#was really struggling with this one aaagh

[spiderziege]

false's s9 mega base maybe 👉👈

🚂

[punkpandapatrixk]

Full Sturgeon Moon in Aquarius ♦︎ Moon Magick Pick A Card

This year’s Full Sturgeon Moon in Aquarius is also a rare blue moon that occurred on 19 August (sorry this PAC is so late aaagh!!!). Following an insane influx of aenergy during the Lion’s Gate, the theme surrounding this blue moon is Perseverance. This period is all about amassing resources and gathering momentum.

I’ve a feeling this year’s autumn (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius) season is going to be massive and possibly even life-changing for the spiritually awakened ones ^^ You’ve got to be in the receiver mode of miracles and rare opportunities to really notice! Practically all the aenergies now are leading us to a greater sense of freedom to do what we want when we want.

Also, there’s this sense of…a mandate…? That should push Humanity towards liberating themselves from the enslavement of automation and AI. See, technology isn’t necessarily evil, right? Think about how great it is to have the kind of connectivity we have today; how amazing information dissemination has become in this Internet era.

Technology, just like currency, is impartial. In the end it all boils down to how you’re entertaining the evil agendas of evil people using tech for evil purposes. Become aware of your own habits and inclinations if you don’t want to be a fool-tool of the raggedy corporations. In essence, this Full Moon’s Aquarius aenergy is saying: ‘Use tech to your advantage instead of becoming a slave to it.'

‘Don’t be tech’s little bitch; make it your biotch.’

High time you reclaimed your divine birthright to co-create high-quality Reality instead of getting enslaved by tech that seeks to ‘map you out’. This the era you say to yourself: ‘I’m engineering a more prosperous Reality with my clear conscience.’

GNOSIS: The Dark Rise of Brain Rot Content by Moon

deck-bottom: XV The Devil Rx, Gold Astrologer (Simon Forman), Priestess of Ritual

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Pile 1 – Heart Filled with Sweet Colours

t r a n s f o r m a t i o n – Page of Cups

I see that you’ve transmuted very many negative aenergies within yourself, most of all, negative emotions as well as sensations in your body. Seems you were guided to do this by your Higher Self and team of Spirit Guides after having experienced an extreme level of suffering—could be emotionally or physically or both. When you arrived at the most extreme end of what you were struggling with, you couldn’t have gone any other way but to turn your situation around by reclaiming control over your own thoughts and emotions, which effectively shifted your directions and decision making.

There’s a really good quote that says this: ‘When a situation is good, enjoy it. When a situation is bad, transform it. When the situation can’t be transformed, transform yourself.’ You had to learn quite a bit and finally chose to do the last. You’ve known more; now you’re wiser; but wise people are sometimes very pure and childlike. And that’s the beautiful paradox of ‘growing up’ with compassion in your heart. You transformed yourself to be kinder and more loving towards yourself and the crazy-ass situations you found yourself in; now, it’s just easier to extend that love and compassion to the world outside of yourself~♪

t r a n s g r e s s i o n – 4 of Swords Rx

Many of you tuning into this Pile most likely have been in isolation mode for quite a while. The aenergy of this FM in Aquarius, namely the ruler of the 11th House of networking, is pushing you towards becoming social again. And this time everything is going to be (or has been) different. You’ll see that not only are the people in your physical Reality a lot nicer and more compassionate (like you’ve shifted timelines) but you’re also more capable of handling the low-vibing monsters that you may sometimes still have to interact with, with more patience yourself XD

Basically, you’re learning or have learnt to operate in society with more ‘tact’ now. You’ve spent a great deal of time learning to accept a more practical conception of ‘good and evil’ in the world. But to you, good and evil isn’t just black or white; you’re a person who’s come to understand the many colours of good and evil when applied in many different situations. This is wisdom, a gift, that not many have yet to grasp. Your ‘return’ to society is for you to expand this consciousness further and wider!

t r a n s c e n d e n c e – 10 of Wands

The vibe of your ‘return’ to society at large is reminiscent of the Gautama Buddha LMAO He returned to his hometown/home and became a teacher for those who weren’t yet awakened to the higher level of consciousness he had worked so hard to attain! So yeah, a ‘modern priest’ aenergy surrounds you very strongly here; although I find that the majority of you tuning into this Pile are actually quite cute XD Idk why I’m getting a strong ‘gamer girl’ vibe from you. You could also possess a strong sense of aesthetic of your own.

You’re a highly spiritually advanced being but in a cute package, is what I’m getting LMAO At this point in time, your communication skills are getting polished and refined, far beyond what you’re already capable of doing. You may want to look where your Mercury is located in your natal chart, what aspects it makes, and check out what you have in your 3rd House, as well as check out what House is ruled by Gemini ^^ The insight will empower you further at this point in time!

full moon self-care🔻🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Red Alchemist (John Dee) & Priestess of Intuition

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Pile 2 – Solid to Liquid, Calmly

t r a n s f o r m a t i o n – Knight of Pentacles

Hold up! You’re about to jettison down a new portal of adventure, pretty soon but before that, hold up; planning and a readiness of the mind is very necessary at this moment. This Moon Reading is very tardy so I’m going to be reading an aenergy that’s pretty much already transpired by the time you’re reading this XD More to come for you in the next FM in Pisces PAC regarding this aenergy, OK? But for the most part, I’m sensing that you’re still in preparation mode for something big that’s just around the corner for you.

Just like the liquid in the glass in the pic you’re attracted to, there’s something solid that’s turning to liquid, but slowly and naturally. You’re not being burnt or heated up to melt…you know what I mean? Because melting solid to liquid can be a painful experience for peeps who’ve been through a lot, right? The Universe is gracefully granting you a peaceful time to manifest your Life Purpose in the most natural and pleasant way just yet!

t r a n s g r e s s i o n – 5 of Pentacles Rx

So, enjoy this peaceful time. I sense that it’s possible that a lot of you tuning into this Pile have been SO used to chaos and drama—so used to bubbling madly at 110C—that now you don’t know how to just…be…when no stress, no drama is going on. It could be that you were a dramatic person before. Maybe you were toxic. Or maybe you couldn’t help but be that way because you were simply surrounded by toxic betches! But that’s all in the past, OK?

If you look around and become aware of where you are now, it becomes super clear how far you’ve carried yourself away from all of that low-vibrating Reality ^^v Understand that you’re ‘weaning off’ drama, chaos and other types of ‘addictions’ caused by high-level toxicity in your old Reality. I’m getting that this is the prime time to study as much as possible about ‘surviving narcissistic abuse’ to give you not only knowledge but also validation :D

t r a n s c e n d e n c e – Knight of Cups

Other than just ‘surviving’ trauma, if that part doesn’t necessarily ring true for you, there’s also this sense of just using this peaceful time to readjust yourself to a more spiritually attuned Life. Perhaps some of you are getting into crystals, meditation, healing audio tracks, subliminals and reiki. Maybe there are other ‘spiritual’ hobbies and practices beyond these ones hahah You’ll know if you resonate~ I’m being told that this Aquarius FM really does bring that sense of balance between ‘spiritual practices’ and ‘modern technological living’ for you.

Maybe you’re meant to know more about this (especially if you identify as a Starseed) but a lot of the human qualities that we classify as ‘positive mental states’ are…technology. Things like harmony, peacefulness, positive mindsets, intelligence…all of these are practically technology. There are ways we can trigger such ‘states of mind/being’ by means of…technology. So yeah…Imma leave you with that for now XD

full moon self-care🔻🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Green Magus (John Dee) & Priestess of Energy

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Pile 3 – Integrity Just Like Jelly

t r a n s f o r m a t i o n – Page of Pentacles

The other two Piles are very focused on the idea of rest and self-care, but as per usual, Pile 3 is always about going places and learning shit LMAO In this regard, if you’re not physically going places, this is indicating your mind going places through meditation, daydreaming, movie-watching, or documentary-binging. You know what I mean~ This the period you’re enriching your inner world through any means available to you at this moment.

Whilst doing this, don’t forget your water intake, OK? Vitamins and real foods are crucial for you at this moment. Your cells are digesting a lot of Light. Remember that Light is INFORMATION. That’s why Darkness is the absence of information, right? Light is Information; when Information is digested well it becomes Knowledge; when Knowledge is applied well it becomes Wisdom; when Wisdom is put to the service of all it becomes En-light-enment~

t r a n s g r e s s i o n – 7 of Pentacles

Prospering towards wisdom, I’m seeing that you’re currently being taught to be perfectly OK with things taking their sweet time to unfold! If this is the Pile you resonate with the most, you’re literally on the precipice of your grandest Life Purpose yet! Your Life Purpose is big, you know that, right? It could possibly even change the world or perhaps you resonate with having a Life Purpose that revolves around the creation of a Prototype what will alter the way Humans think or do shit~

This either shares a resemblance to Nikola Tesla or Adolf Hitler. This either takes on the archetype of Sadhguru or Teddy Bundy~ Your take LMAO Either way, you’re meant to disrupt your society and scatter it all! But that’s the thing, right? If you’re gonna be a social menace that’s in the service of Light instead of Dark, you’ve gotta learn to keep your INTEGRITY. Because… what was that again? Absolute power absolutely corrupts?

t r a n s c e n d e n c e – King of Swords

‘Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test.’ – Robert Ingersoll

‘It is from weakness that people reach for dictators and concentrated government power. Only the strong can be free. And only the productive can be strong.’ – Wendell Willkie

‘To have intelligence there must be freedom, and you cannot be free if you are constantly being urged to become like some hero, for then the hero is important and not you.’ – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Do you understand your role in the next chapter of your ARC? Not to be some kind of a narcissistic wielder of power but to be a gentle-albeit-passionate reminder for the people, that only they can save themselves from this pathetically enslaved existence of theirs caused by a lack of Integrity.

Got no integrity? Got no intelligence? Go succumb to AI already -__-;

full moon self-care🔻🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Gold Astronomer (John Dee) & Priestess of Integrity

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☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

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[grimmtells]

What would an interaction between Arlekin and Pomni be like?

✦ Here's an interaction they had ! Probably happens around a week into Pomni arriving at the circus and still struggling to find her mark (this third person, but mostly pomni's pov/thoughts)

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Pomni sat silently at the border of the digital lake, far away from the tent and dipping her feet or — shapeless whatevers that they were — in the water. She stared idly at her reflexion, absentmindedly inspecting the details of this new face that had replaced her own ; those saturated pinwheel eyes, that clownish white face, those miserable strands of hair… she'd never really been a massive fan of her face before, but it was arguably better than this one.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't feel the presence floating up to her when gloved hands grabbed her shoulders.

“Ah, there you are !”

“AAAGH—”

Pomni shrieked, taken aback by the sudden pull-back to earth and yanked herself away.

SPLASH

Unfortunately, that way was the lake. Pomni quickly swam to the surface, coughing up some of the digital water she almost choked on, only to hear an obnoxiously pompous laugh. She looked up, all too annoyed at the sight of the circus’ other jester, Arlekin.

“Oh, my dear colourful little Pierrot, you're so silly aren't you ?” He smirked, “Were you dying to go for a swim that much ? You'd no need to wait for me ! Ah ah ah~”

Pomni glared at him, getting herself out of the lake and squeezing the water out of her hat.

“What do you want,” she groaned, not very inclined to have any lasting conversation with him.

“How delightful that you’d ask !” He hummed, clasping his hands together, “See, like I told you before, myself and Kaufmo used to perform together-” 

Before he could even finish, Pomni’s eye twitched as her annoyance bubbled into anger.

“I DON'T want to perform anything with you,” she scowled, “I don't care what you and Kaufmo did, I'm not Kaufmo and I happen to think you're a jack%$!#.” Her words were sharp, but none seemed to wipe off the smirk on his face as he eyed her down. “Like I told you before, I'm not doing any stupid skit with you.”

“Oh, you wound me !” He dramatically bemoaned, feigning offence and pretending to clutch imaginary pearls.

But after squeezing enough water out of her hat, she grabbed her shoes and made a beeline for the tent without sparing him another glance. That didn't mean the mask-faced jerk wasn't following her, though.

“Please.” He scoffed, “Call Jax a ruffian all you want, but me ? I'm just teasing you, Poms, nothing so dreadful as you make it sound like !”

“We don't have the same definition of teasing,” She responded dryly.

Arlekin floated to her side, resting his face on his hands while wearing an amused look. 

“We also have differing definitions of fun, amore, yet I'm at least putting in an effort for us to get along~” He hummed.

Pomni shot him a baffled glare.

“Ugh,” she huffed under her breath, picking up the pace. She wasn't about to play mental gymnastics with him.

Intentionally lagging behind, Arlekin crossed his arms, smirking still.

“I give you a few weeks, tops.” He shot, flatly.

Pomni halted her tracks. For a second, she tried to tell herself he wasn't referring to what she thought he was referring to.

“A few weeks for what ?” She asked with an air of unease, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she kept her back to him.

“Before you abstract, of course.~”

He said that so matter of factly that when she turned around to face him, he looked almost darkly disturbing to her, just for a moment.

“What are you saying ?” She breathed, clutching her shoes.

“Ah ah ah, oh my dear, don't shoot the messenger.” He waved a hand dismissively, “it's just an observation, a fair warning you could even say.~”

“An observation ?” She frowned, completely appalled, “saying I'm basically gonna die is an observation ?” She took a step forward, never feeling so ready to hit someone square in the jaw as she did in that moment.

Arlekin sighed theatrically, like he was the one dealing with a difficult case.

“You sweet, worryingly dim-witted thing,” he said, “like a dainty doe, immobile as a statue in the face of a speeding car's headlights ✧” He recited, in a light, breathy voice, like he was narrating something.

“What the f—” 

“Don't you see ?” He cut her off, floating right up to her face, “that you're doing everything in your power, intentional or not, to abstract?”

“What ? I—” She stammered, “I haven’t—”

“And don't say you haven't been doing that.” He countered, glaring down at her, “Jax told you Kinger has been here the longest, but you've not been told yet that oldest circus member he may be, I, among this group, am the second oldest resident.”

Pomni frowned. Was he boasting about it ? He continued.

“And unlike Kinger, I am still sane enough to catch the warning signs.” He added, “Isolation, Pomni, is not the solution. Desolation as you mournfully miss your former self isn't either. I suggest, you do not think too much of the past, for your sake and our own.” 

He sounded strangely curt, despite smirking through all this. Almost like he’d told this many times before, enough times to be annoyed to have to repeat himself.

“I—” Pomni struggled finding her words, “Why would you care, anyway?”

“Oh, do you think me so inhumane ?” He scoffed, “Nobody likes a funeral, you see.” The humour had a hint of sourness, “but if you wanna be the next portrait everyone speaks morosely of, be my guest !~”

“Wha, i don't— !”

“You don't? Deepest apologies, I really thought you did, with the way you behaved.” He snarked, “whether you like it or not, this is your new body” He pointed to her, “this is your new home,” he gestured all around them, “and there is no exit.” He spat, his face now scrunched in anger for the first time, “so if you want the slightest. slither. of chance. at staying sound of mind, I suggest you try to be a tad more positive, invested, dare I say. Else, we'll have another sorry crossed-out face among bedroom doors.”

Pomni’s face was a mix of confusion and agitation. She didn't like how genuine he sounded. No matter how honest he looked, she couldn't help but feel this didn't come from a place of worry for her. Yet, he did look very mad, why ? 

She breathed in and out sharply to collect her thoughts.

“I'm still not doing any — skit or performance thing with you,” she maintained as sternly as she could, “but— fine. I'll start being more— ... involved,” she conceded.

Immediately, Arlekin's smile returned.

“Baby steps, tesoro,” he cooed, “Even I know to praise efforts being made.”

Pomni watched him waltz away to the tent, humming a little melody to himself. This whole thing left her feeling slightly more uncomfortable than before.

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You guys interpret all that however you want 👀

[redux-iterum]

aaagh, with the epilogue out i want to say a million things, but have to resist. thank you both for all the amazing work you've done with this series, it's an absolute treat! it's hard to ask anything that plagues me without getting into potential future spoilers, really, but i'll give it a go. what was darkstripe's apprenticeship under tiger actually like?

Thank you for reading and enjoying the story! It's a pleasure to write for this universe, especially with people actually liking it.

I don't think we'll really get into it in the books themselves, so I'll say that Darkstripe has always been a very angry, bitter cat, even when he was an apprentice. He has no reason to be like this - cats have dealt with much worse than he did in his life and come out way kinder - but some cats are just bad people from the get-go. The only one he ever really respected was Tigerclaw, so Bluestar assigned the two together.

The problem in apprenticeship wasn't a lack of following orders or having a bad attitude with his mentor (quite the opposite, in fact, which I'll hold off on elaborating on until Charred Legacy). It was just the fact that he couldn't get along with ANYONE that wasn't Tigerclaw. Even his father and nephew have no kind things to say about him, which he uses to fuel his mentality of "everyone is against me when I'm the reasonable one, I'm in the right because I see the truth about who they are and I'm not wasting my time with them". You know those people who think everyone else is an asshole when they're the problem? He's one of those, and it was even worse as an apprentice.

Tigerclaw's main struggle was keeping him out of arguments and getting him to be halfway decent at conversing with others. You can see for yourself how well that went, but Tigerclaw really did give it his all. The fact that Darkpaw would change his attitude immediately when his mentor was around was a massive relief to everyone else. They sort of left him to be Tigerclaw's problem, for understandable reasons, and when he earned his name, he restricted his interactions to only be with Tigerclaw. His family doesn't matter to him. They're meek and idiotic, as far as he's concerned. Tigerclaw's the real cat worth following in this forest.

[officialauthorofanotherworld]

aghhhh ok fine

I did do a music post in the past, but i'll indulge you, @jev-urisk XD

(quickly tho, cuz i'm writing rn)

one song each and a explanation of why :D (i was gonna do three each but then this post would be crazy long)

also, spoilers for Party of Three becase i can't explain these things entirely without spoilers (i tried my best to avoid massive ones)

As such:

Vague-ish spoilers for Taka's future

Minor spoilers for Beriyl's past

Relatively massive spoilers for Arthur and Eirairr's backstories

Taka:

Refrain Boy - ALL OFF

(I am very very passionate about music so this will probably be a long post despite me saying otherwise lmao)

Reasoning: This song to me, embodies a lot of things. The "going ahead with life even though it's hard," that really awesome feeling a lot of shonen have about "pushing through stuff with your friends no matter what," that "great things are gonna happen for you in the future" vibe, its really hard for me to put this emotion into words, but just the "You can look forward to fun stuff in the future, and as long as you have your bonds and yourself, you'll be okay, even if it's sad and hard" and i really, honestly think that embodies Taka very much. He is very much a person who cares VERY much about his friends, he's a very adventurous person, I'm very honored to get to write about him because his journey is to me, one that is very special and very beautiful. We literally watch this scared little kid grow up into someone capable of saving the world, and I think that is just beautiful. We watch him come into his own sort of groove, find out who he is and who he really cares about, what he stands for. It's just really beautiful and very personal to me. I've always loved this song, but in a sense I think it encapsulates the "journey" of Tamalnh, and my own personal journey over the last few years. Except I have far less friends than Taka, and I am nowhere near as happy as he is.

Beriyl:

Aaagh, honestly Beriyl is a tie up between Fightsong - Eve and Yumemigusa by BLUE ENCOUNT

Beriyl's story and him as a person I feel like both of these songs fit him pretty well. His is a story much darker than Taka's, because he's practically a survivor of childhood neglect. For fear of spoiling too much, I really don't know how to explain this without doing so, but Beriyl's story of overcoming self-worth issues, figuring out who he really is and what truly matters to him, and standing up for those things, is one that I think is really beautiful.

Beriyl is an immensely strong person, even if maybe that isn't readily apparent for the first, oh... two hundred pages of the book.

Arthur:

ROAR by ulma sound junction

This lyric in particular; "Where destiny gets robbed and torn in half,"

He lost everything at a very young age, struggled with severe, suicidal depression for many, many years. And he nearly did do it. In a way, he lost his future, then clawed it back into reality with his own two hands, fully intending to die all the while. He may never be able to fulfill that lost childhood dream of adventuring with Rend, he may have lost his family and village, but he found Taka and Beriyl. And they saved him, from himself, in a way.

Ecirr and Qlul:

PRIDE OF A NAMELESS HUNTER - Tadayoshi Makino

Ecirr to me, embodies the "grace" and "refinement" that Qlul doesn't really have. Qlul is the warmth and energy, the relaxed and "silly" side of the coin here, whereas Ecirr is the calm, cool, "serious" side.

Now, for some reason, I don't have a playlist for Qlul. But I do have a theme I feel fits both of them very much so.

L no Theme B - Hideki Taniuchi

Here's one more that resembles them :')

ok fine one more (feels fitting for book 2's tone)

AGHH ALSO BOOK 2 THEMING

Ecirr is really smart, and Qlul's not stupid. This song (L's Theme) to me feels like when they combine their only visible braincells and actually pull off something cool.

Eirairr:

Man, Eirairr is hard to summarize in a single song. He's such a chaotic person.

The enigma of an elf, the Eirairr-ness of... Eirairr.

Here's a few: Kannon by Kita Kouhei

Blue Moon by LiSA

Tyottohitoiki

At his core, he's a good person. He cares about his friends and has an unfathomably great love for life itself. He's also a very tragic figure, as being born as a Pactborn-Elf means that, no matter how long he lived inside that Realm as an immortal being, once outside he's only got a hundred years. Can you imagine how short a hundred years would feel to someone who's lived that long?

Eirairr himself says something to this extent; and yes, this IS a pretty big spoiler, but its necessary to really get my point across.

Some context: A very long time ago, there was a period where Fae were very active, and several curses were placed on various people/parts of the world back then. One of these was locking several "clans" of elves into permanent deification as "guardians" of elements of the world, hence "Pactborn" elves. So you have "pacted" elves of the mountains, seas, forests, etc. They basically exist in a plane that is one "layer" above the physical dimension, which intersects with the Fae realm. They can't leave their "assigned areas", and if they do, they are cursed to die in a hundred years.

(the relative timespan of a human, basically.)

Eirairr was born into that, lived for a very long time, and then decided to leave. When he left, as part of the Curse, he was given knowledge of the modern world, clothes and a weapon, and basically told; "Good luck."

alright that's all from me :D did lots of tumblr today, lots of writing, very productive day today :DDDD and i have work tomorrow aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh not excited

ok bye

[mihrsuri]

Numair, Ozorne & Thayet for the ask game!

My NOTP for them: Ozorne circa Immortals Era. Step away from that man Emperor Mage, I don’t care if you are still in love with him. On the other hand there is so much love there - it’s not healthy love (it’s possessive, abusive and ultimately destroys Ozorne but it’s still there)

My BROTP for them: Numair and Kel have such lovely interactions - though not very many of them but it’s so sweet. And Numair and Onua best friendship.

My OTP for them: I love Numair/Daine and I’m also like UGH about it which is a weird place to be but there we go (I think newer editions have aged Daine up and Numair down which does make a difference). Also Ozorne/Numair/Varice in an AU where Ozorne and Varice ran with him.

My second choice pairing for them: Listen the Numair-Thayet-Jon (and Alanna and George) OT4 is so so great (I’d add in a few more people here as well honestly. Like the addition of Raoul-Buri-Gary-Cynthia say)

My fluffy pairing for them: Numair/Daine and also like, definitely Numair/Jon/Thayet/Alanna/George honestly. Plus also Varice/Ozorne/Numair in the time before Ozorne goes full possessive dick on everyone.

My angsty pairing for them: Ozorne/Numair/Varice. AAAGH THE TRAGEDY IT SLAYS ME (I am rereading Tempests and Slaughter and like they love each other so much and it could have turned out differently and AAAAGH).

My favorite poly ship for them: The found family OT4.

My weirdest pairing for them: Maybe the OT4. To me this makes sense, but also this is me. The other thought is that, listen Roger of Conte travelling to Carthak and getting creepily into a young Arram (which he does not know about because Roger gets distracted by his and Chioké hate fucking but also he doesn’t get distracted because he’s thinking about Arram the entire time :shudders:)

My intrigued-by pairing for them: If I ever did a crossover type thing I absolutely believe in my soul that one of the Doctors and Numair would have a thing.

Ozorne

• My NOTP for them: Ozorne/Becoming Emperor. Should not have happened. Someone please rescue the vet student who wants to vibe with birds from this entire thing.

• My BROTP for them: Listen if Prince Stiloit had had more scope/time/hadn’t been murdered by Fucking Chioké I really think it might have made a difference

• My OTP for them: It is actually Ozorne/Numair/Varice in a world where things turn out differently. I think they were good for him (which I’m sure Numair struggled with the idea that he couldn’t save people from Ozorne or Ozorne from himself but they/he did make a difference. It just…got too much).

• My second choice pairing for them: Ozorne/Someone Get This Child An Adult Who Can And Will Help Them Please. (Also my OTP)

• My fluffy pairing for them: Ozorne/Numair/Varice, spymaster ozorne verse. They are so so so happy.

• My angsty pairing for them: Ozorne/Numair/Varice, canon edition.

• My favorite poly ship for them: Ozarrice

• My weirdest pairing for them: Somewhere in my head, there’s a world where Thayet and her two oldest children were bought to Carthak with Numair and unfortunately Numair/Thayet/Ozorne happened.

My intrigued-by pairing for them: There was something going on with Ozorne/Chioké and it’s Nothing Good. Or alternately Ozorne/Tristan which was also Nothing Good (Tristan is always aware that he’s never going to be loved/will always be a very distant second to Arram and Varice and it’s not helping anything)

Thayet

• My NOTP for them: I’m not sure that I have one (though now that I thought about it - Roger/Jon/Thayet UGH).

• My BROTP for them: Alanna and Thayet’s friendship helped save my life I am not even kidding.

• My OTP for them: Jon/Thayet my beloved beloved OTP. I truly believe they love each other so much - enough to carry on after either of them dies. Enough to work through things. I think they are soulmates and all of that.

• My second choice pairing for them: I actually kind of don’t have one. Maybe the poly ship below.

• My fluffy pairing for them: Jon/Thayet

• My angsty pairing for them: I really don’t think I have one.

• My favorite poly ship for them: Numair/Thayet/Jon/Alanna/George/Daine

• My weirdest pairing for them: The poly ship. Or okay, this isn’t exactly a ship but there’s the Ozorne/Numair/Thayet AU.

My intrigued-by pairing for them: Listen the Thayet/Varice/Ozorne/Numair/Jon in a spymaster ozorne AU.

[julien5-malfunction]

Being any kind of h0rny is such a conflict to my inner order and values.

[Ramble fantasy about mental masochism and escapism and something like that aka I wanna be tied up and torn apart. (this isn't about sex) ]

The only way accept such states is when it has to do with masochismmm and I'm kinda having unmet needs or something, or well I do often but it has risen to the surface again.

Like then you think about stuff too vividly and it makes you twist inside, I wonder like, what would it be like IN REAL LIFE if a thought makes me squirm. Maybe the ppain on the heart would be gone finally, as these fantasies do include rather 'wholeome' and 'innocent' things happen to me, such as (1) having deep convertations that go on for ages and dissect ones soul and like really het in there an empty it out till there is nothing left to say about a topic it's such a mind fuck. It's a need.

And (2) getting my needs for physical touch met, I don't mean that in a sexual way as my orientation is asexual, but the skin starvation is real and it's wrecking me mentally. I see it as a resource to manage, like a bar to keep at a certain level to avoid pain. But the thing is, the resource is so rare. I just. Simply do not ask for a hug. I'm too discusting and uncomfortable in my own skin, I can't stand being touched, yet I crave it so fucking bad, it's so dumb. I rely on random encounters of accidental contact to get my fucking fix, it's just AAAGH. I just want to hug a dog or something and I need a good lenghty moment for that, I'm pretty sure things will get intense for me and the other party will pick up on that, if it's a human, and they'll get uncomfortable by that. Like, for some reason it's like my skin is full of sharp teeth and diagestive enzymes and it'll begun to dissolve them if I touch them, it's that bad, I'm that hungry and I wear a muzzle so I don't bite.

(3) other than, that I have the occational desire to be, first of all; in a way accepted and good enough for myself, as an requirement for this other scenario to be possibe. To be desireabe enough that someone will take an interest in me and actually want to be with me, accepting the excisting misalignments of my psysical and mental beings and best case scenario we become partners in crime. Best case scenario I'll be enough to fulfill their needs while staying withing my boundaries and vice versa.

Best fucking case scenario they're eaqually fucked up as I am and they agree to physically restrain me, tear me apart from the inside out and put it back together, like rip the mental bandaids off and clean the wounds of trauma and make me face my demons, verbally, not judgeing the sheer emotional teardown that's gonna cause in me, and I'll end un crying and my ego struggles and makes me shout back but you presist. Aknowlegement that I'm in hurting, that I'm crying, but no judgement, no yelling. I'm allowed to be in pieces on the floor, I wouldn't need to feel fear of being judged for it. And you'll have to sew it in place, some kind of 'self worth' like an organ that I'm missing, install it there like mechanical heart. Shoveing it down my throat like pills won't work, many have tried. You'll have to get your hands dirty and manually put it there. Suture me back together, maybe just once, hold me, bleeding from the seams and let me, FOR ONCE cry on someones shoulder, with no shame or guilt.

And time passes by and the sutures dissolve. The cuts grow new tissue and join. I would have gone much more quiet by then. There was no more pain to complain about. And you'll observe the ever so slight smile and ambient peace in the moments I'm quiet and thinking about the past, guestioning that, maybe, just MAYBE I'm deserving of nice things and maybe I'm deserveing of kindness and happyness and peace and don't need to feel guilty and ashamed all the time. And I'll look at you in the eyes and you can see that the surgery was a success and the pain is gone.

I'll probably ask you if we should go to the store to get incredients so we can make something nice to eat and assemble a puzzle while it's cooking in the oven. We'll have a sleepover every once in a while but we both have our own lifes too that require resources so after a while I learn to become less clingy and I won't get in the way of that.

And ofc dabble in some light bdsm, bc I'm curious! and a fucking masochist! and I wanna get to an insane level of pain tolerance physically and mentally. I'd like to say it's somewhere above what I other people have let me understand as an avrage but really, it can't be measured, so my opinion of my experience is a valid metric here and I want it high.

It's a superpower really, I take pride in it.

I just. AAAAGH. i need it i need it i need it I need to prove myself i need it to feel good about myself i like the rush of endorphines i wanna get hooked on it aahh i wanna struggle, life is boring, my life is so boring, I need to feel something , i wanna feel decent about myself for a breif moment 👉👈 like GIVE ME A FUCKING CHANCE to prove myself, that I can manage it my mind won't break under pain and I'll smile and laugh about it because it makes the rest of my shitty fucking life seem like daisies and rainbows and I think can make it trough hell and I'll find out just for fun. And I'm tied down or whatever so I can't escape and you tell me it's useless to try but it just fuels me and I try and try and try and I won't quit until I escape and I laugh at you because I did and you didn't think I could

I think it would be

so gratifying

and I'd just remember that I did that and randomly just chuckle about it and grin bc

fuck yeah I did that, I'm like that.

...I'm like that. I'm something.

[pamithebunterfly2007]

Wardenberry (Written by me)

One Day at Superjail The Warden is starting to get hungry as the wolves until Jailbot came to his room and he held a pastry which is a blueberry shortcake. “Why thank you my sweet Jailbot! I hope this will make my tastebuds go craving for more of this sweet shortcake that you made!” Exclaimed the Warden. He takes a bite out of the shortcake and it was marvelous, he ate it so quickly that he was eating it at a fast pace and he was finished quickly and boy he was full, until a small burp came from the Warden’s mouth and he thanked Jailbot for the blueberry shortcake but jailbot kept a blank expression on his face hinting that something is not right. The robot notice a small blue spot on The Warden’s nose and the color spreads rapidly around his face. “What’s the matter Jailbot?” The concerned Warden ask Jailbot until his robot arm pointed toward a mirror which suggest that he wants the Warden to look at himself but the Warden thinks that something is wrong with himself. “Wait, something’s wrong with myself?” The warden ask the robot as he is walking towards the mirror “look Jailbot I’m perfectly fine you see, when I look at the mirror I as myself a-AAAGH!!!!!” The warden’s sentence was cut of by his scream and Jailbot was right. He is turning blue all over his body “Jailbot, What’s happening to me?!?” The Warden stammered as he is fully blue until he heard some gurgling and his stomach started swelling up. “Stomach, I already ate and I-uhhh..” the warden then stop his sentence and look at his bulging belly. He felt his swelling stomach and he was in shock to see that his stomach is not just swelling up just because it wants more food but swelling up with blueberry juice.l his butt suddenly swells up too which caused him to almost lose his balance and stared at his huge juicy butt. “What was in that shortcake?!?! Jailbot! Go fetch Alice or Jarred or someone. Please Help m-mmmmpphhh!!!” A surge of juice came from his throat to his mouth which causes his cheeks to puff up and his eyes turning into a sapphire blue color. Jailbot then gets out of his room to tell someone about this mess and the Warden moaned in fear and whimpered as he kept on swelling and he is getting more bigger and rounder until he finally rounds out and all of his arms,legs, and head sucked in to his huge blue body and he is left completely and utterly helpless and he got so big that he can no longer fit inside his room anymore and his head is nearly touching the ceiling. Jailbot, Jarred, Alice, and the doctor came to his room to see the problem and they all turn pale white. They can no longer see The Warden but a giant blue ball wearing tight clothing, A blueberry or as much to call it, A WardenBerry. “Sir, is that really you?!?” Ask Jarred “Mppphhhh!!!” The Warden can’t speak but only muffle due to the juice inside of his cheeks, “whelp what can we do?” Ask Alice. “We’re going to have to get all of the juice inside of him immediately before he explodes.” Explained the Doctor. “EXPLODES?!?” Jarred and Alice shouted out loud and the Warden’s eyes widen with fear and whimpered “But don’t worry, the juicing process will might take an hour and a half.” The doctor exclaims and they roll the WardenBerry to the doctor’s lab and contains a huge juicing machine and at first, they all struggled to put The WardenBerry to the juicing machine but he was fit perfectly fine. A few hours later, after a good fledge on juicing, The Warden is now fully juiced but still blue and also has a towel around his body due to the fact that he is so skinny that his clothes are both wet,big,and blue too. “Sir your alive!!” Shouted Jarred with glee. “It’s good to have you back” said Alice. “Thanks guys but still I’m blue as a blueberry and I wonder when that blue pigment is going to disappear.” Said The Warden “Well possibly it will take days or even week for you to get back to normal so don’t worry about it” The doctor Stated. The Warden nodded softly and felt tired and that’s when jailbot carried him back to his room to take a nap. The End

(Credit to EvoDevio67 from “The Site for making me this)

[heliosthegriffin]

Domain Expansion; Nobody’s fool anymore.

In the Emerald Forest various students were fighting for their life, as a sudden surge of Anthro-Grimm have invaded Beacon forcing a unexpected conflict between the Hunters of Light and the Beasts of Darkness.

One student in particular who has been separated from his team struggles the hardest for his life, Jaune Arc.

A shield comes up and blocks a clawed fist, but pushes the boy back wielding it.

Again and again fist after fist slams into his shield, and forces him further and further back till he till his back is slammed against a emerald tree painfully.

Jaune grunts in pain and fatigue as he blocks another blow, the strength behind the blow sending tremors up his arms as he blocked two handedly.

‘Just got to hold on, just got to hold on till someone can save me, no way I can beat this guy on my own.’ Jaune thinks to himself as he can feel his reserves being chipped away further and further.

A roar of annoyance catches his ears, as the twelve foot tall Ursa Master charges again, it Bear like bone mask hardly showing any emotion though, merely raising it’s fists together before dropping them on Jaune.

He barely manages to block it’s hands, as he is sent to his knees in the process. A leg as long as Jaune was tall then struck out into his guts with a powerful clawed foot, Jaune gasping and spitting as he feels the shockwave spread throughout his body before he is flung through the emerald tree flying through five feet of dense wood without his momentum stopping as he flies nearly a mile across the forest destroying any thing in his past till he lands in a heap, in paralyzing pain.

“Aaagh, is this it?” He asks himself, raising his hand in front of himself, shakily, hardly able to keep it from falling down. “Did all my training really mean nothing?”

He is given no chance to answer as a black shadow forms across the .sky that gets bigger and bigger till it falls right on top of him. The Ursa Master dropkicking him into the ground, Jaune gasps in other pain as the worlds starts to go dark as the Ursa Master punchs him again and again with body-shattering hits after body-shattering hits.

His mind drifts away to the day before as his aura drops away to nothing, and the Ursa Master breaks his body into pulp.

*Day Before*

Jaune stares at his mentor nervously, the white-haired headmaster smiling happily. “C’mon Jaune, you need to move first.” Jaune nods and charges forward to tackle Ozpin with his shield, but the white-haired man sidesteps, so Jaune tries to stab at him only for it to be dodged with nonchalant ease, he pulls back and tries to slash at the man’s neck, but it is batted away with Ozpin’s cane.

Jaune jumps back and holds up his shield, and Ozpin unleash a series of devastating jabs with his cane. Jaune holds still enduring the blows and trying to wait out the onslaught. Ozpins smirks and changes the direction of the cane to hit Jaune’s knees.

Jaune twitches as the blow shakes him, his legs starting to give out on him, and then finds himself on the floor as Ozpin knocks him to the ground cane to Jaune’s throat.

Ozpin takes a sip of his coco. “Hmm, still terrible.”

Jaune’s face falls.

“You’re not meant to stay behind a shield, Jaune. This sit and wait will not work out for you.”

Jaune frowns. “I’m not a fighter, I’m a aura-buffer, a team player, Oz. I’m just trying to be as helpful as possible to everyone else.” Ozpin leans down and stares into Jaune’s eyes with his arcane green eyes. “And that is not what I let you into my school for Jaune, despite your severe undertraining.”

“But, my semblance and my aura are meant to lift up other, Oz. I’m meant to be a hero.”

Ozpin lifts the cane up and shakes his head. “Silly boy, who told you that?”

“Everybody.”

“Well, then they’re stupid.” Ozpin says sticking out his tongue. “And, I’m the headmaster so my opinion matters more.”

Jaune grabs his mouth as he starts to laugh, then sits up.

“So what am I then?”

“A huntsman like anyone else here, and remember Jaune, all Huntsmen must hunt alone eventually. There will be a day when you must fight for your, or someone else, life, and you will have to drop your shield and go hog-fucking wild.”

Jaune stares at Ozpin in shock.

“You’re potential is among the highest I’ve ever seen, up there with Ruby or Pyrrha, now lets get you up to par.” Ozpin says raising his cane again.

*Back to Present.*

The Ursa-Master stabs it’s clawed fist through Jaune’s abdomen straight into the ground beneath sending cracks in the earth everywhere, spraying blood through the air, blood flowing freely out of Jaune’s eyes and mouths.

Jaune gags as he comes back to consciousness hacking up a mouth full of blood.

He stares at his hands in the sunlight, he drops his shield. “I-I’mmm not a fucccking fffailure!” He puts his hand on the broken ground and pulls himself forward and headbutts the Ursa-Master so hard the mask shatters and sends it realing back, revealing a human looking face with bear features, shock across it’s face.

Jaune growls and flips off the grounds to face the Ursa, sword in hand, and guts hanging out from his gaping stomach wound. He smiles. “It’s time to go full fucking hog!” He plants his sword point down into the ground and closes his eyes, the Ursa-Master takes a unsteady step back. 

A explosion of aura comes off of the Jaune. “I won’t wait around more, I’m sorry Oz, I should have taken you’re lesson closer to heart, hehe, I won’t be anyone’s fool anymore. No one will need to save me now,” Jaune opens his eyes looking at the Ursa-Master with utter serenity, having turned a crystalline blue as light leaked out behind them. “Cause you taught me that-”

Jaune doesn't get to finish as bone spike goes through is head, the Ursa-Master having fired a spike from it’s hand.

Jaune’s head falls back, but snaps back, the spike pushed out, the gaping hole healing in microseconds. “What my semblance actually is.” He holds his hands in prayed above his sword. “Domain Expansion: New Testament - Heaven’s Light.”

Light, soft white light spread across Jaune, the Ursa Master, and then all of the Emerald Forest, cutting it off of real space to form a pseudo-dimension. 

The white light touched each Huntsman in the forest, refill their aura reserves and amplifying they’re power by an order of magnitude, everyone who was touched felt the message in their head. “This is Jaune speaking, fuck ‘em up for me.”

Cries of battle sounded off beginning a one-sided massacre. 

Four Hunters in particular responded back.

“You got it, Fearless Leader! Break their existences!” Nora said with lightning flying from her eyes, going down her hands and through her hammer, as she was about to fight a Lamia-Master.

Ren gave a proud smile. “I believe in you, Jaune. So, come back safe.” His body fading in and out of light, about to fight a Yeti-Master

Pyrrha stood atop a mountain of dead Grimm, staring down a Dragonis-Master, a myriad of weapons rotating around her. “Hmm,, so that’s what laid dormant in you,” She smiles fondly. “I could get used to it, so make sure to come back Jaune.”

Ruby’s eyes glowed with power, a cloak of petals behind her. “There it is, I knew there was something in you.” She faced a Ancient Beowulf-Master. “We’re going to have so much fun when you get back.”

Jaune’s wounds begin to knit back together with ease, he held his sword up with both hands. “Sorry about the light show, but I don’t know what I just did exactly, so I’m just going to hope it’s enough to beat, and if it’s not, well not like I’m afraid of dying anymore.”

With a step Jaune appeared in front of the Ursa-Master and swung his sword down connecting instantly, the Ursa-Master having only a fleeting moment to show horror before it was erased by a curtain of light that came down for miles behind it, scaring the land deeply by it’s holy power dispersing any Grimm that it touched.

Jaune looked at his work, and then down to his sword. “Woah, I’m a little scary, aren’t I?” The light then evaporated in a shower of rainbows, releasing the pseudo-space. “I’m a little sleepy, now.” He said before falling asleep.

His friends would later find him in crater statured with holy energy and evaporating Grimm corpses, a miles long scar in the earth in front of him.

[ghoste-catte]

9, 18, 27

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

I don't believe in ghosts, but I am afraid of them.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

Aaagh, it's always hard to pick one of these, but I'll go with this bit from if you're really finally mine (i need to know that you're not lying)

“If we don’t die,” he’d said once, and fully expected to die. As he always expected to die. Had always expected to die. Every putative mission since his storied, miserable childhood.

That fear of death was the only thing that kept him living, some days.

But then they hadn’t died. And Gaara had been promised this.

He’d planned for it like it was a job. Like there was a payout in hard cash and a meal of just-rare meat to be eaten across from Lee waiting for him at the end.

This fic is a little bit of a quirky one, because it's the sequel to a "mafia band AU" that was partially written and never published by @egregiousderp, which spun out from a hilarious misunderstanding of the way GaaLee Bingo was supposed to work. I am lucky enough to get access to their fic drafts from time to time (under the table porn exchange). So the lines referenced here are lines from that unpublished fic. There's a moment, for example, during their first time when Lee asks if they can do it again. They're mafia members undercover on a retrieval mission at a Battle of the Bands, and during it they realize they're in love (and then bone in the back of Naruto's shitty wizard van). So Gaara meant it when he replied, "If we don't die." It was a genuine possibility. Gaara was born into that life and Lee was conscripted into it (as Gaara's bodyguard and later his partner). So they've both faced down death, together and separately. Lee's taken bullets for Gaara. Likewise, the rare meat thing is a reference to the unpublished fic, where Gaara eats like a little bit of a monster and Lee is both fond and chiding about it.

Playing in someone else's sandbox is always an interesting time. Skuun has very specific characterizations for these two in this AU, so I tried really hard to hit those. Gaara is more unhinged and feral, and Lee is quite smitten with him but also willing to push back and tease him, because he's sort of the only person who can get Gaara to do things. And they've been in love with each other for a very long time, sharing beds and hotel rooms and stitching each other up but never saying those things, so Gaara especially has a lot of years of pent up UST. I tried to emulate Skuun's style a little bit in the fic, too, which is really fun and unique. It means a lot of rumination during the act and a lot of short, punchy sentences. I had to go back and break up a lot of my behemoth sentences to match the original tone.

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Temari. I struggle with having a good bead on her character, which is unfortunate because Kankuro is so easy. I'm cognitively aware of a lot of her character traits and can list them, but I don't feel like I have the strongest sense of her voice. I am also very wary of having female characters care about nothing else other than the main M/M ship, because I know it's a common sidelining tactic that's especially prevalent in fic. This is difficult for me, because I tend to write fairly tight focus on the romance, and I know I don't always hit the mark with Temari especially. I often want to write her more mistrusting of Lee and taking a long time to warm up to him, which I think is true to her character, but I also don't want the weight of having to pull focus from the romance to deal with that conflict, and I definitely don't want to rehash it every time I have these guys fall in love. I really envy writers like @sagemoderocklee, who I feel captures her voice and priorities perfectly.

Weird Questions for Weird Writers

[intheticklecloset]

Just For a Minute (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

At this point I’m pretty sure I’ve read every MHA tickle fic there is on Tumblr. I LOVE this anime so freaking much; it’s become an obsession at this point. Help me. XD’

Note: This fic is not part of the 12 Days of Ficmas.

Shoutout to the Anon who wanted to see lee Bakugou and ler Kirishima! Your request didn’t match the criteria I set up for the 12 Days fics (and I had already written this before your ask came in), but I see you! :D

~

Bakugou grunted when Kirishima nudged his side. To his credit, he didn’t flinch, but his whole body tensed, and the redhead noticed.

Kiri looked at him sideways. “Hey, man.” A smirk appeared. “You ticklish?”

Bakugou said nothing at first; only sat very still and appeared as if he were concentrating on something. Then he muttered under his breath, “I don’t like it. So don’t even think about it.”

Surprised that he hadn’t outright denied it, Kiri’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, really? No way!”

“Don’t get excited, idiot,” Bakugou growled, finally turning to glare at his friend. “I said I don’t like it.”

Kiri nudged Bakugou’s shoulder this time. “Come on, dude. We never hear you laugh.”

“I laugh all the time, moron.”

“I mean really laugh. None of that evil I’m-going-to-destroy-the-world nonsense.”

“Forget it.”

Kirishima looked across to Kaminari, and the two exchanged a brief nod. Bakugou was on his feet in an instant, but both boys tackled him right back onto the couch.

“Get off!” Bakugou yelled, sounding as angry as ever. He pushed at both of them, managing to succeed in getting Kaminari off him while Kirishima merely hardened his body so he was immovable and pushed the blonde down to the floor. Bakugou growled and sparks began to appear in his palms, but Kiri stopped him.

“Ah-ah, Bakugou! You can’t do that; you’ll blow up the whole living room and get in trouble with Mr. Aizawa.”

Bakugou growled, still struggling. “I said I don’t like it! Let me go!”

“Come onnn,” Kiri whined. “Just for a minute.”

“No!”

Kaminari reappeared. “Here, you pin him down with your quirk. I’ll do the rest.”

“Idiots! Let me go!” Bakugou shouted, fighting every step of the way as Kiri climbed off of him to reposition himself behind the blonde’s head, bringing his arms up and pinning them down firmly while Kaminari straddled their explosive friend. “Wait!”

Then Bakugou was biting down hard on his lip, using every ounce of strength he had to keep himself in control. Kaminari’s fingers skittered all over his ribs and stomach, forcing him to twitch and struggle to get away, but it was useless.

“N-No, this is—” Bakugou ground out, every word sounding like it pained him to speak it. A single bark of laughter escaped him before he regained control. “This is harassment! Get off, you idiots!”

“Just let it out, Bakugou. You know you want to~” Teased Kiri from behind him, but his words only made the blonde angrier.

“I do not! Dang it, let me go!”

Then Kaminari found a spot – right at the top of his ribs, beneath his underarms – and Bakugou giggled. Instantly his face went beet red, even as his mirth continued to spill over despite his best efforts. “N-No! Idiots, l-let me go, or I swear I’ll—!” Fingers moved up into his underarms, making him lose control even further, giggles being pulled out of him whether he liked it or not. He thrashed beneath his captors, face nearly unrecognizable for how red it had become. “Gah! S-Stop it! Seriously, I d-don’t--!”

“Ugh, stop fighting it,” Kirishima said, shifting so his knees were pinning Bakugou’s arms down now. Eager to get in on the fun, he scribbled in the blonde’s underarms while Kaminari returned to his ribs and sides.

“Knock it off!” Bakugou demanded, still struggling as much as possible. He managed to make Kaminari lose his balance a couple of times, but ultimately he was still trapped.

The two captors looked at each other again, and again came to a silent agreement. In the next instant Kaminari was untucking Bakugou’s shirt and sliding his hands underneath while Kirishima slipped his wiggling fingers underneath his short sleeves.

Bakugou jolted. “Nohohohohohohoho!” Soft, reluctant laughter poured from him freely now, and his body reacted more by squirming than anything else at this point. He squeezed his eyes shut to block out their grinning faces, but then immediately opened them again. Nope. Not doing that. “Agh! S-Stahahahahahap you mohohohohorons!”

“But it’s nice to hear you laughing, Bakugou,” Kaminari replied with a smile.

Kiri nodded. “Yeah! You’re always so grumpy and serious. It’s good to see you lighten up a little.”

“F-Fricking get ohohohohoff of me!” Bakugou managed between snickers. “I swear I’ll k-kihihihill you bohohohoth! Stahahahahap!”

“Uh…guys?”

The new voice made all three of them freeze and turn. Deku had entered the living room, looking completely perplexed and a little flustered. He looked first at Bakugou, then Kaminari, then Kirishima, and back to the first again. “W-What…what’s going on?”

“What does it look like, Midoriya?” Kiri scoffed good-naturedly. “You should know.”

“B-But…um…” Deku met Bakugou’s eyes for the briefest of moments before the blonde turned his face away, obviously blushing furiously from embarrassment. “He doesn’t…he doesn’t like it, you know? Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

That nerd was defending him now, dang it. Bakugou hated this. He hated it with every fiber of his being. Deku knowing he was ticklish was one thing. They’d grown up together; it was practically inevitable. But this? Having two of his classmates find out and then use it against him? This was a living nightmare.

“We just want to hear him laugh for a change,” Kaminari replied.

“Yeah! Oh, hey, Midoriya – you two grew up together, right?” Kiri asked, grinning. “Want to give us some tips?”

Suddenly Bakugou was struggling again, kicking and pushing against his two captors with renewed vigor, hoping that their being distracted would also mean they were off-guard. This was true for Kaminari, who toppled off of him with a yelp of surprise, but the same couldn’t be said for Kirishima, who continued to hold him down firmly like an immovable boulder.

“Dang it, spiky hair! Let me up already!” Bakugou yelled, keeping himself curled up so he could kick Kaminari away again if he needed to.

Deku frowned. He could tell his friend was really uncomfortable and embarrassed, but he didn’t know what to say to get Kirishima to let him go. “Listen, I know it would be nice to see Kacchan smile and laugh for once, but…it’s not worth making him hate you later, you know? Believe me, being on the receiving end of his wrath is not…not fun.”

Bakugou dared a glance back at Deku and was surprised to find him looking just as unhappy as he felt right now. Suddenly he had flashbacks to all the times growing up where the nerd would follow him around everywhere like a puppy – both before and after he got his quirk – always there to have his back and offer encouragement, even though Bakugou had never asked for it.

And here he was again – years later – doing the exact same thing. Defending him, trying to protect him, even though Bakugou never asked and never wanted it in the first place. Even though he had put Deku through so much torment over the years.

“UGH.” Bakugou growled loudly, letting his legs fall back to the floor in resignation, rolling his eyes. “FINE. Look, I hate this. I hate it. But if it will get you idiots to leave me the heck alone – and as long as you swear not to breathe a word of this to anyone – then fine. Just do it. Get it over with already.”

“K-Kacchan…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” Bakugou snapped. “Just tell them and get on with it.”

Deku hesitated, but eventually the expectant looks from Kirishima and Kaminari coupled with the resigned face of his childhood friend made him cave, if nothing else just so Bakugou could be relieved of his suffering.

“I-It’s, um…y-you gotta…” Deku sighed, kneeling down beside them. “Here. Like this.” He didn’t dare look at Bakugou as he curled his hands into fists and drilled his knuckles into either side of the blonde’s ribcage.

“AAAGH!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Laughter exploded from Bakugou, his struggling coming back twice as strong as before. The atomic teen blushed so hard it spread to his ears and neck, but he couldn’t stop laughing, and Deku found he suddenly couldn’t stop smiling, either.

“Whoa! Dude, let me try!” Kaminari exclaimed, repeating what Deku did and making Bakugou unleash a new round of hysterics.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Me, too!” Kirishima reached over to repeat the action.

Bakugou writhed, lost in ticklish agony. “AHAHAHAHALL RIGHT ENOHOHOHOHOUGH ALREADYHEHEHEHE!! STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Just one minute,” Kirishima replied, beaming. “I promise.”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU IHIHIHIHIHIDIOTS!!” Bakugou shrieked and thrashed and dug his heels into the floor, but none of it saved him, and he was blushing so hard Deku wondered if he could even breathe. “FRICKING STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!! YOU GOT WHAHAHAHAHAT YOU WAHAHAHAHAHANTED!!”

“What about here?” Kaminari asked, knuckling into the spot that had made Bakugou break the first time, and the blonde dissolved into silent laughter.

“All right, that’s enough,” Kirishima announced, climbing off of his friend’s arms. Kaminari hopped off as well, leaving Bakugou to curl up in a ball and catch his breath.

Deku sat back, watching his friend with a worried expression on his face. His heart was pounding. He had no idea what Bakugou would do to any of them now that he was free, and it terrified him. “Kacchan—”

“Shut up,” Bakugou growled, though he didn’t turn to face any of them. “Not a word. Not a single. Word. Understand me?”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Kirishima said with a nod.

Kaminari concurred. “We promise.”

“Definitely,” Deku added, feeling the need to reaffirm the vow he’d already made years ago.

Bakugou was silent for a long while. Then he took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and sat up, climbing back up to where he’d been seated on the couch not five minutes ago. He snatched up his textbook and glared at its contents. “Ugh. Where were we?”

[karmalizedpixie]

I was supposed to finish this piece yesterday but I kept struggling with what I really wanted for the background :U it felt too bland without a colorful overlay Unsure whether 'll be able to finish that of Culionome before June, otherwise I might have to do that one next month ...if there's any room left between those artfight attacks aaagh XD also if there's anyone else joining and wanting to fight me in artfight, here's my link ; https://artfight.net/~KARMAlized

[juhani]

I think about how well loved kira must've been by both his parents.... like aaagh!!!!

well anon i hate to disagree but </3 this is a perfect time to bombard you with my thoughts. i am sorry but here have it. tw for parental abuse, stabbing, death, typical kira stuff

directly from ronnie and i’s dms<3 hes my enabler. okay

-

[um okay general tw for abuse and stabbing and death in case<3 SO WHAT WE KNOW is that his parents were older when they had him, and they both passed when he was 21 within a short amount of time span of each other. he had already killed before they had died. jotaro mentions how the family was very close, but judging from everything we know and the context, it wasn't a good close, and kira didn't enjoy it. the neighbors also shared jotaro's sentiment.

we also know he developed his... hand fetish as a kid, so i would take that was a sort of escapism for him. a weird fucking one but something he used to get away from his parents and i wanted to specifically talk about his mother's abusive coddling. she was so overprotective of him and his father ignored it and pretended it never happened, and i think later in life when his father is in the Polaroid trying to help him that's a way of him trying to make up for letting his mother coddle him so much as a child. also whenever kira didn't get his way as a kid, he'd bite his nails so much they'd break. i think his mother would give him whatever he wanted.

i think that his mother was so honed in on protecting him because he was her only child and judging on how his parents were older, they could have adopted him but she could have also just had him late in her life which is entirely possible, but going off of having him late in her life, she probably was overjoyed to have a child and wanted to make sure nothing ever happened to him and probably struggled watching him grow up.

the attention from his mother so constantly, i think that was also a reason he kept striving for average, never going over the top. we know he's a very intelligent person, so it's very much calculated and as he got older he kept this way to not get noticed because of the murders, but i think it started out as a way to keep attention off of him because he didn't like that his mother would do it. he participated in competitions, and maybe he did enjoy those to a degree, but he kept under 3rd place because lets face it, if you're under 3rd place you won't get nearly as much attention as the top 3.

another thing is that his father had the arrow and before he died fucking... stabbed kira with it. we know it was after reimi's murder and a few others, so his father probably found out and did it. he would have been 18-21 when that happened. i think kira values killer queen for the fact she can help his 'quiet' life versus his gruesome method of what he had usually done before he got her (stabbing them in the back extremely severely), but i don't think he thanks his father for that at all. he believes that luck is on his side and i think that even if his father hadn't had done that with the arrow, kira would believe that he would have gotten his stand on his own. 

when kira kills hayato and starts to panic in the bathroom, yoshihiro, his dad, tells him that maybe he should leave morioh. kira gets extremely upset with him, telling him he will never leave the town and live his life in fear. so he obviously does not give a single shit about what his father thinks, and i don't think he really cares that he tried to 'protect' him from the other stand users in morioh. OK. kira childhood meta]

[shadowjack12345]

The Path

"Aaagh! Dammit!"

Asami cursed as the chair hit the uneven ground, the remains of a ruined building, beneath her. The parachute had slowed her descent but the landing had still rattled her teeth. She clawed at the harness around her, holding her in her seat, but it wouldn't give. She felt her eyes sting and she bared her teeth as she yanked and snarled at it.

Her father was dead.

She grunted wordlessly, forcing the thought away and fought even harder. She stopped and forced herself to slow down. She knew how to release the harness, and trying to rip it off with brute strength wasn't the way, at least for her. She suspected Korra coud probably do it that way. With that thought, she looked up and imagined she saw a flash of blue, accompanied by several other dark shapes, disappear into the hole she and her father had...

Her father was dead.

Her hands fell limply into her lap and she stared blankly ahead. Her vision blurred as hot tears started to fill her eyes, and her chest ached as her breath came quick and heavy. She wondered if she would scream, but Kuvira's colossus ripped its own arm off and hurled it straight over Asami, landing some blocks away with a deafening crash. The adrenaline surged through her and she managed to get her hands to work again - she was still in the middle of a battlefield, stuck in this damn seat. She found the release and the straps fell slack. She pushed them from her shoulders and started picking her way through the rubble to the street. Before she even made it that far, the colossus drew her attention again as it started to make some worrying noises. She watched it carefully for a long moment, then gasped as its midsection exploded and the whole thing fell to earth in pieces. Her mouth leaped into her throat and her legs shook as she started to make her way to the wreckage.

It seemed to take an age, and by the time she had found her way to a clear road, the way ahead was consumed by an expanding burst of spirit energy. She darted into a nearby stairway and covered her ears as it roared past, yelling uselessly at the cacophony. Quickly, more quickly than seemed possible, the maelstrom ended, and Asami cautiously opened her eyes and turned back to the street. When she stepped out, she was immediately drawn to the green and yellow spiralling light that seemed to be flowing up into the sky. Surely everyone else would be heading that way as well.

The sight of the phenomenon would have been spectacular if she hadn't been beside herself with worry. She had bumped into Tenzin, and they had found Mako and Bolin. They said Korra had chased Kuvira into the Spirit vines, and that was now a crater, the epicentre of the explosion. Tenzin had called it a spirit portal and Asami reminded herself to be amazed later, when they had found Korra. Mako and Bolin checked the remaining wreckage with no luck, and everyone started calling Korra's name, not knowing what else to do. Asami just stood, looking around at the vines but not seeing. She couldn't do this. She couldn't lose her father and then Korra all at once. She couldn't let Korra go without-

"The spirits have returned," Tenzin said, hopefully. Asami turned to face him and then followed his gaze to the portal. Just as Korra stepped through.

"And so has Korra!" Asami cried, barely even realising Kuvira was with her. The adrenaline spiked again when the Earth Empire troops showed up, but Kuvira quickly and conclusively surrendered. And that was that. They had won. Su and Lin took Kuvira away and, on shaking legs, Asami reached out to Korra. Her hand landed on her shoulder and she smiled, and Korra smiled back. She was really okay. Bolin cheered and turned it into a huge group hug that nearly collapsed under everyone's weight. Asami took a deep breath, her hand still on Korra's shoulder, and let herself relax a little - the battle was over. The airbenders and White Lotus guards started to show up to take care of the Earth Empire prisoners, and one of them took Mako away to have his arm looked at, and Bolin followed. Tenzin was giving his airbenders instructions as they came and went, and Korra was with him. Wait... she was looking right at her.

"Asami, are you alright?" she asked. Asami tried to say she was fine, but blackness crept in at the edges of her vision and the ground was rushing up towards her. "Asami!"

/

Meeting Korra had drastically altered the path of Asami's life. In a relatively short time she had gone from being an inventor and minor celebrity to a vigilante patrolling the streets looking to fight the Equalists, but only after Korra had exposed her father as one of them. She was arrested, then broken out, then she fought and defeated her father in a mecha-tank. And Mako left her for Korra. Maybe she should have been mad, but Korra had been genuinely sad to show Hiroshi's true colours. And Mako had made his choice, Korra hadn't made it for him. She remembered at the end of it all, waiting as Master Katara unsuccessfully tried to restore Korra's bending, not knowing what to do next, only for Korra to come back and demonstrate that she'd restored it herself, or Aang had at any rate. She remembered the awe she felt when Korra's eyes shone with white light and she returned Lin's bending as well.

Their next adventure was just as exhausting, her company on the edge of ruin, the dark spirits, Varrick, Mako breaking up with Korra, then breaking up with Asami, then breaking up with Korra again! Their attack on Tarrlok's forces was the worst kind of long shot, and even at the time she couldn't quite believe she had flown a plane with Mako and Bolin strapped to the wings to attack the ground. They had lost that gamble, or would have but for Bumi, and Korra had trusted Asami with her father, who she had taken for healing. It had been wrenching to leave the others to fight, but she knew Korra could spare them even less. And so she had sat and waited with Katara, Jinora and Korra's family while the world turned dark around them. It didn't last too long, but it felt like an age as they just waited. When Jinora blinked and woke up, calm and peaceful, she had told them something, just a few words, that once again shifted Asami's world around her.

"Korra saved the world."

They had stayed in the South Pole a while longer while Korra and her people chose a new path for the Southern Water Tribe, and Asami offered what help she could, though her resources were a fraction of what they had been, thanks to Varrick. She managed to get a first-hand account of Korra's battle from Bolin, rolling her eyes when he described Korra becoming a giant spirit, just as big as Aang's statue back home. She looked to Mako and waited for him to chide Bolin for exaggerating... but he didn't. He only nodded along and shook his head at key moments, clearly just as astonished as his brother. Asami still struggled with their account - it was too much, even for the Avatar. Right? Only when she returned home to Republic City did the reality hit her. Bolin's wish of someone capturing the fight on film hadn't come true, but there were plenty of photographs. There she was, clear as day on every front page, and as tall as a skyscraper.

Asami had cried that night. The sheer immensity of what Korra was, what she could do, was too much to bear. It made her feel insignificant and small, yet she also felt powerful, elevated by her association. Korra was astonishing, and Asami would make sure she knew it. She had found her the next day, back at Air Temple Island. Korra was staring out to sea, and saw as Asami docked her small boat.

"Hey, Asami!" she called, waving. Asami smiled back and made her way to join her.

"Korra. How are you?" she asked. Korra was smiling, but there was a shadow behind it.

"I'm not sure. A lot has happened. Is it weird to mourn now for someone who died the literal moment I was born? It sounds weird, even by my standards," she said. Asami smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Korra. I wish I could empathise with that," she said. "But I can empathise with breaking up with Mako, at least." For a heartbeat, she though the joke was a huge mistake, badly timed and badly judged. Then Korra laughed, a loud guffaw that had her clutching her stomach.

"You... you are bad, Miss Sato," Korra laughed. Her laughter stopped abruptly when Asami threw her arms around her and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Thank you," Asami said tightly. "Thank you for saving us." Korra blushed and fidgeted.

"It's okay. That's what Avatars do after-"

"I don't care," Asami interrupted, pulling back to hold Korra at arms length, her hands gripping Korra's shoulders. "You saved us. You saved me, you saved Tenzin, you saved Pema and the kids, you saved your parents, you saved Bolin and Mako, you saved Naga and Pabu. You saved the whole world, Korra, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's grateful, but I wanted to be sure at least one person told you. So here I am." Asami had said alot more than she had planned to, and Korra stared back wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Then she ducked her head and smiled shyly, very atypical for the Avatar, and looked back up at Asami.

"Thanks. Thank you," she said, before drawing Asami in for another embrace. "I'm really glad you hit Mako with your bike." Asami laughed this time.

"I'm glad I met you too."

After that, their friendship only grew stronger. Asami found herself attending most of Korra's public appearances, even if only to soothe her in the face of public disapproval, and only once did she feel she had to stop Korra from airbending Raiko into a tree. Korra took to starting her days in the city at Asami's front door, the pair of them sitting for breakfast before they each went about their business. Asami took to following Korra home in the evenings to share a meal with her and the Air Nomads, who were always glad to have her. Tenzin still remembered Asami's part in his rescue from the Equalists and so treated her with warm respect, and Pema followed suit. Jinora was politely curious while Ikki was... impolitely curious. Meelo was Meelo.

Then came the airbenders. Somehow, Korra's actions had birthed a whole new generation of airbenders, and she resolved to find them and help them. The first person she turned to for help was Asami, hoping to loan an airship. Asami gave them the ship, crewed it out of her own pocket and piloted it herself. That got her one of those hugs where her feet left the ground - she liked those ones. Team Avatar was back together and, slight awkwardness with Mako aside, it was a lot of fun, a grand adventure. Asami was delighted to find out that, as well as being good friends, she and Korra made a good team, whether fighting bandits or the Earth Queen's soldiers or escaping a giant desert creature. It was odd, looking back later on such happy memories, as they led to such an unhappy conclusion.

The Red Lotus. A secret society devoted to killing Korra. Who she was made no difference to them, only that she was the Avatar. Anything they learned about her was only used to manipulate and destroy her, nothing more. On some level, Asami understood it wasn't personal, if that even mattered, but she didn't care. She very quickly learned to hate them, and the moment when Korra said she would give herself up to them only made her hate them more. They expected treachery and even planned for it, but it hadn't been enough. Korra had been taken, poisoned and beaten within an inch of her life before they were able to reach her. The look on Korra's face when she reached up to her father, eyes shining white, just before the poison almost claimed her, would feature in Asami's darkest dreams for some time. She stood there, unable to move, unable to breathe, and watched Korra die.

It was cruel, she would think later, that that was the moment she became certain of what Korra meant to her. Friends, yes. Best friends, even. But there was more. There was so much more. And Korra would die before she could say any of it.

Until Jinora shouted something at Su Yin and then, Korra moved and coughed and spluttered and lived! She was alive! Asami almost fainted on the spot, but she breathed, she moved, and she smiled when Korra reached up to her father and spoke.

Korra's condition was... bad. Asami moved back to Air Temple Island to help care for her, even made sure she had the best wheelchair possible. Korra let Asami see her, really see her, at her lowest. Only her parents were allowed to remain as close, and Asami struggled not to make any assumptions, to let her imagination go wild - it was an inappropriate time to dump her feelings on Korra and inappropriate to speculate on Korra's feelings. She needed help and Asami would provide it, willingly and happily. Even so, their time together became more intimate by necessity, as Korra needed help bathing, dressing even eating at first, and Asami felt herself falling harder.

When Korra left, Asami was torn. Korra said she'd only be gone a few weeks, and Asami had offered more than once to join her, but Korra had politely declined, citing concerns for her company and other things that Asami would gladly burn to the ground to have Korra healthy again. Still, she respected Korra's choice, partly to try and hide the strength of her affection, and partly because Korra might have been right. A break away from the city, back in her childhood home, might do her good. And Asami was of Republic City, a constant reminder. So she let her go. And while she learned to live with it, she would question her decision for three years.

She moved back to the city, and threw herself into her work. People still grumbled about the spirit vines, and so Asami decided to do something about it. If the vines couldn't be moved, the city would need to change around them. She worked furiously for two weeks on her designs, even hoping to have a meeting with Raiko to get things moving so she had some good news for Korra when she came back. But she didn't come back.

Tenzin told her when she visited the temple to hear any news, that Korra's recovery would take longer than they'd hoped, possibly much longer, and Katara was taking personal charge of her treatment. That was good, Asami supposed, but her heart ached all the same.

"Can we... Could I..." she started. Tenzin gave her a sad look and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Asami, but you can't visit yet. I'm told she is reading any letters we send, though, so keep that up if you can," he said, kindly. Asami nodded and pursed her lips, her eyes squeezed shut.

"I miss her, Tenzin," she croaked. He smiled.

"As do I," he said. He watched her struggle for a few more seconds then spoke again: "Why don't you stay here for now?" he asked. Asami blinked up at him.

"I could... no. No, you should keep your rooms for your air nation, who knows how many more you might need," she said. Tenzin stood directly in front of Asami and now held both her shoulders.

"Asami," he said, slowly, a fond look in his eyes. "You helped us find and transport the air benders. You helped them escape the Earth Queen. You fought to rescue them from the Red Lotus, including my children. You may not be an air bender, but you are part of the air nation, if you want to be. And you are welcome here at any time, on as permanent or temporary a basis as you please." That did it. Asami's tears fell and she lurched into Tenzin's arms. She looked down when she felt Jinora, Ikki and Meelo wrapping themselves around her as she had seen them do to their father. She was still heartbroken, but no longer felt alone.

Two years later, she would still often spend the night on the island, dividing her time between there and her apartment in the city. She sat at the small desk in her room, an empty teacup next to her as she tapped her pen on the still mostly blank paper. So far, her letter was exactly two words: Dear Korra. She sighed and sat back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. She had dutifully written, as she had been asked, for two years but having received no reply, she was starting to wonder if it was worth it. Tenzin told her that she was reading them but were they just trying to make her feel better? She didn't know what to do.

"A sign would be nice about now," she muttered.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Asami?"

"Uh.. come in Tenzin," she said. His timing was unsettling. He stepped in and she smirked at him. "When I asked for a sign, I didn't think to get one, and definitely didn't think it'd be you," she chuckled. He stopped dead, his brow knitting.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Asami shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, tossing her pen onto the desk. Tenzin saw the bare beginning of a letter.

"Not sure what to write?" he asked.

"Not sure if to write at all. I can't help but wonder if there's any point any more," she admitted. Understanding dawned across Tenzin's face.

"Ah. Hence your 'sign'. I see," he said. "Well, I may not be the sign you were waiting for... but perhaps this is." Asami looked up as he produced an envelope. She took it carefully and saw a post mark from the Southern Water Tribe. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Tenzin, then back down at the envelope a few times before trembling fingers started to pick it open. Just as she went to take out the folded letter within, she gave Tenzin an uncertain glance. He smiled again and bowed before leaving, closing the door behind him. Asami took a calming breath and began to read. It wasn't a happy letter, and she knew of Korra's progress already thanks to Tenzin, but it was a letter. Korra had finally sent a letter and had chosen to send it to her. She read it a half dozen times, wiping at her eyes the entire time, and then she finally picked up her pen again.

It had taken several drafts before Asami was satisfied with her reply. Frankly, the others made it a little too obvious that Asami's feelings had moved beyond just friendship (in fact she'd spelled it out in very specific terms in her first attempt). She kept writing, and a year after that, she was delighted when Korra was due to return, then crushed when she didn't appear. And when she did finally come back, the old feelings, never far away anyway, rushed right back. After their initial, slightly bumpy reunion, Asami found herself following the Avatar again, and extremely happy to be doing so.

On several occasions, she found herself wondering about confessing: sharing tea on Air Temple Island, sitting alone with Korra in the restaurant waiting for Mako and Wu, the actual literal moment she was finally able to hold Korra again in the lobby... heck, even after they'd jumped off a train after rescuing Wu, she'd wondered how Mako would take it if she asked Korra out during their group hug! It would have been a happy time if not for the ever-present and growing threat from Kuvira. And if not for her father.

She was cautiously happy when Lin had brought him to help with the hummingbird suits, emphasis on cautious. It quickly melted away, though, and they fell back into an old and familiar routine of bouncing around ideas and building them as they spoke. And, it turned out, despite everything that had happened between them, he knew her best after all.

"You should say something," he said, quietly, as they cut and soldered and welded at breakneck speed. She glanced at him.

"Say something?" she asked.

"To Korra," he answered without stopping. Asami's heart skipped a beat and her breath held itself against her will.

"About what?" she asked with unconvincing nonchalance.

"Asami, she's about to lead a team of benders against that platinum terror to buy us time, and then we're going to fly these out there to fight it. If something happens..." he said, not needing to explain further. Asami wanted to tell him he was wrong, but they had learned this lesson before. Zaheer had taught them. She stopped her work and faced her father.

"Dad..."

"Go! I'm done here," he said, indicating his work. "I can finish up for you." Asami smiled, turned, and ran. Korra was directing the airbenders as they went to drop Mako, Lin and Bolin in position, she was about to fly after them, glider staff in hand.

"Korra!" Asami called, and suddenly realised she had no idea what else to say. Korra turned to her, concerned.

"Asami? Is something wrong? The hummingbirds-"

"They're fine, we're just finishing up. It's just..." she said. Why was this so hard?

"It's just what, Asami?" Korra asked, looking over her shoulder to the same exit everyone else had just used. "There isn't much time, can we-"

"You have to come back. You have to survive this. I learned what life is like without you in it and I can't bear it. I don't want that. I want you in my life, Korra," Asami said, stepping forward and taking Korra's hand in both of hers. Korra stared, wide-eyed, but the crash of destruction drew her attention. She looked back again, then to Asami.

"I'll come back to you, Asami. Trust me," she said. Asami nodded.

"I trust you," she answered. Korra grinned that lopsided grin.

"That goes for you too, by the way. I need you to survive too, okay?"

"I will," Asami replied, firmly. She would. Korra grabbed her staff again and leapt into the sky. Asami sprinted back to the workshop. She would fight and survive. For Korra.

/

Asami's eyes opened to the night sky moving above here. She slowly sat up, or tried to anyway, when Korra appeared and gently held her still.

"Hey," she whispered. Asami smiled back, tightly. For a blessed moment, she had forgotten, but it didn't last. Her father had died to save her. Tenzin's face appeared as well.

"Asami, you're awake! Thank goodness," he said, sighing with relief. With Korra's help this time, though she didn't feel it necessary, Asami sat up. She saw they were on Oogi's back, and she thought she saw Jinora at the reins.

"I healed you as well as I could, but I didn't find many injuries. We'll have Kya check you over when she can," Korra said.

"I need to find my father," Asami said, her voice rough. Korra and Tenzin's eyes met.

"Asami," Tenzin started, gently. "Your father didn't-"

"I know!," Asami snapped. "I need to find him, I can't just leave him there."

"We won't. Once we're sure you're okay, we can-"

"No! I won't let someone else, some stranger find him like that. I need to. I need..." Asami said, starting strong but getting shakier as she spoke. Korra's hand took hers and Asami looked up at her, miserable.

"Asami. You trust me, right?" she asked. Asami's lips pursed and her eyes filled with tears and, not trusting her voice, she simply nodded. "I'll bring him to you." With that, Korra leapt from Oogi's back and vanished. The next several minutes were a blur to Asami, but she realised they had landed and she was being helped to the ground. Tenzin took her to a seat that faced the city and sat with her, while Jinora took Oogi and left again. Nothing was said. Tenzin only sat with her. Asami broke the silce first.

"I just... it isn't fair. I just got him back. We were... and now he's gone," she whimpered. Tenzin nodded, but he didn't look away from the city.

"You're right. It isn't fair," he said. Asami blinked up at him - she had been expecting him to remind of her father's noble sacrifice to make his death seem somehow less awful. "When Avatar Aang... when my father died, I felt similarly. Feel angry, Asami. Feel sad about how unfair it all is. He faced his death bravely, but don't let anyone tell you it makes it easier." Asami nodded and silence returned, more comfortable this time.

She wasn't sure exactly sure how long they'd been sitting there when there were shouts from across the water. A point of light appeared in the dark city and moved to the water. A great wave surged up beneath the light and bore it toward them. Tenzin stood and watched as it grew closer, then when it reached the island, a water spout lifted it up. Close up, it was easy to identify: Korra, her eyes blazing. She gently alighted on the ground nearby, eddying winds slowing and controlling her descent. Behind her floated an odd grey box, metal and patchy. Once her feet were on solid ground, her eyes returned to normal, and she gently lowered the metal box beside her. It was flat, only six inches high, but long, about four feet. Asami stood, and Korra, a little paler than usual, looked at her sorrowfully.

"This is... I found him," she said. Asami could see now that the metal patches of the box were parts of the hummingbird that Korra had bent into an impromptu coffin. It was so small, and Asami realised that with the manner of his death, not to mention all of the explosions afterward, this tiny box contained all that was left of her father. It must have been a grim task, and Asami sat back down heavily as her knees weakened. She stared at the box, hardly even blinking. Tenzin wordlessly checked on Korra, all too aware of the difficult task she had taken on, and she nodded back. She was shaken, but alright. He moved back to Asami.

"He can stay here with you if you want, Asami, or I can move him into the temple for now. You can stay here or follow him as you like," he said. Asami took a deep, shaky breath.

"Thank you, Tenzin. The temple would be best for now, I think," she said. Tenzin quickly summoned a pair of white lotus guards and had them carry the small coffin into the temple proper. Asami looked away as they picked it up.

"Hey," Korra said, softly, and Asami was startled to see she had sat next to her without being noticed, trying to give her a smile.

"Hey," Asami replied back, but was unable to answer the smile with one of her own. Korra's mouth worked silently as she struggled for something to say, but eventually gave up and settled for taking hold of Asami's hand and squeezing it. Asami squeezed back and tried to look back at the water, but Korra's gaze held hers. The tears came again, and Korra wrapped herself around Asami as she cried herself to a fitful sleep.

She awoke to see the ceiling of her room on the island. She couldn't quite remember how she had gotten here but didn't much care. There was a hollow ache in her chest and though she didn't sob as she had last night, tears sprang easily. She sat up quickly when she heard a sound between a growl and a whimper. On her bedroom floor lay Naga, who stared at her, and sleeping with her back against Naga was Korra, mouth hanging open. Naga stood heedlessly and Asami winced when Korra's head bonked on the wooden floor, though her loud complaints showed she was largely unhurt. Naga walked to Asami's bedside, sniffed around her face and then promptly lowered the weight of her head into Asami's lap. Asami started to idly pet the animal as Korra slowly stood and stretched out the kinks. Despite everything, Asami found herself staring.

"She knows you're sad," Korra said, turning and indicating. Asami blinked and wiped at the few telltale tears.

"You stayed all night?" Asami asked. Korra shrugged halfheartedly.

"When it came down to it, I couldn't leave you," she admitted. Asami managed a shy smile and ducked her head, returning her attention to Naga. "Did you hear about Varrick and Zhu Li?" Korra asked.

"No. Are they alright?" Asami asked. Korra rolled her eyes.

"They're fantastic. They're getting married and he will not be quiet about it," Korra grumbled.

"To each other?" Asami asked and Korra actually laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, Zhu Li's happy about it as well," she said.

"Wow," Asami said. "I don't know whether to offer congratulations or condolences." Korra laughed again, kneeling down next to Naga and scratching her shoulder. Asami sighed deeply. "I need to go out there, don't I? I can't hide in here." she said, wearily.

"That's up to you. The world will still be there tomorrow," Korra said.

"Somehow, I think the world would come looking for me if I tried," Asami said, smiling again. It was always easier to smile when Korra was there.

"They'd have to get through me," Korra said, standing and puffing her chest. Asami shook her head and gently pushed Naga's head from her lap, starting to rise from her bed.

"You're sweet," she said, oblivious to Korra's blush. "But I need to go. I need to make arrangements..." the dull ache flared into a sharp pain and threated to spill from her mouth and eyes, but she took a few calming breaths and it dulled again. "...for my father."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Korra asked.

"Korra," Asami replied. "There must be so many people that need you right now. I shouldn't-"

"Asami. I think you might be one of those people," Korra said with certainty. Asami's eyes stung again. She thought for a moment about the task ahead of her and shivered.

"Maybe. I don't need the Avatar, but maybe I need Korra after all," she said. Korra nodded and smiled.

"Then you have me."

The task itself turned out to be fairly simple. Hiroshi had left instructions when he thought he might not recover his relationship with Asami, and there was a spot already waiting next to his wife, so all she really needed to do was sign a few documents and decide whether to hold a funeral. It was also the most difficult thing Asami had done, signing her name under her father's death. As with so many other things, Korra's presence made it easier. Or did she make Asami stronger? Maybe both. Asami elected to return to Air Temple Island for now: her apartment was currently inaccessible and she couldn't face the mansion. Korra greeted her every morning and spent as much time as she could with her.

Asami chose to have a small, private funeral when her father was buried. In fact she was the only mourner. She didn't want anyone there who would only pretend to have forgiven him, either for her sake or for some political stunt. However, even though Korra's duties as Avatar had started to reclaim her time, she arrived, dressed in sombre black and dark blue, and stood by her. They didn't speak, not even when Asami gestured that Korra should join her in her car as she drove aimlessly around the city, heading back to the ferry as darkness fell. Only when Asami stood outside her bedroom door did she turn and yank Korra into a hug so tight it almost hurt.

"Thank you," she said, tightly.

"I thought you might need me," Korra whispered. Asami almost laughed.

"You were right. How lucky I am to get such special attention from the Avatar," she said. Korra pulled back a little to look Asami in the eye, deadly serious.

"Not the Avatar. Korra," she insisted. For once, Asami flushed under Korra's gaze, looking away and fidgeting as she released the embrace.

"Well..." she cleared her throat. "Goodnight, Korra." Korra smiled widely.

"Night, Asami." She kept smiling even as the door closed.

The following days were hard. The ache was becoming familiar now, but the grief easily rushed forward when something she saw or heard reminded or of her father. Her time with Korra eased her pain a little, but she was more surprised at how much other people were eager to help. Ikki excelled at distracting Asami, her questions rapid-fire and unpredictable. Meelo demonstrated an unexpected artistic talent, and Asami found herself trying her hand, usually so used to rigid diagrams and schematics. Jinora guided her in meditation, helping her sort through her conflicting emotions for her father. They rallied around her as they would a member of their family, and she was grateful beyond words. She stood gazing out to sea with Korra one day, making small talk.

"I think I've forgiven my father," Asami said suddenly. They had been talking about pro bending, and the change in conversation caught Korra unawares.

"Oh. Okay. Great! That's great, right?" Korra said. Asami smiled.

"It is. He was trying to make amends, even before, and I think he proved he was sincere," she said. Korra winced.

"Sorry," she said, slowly. Asami blinked at her. Ah. Korra had expressed suspicion when she first returned.

"It's okay, Korra, I didn't mean it like that. I was suspicious too, at first. I'd actually forgotten," she said. "I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that, I was just... it was a sensitive subject." Korra waved her hand.

"Pff. Water under the bridge. Still, I thought it was a pretty memorable day," Korra laughed.

"No argument here. But some parts were more important than others," Asami said. Korra nodded.

"Right, the Wu thing. I guess that did override everything else," she said. Asami didn't reply straight away. 'Say something' her father had told her. Say. Something.

"No," she said. "Not Wu." Korra looked confused. Asami took Korra's hand in both of hers. "You came back. You came back to me." Korra's face flushed bright red, and she let Asami keep ahold of her hand.

"Yeah," she breathed.

"I hear Varrick is holding his wedding here on the island," Asami said. Korra frowned.

"Huh?"

"Jinora told me. I think I might like to go after all. It'll be good to be part of something positive," Asami said. "I'd need some company, though."

"Uhhhh, sure?" Korra said, uncertainly. Asami took a quick breath and soldiered forward.

"Then you'll be my date?" she asked. Korra stared back, slack-jawed.

"Like... as friends?" she asked in a small voice. Asami's heart clenched.

"No." There was a beat, a long moment when Asami was convinced she'd made a huge mistake. Then Korra's mouth stretched into a wide, relieved smile.

"Oh. Oh yes. That sounds amazing," she said. Asami's smile grew to match Korra's

"It does?" she asked. Korra laughed and laid her free hand atop Asami's.

"It really does," she sighed. They both stood giggling at each other for several long moments.

"KORRA!"

Korra jumped and spun around, releasing Asami's hands, much to her dismay. Ikki waved at her from the temple door.

"What, Ikki?" she asked, testily. Ikki shrugged.

"Dad says he needs you for something. He mentioned Raiko," she called. Korra groaned.

"Fine. See you later?" she said to Asami. Asami grinned and flipped her hair.

"See you later," she said. Korra whined and started walking back to the temple, but Asami chuckled when she looked back at Asami over her shoulder, nearly tripping as she kept walking. Yet that didn't stop her from looking back once, twice, three times more. Asami waved each time. When Korra disappeared from view, Asami turned back to the sea.

"I'm in love with a dork," she muttered to herself. The path of her life had been unpredictable, and there had been pain. But it led her here, to Korra, and she found herself looking forward again, wondering where her path would lead next, more certain than ever that she would walk it with Korra.

END

I watched it again.

Hey, me finally finishing this lines up with Korrasami day. Neat.

[capriswritingnartshenanigans]

Snapshot: First Time (F!OC/Negan) (Explicit)

Snapshot one of Carrie's Snapshots. Carrie/Negan, explicit work. 2,400 words roughly. AO3.

Carrie and Negan finally get time outside of his prison cell together and alone, letting them make up for lost time and find comfort in each other.

I give Negan a shy smile as I pull him by the front of his shirt into my bedroom. He grins in response, his eyes dark. Something about the way he gazes at me the entire time causes my entire body to feel hot and needy for him. Only him. 

He closes the door behind him and locks it. He looks around the room for a fragment of a moment before his eyes are locked back onto me, the candle I left burning making their normally hazel color seem like dark pits. His tongue lightly traces over his bottom teeth as those dark pits look over me. “I had been thinkin’ I would have to drag you into a bedroom sweetheart, goddamn don’t you have some surprises up your sleeves.” I chuckle softly, leaning against his chest, my hands knotting into his grey t-shirt.

I shiver when one of his hands brush under my shirt along the curve of my spine. I lean into the other hand now cupping my cheek. “Well, I’ve only had, what… four years to build up the balls to do so,” I joke. My words cause the hungry, hot look spreading over his face to pause. It’s interesting to watch the emotions play across his features: from that dark hunger to thoughtfulness to softness he started to show around me about a year into being his daily guard. 

Seeing that softness war with his wanting for me… well, hot doesn’t really do it justice. His thumb runs along my lower lip, and in a warm whisper he murmurs, “Yeah, something like that.” I lightly kiss his thumb’s pad, the rough skin there pulling at my lips. 

“What’re you waiting for?” I ask him, trying to keep a playful, lighter tone in my voice while more deep and warring emotions make my chest tight. 

But emotions can wait. I’ve waited too long, far too long to be able to love him with my body and to feel his arms around me without anything to keep our bodies apart. 

He seems to think the same, as he almost has to force a smirk on as he tilts my chin up and moves to kiss me, but as my eyes slide shut in anticipation, his lips meet mine in an oh so gentle touch that leaves me more breathless than any passion could do. I melt into his touch as he gives me more of these soft kisses, slowly deepening into something more ardent and heated that causes my mind to spin. 

His hands run through my hair, over my skin, my hips, everywhere he can reach, and I reciprocate with the same growing need, feeling his scars and the flexing of his muscles. The image of his hips moving between mine and my hands splayed out over his tan back, feeling the strength packed into his lean form bringing our bodies together… It rips a moan from my throat, one he answers with a deep, rumbling groan in his chest. His kisses grow in their fever, ravaging my mouth at first, then my neck upper chest until I pull him back to my lips. 

When he fully pulls away, panting, I whimper and pout, and without even meaning to stomp I foot lightly. He laughs, a genuine laugh, joyful but with a raspiness that sends a wave of heat into my stomach, coiling like a spring, eager for more of his attention. “Impatient, are we?”

“Negan-” I let out a little squawk when he suddenly lifts me and tosses me lightly onto the bed. He grins down at me, moving my legs apart with my feet flat on the bed and knees bent, then places his hips in between them. 

“What? We had to get to the bed some fuckin’ time, shit.” He takes in how I look, pulling his lip lazily between his teeth and releasing it in a way that causes my blood to sear in my veins. “You can’t be the only one with surprises, darlin’, that’d be unfair as fuck.”

“Oh, so now you’re all about fairness?” I ask, my voice edged in exasperation. He nods and hums in agreement, before undoing my boots and removing my socks, massaging each of my feet in turn (with a little side eye and smirk each time), before slipping out of his own. 

“Oh, absolutely.” I sit up just as he shrugs off his jacket and sheds his t-shirt. My breathing sharpens at the sight of his lean chest being completely open to my gaze for once. My mouth watering in want, I lightly run my fingers over his scarred and tattooed skin, shivering when the curls of his chest hair tease my fingers. He hisses when my pinky grazes his nipple, and his hand whips out and grabs my wrist so fast I didn’t even see him move until it’s just there. 

Part of me had forgotten just how capable Negan can be. But his grip is gentle, not hurting. He leans in to me, his nose running along mine, his eyes hooded as are mine, our eyes peering into each other’s. It’s intimate, close, warm. He’s warm. His lips meet mine again, heated and wet, his beard scratching my skin in a way that sends chills all over my body. But, all too soon, he’s pulling away again, and… he somehow got my shirt unbuttoned in the time we were kissing. I hadn’t even realized he let go of my wrist. 

“That a talent of yours? Keeping someone so occupied with your mouth they don’t realize anything else happening?” I tease as he helps me slide out of my shirt before flinging it onto the floor. He chuckles darkly, biting his lip and leaning close.

“Oh, darlin’, you want me to show you everything my mouth can do to keep you busy?” he asks, his voice so low it’s almost a growl. The tone he uses makes my thighs try to squeeze together, but they only press against him more fully, causing his breathing to shudder for a moment. 

“I, um…” He tsks.

“That’s not an answer, baby girl,” he murmurs, one hand lightly brushing over my throat before cupping my chin. “And I do need an answer. Got to make sure you’re wantin’ this ‘n’ all.” The predatory gleam in his eyes makes my sex pulse more eagerly for him, demandingly, wanting what we’ve been missing out on all this time. 

“Yes,” I answer breathlessly, my mind beginning to fumble with words. He grins wickedly and easily undoes my bra and adds it to the growing clothes pile on the floor, then uses his body (especially his hips against mine) to move me further up the bed some. His lips meet mine for another scorching kiss, his tongue no longer teasing and patient, but demanding and his kiss is just as so. I can’t keep up with him, but before I can try to get myself on track to him, he’s moving on, leaving a trail of wet kisses and nips down my jaw, my neck, my collarbones. He gives a particularly sharp nip right on the bone, causing me to yelp and drawing a short chortle from him before his lips sooth the spot. 

I lay back down when he reaches my chest, wanting to enjoy his attention to my breasts. My hips jerk when he bites my nipples, then they grind against him when his motions become suckles, pulling whimpers and moans from me so easily. My hands play in his short hair, and one errant thought manages to pierce the heat clouding my mind: I’m so glad his hair is long enough for this again. 

But it leaves as his mouth moves further down, and it’s definitely gone when he undoes my gun belt and it crashes to the floor with a loud thunk!, and then my regular belt and pants. He bites my hip bone in the same moment he pulls my pants and underwear down in one motion. With my legs free of constraint, my feet hover around his shoulders, my eyes locked on him as my breaths come in pants. His eyes meet mine, and he holds my gaze as he lightly runs his beard over my inner thigh, the sensitive skin there coming alive under the scraping. I shiver with each brush, and his kisses nearly drive me insane.

“Negan, please,” I beg, my fingers knotting in my own hair. “Please, please, please, I can’t take it.” He sighs, but can’t hide his smile. One of his hands move from my thigh to cup my sex. 

“Mmm, that’s what I like to hear,” he replies, one of his fingers lightly pressing into my slit and rolling the small throbbing nub there slowly, causing my legs to shudder violently. “How close are you, sweetheart? Am I gonna just be gettin’ started and you fuckin’ tap out?”

“P-Probably,” I half whimper out as my hips try to press towards his hand. He watches my body arch and shake for a few moments, before his hand moves away is replaced with his mouth. He places my legs over his shoulders, then proceeds to thumb my slit open, and with a groan, his lips seal over my clit, working and rolling and suckling it wetly. My inner walls squeeze together as his mouth works, my back arching, my breathing sharp and fast. I mewl and whine and moan and struggle against him, unable to handle the intense pleasure but not wanting it completely gone, either. When I can’t stop squirming, his hands become like vices on my hips, keeping me still to him. 

“Aaagh, Negan, oh my God,” I whimper, and he answers with a dark chuckle, and as I edging close to the end, he slows for a few moments, but when I kick his back in frustration, he growls and keeps on, faster than previously, so much faster it takes only a few seconds for light to pop behind my eyes and my body both try to keep struggling and lock up at the same time. My ears deafen with a warm buzz. 

A few moments of intense pleasure pass, before I weakly push Negan’s head away. My legs and body go slack, a laugh bubbling out of my chest as my arms lazily flop onto the mattress and across my forehead. He lightly kisses my thigh before rising, placing my legs gently on the bed. I give him a lazy smile as he undoes his pants, letting them and his boxers hit the floor before climbing into bed with me finally. He easily lifts me and shifts how I’m laying so he can pull my side against his chest. “You look happier than a fuckless fuck on Free Fuck Day, sweetheart.” 

I snort, then gasp softly when his member presses against my hip stiffly. “Negan, what the hell does that mean?” 

“It means exactly what I said, shit,” he answers, acting offended. “Sweetheart, you not listenin’ to me?” I ghost my hand down his cheek, smiling when his lips press a soft kiss into its palm.

“I was, but even in all these years, I have not learned Neganese fully,” I answer ruefully with a dramatic sigh, nuzzling his shoulder. He huffs playfully, playing with my stomach. 

“A damn shame. A real fucking damn shame,” he says gravely, stuttering on the end when my hand lightly wraps around his member. He… hadn’t been lying, he is big. A flutter in my stomach and a spasm inside of me makes my breathing stutter too. He eases my hand away from him with a soft hiss, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. “As much as that feels fucking amazing, I want to be inside of you far too fucking much to let you continue,” he says in such a gruff voice it gives away just how eager he is for that exact scenario. I flutter my lashes at him before turning on my side with my back to him, bending my leg to give him easier access. Then, I lay one of my arms along my side, playing with the skin of my hip. 

“Then let’s get going,” I purr, wiggling my butt against him. He groans so deeply it’s almost a growl and one of his hands cup my ass, squeezing softly. But he stills, his other hand tracing the scars, both aged in the years and some fresh, and the even fresher stitches on my back carefully with his other. 

“Will it hurt you if I do?”

“No.”

“You sure, darlin’? I don’t want to hurt you. Ever.” His breathing shudders as he says the last word, causing my heart to hurt. I reach back and cup his cheek, gently nudging his head forward so I can press my cheek against his. 

“I’m sure. Don’t think about it right now,” I murmur soothingly, pressing myself fully against him. His hand skates over my hip, up the length of my body, to cup my head and gently move it to where he can give me a gentle kiss that both melts me completely and causes my heart to clench. The other hand works its way under me and then lightly brushes my still sensitive clit, causing me to jump. 

“Will you lead me in?” he breathes against my lips, a ghost of a grin steadily slanting across his lips. I nod and lift my bent leg, then wrap my hand around his throbbing part. He grunts and his hips jerk, but he lets me move him to where its head lightly presses inside of me, and with a slow thrust, he begins to fill me, leaving us both to sigh and gasp against each other’s lips.

My hand leaves to knot in his hair. A rush of nervousness fills me at the thought that maybe he’d realize my inexperience by this, but if he does, he doesn’t mention it. And while there is some pain, it’s nothing like what people always said it would be.

He doesn’t get rough, he stays easy and slow, holding me against him the entire time, leading me to a slow-rising but intense second orgasm, and then his own finish on the sheets. After, he gently holds me to his chest, his hands holding me by my shoulders and hips. Careful to avoid the marks left in my flesh. Holding me like some precious, fragile treasure. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, Negan… It was amazing,” I answer honestly, nuzzling his chest. “I was worried it’d be more painful, but… it wasn’t. I only felt it for a little bit, and while I’m kinda sore… it’s not bad at all.” He lightly kisses the top of my head.

“I noticed when you tensed; I was worried as shit that you were wanting me to back off, but you didn’t say anything and kept pullin’ me in you. I’m glad you enjoyed it, sweetheart. First times shouldn’t be fucked up.”

“And mine certainly was not.”

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters || Sequel to Stars Dance

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Female OC

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Ch. 10: Reality

Chapter summary: Two Doctors would usually mean things would get solved quicker, but not this time. The gangers and humans are raging war against each other and now it's a race to find the TARDIS and escape with their lives. On the side, Avalon is determined to get the only piece of honesty she can get right now and it can only come from the Doctor.

Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

As soon as the ganger Doctor said spoken his first words to the group, he erupted into massive shouts of pain. "What's happening?" His words, his shouts, were all mixed up as if he was living through different moments. "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day... Aaagh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow!"

"What is he doing?" the Sapling cocked his head each time the ganger turned.

The Doctor tried helping the ganger but there was really nothing he could do at the moment, "'The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations. Hold on!"

"Don't you have like a billion of those?" Amy called in, making the Doctor momentarily pause to glare at her.

"No!"

"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the ganger Doctor questioned in his 4th incarnation's voice, "Why? Why!?"

"Why do they keep saying that?" Avalon suddenly asked, getting the glances of everyone, "I mean...that's what ganger Jennifer said too, remember Amy?" the second ginger had to agree with a nod, "What does it mean?"

"'Why' what?" the Doctor finally asked his ganger self, taking in Avalon's words and having to agree as well.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor," the ganger replied instead, using his 10th's self's voice, "No, let it go, we've moved on!"

"Oh!" Avalon snapped her fingers, suddenly beaming. "That's the one that went to New Earth!"

"Ava, not the time!" went the Doctor, but she mimicked his voice instead of agreeing.

"I'm never gonna meet him so I'll take what I can get!"

The Doctor's face might as well have stayed in a glare because it seemed like Avalon and Amy were taking turns making unnecessary comments.

"I've reversed the jelly-baby of the neutron flow. Would you like a..." the ganger grabbed the Doctor by the lapels, "Doctor...Doctor... I'm... I'm the... I can't."

"No, listen, hold on. Hold on!" the Doctor tried reassuring the ganger but was shoved away.

"No-o-o-o! Aaaagh!" the ganger showed his flesh-state face to the others.

"Doctor, we need you. Get over here," Amy called to the Doctor, taking cautious steps towards him with Avalon.

The ganger slowly stopped moving until he came to a complete stop. His hands fell from his head and came to adjust the bowtie around his neck. "Hello," he gave a wave with his hand.

"Hi!" the Sapling returned the gesture with a beam on his face.

"Cybermats," the Doctor crossed his arms and faced his ganger self. They really did look identical - it was really weird.

The ganger seemed to catch on and sighed, "Do we have time for this?"

"We make time. I'd like more proof that you're me. Cybermats?"

"Created by the kill by feeding off brainwaves."

Amy gave up trying to get the Doctor's attention and ran back to the door with the other factory workers. Avalon was a bit more awed by the situation but was nonetheless scared as well, so she hurried to the door.

"Don't you have guns somewhere?" was the first thing she asked the factory workers.

"Yeah, big guns would be good right now," Buzzer sucked some breath and nodded.

Jimmy was leaning against the door, a last resort to keep it shut against the gangers, "Why would we have guns? We're a factory. We mine."

"Get back!" Amy yelled as they heard a hissing sound along and saw smoke coming through the door.

"We are completely done for," Avalon declared as they all stepped back. She rolled her eyes at the conversation she was hearing from behind, "Are you two done yet?" she spun around to where the Doctors were, even Amy doing the same, "There's two of you yet still nothing gets done!"

"First of all," the Doctor headed for them and wagged a finger at Avalon. "Shut up!"

"Second of all," his ganger followed in suit with the same finger pointed at Avalon, "...still, shut up."

Avalon raised her eyebrows. Did they seriously think that because there were two of them they could win against her? Absolutely not. She folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Two of you and you still can't come up with good comebacks. Truly sad. How many brains you got again?"

"Enough with the games," Amy sighed, "There's a problem that needs solving!"

"Breathe," was the Doctors' reply for her.

"What?"

"We have to get you off this island," the ganger Doctor looked at the not-so-well barricaded door.

"And the gangers too."

"Um, Doctor, I'm all for life, but the gangers are trying to kill us," Avalon pointed to the door where the acid could be clearly seen. She barred the Sapling from getting closer.

"They're scared, Ava, that's all," the Doctor assured.

"We're trapped in here," Amy also reminded.

"I don't think so. The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above."

"But where are the earthing conduits?" the ganger Doctor asked.

"All this piping must go down into a tunnel or a shaft or something, yes? With us?" the Doctor headed for a large panel at the other end of the room, "Yowza!" he cheered as he removed the paneling to find a grate. "An escape rout."

Amy glanced at Avalon, mouthing 'Yowza' questioningly at her. Avalon made a face and shrugged, never understanding the Doctor most of the time.

"You know, I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me," the Doctor smugly looked around the room.

"Do we tend to say "Yowza"?" his ganger genuinely wondered.

"Nope!" the Sapling turned around to answer. "Although you did used to say 'Allons-y' for some reason."

Avalon laughed and shot the two Doctors a look. "You did what!? Who did that?"

"I'd rather not answer," the Doctor turned his head away, intending on taking that secret to the grave. It was unfortunate that the Sapling did not agree.

"His last incarnation!"

"Sapling!" the Doctor frowned, feeling completely betrayed by the child.

"Ah, see, that's the one we need to meet!" Avalon sighed in true content, which did make the Doctor be a little less upset. It was better to have her laughing, even if it was at him, than to have her crying.

Just as the entire group managed to get inside, the gangers broke through the door. As they reached the grate, they saw the group at the grate where the Doctor sonicked the locks.

~ 0 ~

The group hurried down the tunnels after getting out of the grate. There was acid everywhere and it was making it difficult to get across without being touched.

"The army will send a recon team," Buzzer said to them.

"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves reminded him.

"What about Rory and Jen? They are both out there," Amy stressed as she looked around in case they were somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, they weren't that lucky.

"This is a like a labyrinth," Avalon sighed, already having given up looking around their immediate areas. She held the Sapling's hand in hers, tightly, but she wasn't sure who was more afraid at this point.

"I bet you lot have got a computer map," the Doctor looked at Cleaves questioningly.

"If we can get power running, we can scan for them," the woman agreed but couldn't say more as they all started violently coughing.

"Doctor, you said earlier to breathe," Amy covered her mouth.

"Very important, Pond. Breathe," he stood by his statement.

"Yeah, I'm struggling to."

"Acid interacting with the stone," the Doctor managed to explain.

"Creating an asphyxiant miasma," his ganger finished thankfully.

"In English?" Avalon raised am eyebrow.

"Chokey gas. Extra heavy. If we can get above it..."

"The evac tower," Cleaves resolved and started leading the way, "This way!"

They entered a room full of machinery which was they assumed was the control room. As the Doctors got straight to work, the humans took a moment to end their cough.

"Ohh! I think I coughed so hard, I pulled a muscle or something," Amy remarked as she struggled to stand straight.

A bell chimed in the distance which made Jimmy sober up rather quick, "It's midnight. It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."

"Best present for him would be getting home," Avalon sighed and put a hand on her back as she stood correctly, "How we doing over there?" she called to the working aliens.

"Trying to get the power back," the original Doctor replied, "There's always some power floating around."

"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," the ganger Doctor popped up from behind the console.

Amy frowned, "Can you stop finishing each other's..."

"Sentences?" the Doctor finished, "No probs."

"Yes," the ganger nodded and both ducked down behind the console again.

"Confused as hell," Avalon commented with a resigned sigh, "You - well, one of you - said that the TARDIS was stuck in acid, so won't she be damaged?"

One of the Doctors stood up again, but neither Avalon nor Amy (nor the Sapling for that matter) knew who was who. "Nah. She's a tough old thing. Tough, old, sexy."

"No," the other Doctor stood up, "Tough, dependable, sexy."

"Come on. OK, how can...how can you both be real?" Amy felt like her head would spin if they continued to do that. She glanced at Avalon and saw the latte was more or less feeling the same. Only the Sapling seemed to be enjoying the situation.

"Well, because...we are. I'm the Doctor," went one of the pair.

"So am I," went the other, "We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience. We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool."

"Because bowties are..."

"And always will be."

"Stop it!" Avalon cut in with exasperation, "You weren't linked up to the Flesh so how did that work, exactly?"

"It must've been after I examined it," the original Doctor answered, "Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created."

"Ta-da!" the ganger exclaimed.

"You mean I could've had a ganger too!?" the Sapling gasped at the idea as he recalled how close he'd been to the Flesh as well.

"No," Avalon shot him a look.

"Quite right," the Doctor agreed. "You were behind me, Sapling. I think it's better like that, though. Who knows what kind of ganger you would've gotten."

"It would've been cool," the Sapling mumbled, quite disappointed.

"But one of you was here first," Amy's pointed finger moved from one alien to the other.

"After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now new shoes, a situation which did not confront me learned self here."

"That satisfy you, Pond?" the ganger raised an eyebrow, "Ava?"

"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy said quietly as she moved around. She stepped beside Avalon when both Doctors looked at her. They were examining her as if she were some new experiment. "What?"

"Interesting," the ganger Doctor said, "You definitely feel more affection for him than me."

"No, I..." Amy could see why they would think that and felt uncomfortable having to explain. It should be obvious that she wasn't doing it to be mean. It was just natural. "Look, you're fine and everything, but he is the Doctor. No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

"Being almost the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all," the ganger snapped.

"Don't overreact," Amy frowned.

"Well you are being rude," Avalon mumbled to her and received an elbow jabbed on her side, "Ow!"

"And what about you?" the ganger looked at the pained ginger.

"What about me?" she rubbed her side and glared at Amy.

"Do you think I'm real?"

"Being real is not the problem I have with you," blurted Avalon who then quickly covered her mouth, "Sorry."

"Ava," even the original Doctor was mildly surprised.

"Wha...she's the one who said you weren't real," Avalon pointed at Amy in a quick attempt to distract him.

"Yeah, thanks Avalon," Amy muttered, shooting her a glare.

"Oh shut up, you dug your own hole," Avalon snapped then sighed, dropping her hand from her side. "Look, I didn't mean for it to come out like that..."

"What were you trying to say, then?" the ganger was still snappy, which only made her frown.

"Listen, if you're really the same then you know exactly what my problem is. And just so we're clear, it's with both of you."

"Sounds like Father is in trouble," the Sapling announced. Avalon nodded her head, humming in agreement.

"I'm going to pull the 'I literally just came to life' card right now," the ganger Doctor happily said as it did free him of any problems. And even more, it made Avalon chuckle.

The Doctor watched with a frown as his ganger practically yanked Avalon's hand, bringing her far too close to him. What did he think he was doing? Avalon was smiling like she wasn't angry with them two seconds ago.

"Well, I guess I can't be that mad with you," Avalon bobbed her head while she pretended to think. "But you can't use that line all the time."

"I'll come up with better ones," the ganger promised her then winked. Avalon might have blushed.

The original Doctor wasn't very pleased with the interaction and did the only thing he could do, "Communication a go-go!" he slammed his hand on the console repeatedly to break them up, succeeding easily.

"Can it find Rory?" Avalon quickly forgot the situation as she and Amy ran for the computer screen, though the ganger Doctor shot his original a look for his obvious attempt. The Doctor ducked his head with the controls. He needed to work, after all.

Cleaves was already maneuvering the screen by the time the gingers got to her, "There's no sign of him anywhere."

"Come on, baby, show yourself," Amy insisted.

~ 0 ~

After a while of checking the scans for Rory and Jennifer, Cleaves decided to activate a transmission for the mainland, "St John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain? Come in'," but there wasn't an answer back, "We'll never get a signal through this storm. St John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."

"'We're just about reading you, St John's. How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here'."

"'Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our gangers. They're running amok."

"'Your gangers?'"

"Yes, our gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."

The two Doctors looked at each other with concern, that wasn't part of the plan and Cleaves knew it.

"'Copy that, St John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on'."

"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower. And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in.'

'"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh'.

"We've got to get out of here," Buzzer said immediately after the transmission had been cut off.

"But we can't leave without Rory nor Jennifer," Avalon reminded him.

"We're not leaving without them," Amy firmly said.

"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit?" he raised an eyebrow at the two gingers, "Can't be helped."

"Well you're going to have to cope because we're not going anywhere without them," Avalon declared.

"What are you doing?" Amy had noticed the Doctor sitting in one of the chairs at the console typing away. She moved closer and observed the screen.

"Making a phone call," the Doctor answered distractedly.

"Who to?"

"No-one yet. It's on delay."

"Right, not getting it. Why exactly are you making a phone call?"

"Because, Amy, I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams. The wheels are in motion. Done."

"I dream of getting out of here," Avalon sighed, "And as quick as possible."

"Will be taken care of," the Doctor pointed at her assuredly.

The Sapling had noticed Amy staring at something across the room. He came to stand beside her and tried to catch whatever it was she was looking at, but he couldn't find anything. He then realized that Amy hadn't even noticed he was standing right there. "Aunt Amy?" he tapped her arm and watched her jump in place. "What's wrong? What were you looking at?"

Amy rubbed her eyes and gazed at the wall she'd been staring at. Nope, no eye-patch woman there. Why did she keep seeing that woman? Was it some effect from the TARDIS?

"Amy?" the Doctor called now once he saw how pale she was. "What happened?"

Amy didn't know if she would sound crazy but she had to get it off her chest. She'd been carrying the secret with her for a while now and for some reason, she felt like now it was getting worse. She kept seeing the woman by the hour. "I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed. "It's her! I keep seeing her!"

"What is she talking about?" Avalon inched behind the Doctor. Like the Sapling, Avalon gazed at the wall but found nothing.

"There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me," Amy frantically explained and missed the reactions of both Doctors.

"Is that like a movie?" the Sapling glanced at his Mother for the answer.

"Not one I've seen," the ginger promptly responded. She checked to see what the Doctor thought but noticed how unsurprised he was. "Doctor?"

"It's nothing," the original tried to wave off.

"Yeah, judging by Amy's face it doesn't look like it's 'nothing'," Avalon tilted her head, "What are-"

"It's a time memory. Like a mirage," he cut her off, "It's nothing to worry about."

"Liar," Avalon whispered then looked at the ganger beside her, ready to question him too.

However, he had his eyes closed and looked like he was in some type of pain, "It's in my head..." he hurried out the room.

"Hey, hold on!" Avalon called after him.

"Don't let him go," Cleaves warned.

"Leave it to me," Amy hurried out the room, hoping to fix some the things she'd said to him.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem the case for when she returned to the room, it was in a hurried run and heavy breath, "Keep him away from me!" she ordered and ran over to where the other Doctor was.

"Amy?" Avalon frowned at the attitude of her friend, "What's wrong?"

"Did you sense it?" the ganger Doctor came into the room and questioned his other self.

"Briefly. Not as strong as you."

"Sensed what?" Avalon walked over to Amy and hoped to calm her.

"Is there pictures we're missing?" the Sapling looked between the two Doctors, just as puzzled as everyone else.

"Not quite," went one of the Doctors.

"Amy, I'm sorry," the ganger Doctor apologized honestly.

"No, you keep away!" Amy snapped, pulling Avalon closer. Rory would definitely not want Avalon to be around the ganger who had radical, horrific emotions, "We can't trust you!"

"It would appear I can connect to the Flesh," the Doctor wasn't particularly paying attention to her at the moment.

"Well, you are Flesh," the ginger continued to say.

"I'm beginning to understand what it needs."

"What you want. You are it."

"Amy," Avalon put a hand on Amy's arm, disliking the tone and attitude she was taking with the ganger. If he was connected to the Flesh, then he didn't exactly have a choice in what he saw.

"It's much more powerful than we thought," the Doctor continued on without notice, "The Flesh can grow, correct?"

Cleaves was another that wasn't very interested in the topic, "Its cells can divide."

"Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge," the Doctor approached her, "It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."

"Hm, thing got a mind of its own now? Where did I hear that one...?" Avalon sarcastically looked around, "...mm, oh right," she crossed her arms as she finally stepped around Amy, "Me."

"Mother was right," the Sapling agreed with a nod of his head.

"Doctor, I told you that we couldn't trust him," Amy went up to the Doctor herself. "I was right. He can't be the Doctor. He can't ever be, he's just a copy."

"That's not very nice," the Sapling pointed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with the Sapling this time," Avalon folded her arms.

"Be quiet, Avalon," Amy snapped, nearly sounding like a mother and looking like it when she pulled Avalon back with her.

"Hey!"

"Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?" Cleaves resolved as she stepped towards the ganger, prompting the other Doctor to move up as well.

"Hold on a minute. Hold your horses," he cut in between the woman and the ganger, "I thought I'd explained this. I'm him, he's me."

"Doctor, we have no issue with you. But when it comes to your ganger..." Cleaves looked around to the other people for their opinions, though their faces were more than clear, except for one person of course.

"I think you're all overreacting a bit," Avalon tried to input but no one listened.

"Be quiet!" snapped Amy again, though this time Avalon sent her a deep glare.

"Tell me to shut up one more time, I dare you," she gritted her teeth. It was completely outrageous that they forced the ganger Doctor on a barrel like he was some criminal.

Amy would not take the dare; she'd seen the fights Avalon had in the past and she wasn't interested in getting a black eye in the midst of all the trouble. "I just think it would be safer," she said, though her tone was still strained.

"Safer? They're the same!" Avalon gestured to the ganger and then to Doctor. "Down to the same stupid bow-tie! No two people can make that same mistake!"

The Sapling covered his mouth to giggle when both Doctors gave Avalon the same deadpanning look.

Amy, though, wouldn't listen as she shook her head. "You're too blinded by them."

A new type of anger flourished across Avalon's face when Amy made that accusation. Making that accusation basically told Avalon that Amy believed she couldn't separate reality from her stories, from the all the stories she'd heard about the Doctor. It was an outright offence, honestly. "I am not blinded, Amelia Pond! I'm not seven! I'm not a child!"

"Avalon," the ganger Doctor stepped in when her face began to match the shade of her hair. He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away from the mini-stare down she was having with Amy. "It's fine, really."

"No, it's not," Avalon continued shooting Amy glares. "I hate when they say that. Like...like I'm too engulfed in my stories to realize that I'm in the real world." She turned to him, expression akin to a beg. "I know I have my stories and I love them but I'm not blinded by them. I know you're real and that you have flaws and...this is the real world. It's not my fairy tale world."

"I know that," he assured her with a soft smile. "You don't have to prove it to me."

"...just like you don't have to prove to anyone that you're real," she said and shot the others another glare. "You're a ganger but you're the Doctor. I know you are."

"And that counts for a lot, trust me," he rubbed her arms comfortingly. "My Ava."

She smiled back but when he moved to sit on the barrel the others ordered him to, she yanked him to his side. "Absolutely not. They can all suck it." She stuck her tongue out at anyone who saw.

From his spot, the original Doctor struggled hard not to laugh right there and then. That's my Ava.

After a couple minutes, the group got word from the mainland they were trying to land when the signal was cut off.

"I can't find Rory. I'm going out there," Amy had had enough of waiting around.

"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor offered as he pulled out his screwdriver, "Humans and gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic knows gangers are different, so the other Doctor is different."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "He is the Doctor."

"Not to me," Amy assured, "I can tell."

"Sure you're not prejudiced?"

"Nice try, but I know, OK? We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of."

"Amy, instead of making things worse come over here," Avalon was with Buzzer in front of the visual screens, "We've got Rory and Jennifer," everyone quickly gathered to see the screen.

"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves seemed confused and with great reason.

"Let's go get them," Amy declared but saw the screwdriver being tossed over to the Doctor on the barrel, "Hang on!"

"We can't let him go," Cleaves moved over to the Doctor, "Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?" the Doctor turned to his other self.

"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet."

"I remember that!" the Sapling laughed as he watched the images in his head.

Avalon was not amused in the least. "That's not being crazy, that's being utterly stupid. And that's coming from me. Mels used to dare me to do the stupidest things."

"Enough!" Amy snapped. "Now he's not going-" she pointed to the ganger, "-I am!"

"Do you know, I want him to go," the Doctor stepped closer to her, serious, "And I'm rather adamant."

"Well, then, he'll need company, right, boss? It's fine. I'll handle it," Buzzer offered and stepped forwards.

"Thank you, Buzzer. It'll be all right. I'll find him," the ganger waved and left with Buzzer to follow.

"I can't explain it to you now, but I need you to trust him," the Doctor looked at Amy and even Avalon, "Can you do that for me?"

"Course," Avalon nodded but Amy seemed to have more trouble accepting it.

"What if you're wrong?" were her final words.

~ 0 ~

"These temperature gauges are rising," Cleaves read from the screen. They'd been monitoring the visuals for a while and was growing concerned, "Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents."

"Why do that? They'll kill us," Dickens frowned.

"There's a million gallons of boiling acid under our feet..." Cleaves slowly looked down at the floor.

"And now it's heating up the whole island," the Doctor understood, "How long till it blows?" his answer was the explosion that rocked them entirely.

"Gangers or no gangers, we need to get the hell out of here," Dickens urgently said.

"Shuttle! We need evac," Cleaves started a transmission again, "Where are you? Can you hear me? Can you...?" she stopped when she felt a jab at her forehead.

"Cleaves? Cleaves, sit down," the Doctor helped her away the console and sat her on a chair.

"I'm fine," Cleaves assured as she put a hand on her forehead, I'm waiting for results, so let it go."

The Doctor had used the sonic on her and got results instantaneous, "It's a very deep parietal clot."

"Inoperable?"

"On Earth, yes."

"Well, seeing as Earth is all that's on... offer...hm," Cleaves slumped in her chair, "I'm no healthy spring chicken, and you're no weatherman. Right?"

Another quake struck and shook the room, "Something just cracked. I heard it," Avalon frantically looked around for anything that was breaking.

"Yeah, we can't stay here, let's go," the Doctor agreed and headed for the doors.

Cleaves moved to the console again and did another transmission, "Cleaves to Shuttle. We need to move, and we can't be collected from the evac tower."

'Give us the codeword'.

"The codeword is..." but her voice was cut off with another quake that struck that console and cut off the transmission.

"Cleaves? Cleaves, it's dead, it's dead," the Doctor called to them, "We need to get out of here. We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on, come on."

They ran into a new room where the Doctor and Cleaves hurried to change the settings on the machine, "It's a chemical chain reaction now. I can't stop it. This place is going to blow sky high," the Doctor sighed.

"Exactly how long have we got?" Cleaves asked.

"An hour? Five seconds? Er, somewhere in between."

The klaxon sounded along with a series of explosions, "Out!" the Doctor ordered and ran out the room with the group.

They ran a couple feet until they found Rory on a turn. Amy was the first to hug him as she was the closest one.

"All right?" Rory pulled back and studied her followed by Avalon.

"Us? What about you?" Avalon hugged him, "Don't you dare do that again!"

"Yeah, aunt Amy and Mother were very worried," the Sapling informed as if Rory hadn't already known that.

"There's a way out. Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt," Rory pulled away and looked at the group.

"From the crypt? It's not on the schematics," Cleaves shook her head.

"It runs right out of the monastery. Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor. Follow me."

As everyone ran after Rory, the Doctor seemed slightly hesitant to do so.

"We can't leave without Buzzer," Jimmy said as they entered the new room.

"I'll go back for him," Cleaves called.

Rory was with the Doctor and was looking nervous for some reason, "Doctor, look...I'd better tell you, I haven't been quite straight with you..." but ganger Jennifer pulled him out the room before he could finish and locked the group inside.

"Rory!" the Doctor pounded on the door, "Rory Pond, Roranicus Pondicus!"

"Rory! What the hell are you playing at?" Avalon shouted but caught sight of Jennifer on the other side and knew it had to be that woman's fault.

"Rory, there is no time. This factory's about to explode!" Amy called frantically.

"I'm sorry!" Rory was able to say before he was dragged away by the Jennifer.

"Can we hurt her?" the Sapling made a deep scowl appear on his face. They were just trying to get home and that woman was about to kill them off.

With no other alternatives, the Doctor hurried back to the acid with the sonic, "This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid, just as a point of interest."

"Please, stop talking," Avalon sighed, she'd rather not hear about their looming death.

Dicken started lowering the cap over the vat as an effort against it. Jimmy moved closer to the vat and shook his head, "It'll never hold her.'

"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears," the Doctor pointed, "In fact, if you have a better plan, I'll take you to a planet where everyone is all ears."

"I've also seen that one!" the Sapling tapped the side of his head. "Can I go there afterwards?"

Even through the now shut cap, the acid was far stronger. Cleaves observed it from a distance, "The acid's eating through."

"This is it, huh? This is where we're going to die," Avalon shuddered a breath as she stared at the weak vat with soon-to-be overflowing acid. She felt her breathing pick up. That was new. She never really considered that one of their trips might be the last one.

The Doctor came over to her and hugged her. He didn't care if she would push him away; he needed for her know that he wouldn't leave her side. "No, it's not," he quietly said.

"Oh you don't have to lie," Avalon sighed. She allowed him to hug her for a few seconds, letting herself enjoy his hold just for a bit.

Jimmy had moved to keep the vat's lid down but some of the acid managed to splash on his chest, knocking him to the floor. At that moment, ganger Jimmy ran into the room and went straight for his other self. The Doctor had gone to check the original but found bad results, "There's nothing we can do. The acid's reached his heart."

"Hang in there, mate," ganger Jimmy sighed.

"I'm quite handsome from this angle," Jimmy managed to humor.

"I'm...sorry. I'm the fake. Adam deserves his real dad."

"Shut up," Jimmy playfully rolled his eyes.

"What do you want me to do? Anything, just say."

"The way things are, mate... it's up to you now," Jimmy pulled on the cord around his neck and gave it to his ganger, "Be a dad. You remember how."

A stunned ganger Jimmy held up a wedding band in his hand.

"Jimmy Wicks...you're a dad," the Doctor clapped him on the shoulder.

"Right then, everyone, it's time to go!" ganger Cleaves called to the group and ran out the room first.

The Doctor stood by the door as everyone ran out but noticed Avalon staring at the corner of the room. "Ava! Let's go!"

"Amy said that woman appeared there again," she pointed at the wall. "How can that be? There's nothing there."

"Avalon, it doesn't matter!" the Doctor ran back to bring her out of the room. "We have to go!"

"But it does!" Avalon snapped, yanking her arm out of his hold after they'd gotten into the corridor. "Because you know what it means and don't want to tell us! And when you do that, it means something's happening."

"No, it's not," the Doctor tried his best to smile like nothing was going on around them, like neither of them were in danger. "You know me, I've got so many things in my head that I don't even know what's going on half the time."

"Nice try," Avalon rolled her eyes. "You know what's going on, more than you're letting on. But I shouldn't be surprised. It's what you do. Keep everything to yourself."

"This...isn't about Amy anymore, is it?"

Avalon once again rolled her eyes and when she attempted to leave, the Doctor grabbed her arm. "Look if you're not going to tell me anything, then just leave me alone."

"Now a wait minute, 10 minutes ago you were dandy with the other Doctor but now I'm the one you're mad at?"

"Are you seriously telling me that you're jealous?" Avalon didn't know whether to laugh or scream in frustration. "Why are you like this?" she air-strangled him instead.

"Like what?" the Doctor frowned.

Avalon groaned, her hands dangerously close to actually strangling him by the neck. "I hate you, you know that!? Do you enjoy being self-righteous with me? Especially with me?"

"I would never-"

"-then why don't you just tell me the truth already?"

"What truth?"

"I'm going to kill you, after," Avalon muttered and stepped towards him. She grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close to her so he would definitely listen to her words. "If I'm really going to die here, then I refuse to go without hearing you tell me the truth about us."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Yeah, 'oh'," Avalon could be pretty scary when she wanted to, and of course she'd choose to be the scariest when she wanted a confession from him about their feelings. She sure knew how to pick them.

"I don't think this is really the time. I mean, we have got some killer acid and actual killers after us-"

"-I don't bloody care," Avalon snapped. "I deserve for somebody to tell me the truth for once in my life." Her face suddenly softened, as did the grip of her hands on his jacket. She tilted her head slightly, eyes glimmering with tears. "And I would really like for that 'somebody' to be you."

"Ava...I can't..."

"Why not?" she asked through gritted teeth. "And don't tell me it's because there's nothing. Fantasy Fest. That's all the proof I need. You were about to kiss me and don't deny it."

"I stopped for a reason..."

"Because you nearly got caught."

"No, because...it was the right thing to do," the Doctor put his hands over hers and gently pulled them off his jacket. "Because I can't do that to you. You have me falling in temptation, Ava. Being who I am, it's a dangerous thing."

"And I told you plenty of times that I like dangerous. Literally. I love the adrenaline," Avalon said with the most honest smirk on her face. She raised her head as if daring him to challenge her.

He honest to God loved that look on her. He could kiss her to death right now. He brought one of his hands to touch her face, very soon grazing her lips. "My Ava. You have no idea what goes through my head whenever you're around me."

"I would if you just told me," Avalon whispered.

"Thing is, Avalon, I've done this before and it never ended well," the Doctor's gaze lowered a bit.

Avalon could see the pain etching across his face, as if it were still raw because it happened yesterday. She didn't have to hear each individual story to know that the Doctor blamed himself for every ending. "You're 909, I believe you."

"I don't want you to be the next one. Because sometimes it's not the fact that they've left me, it's how they ended up leaving. You won't be the next one, not on my watch."

Avalon's eyes watered up. "Can you just say it, though? Say it once, please."

But the Doctor wasn't brave enough. If he said it out loud, then it would finally become real. And when it became real, the pain that came with it would also be real. He couldn't do it. "I can't...I'm sorry..."

The ground suddenly rumbled underneath them, nearly knocking them both to the wall. The Doctor grabbed ahold of Avalon's arm - even if she wanted to murder him for his inability to speak the truth - and searched the hallway for a good route.

"We have to go!"

"I hate you!" Avalon didn't hesitate to start and he would be smart enough to know that this wasn't the end of their conversation. Just because they were about to die was no excuse! Not for them!

~ 0 ~

The rest of the group had entered a new room after being chased down by ganger Jennifer (who was now the only one bent on war). They'd met up with Rory and the other Doctor again and were now trying to keep Jennifer away from them. As Dicken came to shut the door that would keep Jennifer out, he crashed into a running Avalon and Doctor.

"Where the hell have you two been?" called Rory from the end of the room, frankly offended they'd left them to their luck.

"Yeah, ganger Jennifer is still after us!" the Sapling waved his arms frantically. Of course then he dropped them when he noticed how angry his mother looked. "Why are you upset, Mother?"

"Ask your father," Avalon shoved the Doctor with her to the side.

A scream carried down the hallway and made everyone look out to see Dickens shut the door with himself on the other side. Jennifer had killed him and was making her way towards the group now. Ganger Dickens shut the door in front of them with the help of ganger Cleaves and the Doctor that had come in with Avalon.

There was a creaking sound from the ceiling and the other Doctor looked up to see a familiar blue square coming through. "Here she comes!" The TARDIS fell down and added an extra rumble to the ground. "Oh, she does like to make an entrance! Move!" he ordered as he went up to the doors and opened them up for the group, "Go, go, go, go!"

Ganger Dickens left the door and ran into the TARDIS. Cleaves was going to do the same but looked back at her ganger, "Get on board! Go!" the ganger shooed he off.

"I'm not leaving," Cleaves tried to argue but the loud bang Jennifer gave on the other side of the door cut her off.

"Go!" the ganger yelled at her and so went Cleaves into the TARDIS.

"Sapling!" the Doctor called from the TARDIS. "GO!" The Sapling nodded his head quickly and made a dash for the blue box.

"Now's our chance," Amy hurried to the TARDIS and looked back at the others, specifically the Doctor at the door.

"I have to stay. Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."

"What are you doing?" Avalon frowned, "What happens if you stay here?"

"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."

"Both of you can survive this, OK?" Amy looked between the two aliens.

"Or perhaps you think I should stay instead... Mr Smith?"

"No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."

"Amy, we swapped shoes. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor by the TARDIS informed.

"And I'm...the Flesh," the Doctor at the door said rather nervously as he looked at Avalon.

"You're what now?" her eyes widened.

"I, uh, I...probably should've mentioned that before-"

"-right, because telling the truth is so easy for you clearly," she rolled her eyes.

"No, hold on!" Amy shook her head fervently as if that would make things more clear. "How's this even possible!?"

"Well, they switched places, didn't they?" Rory wasn't that surprised the Doctor would pull something like that. In fact, they should've just seen it coming.

"Well I'm not the original, I haven't been all along," the ganger Doctor shrugged, not able to explain much further.

"I don't know which one of you to kill right now," Avalon looked between both aliens, though the reactions from each were different. The one at the door looked heavily frightened while the one at the TARDIS was trying to understand what was going on.

"Ava? What happened?" the Doctor, the real one, asked her.

"Is there a way you both can survive?" Amy's hair kept flinging from side to side as she asked the two Doctors.

"Yeah, so I can kill both of them," mumbled Avalon.

"You okay?" Rory touched Avalon's arm, the only one who wouldn't die at the moment. She shook her head in response. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" she quickly exclaimed, shooting the ganger a sharp look, "Nothing happened," though her face was upset and sad, "Just, um, just tell us, is there a way of survival for you?" she genuinely wondered.

"Get to safety, Ava," was the answer of the ganger, a soft smile on his face.

"Well we can't just let him die!" Amy exclaimed, frantically shaking as no one seemed very worried about that detail.

"It's fine, Pond," the ganger Doctor smiled just like his other version would. "We got what we needed from this place, didn't we?" he shared a knowing look with the other Doctor, both nodding in agreement.

"What?" Avalon caught on and frowned even deeper. "Oh! I am so done with you two!"

"No Avalon, wait!" the ganger grabbed her arm and gently tugged her to his side. "You were right...about everything." She still shook her head, more ready to kill him before ganger Jennifer did. "Hey, I mean it," he tugged her arm again, forcing her to look at him. "You were absolutely right, but then again...when aren't you right?"

She wanted to roll her eyes again but he had that stupid grin she liked a lot. While she was lost in her thoughts - deciding whether to keep pretending to want to kill him or just leave - she didn't notice that the ganger Doctor had leaned to her side until he whispered something in her ear. When he drew away, she had her wide-eyed stare locked on him and she had a deep blush across her face.

"What he say?" Amy scrunched, wondering if it was some other secret the two aliens had kept from them.

Even the Doctor by the TARDIS was puzzled. "Ava?"

Avalon shared a small smile with his ganger. "You finally said it," she leaned closer to him, letting her nose rest against his cheek. "Thank you. And you know that I feel the same," she told him in a whisper. She pulled away and looked at the door he and Cleaves were desperately trying to keep locked, but ganger Jennifer was using all her monstrous strength to pound against it.

"You need to go," the ganger ordered her. "Please."

"But..."

"I'll be fine," he assured.

"You lie," she said sadly. He didn't say anything except give her another smile. She nodded, indicating she understood, but before she left she surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. She went right into the TARDIS without looking at anyone else, much less the other Doctor who couldn't be more confused in his life! What had that ganger of him said to her and why did she react like that? They were so close too...

Of course he soon turned an accusing look on his ganger, demanding questions with a silent glare.

"Oh shut up," went the ganger in return. "Maybe she's the one who can change things. Because if you don't, and I survive this, I'm coming back for her. You got that?"

"I'm interested," Amy remarked to Rory, both of them looking at each of the Doctors at the same time. "But I'm so confused at the same time."

"I'm not," Rory frowned. It was what he specifically wanted nothing of for the sake of Avalon. "Let's go!" he yanked his wife towards the TARDIS, leaving the two Doctors to work out whatever they needed to.

Avalon was inside with the Sapling but while the tree child was ecstatic to be safe inside the TARDIS, Avalon was lost in thoughts. Rory took a quick stride towards the woman, dreading what was going on through her head.

"Hey Ava," his voice, though gentle, managed to startle her, "Are you okay?"

"Uh...yeah, I think I am," Avalon answered but she still seemed like she was figuring it out. "I just..." she laughed humorlessly, "Why is he so...like that!?"

"Ava," Rory deeply sighed and brought a hand to her curly hair. "I really wish you hadn't..." he couldn't finish it out loud, for her sake, but she just smiled sadly.

"I couldn't help it Rory," she said with the tone of a child. She always did that whenever they had a serious talk. He was like the grown up because God knew she could never be an adult.

"Told you," Amy was smirking, completely the opposite of her husband.

"I don't get it," the Sapling suddenly said, his lips curled into a pout. "What's going on? What are we talking about?"

Avalon just laughed, wholeheartedly for the first time that day. "Oh Sapling, nothing. Nothing except your Mother is a true idiot."

~ 0 ~

After making sure the gangers were stable and dropping ganger Jimmy back to his son, the Doctor brought Cleaves and ganger Dickens back to the headquarters of their factory.

"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves sighed as they approached the conference room.

"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over. You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun," the Doctor pointed to the door, "Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dickens, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don't hate them, will you?"

"How can I hate them? I'm one of them now," he gestured to Cleaves beside her.

"Yeah, and just remember, people died. Don't let that be in vain. Make what you say in that room count."

"Ready? Side by side," Cleaves said as they'd stopped in front of the conference door.

"You got it, boss."

Together, the two co-workers entered the conference room. Amy moved closer to the Doctor and nudged him, "You okay?"

"I said breathe, Pond, remember? Well, breathe," the Doctor sighed as he knew what was coming next. He started making his way back for the TARDIS where Avalon had preferred to stay. Now, on top of a ganger Amy, he had to decipher what secret Avalon was refusing to tell him. And more importantly, what the hell his ganger had whispered in her ear.

"Why?" Amy called but couldn't say more when she doubled over in pain. "Ooh! Woah! Oh!"

"What's wrong with her?" Rory quickly tried checking her for any injury, but he didn't remember seeing anything earlier.

"Get her into the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered and entered the box.

"What's wrong with aunt Amy!?" the Sapling's cry pulled Avalon away from her journal. She looked up to see the Doctor and Rory helping Amy get into the TARDIS.

"Contractions," the Doctor bitterly answered as he went around the console, setting the TARDIS in motion.

"Excuse me?" Avalon hopped off her seat and hurried to help Rory.

"She's going into labor."

The Sapling gasped. "Aunt Amy's having a baby!? I thought it was Mother!"

"Would you stop saying that!?" snapped Avalon. This was no time to remind her that she needed to change diets.

"Doctor, what are you talking about!?" Amy asked in-between groans. She literally felt like she was being stabbed in her stomach. "Rory, I don't like this - OW!"

"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor," Rory practically ordered. He could handle the secrets the Doctor kept from them when it wasn't about Amy. Something was happening to his wife and he wanted answers now.

"What, the birds and the bees? She's having a baby," the Doctor moved away from the console. The Sapling gasped again, in delight until someone would tell him it wasn't all that great when the person in labor didn't even know she was in labor. "I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans."

"You're getting off topic," Avalon snapped. "Not to mention the fact I knew you were keeping something from us!"

"It hurts!" cried the second ginger.

"Breathe," the Doctor pointed at Amy, "I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."

"What signal?" Amy didn't understand and quite frankly didn't have the head to decipher it with all the pain she was feeling.

"The signal to you."

"Doctor?"

"Stand away from her," the Doctor sternly looked at Avalon and Rory. He expected the simultaneous refusal from them, but it didn't mean he would be patient about it. Time was literally of the essence now. From here on out, they were at war.

"You need to start explaining now," Avalon's eyes narrowed on the Doctor, and with good reason.

"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you two-" his voice suddenly rose in volume, "-need to STAND AWAY!"

Avalon flinched when he started yelling. She didn't say anything back, she didn't dare to. Instead, she looked at Rory and the two slowly backed away from Amy. Why were they leaving her!? Why was the Doctor shouting at them!? And why did her stomach hurt so much!?

"No, no, Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared!"

Even the Sapling had the good sense to be afraid now that he was looking at everyone. He slowly inched closer to Avalon who, once she felt him nearby, slowly took him into a hug.

"Don't be. Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it," the Doctor stepped closer to Amy, putting a hand on her cheek. He felt terrible for taking this long to finally do something about her situation. "Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you."

"I'm right here!" Amy clung to his arm, shaking him to get him to listen to her. But despite her insistence, she could see in his eyes that he'd already made up his decision about her.

"No, you're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time," he stepped back and held his sonic at her. The mere act froze Avalon and Rory in their respective spots. It looked like Amy was suddenly the enemy trespassing.

Amy whimpered in her spot, one hand still wrapped around her stomach. "No..."

With one click of the sonic, she turned into a Flesh puddle.

Rory gasped at the sight of what used to be his wife.

Avalon's eyes wide to the brim. Her grip around the Sapling tightened as if they were next on the list.

The Doctor slowly lowered his sonic but he couldn't look at Rory nor Avalon. What would he tell them? That he'd known for a while Amy wasn't really there with them but he didn't have the tools nor the knowledge to find her?

"Doctor," Rory suddenly spoke up. "Hey?" he had to call twice before the Time Lord would finally glance at him, but only then it was a slight glance. "I don't understand what just happened, nor what is happening but I bet my life that you knew about this."

"Rory-"

"-NO," Rory's voice sharpened quick, shutting the Doctor down in that moment, "You knew about it for God knows how long so right now, you owe me."

"Rory, stop," Avalon's voice was a frail whisper. She was truly afraid of what was coming next, but Rory was already thinking ahead and it included her.

"Avalon, be quiet," Rory snapped. It was so uncharacteristic of him but it was another testament of how furious he was. He walked straight up to the Doctor, and showcased his deepest glare. "You owe me and I'm gonna use that to save the other person I just know is in danger." The Doctor blinked at him, unsure of where Rory was taking this until Rory's eyes flickered to Avalon. "I've felt this for a while and nobody would listen to me, not even Amy."

"Rory, what are you talking about?" Avalon asked, about to walk towards them when the Sapling hugged her tighter. He was mighty afraid and the fact everyone looked so angry and upset didn't help ease his nerves.

"The letter, Avalon," the Doctor said, side-glancing her with sorrow eyes. Now it was Rory's turn to be confused. Neither he nor Amy had heard about the letter. "What did the letter say?"

Avalon's eyes would blink several times before she answered and when she did, she still wasn't sure what it had to do with their conversation. "Dear Avalon, I know this is strange and probably confusing but it is imperious that you listen to me. You must remain with the Doctor for your own safety. Bad things are coming, and they will be coming for you and all your friends." She swallowed hard, attempting to keep calm but her body was visibly shaking. "But it-it's not about me right now. It's about Amy-"

"-but they could be the same people that letter was talking about," the Doctor sighed. "I should have known from the start. I should have been more careful."

"Doctor, they got to Amy but we can still keep Avalon safe," Rory said, now more urgent since they finally figured out what he was trying to say.

"Yes, you're right," the Doctor nodded, turning towards Avalon. The woman took an instinctive step backwards, bringing the Sapling with her in the process. "Avalon, you might be next."

"No, stop it!" she snapped. "We need to focus on Amy and-"

"-you," Rory said. "I'm not losing you too."

"What...what are you going to do?" Avalon asked, her tone laced with a clear fear.

"Whatever it takes," the Doctor promised her.