#im partially joking but i’m also dead serious

[bettysupremacy]

Let me rant please;

I think this is unpopular but I literally love carol and Tommy, please let me explain.

Also please don’t attack me I am just a girl and I will cry. These are my opinions.

The duo= Tommy and Carol

They’re friends with Steve and everything is fine. Steve’s happy, the duos happy. I mean they literally share food in the cafeteria. That’s so adorable. They must have been friends for a good while. Then Nancy comes in. Nancy with her good grades, Nancy with the (sorry) definitely superiority complex, who never talks ill of someone, I’d be a little annoyed too. Who are you to come into my friend group and start calling us cliche ? girl I’m about to fight u.

They literally shit talk like normal teenagers I promise the world will be fine even though they talk behind peoples backs. At least it’s not to their face? idk LMFAO. A little gossip is healthy. Also Steve always seems to think what they say is funny until Nancy ruins it😒 (that was a joke please don’t hurt me)

Also it wasn’t tommy and carol who peer pressured their best friend into shotgunning a beer.. just saying.

I think everyone also started to think they were mean kids ( I mean kinda ) when they broke J’s shit, but they were so valid to do that. Like yeah they could’ve gone about it better, definitely less property destruction, but they’re 16 and they just found out (what they think is a) perv (sorry Jonathan) took photos of them partially undressed, and they just broke his camera. I’d have ruined his life!😭 if you took photos of me about to have sex with my boyfriend from my window I literally would have made sure you never got into a college, and I’m dead serious.

“I was looking for my brother” tell that to the police babe.

Also the thing about Steve getting upset with Nancy because she told the police or whatever. He doesn’t know the gravity of Barb missing like we the viewers or Nancy do. He’s a teenage boy with an abusive father who doesn’t want to get in trouble if the father finds out about him having friends over. No, he should not have told that to Nancy, but also he was valid in his feelings when he was scared for his dad to find out.

ALSO STEVE APOLOGIZING TO NANCY IM GONNA BE MANIC. “I panicked, I mean I was a total dick.” “Yeah, you were.” WHAT??????????😭 Steve may have panicked and broken the kids camera, yeah he should maybe think about apologizing for that (even though he really doesn’t need to because the kid used the camera to take photos of him naked), but he was NOT a dick for standing up for himself I’m gonna freak out. And Nancy not accepting his apology like she’s a saint in this situation? girl go to hell omfg.

And Nancy KNOWS what Jonathan did was wrong because she calls him out in the woods, oh lord.

I know someone’s gonna hate hearing me say it, but even though what Nancy did definitely was not cheating, it was most certainly disrespectful to Steve. Like here’s this boy that she knows he hates, here’s this boy that she knows definitely has some feelings for her (because he took photos of her naked while she was unaware?) and Steve comes over to apologize to his girlfriend (when he really has nothing to apologize for; besides the camera) and she blatantly lies to his face about where she’s gonna be! Like ok yeah she definitely couldn’t have told him she was going “monster hunting”, but she’s hiding the fact that she’s going to be with someone she knows her boyfriend doesn’t want her hanging around. 😭 I love Nancy tho, don’t come for season 3 or 4 Nancy I’m serious.

Another thing is when Steve and Jonathan got into that fight or whatever, they were being good friends to him ?!? honestly if I got into a fight like Steve, my best friend would have been shouting for me to kick his ass too, maybe even getting in because she can fight and I cannot, but that’s not the point. And when the cops came, they helped Steve escape. It’s just they had a poor choice of words at the gas station, but honestly their words were valid. And Tommy was a good boyfriend for defending Carol. Like, we as the viewers know Nancy didn’t cheat, and was deeply traumatized to be alone that night, but they don’t! They divulged in his delusions, let him drive to her house to check in on her, he caught her “cheating”, honestly the shit that I would have said if my bff’s boyfriend cheated on her? Hell no. Sign him up for the military, pop his tires, put mashed potato mix in his lawn before it rains, I would’ve done worse than the movie sign. But Steve cleans the sign cause he’s sweet and has better morals than me.

Honestly Steve is just plain better than me for saving J and Nancy cos if u had “cheated” on me and now intergalactic monsters r after u? have fun!!!<3 I am NOT saving your ass! And if he had listened to the duo, his heart wouldn’t have been broken 3 episodes later in season 2

In conclusion! Tommy and Carol weren’t assholes, they were teenagers, and that doesn’t make Nancy and Steve saints for seeing sense and growing up quicker. That also doesn’t make Steve and Nancy villains. None of these teens should be villainfied (is that a word ?) for being the way they are, because they’re teenagers who still have to grow and mature and some just do it quicker than others. Please stop attacking my best friends tommy and carol. They were just ride or die frl. This show is easily my favorite for the way they portray teens. It’s so incredibly accurate it hurts.

Nancy and Steve aren’t the villains but they could easily be painted to be. Tommy and carol aren’t the villains, but they could easily be painted to be. It’s point of view, which everyone has, and by that definition everyone is a little in the wrong, but that doesn’t make them world class villains and the others heroes. You’re literally the hero of your own story. I’m getting heated now I’m gonna post this ♡

Also I didn’t like barb don’t shoot me.

[hayscodings]

i feel so bad for laura because she’s the one michelle character surrounded by people with full sticks up their asses like ok so she betrayed all her friends 72 years ago, so what?? when sabrina learned that lilith had been manipulating her towards the path of night for like a year she immediately ended up teaming up with her against lucifer and then allowed her to crown herself queen of hell. when missy created a whole army of cybermen made out of every dead man, woman, and child on planet earth so she could give it to the doctor as a birthday present he ran over to her and kissed her on the lips for inadvertently solving his identity crisis five seconds later. when cassie realized miranda wasn’t actually after her she teamed up with her on the spot and tried to get her immunity for her crimes despite knowing full well that she was an assassin. but laura made one mistake in 1949 and she’s been persecuted for it by her ex bff ever since??? lame

[gg-astrology]

Hello! You're doing such a great job with the sun-moon post!! If you have the time, can you talk about Taurus Ascendant - Saturn decan? I'm a whole ass Cap and Saturn dom and I realized that even my rising is at 29 degrees which is Taurus-Cap decan. I'm like the walking dead :p

Hey there!! 💗💗 Aaaah thank u so much!! ;; I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to this ask sdkfjnskjnkns but I’m finally here! 💗

[Below Cut:  Taurus Ascendant -  Different Decans 😇 ] 

Taurus ASC -Taurus/Venus decan (0′-9′):   

They Are Beautiful But Do They Know :(((

Do They Know How Pretty And Charming They Are????

Youthfulness and Innocence like

Even when you’re NOT like that (bc u are Wise) you make others want to be Near you or With you or Around you

Attract People to you without realizing, you are the Prettiest Flower and People jus wanna Bzz Bzz be near you

Already....Taurus ASC are cynical of this description bc they put themselves down/trust their senses. Yet they fail to realize that they are oblivious/dense motherfuckers who tend to ignore feelings/awareness anyways.

Pretty eye smiles especially when you laugh?? Or jus doing nothing at all?? You have a little flick at the end of your eye like a fold that just

Endears people to you oooof

When you beam/laugh other people’s heart Will Burst 💞💞💞💞 

You are so chill with most things, but when you have likes-dislikes, they are Very Strongly Opinionated On It. 

Never,,,, want to lose. If you Set your goals on a Battle you Will Win It 

Literally, sometimes u are so petty did you realize?? It’s not about whether you’re right or wrong it’s a matter of Principality That You Win Bc You Put in Effort to Win This. 

Will Physically Stop people from Fighting but WOW when YOU start fighting....

Luckily you TRY not to fight people so much, even tho sometimes you can be bratty and playful 

Your voice like wind-chimes but we’re not gonna talk about that bc you don’t believe any of my good complimentary descriptions of u and im not wasting them on u anymore :((((

They are Authentic and if they commit, they Commit Fully. 

Will Remember the Smallest Stuff about Others (Good Memory) Bec You’re Secretly Romantic (Hopelessly so) and You’re Needy 

It makes you Satisfied (emotionally) to see people happy and content and fulfilled??? 

If your little effort and bring that much joy/happiness to others then you Will Do It 

Can possibly be partially shy and timid too ok ;;

But Will Get Competitive About Compliments/Being Nice to People  

Taurus ASC - Virgo/Mercury decan (10′-19′): 

Once again, they Will Remember You 

Good Memory to the point where it becomes like-- both sharp and scary

In this case (Taurus/Virgo) it’s more ominous… They Will Remember Your Face. 

Remember That. 

Don’t test them. 

They Will Remember.

They Know.

💀🔪💀🔪💀🔪💀🔪💀🔪💀🔪💀🔪

Jokes aside, yeah no they Do have good memories no lie

Will remember embarrassing things about others from 8 years ago and mention it at a festive gathering

‘Hey remember when you embarrassed yourself but it was so endearingly cute to me I jus want you to know that’

Tradition Upholder, Wants to Compliment people but also like??? Please?? Consider my Feelings????

A GIVER

And by that I mean they will give you advice and nurture/care even when you Don’t Want It

They jus... Want to Show you Their love/support y know??

Please accept 💀🔪 because they’re quite stiff/awkward sometimes as well skdnkn

If you’re suffering from a hangover, mayhaps they will help you (take care of you) 

Or they may just come lie on your bed and watch you suffer and crack jokes LMAO 

Has Wisdom to Embark Upon You Always?? Cares about you and notice when you’re uncomfortable with something??

Will Shut That Shit Down Quick (Subtlety) because they Know you’re uncomfortable 

One of Your Best Writer/Speaker Friend Honestly,, if they aren’t shy/timid enough to show you their works 💀

They Will Weave Things Together that are Just Magical

So Natural…. If you Stink They Will Not Touch You

Sensitive,,, like Actually More sensitive than you realize

They might not Always show it but they are :((( Inside they are,,, softer than this

They jus have this Front,,, of being dependable and serene and a lil idk awkward ig

Take care of you through words….or like, secretly

Mayhaps they are the Best Shoulders To Cry On

(Don’t leave snot on them tho)

Your Environment is important like

No Sweat 🚫🚫🚫🚫 No Snot 🚫🚫🚫 No fluids on you at all times!! 🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫

Has to be the nicest smelling person in the room otherwise They Will Die

Also!! Mayhaps they prefer to be Clean and Natural. 

Organically Grown Taurus ASC 💀

Taurus-Capricorn/Saturn decan (20′-29′):

Best Pep Talk You’ll Ever Get

Will Get You Into Gear Without being Mean About It

They May be Blunt but They Mean Well

Is your Strength….if you Can’t Hold yourself Up

Imagine your Dad But Better

Or maybe your Coach??

Either way

They Will Always Be There For you

They Will Protect you

And They will Get You Your Enemy’s Head (jk jk)

Doesn’t Like People Telling Them What To Do/What To Change Though

They Like Their Autonomy and Will Fight You!!!! 

Imagine Aquarius But Less…. Them.

Aquarius Are Capricorn Side-Reels Anyways 💀💀💀

Basically….They Will Want To Be Free Sometimes

Gotta Let Them Have Their Own Independence

They Will Probably Volunteer To Help With Children/Elderly/Pets tbh

(Is Actually Kinda Wonky)

Your Funny Friend

But Also Serious >:(((( Friend

Will Ask you how your life is going, how you’re doing

Deep Talks Instigator

Doesn’t know sometimes,,,, how to Not Care

They Will Always Look Out for you and Sometimes

Stress out About You (lmao)

Taurus/Capricorn cares about people so much they Burden themselves with Other people’s problems

And then others are like ‘ok go lie down ure an Elder now’ and they will Role Play that Role

Honestly,,,, so fast at role-playing???

Idk what is up with that but ok

Quick Wit like,,,, if you start a break up scene with them they Will Continue

Don’t worry they May Seem Serious but They’re Also Not Serious

Funsies people

Sometimes,, they Will Snark in Public but is So Sneaky No One Catches it

If you see the Gold Mine in That you are Lucky and they’ll Trust you

It’s a bond of camaraderie

And they appreciate you liking their humour 

I Hope this is good!! ;; 💗 I’m kinda wonky on pain meds BUT this was fun to do!! 💗💗 I hope it’s helpful to you!! 💗

[philipthegirlnickel]

Secret Santa

For @anarchycox. I don’t know what this turned into, but I hope it’s at least half what you wanted. (I’m also super good with titles as you can tell.)

Prompt: shopping

Daisy slips through the door Coulson’s holding open, hands buried deep in her pockets, and shakes off the snow. “So, who’d you get?”

Stomping the excess buildup on his shoes, Coulson trudges forward. “I’m not telling you. It’s called a ‘secret’ santa for a reason.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be lying low?”

“Talbot isn’t happy with us, but we aren’t on house arrest. And this place is practically dead. We can’t possibly get into any trouble here.”

Daisy nods along, eyeing each empty store front as they lazily walk pass them. She agreed though, they’d be hard pressed to find themselves in any kind of trouble here. “So, what are we looking for?”

Shrugging, the corners of his mouth pulling down to a frown. “I don’t know yet.”

“You really think you’re going to find something for her in a dying mall?”

Stopping, Coulson stares, eyes narrowed, wheels turning. And Daisy curses herself a little for that slip, she’d been doing so well.

“Daisy.”

It’s the tone that tells her she’s f-ed up, that he’s on to her. She shakes herself out of it. No, it was one slip. He couldn’t know anything from that, and this plan had been in motion too long for it to go bad now. “Half the people in it are female. It was a 50/50 chance. Besides, you’re not likely to find anything for anyone here.”

He half shrugs in agreement, starting forward again, and Daisy relaxes her shoulders following behind.

They nearly make it to the far side before there’s any sign of life, and Daisy huffs in annoyance. This place is a waste of time, and she’s got other people to harass today. “Can we at least lay low somewhere we might actually find something? Half this place is closed.

Coulson turns without a word, starting the trek back to Lola. “You’re right, we’re never gonna find anything here.”

The drive to their next location is quiet, Daisy fiddling on her phone, but he’s not willing to ask what she doing that has that look of concentration on her face. Pulling in, he manages to find the furthest parking space from the door, but it’s the only one he’s seen in the 15 minutes he’s been crawling around the lot.

Daisy shoves her phone into her back pocket as she gets out, hands digging into her pockets. “This is going to be fun.”

The way she smiles puts him off ease.

The mall is packed, full to the brim. They walk shoulder to shoulder, people running into either side of them. Coulson isn’t much happier with this pick, this crowd, but he can’t ask for much better on the 23rd. Every store is open, hustling and bustling, and there’s at least a chance here. Not much of one, but enough.

—

“What about this?” Daisy asks, holding the offending item up in the palm of her hand, the other waving slowly back and forth modeling it.

He’ll admit, only to himself, if he had a garden, he’d buy the little sculpture. He’s partial to the large eyes, and springy neck, and the way the wings bounce when she gives it a shake. It’s not a bad little bird, but it isn’t right either, not the kind of thing he’s looking for.

His face scrunches, head pulled back. “Just who do you think I have?”

The smile falls from her face at the question, and he watches, amused, as she schools her features into one of innocence, shrugging. “I don’t know. Simmons?”

“This is unhelpful,” he says taking the weird bird statue from her, and setting it back on the shelf.

“Fine. I’m just gonna start grabbing anything I find interesting. You can yea or nay from there.”

As they leave, he gives the bird one last look. He should come back for it later, on day he might have a garden.

Daisy pulls him into the next store before he’s paying attention, and shoves a box into his hands while he’s still processing.

“What is it?”

“It’s an at home foot spa.”

“Are we going to do this at every stop?”

“Come on. We could have a girls night. Pedicures and rom-coms.”

He eyes her skeptically. “Put it back.”

She huffs taking it back from him, stalking off.

—

The other gifts she brings him aren’t much better, and also centered around the team instead of one person. It’s frustrating, half feels like she’s doing it on purpose, half like she’s genuinely trying to help. And now they’ve ending up in a toy store.

He toys with display legos, trying to put it together without the instructions while she wanders up and down the aisles. He’s half done when he catches her in his peripheral, and drops what he’s doing. “You’re supposed to leave those in the box.”

“You’re supposed to, but some kid already liberated this one, so…” She lowers the large Nerf gun, and pulls the trigger. The foam projectile hits him in the chest, bouncing off, and his eyes follow it down to the floor before finding her again, uninterested.

Raising the gun, she pretends to blow smoke from the barrel, then rests it against her shoulder, quite pleased with herself. “We should get one of these for everyone. Christmas Nerf war.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on, Coulson. It’ll be fun. Everyone starts off in a different corner of the base. One gun, and a clip of ammo. Except May. No gun for her. Don’t want to lose in the first five minutes.”

There’s a bark of laughter, and he claps his hands together. “You think it would take five minutes?”

She pulls a foam knife from her pocket, and tosses it to him. “Exactly. She can have one of these. Last man standing wins. Kind of like a Shield Hunger Games. The Spy Games. No, I don’t like that. The–”

“Not what we’re here for.”

“Then what are we here for? You won’t tell me who you have or what you’re looking for. I don’t know how I can help.”

“Let’s just call it a day.”

“But you still don’t have anything, and Christmas is tomorrow.”

“I’ll think of something. Don’t worry about it. What about you? You get your gift yet?’

“Pfft, I’ve had it for weeks. I saw it, and was like ‘I have to have it.’”

“Good. Let’s get out of here. Some of us still have actual work to do.”

Passing by the Commons, Daisy changes direction. Simmons follows her in, but she ignores her for the time being. Target acquired, she pulls a chair out, sitting with a weary huff. “So, who’d you get?”

She waits for May’s answer, but she only continues to sip her tea. “What are you gonna get hi-im?” She catches herself halfway through the word, but it finishes itself anyway, despite her wishes. And the way May tilts her head tells Daisy that’s strike two. She really needs to think before she speaks. They’re so close. “What? Half the people in it are dudes. 50/50 shot.”

May’s apparently unconvinced because her brow raises, and Daisy pushes back in her seat. “I didn’t do anything. Geez, you people, so accusing.”

Simmons reaches for a cup, turning just enough to see May’s back, and Daisy dejectedly leaving. “I wouldn’t worry about it, she’s been asking the rest of us ours also.”

May shrugs, taking another sip. There’s moment of silence when she thinks she’ll be able to finish her tea in peace – Simmons can be a talker, but generally leaves her be – but Daisy hops back through the doorway, humming. And again she plops down in front of May.

“Let’s go to the mall…”

Furrowing her brow, May lowers the mug, holding it between both hands, and Daisy rushes an explanation before she even asks for it.

“It’s that song, you know? ‘Let’s go to the mall,’ by that Canadian singer, Robin–” With no change in expression, Daisy stops herself from going on. “You know what, never mind. It doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen you leave the base in, like, weeks. So, I’m sure you could use a shopping buddy to find that secret santa gift you need.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“What? Really?” Daisy melts into the table, bummed. “Aww, man. I was looking forward to going with you. I went with Coulson, and let me tell you, that was an experience.”

He comes through the door as she finishes, and shakes his head. “It was an experience because you made it one. You weren’t helpful at all.”

She sits back up, hand hitting the table in emphasis. “Lies. Moral support, and you just want all the credit.”

Grabbing a mug, he fills it to the top. He takes a sip from his coffee, and shrugs off her accusation before taking a sit across from her. “Well, it’s my gift, so…”

Simmons gaze jumps between the pair and Daisy, her expression tight. “Excuse us for a moment.” Weaving around the table, she grabs Daisy by the elbow, and practically yanks her from her chair, tugging her down the hall.

Coulson blows on the hot liquid, but sets it down without a drink. “You know what she’s doing right?”

“I have a vague idea.”

“Good. Good,” he says, picking at the handle of his cup. He’s just as curious as the others, just as nosy as they are, but is better trained in his approach. He taps his fingers along the smooth porcelain. “As long as everyone’s on the same page. So, what route did you go, serious or joke?”

She stands, ignoring his question, and puts her cup in the sink. She leaves without a look back.

—

“You have to stop, you’re going to blow that whole thing.”

Daisy raises a hand to stop her. “Jemma, stop. It’s fine. I’m a trained super spy. I can handle this.”

Pushing Daisy further down the hall, hearing someone leave from behind them, she lowered her voice. “I don’t think that counts. You were trained by them, they know everything, all your moves.”

“Pfft, not all of them, and I can be subtle.”

“You were about as subtle as a fright train back there.”

“Yeah, cause pulling me out of the room like that wasn’t suspicious.”

“Still far less suspicious than you.”

Daisy pauses, head nodding side to side. “All right. All right, I get it. I’ll tone it down.”

“Thank you. It’s just until tomorrow. Then you can spaz out all you want.”

“How are we doing this? Everybody at the same time? One person at a time? What?”

“Let’s do one at a time, that way everybody can see what you got.”

“Oldest to youngest.”

As the rest nod in agreement, Coulson grumbles, standing. Picking though the boxes under their small tree, he searches for the one that is his. After a few minutes of fruitless patting, and no help, he finds a small box in the back corner behind the tree. It’s wrapped in silver and blue, a tiny bow on top. There still isn’t a name on it, but he’s certain it’s his.

Sitting back in his seat, he grabs the corner and rips. The paper pulls away with ease. He expected something…more considering who it was from. A layer of duck tape or the real gift wrapped in multiple boxes, but there’s nothing to indicate that it’s from her.

The paper tears away easily, and his face reflects off the polished protective case. A warmth spreads across his chest. The cards within look fantastic, perfect even. No stretches, no tears, no battered edges. How she’d managed this on such short notice–

Slack-jawed, he repositions to face her as he shuffles through the deck once, seeing what’s there. As he gets to the bottom of the pile, he finds the card of Cap saluting signed by none other than Steve Rogers. All of them are there though, she’d even managed the tricky one he could never find.

She’s smiling when he finally looks up, a bright, blinding smile, eyes crinkled in the corners. “Merry Christmas.”

“Where’d you get these?” he asks, again shuffling through the plastic encased cards.

“I’ve been collecting what I could since Fury told me you where alive.”

He looks up then, grin faltering. That had never occurred to him. That she would even try to replace what he’d lost that day, not all of it, but a small part. He should have, because she does what she can how ever she can, but it’s been years since then. “Oh, I…”

“They weren’t with your things after–” May pauses, pulling herself back slightly. Her eyes shift down and away from him for a moment, lost in a memory he hasn’t heard, doesn’t have the heart to ask about, before finding him again. “I salvaged what I could from your deck when I found it, replaced the rest.”

The room is heavy, the eyes of their team glued squarely on them. He’d change it if he could, make this a private moment, knows how she hates being so scrutinized. How she prefers to stay in the shadows, even with them, and he wants to say something, crack a joke to relieve the tension, but there’s nothing. No way to break this fog. He wishes he could, it was a hard time for her, and being watched remembering isn’t an easy thing. But before he can do anything she clears her throat, and starts again. “Stark was less than pleased. Said something about a long talk after catching up on Super Nanny.”

She cocks an eyebrow at that, the corner of her mouth tugged up, a quip at his expense running through her head, he’s sure. But he can only shrug in response. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.” That smirk returns to a full-blown smile, and he feels himself deflate a little as the room seems to open up.

He’s reminded of the eyes on them as someone chokes out a small cough, and he almost feels the need to squirm in his seat at the attention, feels like an object on display rather than person opening a present. “Uh, I think you’re next.”

May’s unbothered by the younglings impatient noises to carry on, and her gaze lingers on the curve of his smile a moment longer than necessary before she stands. There’s an envelope in the branches, her name written neatly on the front, in a handwriting she is intimately familiar with, a red ribbon tied around the corner. Ah, Daisy, not half as sly as she thought.

Plucking the gift from it’s spot, she sits back next to Phil, closer than before, knees barely touching, and Daisy’s legs bounce in excitement like she already knows what’s going to happen. May shakes her head at the girl enthusiasm. Ripping along the top, she pulls out a thick piece of paper, and stares at it, reading the information.

And it’s the reaction he’d half been hoping for, that mouth open, floundering for words kind of thing. That kind of shock is a rare thing to see on her, and he wishes he’d thought ahead and brought a camera to capture the moment.

She looks to him, brow furrowing in slight confusion. “This is for the day after tomorrow.”

“I figured the sooner it was the less time you had to try and escape. There’s more also,” he says reaching out for it. Put the paper between his fingers, he rubs until the one piece becomes two.

“Two? Just assumed I’d invite you along.”

“Well, hoped. I mean, you can take whoever, it doesn’t have to be me. I just thought…you know…”

She looks at her gift again, and smiles, a grin full of mischief. “Talbot isn’t going to be happy about this.”

Coulson leans back into the couch, one arm searched along the back. “He never has to know.”

May scoffs at the ridiculousness of his statement. “You think our names aren’t going to be flagged for an international flight?”

Daisy’s head travels back and forth during the exchange, but stops at that. “Wait, what’d you get?”

“We could use false names. Break out Charles and Heidi again.”

“Phil…”

Her shoulders fall at that idea, and he keeps talking, eventually something brilliant will come out his mouth, only a matter of time. “Or I could talk to Stark, get back into his good graces. He’d let us borrow a plane. Or, at least, Pepper will.”

“What’d you get?” Daisy pipes in again, scooting closer to the edge of her seat.

“Tickets.”

“For?” She exaggerates the word for emphasis.

“Things.”

“Oh my g–” She throws her hands, letting them hit her legs. “It’s like pulling teeth.”

Mack nudges her, pushing her into Simmons. “Come on, Daisy, she doesn’t have to tell you.”

“Isn’t that the point of opening them together, to see what everyone got?” No one answers, but she doesn’t need their support to continue forward. “All right, better question: where are you going?”

“Australia,” May finally acknowledges, her fingers running reverently along the front of the tickets.

Coulson perks back up at the answer, jumping in. “There’s this little cabin in the outback. Gonna take a few days.”

Daisy frowns. They had just gone out yesterday because he hadn’t had a gift, but this trip sounded far from last minute. “How long have you had this?”

He looks away, pretending to think. “When did we draw names?”

“What the hell, Coulson? Why did we even go out?”

“Because you were insistent, and it’s hard to say no when you do that thing with your face.”

“What thing?”

“That sad, puppy-dog thing.”

“I don’t do a puppy-dog thing.”

“Oh! Oh, I know the look. Looks something like this,” Simmons says, pulling her brows together and up, eyes sad, lips pouting.

Daisy shakes her head at the imitation, unamused. “I don’t do that.”

“You do.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve all seen it.”

“Traitors.” She glares at the team.

“Speaking of traitors and riggings.”

Jemma fidgets in her seat as Daisy blows the statement off. “No one was talking about rigging anything.”

“Who wants to tell me how she set this up?”

Daisy hold her hands up in surrender, as if it’d help her case. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t set anything up. I was just helping. It’s your first Christmas together – and just because you won’t say anything doesn’t mean we don’t know – you guys couldn’t not get each other.”

“I pulled May’s name first, she peeked over my shoulder, stole the paper, and told me to draw again.”

“Jemma!”

“What?”

“Oh my god, you agreed it was a good idea.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Daisy gasps in mock shock. “Lies. It was all her idea. I had nothing to do with it until after it had already been put into place.”

“Now who’s lying?”

Coulson leans forward, waving the five of them off, that ‘slight-disappointed-father-look’ in his eyes. “It doesn’t matter who’s idea it was. We all agreed to secret santa, you should have just let it happen the way it was going to happen. Though I do appreciate the thought. But, we are far too old for this to be our first Christmas together–”

“Speak for yourself.”

He roll his eyes. “Okay. I’m far too old for this to be our first Christmas together–”

“Oh my god, you know what I mean. Seriously, everybody already knows you’re together, just kiss already.” She crosses her arms, mumbling to herself as she rolls her eyes at their behavior. “Ridiculous. Acting like children.”

Sharing a silent look, May and Coulson stand, and approach their young team. Pulling Daisy into a hug as thanks, Coulson waves the others to join in.

It’s more contact than May will want, but while is lasts, it’s nice, warm. The kind of contact Daisy longs for some days, and better than most of the gifts she’s gotten in her life. It ends sooner than she wants it to. And as she clears her throat, blinks back the haziness of her eyes, and straightens her sweater, she spots them quietly trying to escape the common area. “Wait. Where are you going? We aren’t done.”

“You can show us later. After all, this is our first Christmas together, you think we want to spend it with our kids?”

Daisy smirks, shifting her weight to her back leg, and crosses her arms. “You know where you’re standing, right?”

Looking up, Daisy, all of them, can hear May groan from several feet away. “Come on, it’s traditions. You have to kiss under the mistletoe or it’s bad luck.”

“I don’t think that’s part of it.”

“It is, shut up.” She waves Fitz off as the senior agents look up again, then gaze at each other, and she thinks it’s really going to happen this time. May takes a hold of Coulson’s upper arms, pulling herself to her tiptoes. Their movements are slow as they lean in, eyes closed. Daisy almost has to stop herself from giddily clapping, but at the last second her hopes are dashed. May shifts, pulls to the side, and pecks his cheek instead.

“I don’t give shows,” she remarks turning, and heading down the hall, leaving Coulson to grin dopily at them.

Daisy holds her body stiffly. “What was that?!”

“You heard the lady, no shows. Have fun. Don’t break anything.”

Groaning, Daisy turns on the ball of her foot, and punches at the air. “So close.” She shrugs then, plopping back down. “There’s always next year.”

As she brings her gift to her lap, Mack leans forward onto his knees, hands clasped in front of him, a look of concentration on his face. “Did they just call us their kids?”

“They did,” Simmons answer, neatly untying the ribbons around her present.

“Yeah, you’ll get use to it.”

[comicteaparty]

January 24th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on January 24th, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Pike’s Reach by Mabs.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Pike’s Reach by Mabs~! (https://tapas.io/series/pikesreach)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Superjustinbros

Hello!!

RebelVampire

hey super~!

my favorite scene is probably the fight with ezo and nefayn. largely because of https://tapas.io/episode/1179545 this page. i really just like the first few panels illustration wise cause even though theyre simplistic, i kind of feel like they convey this ominous sense of defeaning silence that is appropriate for conveying tension right after something climatic happens

Superjustinbros

https://tapas.io/episode/1234181

RebelVampire

yes there is also that scene. XD which was some good comic relief considering the comic was being very dramatic at the time.

also a good lesson about making sure someone gives permission

instead of just knocking and opening the door

Superjustinbros

yes

Because naked people

RebelVampire

another comical scene i enjoyed was the where they were showing off their drawings of pella's uncle. https://tapas.io/episode/962506 because man are those some not great drawings. especially that left one scares me

Superjustinbros

Oh my god

RebelVampire

another moment i liked, which isnt a scene but more a scene transition you could say, is when the comic switches from adelaide goofing around and then suddenly the warning bell rings.

https://tapas.io/episode/604008

in particular that page

i really love the shots and especially the ominous overtone the first panel has

cause it really helps visually convey the serious has come

Superjustinbros

I love the art style and general color scheme, lots of pinks and purples

mathtans

Made it, though I may not be mentally all here, today's been crazy.

Superjustinbros

hey Math

mathtans

One of my faves was actually to start Chapter 3, when we looked at the "villains" and the main guy was talking about how he didn't want them dead, more turned to his side. I liked the humanizing aspect of the antagonists.

Superjustinbros

Same

mathtans

Too often we just see things kind of one sided. This didn't go that way.

Superjustinbros

Villains that do more than just want the main character(s) dead are always good

mathtans

As far as comedy goes, I liked the brief scene where Adelaide "winked"... maybe... because she could have been blinking and her hair was in the way.

Though I also liked the "cold feet" bit where Nefayn was laughing and Nassar didn't know. In particular it was sort of called back later when he was thrilled that she liked his jokes.

RebelVampire

yeah i really enjoyed that moment with the antagonists. also partially cause i like it being explained why they dont just crush the army cause adelaide is already being silly meeting them on an open field and not using the fort's defenses as was intended

mathtans

Little one's fussing.(edited)

Superjustinbros

Rebel gets it

RebelVampire

but yeah i liked this humanizing affect too of course. because conflicts of territory are rarely straight forward evil guy wants to rule over all the things

Superjustinbros

^

RebelVampire

that and selfishly i really wanted to like pella and that scene proved to me that it was okay to like him cause hes just a goofy sparkly dude just trying to unite the lands.

Superjustinbros

heehee~

Mabs

Hi there! I'm Mabs and the creator of Pike's Reach! I can't stay for too long because sudden school stuff came up, but I wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for reading PR! Your comments are making me really happy ;w;

Superjustinbros

Hi!!!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. Unfortunately for Nefayn, she is cursed twice over both in body and magic. Who do you think cursed her with the first seal and for what reason? Could the culprit be Ezo considering she and Pella seemed to know Nefayn? Why was said culprit pursuing her? In other words, what are their long-term goals in using her? How powerful do you think Nefayn was before the first seal came to be? Now that Nefayn is sealed twice over to be all but human, how will this affect her helpfulness in a battle? Do you believe that Nefayn will be able to undo the seals eventually and return herself to her original form and power? If so, how might this affect her growing relationship with Adelaide?

glad you could stop by, mabs~!

im torn on the culprit issue. on the one hand ezo seems likely cause from her characterization that seems like something shed do. but on the other hand their army is kind of near the end of their campaign since pike's reach is the last one standing and they dont want to murder hobo them. so idk why theyd need nefayn. i kind of like to think theres something bigger gonna show up and pella and adelaide are gonna join forces to defeat it. and that whatever the it is is what's after nefayn. but that could be wishful thinking cause i always cheer for antagonist protagonist team ups when both are basically good dudes with different goals

mathtans

(I swear, my life after 8pm is running back and forth to my little daughter's room.)

RebelVampire

as for goals, maybe using her as a magic conduit. cause thats the only thing i can think of.

mathtans

I get what you were saying about the climactic magic fight scene earlier btw. Just I've never been huge on drama, you know me. ^.^

Superjustinbros

perhaps

also lol math

mathtans

Oh, hi Mabs! I ship everyone!

Superjustinbros

lol

Mabs

Hi there! Yes good, please ship all the characters.

Superjustinbros

Will do~

especially this page https://tapas.io/episode/1221349

mathtans

I wonder if Nefayn was originally that uncle that the General was talking about. Except that would destroy the best ship, so I'm not sure I like that possiblity.

RebelVampire

if were shipping all the ships i now accept https://tapas.io/episode/1077847 this page as canon

mathtans

Yeah, I don't know that it's Ezo. There was also that scene where Nefayn said she thought the big Pike's room seemed familiar, so I feel like she was a citizen of the place somehow.

A teamup would be pretty cool between the two groups. Maybe the West has been getting more organized than they realize, there was some mention of the latest attack being more of a ruse.

Hah. That was a funny one.

Part of me actually ships Ezo and Nefayn, in that sort of 'mortal enemies become friends' kind of deal. So I guess Adelaide ends up with the General's second in command? This was probably heresy to propose.

RebelVampire

idk. shooting someone in the chest seems like a romance deal breaker there XD

Superjustinbros

all ships set sail here

mathtans

It was an arrow of love and respect. Deep down. After all, it didn't kill her.

RebelVampire

but yeah the west could certainly become a threat. or even just one person in the west. like maybe one nation got themselves some guns and are bringing their guns to all the sword fights

mathtans

("It was worse than death, I was made human.")

RebelVampire

LOL

mathtans

As long as they don't bring the gunpowder, it's fine.

RebelVampire

Ezo wanted to make Nefayn human cause she too supports the adelaide/nefayn ship

it was the plan all along

mathtans

Actually, it's not a bad plan. Good way to make the enemy commander very distracted.

RebelVampire

and tbf it does probably take nefayn out of the battle a bit. cause being human has its mortal perils.

mathtans

Here's a possibly related question, who keeps sending the evil things to attack Adelaide? Which makes her sleep with a sword? I don't think it's the general, he seems honourable enough to keep his distance after losing, at least for a while. Maybe it's the same person who did the thing to Nefayn.

Flying is more of a problem for humans.

RebelVampire

i just assumed the magic things showed up of their own accord.

although

pella and ezo dont seem to be plagued by birds

so maybe someone is sending them

or adelaide is special and theyre super attracted to her

mathtans

Right.

Everyone's super attracted to the heroine.

RebelVampire

XD

this is an interesting line of thought

cause i definitey doubt it's pella

cause the impression i got is that this has plagued adelaide for much longer than pike's reach has been under siege

since the sword thing is usually the sign of a long term habit

mathtans

I wonder if maybe the charm that was mentioned as something to keep her safe is actually attracting all the problems. Though it'd need to be something fairies can't pick up on.

Superjustinbros

@mathtans must be one really sexy heroine

RebelVampire

these are some good catches math. i really didnt pay much mind to any of these mentions. that could be though. and tbf nefayn's powers were already partly sealed from the get go so i wouldnt be surprised if shes missing out on some magic things

mathtans

Thanks. ^^ I guess it just struck me as interesting that she's got the sleep issues, and no one else seemed to.

I was wondering if one of Nefayn's powers was to grow big.

RebelVampire

maybe. although i keep thinking its gonna wind up shes a goddess or something O_O

not a fairy sized goddess mind you cause she does mention that fairy form is not her original size

although to the stuff b4 that brings up an interesting point about how much can the magic world interact with the non-magic. cause obviously adelaide being able to see magic and stuff makes her able to interact with it. but how aware does a non magic person have to be before magic stuff can affect them

mathtans

Goddess of sparkles.

RebelVampire

like obviously the others cant see nefayn

but can nefayn like punch them

and theyll be like "oww what a random pain"

mathtans

Well, since magic mines could influence people, I imagine if you make the effect large enough, it'd register.

What if Nefayn caresses?

(I mean, kinda moot now, but still.)

RebelVampire

yeah the magic mines worked. cause if the magic can affect the non magic regardless of their ability to see it, it adds evidence to the idea those birds are super out to get adelaide specifically

QUESTION 3. Magic seems to be at the center of several other mysteries that are presented in the comic. What is Pike’s Reach’s past with magic regarding the mention of a catastrophe involving it? Is Pella onto something about everyone being Adelaide’s age? What might this have to do with the previous lord of Pike’s Reach and Adelaide becoming its lord? How might any of this relate to the fact that Nefayn appears to recall being at Pike’s Reach for a brief moment? There is also the issue of Pella’s missing uncle. What do you think happened to his uncle? How might Pella’s uncle be related to past or present events that occurred in Pike’s Reach? Lastly, will Pella ever discover the truth about his uncle?(edited)

Superjustinbros

That's a cool skill imo

mathtans

Oh yeah, my memory had kind of glossed over that whole catastrophe thing. And the age thing too. Hm, really good points. Maybe they don't physically age in Pike's? Like, they're actually 60, but have the bodies of people much younger?

Again, suspected the uncle might be Nefayn, but that sinks the ship.

Superjustinbros

lol

RebelVampire

if the uncle isnt adelaide's father i will be so surprised

mathtans

Oh! Maybe the uncle is the one who cursed Nefayn.

I wondered about that. If the seeing magic lineage was a direct ancestry. But it might make sense for the uncle to be the one attacking Adelaide too.

RebelVampire

https://tapas.io/episode/970094

like legit look at that family resemblence

https://tapas.io/episode/822837 and pella and adelaide have the same eye color too

and theres no reason it cant be both

adelaide's father and the real antagonist

mathtans

Valid arguments. Maybe it's a red herring though. (Or a red pike! Hah!)

RebelVampire

id even peg him for the causer of this supposed catastrophe. not on purpose. but he vanished and hes after nefayn to try and fix his mistakes.

mathtans

Or maybe he's dead, and he left behind the ultimate weapon to use in case of dire magic circumstances, down in the catacombs.

Or maybe he's undead. He's a necromancer.

Superjustinbros

Could be that now that you mention it

mathtans

As Nassar would say, a very grave matter.

RebelVampire

the charm is the key and thats why the birds are after adelaide. they want that ultimate weapon

birds love ultimate weapons

alternatively he couldve been the one to stop the catastrophe from becoming worse too

mathtans

Adelaide's love is the ultimate weapon.

RebelVampire

cause the fact the catastrophe only took out the elderly or so is implied makes that a very targetted attack. and him being the savior makes sense for why everyone made adelaide the lord.

mathtans

Ah, right, I guess I was still on the "elderly look young" track not the "elderly died" track.

Maybe they were all turned into fairies instead.

Maybe the uncle was turned into a pike.

RebelVampire

or everyone was

theyre all pikes

in the nearby lake

the place was previously called nefayn's love nest, but they renamed it to pike's reach cause theyre always trying to reach those pike

mathtans

spit-take

Lovely vacation spot it is either way.

Mabs

You all are absolutely hilarious and I have really been enjoying reading this. Thank you so much for reading so thoroughly gosh. I have to go to a school thing but I'll be sure to check back later and read the logs! Thanks again

RebelVampire

np and good luck with school~!

Superjustinbros

Cya, Mabs!

And good luck from me as well~

mathtans

Thank you for the creation! Hope school goes well.

Mabs

Thanks again! Bye all~ Good luck with the rest of your discussion

Superjustinbros

Bye!

RebelVampire

ya know, since nefayn doesnt quite remember pike's reach outside of haziness, i wonder if theres some magical third seal that was meant to hide her own memories. a third seal set up by certain uncles.

mathtans

Speaking of school, if there's no older adults, who runs public institutions?

Maybe she set the third seal herself. Nefayn was the cause of the magical catastrophe, doesn't want to remember it.

Everyone fighting about the love nest.

RebelVampire

idk. hard to say without an exact timeline. also without exact knowledge of their system of governance. like for example, education could just be an at home by parents thing. so no actual public institution for it. but i also dont know the cut off date. and maybe no all the old ppl are dead. more its just heavily skewed to one age group

mathtans

"We're in favour of same sex marriage." "Oh, well, we're leaving then." "You realize the founder of this place was gay?" "We're definitely leaving."

I liked Nassar's story, incidentally.

Some good zingers too. "Reel", heh.

RebelVampire

i really hope we get to see more of adelaide's group. cause i feel there isnt enough nassar yet. we need more puns

mathtans

Yis. Looked like we were getting some focus on Berlin towards the end.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. Despite the romance and good feels in Pike’s Reach, they are the last fortress standing against the Eastern hordes. Do you believe Pella is genuine about his desire to unite the east to make the country a better place? Why do you think Pike’s Reach is so ardent about not uniting with the rest of the eastern lands? As time drags on, do you think Pella will give into his advisors and stop going so soft on Pike’s Reach? Will Ezo being injured drive them to it potentially? Alternatively, do you think Pike’s Reach and the Eastern hordes might join forces and put their differences aside for some reason? All in all, who do you think will emerge victorious?

mathtans

Ezo's injury could do that (escalate things), since Pella seems to have that thing for her. Honestly, I don't quite see why he's so keen on the uniting to this extent... is it all ego? I mean, why not just be glad you've got 95% of the continent?

It might be interesting if they join forces though.

I hope love emerges victorious.

RebelVampire

i do think ezo's injury is gonna make pella made. at least enough to challenge adelaide to another duel. but then he might also be mad at ezo and be like wtf ezo we were retreating

i dont think its all ego

just more its kind of awkward to not have pike's reach not united with the rest

cause according to that map pike's reach is basically surrounded on all sides

by pella's united country

mathtans

They'll have to redraw all the maps if Pike's given in though.

What the PUC?

Superjustinbros

D:

mathtans

I feel like Ezo needs a friend even more than Adelaide. One who won't keep patting her on the head.

Maybe the injury will mellow her out, but I doubt it.

RebelVampire

i feel like ezo first needs to take a chill pill and stop going all life or death on everything

https://tapas.io/episode/850159 by this map id also assume pike's reach is a strategic advantage cause its closer to the west so if the west tries something its a good outpost to use to stave off an attack traveling in further eastward toward the capital

but all in all i think pella is genuine and really does want to make the country a better place.

mathtans

I can see that. It's a cool map too.

Superjustinbros

Yeah

Feels a lot like Europe/Russia/Asia merged into one

mathtans

"I will bring you love even if I have to smack you around."

RebelVampire

i actually dont know why pike's reach wouldnt want to unite with them to be honest. XD cause trade would be a nightmare at this point cause youd always have to try to skirt and sneak through the eastern horde lands. if the eastern hordes go to war with someone, land troops would be moved through pike's reach anyway. and to me it just seems pike's reach is more holding out for pride

but i guess tbf we dont know much about pella's country. maybe they eat babies and pike's reach has a strict no baby eating policy

mathtans

That's a fair point. Maybe there's something to the whole magic catastrophe, like they used to be a united continent and it went badly for them.

Jelly babies.

Incidentally, they seem to have all the major seasons, so don't live near an equator.

RebelVampire

i mean i guess it could just be an issue they dont want to be governed except by their own ppl or something. idk. i do feel the magic catastrophe has left some scares and suspicions. and ezo is proof pella isnt opposed to magic.

mathtans

Maybe, heritage and traditions or something. Ooh, maybe aliens will come and attack. That would unite everyone.

RebelVampire

this might be the wrong genre for that

maybe nefayn gets kidnapped

and they unite to save nefayn

cause love is the only thing that matters

mathtans

Could be. Oh, that's a thought, since she's vulnerable now and Adelaine owes her one or two.

Oh, and one nice bit I wanted to mention, the gag about her height.

RebelVampire

youll have to be more specific cause my mind is blanking on which specific gag youre referring to XD

although speaking of gags i liked the one where adelaide and nefayn were having the eating contest. except no one could see nefayn. XD

Superjustinbros

Alright, I'm gonna take my leave for now, thanks for the CTP and best of luck to Mabs on the story~

mathtans

(Sorry, little one again.)

The gag with Nefryn still being short... but being at an okay height. (Like, who isn't thinking that... )

That was amusing too. I wonder if you can get away with stuff when you see magic. "Uh, I wasn't talking to myself, no. Sure."

Have a good one, SJB!

RebelVampire

ah okay i know which gag you mean. that one was funny. XD

mathtans

Final closing thought, slow burn romance can be fun for when things come to a peak. Or a pike. ^.^

RebelVampire

i feel in general theres been a lot more jokes like that since nefayn became human

mathtans

It's been good for alleviating some of the tension.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Mabs, as well, for making Pike’s Reach. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Mabs’ efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/pikesreach

Mabs’ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mabsart

Mabs’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mabs_art

[jennycalendar]

Imperfections (11/?)

a nice long chapter to end the day on

it’s also on ao3!

Giles recovered from the tranquilizer dart fairly quickly, but this was partially because Willow had just dumped half a cup of water on his face and Cordelia was slapping him. “What on earth—” he began.

“Ms. Calendar’s hurt!” said Willow tearfully. “She’s hurt, and so is Faith, and Buffy said to get you, and Giles, Buffy said that Ms. Calendar got thrown against a wall—”

Giles was suddenly very wide awake. Pulling himself up, he ignored the lingering dizziness from the tranquilizer and all but ran out of the library.

“Other way!” Cordelia called, sounding exasperated, which somehow managed to annoy Giles even in his panic. “They’re in that weird little supply room.”

Giles turned and ran.

Buffy was standing in the middle of the supply room, shaking, tear tracks on her face, Pete’s body in front of her. Debbie was sobbing against the wall, and Jenny was holding tightly to an unconscious Faith with a shell-shocked expression on her face. Giles dropped to his knees next to her, taking her hands in his.

“I saw Angel,” she said, voice small and shaking. “He was—right there. He—”

“Of course, dear,” said Giles, gently disentangling Jenny from Faith and gathering her into his arms. He felt Jenny’s hands curl around his lapels. “Let’s get that head looked at, shall we?”

“Rupert, he was there—”

“I know,” said Giles, who thought it highly unlikely that Angel had come back from the dead just to frighten Jenny, but didn’t find it out of the realm of possibility that Jenny had suffered some serious head trauma. The best thing to do at this point would be to keep her calm, and his own worry wasn’t something that would help the situation. He kissed her forehead. “Come on, love,” he said gently. “Up we get.”

Jenny followed his direction somewhat dazedly. “Faith—” she mumbled.

“I’ll help Faith to your car if you’re driving to the hospital, Giles,” said Willow, and Giles was surprised to see sincerity in her eyes. But when Jenny smiled at Willow with a mixture of gratitude and affection, it became quite clear why Willow had agreed so readily.

“Buffy,” said Giles, turning with Jenny still nestled in his arms, “I’m going to drive Jenny and Faith to the hospital. I—I believe Jenny’s suffered some sort of serious injury; she says she’s seen Angel.”

It was strange, but Giles thought a flicker of guilt crossed Buffy’s face at those words. “Sounds pretty bad,” she said, and looked almost unconsciously over her shoulder. “Not like Angel’s—here. Or anything. And if he was, he, uh, definitely left be-before I could see anything.”

“Quite,” said Giles, who wasn’t really in the place to appreciate Buffy’s usual quips. “Debbie, if you wouldn’t mind coming with us?”

Debbie curled inward, sobbing even more. Giles rather wished Jenny wasn’t concussed and half-conscious, as she was generally better at these sorts of things than he was. He knelt down next to the girl (a bit awkwardly, seeing as he was still carrying Jenny) and continued gently, “You can’t stay here, Debbie.”

“Pete’s dead,” said Debbie, and started crying again. Giles thought he caught the words “my fault.”

“Certainly not,” said Giles firmly. “There is nothing you could have done to stop this. He was capable of killing innocent people—at some point or another, he would have killed you.”

Debbie started crying even harder at this. Giles felt very much out of his element.

“Hey,” said Willow, and sat down next to Debbie. “I—I know you’re hurting right now, but maybe you can just come with us to the hospital? I promise nothing bad’s going to happen to you. We’re just trying to keep everyone safe.”

Debbie studied Willow’s face, looked over at Pete’s body, seemed to come to the conclusion that she didn’t really have any other options, and stood up, leaning heavily on Willow.

“Faith,” said Jenny again, her eyes now half-open and fixed on Faith, who was still lying sprawled on the floor.

“I’ve got her,” said Buffy softly, and knelt down, easily picking up Faith in her arms. Faith stirred, blinked, and said something in a drowsy, teasing voice that made Buffy smile a little wryly. “She’s good,” she said.

Jenny nodded vaguely and rested her head against Giles’s chest, seemingly all right with relaxing now that she was sure everyone else was okay. Giles felt some of the tension drain out of him at that.

“Ow.”

“On the bright side,” said Willow, playful and careful at the same time, “the bruises make you look pretty badass.”

“Yeah, well, getting thrown against a wall isn’t pretty badass.” Jenny leaned back against the pillows, letting Willow snuggle into her side. It was nearly one in the morning, Rupert was in the hospital hallway coming up with some explanation for Pete’s mysterious death, and Faith was asleep in the chair by Jenny’s bed, all bandaged up. Faith had flat-out refused to sleep in a hospital bed—something about not feeling like relaxing just yet—and had almost immediately fallen asleep upon sitting down. “Getting thrown against a wall hurts. Nine out of ten do not recommend.”

“What about the tenth guy?” Willow’s voice sounded sleepy.

“Ten guys tried it, nine guys didn’t recommend it because the tenth guy died getting thrown against a wall,” said Jenny. She was pretty sure she was falling asleep too. “So the tenth guy—” She yawned. “The tenth guy couldn’t recommend it.”

“Not your best joke,” said Willow, and rested her head on Jenny’s shoulder. “Or your most understandable.”

“Hmm,” said Jenny.

There was silence for a few seconds before Willow said softly, “Ms. Calendar?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like Faith better than me?”

Jenny sort of wished that Willow had held off on that question until her head injury had healed, because right now she was too dizzy and tired to come up with a really eloquent answer. “I like Faith, and I like you,” she said vaguely. “I like a lot of people.”

Willow hesitated, then, “I-it’s just that you guys have been spending a lot of time together, and—”

“Sweetie, we still have magic lessons on Tuesdays and you can still come over to make pancakes even if Faith is living with me,” said Jenny with drowsy conviction. “And I’m glad you’re here, okay? I’m really glad you’re here.”

She couldn’t turn her head to look over at Willow, because by that point she was almost all the way asleep, but she did hear the smile in Willow’s voice when she said, “I’m glad to be here.”

Jenny drifted in and out of sleep after that until she felt Rupert sit down on the side of the bed and stroke her hair. She smiled, leaning into his hand. “All right?” he asked softly.

“Yeah.” Jenny would have shifted to face him, but Willow was now all the way asleep and she didn’t want to jostle her. “You?”

“Everything’s sorted,” Rupert replied, shifting to lie down next to her. “I told the authorities exactly what we found. Since you and Faith are both fairly badly hurt, it’s unlikely they’ll consider you suspects, especially since the autopsy did confirm Pete’s supernatural strength.”

“Mmm. Don’t talk about autopsies while I’m trying to sleep.” Jenny reached over, taking his hand. “C’mere.”

Rupert obliged. “Is Faith all right?” he asked hesitantly.

Jenny nodded. Then, “Did—was Angel there? I was sure I saw him.”

She felt Rupert tense. “I—” He exhaled. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “You were quite disoriented when I reached you. I’m not sure if the panic of the situation made you think you saw Angel, or—”

“I think I want to go with that explanation,” said Jenny.

“I think I do too,” said Rupert, “but I might inquire further with Buffy, all the same.”

“Please—don’t,” said Jenny, a note of desperation in her voice.

“I’m sorry?”

“If—” Jenny breathed out, trying to keep herself calm. She’d felt Willow stir, and she didn’t want to wake Willow up in the middle of the night with her worry. “If he’s back, he’ll come. I don’t want to live in suspense if Buffy tells me something I don’t want to hear. I want to chalk this up to a hallucination and move on, okay?”

“Jenny.”

“Okay?”

Rupert didn’t say anything for a very long time, long enough to make Jenny think that maybe he’d fallen asleep. She was gearing up to very carefully elbow him without jostling Willow when he said, “I don’t want you putting yourself in danger because of your conscious decisions to only learn what you need to know.”

Jenny swallowed. “Rupert,” she said, “Angelus is the monster that I heard about for so much of my childhood. He’s one of the most terrifying figures in my entire life. I don’t know if I can handle the knowledge that he might still be out there.”

“But if he is?”

Jenny was almost unable to say what she was thinking. “I just—” She breathed out. Her cheeks were wet. “I just don’t want him to be,” she said shakily. “I don’t want him to be.”

Rupert was quiet for a moment, and then he placed his arms carefully around her shoulders, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I know we’ve had the conversation about my protecting you,” he said, slow and tentative, “but I hope you also know that I’ll do whatever I can to keep you out of any situations involving Angelus, as long as I’m sure it’s what you want.”

“It’s what I want,” said Jenny with conviction.

She felt Rupert kiss the top of her head.

It wasn’t too serious, as head injuries went, and Jen and Giles both had some experience with head injuries (Giles with getting them, Jen with bothering him to take care of himself) so they had a general idea of how to go about making sure Jen was doing okay. Faith was greeted with that happy news when she woke up, and also that they all probably needed to drive home; Willow, who had stayed in the hospital with Jen, had class that day.

“You okay?” Faith asked Jen awkwardly.

Jen smiled, just as calm and composed as ever. It was a little unnerving, now, because Faith could vaguely remember being half-conscious with Jen holding her in a vicelike grip, hearing her panicked, half-sobbing breaths. Looking at this small, unruffled computer science teacher, it was hard to imagine anything that awful happening to her. Or think about it. “Doing better,” she said.

Giles gave her this mushy little smile that was kind of gross, but Faith also kind of got it. “We have ice packs at home,” he said, then flushed pink. “Um. That is to say. Your house.”

“Rupert, at this point, we’re probably going to spend the rest of our lives together,” said Jen with some amusement. “You don’t have to get blushy about a slip like that.” She kissed a stunned Giles on the cheek, then extended a hand to Faith. “We should get home,” she said. “I’m thinking comfort food and blankets for you, comfort food and ice packs for me.”

“I guess,” said Faith noncommittally, and took Jen’s hand, letting Jen gently help her up. She let go as soon as she’d stood all the way up, keeping her eyes trained straight ahead. “We using Giles’s car?”

“Rupert’s new car,” said Jen smugly. “Not his old, sad, broken-down—”

Willow started giggling.

“Charming,” said Giles, and started walking. Jen grinned at Faith and followed her boyfriend, taking his hand as they walked. Willow took a few running steps to walk next to Jen, who smiled at her and said something that Faith didn’t catch. Faith fell into step behind them.

She was a little shaken. She remembered bits and pieces of last night, and she hadn’t been anything close to gentle with Pete. Sure, it hadn’t done much in the long run, but she couldn’t quite understand how Jen could walk in on her beating Pete to a bloody pulp and still be so worried about her. Not only that, but Jen was fine. Situations like that, people like Pete, they always seemed to kill the good things in Faith’s life before she could even blink. But there was Jen, walking ahead of Faith with Giles’s arm around her waist.

What Faith wanted to do was take a few steps forward and walk next to Jen and Willow, make some quip about head injuries, and tell Jen how glad she was that she was okay. What Faith did was linger behind and remind herself that the moment she started hoping was the moment everything fell to pieces.

[yes-buzzfeed-said-i-m-funny]

I still ache. In my mind, im in a dark room, with little light, my knees to my chest, and me crying. All this because you don't love me and I don't want to force your feelings but I don't think you realise how hard it is to get to both my mind and heart. You're the first boy to do that. Not even my father could compare to what you did to me. You unlocked my heart, showed me love was real and that it's a mad, mad illness. I want to thank you but I can't even read your name without sorrow and shock. But it's okay. I'm fine now. I just needed a tumblr rant. I'll write again on here tomorrow. It's okay. I'm okay. I can assure you that. I won't let you dare hurt me again. I know you will. But I've changed the locks to my heart. Or is that a lie? Maybe I'm lying to myself. Maybe I'm lying to you. I had the balls to ask you on a date, but It'd be another three years before I'll have the balls to tell you how I really feel. I love you, Mr L. And I'm so embarassed to be writing this, but who else can I open my heart to? I'm not a pussy. I didn't raise myself to be weak. I raised myself to be strong. I knew you were hurt when I rejected you. I was 14, you were 16, I wasn't ready for a serious relationship. I was scared you wanted my body. I was scared of falling in love. I was scared of becoming a housewife. It wasn't until I had a dream about you, four months later, that I realised, "Holy shit, I'm an idiot". But it was too late. You didn't care about me. You were trying to move on. And that's okay. I deserved that. But that made me mad. It became a game, of blocking, friending, unfriending, you ignoring my messages...me not resisting to reply to your every single one. Cat and dog, month by month, I bit my toungue. I formed a crush on you. Irony, innit? It was another few months after that that I realised: I loved you. I didn't know why. I was hating myself and my oestrogen for making me fall for you. I can assure you though, it's definitely because of your egotistical personality. I know this because I was attracted to my last boyfriend after arguing about my vegetarianism. It didn't work out so well. I always felt guilty though, because I didn't love him. I loved you. I just wanted to let you know that my turn-on is now being treated badly. I wonder why. I got to admit partially the reason I rejected you, was because I didn't like your looks. How selfish, arrogant was I? Now I feel sick if I look at anybody else. And your profile picture just gives me shivers and sparks. I sound super creepy, my apologies. I forgot love was the disease of the mad. Also, speaking of apologies: I'm sorry at my poor attempt at flirting, or conversations. I was so scared of saying the wrong thing, and I wanted you to be attracted to me again. Disgusting, right? Gotta admit, that joke about cats and pussies, was so super bad and so super cringe, like ughhhh. Don't ever want to mention that again. When one of the girls from the neighbourhood's cousin stayed over, talking about Tinder, she mentioned your name. I found out you lost your virginity, and I was in shock. "Somebody else fell for your devilish arrogant smile" and I was cool. I didn't really care. I was shaking for a good minute, but I think it's great you're having fun, enjoying your teenage years. I don't care who you sleep with. Because I'm keeping my virginity for somebody who I love. Not you of course. You don't love me back. And I know I'll be a virgin forever, because I don't want to fall in love ever again. I date, sure, but it's more of something to do. Something to keep me from thinking of you, and feeling lonely. It still happens though. Mr L, how could you do this to me? After all the long conversations we had. Now, whenever I try to have a decent conversation with you, you either don't reply, ignore me, answer in short, don't care, or tell me I'm stupid. Hah, more like stupidly in love with you. I try so hard to impress you. I'd say "well, im done with that now", but I know I could never keep up to that sentence. I could write all night. But I'm not sure how much my broken heart would last. I'm not a pussy. I raised myself to be strong. Mr L, I'm in love with you. I'm not sure if it's past or present tense, btu I am. I wish you'd give me another chance sometime in the future. Without calling me stupid or thinking I'm stupid. And second considering that because I'm in love with you, I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to be clumsy. I'm going to be stupid. And it's your fault. And mine.  I'm slightly chubby. Okay, I'm fat. I don't eat that much anymore though. I did overeat to deal with stress. I couldn't tell you how much has been going on, for like, my entire life. I don't want to tell you though. I don't want pity. I don't want you to look down on me. Plus, I found out from a mutual (well, I can't exactly call friend, even though she's my friend), that you've had unimaginable pain. I couldn't even imagine. So, I guess we're equally fucked up. Isn't that fun?  Maybe I should just shh, and end this letter with a conclusion. But at the same time, I'm not going to shut up because you tell me to, or because you call me stupid (which, in itself is a burn to you because I think you forget, we have the same IQ of 115), or because you doubt my intelligence, or because I've embarassed myself with trying to impress you once agian. I'm not going to be quiet. Because, when I get the balls, I will shout to Hobart, I love you. As stupid as that is. Somebody needs to hear it.  Watch out for me in future years, though. I'm going to be a bomb that everybody thought was dead for a decade. Watch me. I will fuck your heart up as much as you did mine. Or at least I'll fuck up your brain. Attraction isn't everything, though, you say arrogantly even though you know yourself that it makes 50% of the relationship. Gotta admit, I'm similar though. I want conversation, intelligence, love. Not just looks. Y'know, I'll let you in on something. I've always had this thing, where one day I'll exercise, eat healthy, dress nice, and everything, and be a famous burlesque dancer. Reason? Because that's kinda my "female empowerment thing" plus, I've always loved dancing. I always wanted to show my peers from school how great I could be, and that they shouldn't doubt me. But now I couldn't give a shit. All I want to do is show you that I'm not just fat. I'm not just ugly. I'm not just stupid. I am beautiful. I am rockin'. I am sexy when I want to be. So, fuck you.  I'm sorry If I don't know how to respond to you sometimes, but tbh you're an asshole.  But, I love you, Mr L. I really do.  I just wished you hadn't thrown me away.

My own love story, a letter to the boy I fell in love at 14. Mr L. Or is it Lord Mr L now?