#donna: OH DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT GIVING ME THAT I PAYED EXTRA FOR THOSE YOU KNOW. AND IT’S NOT LIKE IT WAS CHEAP BEFORE

[xcosmicsans]

Do you guys think that Donna’s second wedding dress had pockets? Do you think that it ever occurred to her to wonder why she made sure to make that a priority?

[ladydimitrescuspet]

Picture Perfect

ao3 link! donna beneviento x reader!  I tried to make reader as gender neutral as possible so I hope I succeed! tell me what you think and sorry for any grammatical errors! also inspired by this ask that @milfcoven got but I decided to make the painter reader instead of alcina, hope that’s okay, I just thought this was really cute!

***

You'd only been in the village for six months, but you were friends with most of the villagers. Surprisingly, you hadn't been sent to Castle Dimitrescu upon your arrival. The Lady of the Castle had tried to get you to accompany her back to her home, but you declined the offer and she allowed it. You were shocked, to say the least, that the Lady had let you go back to your home unharmed, but she vowed that you'd be under her protection and that nothing would happen to you as long as you stayed here in the village.

Now, here you were watching another woman who was the Head of House Beneviento. She didn't come into the village often and when she did, she never spoke herself, she used her doll, you didn't know her name. You never questioned it because why would you? So when the woman walked up to you, you were surprised by the visit.

"Oh, good afternoon, Lady Beneviento." You greeted, your hand over your face so you could block out the sunlight a bit.

She nodded her head before the doll spoke. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Um, it's Y/N, My Lady. What's yours?" You replied.

The doll pointed to the Lady in black. "That's Donna, and I'm Angie." Angie said.

"Oh, those are beautiful names. If I'm right, Donna means world ruler and Angie means angel, messenger of God." You said. "Both meanings are very fitting."

Angie walked closer to you. "How so?" Angie asked.

"Well, Gods and Goddesses can be viewed as world rulers and if you're Lady Beneviento's messenger, so to speak, then we must be in the presence of a Goddess, little angel." You responded with a small smile to the doll. You glanced up at Lady Beneviento before looking back at Angie. "But, um, is there anything I can do for the two of you?" You asked.

Angie made the motion of wanting to be picked up, you looked up at Lady Beneviento for approval before doing so. "Mistress Donna would like to know if you would paint us." Angie said. "She said she'd pay you for it."

"Oh, I, well, I would love to paint the both of you." You replied. "I could, well, I guess I could come by House Beneviento whenever it's good for you two."

Angie shook her head. "Mistress Donna says it wouldn't be safe for you to come to the House." Angie said.

You furrowed your brows a bit. "Well, I could do it at my house instead. I'd have to clean it, but we can definitely get it done there if that's okay." Angie nodded her head. "Good. I guess just let me know what day would be a good day to get the painting done."

Angie hopped off your lap and went to be held by Lady Beneviento. She whispered something into Lady Beneviento's ear before looking back at you. "Mistress Donna says Wednesday would be a most pleasant day for the painting."

You smiled up at them. "Wednesday, it is then. I'll be expecting you." You replied. Angie said bye to you from her and Mistress Donna before they walked away from you. You quickly made your way back to your home, avoiding eye contact and conversation with anybody who witnessed your encounter with Lady Beneviento. You let out a small sigh before you began cleaning.

Wednesday came before you knew it, but at least you had most of your place cleaned and organised for your guests. As you finished setting up where you would do the painting there was a faint knock on the door. You let out a shaky breath before opening the door.

"Lady Beneviento, Angie, hi." You greeted as you let them into your home.

"Hi, Y/N. Mistress Donna and I are very excited about the painting today. I was so excited about it last night that I couldn't even sleep!" Angie exclaimed as Lady Beneviento carried her.

You flushed at her excitement. "Well, I'm glad you were excited, but I do hope you got some sleep. You know sleep is very important." You replied. "So this is where I'm going to do the painting. I'll start by sketching the two of you first and then I'll paint it. It'll take a few hours at least, but I should have the two of you home before dark." You explained.

"Y/N?" Angie called out.

You turned around. "Yes?"

"Mistress Donna would like to know if it's okay if she takes off her veil for the painting." Angie said. You nodded your head. "You won't be scared of her scar, will you?" Angie asked.

"Oh, precious angel, no. Lady Beneviento is still a Goddess, with or without her scar." You said with a smile. Angie hugged your leg as Lady Beneviento slowly undid her veil. You let out a small gasp. "See? Your Lady's a Goddess, Angie." You said to the doll and you could see a small blush colour Lady Beneviento's cheeks.

"You- you really think?" Lady Beneviento asked softly. It was the first time you had ever heard her speak, her voice sounded like honey. You nodded your head. "Thank you, um, Y/N."

"You're welcome, Lady Beneviento." You replied.

"Donna." You raised your eyebrow slightly. "In your lovely home, Donna will do just fine." She said with a soft smile.

You nodded you head slightly. "Alright then, Donna." You said. "How about we get started?" You suggested. Donna bit her lip before hesitantly moving over to the chair you set out for her. "Is something wrong? We don't have to do the painting if you don't want to."

Donna shook her head. "N-no, I want to. I just, can you, never mind." She waved the thought off.

You moved closer to her, taking her hand in yours. "Hey, listen, I'll do whatever you want me to do." You said.

"Mistress Donna is a bit self-conscious about her scar, Y/N." You looked at Angie. "Mistress Donna was wondering if you'd paint her an eye instead of painting her scar."

You nodded your head before looking back at Donna. "Is that what you would like, Donna?" You asked. She nodded her head. "I can do that. If that's what you want then I can do that." You replied.

"Mistress Donna says thank you." Angie said motioning for you to pick her up.

You have a small smile. You placed Angie on Donna's lap before asking a question. "Are you two... connected?"

"In a way, yes." Donna replied.

You hummed. You sketched her and Angie mostly in silence, occasionally asking her to turn a certain way. It took you a few hours to sketch them out like you had that it would, but you wouldn't have enough time to get it fully done to give it to her before dark.

"I didn't realise how late it was getting." You said when you looked at the clock. "I apologise for keeping you in town for so long." You stood up from your seat and looked at Angie. "You should probably get this little angel to bed soon, My Lady."

Donna frowned a bit. "Donna, please. I'd like for you to call me Donna." She replied. You simply nodded your head at her request. "I suppose we should get going. Could you hold her while I do this?" She asked, gesturing towards the black veil on your couch.

"Of course." You said as you took the doll from her lap and held her.

"Y/N, can I tell you something?" Angie asked. You smiled at her and leaned your ear down to her. You let out a soft gasp at what she told you. "Is that so? I'll be sure to make it extra special then, just for Donna... and you too, angel." You replied to the doll softly.

It wasn't long before you waving goodbye to the two of them as they headed back to their home. You had agreed on Sunday for Donna and Angie to come back for the painting, and they did. You'd just woken up when you heard the knock on your door. Smiling to yourself you made your way over to let them in.

"Donna, Angie, you're here early!" Nonetheless, you allowed them into your home. "I need a shower, but make yourselves comfortable. I made some tea if you'd like to have some, Donna, cups are in the cabinet on the right." You called over your shoulder as you made your way into the bathroom. When you came out, you found Angie asleep on your couch with Donna's veil over her while Donna was sat in a chair sipping on a cup of tea. "Angie must be really tired if she's sleeping right now." You said, looking at the sleeping doll fondly, a small smile on your face.

Donna let out a small laugh. "She, um, didn't get much sleep last night. And when Angie is restless then so am I." Donna replied. Looking her over, you did notice that she looked a bit tired. "It's no bother to me, I enjoy keeping her company." She quickly added upon seeing the concerned look on your face.

"I don't doubt that one bit." You said. "How have you been?" You asked.

"Same old, same old. Mother Miranda called a meeting for the Lords and warned us of some outsider coming to the village soon, to make sure we're prepared for his arrival." Donna explained. "I have no doubt that Alcina or Heisenberg will get their hands on him before me and Moreau get a chance at him and I wouldn't mind it one bit, to be honest."

"Speaking of Lady Dimitrescu, she tried to pursue me once, but I turned her down. Quite frightening that I lived through it." You said as you sighed into your cup of tea. Donna arched her eyebrow. "She said something about how I reminded her of someone she once knew a long time ago. It was very flattering, I guess, but I had no idea what she was going on about." You explained.

Donna looked at her cup, tapping her fingers on it. "A past lover, I assume." She said softly. You couldn't help the laugh you let out in disbelief. "I'm serious. Alcina has had some lovers come back to her, reincarnated and all that, it never slips past her when a past lover returns to the village." Donna said. "But never have I heard of one passing her up."

You shrugged a bit. "She's a beautiful woman, of course, but nothing compared to you, Donna." You replied and you could see her blush at the compliment as she waved it off. You put your cup down to take her hand in yours as you had done the last time she was here. "I, um, I mean it. You're a Goddess, Donna, you're picture perfect." You said as you leaned closer to her, staring into her eyes, your lips only a few inches from her.

Donna let out a shaky breath. "Speaking of picture perfect, the portrait?" She said before clearing her throat, breaking you out of the trance the two of you seemed to be in.

You jumped up, scratching the back of your head. "Yes, the portrait." You smiled as you went over to get it. You spoke to her as you walked back over to where she was sitting. "A little angel, not naming any names, told me that today was a very special day so I tried to make it extra special for you, Donna." You took the sheet you had over the painting off and waited for her reaction.

You stared at the lady in black sitting in one of your chairs with curious eyes as she stared at the portrait, observing it before she looked up at you with tears in her eyes. Donna stood up from her chair and pulled you into a hug. "It's perfect. So, so perfect. Thank you." Donna said into your ear softly sending a small shiver down your spine as she pulled away. You expected her to sit back down, but instead she studied your face before she leaned in to kiss you. It took you a second to register what was happening before you reciprocated the kiss, pushing your lips into hers a bit before she pulled away. "Was that, did I overstep?" She asked.

You shook your head. "No. Not at all." You said before you kissed her again, a small smile on your face. You reluctantly pulled away. "I'm glad you liked the portrait. Happy Birthday, Donna."

Donna gave you a small smile in return as she returned to her seat, stealing a glance over at the still sleeping doll. "Angie's not going to be pleased that I saw it without her. Or about the fact that we..." Her voice trailed off as she touched her lips before looking up at you. "Put the sheet back on it?" She asked.

"Of course. Wouldn't want the little angel to miss out on such a special moment, would we?" Donna let out a laugh as she shook her head at your question. In all honesty, you hadn't expected to fall for Donna Beneviento, but you were glad you turned down Lady Dimitrescu if it meant you got to make this Goddess of a woman smile and laugh any chance you could.

[sometimesbeforeitgetsbetter]

Off the Record | Stiles Stilinski

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x reader

Summary: High school in Beacon Hills, as told through the eyes of one inquisitive journalist who has a knack at getting on Stiles Stilinski's nerves.

Warnings: idk there's like a couple curse words lmao. also, spoilers? if you haven't finished teen wolf I guess??

Word count: 8,227

A/N: hi hi this is my first fic I'm posting on Tumblr (not to say that this is my first fic ever...anyway)! before you start, I just wanna say that there's a couple things that might be off from the show but please just ignore them. like I think it's bs Lydia brings Stiles back and not Scott in 6b so I righted that wrong. but I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think of it! thanks for reading!!

--

All my life I’ve wondered why people didn’t question what happens in Beacon Hills.

It’s no secret that our town is unusual, but when odd things seemed to happen, people would just turn a blind eye and go about their business.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t let it go. I was inquisitive by nature, and my mom never knew how to answer my questions.

Why do we have so many animal attacks?

What happened to the people that disappeared in the Preserve?

Why did his eyes glow like that?

That last question almost caused my mom to get me a therapist – which probably would’ve helped me regardless – but she just continued to answer with her usual responses.

They just feel threatened by us, dear.

They’re in a better place now.

I’m sure it was nothing – you probably just saw some reflection in his eyes.

But no matter what she told me, I wasn’t satisfied. I knew there was something bigger going on, something my mom couldn’t explain, but I wasn’t sure what. As I got older, however, I realized that if I kept voicing my concerns, I’d be seen as the local crazy person – which, at the time, was the title reserved for my neighbor, Donna Romano, who always went to Town Hall meetings to complain about how some supernatural creatures were traumatizing her dogs every time she took them out at night to urinate.

Out of fear of sounding like Donna, I kept my suspicions to myself. I observed the strange actions of those around me and kept note of the bizarre events that happened in town. I found that it was something I was good at – observing. Always watching, but never voicing my opinions. Eventually, it got the best of me because I grew really quiet at school. But I didn’t mind. I liked being a wallflower.

One day in the fifth grade I saw my mom reading the Beacon Chronicle and I had an epiphany – journalists investigate weird, inexplicable events, so I should be a journalist. Reading the news became my favorite pastime, and by sixth grade I decided I would join the high school newspaper, The Daily Beacon, when I became a freshman. I figured maybe it would give me an outlet to investigate the odd occurrences in the town without looking like a lunatic.

But in sixth grade, I noticed that some of the odd things had stopped happening. There were less animal attacks and disappearances from the Preserve. Some people had even left town, including the last of the Hales, whose house had burned down that same year.

I didn’t give up hope though. I kept my head down and waited for things to get weird again. In the meantime, I wrote for enjoyment. In eighth grade I started shadowing a girl named Anna that was a part of the Daily Beacon, and I started writing articles – album reviews, movie reviews, school news.

Everything was going smoothly until my sophomore year of high school. Suddenly the weird things were happening, and I was sure that there was one person that was at the epicenter of it all – Scott McCall.

--

“...Angela, you’re covering the new faculty; Thomas, you’ve got the new Vegan Support Group club some juniors just created; and y/n, you’re covering lacrosse try-outs,” said Andrew, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Beacon.

I groaned slightly. “Andrew, couldn’t I write something a little bit more...my style? Like what about the one freshman class that boycotted their summer reading and is facing suspension?”

He gave me a slight look. “y/n, you know how important this lacrosse piece is. You know what that sport means to the school. You should be glad I’m giving you this opportunity,” he scolded. “Besides, Marlene is covering that class and is already interviewing their teacher.”

I nodded slowly and tried to refrain from rolling my eyes. I knew that Andrew meant well – he had been like an older brother to me ever since my freshman year – and he was right about the importance of lacrosse. I stayed quiet until he dismissed us, then mentally prepared myself to spend my afternoon watching some jocks exude machismo on a field.

When my last class was over, I walked over to the lacrosse field and found myself a spot on the top of the bleachers. It gave me an excellent vantage point – until a couple girls sat down right in front of me. The redhead I recognized to be Lydia Martin, the school’s resident popular girl. We’d been in class together all our lives, but I couldn’t remember a time she ever talked to me. I’m sure she didn’t even know I existed, just like the majority of the other people in our grade. The other girl, however, I didn’t recognize. I found out her name was Allison by overhearing their conversation. She was new and must have just moved to Beacon Hills.

The shrill sound of Coach’s whistle knocked me out of my thoughts. Tryouts started, and I watched as Scott McCall, a boy from my grade, was nearly knocked out by a lacrosse ball to the face. I winced but wrote down the event in the notebook I had out for documentation.

The next ball that went Scott’s way didn’t hit his face though. He managed to catch it in his goalie net. I couldn’t help but be a bit surprised – like Lydia, I’d known of Scott my whole life though he probably didn’t know me at all. But that meant I knew he was an asthmatic that wasn’t particularly skilled at sports.

“He’s actually pretty good,” I mumbled to myself as Scott continued to catch every ball that came his way.

I didn’t realize how loud I must’ve said it though because at my remark Allison turned around. “I was just thinking the same thing,” she said, obviously surprised. “Do you know him?”

I shook my head and quickly turned my attention to my notebook to write down the surprising turn of events. “Are you writing about this for the school newspaper?” I looked back up at Allison’s question. She was paying attention to me?

“Um, yeah, I am. I’d rather not write about sports, but here I am,” I joked lightly.

She let out a beautiful laugh at my statement. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I’m Allison, and you are…?”

“y/n,” I answered. “Nice to meet you, Allison.” Suddenly the crowd roared, and I remembered why I was there. Allison, too, smiled and turned her attention back to the game. Lydia hadn’t said a word, but she was focused on watching Scott absolutely demolish Jackson Highmore, who, in my opinion, needed to be knocked down a few pegs anyway.

The more I watched Scott though, I got this weird feeling. He was good – too good. I tried to ignore my feelings and just focus on writing notes for the ridiculous lacrosse piece, which would include the headline: “Sophomore Scott McCall shines at lacrosse tryouts and becomes team co-captain.” But deep down I knew there was something up with him.

A few days later, I was sitting behind Stiles Stilinski, Scott’s best friend, in English class. Even though I’d had nearly all of my classes with him, we never talked. It originally was because I had a minor crush on him and was afraid I’d pass out if I spoke to him, but eventually it just morphed into me not speaking to many people and being convinced he didn’t know of my existence anyway.

But this one day, I was committed to speaking with him. I had to know what was going on, and if there was one person that knew anything about Scott’s new-found lacrosse talent, it was Stiles.

“Hey, Stiles,” I spoke up from behind him.

The brunette turned around, slightly confused but with that soft smile on his face. “Oh, hey, y/n. What’s up?”

I swear my heart stopped beating for a second. He knew my name? He knew who I was? I shook myself out of my thoughts before I went down the rabbit hole of the implications of him knowing me.

“Oh, nothing much. I’m just writing a piece about lacrosse tryouts for the school newspaper and I was just wondering if you had anything to say about it,” I explained.

He tilted his head slightly and shifted in his seat to more fully face me. “Um, yeah sure. I think it’s going to be a great season, especially since we’ve gotten some new leadership. My boy Scott’s co-captain now, so those Devenford Prep guys won’t know what hit them!”

“Speaking of Scott, when did he get so good at lacrosse? Would you say it’s natural talent?” I pressed a bit, hoping he’d say something that would give me a hint as to what was going on.

Stiles’ eyes squinted a little, and his head tilted slightly again. He seemed to be at a loss for words, which was unusual for the fast-talking, sarcastic boy, but he quickly recovered. “It’s definitely...natural...talent. He’s been working extra hard recently to hone his talent and skills so he could bring his A-game to this year’s tryouts.” When he finished speaking, he looked pleased with himself, and I could tell he had let out a small sigh of relief.

What are you hiding?

Though I didn’t know it yet, at that moment my rivalry with Stiles Stilinski began. He and Scott were hiding something, and I was going to find out what it was.

--

“You’re telling me that a girl is in a coma after the school winter formal and you don’t want me to write a story about it?”

Andrew leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “It’s not that I don’t want you to write it. I just think it’s a tense time right now. The administration is receiving a lot of flack right now because of the winter formal fiasco, and Ms. Blanchard told me that we may want to avoid stirring the pot right now,” he explained. “That is not to say that we abandon our journalistic integrity and commitment to informing the student body, but we just may want to be sensitive to our environment right now.”

I trusted Ms. Blanchard, the faculty sponsor of the Daily Beacon, but not reporting on Lydia’s comatose state felt wrong. She was well-known at school, and students deserved to know the facts of her situation and how it had happened.Well, maybe I was lying to myself by saying that the real reason I wanted to pursue the story wasn’t the fact that something inexplicable had happened at the dance and I had to figure out what it was.

Andrew could sense my disappointment. “Look, maybe for now you can start collecting information and sources, and I’ll talk to Ms. Blanchard. Maybe she can advise us on how best to proceed.”

I threw my arms around Andrew in a quick hug. “Yes, thank you! I promise I’ll be sensitive when asking sources. I know how difficult this must be for the people close to her.”

“I know you will,” he said, chuckling lightly.

With a smile plastered on my face – perhaps a little inappropriately considering the topic I was excited to cover – I left the small newspaper office in search of my first source: Stiles Stilinski. He had been Lydia’s date to the dance, so surely he must know what happened to her, right? “No, I don’t know what happened,” Stiles angrily responded when I cornered him at his locker. “We were separated for a bit because she went looking for someone. When I went looking for her I–” he stopped suddenly, as if choosing his words carefully. He wouldn’t meet my eyes as he spoke.

“The next thing I know, she was at the hospital in a coma. They told me Jackson had found her out on the field when I went to check on her at the hospital,” he explained.

Something wasn’t adding up. “Ok, but where were you the rest of that time? You didn’t go looking for her when you didn’t see her for a while? What about when she had already been checked into the hospital?”

“What is this – an investigation?” Stiles shouted as he slammed his locker shut. I took a step back, eyes wide at the sudden display of aggression. Maybe I pushed too hard, I thought. Stiles rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I….I didn’t mean it like that. There’s just a lot going on, and my dad has been up my ass about those details too. To be honest, I can’t tell you where I was. The time just flew by and all of a sudden I’d realized I hadn’t seen Lydia for a couple hours. I wish I had been there for her, but there’s nothing I can do for her now other than check up on her.”

Running a hand over his buzzed head, he shot me a forced smile and said “good luck with your article” before walking away.

I was at a loss for words, trying to put the pieces together in my head. Surely he couldn’t have had a part in Lydia’s injury? There’s no way. But his defensiveness was off-putting–

“Hey, y/n!” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Allison approaching me from behind. “What were you talking to Stiles about?”

“Huh? Oh, um, I was just asking him about…” I remembered that the funeral for Allison’s aunt was happening and didn’t want to mention the additional stress of her best friend being comatose, so I opted for a white lie. “Biology homework. I wasn’t really paying attention in class today.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you two were friends,” she said as she leant against the lockers.

I shook my head violently. “We’re not.” I’d grown too close to Allison for her to not pick up on my feelings though.

“You say that now, but–”

“I have to get to class. See you at lunch, Ally!”

--

Other things that year were weird, but none warranted any further investigation via newspaper article. Sure, I was wondering about Erica Reyes’ sudden transformation into the ultimate baddie, the mysterious deaths of a mechanic and Isaac Lahey’s dad, numerous paralyzations at the Jungle, and a death of someone at a secret rave, but Andrew thought it would be best for the Chronicle and Ledger to cover those bigger events. In fact, the only other unnatural event that happened that I had to cover for the newspaper was Stiles’ unbelievable winning streak at the lacrosse championship. I would have quoted him after the game, but I really didn’t want to speak to him and anyway, he had disappeared for a bit right after the team won.

I could tell that things were happening, but it was all hidden from public view. I even noticed Allison’s behavior fluctuating. The arrival of her grandfather shook things up, and while he gave me a bad feeling, I couldn’t exactly figure out why. Lydia was more troubled than usual after coming back from the hospital even though she tried to act normally. Jackson was going through something and was more angry and aggressive than usual, but I wasn’t close enough to him to ask him if he was okay.

Over the summer, I spent a surprising amount of time with Lydia. Allison spent her summer in France, but she asked me to keep an eye on Lydia to make sure she was okay, especially since Jackson had moved to London during the summer break. I was surprised how much I enjoyed spending time with the redhead, and we hung out when I wasn’t working at my internship at The Beacon Chronicle, which my mom had convinced me to apply for after she noticed how irritated I was that I couldn’t pursue some of the stories I wanted.

By the time Allison came back before the start of school, it felt like Lydia and I had been best friends for the longest time.

“So, Allison, have you talked to Scott at all this summer?” I asked when I was sitting in the backseat of Lydia’s car, Allison in the passenger seat.

She shook her head. “No, I think I still need some time. He...hides things from me and I don’t know if I can trust him.”

I nodded my head, understanding the feeling. I still couldn’t place my finger on what had happened between them or what Scott was involved in. Though I comforted her when I found out they broke up, I didn’t really know why they’d done it.

“What about you, y/n? Have you talked to Stiles at all?” Allison asked, looking back at me in the backseat.

“Why the hell would I talk to Stiles?” I questioned, confused.

She and Lydia shared a small look that I couldn’t decipher before she shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but you guys are more similar than you may think. I don’t know why you guys act like you don’t like each other though.”

The car rolled to a stop at the stop light, and all of a sudden I noticed a familiar baby blue jeep approach next to us. “Speak of the devil,” I mumbled. Lydia and Allison didn’t notice Stiles staring and waving at first, but when they did the car was filled with awkward tension.

The next events were a blur: Lydia running the red light, both cars stopping in the middle of the road, and a deer running straight towards us, nearing killing me in the gap between the front seats. We were shaken, and the boys ran towards us when they saw what happened.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked Lydia, but he kept looking at me. I nodded slightly and he turned his full attention back to Lydia.

“What was wrong with it?” Allison asked as Scott got closer to the deer.

“It was scared,” he explained. “No, terrified.”

Things got progressively weirder after that. On the first day of school, I interviewed our new English teacher, Ms. Blake. She was nice enough, but it was unfortunate that her class was the one that a whole flock of birds decided to burst through the classroom windows. By the time the police arrived, I was already drafting up a story in my brain: Why are the animals acting weird in Beacon Hills?

I had overheard Stiles talking to Scott about the deer’s weird behavior and the number of deer-related incidents in California, so I swallowed my pride so that I could talk to him and maybe get some stats and information on the whole situation.

I walked up to him when he was sitting alone, texting on his phone. “Hey, Stiles.” “y/n? What’s wrong?” He had genuine concern written on his face.

“I overheard you and Scott talking about deer-related incidents earlier,” I noticed how he tensed up at my statement, “and I was wondering if you could help me with a piece I’m writing? It seems like you know all the stats, so maybe...you could write it with me?” It pained me to finish that sentence, but I figured it might be easier to figure out what was going on if he was helping – especially if he already had inside information.

I think for the first time in his life, the talkative boy was speechless. “I understand if you don’t want to or you’re busy–” I said quickly, trying to give him a way out.

“Yeah, sure.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t caught off guard by his response. “W-what?”

He smirked slightly. “Yeah, sure. I’ll help you out with your article, y/n. Collaborate with you, if you will. We can work on it at my house tomorrow afternoon if you want.”

Nodding and agreeing with the plan, I left the chaotic English classroom.

The next afternoon, I felt like I was walking into the lion’s den. Going to Stiles’ house felt foreign, but what was even stranger was seeing him in casual clothes in a comfortable environment.

He answered the door wearing some sweats and a t-shirt, looking more comfortable and confident than I’d ever seen him. “Hey, y/n. Come on in,” he greeted.

I thanked him awkwardly, and we walked to his dining room table to get set up. “Sorry, I need to go grab my notes from my room. Be back in a sec,” Stiles said before leaving me alone in his dining room.

After a moment of silence, Sheriff Stilinski walked in wearing his uniform. “Oh, y/n! What are you doing here?” He had seen me a couple weeks ago in the police station when I was requesting documents for a story for the Chronicle. Though journalists and cops don’t often have a jovial relationship, he said that he liked me because of my commitment to the truth and respectful nature.

“Hey, Sheriff. I’m writing a piece about the animals acting weird, you know, with the deer accident and bird incident, and Stiles said he’d help me since he has a bunch of statistics on deer related car accidents.”

“Stiles is helping you? Well, I’ll be damned.” When he saw the confusion on my face, he rushed to explain himself. “No, not like that. It’s just, you’re all organized and focused, and Stiles is….Stiles.”

I was laughing heartily when the boy himself walked back into the room. “What’s going on, Daddy-o?”

“Nothing, son. Just catching up with y/n here. I’ve got to get to work, but you’re welcome anytime, y/n.” He said before patting Stiles on the shoulder and heading off to work.

Stiles looked over at me oddly when he placed his notes on the table and sat next to me. “Since when are you all buddy-buddy with my dad?”

Shrugging, I said, “Ever since we started grabbing beer every Thursday night while you’re at lacrosse practice.” His jaw dropped slightly, and I laughed again. “No, idiot. We’ve just interacted a lot because of my internship. Now, can we get started on the article?”

--

After the article was published, my next assignment was writing about the track meet a couple weeks later. I found out Allison and Lydia were riding together to the meet, so I tagged along.

Both girls were extremely tense the whole ride, seemingly concerned about something going on in the bus. We were only a few cars behind the bus full of track runners (and lacrosse players who were forced to attend the meet), but the stand-still traffic was a force to be reckoned with.

“Do you think we’re too close?” Allison asked.

“Honey, if you were any closer I think you’d mount the bus,” Lydia said sarcastically. She got a call from Stiles and looked over at Allison. “Hey, Stiles,” she dragged out the ‘hey,’ tension obvious in her voice.

She listened to what he was saying, something clearly wrong. “What do you mean he’s not–” she stopped when she remembered I was in the car, “healing?” She finished the question quietly, probably hoping I wouldn’t hear.

Healing? Is he injured?

“Yeah, ok, just find a way to get Coach to stop. We’ll meet you there.” She hung up and told Allison to pull off at the next stop.

When we got to the rest stop, I could see everyone hurrying to get off the bus. Allison parked the car, and we quickly went to the bathroom where I saw Scott nearly passed out on the floor. “Oh my god, is he okay?”

“Yeah, y/n. He’s fine. At least, he will be,” Stiles responded. He positioned his body in front of me a little bit as if he was trying to block my view of Scott.

I gently pushed him aside so I could see and was shocked to see black blood coming from the injured boy. “What the hell is going on? Why is his blood black?” I ran forward to get closer, kneeling next to Allison.

“It’s nothing. We just need to stitch him up and he’ll be fine.”

“Stiles, don’t fucking lie to me. I can see that he’s obviously not fine.”

“He’s right,” Allison said quietly. “We need to stitch him up. I need something to stitch him together with.” She looked around before remembering something in her bag.

I shook my head. “We need to tell Coach. Take him to a hospital or something.”

“No!” All three of them yelled at me.

It was quiet for a moment, all of us deciding where to go from here. “Just…” Stiles started, “please go and make sure the bus doesn’t leave without us. We’ll handle this.” I got up and slowly made my way to the door.

As I reached for the door, a hand grabbed my wrist. “y/n,” Stiles said, “it’ll make sense someday. Just trust us for now. Trust me,” he pleaded quietly out of earshot of the girls and Scott.

“I do,” I replied quietly, not meeting his eyes, before pulling my hand from his grasp and leaving the bathroom.

That night, we all had to stay at the Motel Glen Capri because of the postponed meet. I didn’t like its energy, and neither did Lydia. “A lot can happen in one night,” she said.

Though it was supposed to be two to a room, I convinced Coach to let me room with Allison and Lydia. Admittedly, Coach didn’t need much convincing because I was saving the school money by doing so. Once we got our room key, we went up to our room on the second floor.

“I’m going to go get a snack from the machine,” I told Lydia once Allison was in the shower.

She nodded. “Sounds good. I’m going to the lobby. There must be something we can do about these towels that reek of nicotine.”

Grabbing a couple one’s from my wallet, I made my way down the hall to the vending machine where I ran into Boyd and Stiles. As I approached, I could hear Stiles trying to talk to an unresponsive Boyd, who subsequently punched a hole through the glass of the machine, grab his snack that the machine refused to give him, and walk away.

“What the hell was that?” I asked Stiles as I walked up next to him.

He shrugged. “I don’t really know, to be honest.” He reached into the machine to grab his snack and tossed one to me as well.

When I got back to my room, a shaken Allison and Lydia were hurriedly talking about something. “Oh, y/n! You’re back. You won’t believe what just happened…” Allison started

She recounted the story of Scott’s bizarre behavior in the bathroom, and Lydia filled me in on the counter that they have at the front desk. “Can you imagine having a counter for the number of suicides that take place in your hotel? Crazy,” Lydia said. Taking her phone out, she sent a quick text to Stiles telling him that we all needed to talk.

We met him in the hallway a couple minutes later. “What was the text for?” Stiles asked when he saw our little gathering.

“There’s something going on with all the…” she looked over at me before continuing, “guys. You know, Scott, Boyd, Isaac, probably Ethan too.” I tried to connect the dots between all of them, but I didn’t really know what they all had in common. Scott and Isaac were both on the lacrosse team, but from what I could tell they didn’t have a particular fondness for each other or Ethan.

“I think someone’s going to die tonight,” Lydia said decisively.

“Why do you think that?” I asked, but it seemed like I was the only one questioning her line of reason.

She shook her head slowly. “I just...have a feeling.” After a moment of silence, she told us about hearing something from the room next to ours through the vent, so we decided to investigate it. Room 217 seemed empty and locked, but all of a sudden we heard the sound of a saw from behind the door.

Stiles busted the door open, and we opened it to find Ethan turning the saw on himself. “Ethan, stop!” I yelled as we ran into the room. Stiles started wrestling him for the saw, but luckily Lydia saw where it was plugged into the wall and unplugged it.

The next thing that happened was completely unexpected to me. Ethan grew fangs and claws, his eyes blazing red. What the fu–

Allison and Lydia rushed forward, wrestling his claws away from his torso where he had been planning on slashing himself. In the struggle he fell on the space heater, which apparently brought him out of whatever state he was in. He ran out of the room soon after. When we tried to question him about what he was doing, he couldn’t answer us. He had been out of control, and it made Allison realize we were forgetting someone.

“Where’s Scott?” She asked suddenly. When no one could answer, we all decided to split up – I’d go with Allison to look for Scott while Stiles and Lydia went to find Boyd and Isaac.

Scott wasn’t in his room. Allison and I ran all over the motel, looking in every crevice. At last, we decided to check the school bus, and that’s where we saw him. Standing drenched in gasoline, a flare lit up in his hand.

“Scott…” I approached quietly, careful to not make any sudden movements.

It was then that Stiles and Lydia joined us. I watched as Stiles walked into the gasoline, my breath catching in my throat as he nearly sacrificed himself. Scott was talking, but I didn’t really understand what it meant. He said that his life was better before the bite.

Stiles eventually talked Scott down, but the flare rolled into the gasoline. Luckily, Lydia was able to make sure we had all gotten out of the way. I’d ended up next to Stiles on the ground, and though we made eye contact, no words were spoken.

We spent the night in the bus because none of us could bear the thought of spending another second in that cursed place. Coach woke us up in the morning, definitely thinking the worst about what we may have gotten ourselves into, but whatever he was thinking wouldn’t possibly compare to reality. What was reality? I couldn’t have really told you at that point. I didn’t understand what we’d just lived through.

Before the other students started loading onto the bus, Stiles slid into the empty space next to me. “y/n, you know that all of this,” he made a grand gesture to Scott and the others as well as the motel, “is off the record. You can’t tell anyone about this. About what happened.” I held eye contact with him for a moment before nodding. “I wouldn’t tell anyone. To be honest, I don’t even really know what I would tell people, but I wouldn’t.” He nodded, a sad smile on his face as he looked down and fidgeted with his hands. “But Stiles,” I said as he looked back up at me. “Please help me understand it all. You can trust me, I promise, I just want to understand. I want to help.”

With a deep sigh, Stiles nodded once more. “Okay. I’ll tell you everything.”

--

When Stiles said he’d fill me in on everything, I didn’t realize he meant everything. I couldn’t believe how oblivious I had been to everything that had happened in the past year. Sure, I knew something weird was going on, but how was I supposed to know it was supernatural?

Finding out that my little corner of the world, little old Beacon Hills, California, had werewolves (and a kanima, pack of alphas, and whatever the hell a Darach was) was a lot to process. It was unbelievable, but Stiles helped me believe it.

I could tell that he didn’t fully trust me though. There was something in the way he looked at me that told me he was wondering when I would be done with my source acquisition and I’d write the next big exposé: Supernatural Beacon Hills: How Werewolves Have Been Hiding In Plain Sight. I didn’t know how to assure him that I was on their side and wouldn’t expose their secrets.

As the year progressed, things simultaneously made more sense and less sense. To defeat the Darach, we had to perform a sacrifice for the parents that had abducted, and Deaton – the veterinarian that had taken care of every family pet we’d ever had – told me I had to hold Stiles down during it. He said we had some sort of connection, but I guess that’s what mutual loathing does to people.

In the end, we won. We beat the Darach, the alpha of the alphas Deucalion left, and Scott became an alpha himself. But it was still just the beginning.

--

The sacrifice did something to Scott, Stiles, and Allison that we didn’t fully understand. Deaton said they left a door open, which only made it harder for Stiles to trust me because he could barely trust himself.

Knowing about the supernatural didn’t preclude my other responsibilities though. I still wrote for the Daily Beacon, much to Stiles’ displeasure, but I enjoyed it. So, on the first day of school I interviewed our newest faculty member – Mr. Yukimura. He and his family had just moved from New York, and his daughter Kira was in our grade. She was nice, but shy, so I invited her to have lunch with us.

Surprisingly, Kira jumped right into the conversation at lunch by mentioning bardo, the Buddhist concept of being in an in-between state.

After lunch, I caught up with Allison to walk to our next class. “Hey, Allison, could I ask you a favor?”

“Of course! What’s up?”

“Well, I don’t really know how to ask this but...I need help learning to defend myself, I guess? It’s just that I’m going to be helping you guys now, and I actually want to be helpful, so I want to protect myself so you guys don’t have to worry about me,” I admitted.

Allison smiled softly. “I’d love to help.” I returned her smile, suddenly giddy, yet nervous. “But, I think you should know that my...aim...has been off since the sacrifice.”

I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “Nonsense, I’m sure that you’re still the best shot in this school.” She shook her head. “It’s never been this bad.”

Touching her arm lightly, I gave her a reassuring smile. “We’ll figure it out together.”

A few days later, I was surprised when I was paid a visit by both Scott and Stiles while I was sitting in the library. “To what do I owe this pleasure, boys?”

“We need your help.” I perked up at Scott’s statement. “We’re trying to solve the Tate case, you know, the one where Malia Tate disappeared all those years ago after that car accident, and we could use your help tracking her down.” He looked over at Stiles and nudged him with his elbow.

“And, you can write a piece about it. Not including all the details, if what we think happened is true, but you can still write something factual,” Stiles said, still displeased that I was writing for the newspaper.

To annoy Stiles, I acted like I was really thinking about it for a minute, but then laughed lightly. “Yeah, I’ll help you guys. Where do we start?”

--

Pull yourself together, y/n. You’re a journalist. You’re supposed to report on tragedy all the time. Be objective.

I took a deep breath and wrote the first line for what would be the cover story of the next Daily Beacon issue.

Junior Allison Argent, 17, died in an unfortunate carjacking incident last fall.

Before I could write any more, I got a phone call from Stiles.

Oh, thank god. “Stiles?”

“Do you want to come with us to Mexico?” He blurted out.

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from my chest. “What? Mexico? Why? When–”

“Tomorrow.”

“Stiles, are you insane? Even if I wanted to, there’s no way my parents would ever let me go.”

“We’re all telling our parents we’re going camping, if that helps at all,” he said with what seemed like a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I was quiet for a minute, but my mind was already made up. “Why? And who exactly is going?”

“Scott, Lydia, Kira, Malia, and I have to visit some hunters and see what they know about Derek being missing.”

As soon as he mentioned Malia, my mouth started curling into a frown. It’s not that I disliked the werecoyote, it’s just that she and Stiles had been pretty full on since they hooked up at Eichen and started dating. I wasn’t jealous – though I’m sure Lydia would argue otherwise since she’s convinced I like him or something – just...weirded out by their relationship.

I sighed. “I want to help, but I really can’t tomorrow. School starts back up in a couple days, and I need to finish this elegy for Allison and come up with a bunch of assignments for the staff writers…” I trailed off, thinking about all that I had to do before the coming week.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Ms. Editor-in-chief over here has a life outside of us,” Stiles joked.

Andrew graduated at the end of last year and left his glittering empire to me, though suddenly I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of running a newspaper while being way too involved in the town’s supernatural endeavors. It didn’t bother me last semester, but after Allison…

“I’ll just see you guys when you get back, okay?” I told Stiles. He made an unintelligible noise of agreement. “And try not to let anyone get killed.” “Yes, mom,” Stiles said sarcastically. I could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

When the pack got back, I was surprised by the events that had taken place. “What do you mean it’s a young version of Derek?”

A few days later, I had to cover the spring lacrosse tryouts. Though I wanted to assign it to someone else, I had to do it myself because everyone was busy with the assignments I had given them.

To my surprise, a new freshman, Liam Dunbar, showed everyone up at tryouts – even Scott. I took note of how he seemed almost athletically superior to everyone, and I wondered if he was supernatural.

“He’s human, I’m sure of it,” Scott said as he came up next to where I was sitting on the bleachers, scaring me out of my mind in the process.

“Jeez, Scott. A little warning next time would be nice. But how do you know?”

He shrugged. “I can just tell. He’s just a really great athlete.”

“He’s going to be a great pain in my ass, I can tell,” Stiles said, sidling up next to Scott.

I took note of their reactions, writing down Scott’s comment – about being a great athlete, not human – to consider while writing my piece.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you’re writing a story about him,” Stiles groaned.

“You know I have to write one about the tryouts, and he just happens to be the star player of today,” I told him. “Sorry, Scott.”

Scott waved me off, but Stiles was still upset about the situation. “No, don’t give him the ego boost! He’s already a little shit, and an article about him would make it worse.”

Taking a break from my note-taking, I looked over at the brown-haired boy. “Stiles, have you even talked to him?”

He looked at a loss for words. “N-not really...but I can see his arrogance from a mile away!”

I rolled my eyes. “Well then, if you’d excuse me, I’m going to write up a fantastic story about a talented up-and-coming lacrosse player.”

The article became the next issue’s front page, but I almost wished I hadn’t given him as much attention when Scott turned him into his beta.

The rest of the year didn’t go as planned either, but isn’t junior year supposed to be everyone’s worst year?

As much as I liked helping out with the supernatural problems Scott and the rest of the pack were having, it was hard knowing about what was going on and not being able to write about it, especially when all of the mysterious killings started up. We eventually found out about the deadpool, but I could write about a kill list of Beacon Hills’ resident supernaturals, could I?

At the end of the year, I finally had to make the trip to Mexico with the rest of the pack. “Stiles, I’m going. You can’t stop me!” I attempted to open the passenger door of the jeep when he reached out and shut it from behind me.

“No, it’s going to be dangerous. We don’t even really know what we’re facing,” he tried reasoning with me. “I can protect myself,” I said, thinking of the training that Allison had given me. “Besides, I can’t just sit by and wait for you guys to come back. I need to try helping Scott.”

Realizing that I wasn’t going to back down, Stiles removed his hand from the side of the door and opened it for me. I nodded a quick thanks as I hopped into the vehicle.

I wasn’t expecting to fight Scott that day, but we all did in order to return him from his Berserker form. At the end of the fight, I had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

As Derek drove away with Braedan, I could feel that things were changing. “I can’t write about any of this, can I?” I asked somewhat jokingly.

“Off the record,” Stiles replied from where he stood next to me.

--

“Stiles, what’s wrong?”

“Oh thank god, you remember me!” He said as he grabbed my hands. He’d been running down the hall frantically when I saw him.

I looked at him with concern on my face. “Yeah, of course I remember you? Why wouldn’t I–”

“y/n, it’s the Hunt. The Ghost Riders. I saw them, and now they’re coming for me.” He was breathing heavily, eyes sweeping the surroundings for signs of the Ghost Riders. His eyes locked on something to his left, but when I looked, I couldn’t see anything. “They’re here. We have to go,” he said, pulling me towards the parking lot. We got into his jeep, but he didn’t start the car. “Stiles, what are you doing?”

“It’s too late.” I could see the look of grief on his face. “No, don’t say that. It’s not–”

“It’s the truth,” he cut me off, turning to look at me. “Promise me you won’t forget.”

I shook my head. “I won’t. But Stiles, I can’t do this without you,” I could feel a tear escaping my eye and slipping down my cheek, my emotions getting the better of me.

Stiles reached forward and wiped the tear away before placing his hand on my cheek. “What do you mean? You’re one of the smartest, most inquisitive people I know. If I had to trust anyone to find a way to stop the Ghost Riders, it would be you.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his honesty. “Yeah right. Lydia will probably figure it out before me.”

He shook his head. “You can do it. I trust you.” I could tell there was more he wanted to say, but he turned to look at something through the window over his shoulder. “Can I tell you something? Off the record.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my mouth. “Yes, of course. What is it?”

He took a deep breath. “I don’t hate you. I know it may seem like I’ve never trusted you or that I don’t care about you, but it’s actually the opposite. I...really really like you,” he admitted.

I was stunned. Stiles likes me? He was searching my face for any indication of feelings as I sat there silently.

“Oh, shit,” Stiles mumbled. “Ok, forget I said that. Well, you won’t need to forget when you forget me in a minute–”

I cut off his rambling by placing my lips on his. They were warm and familiar, as if they were made for mine. “I like you too,” I mumbled when I disconnected, my eyes still closed from the interaction.

But when I opened them, I was alone in the baby blue jeep.

--

All semester, I’d felt that something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Or who it was.

But after months of searching for it, we finally figured it out. Lydia had gone into a banshee trance to discover the word “Stiles,” and it brought back vague memories for me when I heard it. The feeling of soft flannel. A sarcastic laugh. Red string around my finger. A hefty wooden baseball bat.

The collection of memories made sense when we all finally got our memories back and remembered the person we were missing from our lives.

We traced the trail of clues to the sewers, where Scott tried to bring back Stiles because of their brotherly love for one another. I thought it would work, but the portal closed and Stiles hadn’t appeared. Come on, Stiles. Where are you?

We had to fight the Ghost Riders off, making sure they didn’t turn our beloved Beacon Hills into another ghost town. I’d run into the high school, looking for something to use as a weapon when I ran into someone in the hall. A tall, brown-haired figure wearing a flannel shirt. “Stiles?”

He turned, and smiles emerged on both of our faces. I broke into a run again, right into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here. You’re really here.” I mumbled, the sound muffled against his shirt.

“I knew you could do it,” he said.

I pulled back slightly and looked up at his face, suddenly nervous. “That night in the jeep...did you hear what I told you before you disappeared?”

A soft smile rested on his face. “Of course I did. It was the one thing that kept me going, especially when I was stuck with Peter.”

“Peter Hale? Why the hell were you with Peter Hale?”

Stiles shook his head. “We can go over that later. For now, there’s one thing I’ve been wanting to do.” I was a little confused, but I understood once he leaned in and connected our lips.

This is what I’d been missing, and I was never going to let it go again.

--

I watched from afar as Stiles gave his trusty baseball bat to Mason, who didn’t seem to appreciate the hunk of wood.

“Have you told him yet?” Lydia asked as she appeared next to me.

I shook my head. “We haven’t really had time to talk about that stuff. I think he doesn’t really want to think about it just yet and what that might mean for us.”

She nudged me with her elbow, silently telling me to go over there and talk to him. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the familiar blue jeep and familiar mess of brown hair.

Liam and Mason had already walked away, and Scott and Stiles were standing and talking at the jeep’s trunk. “Hey, y/n. I’m just heading out, but I’ll see you guys later,” Scott said as I came up and Stiles threw his arm around me.

We waved as Scott left, and Stiles pulled me closer. “Hey,” he said, looking down at me with an affectionate expression.

I pulled him over so we could sit in the open trunk. “We need to talk.” I could see the panic flare up in his eyes.

“Oh, um, okay? Is everything okay?”

Chuckling lightly, I nodded. “Yeah, we just haven’t talked about college at all,” I explained.

His head dropped. “Yeah, I know. I just don’t want it to ruin what we have here, and I don’t even know what life will be like outside of Beacon Hills, and I feel like we just got together and now–”

“Stiles,” I cut him off. “I’m going to GW too.”

His eyes widened at my confession. “You...you’re going to GW?”

I nodded, a small smile on my lips. “I committed a while ago. I’m going to study journalism there.”

I watched as a smile spread across his face. Then, it was replaced by a quick smirk. “Oh great, you’re following me there, huh? I just can’t seem to get rid of you.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m going to need someone to give me the inside scoop on the FBI’s antics.”

He looked pensive for a moment. “I think what you’re describing is illegal.”

“Not if it’s in the public’s interest. But maybe it just needs to be off the record,” I admitted. Stiles laughed. “Oh, it’s definitely going to be off the record.”

[stxleslyds]

Robin Jason, a friend and ally of the Titans.

PART 1.

Last Friday I was feeling extra rage-y after the news about the Titans mini with the Titans show line-up of heroes. I still think that a) Jason shouldn’t be considered a Titan or be in the team as Red Hood and b) that him going back to wearing a bat symbol on his chest is just bad but as @randomlut said there is a possibility of that book not being set in DC’s current universe and if that’s the case then okay, I will not complain about it anymore.

But this post isn’t about that Titans book it’s about Jason’s Robin’s appearances in volume two of the New Teen Titans!

Now, this won’t be an in-depth review of those issues from a story point of view, it will be a post in which I talk about Jason’s characterization and interactions with the Titans. Maybe I will even dive a little bit into why I think that the interactions that Jason and Roy have in those issues makes the relationship that they had in New52 very out of place.

Let’s begin!

·         NTT (1984) #19

Jason as Robin appears here only in the last page of the issue. After the current team of the Titans appears to be falling apart Donna calls Jason and others to help in a mission, this team that she puts together resembles the “original” line-up with Robin, Speedy, (Kid) Flash, Aqualad and Hawk.

·         NTT (1884) #20-21

Jason appears in the Titans tower along the OG Titans, when Donna finally tells them what the mission is all about (stopping Cheshire from interrupting a meeting) she asks if they are in on the job, Jason is not only excited about being there but about Batman actually letting him come all the way to the tower. A little bit of what Jason thinks or saw in Bruce is shown when Wally says that he “didn’t think the Batman could be thrilled by anything. He is always so grim.”

Basically, what Jason says is that the Bat isn’t that bad if you get to know him and that he cares about Jason’s education outside of vigilantism. Also, Jason seems to be grateful and very receptive of the things that Bruce taught him, he regards him as a very good mentor.

After everyone decides to help, they get on their jet. Here we have a very important interaction between Jason and Donna, she is telling him how she is feeling about the attitude of the rest of the team and about how she is a little bit lost now that she is in charge of the Titans and then she asks what Robin thinks about the whole thing, Jason is obviously thrilled once more, someone as experienced as Donna is asking him for his opinion? It blows his mind away! Batman never does that, he is always following his lead and never has a say on what they do so, to him, helping the Titans is only getting better and maybe he will ask the Bat to let him join them permanently.

Because they were talking Donna wasn’t paying much attention while flying and after they barely avoid crashing the jet, she apologizes to everyone and once more looks for reassurance with Jason, this time Jason is caught off guard but after Hawk teases him about his hesitation he tells her that “everything’s okay”.

When they arrive to Switzerland (where the meeting will be held) we have Jason’s first interaction with Roy Harper and him also slowly transforming into a burrito, that boy was cold and pissed off about it!

It’s really funny to me that Roy talking about Oliver’s pervy arrows is his very first interaction with Jason, who would have thought that a mad man would later make them besties?

They all go inside a building to get warm and for a while Jason is just chilling while the other Titans are all having an existential crisis, because here is the thing, Jason is a kid, he was presumably 14 here while all the other are in their twenties. Donna is having trouble with her new position as leader of the Titans, Wally is trying to live up to Barry, Garth is grieving his love, Roy is still very uncomfortable about being on a mission that involves Cheshire and Hank is just crazy. The others are trying to complete a mission while their real-life problems loom over them and Jason is just on an adventure with cool people.

Its not much later than Cheshire attacks the Titans, she first takes on Wally because he is her biggest threat and then detonates a bomb, now here I will give a little bit of context, Cheshire does not want to kill the Titans as of now, she just wants to incapacitate them because them being there is making her own mission more complicated, all I will say is that she doesn’t truly have villainous intentions and that she has a very weak spot for Roy.

Anyway, the bomb incapacitates Garth and Roy and Cheshire also managed to shoot Wally so only Donna, Hank and Jason are left standing to capture Cheshire, but here is the thing, Hank doesn’t want to capture her, he wants to kill her.

Jason has interacted very few times with Hank so far and it has always been Hank teasing him but now as Jason is going to fight Cheshire Hank interrupts him telling him that he will do “what has to be done”. Cheshire of course wont fall easily and I think that at this very moment she is thinking that killing Hank wouldn’t be a bad idea because he is going to mess her plans up! But not to worry as she is raising her gun Jason comes in to save his ass!

Jason is not a match for Cheshire and after that she quickly subdues him. But what’s important here is two things, first Jason doesn’t want or consider the idea of killing Jade, he just wants to capture her and bring her to justice, secondly, he doesn’t even want her to kill Hank, who has been violent towards every Titan and rude to Jason every single time that he has interacted with him. What I am trying to say is that this IS Robin Jason, he doesn’t think or act the same as Red Hood will in the future, he has his opinions on what punishments killers should get but he is not there to kill anyone himself.

There is this whole page where Donna beats Hank against a tree so he stops killing, because that’s not what the Titans do, she explains that if they do that then the public (that is already quite afraid of them) will just fear them more and they don’t need that, plus she believes that he is acting that way out of grief after losing his brother, as she is saying all of this though she is putting quite a lot of pressure on his chest and that might have ended up in her actually killing Hank if Jason hasn’t been there to stop her.

Donna is obviously not having a good time and after this she says that she “has had it” and that from now on Robin should “take command” because “its his group anyway”. Oh man…its clear to the reader that Donna is not having a good time being team leader but she also misses a certain person a lot. She is obviously not seeing Jason there, she is seeing Dick, the person that she is used to take orders from but he is not there.

Jason is aware of this, he might be a kid and might not have as many problems as the other Titans as of now but he is not a fool and he doesn’t want people to see someone else when they look at him, so he confronts Donna about what she just said/did.

Jason is just great in this scene; he just doesn’t want people that he admires to treat him as if he were someone that he isn’t. Just because Dick isn’t there doesn’t mean that he (because he is Robin) can replace him, they are not the same person and they do not have the same experience. He calls out Donna on her behaviour towards him and Donna being an adult takes responsibly for her actions and understands that ultimately, she was hurting Jason’s feelings. We have a kinda wholesome moment when they hug but because this is written by Marv Wolfman and he just can’t help himself, he proceeds to write Jason as a horny teenager. What a way to ruin the moment Marv…

Back to Cheshire, she is about to kick Wally’s face in when she decides to first tell him what he has to tell the others when they wake up, which is “Cheshire remembers”.

Wally tells the Titans Cheshire’s message but none of them truly understands what it means, Hank says that he doesn’t even understand why they are alive. Donna comes to the conclusion that Cheshire might want something from them and this is where Jason gives his thoughts, he says “Doesn’t matter what she wants. We take care of her. She’s a killer.”, its clear once more than although Jason (as Robin) wouldn’t kill anyone he does feel a certain type of way about criminals and wants them to be locked up.

After yet another verbal fight between Hank and Donna the Titans take a cable car to their next location, Jason is shown as exited about the view and the whole experience once more. When they arrive, they find Faraday (the guy that called Donna for help in #19) and he explains a bit more the situation but Jason once more is having trouble staying warm so he goes to the cable car tunnel nearby, but he doesn’t go alone, Roy goes with him because his “costume wasn’t made for this kind of weather either”, in this second interaction between these two we get to see Jason’s detective skills shine.

Jason has been watching Roy and he found his reaction to Cheshire’s message quite sus. Not only is he showing his detective skills here but he also said in a previous panel this: “The Batman keeps telling me to watch people’s eyes. And every so often I notice you become awfully agitated…like something was going on you didn’t want to be part of”.  Zdarsky, hey pal, I am talking to you, look at this dude! He read Roy like an open book, this is Robin Jason, he likes being Robin and he is brilliant at it, he is methodical because he learnt from paying attention and working with Batman, so, you sir are wrong, not only did UtRH disprove your dumb narrative but so does this interaction (along all his appearances in this book).

Roy is impressed by the kid, and yeah, he calls him kid because he is a kid…Roy is visibly older than Jason as he should, do you see it Lobdell? Yeah, there is no dubious age gap between those two as you made it seem. Roy is impressed because between both of them he is the one that is most experienced, not the other way around. How did Lobdell manage to make up a whole as run where not only were Roy and Jason close in age and besties but also Jason was better at vigilantism than Roy and Roy was the one being impressed. It’s wild, wild and bad.

Back to the issue, Jason taken out of the fight quite fast once more by Cheshire and she proceeds to talk to Roy, that’s where we find out that they were lovers and that she feels weak when she is around him because he makes her feel feelings but that’s not all, she tells Roy that he is “the man that fathered my child” …Oh and now she does want to kill him. That’s where #20 ends, so let’s see what happens with Jason in #21.

In the beginning of #21 Jason is conscious once more and when he hears Cheshire’s threat, he attacks her so she can’t shoot Roy, he also says this “Sorry ‘cat’ that’s a definite no-no. Don’t you know mommy’s and daddies should never fight” I, I don’t know why he had to say it like that…the 80s were weird. While Jason is being himself Roy is thinking “Don’t be cocky kid, Jade hasn’t got a sense of humour…” but because he wants to talk to Jade, he tells Jason to go, that he will handle Cheshire and he leaves.

Roy and Jade talk, Donna and Hawk are fighting bad guys and each other and at some point, Jason joins Garth and helps him take down a couple of guys, he also tries to make conversation with him but Garth is still not talking to anybody.

Cheshire tells Roy that he will never hear about their child again and that he needs to let her do her thing and stay out of it because he doesn’t understand what’s going on, Roy doesn’t do what she asks and she “poisons” him. Donna saves a guy that Hank was trying to kill. After Cheshire leaves Roy comes to the conclusion that she wasn’t there to kill the people from the meeting or that she poisoned him, but because they were there and everything went to shit now the people that were getting together are blaming the Titans for the interruption. The whole thing is a mess and the news channel are not nice about the Titans as a whole, but I am not interested in exploring that here. All you need to know is that the people that made Cheshire do what she did to the Titans were the Brother Blood people.

It’s on the jet that we see Jason again, he and the others are going back to the tower. Because the news are painting the Titans as bad when they are arriving to the tower Jason sees a lot of people protesting about them and he feels bad. This was his first job with the Titans and he is a kid, imagine how sad it would make you if you wanted to help and after getting the job done people were mad at you. But even though he is sad about that he takes time to ask Roy if he is okay after he sees him almost running away from the tower, he doesn’t get a response but he isn’t mad about it.

Jason’s stay with the Titans comes to and end and he says that he loved hanging out with them and is grateful for having been invited, he is so sweet!

·         NTT (1884) #24

Here, for some reason, we see Jason saying goodbye to the Titans again and unlike at the end of #21 Roy is there to see him leave.

I am not going to lie though; I liked this goodbye better it feels like it’s more complete than the other one. Here he says that Batman wants him back in Gotham but that if the Titans ever need him again all they need to do is call. He also mentions Nightwing which is funny because he will be called by Donna again in #26 to help the Titans get Dick back from Brother Bloods Church.

I am going to cut this part here because issues 26 to 31 have a lot of Jason content that I want to explore and I can’t put any more pictures here, also this post is already long as it is now!

I just love Jason’s little moments in these issues, him confronting Donna and reading Roy like and open book in #20 are my absolute favourite, I just think this is a nice way to kinda show how wrong some current characterizations of Robin Jason are and what better way to do that than reading and looking into some good stories.

Oh! Before I forget, in #21 Roy leaves the Titans’ tower to go see Jade and he actually gets to meet his daughter Lian for the first time, so yeah, that was a wholesome moment!

[fossadeileonixv]

Inter 3 Milan 0

Oh boy.....

Some thoughts on each player and ramblings at the end. 

DONNARUMMA was not at his best today. Could easily have come off his line to make a play on Lukaku’s cross on the first goal. Just wasn’t very aggressive all day to be honest. Very quiet as well. I’m used to hearing his voice on the telecast. Nothing today. 

I haven’t seen CALABRIA get spun around like he did on the second goal today in a really long time. The threat of Perisic kept him at bay.

KJAER looks like all the games over the summer and straight into this season are catching up to him. Looked slow but also very frustrated. When it comes to a CB partnership usually one is the ball carrier and the other is more of a stay at home guy or stopper. It’s never been clear how that dynamic works with Kjaer and R13. Hard to tell which is which, especially in a game like today. Those 2 jut don’t seem right. Something is definitely ‘rotten in the state of Denmark’.

And ROMAGNOLI might be what’s rotten. I think we can all agree that he’s not exactly world class but at this rate i’m not sure he’s even making the bench for the Euros. At 26 he should be hitting his peak as a CB and instead he seems to be backsliding. Him man marking Lukaku today was akin to a horsefly marking a stallion. The sight of him backing up and backing up without ever challenging Lukaku on the run for that third goal was embarassing. that was the kind of weak spined stuff DeSciglio used to do. You’re the captain man. Make a challenge.  

I would love to have a sit down with Pioli and find out exactly what THEO is supposed to be doing. Does he want him to sit high all game while other players take turn covering for him? Or is he supposed to defend at least a little bit? What happened to the defense first guy that looked near world class last summer? You know, the guy that picked his spots to make opponents pay? Whatever is going on over there it’s becoming a big problem. Teams know attacking down his side is where they will find tons of joy. Somehow Pioli doesn’t.

AC MILAN FACT OF THE DAY

Theo Hernandez has played the most minutes of any Milan field player this season and the most minutes of any field player in Serie A including all competitions. 

Dude is tired.

I thought TONALI played good today. He was decisive and made some things happen going forward. We are starting to see some glimpses of what he might become. Giving him MOTM on a day like today feels like a backhanded compliment. MOTM nonetheless.

KESSIE really looks tired. 

SAELEMAEKERS played. I guess. Had a couple nice crosses right after the half but that was it. It’s great that very little happens in his area for the other team. It’s also a problem that nothing happens in his area for our team. When we go down and need to score he’s a massive liability. 

HAKAN, REBIC, IBRA were all so bad I’m honestly not sure where to start. A bad touch here, an extra touch there it’s really hard to tell what the plan was to score. I guess just stand around hope someone else did? Looked like 3 guys making dumb mistakes and blaming the other guy. 

Subs

Pretty sure the only reason LEAO was brought on was to.... actually I’m not sure why he was brought on. He’s not the guy that’s gonna come on and make an impact, especially down. Did his standard walk about. Maybe just for rest and rotation? Bummer because some of his best games have come against better teams. After his cameos at AM and striker I wanna see him more in the center of the park. 

MEITE played.

So did SAMU. Both were white flags. 

Coach 

PIOLI got most everything wrong today.  This was yet another game where our tactics got eaten alive by teams that play 352. It’s kryptonite to our Theo-centric 4231. I understand fans that don’t see it. They’re fans. What I don’t get is Pioli not adjusting. Can’t keep repeating these same performances. Inter want you to attack them early so they can get a quick goal and then counter all day long. Pioli and his Theo first scheme fell right into that. We start the game like this:

Ibra

Rebic Hakan Saele

Kessie Tonali

Theo R13 Kjaer Calabria

but for some reason that quickly becomes something like this as we aggressively press early:

Ibra

Theo Rebic Hakan Saele

Tonali

Kessie R13 Kjaer Calabria

Kessie ending up all the way to the left is bad enough. Toss in R13 man marking Lukaku which drags him all over the place. Also consider that entire front five can’t be bothered to help. So you end up with Tonali Kjaer and Calabria to track 5 mids and Lautaro. Sprinkle in Donna being rooted to his line far too often today and it’s a recipe for disaster. 

So now you are down 1-0 to a perfect counter attacking machine. Great.

RAMBLINGS

- For God’s sake just rotate the whole lineup for the Europa League game Wednesday. No one cares.

- As our frustrations build keep in mind we do have one of the youngest teams in all of Europe and probably still have more starts by players under the age of 25 than anyone. 

- My crazy plan B fantasy lineup (3-5-2) R13 Kjaer Tomori; Theo Benna kessie Tonali Calabria; Leao Ibra

- Many times over the years on here I’ve talked about a team and their identity. Usually it was Milan and our lack of identity. Right now I’m not sure there is a team in Italy that knows who they are more than Inter. 

- If you wanted to see what happens when a well rested really good team plays a decent team that had to play mid week this is it. Milan were on fumes while Inter were rested and ready. 

- Somehow we had 10 ‘key passes’ and 12 ‘successful dribbles’. Supposedly these are good thing that lead to ‘expected goals’. You tell me guys. Did you really EXPECT any goals today?

FORZA 

Lisi

PS: We are still 6 points clear of the last CL spot. All is not lost. 

[yoshifawful64]

Donna didn’t wake up.

Selfishly, the Doctor wished she had, just so he could see her one last time. But it was better this way, be supposed. It hurt him to know that Donna could never know just how brilliant she’d been, but the less of a chance she might remember and burn up her mind, the better.

He shared a few last words with Wilfred in the downpour, then turned and walked away. He placed a heavy hand on the side of the TARDIS, unlocked the door, and opened it—

“Oi!”

The Doctor froze. Slowly, he turned around. There, standing in the open doorway behind him, was Donna Noble.

“Er… yes, miss?” The Doctor said. He was already starting to regret his wish — now that he was face to face with Donna again, he realized how painful it was going to be to pretend they were complete strangers. “Is there something I can—”

“Oh, cut the act, space man.”

“Whuh— I assure you, I don’t what you’re—”

“Yeah, you do, actually.” Donna grinned that smug, self-confident grin of hers. “You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you, Doctor?”

The Doctor was starting to panic. “But… but how? Did something go wrong with the memory removal process? Did I do something wrong?”

“Doctor—”

“And given your condition back on the TARDIS, you must be even worse off now!” He tore at his hair. “There’s no telling how much time you have left, if any.”

“Doctor!”

“I… there’s no other choice,” he said, starting to walk, then run, towards her. “I’m sorry, Donna, I’m so sorry, but I’ll have to try again and make sure it works this time—”

“DOCTOR!”

Finally, the Doctor snapped out of his near-frenzy. “But…”

“I’m fine, Doctor. Look at me, I’m okay!” Donna gestured to herself for emphasis. Then, in a softer tone, “I’m not going to die, Doctor.”

The Doctor didn’t dare to believe it, to get his hopes up for the impossible. “But… how?”

“Did you forget already?” Donna chuckled. At the Doctor’s bewildered expression, she explained (in that tone of voice that implied this was very obvious and you should really just pay attention already), “At the Dalek Crucible! I told you, didn’t I, that unlike you, I’ve got that little human instinct that gives me ideas you’d never have thought of?”

It was all the Doctor could do to blink in a stupefied way, so Donna went on, “So when you went to take my memories away, I just used that power and added a little bit of my own fancy-shmancy Time Lord trickery to make it only remove the non-human bits. Bit of a shame, really,” she shrugged, “I liked having all that extra know-how and random space trivia and whatnot. But oh well, at least I get to keep my own mind.”

“Hold on, let me…” the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and analyzed her from head to toe. He double, triple, quintuple-checked the results, and each time they came out the same: there wasn’t one part of Time Lord left in Donna. Not only that, but her condition was completely stable. “You… you really are alright.”

“Yeah, of course I am, you big dummy. Now if you’re quite done being flabbergasted—”

She was cut off by the Doctor rushing in to hug her. Taken by surprise, it took her a moment to register the tightness of his embrace and the way his body shuddered with every breath. “You really thought you’d lost me, didn’t you?”

He didn’t, or couldn’t, answer. That was answer enough for Donna, and she gently returned the embrace.

Once the Doctor’s breathing finally stabilized and he let go of Donna, she asked, “So what’s next?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, where are we going next?” She gestured to the TARDIS. “Don’t tell me you wanted to leave me behind ‘for my own safety’ or some rubbish like that.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” the Doctor grinned, the first real positive expression he’d made since saying goodbye to Rose. “And you know, we did just save twenty-six other planets — well, twenty-five plus a moon — and some of those were gone for a while. I kinda wanna go see how they’re holding up now that they’re back where they should be. Wanna pick one?”

After a moment of thought, Donna said, “Well, the Adipose were stupidly cute. A bit disturbing, conceptually, but cute. And I do wanna see what a grown-up one looks like.”

“Ooh, excellent choice. Adipose Three it is!” the Doctor said, and they started walking towards the TARDIS.

Donna grinned. “So what do you think the chances are that we’ll bump into someone who wants to kill us there?”

The Doctor matched her expression. “Oh, I’d put it at about fifty-fifty,”

“Perfect,” Donna said, and they laughed the rest of the way.

They gave one last wave to Wilf’s beaming face in the window before closing the TARDIS door behind them as the sun peeked out from behind the rainclouds.

[zen3to5]

J/H 5-04: Heartbreaker

And here, we're just adjusting the beginning of the episode up until the first confrontation between Kelso and Hyde.

You may be wondering, "are there any full rewrites of Season 5 episodes?" Well, don't worry, reader - I've saved the best (or at least, the most comprehensive) for last... stay tuned...

FF.Net AO3

***

SHOW TITLE   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN – NIGHT   The last moments of the previous episode. KELSO, amiably confused, giggles at the sight of JACKIE and HYDE kissing through the patio door as ERIC and DONNA look on.   KELSO: Why’s Hyde kissing Jackie?   He looks to Eric, who looks down at his feet, and to Donna, who shakes her head. Slowly, he understands. He slams his soda down on the counter.   KELSO: What the hell? He's dead!   DONNA: Kelso...   He pays her no mind, but bolts to the patio door. When he tries to open it, however, it won’t budge. He struggles with the door, even as Jackie and Hyde walk away.   KELSO: Open, dammit! No, they're getting away! (to Eric) What is wrong with this thing?   ERIC: Well, this is against my better judgment, but...   He flips down the lock on the door.   KELSO: Thank you. Now, Hyde's really dead!   He takes one step, and hits the screen door behind the patio door, knocking it off its frame.   KELSO (cont’d): OW! That's invisible!   He throws the screen door to the ground and steps back inside.

MAIN CREDITS   BUMPER   MUSIC NOTE: “Heartless” by Heart.   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN – NIGHT   Moments later. Eric and Donna lead Kelso over to the kitchen table and sit him down.   ERIC: Donna, we have to stabilize him. We're gonna need pudding, and lots of it.   She nods, crosses to the fridge. Kelso stands and begins to pace.   KELSO: Who chooses a chick over a friend?   ERIC: What? Kelso, come on. Remember when you made me walk home in a blizzard 'cause you wanted ten extra minutes to make out with Pam Macy?   KELSO: No, but I didn't steal Pam Macy from you. And you could've played in the snow until we were done. (points to door) How long has this been going on?   Donna, giant bowl of pudding in hand, crosses to them.   DONNA: I guess since we left for California.   KELSO: WHAT?   DONNA: You’d already ran out on Jackie by then, remember? She wanted to get married, you bailed, so she found someone else. Look at the facts, Kelso.   KELSO: No. I don't care. I'm kicking Hyde's ass.   He moves for the door, but Eric blocks his path.   ERIC: Whoa, Kelso, Kelso, come on. You couldn't open my kitchen door. I mean...   DONNA: Seriously. Think about how this plan usually turns out.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT – DAY   FLASHBACK. Hyde and Donna sit on opposite ends of the couch, watching TV, while Kelso stands and chews gum. He sneaks behind Hyde, leans over, and spits the gum into his hair. He gets maybe three full seconds to laugh before Hyde pulls him over the back of the couch, flips him over, and punches him in the eye.   KELSO: (Groans) That's my eye!   CUT TO:   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY – NIGHT   FLASHBACK. On the porch, Eric and Donna sit in the chairs while Kelso hangs on the railing. Hyde steps out from the kitchen with a plate of brownies.   HYDE: Nice.   He sets them down on the railing and heads back inside. Kelso bends over and licks both brownies. He’s still doing that when Hyde comes back out with a glass of milk. He sets the milk down, wrestles Kelso onto the pavement, and punches him in the eye.   KELSO: Ah! My eye!   He stands up, pouts, and then marches off in a huff through the garage.   CUT TO:   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY – DAY   FLASHBACK. The El Camino is in the driveway, the radio on full blast. Hyde lovingly polishes the hood of the car while Kelso watches from the porch chairs.   Hyde goes to the garage. As soon as he’s out of sight, Kelso hops up, drops his pants, and sits on the hood of the El Camino and wiggles his butt around. Unfortunately, he isn’t out of Hyde’s sight.   HYDE: Bastard!   He races back out. Kelso hops off the car and tries to run around it.   KELSO: No, no, stop! That's my butt print! Look at it! No two are the same!   Hyde catches and tackles him back behind the El Camino. We hear a very ugly THUMP.   KELSO: Ow! (Crying) My eye!   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN – NIGHT   Back to the present. Kelso crosses back to the kitchen table and sits down.   KELSO: Well, what am I supposed to do? I mean, he broke the code! He's wrong!   He looks to Eric for support; Eric shrugs and gives a reluctant nod.   KELSO (cont’d): He's, like, my oldest friend, and he stabbed me in the back.   Donna steps forward with a cheery smile and the bowl of pudding. Kelso takes it and start eating.   DONNA: So, Kelso, how many things around here have you put your butt on?   Kelso takes a long look around the kitchen.   KELSO: Let's start with what I haven't put my butt on.   ***   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT – DAY   Eric and Donna sit on one end of the couch, and Kelso on the arm of the other. “How Long” by Ace plays on the radio.   KELSO: I can't believe that you knew Jackie and Hyde were together and you didn't tell me.   DONNA: We didn’t tell Jackie when you were cheating on her with Laurie.   KELSO: (scoffs) That is not the same!   DONNA: Why not?   KELSO: Laurie wasn’t Jackie’s best friend! And neither was Pam Macy. Or Mrs. Ferguson. Or the ones I never told you about.   Eric and Donna share a look as Kelso turns away, pouting.   KELSO (cont’d): I'm - it's just - how can Hyde do this to me?   KITTY and FEZ come down the stairs, Kitty with a load of laundry.   KITTY: Uh-oh. It sounds like he knows.   FEZ: Finally.   KELSO: What, your mom knew? And Fez? Fez never knows anything!   FEZ: I know. I'm really coming into my own.   KELSO: Whatever. You know, none of this is as bad as Hyde not telling me. I mean, I know Jackie had a crush on him for a while when we were broken up, but I’m starting to think all those times, when me and her were dating, when Hyde took her side, and taught her stuff, and tried to get me caught screwing up? I think he might have liked her then too!   ERIC: (flat) No. Really?   KELSO: That’s right. The mindblowers are comin’ left and right today, Eric! Keep up! You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna make him tell me.   DONNA: How are you gonna do that?   KELSO: By outwitting him conversationally. What a fine game of cat and mouse it will be.   KITTY: (beat) I'm gonna go find an eye patch.   She hurries up the stairs as Fez takes Hyde’s chair.   Hyde himself enters through the basement door. Kelso hurries to meet him.   HYDE: What's up?   KELSO: (circling Hyde) That's an interesting question, Hyde. What is up?   HYDE: (beat) Well, I guess you know about me and Jackie.   KELSO: Ahh! So the battle of wits has begun!   HYDE: What battle of wits? I admit it. I've been messing around with Jackie.   KELSO: I hate you!   He lunges at Hyde, but Hyde side steps. Kelso crashes face-first into the corner of an old speaker.   KELSO (cont’d): Ow! My eye!   He slaps a hand over his eye, pouts at Hyde, and storms off through the basement door.

[winterhasbeencoming]

Why Suits disappointed me so much (a Marvey perspective)

Or the s09 rant that slowly turned into a s07 rant.

So Suits is over. I am bittersweet about this, this show really got to me, and a part of me is sad to see it go. Another part of me considers the thing I actually loved the show for over since s07 (even s06), so it wasn’t that big of a loss. 

I've been thinking why s09 let me down so much as an ardent Marvey fan (obviously, I didn’t expect them to rip off their clothes and admit their feelings to each other *sigh*). So here are my thoughts... Spoilers for the finale below.

Simply put, the dynamic between Mike and Harvey is gone. It’s been gone for a while now but in s09 Mike appeared for the first time in years and he was written in as some random side character rather than an (ex)main character. If someone first starts watching the show with s09, they’d never guess this guy used to be the actual main character. I don’t think it was handled right because that wasn’t what Mike fans would want to see and if not for them, why do bother bringing him back in the first place? 

A lot of the things that made their relationship special were absent. Among those were:

a) banter - it was either flat (with a few exceptions) or involved other people. Donna made so many fraud and prison jokes you’d think she was the one to go prison. I generally hated how the whole fraud business was simply used as comic relief when it caused everything to go to shit for everyone! I know they did that before too (and it was actually funny), but it was a tad too much in s09. 

b) them vs. the world - they didn’t have a single thing to themselves (even the jokes). I absolutely abhorred the fact that in s09e09, Donna was the one to come up with a legal strategy so Mike can help bring Faye down by representing Samantha. Then to ultimately slap me in the face, they gave us a scene in s09e10 in which Mike and Harvey actually work together (”I’ve never stopped trusting you” omggg <3), and then when Harvey explained the gameplan to Louis and Donna it was presented like he came up with it all by himself and got Mike and Samantha to agree. WTF? I thought it was “one last con”??? 

c) protecting each other - I get that Mike wasn’t central to the whole Faye plot but they could’ve given us something. Instead, they treat Mike and Harvey as regular lawyers and colleagues. If I were a writer on the show, I’d have milked things like Harvey putting Mike on the stand for all its Marvey goodness and potential. At least Mike taking things personally and blaming Harvey for everything was something normal.

Overall, I got the feeling the screenwriters had forgotten how to write Mike. One of the most emotional characters of the show and this supposedly genius legal mind came off as a pretty emotionless sidekick to Samantha of all people.    

Now, to be honest, the Marvey dynamic has been dying ever since Mike came out of prison. But his long absence from the show probably caused me to have higher expectations for the few precious moments he’d be back. Because to be completely fair I was just as disappointed in s07, if not more. I kept thinking why the moment Mike got into the Bar, he seemed like he couldn’t give less of a shit about Harvey. Did the writers try to show us he didn’t need Harvey anymore since he was now his equal? It was horrible because nobody can convince me that relationship isn’t special, isn’t more than comradery, more than simple friendship among coworkers. They were ready to give up everything for each other back in seasons 1-6. Then in s07 Harvey is just the obstructionist boss, and in s09 they’re trying to make us believe they’re just friendly ex-colleagues. What happened to being family? Maybe we overdosed so much during Mike’s trial and prison time that everything after it is just not enough. 

Looking back, things changed when Mike went into prison. In the first five seasons Mike was the more actively caring side of this relationship, he more often than not, went the extra mile for Harvey. Once he went to prison that was flipped the other way and Harvey in his desperation to help him moved Heaven and Earth and what did he get in return - not even a goddamn hug. (That will never stop bothering me or the lack of hugs when Mike got into the Bar - he embraced goddamn Jessica, but couldn’t do it for the man who did all of this for him; at least they weren’t stingy with hugs in s09). 

Back to s09, maybe it’d been better if they openly worked together at least for the finale. That’d be like good old times (they milked the nostalgia so much I’m not even sure they know they put so many references to past seasons in there). They didn’t have to pretend to add something new to the relationship by making them adversaries which we’ve already been through, but it was done way better in s04.   

In my mind, the whole Harvey-Mike relationship was consciously changed after s06. Before that canon made us believe it was truly extraordinary and simply more, and then they deliberately presented them as kinda friendly colleagues. I keep thinking it was to try and convince us Mike’s secret was the only thing that made that relationship special or the “outgrowing” your mentor bs I talked a few paragraphs above. Which is bullshit, Mike even actually said in canon he loves him (feel free to put or remove the homoerotic context of that) and then what? All of that was because he needed Harvey to mentor him and protect him from getting caught? (Not to mention they got Harvey to say he loves Louis but not Mike... c'mon, you could have given us something.) In that context, s09 shouldn’t have surprised me at all, but it still hurt me to see what was a great duo reduced to bad jokes and an excuse to gush about Darvey.    

Darvey - I haven’t brought that up because remembering earlier seasons Donna was often brought up in Marvey conversation and that hasn’t changed. I just didn’t pay attention to it back then, and now it pisses me off because the whole Darvey relationship pisses me off. Oh, and they couldn’t even elevate Mike to be best man for Harvey in the f-ing Darvey wedding! It’s bad enough Harvey interrupted his conversation with Mike to propose, but they couldn’t at least show how special Mike is by making him best man or something. 

In conclusion, I wish I couldn’ve helped written at least the finale (if not the abomination that was episode 5). I wouldn’t have even included romantic stuff, just canon Marvey dynamic. I’ll never believe they did justice to the unique duo of characters that got this show popular in the first place.      

I can’t overemphasize how desperate for good fix-it fics I’m atm. I really wish I could write fic in moments like these... At least we have Seattle!

[bygone-age]

Holby City Bake Off Week 3 (Part Two)

Welcome to the continuation of Bread week!

~~~~~~

BEARD WEEK PART TWO

THURSDAY

BERNIE, SERENA (MOSTLY BERNIE) AND NICKY

Bernie had been back on AAU less than five minutes before Donna was passing on a message from a "bloody irritated" Serena.

"Serena? What's wrong? Donna said- what!?! Bloody hell!! Are you alright? That's a relief! When's the repairman coming? Oh, that's good, and- well, thank you Greta! That still leaves what we're going to do about Jac's thing tomorrow. Do you think Ric or Sacha would be able to help? Ric will be in surgery for another two hours at least, but Sacha should be free? OK, I'll see you this afternoon, give my love to Guinevere. Well you already have it! I do have my moments! See you later."

Bernie sat back in her chair with a sigh. What a drama! It was going to be a busy couple of days...

... ten minutes later, she was running into Nicky who generously offered the use of her kitchen.

"Oh, that's awful! You can use my oven if you want. I'm on drinks again, so I'm sorted apart doing extra lemonade and bottling my first two batches. I think I'm sick of lemons! I swear I've bought dozens in the past week!"

Bernie laughed and thanked the younger woman, before arranging to come over that evening and the following morning.

HENRIK (AND JOHN)

Henrik took the tray out of the oven and breathed in the cinnamon aroma. Kanellängd was more traditionally eaten at Christmas, but it had been a favourite of his since childhood and since he and Roxanna couldn't attend Ms Naylor's "watch party" (the programme completely baffled him if he was honest - every contestant seemed to be incapable of getting through a task without making an obvious error or using proper timekeeping - but Roxanna enjoyed it and he had to admit that the "technical challenges" were interesting), he'd said that he would send along a contribution.

This last "practice" appeared to have gone very well, so all he had to do was get up a little-

His musing was interrupted by John sauntering in to the kitchen with a look of mischievous curiosity on his face.

"You're secretly planning on entering that ridiculous thing next year aren't you?"

"There's more chance of you entering!"

"Ha! That would certainly surprise people! Is that edible yet? If you're going to emulate Mary Berry, I want to benefit."

"Let it cool first! Last time you scalded your mouth! And wait until its glazed please I made it too thick last time, I want to get it right."

"Because you actually care about the opinions of lesser minds?"

"Don't be like that, you know like them more than you let on."

John sighed.

"True I suppose. Naylor is as sharp as a tack and Levy and I are getting used to each other. Sort of. We can have a civil conversation at least."

"You like him. Admit it."

"I respect him and how he's coping, he is a great surgeon. That's all you're getting out of me. Now, what time is Rox getting in tomorrow?"

FRIDAY

JAC, JOHNNY AND EMMA

"I still can't believe you agreed to this."

"Why not? It's a baking competition, she likes it and I like it."

"That's what I don't get - I never had you as a baker."

"It's relaxing. It gives me something to do that's nothing to do with work. Like you and the metal detector, which you'll notice I haven't taken the piss out of you for."

"Point taken. Anyway, you're basically hosting a kid's party and a work's do at the same time, so well done, good luck and what were you thinking!?!"

Jac laughed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time! Here she comes - why did you let her take that shield back into school!?!"

"She said they were playing Vikings at break time"

"Pushover."

"Takes one to know one!"

They grinned as their mini viking came running up to them, full of tales from school.

TWO HOURS LATER

"I could do better veggie burgers than that blindfolded!"

"Daddy, your bread buns are better than those."

"How is she still in the competition!?! She's got the worst timing!"

It was technical challenge time and Jac's front room was full to bursting of people with plates of food, bowls of soup or curry (no chance of leftovers with either of those, they'd gone almost as soon as they'd been put out), or handfuls of snacks and everyone had an opinion on what was going on on screen.

It was... chaotic, but Jac found that she was enjoying herself. Emma was having a ball, which was the most important thing and she wasn't as uncomfortable with her work and home life mixing as she thought she would be. It was nice, but she wasn't keen on doing it again, at least not straight away - it had been so much work for what was essentially a potluck and avoiding people who might tell her what happened had been infuriating. She might do something for the final, but nothing as big as this, it was too much.

While she was musing, Nicky popped up beside her and handed her a cup of tea.

"Thought you could do with this. Also, I hid three bottles of lemonade in your salad drawer and I've started boxing up leftovers and stacking dishes."

Jac sighed with a bit of relief. Nicky had just done her favour.

"You do make a bloody good cup of tea. And thank you for the other thing, you didn't have to miss half of technical."

"I don't mind. Doesn't seem like a great one this week anyway. There's none of that cinnamon bread left, which is shame because I was hoping to take a couple of bits of that home. I'll have to settle for some of that bread and butter pudding, which will be be ready to dish out in time for showstopper by the way."

"Good, I've been looking forward to that. Emma's had it before, when she went to Allan and Carl's and it took her a week to stop talking about it! I'd better go make sure there are enough bowls. Thanks again for the cuppa."

Jac went through to the kitchen with a smile on her face, she might not be eager to do this again, but that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy this right now.

END OF WEEK THREE.

NEXT WEEK: DAIRY WEEK - Hanssen finds himself hosting a works do, Roxanna makes John pay and Jac and Nicky are forced to watch from a distance...

******

Whew! That was a bit of an epic! I promise, the next one won't be as long!

[secretlystephaniebrown]

The Not-Babysitter

Summary: Steph is volunteered to babysit Damian on his trip to the zoo, much to Damian's consternation. But an encounter with Steph's college classmates might force Damian to admit that things aren't so bad with her around.

I was prompted to write this by @jewishsuperfam AGES AGO and I finally had the right time and mood for it. Hope you guys enjoy! It's been a while since I've written Bat Fam fluff!

(Minor warnings for teen-mom and slut-shaming in this fic, just a heads up!)

Stephanie Brown mentally re-evaluates her life, her choices, and everything that’s led her to this spot.

When Cass had set the terms for their late-night roof tag game last night, Steph had agreed because usually Cass’s terms were things like “buy me a milkshake” or “help me break into a ballet studio so I can leave flowers for the cute Prima Donna.”

But last night?

Cass had, after thoroughly trouncing Steph as usual, asked Steph to “not-babysit” Damian’s trip to the zoo.  

“He’s almost eleven,” Steph had said, squinting at Cass. “Why does he need a babysitter?”

“Because last time he went to the zoo... the tiger pavilion is now named “Wayne Pavilion.”

Steph wasn’t sure if Bruce had been forced to pay an inordinate amount of money to cover up for Damian’s antics, or if Damian had managed to fund it using his ludicrously large allowance, but either way, she could see the point.

Which is how she’s ended up here, in her civilian clothes, escorting Damian Wayne, who had to be talked into normal kids clothes, around the zoo.

He squints at her, suspiciously. “I don’t need a babysitter,” he reminds her, for approximately the fifteenth time since she showed up at Wayne Manor to pick him up.

“I know,” Steph says cheerfully. “Ooh, look, seals!”

Damian is actually kind of cute in a zoo setting, Steph realizes. It makes sense, given his love for animals. He’s memorized all the signs and the speeches by the zookeepers, and also all the feeding times so he keeps them on a tight schedule, making sure that they don’t miss a single one.

He tries to give her the slip at the Meerkats while Steph takes a selfie, so she retaliates by forcing him to take selfies with her, and immediately sends them to the group chat she has with Harper and Cass, and the one she has with Tim and Cass, and the one she has with Babs and Wendy and Cass, and the one she has with Duke and Jason, and then she texts it to Bruce, Dick, Alfred, and Kara for good measure.

He tries to steal her phone to delete the evidence after that, but Steph has not spent the past year hanging out with Babs and Wendy for nothing, and has already uploaded it onto the Cloud, safely out of his reach and safely on her laptop.

To make it up to him, she buys him a popsicle shaped like a lion, which he’s been trying really hard to pretend he doesn’t want. She also buys him a hat with an elephant on it, and convinces him to buy a stuffed one as a present to Dick.

Honestly, this is pretty fun.

Steph had never been able to go to the zoo as a kid, except once when she was six and her dad had just scored big. He’d taken her and then ditched her by the giraffes while he and his buddies had gone to case the bank nearby.

It wasn’t the worst of his “take the kid on an outing so I have an alibi” plans, but it was still a pretty shitty one, in Steph’s opinion.

She triple checks where Damian is when they get to the giraffes, just in case, and listens as he explains giraffe vertebrae in detail.

“You ever thought about studying this stuff when you go to college?” She asks him as they start to wander out of the Africa section towards the India section, where the infamous Wayne Tiger Pavilion is.

Damian looks surprised. “I am supposed to study business in order to take over my father’s empire,” he reminds her.

“What, are you saying you’re not smart enough for a double major?” Steph says. Damian immediately bristles, and Steph keeps going. “I suppose you’re right. Zoology is a hard major...”

“How dare you!” Damian shrieks, and Steph laughs, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey, if I can double, you can,” she says.

He pauses. “I thought you were pre-medicine?”

“Biology and music,” Steph corrects lightly. “Pre-med’s a concentration. Music makes me more interesting to med school.” And she loves it, but that’s step two in this conversation.  

Damian goes quiet. “I wasn’t aware you were cultured enough to play an instrument, Brown,” he says stiffly.

“Piano,” she says, surprised. “I guess I haven’t played in the Manor since--” since she was Robin. Whoops. “For a while,” she says, doing her best to recover. “You do violin, right? Cass says you’re really good.”

Damian looks pleased that Cass complimented something he did. The puppy hero-worship is absolutely adorable, and Steph is practically obligated to buy him a balloon of a tiger’s head wearing a Batman cowl after that.

It’s always great when she can get Damian to act like a normal kid, instead of the crabby, snobby, sometimes-violent angsty teen he likes to pretend he is.

She also immediately takes a picture of him staring up at the balloon in barely masked delight and uploads it to the Birds of Prey locked Facebook group Dinah invited her to join last month.

After viewing the tigers and listening to Damian rant about several now-extinct sub-species of tiger for half an hour, Steph drags him to the cafe near there and orders him an environmentally friendly fair trade ice cream with extra whipped cream and sprinkles, and herself one too, because they’re having a day off, and she can’t be fucked to keep track of her calorie count, no matter how much Babs has been pushing her onto the new work-out routine that’s supposed to give her better abs than Helena.

Also, it’s really hot outside, and they haven’t turned on those thoughtful looking misters that Steph remembered running through as a kid and getting absolutely, delightfully soaked.

Damian is interrogating Steph about the advantages of remaining in Gotham for college versus attending his dad’s alma mater (which Steph thinks is either Yale or Princeton, but can’t remember which), when their delightful afternoon becomes less so.

“Hey, is that Brown?” She hears someone say behind her, and Damian stiffens up.

Steph glances out of the corner of her eye, and spots a group of kids from her Chem class. Frowning, she ducks her head lower, because she’s with Damian, and she’s not exactly supposed to advertise her friendship with the Wayne Family, even in the age of Batman Inc.

“It is!”

“Hey, that’s a kid with her!”

“Oh my god!”

“He’s old!”

“Um, what? He’s like, nine.”

“Yeah,” the voice has gotten conspiratorial. “But she’d have to have been, what? Thirteen when she had him?”

“Wait, he’s hers?” Someone who hasn’t spoken yet gasps, and Steph breaks the recyclable plastic spoon in her hand.

“Haven’t you heard? She was a teen mom,” someone else sniggers. “Mom was a druggie, dad was a crook, and she was a--”

Steph is this close to throwing her ice cream in fucking Cynthia’s face--she recognizes that voice now--when Damian acts first.

By which she means, he disappears from right in front of her, reminding her, once again, that Damian Wayne was trained by literal ninjas since birth.

By the time she gets to her feet and gets ready to start yelling for him, Cynthia lets out a shriek, and she pivots on the spot.

She sees Damian Wayne perching on top of one of the sprinklers with a furious expression and a screwdriver, but no one else does, too busy staring at the screeching college students, who have just been soaked with, instead of a delightful mist of cool, refreshing water, a torrent of ice cold water, enough to make mascara run, ruin hair, and soak through shirts.

Steph claps a hand over her mouth and tries hard not to laugh as she watches Damian vanish into the nearby tree, and reappear across from her as if nothing happened.

“You should go to a school with higher standards,” he mutters, stabbing his ice cream with his spoon.

Steph grins. “But then I’d be too far away for you to insult,” she reminds him.

He pauses, considering this. “I suppose you better stay,” he finally concedes. “But you should apply for more advanced classes, so you don’t have to see those imbeciles again.”

Steph smiles and eats her ice cream before dragging Damian off to visit the petting zoo.

Damian only complains three times, and doesn’t try to escape her once.

He even agrees to take a single selfie.

[tessatechaitea]

Team Titans #16

I'm fairly certain that this is some of that 3-D art that was popular at the time. I'm also fairly certain it's a dick.

"Oh no! My horse was shot straight up the asshole!"

Image Comics changed the face of the comic book industry in many ways that smarter people than me actually know about. But one of the ways that people don't talk about as much (unless they do. I don't have time to actually read about comics or research them or interact with other comic book fans in any way except to make a disgusted face when they try to speak with me!) is how, immediately following Image Comics push for creator's rights, DC decided to create and trademark characters by every name they could think of. "Here are a bunch of characters created by committee that we can get our writers to use instead of creating their own and then expecting royalties on those stupid characters we own and don't legally have to pay extra for, you Goddamned vampires! Fucking Image Comics! Suck our dicks!" Team Titans had to be a reaction to this new mindset. The premise of this terrible comic book was that thousands of superheroes from the future were sent back in time to save their future. And most of those characters had terrible names, like Redwing and Gunsmoke and Battalion and Sparkle Boy. Evidence from the letters pages suggests that this comic book was expected to last long enough that audiences would see what happened to hundreds of these teams. About the same time this series was hitting the shelves, DC put out their summer blockbustr, Bloodlines, which was just a blatant attempt to create as many new heroes as they could come up with before writers began expecting created by paychecks. I'm not sure how well it worked though since Hitman is probably the only hero created at that time that anybody could now name. And also, maybe Garth Ennis gets a created by paycheck for him? I don't know! How should I know?! Remember that part about how I don't do research?! In conclusion, Team Titans can be criticized harshly because it was never meant to be a work of art or a coherent story or entertaining at all. It was just a repository for new characters that DC editors could later mention to new writers when they came on board. "Oh, you don't want to create your own character that you would really be into and thus probably write a terrific story about which would help make DC a lot of money even if we had to pay you creator's rights on it! Maybe you'd rather write a story about Loose Cannon or Joe Public or Cardinal Sin?!" Years later, that editor might be wind up looking at the top selling comics of the month to discover the writer who they drove away was writing a hit comic book with Image Comics because it was the story they wanted to tell but didn't know how to tell it using Loose Cannon as the main character. Meanwhile, Terry and Donna had a baby that didn't grow up to be an evil narcissistic time traveling world conqueror. I sort of forgot about that.

"Stop being hysterical, Donna! Listen to me, a failed history professor, when I downplay our child's potential illness!" -- Terry Long, typical man.

I can't wait until Donna's child's skin sloughs off and he's revealed to be a mutant lizard monster. Then Donna can be all, "I told you something was wrong!" And Terry can be all, "You just live for these moments, don't you?! Wonder Girl! Always right! Can't do anything wrong! Won't let her husband live it down that he failed to write his book on mythology that would have given him a tenured position at NYU!" And Donna would be all, "I never bring that up! You need to let that shit go, you stupid bastard!" And then Terry can be all, "Our child is a lizard because you probably fucked some mythological creature during those months I couldn't get an erection because I felt like such a failure!" And then Donna can be all, "Why are you still even in these comic books?!" And then my writing teacher can be all, "Is this really how you want to write dialogue? With all the 'so-and-so can be all's?!"

Oh look! I was right about Lobo still being used to increase sales. I think this was right around when Lobo was being used on any series that wanted to prove that their hero could beat the unbeatable Lobo, thus turning Lobo into a punching bag and a loser. Which maybe he always was but look at how cool he looks! And at least he's only a genocidal monster and not a pedophile like Deathstork!

The rest of the comic book seems to be Jeff Jensen's attempt at art. That's my guess because he's doing something different and that means it must be art! The final nineteen pages are narrated by Nightrider, the vampire, as he's shot by a neighbor, crawls off to die, and then infiltrates the dreams of the other members of the Team Titans. That's not the artsy part though! That's regular comic book stuff. The artsy part is that Jensen tells the narrated story through the second person point of view. I always think of it as the Choose Your Own Adventure perspective. Maybe Jensen thought the reader would actually give a shit about Nightrider if they were put in Nightrider's bloody shoes? It's a decent attempt since if Nightrider were telling the story through the first person, I would read it while constantly thinking, "Is his name really Nightrider? Did I misread that? I should go back and check where Terry says his name. Let's see. Yep! It's really Nightrider. What a terrible name! Although I'd read a comic book where he teams up with Gunsmoke, sort of like Iron Fist and Luke Cage." But since the story is told in the second person, I completely forgot to think about Nightrider's dumb name because I was distracted by the use of the second person. Instead, my thoughts were these: "What the fuck is Jensen doing?! This is so awkward! It's like when my cousin began writing essays and stories at Mission College and he wrote them all in the second person because I'm pretty sure the only books he ever read were The Cave of Time and The Mystery of Chimney Rock!" So congratulations, Jeff Jensen, on completely succeeding at taking my mind of Nightrider's name which, I guess, means I cared a little more about his story? Not that this story where he crawls into a cave to die concentrates on him and his pain anyway. It's more a storytelling trick to catch up the reader on all of the angst and pain and turmoil the other Titans are suffering through. Poor Nightrider! He's not even interesting enough to carry the story when he's dying!

Yeesh. Mirage dreams she "gives birth" (quotes because I don't think this portrays normal birth!) to her baby, conceived when Deathwing raped her, after which her baby threatens to rape her.

After a bunch of mysterious images and bits of story that make the reader believe they've seen some clues as to the future direction of this comic book (but actually haven't seeing as how none of the dreams mentioned how they'd be cancelled in nine more issues), the neighbor who shot Nightrider clambers into the cave and cradles him in his arms. "I won't let you die," he screams to the Gods! "Even if I have to let you suck my dick!" He glances around furtively. "That's probably how your life will be saved, right?" he says as he unzips his jeans. Team Titans #16 Rating: A+ because it was artists making an effort, I guess. But this comic book wasn't for me.

[feministlikeme]

1. Before explaining something to a woman, ask yourself if she might already understand. She may know more about it than you do.

2. Related: Never, ever try to explain feminism to a woman.

3. Trans women are women. Repeat that until you perish.

4. RESPECT PEOPLE’S PRONOUNS. It’s not hard.

5. Remember that fat women exist and aren’t all trying to get thin. Treat them with respect.

6. In fact, just never comment on a woman's body.

7. Be kind to women in customer service positions. Tip them extra. (But not in a creepy way.)

8. Trust women. When they teach you something, don't feel the need to go and check for yourself. And especially do not Google it in front of them.

9. Don’t maintain a double standard for… anything, ever.

10. CLOSE YOUR LEGS ON PUBLIC TRANSIT, OH MY GOD.

11. Trying to describe a woman positively? Say she's “talented,” “clever,” or “funny.” Not “gorgeous,” “sweet,” or “cute.”

12. Examine your language when talking about women. Get rid of “irrational,” “dramatic,” “bossy,” and “badgering” immediately.

13. Don't think to yourself, I describe men like that too. A) You probably don't. B) If you do, it's to criticize them for acting like a woman.

14. Do you love “fiery” Latina women? “Strong” Black women? “Mysterious” Asian women? Stop. Pick up a book on decolonial feminism. Read.

15. Stop calling women “feisty.” We don't need a special lady word for “has an opinion."

16. Recognize women's credibility when you introduce them. “Donna is lovely” is much less useful than “Donna knows shitloads about architecture.”

17. Think about how you describe the young women in your family. Celebrate them for being funny and smart, not for being pretty and compliant.

18. Examine the way you talk about women you’re attracted to. Fat women, old women, queer, trans, and powerful women are not your “guilty crush.”

19. Learn to praise a woman without demonizing other women. “You're not like other girls” is not a compliment. I want to be like other girls. Other girls are awesome.

20. Share writing by women. Don't paraphrase their work in your own Facebook post to show us all how smart or woke you are. I guarantee the woman said it better in the first place.

21. Buy sanitary pads and tampons and donate them to a homeless shelter. Just do it.

22. How much of what you are watching/reading/listening to was made by women? Gender balance your bookcase.

23. Feeling proud of your balanced bookcase? Are there women of color there? Trans, queer, and disabled women? Poor women? Always make sure you’re being intersectional.

24. Don't buy media that demeans women’s experiences, valorizes violence against women, or excludes them entirely from a cast. It's not enough to oppose those things. You have to actively make them unmarketable.

25. Pay attention to stories with nuanced female characters. It will be interesting, I promise.

26. If you read stories to a child, swap the genders.

27. Watch women's sport. And just call it “sports.”

28. Withdraw your support from sports clubs, institutions, and companies that protect and employ rapists and abusers.

29. Stop raving about Woody Allen. I don't care if he shits gold. Find a non-accused-abuser to fanboy over.

30. It's General Leia, not princess. The Doctor has a companion, not an assistant. It's Doctor Bartlett, not Mrs Madame First Lady.

31. Cast women in parts written for men. We know how to rule kingdoms, go to war, be, not be, and wait for Godot.

32. Pay for porn.

33. Recognize that sex work is work. Be an advocate for and ally to sex workers without speaking for them.

34. Share political hot takes from women as well as men. They might not be as widely accessible, so look for them.

35. Understand that it was never “about ethics in journalism.”

36. Speak less in meetings today to make space for your women colleagues to share their thoughts. If you're leading the meeting, make sure women are being heard as much as men.

37. If a woman makes a good point, say, “That was a good point.” Don't repeat her point and take credit for it.

38. Promote women. Their leadership styles may be different than yours. That's probably a good thing.

39. Recruit women on the same salary as men. Even if they don't ask for it.

40. Open doors for women with caring responsibilities by offering flexible employment contracts.

41. If you meet a man and a woman at work, do not assume the man is the superior for literally no reason.

42. If you're wrongly assumed to be more experienced than a woman colleague, correct that person and pass the platform to the woman who knows more.

43. Make a round of tea for the office.

44. Wash it up.

45. If you find you're only interviewing men for a role, rewrite the job listing so that it’s more welcoming to women.

46. Make sure you have women on your interview panel.

47. Tell female colleagues what your salary is.

48. Make sure there's childcare at your events.

49. Don't schedule breakfast meetings during the school run.

50. If you manage a team, make sure that your employees know that you recognize period pain and cystitis as legitimate reasons for a sick day.

51. If you have a strict boss (or mom or teacher) who is a woman, she is not a “bitch.” Grow up.

52. Expect a woman to do the stuff that's in her job description. Not the other miscellaneous shit you don't know how to do yourself.

53. Refuse to speak on an all-male panel.

54. In a Q&A session, only put your hand up if you have A QUESTION. Others didn’t attend to listen to you.

55. If you have friends or family members who use slurs or discriminate against trans or non-binary people, sit them down and explain why they must stop. (This goes for cis women, too.)

56. If you have friends or family members who use slurs or discriminate against women of other races, sit them down and explain why they must stop. (This goes for white women, too.)

57. If you see women with their hands up, put yours down. This can be taken as a metaphor for a lot of things. Think about it.

58. Raising a feminist daughter means she's going to disagree with you. And probably be right. Feel proud, not threatened.

59. Teach your sons to listen to girls, give them space, believe them, and elevate them.

60. Dads, buy your daughter tampons, make her hot water bottles, wash her bras. Show her that her body isn't something to be ashamed of.

61. But dads, do not try to iron her bras. This is a mistake you will only make once.

62. Examine how domestic labor is divided in your home. Who does the cleaning, the childcare, the organizing, the meal budgeting? Sons, this goes for you, too.

63. Learn how to do domestic tasks to a high standard. “I'd only do it wrong” is a bullshit excuse.

64. Never again comment on how long it takes a woman to get ready. WE ARE TRYING TO MEET THE RIDICULOUS STANDARDS OF A SYSTEM YOU BENEFIT FROM.

65. Challenge the patriarchs in your religious group when they enable the oppression of women.

66. Challenge the patriarchs in your secular movement when they enable the oppression of women.

67. Trust women's religious choices. Don't pretend to liberate them just so you can criticise their beliefs.

68. Examine who books your trips, arranges outings, organizes Christmas, buys birthday cards. Is it a woman? IS IT?

69. And if it is actually you, a man, don't even dare get in touch with me looking for your medal.

70. Take stock of the emotional labor you expect from women. Do you turn to the women around you for emotional support and give nothing in return?

71. Remember that loving your mom/sister/girlfriend is not the same as giving up your own privilege to progress equality for women. And that gender inequality extends beyond the women in your direct social group.

72. Don’t assume that all women are attracted to men.

73. Don’t assume that a woman in public wants to talk to you just because she’s in public.

74. If a woman tells you she was raped, assaulted, or abused, don't ask her for proof. Ask how you can support her.

75. If you see a friend or colleague being inappropriate to a woman, call him out. You will survive the awkwardness, I promise.

76. Repeat after me: Always. Hold. Men. Accountable. For. Their. Actions.

77. Do not walk too close to a woman late at night. That shit can be scary.

78. If you see a woman being followed or otherwise bothered by a stranger, stick around to make sure she’s safe.

79. This should go without saying: Do not yell unsolicited “compliments” at women on the street. Or anywhere.

80. If you are a queer man, recognize that your sexuality doesn’t exclude you from potential misogyny.

81. If you are a queer man, recognize that your queer women or non-binary friends may not feel comfortable in a male-dominated space, even if it’s dominated by queer men.

82. Be happy to have women friends without needing them to want to sleep with you. The “friend zone” is not a thing. We do not owe you sex.

83. Remember that you can lack consent in situations not involving sex—such as when pursuing uninterested women or forcing a hug on a colleague.

84. Champion sex positive women but don't expect them to have sex with you.

85. Trust a woman to know her own body. If she says she won't enjoy part of your sexual repertoire, do not try to convince her otherwise.

86. Be sensitive to nonverbal cues from women, especially around sex. We’re not just being awkward for no reason. (You read “Cat Person,” didn’t you?)

87. It is not cute to try to persuade a woman to have sex with you. EVER. AT ALL. Go home.

88. Same goes for pressuring women to have sex without a condom. Go. Home. And masturbate.

89. Accidentally impregnated a women who doesn't want a kid? Abortions cost money. Pay for half of it.

90. Accidentally came inside a woman without protection? Plan B is expensive. Pay for all of it.

91. Get STD tested. Regularly. Without having to be asked.

92. Examine your opinion on abortion. Then put it in a box. Because, honestly, it's completely irrelevant.

93. Understand that disabled women are whole, sexual human beings. Listen to and respect them.

94. Understand that not all women have periods or vaginas.

95. Believe women's pain. Periods hurt. Endometriosis is real. Polycystic ovaries, vaginal pain, cystitis. These things are real. Hysteria isn’t.

96. If a woman accidentally bleeds on you, try your absolute best to just keep your shit together.

97. Lobby your elected officials to implement high quality sex education in schools.

98. Uplift young Black and Indigenous girls at every possible opportunity. No excuses.

99. Do not ever assume you know what it’s like.

100. Mainly, just listen to women. Listen to us and believe us. It’s the only place to start if you actually want all women to have a “Happy International Women’s Day.”

[thewallofmilessimpson]

Also nothing really important here, but isn’t it fun to talk about other people’s lives, Miles????

Commentary: Sounds like Kevin Stratton really loves, respects, and cares about his wife Connie if the only reason he doesn’t go get the pussy he is offered is because Connie will find out and it won’t be good (she would probably divorce him and take him for all he has), but at least she does the banking and her family cooks all the food you spend a lot of money on. You make them sound like pigs, not leaving any seconds for the one who pays for it but does nothing else but grabs a plate and dashes off like an asshole. Heh. Sounds like Connie and her family more than earn their keep from your bank, Kevin Stratton on the island. I REALLY hope Connie or her 42 people sees this and takes you for all you’ve got.

Re: back at youYahoo/Sent

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonTue, Dec 11, 2018 at 8:21 PMHello Kevin, Saints started last week’s game against the Buc’s the same way they left in Dallas not good. Drew was terrible in the first half. We got a punt block in the 2nd half I hope you saw it and scored 25 points in a row. They will be on Monday night next week against the Panthers. Your Bears helped out by beating the Rams now the Saints are back in front. I don’t think the Saints could beat the Bears are the Rams again. We’ll see down the road. Walter’s ex-wife Donna was burned really bad last week. Not a lot of info other than she was in the kitchen. Somebody said a towel caught on fire and she tied to beat it out with another towel and it caught on fire and wrapped around her but I don’t believe that. I think she was cooking meth and kaboom. Her boyfriend just got out of jail for doing it. The VR glasses you ordered is it the kind you can buy games for and stuff like that? I picked up Ronnie today after his chemo trip. He looks 80 years old and skinny. I’ll get him next Tuesday too. Bruce dropped off Reggie this morning at 5:30 like always and when I got up at 7:30 he had shit in my room right in the doorway on the carpet and it was the soft kind that mashes into the carpet when you try to pick it up. Then at noon he pissed on the floor by his food bowl and when I got back from picking up Ronnie he had pissed again. It’s this Cushing disease causing him to be this way. I told Bruce this afternoon I’m not keeping him after this year so he’s going to have him put to sleep in a week. I’ve kept him now probably 5 years and I want to be free to go somewhere and not have to deal with a deaf half blind bi-polar dog. He was a good dog but he’s not himself anymore. Getting the smoker out tomorrow and cooking 10 lbs of quarters and 20 thighs. I wish they would put the pork butts on sell I’m totally out! I’ll buy 4 next time. Cook 2 and freeze 2. I buy my baby back’s at Walmart and they say Extra meaty and they are. I usually smoke 3 racks cut them in half and freeze 6 half racks. I’ll get a half rack out but can usually only eat 3 ribs before I’m full. They’re like $3.30 a lb but are good. There’s a show that comes on Tuesday night on TBS at 9:30 called The Guest Book. Tonight’s the 8th or 9th one this season. You should give it a try it’s pretty dam funny. It would be great if you could get it on Net Flix and watch it from the start. Later Buddy, Miles > On Dec 3, 2018, at 11:18 AM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Good morning Miles > > Well I'm still disappointed about the Saints loss. They did not look like the same team at all. But they are still way up on every team in their division and I don't think that will change before the playoffs. I still hope for home field advantage through the playoffs but they better win out. I have always hated the Chargers so that was a bad game last night too. I did not get to see the last LSU game and in a way I'm glad as that is a bad way to loose.  I saw you had some bad weather last week in your area. You made it through alright? We have a new gas station close by my house. So now I have a sub sandwich place called Blimpie's, a Pizza Inn, coffee shop and a cooking place inside that makes local food plus a pretty big grocery store all inside of one building. They are also are extending the side of the building to house a branch bank for some banking operation not sure which as yet. So I might have to open an account there as it would be a handy place instead of going into town and stand in long lines. Not that I do any banking. I make Connie do all of that stuff. We had 42 people for Thanksgiving at our other house and hopefully not that many for Christmas but it might be close to that same amount of people. I don't do any of the cooking as Connie's brothers and sisters do that work I just pay for all the food. I just grab a plate and go. I don't get seconds as there is never enough to go around even with 2 turkeys and a spiral sliced ham and a pork leg. And 7 pies and two cheese cakes. Sorry to hear about your cousin as stage 4 is not that long to live. Is he on that Hospice's service? As they are free and they keep someone like your cousin pain free with heavy drugs like Morphine. See if you can sign him up as I'm pretty sure it is free even out in the country. Sorry about you dying for pussy as I could get you some down here. I get offered pussy from some girls I've known for years and they don't care if your married or single. They just want some sex or for you to throw some money their way. They call that country pay down here.  And there is still about 8 to 10 women to a man down here. And some of them look pretty damn good and are hard to turn down. But it is such a small community in many ways that it would all get back to Connie. And that would be bad let me tell you. The VR glasses comes with it's own screen and does not use a phone which I hope will work out to help me fly. I have my plumber working on the plumbing upstairs and the electrician doing a plan of his work so I can insulate and then sheet rock the walls. I still have to get my A/C guy to finish his stub out work before I insulate and drywall upstairs too. I'm doing the laundry right now and trying to fix a roof leak in my office as I keep chasing the water that comes in from the rain. Well I guess that is all that is on my mind right now. Oh we had 3 murders last month and none are really solved. We hear all kinds of rumors but nothing for sure. One was a guy who worked at a cruise ship store called Diamond International as a manager. That one might be over a woman from a ex-husband. And other one was a local teacher that had a partner running and owning a few taxi cabs and that had been arguing. The third one was gringo in the real estate business who I knew well. They had a memorial service yesterday on the beach at a big bar. I  went just to show my face but I hate those kind of services. His daughter came down to see about her fathers things. They found his glasses and blood on his stoop by his front door. As that looks like where he was killed and then days later they found his body and took that over to the mainland for a autopsy and they will cremate him and send the ashes to the daughter.  It might of been his next door neighbor who he was having problems with or a love triangle. Or the police killed him for something he saw and reported that the police and then they follwed him home and killed him but that is just another rumor. Well I guess that is all that is on my mind right now. > Later amigo! > k > >

[ehoiidoingthings]

‘The Winds Have Changed’ (Part 5) Noodlemoon

Part 5.

Note: Let me know what you guys think of this story so far i.e. things you like, things you don't like, what you might want to see next like characters or what-not, etc. Enjoy this next part! c:

    "Thank you for taking the time to help me out today!" Buster hopped out of the real estate agent's car.

"Anytime, Mr. Moon! Your apartment should be ready to move in this time next week. I've contacted the landlord about some of the questions you had and he should get back to you about them in terms of discussing your security deposit." The skunk called out the window of her car.

"Alright," Buster was opening his theater's doors. "Thank you again! And have a good night, Margaret!"

"To you as well, Mr. Moon."

    Buster checked the clock and saw it was 5:12. Just enough time to get ready, Buster thought as he dashed up the stairs. He first decided to go to the bathroom the theater offered and take a shower since he had been rummaging around the city more than usual today. Furthermore, Buster felt the need to look extra tidy considering the restaurant they were going to tonight they never really dined at. And the fact it's with Eddie. Buster grinned at the thought of trying to make something of last night's incident. He was excited for this dinner because it was a chance to start trying something with Eddie. He undressed and began to run the water for his shower. Once he stepped into the warm spray he suddenly realized how tense he had been. He let his fur soak up the moisture and allowed the water to run all over him. As he reached for the shampoo he began to sing a happy tune.

    "So-me day, when I'm awfully low~ When the world is cold~ I will feel a glow, just thinking o-f you," he began running his fingers through his fur, "and the way you look, tonight~ ♫"

    Buster hummed the next part and he went about washing and cleansing his face.

    "With each wor-d, your tenderness grows~"

    He grabbed the brush he kept in the shower for getting dirt out of his coat and used it as a microphone.

    "Tearing my fears, apa-rt!"

    He brushed through his coat some time before rinsing off.

    "And that laugh! That wrinkles your no-se~"

    Buster shut the shower off and hooped out. He dramatically grabbed a towel and wrapped himself in it as a prima donna would.

    "It touches my foolish hear-t~ ♫"

    He continued singing as he went over to the sink and started to blow-dry himself. Once he was completely dried, he put on another suit while still humming and singing the accompaniment to the Sinatra song.

    "Love-ly, never ever change, keep that breathless charm~ Won't you please arrange it?"

    He paused a moment to decide on the color of suit since he had purchased others since the theater's reopening. He decided to be fancy and chose an all black suit, white shirt and black bow-tie. He looked in the mirror of the bathroom. Classy, Buster mused. He finished the look by taking a small amount of fur-gel and did his usual neat, upright style. He took once last look in the mirror before turning away to his office to grab his bag.

    As he headed downstairs to the front of the theater to wait for Eddie, he sang out, "Just the way you look, to-night~ ♫"

    Expecting Eddie to be late, Buster didn't stress when he saw it was already 6:05. Guess I got carried away with my song, Buster thought happily. At least I look real good. His confidence was sky high. He even had silver cufflinks for the night; and of course they were in the shape of crescent moons. He opened the doors and turned to lock them. However, when he exited the theater he saw Eddie in his car awaiting the Koala.

    "Oh! Eddie, you're here already." He said.

    His ears dropped a little as he realized he had made the sheep wait on him. He quickly locked the doors and ran over to the car.

    "Yeah, been so for ten minutes but don't worry about it." Eddie put the car in drive.

    He didn't seem mad but Buster was angry at himself. Goddammit, Buster thought; his ears fell a little more.

    Eddie must've noticed because he said, "Hey, I don't care that you're late. You are always waiting on me anyway so I guess I owe you this."

"Alright, thanks." Buster was feeling better after his comment.

Eddie looked over and commented, "I also see why you're late. You look nice tonight, Buster."

    Buster looked away and flushed at the comment made.

    Before he could give one back Eddie started to babble saying, "I-I mean, you look good all the time! Like, I don't know, you just look extra good tonight. Uh, I mean... Whatever, you look good is what I'm saying."

Buster laughed at his display. "Why thank you, Eddie! I did spruce it up tonight considering we are actually eating there tonight. Can't be looking like my usual self at that place." He adjusted his bow-tie.

    Buster looked over Eddie and saw that he, too, dressed up with black slacks that tapered down, a burgundy jacket and a white dress shirt. Buster noticed the top two buttons were undone which gave Eddie a cool look. He also noticed that Eddie had gotten his wool cut and groomed so it made a cleaner version of what he normally wore.

    His throat clenched a bit as he spoke. "Y-you look good tonight as well, Eddie. I like the cut you got for your wool."

The sheep accepted the compliment but with slightly less enthusiasm than the marsupial expected with, "Thanks."

    The remainder of the ride was brutally silent for the two men. Buster just looked off while Eddie looked intent on driving. The koala had never seen Eddie so serious before and, in all honestly, it kinda scared him to see Eddie like this. Fortunately, the ride was short and the awkward atmosphere between them dwindled as they pulled up to the curb for the valet to take their car. Buster stepped out of the car and took a moment to catch up with Eddie who had been racing to the door. Buster was confused why he didn't wait for him but nonetheless jogged up to him. They entered the fancy squid-themed building and were greeted by a host.

    "Six o'clock reservation for two." Eddie said, his ears falling a bit as one hand went to grab his arm in self-consciousness.

"The name, sir?" The chimpanzee asked.

"N-Noodleman."

"Yes, a waiter will come seat you."

    Another chimp came over with menus. He looked at Buster and furrowed his brows. He recognized the koala and Buster, in turn, recognized him.

    "Let's see here, no lunch box or posters... Are you two actually eating here tonight or are you going to waste the staff's time again?" he harshly said.

Eddie was about to say something but Buster spoke first. "Yes, we are 'actually eating here tonight', good sir. If you want a good tip then please have us seated, if you would."

    Buster didn't like being rude but he knew when to defend himself when someone tried treating him unfairly. Eddie raised his brows at the smaller male's display of authority.

    The waiter sighed. "Right this way then, gentleman."

    They were seated next to a wall this time in the back corner of the restaurant. It was a booth seat which the both of them were grateful for. They sat across each other as usual and, once the chimp had set down their menus, they began browsing their options that they had seen before but never really acted upon. Buster looked up from his menu and saw Eddie had his head on one of his hands. Wonder what's got to him tonight. Buster tried to lighten the mood with small talk.

    "So, you see anything you like? Got a drink in mind?"

"Uh, not yet. I mean, I like cucumber water." Eddie said as he flipped the menu's pages.

"Cucumber water? We're out to eat at a fancy restaurant and that's what you what? I'd think more of a champagne type of evening..." Buster trailed off as he saw Eddie wince at the mention of champagne.

    Must not have that much money, he thought.

    "Well, I guess cucumber water is good. I'll get some 'strawberry infused sparkling water'. Gosh, why does everything have to be so long winded? Just tell me it's carbonated water with some fruit slices in it for God's sake."

    Buster noticed Eddie chuckle a bit behind his menu at his mini rant. Buster smiled at Eddie's reaction because he knew he at least was making whatever Eddie was worried about a lesser burden by distracting him this way. Buster went on another tangent about how the restaurant doesn't pay their squid entertainment enough while stifling their creativity and that's why most of the restaurant's employees went to his theater. Towards the end of it a waiter came with three kinds of breads and butter for them alongside an olive oil dip. They each tried the different combinations and chatted about the ones they liked and disliked. The same waiter who seated them came to the table. He got out a notepad and pen and asked them what they would like to drink.

    "The strawberry infused sparkling water for myself, thank you." Buster said cheerfully.

"Uh, just some cucumber water. Thanks." Eddie replied, the normal tone back in his voice.

The waiter jotted down the drinks. "Would you like an appetizer tonight?"

    Buster looked at Eddie for him to decide.

    The sheep looked back confused and shook his head before saying, "No, we should be good. The bread here is great anyway."

The chimp closed his book. "I'll get those drinks out right away, gentleman."

"Thank you!" Buster called after him.

    He heard a snort from across the table.

    "Surprised you didn't say 'merci'."

Buster laughed. "Well, I mean, someone told me to say otherwise."

"Glad you listened to them for once." Eddie chuckled.

    Buster gave a huff of a laugh and opened his menu to look through it. He kept Eddie's reaction to his champagne comment earlier in mind and kept to the cheaper options. Well, as cheap as they could be which was around $20 per meal at minimum. What was I expecting? Buster thought. Of course it's all so damn expensive; why the hell would it not be? Buster blew out some air and flipped some more pages. He came to their dinner salad section and browsed until he found something that looked good to eat. Although he was evolved from his ancestors, he still had a vegetarian diet that required some attention to else he would have a sick stomach. He decided on a berry and nut salad with hearty leaves and a choice of dressing. He also noticed it was a $35 dinner. I'll offer to pay for it. When he was going to tell Eddie his decision, the sheep spoke rather rushed.

    "Buster, uh, I-I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Buster was a little dumbfounded by his eagerness to go but just replied, "Uh, okay Eddie. Go ahead."

    Eddie just almost jumped out of his seat to go and had a worried look on his face. Buster almost chased after him but decided not to and that he probably needed a moment. So Buster just sat back into he booth with his fingers tapping on the menu. The waiter was back.

    "Have you both decided on your meals?"

Buster just looked to the bathroom doors. "Uh. no, we haven't. My companion is busy right now but should be back."

    The chimp shuffled off while Buster mumbled an apology.

    Meanwhile, Eddie was almost having a panic in the Bathroom stall. It was just him and a toilet and he felt like his chest was collapsing on him. The night had been leading up to this moment. From the moment he walked into that restaurant with Buster, as soon as he exited his car, he saw eyes on him and the smaller male. Eyes that were saying 'what a cute couple.' At first he tried ignoring it, tried enjoying his time with Buster. But as the night progressed, he couldn't help but notice the looks and the judgment and embarrassment he felt. While Buster had been flipping through the menu, he noticed so many things about the koala; the way his ears perked up and down while he read, the twitching of his nose, how he would flicker his tongue out when he was in thought, the furrow of his brows. Eddie had caught himself looking t the marsupial and couldn't help but find him in the slightest way charming like his Nana had said before. And that's when Eddie started to panic because he couldn't believe what he was thinking about his friend. That's right, Edward James Noodleman; friend! Eddie couldn't help the fact he was feeling this way. He was so conflicted about what this dinner was turning out to be. He partly blamed his grandmother for putting such thoughts into his head. He wouldn't be thinking this way if only she hadn't been so pressed on even putting the idea there. He groaned and leaned his back against the wall of the bathroom stall. He felt sick, he felt sick since Buster mentioned champagne. As is Eddie needed any more alcohol ruining his life. C'mon, you're being over dramatic. He just wants to have dinner with you! You never cared before having dinner with him this much before now have you? Eddie gave a sigh and gave in. You can do this, just finish the dinner and stop thinking about those cute little things he does. Like fixing his fur, fidgeting with his bow-tie, how he talks with a smile... He exited the stall and walked over to the silver, marble surfaced sinks. He splashed some water onto his face and dried it with a cloth which he emptied into the restaurant's wash bin. He jogged in place for a bit; a usual way of prepping himself with his life coach.

    "Okay, Eddie; you got this!" He spoke to himself in the mirror.

    He straightened his jacket and smoothed his pants before walking out the bathroom.

    Buster had his head in one hand while the other twirled a silver fork between his fingers. He had his ears in a dropped position while his body leaned over the table. Maybe it's something I did. I mean, I've been playing it quite safe tonight I feel... Buster heard someone approaching and figured it was the waiter again.when he was about to dismiss him, Eddie came into view again. Buster perked up and sat in his usual enthusiastic way.

    "Back I see." Buster said, happy Eddie was looking slightly better than before.

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, just got lightheaded is all."

"Oh, I see. Anything I can do to help?" Buster offered.

Eddie shook his head. "Not much to be done in all honesty but I'm fine now."

    He gave a smile but Buster could tell it wasn't genuine. He didn't comment on it and just decided to let Eddie be. For the third time, the waiter showed up again.

    "Now, gentleman, do you know what you want to eat?" He seemed a little impatient and Buster couldn't blame him.

Buster made quick work of his order. "Yes, I'll take the 'Island Salad' with a cream-cheese base dressing. I do not want a side. Thank you."

The waiter scratched down what Buster said while asking Eddie, "And for you, sir?"

Eddie paused a moment before flipping to a page to say, "A vegetable garden burger, no pickle. Cheddar on that and a side of fresh greens. Thanks."

    They handed him their menus and he promptly strode off to put the orders in. Buster sat with his hands in each other atop the table with a smile while Eddie had his hands in his lap with a more anxious expression that he tried his best to conceal. Buster just awkwardly looked around the restaurant until he couldn't bear the silence between them. Buster sat up in his seat and scooted forward until he was on the edge. He placed his elbows on the table and was getting ready to talk with his hands as he usually does for emphasis. Eddie looked up when he noticed Buster's set tone.

    "Eddie, what's going on with you?"

Eddie sat up. "What do you mean?"

"You've been quiet all night, barely talking to me. Not one moment of a genuine smile or any kind of eye-contact. I just want to know; what is bothering you?" Buster was serious and placed his hands flat on the table.

Eddie could feel the back of his neck get hot. "Uh, nothing's wrong."

Buster was getting impatient with the answers that dodged any real conversation.

"Eddie, please talk to me. I know something's eating at you. You've been on edge all night-"

"Dude, I'm fine!" Eddie smacked a hoof against the table. He basically yelled the last part as he interrupted Buster. The restaurant fell quiet after Eddie's outburst. The sheep settled back into his seat, ears falling at his display. He watched as Buster hopped out of his seat and began heading for the entrance of the building. Eddie took a moment to collect himself before realizing Buster was walking away.

"Where're you going?" Eddie called after him.

    The koala didn't reply as he opened the front door and headed out. Eddie panicked and jumped from the booth and ran after Buster. When he came to the door, he was halted by the chimpanzee who had been serving them.

    "You think you're going to dine and dash? I'll have you know-"

"Shut the hell up, man!" Eddie was too frantic to deal with this right now. "Here!" He pushed the chimp aside and shoved $300 into his hands and bolted out the door.

    He looked left and right and saw Buster speed walking on the right sidewalk. He ran to the valet booth.

    "Where's my car? I need my car now!"

    The valet looked scared at Eddie's crazed state and hastily mumbled into his radio for a fellow employee to bring his car around. Eddie ran up to the vehicle and almost threw the man out of it. Again, he shoved a $100 bill into the guy's hand.

    "Thank guys!" He yelled to them as he sped off down the street to catch up to Buster.

    For short legs, man, that guy can walk fast, Eddie thought. But it was little to no time when he caught up to the marsupial.

    "Buster!" He called after him. "Buster, I'm sorry!"

    He pulled his car almost to the curb and, when he noticed that the koala had no intention of stopping, he slowly drove alongside him. Eddie drove a bit more, thinking about what he was going to say next, wondering why Buster had stormed out like he did.

    He decided on apologizing some more by saying, "Look, I'm sorry I embarrassed you like that. I was immature and I was letting my emotions get between having a good night with you!"

    Buster stopped walking and Eddie parked. The smaller male had his ears back which, to Eddie, was never a good sign.

    "It's not just about embarrassing me, Eddie! Like, where do you get talking to me like that? Huh? I was just trying to help you." He finished the last part of his sentence with a bit of a choke.

    He looked at the sheep and shook his head and continued his march down the street. At this point Eddie could understand why Buster was angry at him. He had been terrible company throughout the night and, rather than talk to Buster, just gave him the cold shoulder for no reason. After all, this is you making up for your fuck up, Eddie thought. His ears and face fell more. Because you couldn't just act normal. Because you couldn't be honest. You had to go and treat your best friend like shit because you couldn't handle the responsibility of your actions. You just hurt him more. And now he's walking away... Eddie put the car into park and sat there. He was ashamed. How could I do this to him? He put his arms across the steering wheel and buried his face into them. He doesn't deserve that, especially not from you. Not from your dumb-ass... He started to shake. More thoughts ran through his head. His mind became clouded with all the thoughts about how unfair he had been to Buster. About how he was a real shit for doing this to him. He didn't know what to do. Buster was long gone by now and Eddie didn't know where to begin with it all. He quickly became overwhelmed and felt helpless to it all. So he did the only thing he knew how to; he started to cry. He felt his face burn with each tear that fell down his snout. He made little noise but could feel the heat radiating in him and the amount of shaking his body was doing.

    At that moment, Eddie felt a small tap on his left shoulder. He peeked from over his arm to the side of his car. Buster was standing there with his hands fidgeting .

    "I, um..." Buster started.

    He rocked back and forth on his feet. Eddie just slumped into his own arms.

    Buster tried again.

    "Could I catch a ride home, Eddie?"

Eddie mumbled from his coat sleeve, "Sure."

    The koala walked around the car onto the other side and Eddie straightened himself. Buster took the passenger seat. Eddie miserably put the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. This time, the quiet ride home was definitely an uncomfortable silence. Buster and Eddie both had solemn looks and avoided any kind of eye contact or inclination of the other's company. Buster sat there with his head lowered, trying to make himself as small as possible. He was upset about the dinner and disappointed in himself that he let Eddie's outburst get to him. How he just walked out on him like that. But again, he also felt as though, no matter what, he had to maintain his own pride. This is all so confusing, Buster sighed as he thought. It started out kinda good, now here we are. Before he could delve deeper into thought, the car stopped and Buster realized they were at his theater. Eddie pulled to the side and parked the car, expectant Buster would leave.

    When the koala didn't, Eddie just said, "We're at your theater."

Buster sat there still and replied, "I know."

    The two sat uncomfortably. The thought of the night just going through their minds. Eddie started to speak when it became minutes of this silence.

    "Look, I really am sorry-"

Buster interjected. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked out. Shouldn't have even suggested this night-"

"But it's my fault it's like this!" Eddie looked at Buster.

"It's my fault for being a dick, I'm sorry. I really am. I wanted this night to be good and I, Buster, I am so sorry."

    Eddie couldn't help it anymore. He was too afraid to say what he wanted, about the fear of the kiss, about other people looking fondly at them, how he fondly looked at Buster. What Nana said, what he had said to Buster.

    So all Eddie could say was, "I'm sorry for everything." And he slumped into the car seat.

Buster's ears perked at his statement. "This whole night isn't your fault, Eddie." Buster turned to him. "It was just an off day."

"No, it wasn't." Eddie replied. "Me and my stupid self just couldn't deal with the guilt of it all. I'm so sorry. I should've just been honest with you. Buster, I'm sorry."

    Buster was perplexed. Is he talking about that night? Rather than ask, he tried driving Eddie to say it.

    "Eddie, what are you so sorry about? It was just a bad night tonight-"

"Not tonight, Buster!" Eddie sounded almost desperate as he looked to him. "I'm sorry I went after you. I'm sorry I basically assaulted you." Eddie gave a heavy sigh and looked towards the road. "I should've just apologized for kissing you, man. Yet, I decided to lie and try to make it up to you and ended up acting this way tonight. I'm really, really sorry I did that. I'm sorry I freaked you out."

    Buster was about to stop him but he kept talking. So listen Buster decided to do and let him finish.

    "Like, I didn't want to say it because I just wanted to forget about it. I wanted to have our friendship just continue like it was and have no issues. I didn't want you to think differently of me because I screwed up. But I guess I just made things worse by over thinking it all." Eddie leaned his chin on his arms crossed on the steering wheel.

    When he didn't speak, Buster decided Eddie was done with his speech. He reached a law over and touched Eddie's arm.

    "Hey. You know what? It's okay. I'm glad you told me, Eddie. Thank you." Buster said to him.

    Eddie still looked glum so Buster moved closer to him.

    "I-I don't think any less of you, Eddie. You're still the same person now as you were before. Although, I can't say nothing has changed..." Buster felt his stomach flip from the anxiety forming in his chest. Despite this, he pushed along. "I do think of you differently, but not in a bad way." Buster felt his voice give a slight shake.

Eddie looked over to him. He saw Buster fidgeting again.

He asked, "Differently how? How can you think of me not in a bad way?"

Buster swallowed before continuing. "Well, you see..." Don't stop. "When you kissed me, when you were saying all those lovely things to me, it made me think... Could you really be interested in me?"

"Buster, it's not like that-" Eddie started but Buster stopped him.

"And then I asked myself, 'could I really be interested in him?'"

    Buster got even closer to Eddie, now officially violating his personal space. Eddie opened his mouth, his eyes becoming wide at Buster' s remarks. Buster stood up on the seat so he was level with Eddie. Before Eddie could even muster a response, Buster leaned in close to his face. So much so the sheep could feel his heat and breath.

    The koala said, softly and carefully to him, despite his heart ready to beat out of his chest, "And I told myself, 'yes, I really am interested in him.'"

    Before Eddie could react, Buster took hold of his face. He caressed the side of him with the other hand and drew the sheep to him. Buster, despite the anxiety, the shaking, and worry, brought Eddie's face to him and kissed him. Buster, unlike the last time, reveled in how the other's mouth molded to his own. It was electric. Buster felt the adrenaline building up within in him like a sweet tingling sensation he couldn't control of he wanted to. He couldn't help but run the hand on Eddie's face down to on his jacket lapel and rest on his chest. Buster had closed his eyes, he wanted to feel nothing but the raw touch of the other man against him. He had thought about this, the fantasy of kissing Eddie again all throughout the day. However, the kiss had to end and so did the fantasy. Buster drew back from Eddie, his lidded eyes open again. He realized his hands on the other and drew them back as if it burned to touch him. He moved back, away from his object of desire. He looked at Eddie and saw that the sheep had raised eyebrows, open eyes and a half open mouth. Buster would've thought it cute to see the sheep in such a state but all he felt was fear. The both of them were breathing heavy. Eddie wasn't talking and Buster felt a panic begin to rise in him. Run, run away, Buster thought.

He was entering flight mode and was about to reach for the car door handle when Eddie said a surprised, "Um, okay." Eddie looked over Buster. "Okay, so that happened."

Buster tried catching his breath and replied lamely, "Yeah, that really did happen."

    He gave a nervous laugh to hide how scared he was of what Eddie would do. Eddie wasn't talking and Buster didn't want to either. Again, they were silent for another moment. Bust fidgeted some more. He decided to let Eddie decide on his own time what to do.

Not knowing what else to say, Buster managed to Eddie, "Well, uh, I'll see you around, Eddie. Goodnight." He felt a hot wash of shame go over his face as he talked.

    Buster turned and exited the car. He was thankful to have his back to Eddie so the larger mammal wouldn't be able to see his embarrassment mixed with disappointment at Eddie's reaction to his kiss. Was it not good? Am I not good enough?

    As Buster headed to the theater doors, Eddie said quietly to him, "Yeah... Night."

    Eddie watched as Buster unlocked the theater and headed inside. When the koala was out of sight, Eddie pulled away from the curb and drove home for the night. Both men were left with a sick feeling of uncertainty, confusion, and mainly a lingering sense of emptiness.

[swanqueeneverafter]

05. That Still Small Voice, Pt.3

Storybrooke. Present day. In front of the mines. (Archie and Emma are looking for Henry.) Emma: “Henry! Henry!” Archie: “Henry! (Pongo enters and runs to the entrance into the mines, sniffing:) What you got there, Pongo?” Emma: “I don't think he's here.” Archie: “I think he is. (He picks up an Apollo Bar:) Candy bar. He had these with him.” Storybrooke. Present day. Inside the mines. (Henry, flashlight in hand, explores the area when he sees a mysterious shard of glass among the stones. He picks it up and examines it when all of a sudden, he hears the gravel rustling. He looks up to see an avalanche of rocks. He runs. We then see outside the mines with Archie, Emma, and Pongo, also feeling the avalanche.) Archie: “Henry!” Emma: “Archie!” Archie: “Henry! It's not safe!” (Archie climbs into the collapsing mine to find Henry.) Emma: “Archie?! Henry!” (Archie lights a match, picks up his lucky umbrella, and proceeds to look for Henry.) Archie: “Henry? Henry?” Henry: (Suddenly comes out with the flashlight shining on Archie:) “Archie! You're here to help me!“ Archie: “No, I... Listen, we gotta get out of here.” Henry: “So you're still against me.” Archie: “Henry, there's no time for that. Come on, Henry, come on!” Henry: (Backing away:) “You don't believe me? You'll see. You'll see.” (Henry runs away from Archie.) Archie: “Henry! Henry, come back! (Turns to look towards the exit then turns back and chases after Henry:) Hey!” The Enchanted Forest. Past. (Jiminy, Martin and Myrna walking on the way to a house to cheat people for money. Jiminy stops at the door and turn to his parents.) Jiminy: “Look, can't we skip this tonight? We don't need the money!” Myrna: “Everything isn't about money, Jiminy. It's about the principle.” Martin: (Using a trick to produce a small bottle of liquid appears in his hand:) “A commitment to excellence.” Myrna: “Excellence... at stealing money.” Martin: “Now go ahead and take the ‘elf tonic’, Jiminy.” (Jiminy takes the bottle while Martin and Myra laugh together. Myrna knocks and a young couple, Stephen and Donna, answer the door.) Myrna: “Oh! Such beautiful young people.” Jiminy: “Pardon me. Do you have a place at your hearth for an honest man and his (Pauses and looks to his parents then turns back to the couple:) elderly parents?” Stephen: “Of course.” Myrna: “Oh!” Stephen: “Come in.” Donna: “I'll heat up some broth.” Myrna: (Entering the house:) “Oh, we love broth.” Martin: “Oh, what a beautiful home!” Myrna: “Your cobbles are so even!” (They continue chatting as all of them enter the house. Inside the house, Donna hands Jiminy a bowl of broth.) Jiminy: “Thank you for your kindness.” Myrna: (To Martin:) “I just can't get it out of my mind, that family.” Martin: “Terrible way to go.” Myrna: “Oh.” Donna: (Sitting down at the table:) “What? What happened?” Martin and Myrna: (Looks at each other then to the couple:) “Plague.” (Donna gasps and turns to Stephen.) Myrna: “The next town over, we just passed through.” Donna: “The plague?!” Myrna: “Well, a plague, certainly.” Stephen: “Is it coming here? Are you okay?” Martin: “Oh, us, no, we are immune.” Myrna: “We have the elf tonic.” Martin: “Made by elves, from elves.” Myrna: “Four out of five court physicians recommend it.” Martin: “Fifth one died before he could try it.” (Laughs.) Myrna: “Well, you have it, right? Smart folks like you.” Donna: “We've never heard of it.” Myrna: “Oh no.” Martin: “Oh dear god.” Jiminy: (Flatly, in the most bored and rehearsed tone possible:) “Oh no, you're going to die. You're going to die.” Myrna: “Oh, I wish we had extra.” Martin: “We don't have extra.” Jiminy: (Thoroughly fed up:) “There is no extra.” (Sips his broth.) Donna: “We could pay you.” Martin: “We have a tiny bottle.” Myrna: “But we need that for ourselves.” Stephen: “What can we give you?” Donna: “Surely there must be something here you would want.” Myrna: “I'm sure we can come up with something.” A Short While Later. (Martin puts three coins along with a few other items into a bag and flings it onto his shoulders.) Myrna: (To Martin:) “Well, I guess we should start loading up.” (Martin and Myrna leaves the house.) Jiminy: (Hands the bottle to the couple, dispassionately:) “Here you go.” Stephen: (Takes the bottle:) “Thank you.” Donna: “Thank you.” (Jiminy leaves the house. Besides their wagon, Martin and Myrna puts the bags of goods onto it.) Jiminy: “Hey, those are good people. They would never hurt us like that.” Myrna: “That's where they went wrong.” Martin: “It's better to be the kind of people that take.” Myrna: “Instead of those that get taken from.” Jiminy: (Takes out the bottle of potion from Rumplestilskin:) “I'm sorry. You've given me no other choice.” (Jiminy throws the potion to his parents but nothing happens.) Myrna: “How frail do you think we are, son?” Martin: “Rainwater won't hurt us.” (Jiminy is shocked and looks at the bottle.) Martin: “I'm pretty good at a sleight of hand, Jiminy.” Jiminy: “You switched them? (Looks back to the house:) So this is the elf tonic.” Martin: “Oh my! We must have given whatever you had to that family.” Myrna: “Oh, hope it wasn't dangerous.” (Jiminy runs back into the house. Inside the house, Jiminy finds the bottle of poison on the ground used already at the door. Jiminy picks up the bottle and looks behind the door. On the bed sit two puppet dolls that looks like Stephen and Donna. Jiminy is horrified and falls onto the chair. Martin and Maryn enter and see the puppets.) Martin: “Ohh, look at that.” Myrna: “New puppets for the act.” (Suddenly, the boy who has given him the umbrella earlier that day enters the house.) Boy: (Looks at Martin and Myrna:) “Who are you?” (Jiminy sees the boy and shakes his head with regret.) Boy: (Sees the puppets on the bed:) “Papa? Mama? Papa! (Turns to Jiminy:) What did you do to them? What did you do to them?”

Storybrooke. Present. (Inside the mines, Archie is searching for Henry.) Archie: “Henry? Henry? Henry! Henry! (Sees a light in front and finds Henry shining the flashlight at a gap on the ground:) Henry! You gotta slow down.” Henry: “There's something shiny down there.” Archie: “Henry, this is seriously dangerous. We gotta get out of here.” Henry: “It could be something.” Archie: (Very anxious:) “Look, I'm frightened for you, Henry.” Henry: “Because you think that I'm crazy?” Archie: “No! No, because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Henry, and there is no way out.” Outside at the entrance of the mine. (Pongo barks. Regina, Emma, Graham, Marco, and Ruby gather around as workers try to open the entrance.) Marco: “Archie is smart. He'll keep the boy safe until we get to that.” (The ground shakes.) Marco: “Watch out!” Regina: (Runs towards Emma:) “Stop! Stop! You're making it worse.” Emma: “I am trying to save him. You know what, he wouldn't have gone in the first place, don't you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove!” Regina: “And why does he think he has anything to prove? Who's encouraging him?” Emma: “Do not put this on me.” Regina: “Don’t you lecture me on how to be a mother! You’ve been in his life for five minutes and look what happens!” (Turns and walks away.) Inside the mines. Archie: “Henry, do you hear that?” Henry: “It's Pongo!” Archie: “Follow the noise.” Outside at the entrance. (Emma follows Regina.) Emma: (Softer:) “Look, we have to stop this. Arguing won't accomplish anything.” Regina: (Turns back to face her:) “No, it won't.” Emma: “What do you want me to do?” Regina: “Help me.” (Emma nods.)

Inside the mines. Archie: “It's loud. It's over here.” (Removes a sheet of metal on his way.) Henry: “What's this?” Archie: (Sees what behind the sheet of metal:) “It's like, an old elevator.” Outside at the entrance. Regina: “We need to find some way to punch through the ground. We need something big.” Emma: “Like what?” Marco: (Calling over:) “Explosives.” Inside the mines. Archie: (Walking towards the elevator:) “To get the mine workers in or out. It goes all the way to the top. That's why we can hear Pongo.” Henry: “Can we make it work?” Archie: “Let's give it a shot.” Outside at the entrance. (Ruby hides away as the explosives are ready.) Emma: “Okay, we're all clear.” Inside the elevator of the mines. Archie: (Tries to turn the wheel of the elevator:) “Come on!” (Henry goes to assist Archie.) Outside at the entrance. Regina: “Blow it.” (Everyone finds cover.) Inside the mines. (The elevator starts to move a bit.) Outside at the entrance. (There's a explosion as a worker presses the button of the control.) Inside the mines. (The elevator shakes and Archie holds Henry tight. The elevator drops a bit.) Outside at the entrance. (Emma runs into the smoke caused by the explosion as Regina looks on anxiously. Emma comes back.) Regina: “Did it work?” Emma: “It didn't open.” Graham: “Then what did it do?”

[imagininghim]

Chapter 11

Where she went Masterlist

I awoke the next morning in the dorm room to see Jax sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” I said as Jax glanced back at me with a small smile.

“Good morning. How’d you sleep?” Jax questioned as he laid back on his side.

“Ehh,” I said as Jax and I chuckled. “Sorry I pulled you away from Tara last night. I’m assuming she wasn’t too pleased?” I questioned as Jax smiled.

“No, she wasn’t but I promised you if you needed me I would be there for you.” I smiled as I nodded my head. “But speaking of last night, what happened?” I sighed as I knew that this was coming sooner or later.

“Nothing happened,” I said with a simple shrug of my shoulder’s. Jax looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Really? So, I didn’t come here to find you cradling yourself on the ground while you sobbed to yourself and I didn’t jump off my bike to wrap you in my arms until you cried yourself to sleep? I guess I just imagined it all.” Jax said sarcastically as I giggled before lifting my foot and kicking him in the shoulder.

“Shut up,” I said as I giggled. Jax smiled as his face began to change to serious.

“But in all seriousness, what happened?” Jax questioned as I sighed.

“Promise you won’t get mad?” I questioned as Jax stretched his hand towards me with his pinky stuck out.

“I pinky promise,” Jax said as we interlocked our pinky’s.

“Well, I was closing up the gate and Hale showed up. He said he wanted to talk and so we did. I brought him in the club and the next thing I knew we were in here about to have sex but…” Jax looked at me confused.

“But what?” Jax questioned as I sighed.

“But I couldn’t. I had this horrible flash back of… him. I freaked out and I pushed Hale off me. He tried to comfort me but I couldn’t… I needed you.” I said as Jax began to stand up and walk towards me as he pulled me up and into a hug.

“And I’m here. I’ll always be here.” Jax said as I smiled into the hug.

“I know,” I said as I breathed in his comforting scent. A knock came to the door as Opie pushed it open.

“Hey sweets, how are you feeling?” Opie said as I pulled away from Jax and walked into his embrace.

“A bit better,” I said as Ope nodded his head into the hug.

“Jax attempted to explain what happened last night but I figured I come check on you as well.” I nodded my head as we pulled away.

“Well boys, I don’t know about you but I’m starved. Who wants to treat their best friend to breakfast?” Jax and Opie chuckled as I smiled.

“I will,” Jax said as I smiled.

“Damn right you will. Ope go call that sexy piece of ass of a wife of yours and tell her that we’re going out to breakfast and she’s coming.” Ope chuckled as he reached for his phone and headed for the door.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jax questioned as I smiled and nodded my head. Jax reached over and wrapped his arms around me. I felt my heart begin to skip a beat as a blush spread across my cheeks.

“Okay so, Donna said she’ll be ready in 10. If you guys want to head over now?” Jax and I pulled away from our hug as his arm stayed around my shoulder.

“Sure. If that’s alright with you?” Jax said as he looked down at me.

“It’s alright. Just give me a minute or two to get changed.” I said as the boys nodded their heads before heading for the door so I could get ready. Once, I was dressed I headed for the door and walked down the hall to see the boys sitting at the bar.

“Ready?” Jax questioned as I smiled and nodded my head as the boys stood up as Jax walked next to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I threw my sunglasses on as we walked out of the club and headed for the bikes. Ope walked to his bike as Jax and I walked towards his. We climbed on as they started their bikes as they nodded their heads at each other before taking off.

We reached Opie’s house to see Donna leaning on the porch.

“Hell to the no. I am not getting on that.” I slid my glasses down my nose with a smirk.

“If you can ride him. You can ride this.” Donna’s mouth dropped as her cheeks went into a crimson red.

“Shut up!” Donna said as she giggled.

“Come on, like old times.” Donna sighed as she nodded her head and walked over to Opie who had been holding out a helmet for her. Once Donna put it on and climbed on we all took off down to the local diner.

We walked into the dinner as a young waitress walked over to us, her eyes went wide at the sight of the boy’s cuts.

“Um, hello. A booth for four?” She questioned wearily as we nodded our heads. The women led us to a table while she led menus down as we all took a seat. The waitress awaited by our table as we all took a seat. “Can I get you something to drink?” The waitress said as she hauled out her notepad.

“I’ll take a coffee,” Jax said as the waitress smiled at him.

“Oooo, I’ll take one of those too,” I said as the waitress nodded her head.

“Us too,” Donna said as Ope nodded his head. The waitress wrote down our drinks before smiling at Jax and walking away.

“I don’t like her,” I said as Jax chuckled.

“You don’t like anyone,” Jax said as I looked at him shocked.

“I do too. I just have a bad feeling about her and you know my feelings are always right.” I said as Jax rolled his eyes playfully.

“Oh god, not this again,” Jax said as I smacked him in the arm.

“Shut up! You know that I’m right!” I said as Jax chuckled again.

“Okay, prove it!” I was about to prove it when the waitress waltzed back over with our drinks.

“Here you go.” The girl said as she revealed her chest to Jax as she handed us our coffees.

“Thanks, Darlin’, ” Jax said as he gave her his famous Teller smirk. The girl giggled at Jax as she hauled out her notepad. I elbowed Jax in the side as I smiled and acted unknowingly. Jax rubbed his side as the waitress spoke again.

“Okay, are you guys ready to order?” We all exchanged looks as we nodded our heads.

“I’ll have the eggs, bacon, and sausage,” Ope said as Jax spoke next.

“I’ll have the same.” The waitress nodded and smiled before writing it down as Donna spoke next.

“I’ll have the fruit salad.” The waitress nodded while writing it down.

“And I’ll have the waffles with extra berries.” The waitress nodded as she finished writing down the order.

“Okay great. I’ll be right back with your order.” She said as she smiled at Jax before walking away.

“Now, prove how your feelings are always right,” Jax said as he gave me a smirk.

“Well, remember that time you were going to sleep with Kelsey Jackson?” Jax nodded his head as I continued. “And I told you not to do it because I had a bad feeling about her and I had that feeling that she was only using you for the reputation and you would get attached?” Jax sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yes.”

“You never listened to me even though I warned you and it turns out that I was right. Kelsey eventually used you to get the reputation she wanted until I fixed it.” I said as Jax sighed.

“Wait, how did you fix it?” Donna questioned as I smiled.

“She said she was the newest girlfriend of Jax but I told everyone she was lying and she tried to be one of our newest croweaters but we couldn’t let her because she had the Clap.” Donna’s mouth went wide as I chuckled.

“You didn’t?!” Donna said as she tried to cover up her smile and giggle as Ope chuckled.

“Oh she did and every time Kelsey passed anyone in the halls they would clap or caw like a crow.” Donna finally lets herself laugh as she busted out laughing.

“You’re terrible!” Donna said as she cracked up laughing.

“I never said I wasn’t!” I yelled as the waitress walked back with our food.

“Here you go. Let me know if you need anything just let me know if you need anything else.” She said as she laid her hand on Jax’s shoulder.

“Oh, we will!” I said in my fakest voice ever. The waitress rolled her eyes. We all ate her food in mostly silence with some casual small talk.

“Okay, so, how was it?” The waitress said as she walked back over.

“Good.” We all said as she smiled.

“That’s good to hear. Now, how are the bills working?” She questioned.

“The two of them on one bill and the two of us on another,” Jax said as the waitress nodded and walked over to do up the receipts. We all began to stand up and make sure we had everything as the waitress walked back over to us before handing Opie his receipt and then Jax’s as she spoke.

“Come again, anytime.” She said with a wink as I felt disgusted rise upon me. Opie and Donna walked up to pay as Jax and I awaited behind them.

“How much did it come too?” I questioned as Jax handed me the receipt.

“21.47$.” I nodded as I handed it back to him. We walked up to the counter as Donna and Ope finished up.

“We’re going to head outside; we’ll meet you out there.” Jax and I nodded as we turned back to the waitress.

“Are you guys ready?” We nodded our heads as the waitress began to do the check at the cash register.

“So, what are you doing this Friday night?” The waitress questioned Jax as I stood in shock.

“Excuse me?” I said as she ignored me and continued to talk to Jax.

“I’m off at five, so you can pick me up at seven.” She replied as Jax stood me shock and anger.

“Listen here you skank. For your information, Jax is currently busy Friday and honestly? Do you think he would want to spend the night with you? You look like something the Sunset Strip threw up.” I said as I slammed the money on the counter. “And for your information, the only time he would want to pick you up, would be if he was going to put you on your knees,” I said as I grabbed Jax’s hand ignoring the butterflies and walking out the door.

“What happened?” Donna and Ope questioned as I smiled.

“I just did my usual.” Jax took a seat on his bike as I spoke.

“Which is?” Opie questioned as I threw my leg over the Jax’s bike and slipped on my helmet.

“Put a skank in her place.” Donna and Opie grinned as they climbed onto Opie’s bike.

“So, where too?” Jax questioned as Opie looked back at Donna before over at us. I smiled as I looked over at my best friends as I began to vison us back as teenagers on a summer day.

“I want to go for a ride. A ride with no destination, no worries, and no club drama.” Jax smiled as did Opie. “So, what do you say?”

“I’m in,” Jax said as we looked over at Opie.

“I’m in,” Opie said as we looked over at Donna who looked hesitant.

“So, what do you say Donna?” I questioned with a smile. Donna hesitated for a moment before nodding her head.

“I’m in,” Donna said as we all smiled and laughed as the boys started up their bikes and took off down the road.