wouldn't see each other again, Ari saved Renata's life. A mere 24 hours after nearly dying, Ari forced a confession out of her (oopsie) about how her last partner in the Crows died. They thought it was about like, work partner, but it was her partner, and her lover, Carmen. And she had to admit to killing her own lover. Renata did it. Then got essentially promoted for it.

And she's hated herself for it ever since. but Ari heard it and was the first to tell her that it wasnt her fault, that they wanted to be with her, and that if she ever wanted to talk about it, they would do their best to listen. turned out, she wasnt a completely unloveable monster after all. brought hope for a future where she wasnt as lonely as she had been the last 3 years.

The Chariot in Reverse: When has your character’s pride or arrogance been their downfall?

Re: Carmen. See, the guildmaster told her that carmen had betrayed House Calabria. He lied to her. it wasn't the whole truth. He wanted to see what she would do if she didn't know that they knew she had a romantic thing with carmen. and renata believed him fully, thinking herself the perfect crow but carmen the one to slip up, the one to get angry in training, to complain the loudest. she never thought they actually could have been caught by anyone. it didnt cross her mind. this was carmens own fault and she was pissed at her for it. how could carmen do this to her.

and it was in her own arrogance assuming that she was somehow better, smarter, more loyal, that she bargained additionally to get to train under the poison master of the house in exchange for her help. if she had to do this then at least let her get a reward she deserves. it would be hard on her, but she was a perfect crow, and she still would be after this.

yeah too bad she found out after that carmens betrayal was getting blackmailed. and the blackmail worked because she would do anything to protect renata

[vestaldestroyer]

When you get this you have to list 5 books/book series you love 📚♥️. Then send this ask to last 5 persons from you notification. Spread love. 💌

This probably won't be interesting to many people because I mostly read Czech books (it's hard to read books translated from English when you're a translator and can spot all the mistakes)

1. Poselství jednorožců - Michaela Burdová

(Unicorns' prophecy) I love everything by this author but this series, her first, is my favourite. A classic adventure fantasy, very basic and cliche and amateurish (she wrote it when she was 16!) but there's so much love put into it.

2. Rafaelova škola - Renata Štulcová

(Raffaello's lyceum) Now, I have a love hate relationship with this one. I've been following this series since I was 11, for 10 years. It's an esoteric fantasy set in my country, and it really makes you feel like there's magic everywhere in everyday life, just hiding around the corner. It was my dream to translate it into English one day. Except, in the fifth book, the author brings in an alternate love interest to the MC's literal soulmate, who is a Mr Perfect (and a very shitty, manipulative boyfriend but it's romanticised) and decides to make him the main love interest, because she fell in love with the fake image of perfection she'd created herself. For 6 years, I was waiting for the twist, where it would be revealed that he sucks and that the original love interest is her one true love. It never came. (Sorry for the rant. Very passionate about this one.)

3. Sedmý smysl - Ilka Pacovská

(Seventh sense. Pretty sure that at least one book was translated into English) Another one I read when I was eleven. I remember because the protagonist had the same name as me and was also eleven. Anyway, this (also fantasy) changed the way I see life and magic and was definitely a part of what made me who I am today. Also gave me minor claustrophobia, the description of protagonists being in The Punishment Hole without light or food for several days was very vivid.

4. Křišťály moci - Michaela Burdová

(Crystals of power) Same author as 1. Very similar story, but more complex and better written. I didn't even mind reading what is essentially a reskin of her first series, because of one scene that I will remember forever: At one point, the protag's bf is presumed dead. And she decides, fuck the prophecy, I won't wait until I have all the crystals, grabs a dagger and goes to kill the villain immediately. It doesn't work, obviously, but it's such a girlboss moment.

Pony Club Rivals - Stacy Gregg

Oh look, this one is originally in English! And yes, it's a horse girl book. I don't care. I've only read the first two parts, others weren't translated. Sure, I could buy them in English, but I don't think the story is finished anyway, so I wouldn't get the closure I want. Either way, this book set a bar for (straight) romance in my heart, and veeery few have been able to clear it. It's awesome. Don't try to date me unless you're as charming as the guy she gets together with at the end of the second book. (Or Veragin from Poselství jednorožců. That works too.)

Obviously, bsd and yuumori would be on this list, but I tried to sticking to actual books. Hope this makes at least a little sense.

[smokinholsters]

The Lucky Horseshoes - A Heartland Season 16 AU - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“Did you buy that suit for this ?” She asked reaching over to take his hand just after they reached Highway 2 North to Calgary.

“Everything but the boots, Grandpa insisted, you ?”

Amy smiled “Everything I’m wearing was bought just for you.”

“So, a lot riding on this date huh ?”

“Just being asked on an actual going out date is special for me Finn, Ty and I really never did this.”

“Seriously, even when you were married ?”

“Wasn’t our thing I guess, though I probably would have loved it. No hiding it,  I have no idea how to do this.”

“Then I’m glad we’re doing it together, you should be a part of special things Amy.”

“I’m glad we’re doing it too.” She said softly moving her fingers between his seeing he had moved his closer and turned it to accept hers readily.

She felt his thumb gently rub over hers a moment after their fingers intertwined. The familiar goosebumps he brought her running up her spine again.

“So the paint and stuff is all waiting at the house ?”

“And the crew is raring to start taping first thing tomorrow, I guess we’ll be moving in within the month or so.”

“Still excited ?”

“On a bunch of levels, I’m looking forward to, well, a host of things actually.”

“Nervous too ?”

“Maybe a little but not really, to be completely truthful a lot of that has gone away. Lyndy’s positively giddy, Grandpa and my dad are pretty much on board, Clint’s anxious for it to happen as are the kids and Renata is great.”

“So what are you looking forward to the most ?”

“I’m not sure, actual alone time is pretty high on the list.”

Finn smiled and glanced over “doesn’t sound too promising for me.”

Amy smirked and squeezed his hand “alone time with you is pretty high on that list too Finn Cotter.”

“Actually looking forward to that porch swing myself.”

“I’m sorry Finn.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about Amy.”

“You’re Ok with well, us, I mean the timing, the uhm, status of us as a couple ?”

“I’m fine waiting for the alone time and you Amy, I’m not going anywhere and there isn’t a hotel room I’m planning on springing on you later, I’m happy.”

Amy sighed “I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel this happy again.”

“That’s good to hear and this is probably not the best timing but I’m going to need this hand in a minute.”

He looked over and saw Amy pout but disentangle her fingers from his and take her hand back. 

“We’ll be there soon.”

“Have you been before ?”

“Nope, going on reputation alone.”

“Cass had been twice, she say’s it’s nice.”

“Let’s hope Cass and the rep hold up then because we’ll be there in a minute, it should be right up this road.”

Finn pulled  through the entrance and up to the front where they were immediately approached by two men. One opened Amy’s door and held out his hand for her and one went around to the driver’s side and handed Finn a card as he stood.

Amy waited at the foot of the stairs for Finn and put out her hand for him to take as they walked up to the doors where a young lady was waiting to hold it open for them.

Once up the stairs Finn immediately put his arm around her waist and she was happy to tuck herself into his side and lean up for a kiss before they stepped over to the small desk.

“Reservation ?”

“Finn Cotter.”

“Yes sir, right here, table for two, it’s a nice night and we have an outside table under the eve by the lake, would that suit ?”

Finn glanced over for Amy’s smile and nod and then back to the young lady. “Perfect.”

“Excellent then, if you’ll follow me this way.”

When they entered the restaurant they were led through some tables and Finn never took his hand from her body but simply shifted it so that they could walk single file to the double doors to the outside terrace where they were led to a table for two against the rail by the lake where a small candle was lit while Finn pulled out her chair and got Amy seated.

Before moving away he leaned over for a kiss and she took a second to raise her hand to his cheek.

“This is beautiful Finn.”

Before turning he took her hand and kissed her palm then took a step and sat down across from her where she immediately laid her hand on the table between them for him to take.

“Your waitress will be by in a second, will you be having wine with dinner ?”

Finn looked at Amy for a second and smiled “We’re not really wine drinkers but I’d love a drink.”

“Then we’ll forego the sommelier and your server will take your drink order. It’s a nice night, enjoy your dinner.”

“So what’s your drink ?” Amy asked looking around and noticing the sunset over the lake “This is really beautiful.”

“It’s a nice night, anyway my drink changes, before dinner I’ll have a Manhattan usually and an unsweetened ice tea or water with dinner. Burgers get a beer. Mostly music place either a beer or a margarita. I don’t drink much and don’t have a problem being the designated driver. Was Ty a drinker ?”

“He’s had too much but never really to excess, at least with me. One too many beers when he did, couldn’t drive but not mushy or slurry. I’ve never really known him to do shots or stuff like that, again at least with me. The current drinkers in the family prefer wine, Georgie beer. My dad had a drink and drug problem, I guess he still does but he’s been sober for years.”

“Yeah my grandpa’s also sober but had a problem years ago.”

Amy watched as a young lady walked through some tables and smiled at her when she stopped at their table.

“Good evening folks, I’m Eva your server so if there’s anything you need just catch my attention” she said laying two menus on the table.

“Need a drink menu or do you know what you want ?”

“I’ll have a cranberry and soda with some lime please.”

“Excellent and you sir ?”

“Manhattan, rye please, two cherries, on the rocks.”

“No problem, let me get these for you and I’ll be back for your orders.”

They both took the single sheet menus and scanned down the dishes.

“Do you like fish Amy ?”

“I do and don’t eat enough of it, mostly salmon. Grandpa fishes a lot but it’s all pretty much catch and release though at the fishing cabin it’s dinner sometimes.”

“Feel like splitting an appetizer, we could try the Lake House Fish Plank ? It’s mostly local smoked fish it seems.”

“Sounds good to me, how about mains ? The Wild Boar Chop looks good to me, I think I’ll get that, seems weird to order beef being that it’s kind of our business.”

“Well, the steak Jack made was great so no argument here. How about I get the Marinated Bison Flat Iron Steak ?”

“That sounds good too, how about we promise each other a taste or two ?”

“Share my bison huh ? Hmmmmm, I guess that would be Ok.”

“And we’ll choose desserts after ?”

“I guess we’ll have to share those too.”

“We’ll see, I kind of like my desserts.”

“You do like your sweets.”

“You got me there.”

“I’m kind of sweet.”

“I do like you Finn Cotter.” She said putting down her menu and  putting her hand back across the table to be immediately taken by him. She loved his touch and thought again how gentle it was considering the callouses expected from his work.

“I’m afraid they’re not soft.”

Amy took her eyes from looking at their hands and smiled “And I was just thinking how gentle they were.”

He had an absolutely adorable grin which showed up every now and then when he pushed his flirting a little, it was another thing about him that she loved.

“So you think about my gentle hands often ?”

“Often enough.”

“Good thoughts ?”

Now it was her turn “they give me goosebumps.”

They were interrupted and brought back to reality by their server who brought their drinks. She waited until they each took a sip and brought up her iPad.

Finn looked at Amy “me ?” She smiled and nodded.

“Ok then, we’ll share the Lake House Fish Plank for Two and my girlfriend will have the Wild Boar Chop.”

“How would you like that cooked ma’am ?”

“Medium rare please.”

“Very good and you sir ?”

“I’ll have the Bison Flat Iron Steak, I guess also medium rare.”

“Excellent, I’ll be back to check in on you in few minutes.”

They both nodded at their server and both took second sips of their drinks when Finn put his hand out for her to take “dance ?”

“Nobody’s dancing Finn.” Amy said looking around. There was a trio and a singer and even a small dance floor but there seemed to be no interest at the moment.

“You know how it is Amy, everybody waits for the first couple. C’mon.” He said standing with that grin of his.

She smiled and stood still holding his hand as he stepped aside and let her lead them to the dance floor. She noticed that as before he simultaneously shifted from holding her hand to having a hand on her waist. It was a good feeling and one of those things that was new to her. Dating as an adult was completely different than what she was used to. She’s wasn’t sure if it was better but it was certainly more comfortable and honest, at least to her.

Finn surprised her when he turned her gently  and moved her perfectly into a classic waltz stance.

“You know how to dance don’t you ?” She leaned back slightly and asked before closing the gap between them.

“Know is a relative word I guess, mom likes to dance and taught me the basics. You ?”

“My friend’s and I taught ourselves when we were 13 thinking that some boy or another will one day ask us. Do you like dancing ?”

“Never did much of it honestly but I kinda like this”

“I kinda like it too.” She said softly and then glanced around and saw two other couples who had joined them and giggled “It really is like high school.”

She smiled and looked up at him and Finn leaned forward for a kiss to which she was happy to reciprocate. “One more ?” He asked when the song ended.

“Mmmmmm,” she murmured laying her head against his chest for the few seconds it took for the trio to start another song. As the song was ending Finn saw the waitress signal to which he nodded acknowledgment. “I think our food’s ready.”

Once again Amy turned towards the table and she felt Finn’s hand slipping onto her waist to guide her and maintain contact. She turned into him when he moved behind her to help with her seat and leaned up to kiss him.

The waitress smiled and stood waiting for Finn to seat himself before moving the smoked fish platter between them and point out the different bites available.

“I could ask them to hold off on firing your entrees if you’d like a couple dances between courses ?”

Amy smiled and looked at Finn across the table “that would be wonderful Eva, thank you.”

“Fill-up ?” She asked taking Finn’s empty high ball glass.

“Unsweetened iced tea ?

“Not a problem.” She said turning to Amy.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“So we like the dancing ?” He asked when Eva turned away.

“I like the touching part.” Amy answered reaching for a taste of one of the fish slices. “Oh, this is so good.”

“It is good.” Finn answered swallowing a bite of his own.

As soon as they were done they left the empty platter and headed back to the dance floor. It almost seemed to Amy that he held her just a drop closer than earlier and she wondered if he could feel the effect that being so close to him had on her. During their last dance before Eva signaled that their entrees were ready Amy lay her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist while her hands snaked around his neck. When she looked up at him and craned her neck up their kiss sent shivers up her spine.

They sat through dinner, playfully passing bites to each other for tastes. They gave their dessert orders of a Dark Chocolate Marquis and a Sticky Toffee Pudding along with a carafe of fresh dark roast coffee before heading back to the dance floor. In the end they were one of the last couples to leave with a wave and a bright smile from Eva.

“Did you have a good night Amy ?” Finn asked as their hands joined on the way back to Hudson.

Amy sighed and squeezed his hand “I thought the whole night was dreamy, I don’t really have the words, you, the dinner, the place, it was wonderful.”

“I guess maybe the Lake House can sort of be our place for special occasions.”

Amy nodded, “definitely a contender, especially the dancing part.”

“Yeah, definitely my favorite part.”

“Thank you so much for tonight Finn.”

Finn smiled and lightly squeezed her hand. He switched off the headlights after turning into the ranch and pulled up to the house slowly.

“It’s so peaceful and quiet at night.” Amy said waiting for Finn to come around to her side.

“Feel like sitting ?” He asked as they headed up the porch chairs.

“Sitting would be nice.” She said moving over to the bench they seemed to prefer. When they sat she tucked herself into his side as his arm moved around her shoulder gently following her body.

After a minute he leaned over and kissed her head.

She smiled and moved herself a bit so her hand could sneak under his jacket and she laid her head against his chest and sighed when his hand followed her body over her back to her waist.

“You know, you don’t smell like horses.”

Finn laughed “uhm, thank you ?”

“No.” Amy said giggling “I mean we always pretty much smell like horses but not tonight.”

He laughed again “yeah, I get what you’re saying. Horse isn’t a bad smell.”

“It’s the smell I grew up with, it’s almost weird not to was the point I was making.”

“To be fair, I noticed that you didn’t smell like horse either.”

It was almost simultaneous that she lifted her head and he shifted to the side so that they fit together comfortably when their lips met. Her head swam as they kissed and she could feel his hand move gently on her back which she naturally reciprocated. She loved his touch and her body reacted. She couldn’t totally concentrate but Amy felt good and happier than she’d been for a long time.

She didn’t know exactly when they slowly pulled away from each other but after looking at him for a few seconds she reached up and touched his lips with her finger and then leaned up to kiss him one more time.

“We have an early morning coming up.” He whispered.

“Mmmmmm.” She murmured straightening up and then smiling, ran a finger across his brow to neaten up a droop of his hair.

They walked to the door with his arm around her and Amy’s arms wrapped around his waist. At the door they shifted and he held her close with his hands on her waist with her arms around his neck. Their kisses were slow and deliberate and they were both lost in each other’s space. 

His voice was a whispered croak and he was lost in her eyes as she was in his.

“Text me when you leave tomorrow and I’ll meet you at the center.”

“With the crew.”

“It’ll be a good start, I took off Monday and I have most of Tuesday for painting.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Cabinets Wednesday and plumber Friday, I’d feel better knowing everything was ready.”

Amy laughed “Just can’t wait to get me on that swing can ya ?”

“I love you Amy.”

It was the first time either of them had said the words and she had a warm sensation spread over her. “I love you too Finn Cotter.”

He smirked leaning down to kiss her and murmured “Just like high school.”

[deathsbestgirl]

watched the ted lasso finale again tonight and i think it made me cry more. father & son by yusuf (cat stevens) has always made me cry, but yusuf was my dad's favorite artist. he loved harold & maude was his favorite. he especially loved don't be shy and if you want to sing out. and now father & son makes me sob. it reminds me of our relationship, the things he tried to tell me & i didn't want to talk about at the time but what he managed to say has always stayed with me.

every little bit about fathers & their kids (ted & henry, jamie & his dad, roy & phoebe, nate & his dad) / family in general (rebecca & richmond, rebecca & ted, roy/keeley/jamie/phoebe, rebecca & dutch guy & his daughter) made me cry harder.

i think it was fucking beautiful the choices they made. ted going back to his son was always going to be his ending. beard choosing to stay with jane & richmond. keeley not making the choice roy & jamie presented her, rebecca keeping the team because they are family and extending it to their fans, leslie & his family, even dutch guy makes a ridiculous sort of sense (no matter what happens there, rebecca will keep that little girl in her life, like roy & keeley chose with phoebe)

i lost my dad to cancer and i was older, but a lot of what ted talked about still rang true. he was in remission, he was getting stronger. but he would never be able to swallow properly. he couldn't eat & drink and it feels like he gave up. he missed my wedding, and he didn't get to know renata as well as i would have liked. but i know he was there. we had the bluest skies for our reception (the color he gifted me), we played a cat steven's song for him. five days before his birthday. and i think he even made my marriage possible.

renata moved in with me, my mom & my sister (my nanny & her aid had taken my downstairs apartment in the house) and so my mom gave us the master bedroom. had he still been here, i don't know what we would have done. and he as much as told me it needed to happen. i can't believe that. but he had to go.

and anyway. that was the perfect song to play for ted going back home to his son. it wasn't an easy choice, because he created another family in richmond. but he did his job there with them, and it was time for him to be a full time dad to his son again. now he gets to do for henry what his dad couldn't do for him, what he did for everyone at richmond. i hope he learned his worth and he can feel the love of everyone he's touched.

for me, it's been five years and it's still very hard. after it first happened, i cried for weeks. but then i didn't cry for two years. now, i cry every time i hear father & son (and everything i own by bread) and i just miss him. i wish i had known more about him. i wish i had t avoided those conversations. i wish our relationship hadn't changed so much when i hit puberty. he was the best dad and i know how much he loved me. i wish that was easier to understand. i hope he hears me when i talk to him, still sees what i write.

[time2commitbastardlyactions]

Champions that would have been a better fit for Coven than Akali

Renata Glasc (she would have been perfect I have no idea why she still hasn't gotten a Coven skin)

Qiyana

Kai'Sa

Karma

Shyvana

Illaoi (especially since the 2023 batch is kinda supposed to be water-themed)

Quinn

Nidalee

Seraphine (I know this is a bit of a weird one, but I think Coven Seraphine could be really cool if she was a legendary)

This is just my opinion. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to add on ^^

[volterran-wine]

🏛 and 🐞 for Chelsea and Renata please please please

🏛️ - Best memory with the Volturi?

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚: The wedding feast the queens organised for me and Afton. I had spent thousands of years waiting to feel the true pull, and when my mate stumbled into the entrance hall I knew it was meant to be. Never have I seen Lady Athenodora so inebriated....

𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚: ... It may me be rather depressing, but the moment Aro and Caius stepped foot on Malta may be me fondest memory. What happened on my home island... horrifying.

But if I were to end it on a lighter note, I do enjoy decorating the Palazzo with Corin for different events we host. We always get paired together due to our shared meticulous nature.

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚: I do believe I speak for all of use when I say this; Renata, I hope you make many more happy memories with us.

🐞 - What does a perfect day look like for you? What do you do? Who do you see?

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚: A day off with dear Afton I would imagine, we are fond of running off to Venice as our getaway spot. Though I do wish I could bring him with me back to Greece for a longer stay, I would like for him to see where I lived my life once upon a time.

𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚: Being allowed to sit with Master Aro in his vault while he reads for an entire day, I would be embroidering however.

― 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑎 & 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎

(Author's note: I will be finishing up this summer event now. Please bear with me as I work through my inbox 🖤 I will accept new questions until Friday, though be aware you run the risk of asking something that has already been answered or is in my pipeline.)

ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʟᴛᴜʀɪ?

[eposerta]

☾ ⋆･ﾟ:⋆･ﾟ below the cut are some plots that i think would be fun , or at least entertaining enough . open to all mutuals just ... idk hit the heart and i'll slide my way into your dms ! i 'd love to build on these dumb little snippets i wrote and most of them are fitting for platonic / romantic dynamics depending on the vibes .

main verse :the mentor  renata byun is in hiding , she's still trying to figure out who she is , what she's doing , and knows that she is supposed to hide from the angels , but doesn't understand why . main verse : the hunter / the hunted :  this character is one of the many hunting for renata for what she is , she may not know it right away , but it's a conflict ( there could be a platonic/romantic twist too )

main verse : the human who finds out her secret . ren doesn’t openly use her abilities , definitely doesn’t tell people what she is , but this person finds out and it can go in plenty of directions . any verse :  opposites attract .this can be romantic or platonic ,  ren is the more soft and kind type , but she needs someone who will remind her to grow a backbone , challenge her , and is also more the opposite of her in personality ( honestly i’m extremely weak for these dynamics for ren , because she can be super spicy , she just needs to be comfortable first )

apocalypse : fellow survivors , they likely don't know what ren is ( but they could ! ) , but if they do it could be fun to have them work together to try and fix things

college / criminal verse : close friends , they could have gone to college with ren before she transferred to be closer to home

crime verse : her boss . ren works for a crime family and perhaps they did her the favor of paying off the loan shark that was harassing her for the money her foster father owed before he passed away , and perhaps he has a beautiful arboretum / garden and considering how good she is at her job , it seems to be a perfect fit .

fae verse : the confidant - ren is a fae princess based on the ‘ spring ‘ kingdom . her position in the royal family has been kept a secret for her safety as her sister was crowned queen at six years old . this confidant is well aware of who she is , and they have a very close bond .

fae verse : the secret lover - with her secret close , this person could either be a part of her personal guard , who is well aware of her position or someone who has no idea who ren is to the kingdom , they could also be from another kingdom leaving them more in the dark .

hybrid verse : the hunter -  a witch turned into a vampire and virtually lost her mind , going on a murder rampage , this will likely cause some hunters to find & kill her . bonus points if they realize that maybe she can be snapped back to reality and function in a non murderous way.

royalty verse : see fae verse plots , except in this verse she is human - could be modern or any place in time .

sanctuary verse : the close friend - while ren was oblivious to everything going on within sanctuary , she did have a handful of friends ( most of them were children of equinox employees etc ) growing up . eventually , she would escape but perhaps they find each other again ( this verse is ship exclusive with @mythous )

witch verse : a guiding hand of sorts , this person is helping her understand her power , they could be part of the same coven , or whatever wolf verse : the hunter - this person had a hand in the murder of her pack , probably very antagonistic .

wolf verse : the new pack - having been on her own for some time , she’s found by a new pack and assimilates well . bonus points if someone from this new pack is the reason that she survived the attack on her previous one

[kiillmeromantically]

status: closed

pairing: diego & renata

with: @cherrysugcr

written with beta

"you are either new," she said slowly, not even looking over at him in the driver seat," or you pissed off my husband, which is it?" maybe she could have been nicer but renata was exhausted. it had been another long evening of pretending to be the perfect, doting trophy wife. all she had done was maybe have one more glass of champagne than she normally did. apparently that was enough reason for her to be sent back to her jail which was more or less the compound. she had no idea what her husband was up to but she would be shocked if he even returned to their so called home that night. she barely kept track of the men that seemed to come and go. sometimes she knew the way they left was certainly not the same way that they came in. her head rested against her hand before she reached to turn on the radio," i hope for your sake it's the first option."

[balletomaneblog]

here goes catherine pollak with her think pieces on how the mariinsky soloists are terrible 🙄🙄

Ikr. She has strong opinions. I have been frustrated in the past with how harsh and extreme her views seem to be. Either a dancer is absolutely perfect or a disgrace to the Mariinsky. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions, I just wish she was a bit more tactful about the feelings of the dancers.

About her many recent posts on Renata's debut, I don't agree. While I do believe there are, of course, technical elements that need to be worked on, mostly she compared Renata's debut performance to dancers like Lopatkina, Zakharova, and Novikova who each danced the role for over a decade. And for me, Lopatkina is the gold standard for Odette. I would never expect an Odette/Odile debut to be a strong as Lopatkina in her prime. I mean . . . she's Ulyana Lopatkina.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 13:  Starting New

Current Masterlist // Previous Story

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

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​

[If you would like to be added to this specific OC’s taglist, let me know!]

"Stop her!" Rosana's shout echoed in the passageways as a group of girls chased after Renata. Rosana wasn't particularly chasing after Renata but she was still keeping an eye on where she was going, preferring to leave the job to the girls.

Renata was fuming and shouting as well but for Amy instead, knowing she had to be in danger. Renata didn't want to be in the school for another moment. "AMY! AMY! Where are you!? AMELIA!" She was forced back when a group of the fanged girls appeared, all hissing at her like she was next on the meal course.

Rosana smirked as she watched the Time Lady stumble back into the wall. "For all that bravery, you are still very outnumbered."

Renata swallowed hard, getting even more nervous when she heard Amy's voice begin to call for her. The girl was in the trouble and if she wasn't, she would be soon.

"Oh, the girl's here too," Rosana clapped her hands together, smiling sarcastically. "Who shall we go after?"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had pushed his way up the grate that allowed them into the chamber room full of chests. He helped Rory and Gabby climb out and once they were all above ground, they called for Renata and Amy. Neither woman answered.

"Doctor, I can't see anything!" Gabby exclaimed. "We left the torch down!"

"Just as well I brought this, then!" Rory pulled out a small pencil torch from his pocket, giving a bit of light to the room.

The Doctor, however, came truly prepared. He took out an even longer torch from his inside pocket, one that didn't need to be flamed on. "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight!"

Rory was amazed at how he had even carried that in his pocket. "Yours is bigger than mine."

"Let's not go there!"

Gabby smacked her hand to her forehead. "So, whether alien or human, men are truly all the same! Idiotas los dos!"

The Doctor merely smiled and turned to study the room they were in. The grate had been opened for them so at one point in the night, Renata and Amy had to have been in here. He noticed several chests against the walls and walked over to one.

Gabby watched him open one chest and crinkled her nose when he held a grimy old hand. "What happened to them?" She was sure she could see more grimy bodies inside the chest.

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them…"

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Rory said, basing his knowledge off what he'd seen on t.v. How accurate it was, he didn't know.

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies," the Doctor straightened up and looked around at the other chests. If Renata was here and she'd seen the chests, her hearts must have broken.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?" Rory asked.

"Maybe not everyone survives the process," the Doctor theorized. If there was such a process then of course there would have to be dead bodies along the way. Nothing was ever perfect.

Rory huffed in frustration. Amy was in terrible danger, more than he previously thought! "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

"That's not his fault Rory," Gabby said quietly. "Everyone has a choice and Amy happens to be adventurous." Rory shook his head at her, not wanting to hear more of her defense. Gabby wouldn't insist, he clearly wasn't ready for that realization right now. She tried to do her best to help the Doctor figure more things out about the corpses but instead she ended up finding a hole in the wall. "Doctor, look at that," she pointed to the wall. The Doctor hurried to it and soon realized it was blasted in. "What is it?"

"Renée was here," he mumbled, his hearts beginning to pick up at the image of her having to fire at the wall. What could have made Renata fire? Rory was right, they needed to find them.

"Renata!?" they suddenly heard Amy's voice. "Renata!"

Rory sprang up like a spring. "Amy!" He ran out of the chamber room, making Gabby and the Doctor run after him.

~ 0 ~

Renata scrunched her face and pressed herself even more against the wall the closer the girls got to her. She was really outnumbered, she would admit that, but she was totally powerless. She could COULD use some of her butterflies but she...she didn't want to hurt the girls. They were still children, girls' whose lives had been ripped away.

~ 0 ~

"Renata!" Amy cautiously crept down the passage with Isabella in tow. Of course it would be their luck not to find the Time Lady when they really needed to get out. "God, Renata! Where are you!?"

"Amy!" Rory thoroughly scared her that she'd immediately smacked him away. "Ow! Amy!"

"Sorry!" Amy gasped when she realized it was him. She hugged him then saw the Doctor and Gabby coming down.

"Where's Renata?" the Doctor scanned the immediate area to no avail. He only saw Isabella and presumed who she was. "You found Isabella?"

"Yeah but I don't know where Renata is," Amy said as she stepped back from Rory. "She and the Signora were going to have a talk."

The Doctor properly panicked. Of course Renata would do the talking with the bad people. It's what he would do. He would much rather it was him than her. "RENATA!" He screamed, making the others jump in their spot. "RENATA!" He hurried down the passage, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Behind them, Gabby sighed. "So much for the element of surprise..." She still ran after the Doctor to join the screams.

~ 0 ~

"You should have just taken the deal," Rosana went 'tsk, tsk' as she watched her girls inch closer to Renata. Each time one of them hissed, Renata tried to lean away but remembered she was already against a wall, so instead she sucked her chest and body in as best as she could. "One entire city for us all. I could have even gotten your little friend a husband."

"She's already engaged and I don't do deals with murderers," Renata still spat despite her situation.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to end here," Rosana pretended to pout. She waved for the girls' to move back, but only slightly, so she could come face Renata.. "I can't risk the process on you and have you causing harm to my sons."

"Who said I would've wanted a Mummy's boy as a husband?" Renata smirked proudly at herself for that remark when she saw Rosana's indignant face. Gabby would have been proud of her!

"Those are my sons! How dare y—"

Renata took her chance and kicked the woman away. Funny, she felt something hard on Rosana's legs. Renata quickly backtracked with her eyes glued to Rosana, watching how the woman's entire appearance briefly shifted into an insectoid creature. "Saturnyne," Renata realized. "You're a Saturnyne! Of course!" She laughed until she realized she sounded exactly like the Doctor would. "I mean...you're a Saturnyne, of course you are," she nodded firmly.

Suddenly, the girls hissed again and Renata had no choice but to run again. She yelped each time one girl got close enough so that she could feel their hair touching her body. "I don't want to hurt them! I don't want to hurt you!" she cried, grabbing the sides of her dress to run quicker. "Please, just stop!"

"RENATA!"

Renata abruptly stopped at the Doctor's voice, making a huge mistake in the process. She felt one of the girls' hands on her and screamed. "GET AWAY!" She blasted a swarm of butterflies against the girls, knocking them to the ground.

"Renata!" the Doctor finally saw her and hurried towards her. Renata barely had time to move when he already had her in his arms. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"Woah, what happened to them?" Gabby blinked at the girls stumbling to get back up. She laughed, though, when she saw a remaining golden butterfly in the air. "Ah, Renata got hardcore."

"Did not!" Renata huffed and pulled away from the Doctor. "I didn't...I didn't mean to…" she turned to the girls with a heavy heart. She didn't want to hurt any of them but she certainly wasn't going to let them hurt her. "They're all empty shells now."

"And they're getting back up! We should go!" Amy motioned them to start running again.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella took the lead fast.

"Wait!" Renata stopped the Doctor from following and thoroughly startled him when she started pulling his jacket off him.

"What are you doing!?" he exclaimed, feeling part of his face get rather warm.

"She'll need it!" Renata hung his jacket over one of her arms then grabbed the Doctor's hand to keep running.

Isabella had led them down a few steps to get out through its door. She and Rory pulled on it to open it and ushered Amy and Gabby out.

"Quickly, get out!" Isabella then told Rory. She tried to follow herself but the sunlight burned her skin.

"It's okay! It's okay! I got you!" Renata came as quickly as she could with the Doctor. The dress was truly heavy. She threw the Doctor's coat over Isabella's head and then carefully led her outside. While they hurried down the steps, the Doctor sonicked the door behind them.

"Isabella! Isabella!" Guido climbed out of the gondola to meet his daughter. He was overfilled with joy seeing his daughter again.

"Don't take the coat off her!" Renata immediately instructed as the two now helped Isabella into the gondola. "Doctor?" She turned around to see him lagging at the staircase. "Get over here!"

"I need to meet this woman," he declared with absolute anger lacing his tones and features.

"Fine, but after we get the humans to safety. Then we'll both go back," Renata gestured to the group waiting for him. She wasn't all too crazy to go back into that school anymore but if he was going, then she had to as well.

"You're not coming," the Doctor came straight to her.

Renata raised her head defiantly. "Oh yes I am. In fact," she flashed a smirk at the Doctor before turning to the gondola, "Guido, take them back to your house please. And make sure that Isabella doesn't take the coat off until she's inside. Rosana sent her girls after me. I would like a word with her about her behavior," Renata nodded at Guido to take them away. He didn't question them. He needed to get his daughter away from the school as quickly as possible.

"You are mad, do you know that?" the Doctor groaned when it was just him and Renata. He just got her out of the school and now he was about to bring her into it again.

"I'm not mad, I am furious!" she snapped. "They're Saturnynes! And Rosana has kidnapped these girls, turning them into empty shells for her sons! She's stolen people's daughters and she tried to make them kill me. I am beyond mad. I am angry on behalf of every mother, every parent, who lost their daughters to Rosana and her cult."

The Doctor would not point out to Renata that her face was completely red solely because he was already walking on thin, almost nonexistent, ice with her. He nodded his head, acknowledging her feelings on the matter and then endeavored to help ease those feelings by doing whatever he could which, in this case, would be taking her back to the school.

He tried taking hold of her hand but she flinched away from his touch, whether it was due to her current state or because she was still upset about earlier he couldn't tell. Together, they made their way back to the school, this time going by the front to make their presence very known.

Rosana was sitting on her throne, clearly waiting for them - Renata, at least. Her lips curled into a smug smile upon seeing the Time Lady. "You stole one of my students."

Renata had no sense of control at the moment so she stormed over, or at least tried to because the Doctor had grabbed her back only a few steps forwards. "She's not your student! She was a prisoner!" she still yelled at the woman across the room. "Just like every other girl in here!"

The Doctor was very aware of the light gold that was rising from the top of Renata's head. It used to be less noticeable with her once blonde hair but now that her hair was as dark as night, the gold had nowhere to hide. Rosana was privy to the secret as well, for she rose from her throne with an accusing finger pointed at Renata.

"You say that I'm a liar but you lied first. You are not a Time Lady. What are you?"

Renata stopped thrashing in the Doctor's arms, stumped for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're glowing, Marchioness," Rosana smirked as she came down the small steps of her throne's dais.

Renata glanced at the Doctor to see him nodding. He looked concerned but if she was being perfectly honest, she felt fine. In fact, she felt great. She was angry but her health was perfect. She carefully untangled herself from the Doctor, apologizing to him for her behavior. Once she calmed, the golden energy faded.

"What are you really?" Rosana asked again, her eyes glinting with fascination.

"I am a Time Lady," Renata reiterated, adjusting her dress in the process. "And you are a liar." Rosana scoffed. "You're even wearing a perception filter."

"Funny thing that perception filter," the Doctor spoke for the first time, especially now that he was semi-sure Renata wouldn't try to kill Rosana on the spot again. "It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank... hence no reflection. But why can we see your big teeth?

"Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Rosana arched an eyebrow at him, as if just now realizing Renata hadn't come alone. She looked him over for a few minutes before answering a question he hadn't asked. "Ah, you're the husband."

The Doctor scowled and glanced at Renata to see her throwing murderous glares at Rosana again. "No! We're not" she shouted even, as if the mere idea of someone thinking they were husband and wife was utterly despicable.

It hurt. A lot. Was she that angry with him? Did she think they were too far gone to ever fix things? No, she couldn't think like that. One error, an error that he didn't even commit, shouldn't be the end of their relationship. He couldn't let it be. He loved her as much as he knew that she loved him. She was just being her stubborn self again.

He cleared his throat. "I'm the Doctor and the only thing Renata and I are only concerned about is what's going on at this so-called school."

Rosana rolled her eyes. "I don't understand what is so difficult about this. We're all refugees here. I am only trying to create a second home. I offered a partnership with your, uh...friend…" She made a gesture towards Renata. "She's made it pretty clear she's no longer interested. But, I am a fair woman, so I shall offer you the same deal."

"And what would that be exactly?"

"Help me finish my plans and you can enjoy Saturnyne II with me." There was a new sultry type of look on her face as she approached the Doctor.

Renata immediately felt like charging on the woman again, only this time she was well aware it wouldn't be on behalf of the mothers everywhere but more...on behalf of herself.

"My partnership can be in any way you choose," Rosana delivered her last words with a charming smile.

It became a trust testament to Renata's self control when Rosana dragged her finger across the Doctor's chest. She didn't need a mirror to know that she was glowing again. This time she could actually feel a warmth bubbling inside her, urging to come out and tear Rosana away from the Doctor. She shouldn't be anywhere near him! Including Amy!

And once Renata thought about what it must have looked like when Amy kissed the Doctor, she felt a new rage wash over her. Tears and sadness were gone to be replaced with utter anger. Jealous. Yes. That's what she was. Jealous that everyone always wanted to keep her and the Doctor apart. Whether it was to keep the Doctor for themselves, or simply because they didn't like him being with her, it always happened. It. Always. Happened.

The Doctor very kindly, but sternly, pulled Rosana's finger hand off him. "I don't think so."

Rosana very quickly understood where they were and, after yanking her finger out of his hand, stepped away from the pair. "Get out!" she barked. "Rest assured that I will do what neither of you could do for your planet. I will bend the heavens to save my race."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Renata shook her head. "Not this way."

"GET OUT!"

"Don't think this is over!" Renata yelled right back. "We'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone! That's a promise!"

The Doctor grabbed her hand, this time letting him, and left the school.

~ 0 ~

Renata got a quick change out of her period dress into her regular clothes again. She brought Amy's clothes back to her at Guido's house in case she wanted to get out of the dress as well. It had been something Amy wanted to do ever since she got out of the school, but Gabby said no one was leaving the house until the Time Lords were back. Rory agreed as well.

Renata put all of her attention to Isabella after coming back. "Isabella, how are you feeling?" The young girl was sitting in a chair next to her father. Renata assumed Guido hadn't left his daughter's side ever since they came home.

"She says things look too bright," Guido said before Isabella even opened her mouth. It did explain why Isabella was staring at the table. "Is that normal? What were they doing to her there?"

Renata glanced back at the Doctor for some help. He was standing across the room, purposely keeping his distance from her because he knew that's what she wanted. As soon as she realized that he was holding her hand after leaving Rosana's school, she'd yanked it out of his and picked up her pace.

Still, it only took one look from Renata to make him come over. "Rosana said that this whole process lasted 2 weeks," she started explaining, "And Isabella's been at the school for how much time?"

"One week," Isabella answered, still keeping her gaze on the floor.

"Right, so then the process wasn't finished. They were draining her blood—"

"My what!?" Isabella made the mistake of looking up and quickly shielded her eyes before lowering her head again. "That's what they were doing to me!?"

"Why would they want to do that?" Gabby asked.

"They're vampires, aren't they? Isn't that what they do?" Rory said.

"They're far from vampires Rory. They're Saturnynes," the Doctor explained. He knelt down in front of Isabella, placing a hand on her shoulder as he ducked enough to meet her gaze. He pulled out his sonic with his other hand and waved it in front of her. "I'm going to scan you really quick, is that alright?"

Isabella nodded her head and watched him wave the sonic in front of her again, the light reflected off the sonic making her look away. Amy returned at that moment, dressed in her regular clothes, and strode over to Rory and Gabby.

"No, the Saturnynes' DNA didn't get to permanently change her," the Doctor said to Renata. "I'm guessing it really has to be a two week thing. I think Renata got you out just in time."

"I did too," Amy mumbled under her breath. She was the one who found Isabella in the first place. It was a joint mission and they jointly got her out.

"Thank you," Guido smiled at Renata with the most grateful gleam in his eyes. "I have my daughter back because of you."

Renata smiled back softly. "You don't have to thank us. No parent should ever have to lose their child." Her smile faded as the weight of her words truly settled. It was the same for the Doctor.

"What about my eyes?" Isabella's natural question pulled the two out of their darkening thoughts.

"Here yah go!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled out a pair of black sunglasses from his pocket.

"Dude," Gabby laughed at him while Renata shook her head at him.

"The side effects from the process should fade soon enough," the Doctor told Isabella as he helped her put the sunglasses back on.

"Now then..." Renata moved away to pace. Yes, she was pacing because there was still a school to tear down, stone by stone she would add. "Rosana and her little sons are not vampires," she sent a smile at Rory for his earlier assumption, "They're actually Saturnynes — basically like your local fish. They need water. And today, brides."

"Brides?" Amy made a face. That was surely becoming a theme, wasn't it?

"Is that why they're using the school then? To recruit...brides?" Gabby made a similar face as Amy.

"They're not 'recruiting', they're kidnapping," Renata snapped, although not at Gabby but at the situation. "Rosana is kidnapping girls to turn them into brides for her sons."

"And these sons...where exactly are they?" asked Rory, looking around as if he would find them right there.

"In the water," Renata glanced at the Doctor. "She has them waiting for these girls."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido declared, but Renata was quick to point a finger at him.

"You need to focus on your daughter and only her well being. We can do the rest, can't we Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "Oh yeah. We need to figure out how exactly Rosana is planning on taking the city over. Saturnynes come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable…"

"She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race," Renata said. "And God knows she's desperate. What could she do in this state?"

The Doctor thought of the answer fairly quickly. "How about sink Venice?"

"Oh," Renata's eyes widened. "And then repopulate it with the girls she's transformed. She has her sons waiting for that moment…"

"Gross, Mommy's making compatible girlfriends for her sons?" Gabby crinkled her nose. "How are we going to stop—" A loud clattering from above cut her question off.

"The people upstairs are very noisy…" the Doctor said after they listened to a bit more of the clattering.

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido said as he rose from his seat, moving even closer to Isabella.

The Doctor sighed, resigned that this was just part of the usual day-to-day for them. "I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"If they're fish people, how are they doing that?" Rory swallowed hard as the wood creaked even louder.

No one got to answer as those fish people shattered the glass to get into the house. The entire group huddled together. The Doctor brandished his ultraviolet torch again, and Renata made sure that Isabella was behind that ultraviolet torch.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Amy exclaimed when she spotted girls outside the windows. She flinched when they shattered that glass too.

Renata brandished her sonic at the girls, purposely forcing the girls' true selves. It definitely got the group to yelp.

"What's happened to them!?" Guido asked, now taking hold of Isabella's arm even tighter. They were not taking her away again!

"There's nothing left of them," Renata said sadly. They were gone with no way of returning.

"They've been fully converted," the Doctor agreed with a nod and then after a moment's thought he added, "Blimey, fish from space have never been so... buxom."

"Because that's going to make things better for you!" Gabby genuinely concluded that all men, whether human or alien, were just that clueless.

Well, Renata was glaring at the Doctor for his little remark. "GO!" She suddenly yelled and started pushing people towards the stairs. "Doctor, coat!" she yelled again when they left the stairs.

He understood and swept his coat from where he'd left it, throwing it over Isabella in preparation for the outside. "Go, go!" he ushered the girl with Gabby. Amy and Rory helped them towards the door.

"What are you doing!?" Renata stopped when Guido did by the barrels of explosives.

"They need to be stopped!"

"By exploding them!?"

"They're not gonna stop, are they!?"

Renata stopped and looked back at the staircase. She could hear the rumbling of the girls.

"We have to stop them," Guido insisted and looked at the Doctor for his help. They couldn't let the girls keep terrorizing them or anyone else.

"This is your house," Renata said as a last resort, but she hadn't said it very argumentatively in the first place.

"Doesn't matter. I've got Isabella now. Home isn't a place, you know?" Guido was fast at working even when he was saying meaningful words.

"We know," the Doctor said quietly, making Renata look over to him. He was already staring at her. "My home isn't a place either." Renata felt the air leave her when he grabbed her hand. He gave it the gentlest of strokes before running for the door. "Guido, c'mon!" he called back.

"Dad!" Isabella exclaimed, trying to make her way back into the house. Gabby was doing a good job holding her back.

Guido dropped a candle near the explosives and ran for his life. Soon as he was out, the Doctor ran them all away from the house before it would explode. It still threw the group to the ground but they were unharmed. Not a second later did lightning strike the darkening sky.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," Renata picked herself up and listened to the clamoring of people on the street.

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy said, about to leave when Renata said a very sharp 'no'. She turned around to see the Time Lady shaking her head. "What?"

"You need to get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, coming up behind Renata. "All of you."

"Is that really necessary?" Gabby frowned. She didn't like the idea very much either.

"Absolutely," Renata nodded. "No more people getting hurt. Too many girls have been lost already."

"But you can't stop her on your own!" Amy exclaimed.

"With all due respect Amy, we've been doing fine before you." Truly, Renata felt just a bit of twinge for her harsh words when Amy's eyes widened.

"Get back to the TARDIS, all of you!" the Doctor exclaimed and glanced at Guido and Isabella. He was trying to cover Isabella as much as he could, never knowing when the dark clouds would disappear to let the sun back out. "And take them too!" He told Gabby.

"Fine," Gabby relented if only to get them to safety. "But if that woman tries anything, let the Vortex Butterfly have her ass."

"Gabriella," Renata shook her head.

"I mean it!" Gabby ushered Guido and Isabella to follow.

"Amy, you too!" the Doctor snapped when the ginger had remained back. Rory clearly wanted to go as well but since Amy wasn't moving, neither was he.

"But—"

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"

Amy couldn't believe both of them were sending her away like a child. She was not a child, dammit! Why must they insist on seeing her like one? She stormed off, leaving Rory to truly thank the Time Lords for what they did.

~ 0 ~

When they returned to the school, Renata went directly to the throne. She almost rolled her eyes when they discovered the circuitry behind it. It was so predictable and a tiny bit conceited.

"You're too late. Such determination... just to save one city," Rosana walked into the room, smirking at the two. "Hard to believe you let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"Renata didn't do anything like that," the Doctor said, to clear the air at least. He would not have anyone thinking that Renata did what he had to Gallifrey.

"Rosanna, this is over," Renata hurried down the steps of the dais."The girls have gone."

"You're lying," scowled Rosana.

"Then wouldn't we be dead?"

The realization struck Rosana in seconds but for all she wanted to say, she held her head high and turned to leave.

"Rosana!" called the Doctor. "Help us please. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," she said sourly.

Renata felt a whole new wave of anger hit her. She shouted after Rosana. "You know, I never got to be a Mother but I still try to save any children in danger that I come across but you...you're fine with killing them."

Rosana turned around with more or less fury as Renata. "You killed them! You did! I was trying to save them—"

"By killing someone else's children!? How is that any better!?"

Rosana had no answer at that moment. With one swift move, she was out of the room again.

Renata took a moment to calm her breathing down. She turned to the Doctor with tears in her eyes. "I didn't want to hurt the girls," she said, as if he was accusing her of the same thing.

"I know that, of course I know that," the Doctor came around the chair and hurried over to her. "Renata, you can be angry with me all you want but it doesn't change the fact that I know you. I know who you are." She let him take her hands in his, actually relishing with the light squeeze he gave them. "Let's save this city, alright? No more children are going to die."

Renata swallowed down that bile she was sure was part of her tears trying to come out. "Okay."

They went back to the throne to work on shutting down whatever Rosanna had started. A few minutes later, Amy and Rory showed up.

"Get out!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We need to stabilise the storm!"

"We're not leaving you!" It was Rory who said it this time, making the Doctor scoff with incredulity.

"Right," he stopped working, something Renata glared at him for, and stormed over to the two. "So one minute it's, "You make people a danger to themselves," the next it's, "We're not leaving you!" But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets…" The ground shook the three to the ground. Renata held onto the throne to avoid the same fate.

"At least tell me Gabby's still in the TARDIS!" she called.

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed. She presumed it anyways.

"Uh, what was that?" Rory asked as he helped Amy stand up.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake," the Doctor dismissed it only for Amy to question him even more.

"Forget about it!" snapped Renata. "You'll be more worried when the city actually sinks!"

The Doctor hurried back to her side to keep working on the throne, though there wasn't much they were doing to it anyways. It wasn't where they would get everything done. They had to divide and conquer. "Alright, Amy, Rory, come here!" The two hurried over. "So, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator."

"What are you going to do?" asked Amy.

"Gonna go check that bell," he answered and rushed off with Renata.

The two hurried outside to the balcony where the bell was tolling incredibly loud. They managed as best as they could to keep working on the second set of circuitry connecting the throne to the main control.

"What are you doing!?" Renata called when the Doctor hurried closer to the toiling bells, his hands clapped over his ears.

"I can't take the noise!"

"Oh, but you live to create noise!"

The Doctor's face went flat for a few seconds, though he did make a note that her sarcasm was back. He could work with that. He ignored the rest of her calls when he started climbing the bells. All Renata knew was that he could fall just like he did the last time he decided to climb something huge, only last time involved the prehistoric times and the ground was covered with mushy snow and not hard cement like it was now.

She focused on the wires instead, hoping to get them finished so he could come down quicker. He did, however, get the bells to stop toiling which did make a huge difference. He came back down with a smug grin.

"Shut up!" she warned before he started. "Help me pull! These cables are really stuck!" Not to mention the pouring rain was making it harder for her hands not to slip off.

"We need to go directly to the source," he declared and, knowing the types of shouts he was about to get, got onto the rail to climb up yet again.

"GET DOWN!" she jumped from the ground but soon regretted her shout when it nearly made him slip. "Oh my God, please just get down!" she called in a much quieter but still frantic manner. "Let me do it!"

"Out of your mind, you are! That's my job!" He sent her a wink, keeping her still for a second.

Renata swallowed incredibly hard as she watched him climb even higher. It was just like the last time. He was trying to do something for them and she had her hearts in her mouth with fear. She peered down to see it was a long way to the ground. He could not fall. She'd jump to catch him.

The Doctor did his best to keep a grip when he reached the top of the sphere at the pinnacle. He opened the sphere up and was relieved to see he'd finally found the main controlling device inside. If he shut that thing down, the storm would be no more.

"Doctor, did you find it?" Renata called from below. "Please be careful!"

He smiled to himself while he kept searching. She still very much cared about him. Hope was very clear right now. As soon as this was over, he was going to try and talk to her again. He just needed to finish this.

He searched like mad for a way to end the storm and to his delight, it almost made him laugh really, he found one simple toggle switch in the middle. With one flip, the storm was no more. He soon heard the cheers and clapping from below and, in his excitement, he waved down at them.

"DOCTOR!" He flinched with Renata's scream. Funny how her new incarnation still had the same scary scream.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna silently walked the way to the canal where her sons remained. She kept trying to turn off the perception filter around but the device was dead by then. She yanked off her gloves and pulled her dress off to be left in her chemise. The closer she got to the water, the more it bubbled.

"Rosanna, you need to stop," Renata's voice froze her for a mere second before the woman looked back at her and the Doctor.

"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask? You, who care so much about 'children' and whatnot."

"I am sorry for the loss of your children but you had no right to steal someone else's."

"You said you were almost a Mother once?"

Renata nodded slightly. "I never got to meet them. Didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy."

"And yet you carry yourself like a Mother, when the reality is you never were one. Maybe that was a good thing."

Renata pursed her lips together. "I didn't mean…"

"Rosana, stop!" the Doctor called when the woman inched closer to the edge. "You can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. I know, Rosanna, I did it. We both did."

Rosanna shook her head. "Tell me, Doctor... can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? You, Marchioness, watch my children die off...Remember us. Dream of us." She let herself fall into the water where the last of her sons would end her life.

Renata's eyes filled with tears and turned to the Doctor, where he would hold her and remain for a few minutes.

~ 0 ~

With the storm gone, there was only cleaning to do afterwards. Gabby caught up with the group after being tasked to bring Guido and Isabella to a new home they'd oh-so-luckily won.

In a lottery.

Gabby laughed at the Doctor's sheer cluelessness but it always warmed her heart when he pulled these stunts for people. Isabella would soon be back to normal and then they could live happily in their new home.

"Alright you two you," the Doctor called to Amy and Rory who did seem far happier than when they first arrived. Maybe the trip wasn't a total loss. "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"Best not," Gabby mumbled to him on her way to the TARDIS. Those jokes were still on hold as far as he knew.

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me," Rory said suddenly. He wasn't quite accustomed to this type of life. One moment, he was sure that all he wanted was for Amy to stay away from the Doctor because he was dangerous...but then a moment later he himself wanted to go help. It was like an invisible urge he wasn't yet sure how it worked. "I'll just say you've…"

"Stay…with us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay," Amy smiled at him as she came closer to his side. It could do well for her mind to finally get things cleared up once and for all.

"Wow, this place just gets bigger huh?" Gabby laughed. So far, she loved Rory. She would definitely be good friends with him with the time.

"Fine with me," the Doctor said and spared a glance at Renata. She was keeping her distance again but upon being called, she came closer to them.

"Of course Rory," she smiled at the man sweetly. It was a smile that hadn't come up in a while, making the Doctor just a tad jealous of Rory at that moment. "And yes Gabby, it does keep getting bigger."

"Long way from where we started," Gabby said with a saddened smile. If only Donna could see them now. She would love it. Of course, Donna would love it even more if she could figure out a way to get Renata and the Doctor back to talking. Time was they would each take their half and make the two Time Lords fix their problems in the end. Now...now it was just her. She had to figure out a way to do it. "Rory, you want to see the swimming pool?" Gabby suddenly asked. "I bet Amy told you how it got lost, huh?"

Rory nodded. "Oh yeah. Talked about it for hours."

"Hey," frowned Amy.

Gabby laughed. "C'mon!" She reached for the TARDIS doors and opened them up, ushering the two in, then pointed a warning finger at the Doctor and Renata. "I am not letting you in until you talk to each other and I mean really talk. No more screaming, no more being cryptic—"she sent a direct look at Renata, because Gabby was sure that the woman was doing that bit again, "—and just...just talk, alright? Amy and Rory are doing well so I think...I think you can too." She pleaded to them with a tiny, almost minuscule smile, to heed her words. She disappeared in the TARDIS shortly afterwards.

It wasn't the place the Doctor envisioned for his talk with Renata but he would take whatever opportunity arose. He turned around and saw Renata had already put distance between them again. She had her arms folded over her chest, tightly enough to appear more like she was hugging herself rather than putting on a stance. She wasn't looking at him.

"Renata, Gabby's right. If Amy and Rory can work through a relationship of a few years I think we can do the same."

Renata's eyes darted to him in a snap. "Our relationship hasn't exactly been great from the start. Or did you forget that 700 year gap between then and now?"

"How could I? But really, what's the point in bringing out all the bad stuff that's already happened? You're clinging to all the bad parts!"

"Someone has to be realistic!"

"About what!?"

"About the fact that we always end up hurting each other! I love you, yes, but what if this is just destined to end in heartbreak again?"

"It's not—"

"How do you know!?" Renata practically screamed frantically. This time, however, she paid no attention to the gazes of the onlookers. "How do you know it's not going to end like the first time?"

The Doctor remained totally calm, an eerie calm that Renata silently questioned how it was possible. Wasn't he afraid of the same thing? Didn't he ever think about how things could end between them again? It terrified Renata. She didn't think she could handle that again.

"Because I have no intention of letting you go," the Doctor finally answered her, looking matter-of-factly. "Never again." Renata blinked. He looked like he had all the answers, he definitely felt like he did.

"Renata," the Doctor came closer to her and before she would even think of backing away, he wrapped an arm around her waist, "Last time we did this, things were so different. We were on Gallifrey, our heads filled with all these customs and rules — you more than I, let's be honest." Renata rolled her eyes. "We were so young. You weren't even out of the Academy. I, personally, had no idea what the hell I was doing. I mean, you know, more than what it is now. Last time, I was too much of a coward to come back for you. We argued, you told me to leave you even when you didn't mean it, but I still did it. I left you, I ran away, and I never looked back. I'm not doing that again. You screaming at me is a cover up for what you actually feel. It's always been how you operate. You grew up learning how to bottle up your feelings and keep quiet. And you don't get it, Renata..." the Doctor managed a small chuckle, "You still don't get it. You don't have to do that anymore. You don't have to be cryptic or hide how you feel. If there's something bothering you, tell me what it is. You won't get in trouble. Tell me what you're thinking. Tell me everything that's running in your head right now."

Renata nervously licked her lips. She couldn't meet his waiting gaze right away but at least she was making the effort to. The Doctor took that as a good sign. He wouldn't expect her to pour all her feelings out on the first try. It was a centuries-old battle that would last for a while. Little by little, he would help her change that habit of hers.

"It's hard," Renata admitted with tears in her eyes, her voice strained even then.

The Doctor brought his hands to Renata's cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears rolling down her face. "I know. I know it's hard—"

"No, you don't know," Renata shook her head, sniffling, "Because you've never struggled to talk to people. You always say what you want, whenever you want—"

"And that usually lands me in trouble," the Doctor reminded her for the sake of bringing a little humor to her right now.

"But you always have the courage to say what you want," Renata reiterated how different they were. "You were the one who confessed first. All those years ago, you said it first. You told me how you felt. Doctor, if you hadn't, I would've never said anything. I can say what needs to be said, but never what I want to say. Look how long it took me to tell you who I was when you and Martha found me? I hate myself for that — I hate that I can't tell you and even more that I end up lashing out instead like it's your fault that I'm so incompetent."

"None of that, please. You're not incompetent," the Doctor said, pressing a kiss on Renata's forehead, "Some people are naturally more shy, quieter, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not asking you to stop being neither of those. I just want you to know that you don't have to keep things bottled up inside. The way you grew up has played a huge role in the way you express yourself, yes, but it doesn't mean that you're 'incompetent'. You built a whole Foundation on Gallifrey, expanded it because you knew how to use your words in the right way."

"That's business, Doctor," Renata whispered, "I'm good at business, but everything else..."

"So let's take it step by step," the Doctor offered her, "It's going to take a while but we have all the time in the world. We can start right now."

"I don't know..." Renata sniffed, "It's frightening telling you..."

"Gala, talk to me," the Doctor spoke to her in their native tongue, cupping her face. With that, her eyes immediately locked with his. "Tell me what's wrong. You can do it. I'm here, listening."

Renata's eyes started looking around their immediate area. She was not used to being so open about a relationship, much less talking about it. It just felt wrong — like she was doing something that was wrong.

The Doctor leaned over and pressed another kiss on her temple. His lips lingered on the spot, wanting to be close and comforting for her. "I'm here," was all he said, implying that she could take as long as she needed to and he would stay right there with her.

Renata's eyes closed with his presence so close to her. She did love him. She loved him so much and it pained her to be so challenging for him. She wished she could be as carefree as others were, but there was just something inside her that didn't allow it. But if she didn't learn how to let go, even just a bit, she ran the danger of losing the Doctor. She couldn't let that happen. "I'm...I'm afraid..." She brought her hands up to the Doctor's arms, perhaps gripping them a bit tightly but he never said a thing about it. "I'm afraid that we won't work again. I'm...afraid that just like the first time...something is going to tear us apart."

"What's going to tear us apart?" the Doctor asked her, leaning back from her enough to meet her gaze.

"My sister did it first," Renata reminded him, "And now...now there's Amy..."

The Doctor chuckled. "Amy got confused but she's harmless, trust me. Plus, she didn't even know that we were together. What happened was insignificant."

"She's not the only one," Renata felt ridiculous the way her tears seemed to stream down her face. She wasn't used to making such a spectacle.

"Well who else is there?"

"...River Song. She's made it very clear that she knows you in the future—"

"There is a clear difference between knowing someone and...knowing someone," the Doctor said, even shivering at the assumption Renata was making. "I have zero interest in doing the latter and not quite fond of the former either, if I'm being honest."

"You can say all that stuff but what can you really do to fight the future? Because, despite her behavior, River has made very good points about me. Points that I can't argue against. She says I'm a fraud, and I am. I'm a liar. I lied to you for so long. I'm not this golden, dainty butterfly you want to see me as."

"I never saw you as a 'dainty butterfly'," the Doctor was puzzled with that assumption. Where did she ever get that from? "I never expect you to be dainty. You're Renata. You're actually very scary when you want to be. And all that stuff that happened between us...Renata, you have to let it go. I don't mean that you have to forget it, I mean...it's just time to move on. It was horrible, and painful, but it happened and we can't change it. I'm sorry. You can't let River Song dangle that in your face. She has no business talking about it. She draws power from that when you let it get to you."

"But what she says is true, I've hurt you too much."

"And I think I hurt you just as much. Darling I'm not saying we're perfect doves, but I love you like you wouldn't believe. So I beg you, let me take you on a date. Let me show you how much I love you and how I will never stop."

Renata's eyes twinkled with tears but her lips were twitching into a smile. "Can I show you that I love you too?"

"I definitely wouldn't mind," he smiled with her. He had taken hold of her hand and raised it between them, intertwining them with his. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and brought their bodies together. "This is good. This is the first time you've talked to me like this. Are you okay?"

Renata nodded slowly. "Yeah, just...feels weird," shes admitted, chuckling through her tears.

"It'll get easier with time, I promise. You don't have to talk to the whole world. I can do that for the both of us...just...always know that you can talk to me okay?"

Renata nodded again, this time truly intending on following through.

"Does that mean we're okay now?"

"I don't know if we'll ever be okay like we want to be, but I really cannot see myself living without you," Renata whispered. "I can't do that anymore. But...please try to keep other people from kissing you. It literally hurts my hearts knowing your lips were on someone else's."

"She kissed me," the Doctor reminded her, but he understood what she was trying to say. He didn't want to picture anyone else trying to kiss Renata either, much less that her lips had been pressed to others that weren't his. "But it'll never happen again. Now, can I kiss you?"

Renata pursed her lips together. He was waiting for her to answer, being patient and yet their closeness hadn't factored in as a disadvantage for her. Of course she'd want him to kiss her. She lost herself every time he was close to her. Right now was no exception. She began to nod, very lightly, but it was enough to draw the Doctor in.

She watched him close the gap between them and when his lips had finally pressed against hers, she kissed him too. She pulled her hand out of his - momentarily worrying the Doctor that it still wasn't enough - and grabbed his jacket's lapels instead, gripping them tightly as if he were going to run off on her. If it was up to the Doctor, he'd gladly let her hold onto him for all of eternity. He didn't want to be without her ever again.