#also i hope everyone who has suggested that the issue was jeremy and a step brother having a secret relationship has fucking nightmares

[shouts-into-the-void]

To throw my hat in the ring here, my personal theory for Jeremy Knox's unknown fucked up past is that his brother committed suicide, which led to him developing anger issues/self destructive tendencies that were exacerbated by the his former team (I think he mentions them being pretty unsportsmanlike) and eventually escalated into something that got him arrested. He refused to give up exy which the family tried to blame for the issue, so instead his mom had him go to therapy, which helped him— along with the Trojan's general vibe— but at this point his family isn't willing to forgive him due to the potential scandal/whatever happened. I'm thinking the incident probably has something to due with the former exy team as a whole but that's as far as my theory goes.

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 49

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

“You’re back.” Elijah said with a smirk on his face when Katie walked through the front doors of the compound that led straight into the courtyard where Elijah sat in a black suit, light blue shirt and a black tie reading a book.

“I’m back.” Katie said with a smile and a look around the place. “And you’re wearing a suit.” He closed his book and sat it on the table. “The laid back look didn’t suit you. Pun intended.”

Elijah just shook his head at her bad joke as he stood up and walked over to her where she’d stopped next to the fountain. “How was your trip?” he asked as he held his hand out for her bag.

“It was good, but I’m happy to be home.” She answered as he took her duffle bag off of her shoulder.

“So where is Niklaus?” he asked as they started up the stairs to Katie and Klaus’s quarters.

“Father Kieran asked for a meeting as soon as we returned.” Katie answered as they came to the door and she pushed it open. “So how was your Klaus free week?”

“Quiet.” He answered with a bit of a smirk as he put her bag down next to the door.

“A good quiet or I’m bored out of my freaking mind quiet?” she asked curiously as she sat down on one of the two couches in the sitting room.

“Good quiet.” He answered with a bit of a nod as he sat down on the couch across from her.

“Good.” Katie said with a small smile.

Things had fallen comfortably quiet between them for a few minutes when Elijah looked around. “I just realized there is not a t.v. in your quarters.”

“Yeah, so?” she asked with a confused shake of her head.

“So, how can you watch your man if there’s not a t.v. in your room?” he asked with a smirk.

“My man?” she asked, still confused.

“The crossbow wielding man with angel wings on his back and in dire need of a bath.” He described making Katie wrinkle her nose at the memory of her telling Elijah that Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead was her man. “Or do you only have eyes for Klaus these days?”

“Yes, I only have eyes for Klaus, but I am also a red blooded American woman who can’t deny that Daryl Dixon is very attractive.” Katie told him honestly.

“And who pray tell is Daryl Dixon?” Katie heard Klaus’s voice behind her and turned to see him walk into the room having caught the end of her sentence.

“A fictional character from her favorite t.v. show.” Elijah answered for her as he stood up and Klaus walked around the couch and sat down next to her. “Blue eyes, dirty blond hair, questionable people skills…It seems she has a type.” Elijah said then saw himself out.

“You know, now that I think about it, the guy that plays Daryl is also an artist. Maybe I do have a type.” She thought out loud.

“You’re trying to make me jealous aren’t you?” Klaus asked with a glare to which she just held up her fingers in a pinching manner with a devious smile.

He glared at her and let a low, playful growl rumble up from his throat. “Okay,” she laughed, holding her hands up in surrender, “before you go all Big Bad Wolf on me…what did Father Kieran need?”

“He asked me to compel Camille to leave town.” He told her and she frowned. “The look on your face tells me I was right to seek your council before compelling her.”

“Why does he want her to leave town exactly?” she asked as she turned, pulling one of her knees up on the couch to face him.

“It seems compelling her to sleep easy and accept that her brother simply snapped, hasn’t had the desired effect. Her pursuit of what happened to her memories is leading her closer and closer to the dangerous truth. Father Kieran doesn’t want her to get mixed up in our world. I’ve stopped compelling her since moving here, but it’s too late. If I don’t compel her to leave she will get mixed up in all of this and you know better than anyone what happens to the people that get pulled into our world.” He explained.

“I also know that unfortunately some people are just meant to get mixed up in our world and will do so no matter what compulsion is worked on them.” She added. “Take Jeremy for example. Damon compelled him to leave town and forget about Vicki. He did, but Kol found him and pulled him back in. You can compel Cami to leave, but if someone wants to get to Father Kieran again they will just go after her and pull her back in. I’m not sure compelling her to leave and taking away her choice in the matter is the answer.”

“So do you think we should just let her find out the truth on her own?” he asked curiously.

“I think you should ask her what she wants. It was clear when I met her that she felt like she was going insane and compelling her to leave won’t fix that or the gaps in her memory.” She answered.

“Have you been compelled before?” Klaus asked.

“Nope and I hope it never happens. Which is why I picked up this while we were in the mansion.” She said as she pulled her vervain necklace from Damon out of her pocket. I figured since I can’t ingest vervain I could wear it just in case.” She explained.

He took in a deep breath and breathed it out. “So exactly what do you suggest I do?”

“Let her remember everything.” She started.

“She will despise me.” he pointed out.

“Maybe, but there’s also the chance that by letting her have a say and giving her back her free will she won’t. She may even choose for you to cover up everything supernatural with a story fabricated by her and choose to leave on her own. But I firmly believe it needs to be an educated decision on her part and that you need to respect her decision whatever it may be.”

“It will anger the priest if she doesn’t leave.” He pointed out.

“Just because he is her family doesn’t mean he knows what’s best for her or that he gets to dictate her life.” Katie shrugged. “Telling her everything includes that her uncle knows about vampires and witches. I didn’t agree with Elena messing with Jeremy’s memories and I didn’t use compulsion a lot when I was a vampire for a reason. I don’t like playing god and messing with people’s free will.” Klaus sighed and turned away from her as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped. “You know, just because you come to me for advice, doesn’t mean I’ll get mad if you don’t take it. I trust you to do whatever you think is best.”

“I’m just trying to figure out if I should warn Father Kieran of what I intend to do before we talk to Cami.” He said then sat up and looked at her.

“We?” Katie asked.

“I would like you to come with me. My presence tends to put her on edge however last I checked you managed to win her favor.” He told her with a look in his eyes that told her he was set on taking her advice.

“Okay.” She gave him a nod. “I’ll go with you.”

TVDTVDTVD

Katie stood next to Klaus who knocked on the door of Cami’s apartment. After a few seconds she answered, looking confused for a second before she remembered them. “What do you want?” she asked him with a glare, her eyes darting back and forth between the couple.

“We just want to talk.” Katie told her.

“According to your uncle you are on edge and not yourself.” Klaus added.

“And you’re here to what, compel me not to be?” Cami asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Actually I was going to take your uncle’s advice and compel you to leave town. However after discussing things, we,” he looked at Katie then back at Cami, “believe that wouldn’t clear the root of your anxiety.” Klaus stated. “May we come in for a chat?” he asked with a motion inside considering the couple was still standing in the hallway.

“Sure, why not.” She answered sarcastically and stepped aside letting them in.

After explaining everything to her, she stared at them with tears in her eyes. “My uncle has known what happened to Sean this whole time?” she asked with a whisper and Katie nodded. “Why are you telling me about all of this if I’m just going to forget it when you leave?”

“Because we want to give you a choice in the matter.” Klaus answered then looked at Katie.

“Knowing what you do about this city is dangerous.” Katie took over. “It may very well mean the death of you, but we don’t want to manipulate you anymore. You can choose to remember everything, a little or nothing at all.” Katie explained. “Point is…how much you want to remember, if you leave or stay…it’s your choice.”

Cami just stared at them. “You do not have to decide today.” Klaus told her

“I want to remember, everything about everyone.” Cami answered, her stunning green eyes wide and watery.

“You’re sure?” Katie asked, needing to know that this was truly what she wanted.

“I’m positive.” Cami answered with a wide eyed nod.

“Okay.” Klaus answered then moved to kneel in front of Cami, placed his fingertips on her cheek and looked her in the eyes. “You will no longer forget about us when we leave your sight and you will remember everything. You…are…free.”

As Klaus stood up Cami blinked out of the compulsion then looked up at him. “Thank you, both of you.” when she looked at Katie she gave her a nod and a small smile.

“You’re welcome, although I’m sure your uncle will not be happy with me.” Klaus replied.

“Probably not, but he’ll just have to get over it.” Cami said as she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk.

TVDTVDTVD

“What do you think about me letting Thierry out of the garden?” Klaus asked as they walked into their quarters.

“I don’t know.” Katie answered as she set her shoulder bag on the table by the door. “He’s only in there because you set him up. So he doesn’t really belong there, but at the same time if you let him out he might want revenge.”

“Or perhaps if I issue him a pardon he will be thankful enough to not try anything stupid.” He countered as he grabbed her hips and pulled her close.

“I’ve never met Thierry.” She answered as she slipped her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s totally your call.”

“What about if I tell you I’m thinking about asking Diego to lead a rousting of the caldron?” he asked with a look at her eyes.

“Why?” she asked.

“With the loss of Davina we no longer have the edge over the witches. Not only will a rousting keep up the morale, but it will remind the witches who is in charge.” He answered. “I’m also hoping Marcel might join them. Getting back at the witches might do him some good.”

“If it will entertain the men and keep them happy along with keeping the witches on their toes then I say have at it.” Katie answered then pecked him on the lips.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie stood to the side of the courtyard watching as Klaus walked in with Thierry and announced to the handful of the top men that Thierry had been pardoned. They all clapped and welcomed Thierry home. “Well, you’re in a good mood.” Marcel said from where he sat at one of the patio tables with a bottle of bourbon and a glass. “You should visit Mystic Falls more often.”

“Well, as much as I’d like to, I have pressing responsibilities here.” Klaus said then got the attention of the people around him. “Now, as you all know, the witch Davina is no longer with us. Without Davina we can no longer monitor the activity of our witch neighbors. However, since their harvest failed their magic will soon be gone forever.”

Elijah walked up to stand beside Katie with his hand tucked into the pockets of his suit pants. “Was letting Thierry out your idea?”

“No, it was his.” Katie answered not looking away from Klaus.

“And the rousting?” Elijah asked.

“Also his idea to keep the witches on their toes and lift morale.” She answered seeing Marcel grab his bottle and walk away, not interested in the rousting. “Although it’s not working for Marcel, not that I thought it would.”

TVDTVDTVD

Katie, Elijah, Klaus, Diego and a few of the daywalkers stood in the courtyard looking at the two desiccated daywalkers that were killed at the rousting. A small symbol carved on their foreheads. “Someone will die for this.” Klaus stated.

Elijah kneeled, looking at the forehead of one of the men. “Remarkably, I don’t disagree. However I would like to know where they learned such dark magic.” Elijah stood up and turned to Klaus who stood next to Katie with his hand on her lower back. “I had hoped never to see that symbol again.”

“I recall it is the signature of a fool who once stood against us. Clearly, some upstart witch is salvaging old tricks. I’ll do for him as I did the other.” Klaus said then walked over to Diego. “Diego, when night falls, I want you to gather every vampire in the quarter. Get me the head of whoever did this and put it on a stick.”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.” Diego replied and Katie frowned. “Everyone’s freaked out man. We haven’t had witches killing vampires in a long time. Marcel made sure of that.”

“Marcel has run off like a scared child.” Klaus replied and clapped his hand down on Diego’s shoulder. “You lot are left with me.” he took his hand off Diego’s shoulder and back away, turning his eyes to the other daywalkers. “Now, who of you will fight to defend our home?” no one said anything. “Not a single one of you will stand with me. So afraid are you of this new threat? You should know better.” Klaus looked away from them to Katie to see her giving the daywalkers a frowning glare. “I’ll handle this myself.”

Katie and Elijah watched Klaus walk out like the man on a mission that he was. Katie looked at the daywalkers, scoffed with a roll of her eyes and started to walk off. “You got something to say, queen?” the female daywalker with dark hair spiked up into a mohawk asked.

“Actually yeah, I do.” Katie answered as she walked over. “You were all given the privilege of a daylight ring to protect this city. And now when you’re needed most you tuck your tails and hide? The hell kind of soldier cowers from a fight?”

“The kind that doesn’t bow to Klaus Mikaelson.” The tough looking brunette standing next to the mohawked woman answered. “And Marcel advised us to stay out of the fight with the witches.”

“Marcel is stuck in a cloud of grief and not thinking clearly. Or did you all forget how much he cared about Davina?” Katie asked with furrowed brows. “The fact of the matter is your people, your fellow vampires, are being threatened and you’re just going to stand back and watch. How is that the right thing to do?”

“Is right because it keeps us safe.” Mohawk girl argued.

“Oh my god.” Katie laughed with a look at Elijah as she threw her hands up in frustration. “Why do I even bother when it’s clear you are all a bunch of selfish fools?” as she turned toward the stairs she saw Diego look at her as if he agreed with her then back at his people. Contrary to the tone he took with her at the dinner Klaus threw when they first moved back into the compound, Katie actually liked Diego. Of course he was loyal to Marcel, but he also seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Elijah followed her up to what she was starting to think of as the common room. She made herself comfortable on the couch and Elijah went to the bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a drink. “Should I have kept my mouth shut?”

“No.” Elijah answered without a second thought. “You are their queen and as such you have the right to speak your mind.”

“But what if what I have to say isn’t the right thing or if I make things worse?” she asked with a sigh. “You and Klaus built this place, you both have experience at being leaders. I’m just a weirdo that lived two lives and has never been given authority over anything before.”

“Based on what I just witnessed, I believe you will do just fine.” Elijah answered honestly as he walked over and sat in the armchair across from her. Katie just grabbed a throw pillow as she leaned her head back then pressed it to her face with a groan. Elijah smirked at her dramatics.

TVDTVDTVD

When night fell Katie started to worry about Klaus and went down to the courtyard to wait and found Elijah pacing with his phone to his ear. When he pulled it away and hung up Katie gave him a look that asked what was wrong. “Rebekah’s not answering her phone.”

“You worried about her?” Katie asked as she tucked her hands into the front pocket of the dark grey hoodie with a pink Under Armour symbol of the front of it.

“Frankly I’m worried that she had something to do with this. She’s very displeased with Niklaus.” He told her with a worried frown.

“Well, she does love to conspire against him.” Katie said with a tilt of her head.

“Yes and I believe this time she’s had help.” He told her as he turned his eyes to Thierry, sitting at a patio table by himself in the courtyard littered with other vampires, mostly night walkers lounging around. “Thierry, is it?” Elijah asked as he and Katie walked over to him.

“That’s right.” Thierry answered skeptically.

“My sister is rather fond of you. It's strange, she’s not typically drawn to unremarkable men.” Thierry looked at him with fear in his eyes. “Would you care to explain your sudden magnetism?”

“I don’t know what you’re-” with a woosh Elijah grabbed Theirry by his neck and pinned him to the wall of the arching hallway that led to the front doors.

“You can either tell me what you know or I can distribute tiny pieces of you throughout the quarter.” Elijah told him as Katie rushed over to them.

“She asked me to keep and eye out on witch stuff.” Thierry answered with a groan. “I found something and when I showed her we were jumped by some guy. He desiccated her with his touch.”

Elijah who had loosened his grip a little while Thierry was talking slammed his head back into the wall again. “Like a coward, you left her.”

“What was I supposed to do, fight some warlock that took out an original?” Thierry asked in fear of his life.

Katie pushed her hair back out of her face. “Where did you leave Rebekah?”

“The docks, warehouse 57.” Thierry answered while looking at Elijah. “I was just doing what she asked.” He looked at Katie. “You cannot tell Klaus about this.”

Elijah threw Thierry head first into the wall behind them. “We shall take that into consideration.” He gave Katie a smirk then started for the doors.

“Take me with you.” Elijah turned and gave her a look that told her she was out of her mind. “As much as I like my home I don’t feel safe in it without you, Klaus or Rebekah here. It’s no secret these people don’t like me.”

Elijah pondered it for a moment. “You do not leave my side, understand?”

“Yep.” She answered, popping the p at the end of the word as she headed for the door.

Elijah grabbed her hand, stopping her. “I am serious.”

“I know, Elijah, but you and your brother need to remember that while I am human and pregnant I’m not made of glass. I know my limits.”

He took his hand off her wrist. “Very well then.” He pulled the large wooden door open and waved her out.

TVDTVDTVD

They found Rebekah in the warehouse lying in the center of a salt circle with other witchy symbols drawn in salt, and a dead snake inside of it. When they tried to step inside it and get her out they hit an invisible wall. “Of course there would be a boundary spell keeping us out.” Katie sighed then kicked the wall.

Elijah saw the symbol on her forehead. “Someone’s channeling her. Typically it’s a lethal process, but because she’s an original, she can’t die. Instead she’s an endless source of power.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to break this kind of boundary spell would you?” Katie asked and he shook his head, his brown eyes wide with worry. “I’ll call Bonnie, you try Sophie.” He gave her a nod and they both pulled out their cell phones.

Sophie answered before Bonnie so Katie gave up and listened to Elijah talking to Sophie who was on speaker phone. “You’re not listening. We cannot enter the circle. There’s some kind of confinement spell or… If I can’t remove her, we can’t break the link.” Elijah explained.

“It’s a convoluted spell. It’s like a witch’s recipe. You can spoil the balance by adding a more potent ingredient, a mystical binding agent.” As Sophie spoke, Elijah turned to Katie with wide eyes then kneeled near the circle. “I don’t know, volcanic ash, rock salt, anything up to and including eye of newt.”

“What about the blood of a witch?” Elijah asked and Katie placed her hands on her stomach.

“Do you have the blood of a witch?” Sophie asked, confused and Elijah hung up on her as he looked from the circle to Katie. “I need a favor.”

Without a second thought Katie held her hand out to Elijah and watched as he took it and bit the fleshy part of her hand between her pinky and wrist. Like usual Katie didn’t even flinch from the pain his sharp fangs piercing her soft skin caused. When they held her hand over the outer line of salt and dripped her blood on it the salt started to bubble and smoke, working its way around the circle back to her blood droplets. “Did it work?” Her question was answered when Elijah stepped into the circle, picked up Rebekah and whooshed her out of it.

“So I’m guessing you want me to keep the fact that Rebekah is conspiring with Thierry to myself?” Katie asked as she slid into the passenger seat of Elijah’s Lincoln.

“Yes.” Elijah answered as he shut the back driver’s side door having laid Rebekah in the back seat. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t like keeping secrets from him, but…” she paused as she grabbed the seat belt strap and buckled herself in, “he has asked me to let him worry about Rebekah and to not stress over her. So, I will let you two worry about your sister while I worry about whoever is behind these weird marks on people’s heads.”

“His name was Papa Tunde.” Elijah started, then proceeded to tell her about the dark witch and former leader of the French quarter coven in the early twentieth century. How he used sacrificial magic to gain the power needed to make the city the witches once again. But Klaus studied him, figured out his strengths and weakness and in doing so figured out that Papa Tunde was channeling the power of his twin sons, killed them, then killed Papa Tunde.

When Rebekah woke up she informed them that it wasn’t a copycat, Papa Tunde was alive.

TVDTVDTVD

“Elijah has informed me that you had a talk with the inner circle.” Klaus said as he walked out onto the balcony where Katie was sitting on the patio couch looking through Davina’s drawings.

“They poked, I bit back.” She answered honestly as she kept her eyes on the drawings she was flipping through.

“He also said you handled yourself well and did a good job of putting them in their place.” He said as he took the papers from her hands, shut the large folder they were in and set them on the table.

“Yet they didn’t venture out to help you did they?” she asked as he sat down on the couch beside her and pulled her to straddle his lap.

“No,” he answered as she rested her hands on his chest and his held her outer thighs, “but you did.”

She lifted her eyes to his, a hint of guilt in them. “Are you angry?”

“No.” his answer surprised her and her face showed it. “He said you didn’t feel safe here without one of us around and I never want you to feel unsafe.” He moved his hands to hold her sides over the thick hoodie she still wore. “Now, as for the cowardly vampires, Marcel and I have discussed giving them an ultimatum. Either they stay and prove themselves to me or they get out of my city.”

“The only thing I know about an army is when they aren’t acting like one.” She replied as she moved her hands to hold the sides of his neck. “If you and Marcel think this is what’s best then I trust you.” he gave her a small smile before he realized her hands were sucking the warmth out of his neck.

“Your hands are like ice, Love, what are you doing out here?” he asked as he took her hands off of his neck and started rubbing them to warm them up.

“Just thinking.” She answered. “We never figured out why Davina was drawing Celeste. It couldn’t have been to warn us that Sophie was going to use her magic to complete the harvest, there was no magic to consecrate.”

“Will you do me a favor and not freeze to death in the process of figuring it out?” he asked with puppy dog eyes.

She laughed. “Sure.” With a whoosh he brought her inside, shut the balcony door and set her on her feet near the fire that was lit in the fireplace.

“So would you like to stand with me while I give my speech?” he asked from where he stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her chest.

“No. Contrary to what they seem to think, I’m your queen, not theirs.” She answered. “I won’t be their queen until they respect me and they won’t respect me until they respect you. So, you lead the way and I’ll follow.” She said as she turned in his arms and pecked him on the lips.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie stood on the balcony overlooking the courtyard across from the one Klaus stood on, the vampires of the French Quarter gathered below. “Not long ago, you all united against me. You failed. Since then, in my benevolence, I have wiped the slate clean. Yet it seems clear you think that I am the one who needs to earn your respect, your loyalty. You’re mistaken.” Klaus spoke, looking down at the vampires. “It is you who must prove yourselves to me. Our community is under attack. I require soldiers. I need warriors, not cowards.” He held his hands out at the people below. “Each of you has a decision to make. You either fight alongside me, or you leave…Now.”

The vampires started murmuring amongst themselves, no one moving until Thierry stepped up and looked up at Klaus. “We don’t owe you anything.” The vampires stopped talking and looked at Thierry. “If staying in the quarter means living under your rule, I’d just as soon get the hell out.” He turned and looked at Diego who gave him a look that told him he wasn’t leaving. Thierry shrugged and left. A little over a fourth of the vampires followed his lead. Katie noticed that none of the people that she had spoken to earlier that day left with Thierry and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made a difference or if they stayed because Marcel was still here.

TVDTVDTVD

Klaus and Marcel shared a drink at the bar in the corner of the common room while Katie sat on the sofa and Sophie stood near the lighted bookshelf that was built into the wall on each side of the fireplace and held records and a record player. “I’ve got no reason to help you, and I sure as hell don’t have a reason to help him.” Sophie told Klaus with a motion at Marcel.

“Now, now, don’t be difficult, love.” Klaus told Sophie as he moved to sit at the table in the room. “You’ll only live as long as you’re of use to us and right now, your best use is to explain why a witch I killed 100 years ago has come back for revenge.”

“Come on, resurrected witches with vast power?” Sophie told them as if they should be able to figure it out. “It’s the harvest. Four girls were meant to die and be reborn. I don’t know how, but someone jacked that power and they used it to bring back 4 witches…just not the right ones.”

“So there’s still a chance. If we can get that power back, we can save Davina.” Marcel said with an almost excited look between Klaus and Sophie.

“Let’s concentrate on the immediate problem, shall we?” Klaus asked. “Papa Tunde wants revenge. He’ll continue to attack us, channeling power from the vampires he sacrifices. He kills, he grows more dangerous. So, how do I end him?” Klaus asked, talking with his hands as he thought out loud.

“He needs sacrifices to gain power.” Sophie pointed out. “Keep him from killing anymore nightwalkers, that’s a start.”

“Unless…” Klaus looked up at Marcel, “he finds the one place with a load of vampires ready to be sacrificed.”

“The garden.” Katie thought out loud.

“The garden.” Klaus confirmed with a nod as he stood up and he and Marcel headed for the door. “Katie-”

“I’ll stay here.” she told him and he gave her a thankful nod before he disappeared out of her sight.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was eating a small dinner in their quarters when Klaus came in and sat down across from her with a glass of blood in his hand. “He got to the garden and drained every last soul in it.”

She took the last bite of her salad and pushed the empty bowl away. “So now what do we do?”

“I say we figure that out in the morning.” He sounded tired as he lifted his eyes to hers. With that one look she knew exactly what he needed. So as soon as he was done with his glass of blood she walked around the table and held his hand out to hers. He put his in hers and let her lead him to their bedroom.

“Lay in the center of the bed, arms outstretched and eyes closed please.” She told him and he gave her a curious look. “Just do it.” she told him then disappeared into the bathroom. When she came back out she found him lying as she said, minus his shirt. “I didn’t ask you to take your shirt off.” She laughed.

“You didn’t ask me not to either.” He pointed out with a smirk keeping his eyes closed. “Will it be a problem?”

Katie picked up his shirt from where he had put it on the bed and replaced her own with it, loving the spicy scent of his cologne. “Nope. You know I love the view.” She answered as she sat down beside him, squeezed some hand cream into her palm and rubbed her hands together to warm it up before she picked up his hand and worked the cream into his skin.

“What are you doing?” he asked only to get shushed by her which made him chuckle. However, his laugh was cut off when she dug her thumbs into the heel of his palm and slid them outward. She repeated the action up his arm, halfway to his elbow, then back down and focused on one of her favorite parts of his body.

After spending a good ten minutes kneading every muscle and joint of his left hand she straddled him and kissed her ways across his chest then sat down at his right side. Another content sigh left his relaxed, parted lips when she started massaging his other hand. When she’d spent just as much time on his right hand as she did the left she started working her way up his arm, but before she could massage any further he grabbed the back of her neck with one hand, wrapped the other around her waist and rolled her over so that he was hovering above her. “You’re too good to me.” his blue eyes looked lovingly into hers.

“I would argue that I don’t show how much I appreciate you often enough.” She argued as she slid her hands from his sides that she’d grabbed out of instinct, up to rest on his chest, feeling the beating of his heart.

“You don’t have to. It’s in your eyes every time you look at me.” he said then caught her bottom lip between his and she sighed into the gentle yet intense kiss.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie sat on the bed watching Klaus get dressed for the first public service at Saint Ann’s since Sean massacred his fellow seminary students and himself. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me and get out of the compound for a bit?”

“Yeah.” She answered. “We still don’t know where Papa Tunde is. Plus, I stopped being a beliver somewhere around 1822.” She slipped off the bed and walked over to him as he shrugged on his jacket.

“So you said that these people won’t respect you until they respect me.” he started as he put his hands on her hips and Katie hummed a positive answer. “I feel like I have forced the position of queen of the French quarter on you.”

“Maybe a little.” She agreed with a so-what shrug.

“Do you even want to be their queen?” he asked.

“I don’t feel like I deserve the position, but you’re their king and I’m your partner in crime. It only makes sense that I’m queen.” She reasoned.

“Yes, but is it something you want?” he asked with a pointed look.

“I haven’t thought much about it to be honest, so I don’t know if it’s something I want.” She shrugged with a frown.

“Okay, to help you decide, why don’t we use today as a trial run.” He offered.

“What do you mean?” she asked with a confused shake of her head.

“While Marcel and I are out, if a problem arises Diego will come to you with it.” he told her and she just stared at him with wide eyes. “You don’t have to. If you feel better with how things are now, with you behind the scenes, I will be fine with that too.”

She thought about it for a minute. She never saw herself as a leader but since coming to New Orleans she’d been helping as Klaus said, behind the scenes, but if she stepped up as Queen she’d be putting herself directly in the limelight working with Diego and Marcel. Was that really something she wanted? “I want to stay behind the scenes. If I change my mind later I’ll let you know.” She answered and then looked at the clock. “You better get going or you’ll be late.” He pecked her on the lips then left.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was bundled up in a hoodie and yoga pants, reading a book on the private balcony when a knock sounded from the door of their quarters. So she closed her book and answered it revealing Diego on the other side. “Hey, Klaus isn’t here.”

“I know, but I thought you should know the witches left us a package in the courtyard.” He told her then jerked his head for her to follow him.

“Did Klaus ask you to keep me in the loop?” Katie asked, sounding confused as she followed him.

“Na, but you’re our queen now right?” he asked as they walked down the stairs.

“Seems that way.” As they walked into the courtyard the bright white suit of Papa Tunde caught her eyes. “What the hell…?” she asked, taking in the slit across the dead man’s neck.

“Either our witch problems are over, or they’re just getting started.” Diego told her as he too looked down at the body.

“I’m gonna go with just getting started.” Katie said, noticing that the symbol he was laying on was the one he used to channel the power of his offerings. “He doesn’t have the mark on his head.” she thought out loud.

“Yeah, so?” Diego asked, sounding more confused than snarky.

“So whoever killed him thankfully didn’t absorb his power.” She answered. “Which was a lot considering he drained the entire garden last night.” She looked over the body in thought. “It also mean’s he most likely didn’t become anyone’s sensei during the short time he was on our side. No smart witch would let power like that go unclaimed.” She looked up from the body to Diego. ”Sorry if you had friends in the garden.”

“I didn’t,” he answered, “but a few did walk away.”

“Well, for what it’s worth I’m glad you stayed.” She told him as she tucked her hands into the pocket of her hoodie then looked at the other inner circle vampires standing around the courtyard, including the two women that had sassed her the day before. “All of you.”

“Yeah, well, getting called a coward by a human tends to make you rethink your actions.” Mohawk girl said with a tilt of her head and a shrugged shoulder.

“I see my lovely queen is already on top of things.” Klaus said as he walked into the courtyard with Marcel.

“If by on top of things you mean gawking and trying to figure out how someone as powerful as him ended up with a slit throat and left in our courtyard then yeah, I’m on top of things.” Katie answered a little sarcastically.

Elijah came downstairs and kneeled down by the body. After a few minutes of Elijah looking Tunde over Klaus asked, “Can I get you anything brother, a magnifying glass, a pipe perhaps?”

“Do you have a theory that you’d like to share with us, Niklaus?” Elijah asked.

“Back in the day, if the witches wanted to send a threat, they’d just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep.” Marcel spoke up.

“It’s a rather large and ominous chicken, wouldn’t you say?” Elijah asked as he stood up.

“Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well. If he was supposed to be their prized fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?” Klaus asked.

Before anyone else could say anything Rebekah walked in. “Well, don’t you all look cheery?” she asked as she joined the circle around Papa Tunde. “Listen to this. A girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving her tour of the city of the dead.” Everyone perked up giving her their full attention. “It was Monique Deveraux.”

“What?” both Katie and Klaus asked at the same time.

“The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it’s some kind of bloody miracle.” Rebekah told them. Katie realized then that Papa Tunde’s death redirected the magic that raised him back to the rightful owner, Monique.

“Maybe it is. They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a harvest girl is resurrected.” Marcel said, his brain taking the same path as Katie’s. “This is how we’re gonna get Davina back. Kill the witch that took her place.”

“Well, Davina was drawing pictures of a dead witch.” Katie spoke up making everyone look at her. “It stands to reason that Celeste could be the witch that took her place.”

“First Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores.” Klaus said with a point to the dead Papa Tunde, then pointed at Elijah. “Now your murdered lover is back. This isn’t witches attacking vampires. They are declaring war on us.”

“Awesome.” Katie sighed letting her head fall forward.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was in the kitchen making herself an early lunch when Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah found her. “Okay, what’s with the family gathering?” she asked with suspicious eyes.

“We would like to talk to you about your safety here.” Elijah answered.

“Mkay.” She drawled.

“With three more resurrected witches out and about we think it would be best if you left the quarter for a little while.” Klaus told her.

“So, as your future sister in law, I’d like to accompany you to the plantation house.” Rebekah said with a hopeful smile.

Katie looked at Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah then back at Klaus. “And you all agree that this is what’s best?” she asked and he nodded. “Then I’ll go.”

“That seems too easy.” Rebekah pointed out skeptically.

“Well, you guys have a war on your hands. You need all hands on deck and my puny human ones, fighting skills and magic muting bombs aside, are more of an obstacle than an asset.” She pointed out.

“Magic muting bombs?” Rebekah asked with a confused face.

“Bonnie gave me a going away present.” She explained. “Bombs like the vervain one Elena used on you after Rose and what’s his face kidnapped her.” she told Elijah. “Only these are full of a crushed herb that when inhaled by a witch will mute their power. But I only have three and I need to save them for when, slash if my back is ever against the wall.”

“Leave it to the Bennett witch.” Rebekah said clearly impressed.

“You two can’t think clearly if you’re constantly worrying about me and the baby.” she told Klaus and Elijah then looked at Rebekah. “So I’ll go pack a bag and meet you out front. I’m driving.”

“But your car’s a junker.” Rebekah argued.

“It is not a junker, it’s well loved and the only thing I’ve ever earned and paid for myself. I just got it back, I’m driving.” Katie argued making Klaus and Elijah smirk at her as she left the kitchen, her bowl of lunch in her hand.

TVDTVDTVD

“I had hoped to not spend another night in this house again any time soon.” Katie complained as she and Rebekah rocked in the rocking chairs on the front porch, taking in the cold night air.

“Yet you agreed to come here.” Rebekah pointed out. “With me even though you don’t trust me.”

“I don’t trust you when it comes to your attempts to thwart Klaus’s rule, but I do trust you when it comes to keeping this baby, and therefore me, safe.” Katie corrected her then hugged herself. Even in the thick hoodie she was freezing. “I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

Instead of going to sleep Katie sat at the piano in a small room playing what her fingers could remember of what her mother had taught her. When her phone started ringing she pulled it out of her pocket to see that it was Elijah. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Where are you?” he asked, sounding worried.

“The plantation house where I’m supposed to be.” She answered with a frown.

“Where’s Rebekah?” he asked.

“Outside last I checked. Elijah, what’s wrong?” she asked as she stood from the piano headed to the front door.

“You were right. Celeste is back.” he told her as he pulled the front door open. “Niklaus, Rebekah, you’re all in danger.” As she tried to walk out the door slammed shut and Katie yelped. “Katie, you have to find Rebekah and stay with her until I get there.”

“Elijah, I can’t. Those stupid witches are trapping me in the house” she told him as she rushed to the back door only for it to catch fire making her yelp and jump back. “Damn it!”

“I’m on my way.” Elijah hung up. Every exit she tried burst into flames, the door to the rooms she ran through shut behind her until she was trapped in the piano room that wasn’t on fire, but when she tried to kick the window open a line of fire spread along the walls completely trapping her. Not knowing what else to do she took off the hoodie she was wearing and the tank top underneath, poured the glass of sweet tea she’d been drinking while playing the piano on the tank top then lowered herself to the floor where less smoke was likely to be. Even with the filter she’d created, smoke still managed to make its way into her lungs making her cough. She was starting to feel light headed when Elijah whooshed in through a window, scooped her up, whooshed her out into the fresh air and laid her on the hard drive way out front. “Where’s Rebekah?”

“I don’t know.” Katie answered as she sat up still coughing. “Last I saw she was on the front porch.” He grabbed the hoodie she’d been clutching in her hand and pulled it over her head then helped her stand up and bit his wrist. She drank enough to heal her smoke ridden lungs then pushed it away.

“Aww you healed her. How sweet.” the voice of Sabine made them both turn from the house to see her walking up the drive to them. Elijah pushed Katie behind him with a defensive stance. “You won’t hurt me. I’m the only one alive who can break the curse on Hayley’s family.” Katie had no idea what curse she was talking about, but at the moment she didn’t care because another redheaded witch walked up to stand beside Sabine who Katie guessed was really Celeste. “And Genevieve knows where your sister is.” Another older witch joined the women. “Bastianna has Klaus tucked away someplace safe. He’s suffering horribly, I might add, and all because you chose to save the little human instead of your own blood.”

Elijah took a few steps toward Celeste and she held her hand up, the sickening crack of bones breaking filled the air a second before Elijah yelled out in pain and sank to his knees. “Stop!” Katie yelled as she rushed to Elijah’s side holding his shoulder, wishing she could help, but she’d stupidly left the grenades in her car. “Stop hurting him.”

“Oh I’m going to do more than hurt him.” Celeste told her then looked at Elijah. “What a horrific ending,” Celeste closed her hand into a fist causing Elijah to yell out again, “to your pathetic diseased family.” Celeste opened her hand and closed it again torturing Elijah. “I guess always isn’t forever after all.” Celeste twisted her fist snapping his neck before the three witches walked away. Not knowing what else to do Katie sat down next to Elijah and waited for him to wake up.

TVDTVDTVD

“Marcel!” Elijah yelled as he and Katie walked into the compound courtyard. “Where is my brother?”

“I’ve got guys out looking for him right now.” Marcel answered with his hands held out in a calming manner. When two men stepped in front of Marcel, Elijah grabbed them and threw them aside.

“Was that really necessary?” Katie asked with a frown at Elijah’s temper.

“Klaus threw one of his classic temper tantrums, snapped my neck, tried to take on a coven of witches by himself. He got dropped.” Marcel explained. “I don’t know where he is or how to find him.”

“They also have Rebekah.” Elijah informed him then turned his eyes to the vampires around them. “Every! One of you, will help me to find them.” He pointed at the vampires then looked at Marcel. “I’m going to kill them all.”

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was getting out of the shower from washing the stench of smoke from her hair and skin when she heard a knock on the door. So she threw on a robe and answered it to see Elijah. She stepped aside and jerked her head for him to come inside. “Are you okay?”

“Physically yeah, mentally not so much.” She answered as she went to the bedroom and grabbed a tank top and a pair of pajama bottoms. She changed in the bathroom and came back out to find Elijah leaning on the archway. “So the night walkers are looking for Klaus and Rebekah?” She asked as she sat down on the bed and pulled her leg up on it.

“Yes, I was going to join them, but I didn’t want to leave you unprotected.” He told her as he walked further into the room. “They are originals, they can’t die.”

“But I can.” She added. “Is that why you saved me? Because they can’t die but this baby and I can?”

“Yes.” He answered with a nod. “However I also gave you and Niklaus my word. I will not let anything happen to you or the child.”

“Well, whatever your reasons…thank you.” she told him with a tired blink.

“I will let you get some sleep.” He turned to leave.

But she stopped him, “Elijah?” he turned to her with questioning eyes. “I really don’t mean to send the wrong signal here and I have no right to ask after leaving you in the bayou with a werewolf bite, but I haven’t spent a night by myself since moving here and with the witches after revenge…” she shook her head. “Never mind.”

“I will stay, if that’s what you’re asking.” He told her seriously.

“That's what I’m asking.” She told him with a nod that he returned as he watched her slide under the sheet and comforter. He laid on the other side of the bed on top of the comforter facing her. After laying in the dark for a while Katie asked, “What curse was Sabine or Celeste or whatever she wants to be called, talking about?”

“Hayley’s family has been cursed to spend most of their time as wolves, only being human on the full moon.” He answered. Katie couldn’t help but wonder why that meant so much to him that Celeste though it was enough to keep her alive. She knew Elijah well enough to know that he’d either given Hayley his word that he’d help her break the curse on her people in return for helping him during his time in the bayou or he’d developed feelings for Hayley. “You can ask whatever it is you’re not asking. I hide nothing from you.”

“Why does the fact that Celeste is the only one who can break that curse matter to you so much that it would keep you from killing her?” she asked. “I mean why would you go out of your way to break a curse on werewolves without there being something in it for you or someone you care about?”

“I have given Hayley my word that I would help her people.” He answered. “I also started courting her during the week you were gone with Niklaus.” Forgetting that he could see her even though she couldn’t see him she smiled. “This pleases you?”

“If she brings you even the slightest bit of happiness then, yes, it pleases me.” she answered then yawned. “The sooner I go to sleep the sooner I can help you find Klaus. So, goodnight, Elijah.”

“Goodnight.”

[440mxs-wife]

The Wedding Date

Pairing: Castiel x Reader

Your phone notification dinged, indicating an email had been sent to you. When you opened the email app, you noticed it was from your mother. The subject line was: Your Cousin Jenna's Wedding RSVP. You closed your eyes and groaned in frustration.

This was your youngest cousin getting married, and she asked you to be one of her bridesmaids. Once she was married, it would make you the last of the cousins to still be single. You didn't even have a boyfriend or any prospects of one except maybe....

Castiel....

Not even Sam or Dean had any inkling about your attraction to the blue-eyed angel, or at least you didn't think they knew. Castiel was always kind to you, sweet, understanding and seemed to enjoy your company. He especially was there with you any time you were in the kitchen, particularly when you were baking. It was one of the few times when you had his undivided attention.

His smile made your heart feel lighter, and his deep, gravelly voice turned your knees to jelly. His sapphire eyes appeared to burrow their way into your soul. You hoped that he couldn't see all the way in to where you kept hidden your true feelings towards him. You doubted that he returned those feelings, and you certainly couldn't bear the embarrassment if he knew how you felt.

As you were reading the email with the itinerary of wedding festivities, Dean entered the library. He was passing through on the way to his room, but with one look at your face, he knew you were upset. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

You sighed deeply before answering. "My cousin Jenna is getting married in two weeks, and my mom just emailed me the schedule for the wedding activities," you answered.

"That doesn't sound so bad. What's the problem?" he pushed.

"The 'problem' is, I told my mom that I kind of....had a boyfriend. Now she wants to meet him, and I can't bring someone who doesn't exist," you finished.

"You could say that you broke up with your imaginary boyfriend, which would solve the whole 'meeting your mom' problem," Dean suggested.

"True, but that's not the only issue. My ex, Jeremy, is also supposed to be there. He and I broke up well before I came here and started hunting with you guys. He's friends with the best man, so it's going to be very hard to ignore him the whole time. Besides that, I wanted him to see me with someone. Then, I could rub it in his face that I'm with someone much better than him," you explained.

The more you thought about the situation, the more you decided that you were going to send your regrets. You would attend the ceremony, maybe the reception, but you would definitely skip the pre-wedding activities fiasco. Dean told you not to be so hasty, to tell your mom that there would be two of you. What little time there was before you had to travel would be spent trying to think of a way out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A couple of days later, you still hadn't come up with a solution. You went to the kitchen for something to drink, and came back with a bottle of water. When you returned to the living room, you noticed that Castiel had appeared. As soon as he saw you, he broke into a huge smile, which lit up his entire face. "Hello, Castiel," you greeted him with a shy smile.

"It's lovely to see you. I hope your day is going well for you," Cas remarked.

"So far, so good, Cas. I hope you're having a good day as well," you replied. You dropped your gaze because you were blushing furiously and didn't want anyone to see, especially Castiel.

Cas hooked his finger under your chin and tilted your head up to meet your eyes. "You have such a luminous smile. You should show it more often. And for the record, any day that I get to see you is a good day," Cas said, placing his other hand on yours.

"Thank you, Cas," you gave him a smile. As you went to the library to do some reading, you ran your hand across his back from one shoulder to the other.

As Dean watched the exchange between you and Castiel, a plan began to form in his mind. "Yeah, I'll be right back. I'm headed into town to pick up something for dinner," Dean explained. "Hey Sammy? Let's go for a food run!" You heard Sam shout back that he would meet Dean in the Impala.

A short while later, your phone dinged with another email notification. You opened the email and frowned as you read it. Cas noticed your facial expression. "Is something wrong? You look unhappy," he noted.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing, Cas. Just another email from my mother about my cousin Jenna's wedding in a week or so. I'm one of the bridesmaids. Mom is 'overjoyed' at finally meeting my boyfriend, and, of course, has told my entire family about it," you grumbled.

An unpleasant and slightly unfamiliar feeling came over Cas in reaction to your statement of your mother meeting your boyfriend. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend. Do Sam and Dean know him? When will I get to meet him?" he asked tightly.

"Probably never, Cas, he doesn't exist. I don't have a boyfriend now, and probably never will again," you muttered.

"Then why did you tell your mother you had one?" he asked, his head tilted to one side.

You looked down at your hands, not really wanting to answer. "Because," you started. "I was tired of her asking me when I was going to get married. So, I lied to her, and before you say it, yes, I know it was wrong. But, I never thought there would be any occasion that she would ever need physical confirmation that I actually had a boyfriend. Now there is," you finished quietly.

"I see. Why don't you think you'll ever have another boyfriend?" he asked innocently.

"Cas, I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk about this anymore. Excuse me," you quickly got up from your chair and ran to your room before he could see your tears.

Sam and Dean came down the spiral staircase in time to see you bolt from the library. Cas stared after you, wondering what he had done to make you leave like that. "I don't understand, Dean. One minute we were talking about her cousin's wedding and her 'boyfriend', and the next minute she's running out of here....in tears," Cas explained sadly. "It's my fault that she's crying. Maybe I should go in and talk to her--"

Dean cut him off. "Whoa, buddy hold on there a minute. Give her some time. She'll come back out when she's ready," Dean assured Cas.

"Since when does she have a boyfriend? I've never seen her with anyone," Sam interjected.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, Sam. She told her mother that because she was tired of being asked when she was going to get married. It makes me sad to hear her say that she doesn't think she'll ever have another boyfriend, or someone to care for her in that way," Cas added.

"Really, Cas?" Dean asked as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, now that we're on the subject, what do you think of her?"

Castiel thought for a minute as a smile slowly crept across his face. "She's the most amazing woman I've ever met, with such a beautiful soul. Her eyes are so expressive, I can tell what she's thinking without reading her mind. When she smiles, I can't help but smile with her, and her laughter makes me feel warm inside.

"Whenever I'm around her, my heart races and I have this feeling in my stomach. And it feels like a part of me is missing when I'm not with her. Is this what you humans call....love?" he asked, a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"I would say that's exactly what it is, Cas. You're in love with her," Sam confirmed with a grin.

"And judging by what I saw earlier, I'd say she also has feelings for you, Cas," Dean added.

Cas let the knowledge sink in about the possibility that you would return his affection. "Love," he whispered, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

"Gentleman and Angel-man? We have a very distraught woman--whom we love--who's crying in her room and needs our help. Between the three of us, I'm sure we can come up with some sort of plan to help her out," Dean winked conspiratorially. "Here's what I think we should do," he started, as he and Sam dug into the pizza.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The day came when you had to fly out to be at Jenna's wedding. On the way to the airport, Dean had told you not to worry, that he discussed your situation with an old friend of his.

He said that this friend has agreed to meet your mom and pose as your boyfriend for appearances' sake. His friend would be by your side for the wedding and reception. Dean assured you that his friend was definitely someone better than your ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. And, he would be more than enough to make him jealous. All you had to do is tell your mom and everyone that he had to work, but would meet you at her house in time for the wedding.

You took a taxi from the airport to your mom's house. You walked up the steps to the porch and rang the doorbell. Your mom threw open the door and squealed at seeing you. She burst through and nearly knocked you over when she hugged you. She pulled back from the hug and looked left, right and behind you. "So, where is he?" she asked excitedly.

"He had to work, Mom, but he said he'll be here in time for the wedding. Let's go inside, okay?" you suggested. She threw her arm around your shoulder and you went inside the house.

You went up to your old room, pulled out your phone and called Dean. You thought they might be out on a hunt, but to your surprise, Dean picked up after two rings. You told him you made it to your mom's house safely, and that she already asked about your "boyfriend". You wanted to make sure that his friend would still be there for the wedding events. Dean told you to have a little faith, and assured you that his friend would be there in time. You thanked him and hung up.

After your phone call to Dean, you went down to the kitchen to see if you could help your mom with anything. She was making some food for the rehearsal dinner tonight. You sat down, pulled grapes from their stems, sliced them in half and added them to the fruit salad.

One of your cousins, Brenda, came in for something to drink. While you were growing up, she always knew just how to get under your skin about certain things, especially your love life. She noticed you sitting at the kitchen table and said how nice it was to see you. "So," she started. "Where's this 'mystery man' of yours?" she asked.

"He's not a 'mystery', Brenda," you replied wearily. "He had to work, so he'll be flying in a little later, in time for the wedding," you answered.

"Really? Come on, let's be honest. You don't have a boyfriend, do you? If you did, I'm sure we would've heard something more about him by now. Usually, you don't bring a new boyfriend to this kind of thing anyway. Too much pressure, you know, all those relatives," she smirked.

"Tell us about him, sweetheart," your mom prompted.

"Well......," you started. You had no idea what Dean's friend looked like, so you based your description off of the only man who has had or will ever have your heart. "He has dark hair, not too tall, intense blue eyes," you smiled as you thought of Castiel. "He's kind, sweet, likes to spend time talking to me while I'm in the kitchen. Especially when I'm baking," you giggled.

At that moment, one of your cousin's kids came in to tell you that there was a visitor for you at the door. Could this be Dean's friend, arriving early? you asked yourself as you made your way to the front door.

More of your cousins' kids were running around, playing hide-and-seek, and one of them happened to run into you. "Hey, now, how about keeping your eyes open next time," you playfully growled. You grabbed the offending child in a hug, kissed the top of his head, then sent him back to play. Grinning, you looked up to see who your visitor was, and gasped when you saw a familiar trench coat. "Castiel?!?"

"Hello Honeybee, I'm so sorry I'm late," Castiel smiled as he  gathered you into his arms. "Dean said I should do this when I first see  you," he whispered. Cas lowered his head and pressed your lips to his  in a soft, sweet kiss. Remind me to thank Dean when I get home, you thought. "I won't let you forget," Cas murmured in your ear. You blushed as you remembered he could hear your thoughts.

Your mother came to the door just in time to see Castiel  giving you his "hello" kiss. "Mom, I would like you to meet my  boyfriend, Castiel. Cas, this is my mom, Ava," you said.

Your cousin Brenda wasn't far behind your mom, and when she saw you  and Castiel kissing, her mouth nearly dropped to the floor. "Close your  mouth, Bren, if you don't want to catch flies," you smirked.

"A pleasure to meet you Ava," Cas clasped your mother's hand in  greeting. "Welcome, Castiel, so nice you could join us for such a  festive occasion," she remarked.

"Thank you, I'm glad to be a part of it. Anything for my Honeybee," he grinned as he took your hand, intertwining your fingers.

"Do you need help with your luggage, sweetheart?" you asked Cas. "I just have the one bag, darling, but I can get it, thank you. Um, where should I take it?" he asked. You looked at your mom, and she indicated that he could take it upstairs to your room. She gave you a wink as you started up the stairs, blushing the entire way.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* You closed the door to your room once Cas was inside. "C-can I take your coat, Cas?" you stammered. He handed his trench coat and suit coat over so you could carefully hang them up in your closet. You went over to sit on your bed, and soon Cas joined you. "Are-are you sure you want to go through with this? Pose as my boyfriend until after the wedding is over?" you asked timidly as you looked down at your hands. Cas turned so he was facing you straight on.  "I am honored to do this for you and be your boyfriend," Cas replied. "But I have a few conditions," he quickly added.

"Such as?" you asked, slightly raising your head.

Cas leaned closer to you before listing his "conditions" to being your boyfriend. "First, you must not speak badly about yourself to yourself," he stated, kissing your nose. "Second, you must always remember what a stunning, vibrant woman you are," he added, kissing your cheek. "Last, but certainly never least, remember that you are deserving of love, and know that I will never cease to remind you," he promised.

His thumb brushed lightly over your lips. "I think it may be time for a reminder. May I show you?" he asked. Curious, you nodded slowly. Cas cupped his hand behind your head, pulling you closer to claim your lips with his. You wound your left arm around his neck, while running your right index finger along his strong jawline.

When you finally broke the kiss, you were both breathing heavily. "That was....amazing, Cas," you whispered. He touched his forehead to yours. "I would say the same, Honeybee," Cas agreed with a grin.

You and Cas sat and talked about what to expect this weekend. You warned him that he would likely meet many more of your family members. Aunts, uncles, more cousins and more of their kids, all sure to be curious about him. Being one of sixteen grown-up first cousins meant that there would be lots of kids.

About an hour later, your mother started packing up the food. She knocked on your door to let you know she was leaving. Everyone was headed out to the church for the rehearsal and then to decorate the reception hall. You said you and Cas would meet her there shortly, and that you would take your car.

A 1968 Royal Blue Chevy Nova with a white racing stripe was parked in your mom's driveway with a car cover on it. You pulled off the cover and stowed it in the trunk then slid behind the wheel. You turned the key in the ignition and grinned as the engine roared to life then settled into a gentle purr.

The rehearsal went off without any problems, except that Jeremy was your escort down the aisle. You thought to yourself how you'd almost rather be mauled by a werewolf than be anywhere near him. Unfortunately, you had no choice in the matter, so you decided to focus on not tripping on your dress and ignoring Jeremy.

On the drive over to the reception hall, you told Cas that the decorating would be done the old-fashioned way, using no angel mojo to zap it in place.  He pretended to pout, which made you laugh at the funny yet adorable face he made. Cas grinned as he picked up your hand again in his and brushed his lips over the back of it. This small but intimate gesture sent a jolt of electricity up your arm and made your heart beat a little faster.

Your mom put you and Cas in charge of table decorations. First, you and Cas covered the tables with linen tablecloths. In the middle, you placed a vase with silk roses, while Cas added the electric candles around the vase. You stepped back to view your handiwork, and when you turned to look at Cas, he had a smile on his face. More than a few times, he brushed his lips across the back of your hand. He was happy to be helping and spending time with you, becoming closer with you.

At one point, you ran out of tablecloths, so you left Cas to look for your mother. As you turned a corner, you nearly ran into Jeremy. Your near-collision caused him to spill his drink all down his chest. "Now look what you did, you idiot!" he snarled, then he caught your eye. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you! Are you okay?" he wondered.

"Like you care. I need to find my mother to get some more tablecloths, Jeremy. Excuse me," you retorted as you tried to push past him.

"Wait, wait a minute, would you? I haven't seen you in so long, how have you been?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm fine, Jeremy, nice talking to you," you answered.

He caught your hand and rubbed his thumb on the back of it. "You look amazing," he remarked. "Can we please go somewhere and talk?" he pleaded.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Jeremy. Besides, I'm with someone," you announced as you pulled your hand from his grasp.

Jeremy gave a loud snort. "Oh, that's right. Brenda gave me his description, but where is he? Oh, and we want to know for the record--which escort service did you get him from? Must have cost a small fortune," he snickered.

You couldn't believe your burning ears. Not only did your ex-boyfriend think you were incapable of finding someone who loved you, so did your cousin Brenda. You turned away before Jeremy could see the tears building in your eyes. "I need more tablecloths. Excuse me," you whispered as you ran off to find your mom.

The decorating was finished about an hour later, so you went back to your mom's house. You were a bit nervous, because you hadn't yet discussed sleeping arrangements with Cas. It was late, so you and Cas changed into sleeping attire and prepared to slip beneath the covers.

Cas got in first and held out his arms, indicating he wanted you close by his side. Here it was, you were about to have one of your dream scenarios happen in real life. Heart pounding wildly, you moved closer until your head was resting on his upper chest. Your left arm was wrapped around his midsection while he curled his free arm around you. "Goodnight, Castiel," you murmured.

"Sweet dreams, Honeybee," Cas whispered, placing a soft kiss on your forehead.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning was a flurry of activity, getting ready for the early afternoon wedding. You made sure to get one or your mom's famous cinnamon rolls and a decent cup of coffee. After that, you went back up to your room to shower and get dressed to go to the church. Cas was already dressed by the time you came back upstairs.

You put your hair styling gear and makeup in a bag, grabbed your shoes and your dress then you both headed downstairs. Your bridesmaid's dress was a strapless, floor-length, navy blue A-line dress with a criss-cross bodice. Fortunately, the bride said it didn't matter if everyone's shoes matched, so you settled on some silver sparkly flats.

You and Cas went in your car to the church, in case either of you felt like leaving early. Pictures with the wedding party were taken after the ceremony, then you drove your car over to the reception hall for the dinner. Afterwards, members of the wedding party offered their toasts to the bride and groom, yourself included. Then tables and chairs were cleared to reveal the dance floor so that the music and dancing could start.

At one point, you stood alone, listening to the music. You scanned the room for Castiel and watched everyone else out on the dance floor. You had just placed your empty champagne flute on the table when you felt two strong arms snake around your waist from behind. You turned around in his embrace, winding your arms around his neck. "There you are, I've been looking for you," you grinned. "Cas, honey, would you like something to drink, or perhaps a piece of cake?" you asked.

"No thank you, sweetheart. But would you like to dance?" he said as he tugged a bit on your hand.

"I would love to," you smiled and allowed him to lead you to the dance floor. The DJ played a slow song, so Cas spun you around once before drawing you into his arms. He had one hand holding yours and the other splayed across your upper back.

As you and Cas swayed together in time with the music, he couldn't stop gazing into your eyes and smiling. "In case I forgot to tell you, you look absolutely gorgeous, my dear," he remarked, pulling you closer.

Your cheeks felt blazing hot as you dropped your gaze. "Thank you, Cas," you replied with a shy smile.

When the song ended, you decided you'd had enough fun for one evening. "Cas, I'm a little tired and I'd like to head back to my mother's house. If that's okay with you," you hastily added.

"Of course, whatever you wish, Honeybee," Cas replied.

"I probably should tell Mom where we've gone," you remarked as you scanned the room. Cas said that he would find your mom and inform her of your whereabouts. As soon as Cas left, you heard a voice you'd rather forget. "Well, well, so he's your 'boyfriend', hmm? You two looked awfully cozy out on that dance floor," Jeremy smirked.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, wishing Jeremy would just go away, but you knew he wouldn't. "Jeremy, why must you torture me? Didn't you do that enough by cheating on me after we were together five years?" you asked.

"Oh, come on! Drop the act and just admit it! You two aren't really together, you only hired him to be your boyfriend so you didn't have to look so pathetic!" Jeremy exclaimed.

Something in you snapped and you got right up in Jeremy's face. "You are a jackass. You have no right to disrespect me or Castiel with your ugly assumptions, and I won't stand for it. He's a million times the man you could ever hope to be. He's kind, compassionate and he's never cheated on me," you retorted.

Castiel must have sensed your distress because in a split second, he was dodging chairs and tables left and right to get to you. "Sweetheart, are you all right? You look upset," Cas was back at your side, taking you into his arms.

"I'm fine," you replied. "Can we please leave?" Cas nodded and kissed your forehead. With his arm around your shoulders, he led you out to your car.

Once you were back in your room, you both changed into pajamas and sat on your bed talking, your backs resting against your headboard. During your conversation, you explained about what happened between you and your ex-boyfriend Jeremy. How you were together for five years, but for some reason, he decided he didn't want you anymore, because he cheated on you. "I guess that's why I keep thinking I'll never find someone to love me," you finished.

When he heard this, Castiel was almost overwhelmed with emotion for you. He was angry with Jeremy for betraying you this way. He didn't want to imagine how hurt you must have been when you discovered the infidelity. His heart ached to hear that you seemed to have given up on finding someone to love you.

He shifted on the bed so he was facing you and so he could look into your honey-and-green eyes. Castiel cupped your cheek and caressed it with his thumb. He slowly leaned towards you until your lips were only a  fraction of an inch apart. "You are so beautiful to me, my lovely  Honeybee. I think it's time for another reminder," he remarked softly before capturing your mouth in a searing kiss.

"Oh  Cas," you breathed, incapable of much verbal expression beyond that.  You slipped your hand up to his neck, tracing his strong jawline on the  way. Your touch seemed to awaken something in him. You could almost  swear you heard him growl softly just before he deepened the kiss. You're so wonderful and amazing, my angel,  you thought, not caring if Cas heard you say this in your mind. Between  kisses, your name mixed with sweet words of love in Enochian dropped  from his lips like a prayer.

When you finally broke apart, you  both were trying to catch your breath with your foreheads touching. You  grinned at each other, holding hands with interlaced fingers.

You decided to test the waters a bit. "Cas, you being here with me....this isn't pretend for you, is it? Because you should know that this is very real for me. I've had feelings for you for quite some time," you blurted out. "I mean, I understand if--" he placed his index finger on your lips. "No, my love, this isn't pretend for me. And it warms my heart to know that it's real for you. When Sam, Dean and I came up with this plan to help you, I told them how much I cared for you. They helped me to see that what I was feeling for you was love. Dean told me he suspected that you had feelings for me as well," Cas finished. "Well, he was right about that," you smiled. "It feels so empty when you're not around, and I always look forward to the next time we might see each other. The time we spend together while I'm working in the kitchen is very special to me. Maybe we could find other things to do outside of the kitchen," you suggested. Cas reached over and tucked a wayward lock of hair behind your ear. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, sweetheart," he grinned before pulling you into another passionate kiss.

"I love you, Cas," you said softly.

"I love you, my Honeybee," Cas replied.

[mysteriesofmarcy]

How It Should Have Ended: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

The finale is two hours instead of only half an hour. Star still decides to destroy magic, but when she goes out, she’s waylaid by Seth, who is revealed to still be alive. Joining him is Toffee, who, as it turns out, still had a tiny bit enough to regenerate. Rasticore (who is now fully reformed) comes to join Seth and Toffee, which is when Seth reveals that Mewmans had killed his father, so Seth sent Toffee to kill Moon’s mother. Star tries to tell them about Mina’s rampage, but they don’t listen to her. The brawl goes to Mina and her troops, and Star finds that Mina has already imprisoned Eclipsa. Star uses a Destroying Spell on Mina, but Mina is unaffected and starts laughing. Then, to the shock of everyone else, Mina reveals a startling secret: she’s actually a monster herself! And her real name is not even Mina; it’s Zanxibara! Seth says he recognizes her and they used to be friends, and Mina reveals another gut punch: she was the one who killed Seth’s father, and she tricked Seth into thinking Mewmans had done it!

Realizing he’d condemned an innocent person to death, Seth goes into a breakdown, which horrifies Star. Just then, Ludo and his family come to see if Star can make peace with them, only to find Zanxibara about to go on a rampage. Rasticore goes to battle Zanxibara, but she knocks him into acid, dissolving him completely and leaving nothing (not even his right arm) behind. Ludo and Star look on in utmost horror, and then, Ludo jumps after Zanxibara, only to be caught by her, and Dennis dies trying to save him. Ludo’s parents, who were among the monsters Zanxibara had rounded up, are quite shocked by this, unable to comprehend why Dennis would still want to associate with who they consider a failure. This angers Star, who proceeds to open a can of (verbal) whoop-ass on them for their callousness and inability (or unwillingness) to comprehend that blood is thicker than water. Zanxibara takes this opportunity to send everyone down to an underground dungeon, allowing her (and Manfred, who’d willingly joined her) to conquer more land.

Just when all seems lost, however, Star and Marco come across a figure trapped, not in one of Rhombulus’ crystals, but in ice. After she is unfrozen, the figure reveals that she is the real Mina Loveberry. Years ago, Zanxibara kidnapped her, trapped her in ice (leaving her aware just to prolong her suffering), and stole her identity. Glad to have a new ally, Star realizes that it was actually misuse of magic, not magic in and of itself, that caused all these problems, and recruits Mina to take down Zanxibara. Mina transports everyone hit by Solaria’s sword beams to the Healing Grounds to heal them, and once everyone has recovered, Star takes everyone for the final battle.

Meanwhile, Zanxibara and Manfred are discussing their plans to conquer not just Mewni, but all dimensions. Star sends Marco and Janna to Earth to warn everyone and takes everyone else to fight. Zanxibara sends her troops to take down our heroes, but all of the previous queens’ ghosts come to Star’s aid. In a fit of rage, Manfred steals Star’s Dimensional Scissors and uses them to transport himself and Zanxibara to Earth.

Unfortunately for the villains, Echo Creek is ready for them. Marco, Janna, and all of the other Earth characters who have ever appeared in the show take on Mina’s troops. Manfred gets killed, but Zanxibara doesn’t care; she simply casts a spell on Marco, brings out Monster Arm, and turns him into a full-fledged separate being. Monster Arm battles Marco and almost kills him, but Jeremy (of all people) comes to Marco’s rescue and slices the Monster right in half with a karate chop. After a bloody battle, Zanxibara realizes her minions are all dead and Marco’s army is still numerous, so she uses the Dimensional Scissors (which Manfred had given to her) to escape back to Mewni.

This is just what Star was waiting for. Using her Mewberty form, she blasts Zanxibara, severely weakening her. In agony, Zanxibara apologizes and begs for mercy, but when a Truth Spell shows this apology to be insincere, Star and her army use Solaria’s sword beams on Zanxibara, causing her to explode.

With the Mewmans and Monsters finally at peace (albeit with a heavy cost), Star goes back to Earth and thanks Marco for being instrumental to Zanxibara’s defeat. Britney comes and says Star is invited to any one of her parties. Ludo makes peace with his parents, Seth and Toffee make peace with the Butterfly family, and the Magic High Commission realize what complete assholes and jerkasses they’ve been and decide to atone for their sins (Glossaryck even makes peace with Reynaldo). Best of all, Star and Marco finally become a couple.

(Edited for clarity)

Thanks for the submission, Erinne. While I personally would rather scrap every episode starting at Sad Teen Hotline and start over, your solution would work best if it was the plot of just the final episode. Though you would have to change a few things about the previous episodes, particularly the end of TTatEotM.

I particularly like the twist that the Mina we know today is actually NOT the Mina from Solaria’s (or even Moon’s) day. I also like that Star realizes that the correct solution to her problem is not to destroy magic, but to preserve its integrity. I feel like, since it is his job, Glossaryck could help her come to this revelation.

However, I do not like that so many characters died here. I get what you were going for, but I don’t really think that a lot of deaths fits the tone of the show. One or two heroic sacrifices and villain deaths would be in order, though. Moon maybe for the heroic sacrifice part, and definitely Zanxibara for the villain. Manfred would live in my version, but he would probably either run off during the battle to lay the groundwork for a sequel or get fired and arrested for his crimes.

Here’s another idea for how Zanxibara could return to Mewni:

Zanxibara returns to Mewni after being beaten on earth. Fortunately, Star and her allies are there to stop her. But it soon becomes clear that Star’s forces are no match for the giant mecha robot that is standing before them. Suddenly, Zanxibara issues a challenge: she will fight one person, mono-a-mono, with the winner taking the battle and control of Mewni. Nobody wants to do it. But just when all hope seems lost, Star steps up and accepts the challenge. Zanxibara scoffs at the notion that a little girl could defeat her, so she decides to make it fair by taking off all her armor. Star shoots a narwhal out of her hands (bringing back the hand-magic from the season premiere) and it impales Zanxibara. This severely weakens her. Then we get to the insincere apology and the truth spell that you mentioned.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this submission, but this definitely wasn’t it. But even though I wasn’t expecting this, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I liked it a lot. Thanks again for submitting! I hope you like the changes I suggested. 😉

[whyintheworldblog-blog]

2019 Tory Leadership Election

One of these men will be the next Prime Minister. Sadly, they are all men but information is necessary to understand what they stand for individually and where they came from. 

Starting with Jeremy Hunt (top left) he actually campaigned to remain in the 2016 EU referendum but has since supposedly reinvented himself into a Brexiteer. However, he does acknowledge that it would be ‘political suicide’ to leave the European Union in October without a deal. This in my opinion suggests that he isn’t as invested in leaving the European Union as he may claim. This could be an attempt to keep both sides of the fence happy, as he is already seen as a traitor by Remainers. If he has easily given up what he supposedly believed in in the 2016 Referendum how can party members believe he is being genuine now with his deflection to Leave. Furthermore, he is seen as quite a controversial cabinet member after his long running post as health secretary. Throughout his office position he was involved in various changes, most which were quite controversial resulting in a number of walk outs in 2015 by junior doctors. This therefore makes him a risky candidate however, with 43 votes in the first round he is the second favourite. 

Moving on from Hunt, we come onto the party favourite Boris Johnson. He has been a leading Brexiteer since the Referendum campaign in 2016 so much so that he quit as foreign secretary over his displeasure of Theresa May’s deal. This favour of leaving the EU has been reflected in his attitude towards a deal. He is very much under the view that on the 31st of October, the UK should leave the EU ‘deal or no deal’. He is widely popular throughout the party which is reflected in his proportion of the votes (114). Since the first vote, Matt Hancock has withdrawn from the race, and has since put his faith in Boris, BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg explains this. She suggests that Hancock knows that Johnson will be Prime Minister and therefore wants to keep a comfy cabinet position which is always easier to gain when you support the front runner. She goes onto explain what most already know, the fact that the Conservative party is a boys club and they all link up when its necessary. Laura highlights how some MPs who are concerned about what Johnson would do if he got into office have aligned themselves to him to ensure that he doesn’t go too far right. This is emulated in the recent move of the Evening Standard to become much friendlier towards the prospective leader. Could this have something to do with it’s editor the previous chancellor, George Osborne. Perhaps Johnson understands that in order to get the position he is vying for he needs the support of middle ground members of the party and not just the hard Brexiteers. Johnson is an enigma of a man, not due to his complexities, more due to the fact he is always acting like a buffoon. Does he do this to appear more likeable, more down to earth because it does not work. Why on earth would someone think a man, who constantly speaks about people from different backgrounds or of different cultures being below him, be a good candidate for Prime Minister? It baffles me. 

Thirdly, Michael Gove who led the vote leave campaign in 2016 will most likely be remembered for foiling Johnson’s leadership plans in 2016 when David Cameron stepped down. His backstabbing of his supposed friend not only ruined Johnson’s chances of being Prime Minister but also his own. He is most notable in the cabinet for being Education Secretary in which he had many issues including a clash with teachers and unions which made him very unpopular with the wider public. Most recently, he has announced that 20 years ago he used cocaine in a social situation which has had many people calling him a hypocrite due to his view on drug control and punishment. The issue i have with this is that he is in the very fortunate position that he has no concern about the cost of his mistake. However, it is important to note that he had banned teachers for possesion of drugs whilst being the education secretary. When he announced his leadership run most journalists were curious as to why he feels he should be allowed to run when having admitted to drug use. This i feel is sort of irrelevant, i do not feel the issue should be ignored however, these teachers were banned because they had drugs on their person whilst being in the teaching profession, not 20 years before they took up the role. I do not feel these two things can be compared. Nevertheless, in the first round of votes, Gove got 37 votes. 

The last three are more unknown than the other candidates starting with Rory Stewart who only got his first cabinet position in May this year (2019). He has been clear with highlighting that he was a remainer but is supposedly only interested in bringing the country together and creating unity. In recent days he has been questioned regarding his links to MI6 because some party members are concerned that his campaign may actually have the momentum to take on Boris Johnson. It appears that Sajid Javid is concerned as he thought it was necessary to suggest that the final two candidates should have differing backgrounds, highlighting this because Stewart, went to Eton like Johnson. It is clear that not everyone is buying into the fact that Stewart is going to deliver Brexit with Gove also weighing in on the debate suggesting that the final two candidates should not be so different that they polarise the party. These just seem like a grab at straws because they are concerned that this relatively new cabinet minister could take the leadership out from under them. However, you do have to question how genuine the candidate is if they have always previously been a remainer. 

Dominic Raab has a similar standpoint to Johnson that Brexit must happen again ‘deal or no deal’. However, he has gone further suggesting that he would not rule out shutting down Parliament if that was the only way to get Brexit over and done with. He was sacked as Justice Minister in 2015 by Theresa May but in July 2018 secured a position as Brexit Secretary, which he resigned from months later because he couldn’t support May’s deal. He gained 27 votes in the first round. 

Finally, Sajid Javid who is currently the Home Secretary. He backed a remain vote but claimed that he didn’t do it wholeheartedly. He claims to have been a Eurosceptic all along. Again, this has the same issues as other candidates, is he just saying all this because he wants to be Prime Minister? I mean in reality how do you ever know if a politician is being genuine, it’s literally their job to lie most of the time. He was a successful investment banker before becoming a politician. He was also a second generation migrant who went to a public school. He had 23 votes in the first round. 

There is a debate on BBC 1 tonight at 8pm where all the candidates will be involved. Whether this will shed any light on who is a better candidate for the role or not is yet to be seen. It seems that there is not that much difference between any of the candidates, they are all middle aged men after all. As a young woman fiercely interested in politics however, not a Conservative supporter it is still disheartening to see no women get through the first stage of the election. I hope in the future there will be representatives of varying nationalities, genders and age groups to attempt to bring together a country that at the moment couldn’t be more divided.

[thevampirediariesdiary]

2.03, Bad Moon Rising

Welp I accidentally took a month-long hiatus but I’m back!  This semester has been kicking my ass, so I’ll do the best I can with getting one of these up each week, but go easy on me.

Damon, Stefan, and Elena convince Rick to help them go through Isobel’s research at Duke University – which is all still there, because apparently her only being missing and not dead means she gets to keep her office??  Tenure is one hell of a drug.  The plan is to find anything on the Lockwood family, because for some reason Damon feels threatened by their very existence, and also Katherine.  

“So are you sure you wanna do this?” Stefan asks. “Which part?” Elena retorts, pouting while she packs her road trip stuff. “Digging through my birth mother’s life work or –” she pauses, says with perfect derisive scorn, “going to Duke with Damon?”  Stefan snorts a little, answers, “Either? Both?”  “Well, I’m sure about the first part,” Elena answers, “but then again Rick is a good buffer, so we can bond in our anti-Damon solidarity.  I wish you were coming, though.”  “You know what?” says Stefan, “Why don’t we hold off a couple days?  Wait until Caroline’s less of a danger and then I can go with you.”  “It’s okay that I’m going right?” Elena asks. “And be honest because if it’s not then I can just stay here and we can take care of Caroline!”  She’s warming to the idea as she suggests it, but Stefan says, “No, listen, I want you to go, okay, I do.  You have questions about your lineage, about Katherine, and look, I’m not gonna let the fact that Damon is going keep you from an opportunity to get some answers.” Elena nods, looks at him, says: “You hate it though.”

“I hate it,” Stefan confirms.

“But I love you,” he says.  “I love you, too,” Elena answers.  They kiss.  And with that, this very ambiguous conversation is over; does Stefan hate it because he doesn’t trust Damon (as established in 1.22)? or because Damon killed Jeremy and he’s siding with Elena in her unforgiveness?  Why must they go to Duke now?  Why is Damon going?  Is Alaric really in anti-Damon solidarity with them, because last I checked they were on fine terms, and we never got a Jeremy-murder reaction from him so why assume otherwise?  Where IS Jeremy?  Is Damon giving him whittling lessons yet?  So many questions left unanswered.  Ah well.

Downstairs, Alaric and Jenna are being Super Mature about the fact that they’re interacting: Rick makes an excuse about how busy he’s been, Jenna tells him she’s grateful he’s giving Elena this connection to her birth mother.  I’m proud of them both, but I’m especially proud of Jenna; Rick offers her an apology for their relationship being start and stop and says “Maybe once I��, and Jenna cuts him off with an “Uhhh, no. Don’t do that,” she says, not unkindly.  “Not the half apology, maybe, hope-for-the-future thing.”  He smiles wryly.  “Do what you need to do, okay?” Jenna says.  YOU GO, JENNA!!  YOU ARE KIND AND PATIENT BUT YOU WILL NOT BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF!!  Elena asks her if she’s okay as she heads out the door; “Yeah,” Jenna answers, “just, men and their baggage!”

Now, this next scene is absolute gold.  Damon leans against the car, says while pouting mightily, “Sorry you can’t come too, Stef.”  Stefan ignores him, but Elena throws her bag into the car extra violently and glares.  

Stefan tries to sidetrack her: “Call me if you need anything.”  “Oh,” Damon says, inserting himself again, “I’ll take really good care of her.”

And Elena!!  While maintaining eye contact with him!!!  Grabs Stefan around the neck and makes out with him.  Is this fucking Twilight??  I don’t know but it’s ridiculous and spiteful and I love it.  

And then: they both turn around and look at Damon again?  Stefan kind of…smacks his lips???

“Okay, time to go,” Damon says.  Having adequately antagonized the person who literally killed Jeremy because Elena chose Stefan over him, they pile into the car and boogie on out.

Stefan sits down with Bonnie to convince her to make Caroline a daylight ring; it’s important, he says, to keep Caroline in contact with the people that connect her to her humanity, and that requires being able to go out in the sun.  Bonnie’s not so sure she can trust new vampire-Car; Stefan says, “Then trust me.”

Sighhhhh.

In the car, Damon reaches back and appears to jiggle Elena’s knee??  “How you doin’ back there?” he asks. “You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly.”  Alaric, stuck in the middle of a classic Damon/Elena mess-around yet again, scoffs. “I don’t think she’s pretending.  You did kill her brother.”  “There is a HUGE asterisk next to that statement,” Damon protests, “he came back to life.”  “Yeah,” says Elena flatly, “thanks to a ring you didn’t know he was wearing.”  “Why are you so sure I didn’t know?” Damon says. “Did you?” Elena says.  “Yes,” he says.  Her eyes narrow; “You’re lying,” she says, unsurprised.  “Elena!” Damon says, “I saw the ring!  It’s a big, tacky thing, it’s hard to miss.”

Bonnie makes Caroline a daylight ring.  “So I don’t get to choose the ring I wear the rest of my life?” Caroline complains.  No, Car, of course you don’t!!  Haven’t you ever heard of engagement rings?  But for serious, I think this line is on purpose.  This is the beginning of a love story between Caroline and vampirism. Also, this is her “skeptical about spell-casting face”:

Over at Duke, Alaric’s hair is doing something awful.

Vanessa, a research assistant, gets them the keys to Isobel’s office, and then attempts to shoot Elena with a crossbow.  Three guesses how that turns out.

Yep, Damon vamps over and takes the arrow for her. Last episode he spared Caroline for her and she stopped Bonnie from killing him; now he’s risked his life to save hers.  And what do you know?  While Alaric is subduing the unfortunate academic,

Elena’s fallen to her knees at Damon’s side to check on him.  This episode has a bunch of purposeful callbacks to Bloodlines – they’re on a road trip, looking for info on Elena’s ancestors, Damon steps in to save her from danger and then she acts worried for his well-being.  But this is where the similarity ends.  When we return from the commercial, Damon is nagging at Elena to pull the arrow out of his back and she’s making faces like she wants to pull it out and then immediately re-stake him with it.  She pulls it out, and then while he’s yelling in pain reaches over his shoulder to drop it, presumably just to be annoying.

Damon blows out a breath, raises his eyebrows (you thought I forgot the eyebrows didn’t you), and announces, “that bitch is deaaaaad.”  Elena’s eyes widen – how dare he talk about killing people when he’s trying to make amends for killing her brother – and she says, “Uh, you’re not gonna kill her.”  He adopts a weird sultry voice: “Watch me.”

“You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again,” Elena says.

“What makes you think that has any power over me?” Damon challenges.  Elena blinks.

“Because I took an arrow in the back for you?” Damon says, mockingly. He slings an arm over her shoulder, which she immediately pushes off with disgust; “You are severely overestimating yourself,” he says, gleeful.  “Right,” says Elena, “I forgot I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively.  Fine. Go ahead.  Do whatever you want.”

“You’re trying to manipulate me!” Damon says indignantly.  “If by manipulate you mean tell the truth, okay,” Elena says, “guilty.” Damon, for whom manipulation is all tied up with love, kind of stares at her lips.

“Okay!” says Elena, and makes her exit.  

Archery-happy research-assistant tells Rick she freaked because she thought Elena was Katherine Pierce, and then everyone digs through Isobel’s giant office holy crap how has Duke not given this office to someone else??  Damon makes a crack about Vanessa wanting to see him naked, and Elena tells her that he can be a first-rate jackass.  Damon smiles; this is familiar, this is the way she talked to Jenna about him before everything happened.  A bit later, he comes up behind Elena and tells her it’s too bad they’re not friends anymore, because he knows something she doesn’t know that would help her find more about Katherine.  “Now who’s manipulating who?” she retorts.  Vanessa explains the Aztec legend of the Curse of the Sun and Moon, which will become more or less significant later, and that werewolves in this mythology are hardwired to hunt vampires, who can be killed by a single bite.

Stefan takes Caroline wabbit hunting.  He explains to her that vampirism amplifies natural behaviors and traits.  “So you’re saying that now I’m basically an insecure, neurotic control-freak…on crack?” she asks.

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say it like that,” Stefan says lightly, and then offers to go with her to Tyler’s swimming hole party to meet up with Matt.  Seriously, they both shine in this episode.  Stefan’s “that-guy” awkwardness is perfectly foiled by Caroline’s sincerity.

They literally….cribbed this shot……..from a Twilight movie

Anyway… 

“Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?” Caroline asks.

“My what – my serious vampire look?” Stefan repeats, aghast.  “Mmhmm,” says Caroline, “I mean, it’s different than your worried vampire look.”

“Neither of which stray too far from your ‘hey! It’s Tuesday’ look.”

“Oh, okay, I get it,” Stefan says, “you think I’m too serious.”  “Well,” says Caroline, “I wasn’t gonna say it like thaaaat.”

Did you notice how many emotions Stefan expressed in that conversation?  I’m so proud of him.  Real Eleanor from The Good Place flirts with Matt until Caroline compels her away; Matt gets angry at Caroline’s jealousy-drama and wanders off, and Stefan gets angry that Caroline used her compulsion for shallow reason.  “So now I have magnified jealousy issues?” she says. “I might as well have stayed dead, my whole personality is killing me.”  Stefan finds this freaking delightful:

“Shut up,” she tells him.

They hang out at the party together until it gets dark and everyone starts to pack up (on Mason’s orders), and Stefan tells Caroline to go talk to Matt. Caroline promises Matt no more drama, and they scamper off into the woods to kiss.  This coincides with Stefan getting a call from Elena to fill him in on all the new werewolf lore – he looks around for Caroline as soon as he hears a werewolf bite can kill a vampire, but she’s nowhere to be found. Mason Lockwood is in the middle of transforming into a werewolf.  Welcome, A plot.

Vanessa informs Elena that a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself, who usually torments the person they look like, tries to undo their life.  “More things we already know,” Elena says flatly. “I just wanna know why we look alike.” “Headscratcher, isn’t it?” says Damon, from over by the bookcase.  “Do you know something or are you just being yourself?” Elena asks with more sass than you would think would fit in her tiny body.  “Well, if I knew anything, I’m not gonna tell you,” Damon says, “not with that attitude.”  Alaric looks like he needs a drink, but also a little bit like he’s trying not to laugh?

“That’s good, Damon,” Elena says, dropping the attitude down a notch, “and that’s coming from someone who wants to be my friend. Friends don’t manipulate friends, they help each other.”

This does not compute.

Back in the woods, Tyler gets the brush-off from Real Eleanor, Mason-wolf jumps out of his car at Stefan, Caroline bites Matt, and everyone runs around a lot.  Thank goodness it’s not more complicated than that, because this recap is getting really long. 

Elena refuses to admit that Alaric’s car is locked and stands fighting with the door handle like a petulant child; it’s been a long day.  Damon arrives as the shining knight and unlocks it, and then opens her door for good measure.  Then, good deed done, he gets all up in her personal space.

“You’re not going to be able to hate me forever,” he says.  She rolls her eyes, says, “Can we just go?”  He sighs and hands over a text labeled “Petrova”, for Katherine’s real name: Katerina Petrova.  “Let me know what you find, I’m very curious myself,” he tells her; he’s trusting her with the truth, trusting that she’ll share it.  She goes to move past him, he says, “You have every right to hate me. I understand.  But you hated me before and we became friends.”

“It would suck,” he admits, “if that was gone forever.”

“So,” he says, with forced lightness, “is it?” She meets his eyes, but her face is more closed than it’s ever been.  “Have I lost you forever?” Damon asks, like it’s a joke, like it doesn’t matter or like it’s impossible.

“Thank you for the book, Damon,” she says.  He gives the smallest of nods, and motions her into the car.

Caroline compels away Matt’s memories of her biting him, and then she and Stefan have a heart-to-heart about their human significant others.  “If I followed my own advice I would have walked out on Elena a long time ago,” Stefan says.  “You think you should’ve?” Caroline asks.  “I know I should have,” Stefan says, “I just can’t.”

Tyler confirms with his (very naked) uncle that he was in fact the wolf that almost killed all of them.  Another secret, out.  I’m resisting making a very stupid joke here, but I’ll probably succumb and post it separately later. 

Caroline walks into the Grille and purposely starts shit with Real Eleanor so that Matt walks out on her.  “So what, are you like, breaking up with me?” she calls after him. “Yeah,” he says, wearily, “yeah I guess that’s what I’m doing.”  He waits, expecting her to fight him, but she only stares back and lifts her chin defiantly. Caroline is strong enough to walk away, and kind enough to let Matt think that he knows why.  As, @itspileofgoodthings pointed out in these tags, she did what Stefan couldn’t do.

Having warned Vanessa against getting caught up in all the supernatural nonsense, Alaric realizes he doesn’t want to get totally caught up in it either, and is able to make good on his half apology maybe hope for the future.

Damon trails Elena up to her porch, exclaiming, “Road trips work well for us!”  “This doesn’t mean things are back to the way they used to be, Damon,” says Elena.  “Oh, come on,” Damon says, “you know I chipped a little bit off of your wall of hatred.”  Elena turns to look at him, says seriously, “I need to know the truth.”

“When you broke Jeremy’s neck, did you know he was wearing the ring?” she asks.

“No,” he says, his voice so strained.  “No, I didn’t.”

“Katherine really pissed me off, and I snapped, and I –” He stops, looks at her intently.  “I got lucky with the ring,” he admits. “And I don’t know what I would’ve done if he wasn’t wearing it.”

She nods, slightly.  “Elena,” he says, “I’m sorry.” She nods again, says, “Thank you for being honest with me.  And the answer to your question, about our friendship?”

“Is yes…you have lost me forever.”

She turns to go into the house.  “But you knew that already, didn’t you?” Damon says, bitter.  She pauses, he accuses, “You used me today.”  She looks at him, unrepentant. 

“You had information about Katherine that I needed to know.”  “I thought friends don’t manipulate friends,” he replies.  She looks back at him, her response left unspoken: they’re not friends, and so it doesn’t matter.  He swallows, tells her, “You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks.”

Both women stood on this porch with him and pretended to be something they weren’t so that he would pour his heart out to them, and then turned around and rejected him.  Living, breathing mirror of oneself indeed. 

Katherine wakes Caroline, tells her not to be frightened. “We’re gonna have so much fun together.”

Music Moments: A Fine Frenzy’s “Ashes and Wine” plays over the final scenes, and wow that song doesn’t fuck around: “don't know what to do anymore / I've lost the only love worth fighting for”, “is there a chance / a fragment of light at the end of the tunnel / a reason to fight? / is there a chance you may change your mind / or are we ashes and wine?”

previous episode

[ourdreamsrealized]

Chapter Three: To Love a King

Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3

A/N: Wow…This was a long one, and I apologize for how much time it took me to get this out. School was very busy, and then once I had the time to work on this, I was experiencing writer’s block. It ended up being 16 and a ½ pages and 6625 words. I actually am quite proud of this chapter, and it will probably be the longest chapter in this series. I don’t think it’s the best I’ve written, but I am happy with it to post it here. I hope to have the next chapter for you guys sometime next week. 

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Thor Odinson (God of Thunder) x Reader

Synopsis: When you meet Thor for the first time, he’s a happy-go-lucky hero in need of your help, but as more chance meetings happen and a relationship begins to blossom between the two of you, you begin to realize that there is a lot more to this amazing man than meets the eye.

Inspired by @champion-ofthe-sun‘s post: { x }.

Rated: R

Warnings: Sexual Themes, Mild Gore, Triggers (Such as War) & Language

“…and Mr. Lee in room 130 has been having some bowel issues. I got him up to the bathroom a few times, but I’m worried about how loose his stools are.”

You considered the nurse’s words, nodding your head as you looked over his chart. “Alright…I’ll have a stool culture ordered again. If it smells as bad as you’re suggesting, I want to make sure he doesn’t have C diff.” You shook your head with a sigh, handing her the manila folder and leaning back in the chair. “Until then, just as a precautionary measure, I want everyone wearing gloves when entering that room. I can’t put him on full contact precautions without a confirmed diagnosis.”

“Makes sense,” the nurse, Victoria, said, getting up from her chair. “Anything else?”

“No.” You chewed on your bottom lip, crossing your legs as you went over a few things in your mind.

“Well, then, get going. Don’t you have a date with Georgina’s son tonight?” Victoria asked, putting away Mr. Lee’s chart and pulling out another one from the cart.

“I do…” You got to your feet, placing your pen in your lab coat pocket. “It’s our third date, actually.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” You shrugged your shoulders, lifting your arms from your sides for a moment before letting them fall back to place.

Victoria fixed you with one of the stares she usually reserved for a client or family member that was feeding her bullshit. A light, partially penciled brow was arched as she pursed her lips. “Liar. At this stage in the game, you’d be floating on air.”

“And who says I’m not?” you asked, coming to stand beside her, arms crossed over your chest.

“I do. I can tell just by looking at you that you’re not crazy about him, just like you weren’t crazy about Jeremy or Kevin or Peter or…”

“Okay. Okay.” You stopped her by lifting up a hand. You didn’t need everyone on the floor to know your history. “What’s your point?”

“Don’t lead the poor guy on, and take some time off dating. It’s clear you’re not over something or someone in your past.”

“You would have made a much better psych nurse. You know that, Victoria?” A chuckle escaped your lips as you turned your back on her and made your way towards the break room. You punched in the code, your left five digits wrapped around the door handle.

“Yes, but I like where I am now.”

“Oh? And why’s that?” You glanced over at her, using your foot to keep the heavy door open.

“Because you’re my boss.” She winked at you before heading over to one of her assigned patient rooms.

You grinned stupidly at her comment, and your steps became lighter as you grabbed your work bag and jacket before heading out of the unit and down to the lobby. Once out in the late afternoon air, you relaxed some. It had been a long day, and, honestly, the last thing you wanted to do was go on another date with a guy you knew you weren’t ever going to be serious about.

Such a shame, too. He was basically the perfect package: good-looking, smart, a gentleman, looking to settle down, makes decent money, has future plans…

But he’s not Thor.

You mentally scolded yourself for that comment because you really shouldn’t have been comparing a mortal man who worked with a banking company to an Avenger/god. Plus, you hardly knew Thor. You met him only twice before, so your feelings for him were completely founded in physical attraction.

It was superficial, so why hadn’t you gotten over him yet? It’s been two years, for heaven’s sake!

It must have been the thousandth sigh that left your lips that day, but this one didn’t help you any. Maybe Victoria was right…Maybe you should step out of the dating scene for a while, just until you moved on.

You pulled out your phone, unlocked it, and found Nick’s contact information. You called his cell number, placing your smartphone to your ear as you descended the stairs outside the hospital building to the sidewalk.

“Hello?” Came out in a friendly baritone two rings later.

“Nick?”

“Yes?”

“Hi. This is Y/N.” God, this was really hard. Always was, and you were pretty sure it would never get easier. “Listen, about our date tonight…”

“You want to cancel.”

His voice was laden with disappointment, and, in that moment, you wished you still didn’t carry a torch for Thor. You could have seen a future with Nick; if you liked him as much as he liked you, the two of you probably would have gone the distance.

“Yeah…I’m really sorry. I just am not in the right state of mind for anything serious right now…” you scoffed, waving down a taxi. “I really wish I was.”

“…I do, too. But, if you ever do feel you’re ready for something more, you have my number.”

“You’d be the first guy I’d call.” You tried offering some comfort with that statement because, really, Nick deserved it. He had been nothing but sweet to you.

His chuckle was half-hearted, but he genuinely thanked you anyway before you both bid each other goodbye and hung up.

You closed the door of the yellow cab, telling the driver your home address before sitting back against the seat. You looked from your phone to the city outside your window. A particular tower caught your attention, one you had spent a lot of time in just a few years ago. It was the last place you saw Thor, and you couldn’t help but wonder what he was up to now.

The Avengers was on its way to destruction; the cracks were plain to see even during the events of Sokovia. Tony and Steve never saw eye-to-eye, and since no one really took an official leadership position after S.H.I.E.L.D. left the picture, the two most likely in the group were constantly butting heads while the rest of the members watched on, picking their own sides. Because of the drama and without a solid organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. to be your employer, you decided it was time to move on.

Of course, you only moved passed your time with the Avengers. Not with Thor. Perhaps, if you had had the chance to say goodbye, things would be different now.

Dwelling on the possibilities and what ifs made you choke up, so you forced yourself to think of less heavy things, such as dinner plans for this evening now that you weren’t going out and the list of things you had to do this coming weekend. Groceries, laundry, bills…The menial tasks.

Occupied by such things, transit time sped by, and before you knew it, you were in front of your building and handing the cab driver a couple of bills. You thanked him before heading up the stone stairs to the front door, and you were in the middle of opening it when you heard someone calling your name.

“Y/N!”

You froze at the deepness of the voice, knowing its owner almost immediately. You turned your head towards the direction your name had carried from, eyes widening as you took in the sight of both Thor and Loki, in street clothes no less. Although, the new garb did nothing to help either of them blend in. Thor was in jeans and a sweatshirt, but his long blonde locks were unmistakable. And Loki wore a pitch-black suit, his dark curls free from any bindings as he watched his brother come over to you.

“Thor?” You let go of the door handle, descending a few steps as a smile stretched across your face. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for my father, Odin,” Thor replied, stopping on the sidewalk in front of your building. He pointed his umbrella at you. “Did you just come home?”

“Yes. I was working, but if you two need help…” you glanced at Loki, still a bit wary of him, before looking Thor in his beautiful blue eyes, “I would love to offer my services.”

And that was how you ended up here. The death of the king of Asgard, a long lost sister (that you knew about from mythology by the way), and a whole other realm away.

God, you hoped you would still have your job after this. When you agreed to help Thor find his father, you didn’t think it would take more than a couple of hours. Yet, here you were, months later in one of the most degrading outfits you had ever had the displeasure of wearing.

You honestly felt like princess Leia, with just a thin, gold-colored bra to cover your chest and a long skirt, in a similar fabric, that started at your hips and went down to your ankles. You’d think such a garment would offer some coverage, but, nope, both sides of the skirt had slits up to the waistband.

The Grandmaster had also insisted that your neck be exposed as well as your feet, so shoes and having your hair down was not allowed when you were in his presence. He also gifted you with gaudy, poorly made jewelry, such as large hoop earrings and a multitude of bracelets.

You spent most of your time with, surprisingly, Loki, with no hide or hair of Thor. It was disgusting watching the God of Mischief kiss up to the Grandmaster, but you couldn’t say you were doing much better. You remained mostly silent, deciding to pretend you were mute, when they first found you among the garbage.

You really didn’t know how you managed to avoid the orgy parties, but Loki had been kind enough to make up excuses for you. Although, there were a few times that you showed you outright refused to be involved in such behavior, especially with The Grandmaster, of all people.

Still, he was the least of your concerns. Bruce was on this planet, and had been for a while, long before you and Loki showed up. However, he was not himself. He was constantly in his Hulk form and was quite childish. He was the Grandmaster’s champion, and you had seen him in action; he was completely taken by the crowd. Hence, him being fine with staying here and obeying the Grandmaster.

Your other concern, which consumed most of your days, was Thor. Had Hela killed him? You hadn’t seen him anywhere on this miserable planet, and Loki had not gotten word from him either. The thought of him being dead was too much to bear, but you soon accepted that maybe that was what had happened. Why else would he not come for you or Loki?

“Mute! Drink!”

The Grandmaster’s voice broke through your thoughts, and you realized that he had been referring to you. The nickname, Mute, was given to you when you refused to give your actual name, and it stuck, unfortunately. Even Loki would call you by the name.

You moved from your spot, standing beside him, and poured some of the dark liquid from the pitcher you held into his gold gauntlet. He lifted his other hand to tell you to stop, and you did as he asked, moving back to your spot.

“Are you excited for this match, Mute?”

You nodded your head, suppressing the urge to roll your eyes. These competitions were getting rather mundane, considering you could always predict the outcome. If any contender even got close to defeating the Hulk, the Grandmaster would cheat.

“This one should be very interesting…” he smirked, sitting back in his seat as his giant hologram began to rile up the crowd.

You glanced at Loki, who sat across the box, leaning forward on his knees, elbows resting on them as he watched the challenger’s side intently. You wondered why he seemed so genuinely interested in this one; he usually only feigned enthusiasm.

Your gaze followed his to the contender’s door, seeing that it was now fully open. A small gasp blew passed your lips, and you brought up a hand to suppress anymore noise from your gaping mouth.

It was Thor. Even from all the way up above the colosseum, you knew it was him. Thor’s broad shoulders were unmistakable, and his muscular build was a dead give away. You had never seen anyone as big in stature as the God of Thunder.

But could he defeat the Hulk? Maybe, if it was a fair fight, but he wasn’t just dealing with the green mutant; he was dealing with the Grandmaster, who would not see his Champion lose.

You glanced at Loki again, and this time he caught you, nearly jumping when he saw your glare. He obviously knew that Thor was here, but he decided not to give you that tidbit of information. Why? Did he want his brother to be beaten to death?

What a stupid question. In the past, he would have done the honors, given the chance.

He would get an earful from you later.

Your attention turned back to the arena, where you saw Thor being booed relentlessly by the crowd. Above their negativity, the Grandmaster’s voice could be heard, announcing his champion.

You wondered how Thor would handle this. He did not know that he would be put up against a friend, but, somewhere in the Hulk, you knew Banner was there. Surely, he would recognize the Asgardian god, but then what? What would the Grandmaster do if his champion refused to fight?

Well–your eyes flickered to the Grandmaster for a moment before returning to the arena–you would soon find out.

The door that Hulk resided behind was torn to shreds as he entered the arena, his roar filling the air as he lifted his powerful arms. The war cry was followed by a shout of joy from the challenger, something no one was used to hearing.

You cracked a smile. Only Thor.

But your amusement was short lived as you watched the two converse. It was clear that the situation was escalating, but why? Didn’t Banner recognize Thor?

When Hulk rushed forward, his violent intent clear, you ran forward, placing your hands on the glass in front of you as you suppressed the urge to scream. You’ve seen what the Hulk could do, and even though Thor was his opponent, the Grandmaster would surely intervene if he got the upper hand.

This could only ever end one way.

Thor dodged his first attack, rolling to the side before bouncing to his feet. You bit your bottom lip, wincing from both the pain and how hard Thor was hit by the Hulk’s gigantic hammer. He skid across the ground, digging his weapon into the ground to eventually stop himself from flying further.

They then exchanged blows, Thor using twin blades, and Hulk still utilizing his supersized tools. You watched, holding your breath and nearly crying out when you saw Thor thrown into the colosseum wall, rock crumbling around him. He recovered, hitting his opponent back with a force much stronger, sending the green mutant through the colosseum wall.

The crowd went silent, and your heart stopped. As much as you worried for Thor, you did not wish harm on Bruce. He had always been kind to you, always inclusive of you.

Thor seemed to be as concerned as you, heading over to where Hulk had landed. You saw Bruce move, dazed and unsteady. You watched with bated breath as Thor held out a hand to him, an offer of truce, and you hoped the Hulk would accept it. He watched the blond god as he carefully approached, reaching out a hand…

For a moment, your racing heart slowed, and you felt joy, realizing that this must be it. This must be the end of the fight.

But it wasn’t.

Within the blink of an eye, Thor was being thrown around, the Hulk smashing him against the ground repeatedly. No mortal man would have survived the first blow to the head, even with the armor Thor sported.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as you looked on, tears prickling at the corners of your eyes.

Thor was sent flying, crashing to the ground with a horrible thud that you barely registered over the Hulk’s victorious roar. The spectators joined in, spurring him on, while the underdog got to his feet, now holding Hulk’s hammer.

The fight continued on, and it was a close one. There were times you were sure Thor would prevail, but then the Hulk would prove you wrong with a brutal attack. Eventually, it came down to just fists, no weapons, and when you saw him on top of the God of Thunder, repeatedly punching him, tears streamed down your face because you knew that had to hurt.

How could he bear it?

Then, just when you were about to give up completely, a bolt of lightening pushed the Champion off of his challenger. Now, it seemed Thor had the upper hand, and you had never seen such power before. He was a walking storm, each hit packing a punch that echoed like thunder.

The name being chanted from the stands switched. It was entertainment unlike any they had seen before. No one had given the Hulk such a hard time.

And that’s when the Grandmaster decided to do it.

In convulsions that made your own skin crawl to watch, Thor fell to the ground, and you couldn’t watch as the Champion took the opportunity and did what he did best: smash.

A sob escaped your throat as you turned from the glass. Almost immediately, you were in Loki’s arms, one of his palms on the back of your head, cradling it to his chest.

“Is he okay?” you whispered softly as the noise of victory died down.

“I can’t say, but I don’t think he’s dead,” Loki responded in a soft voice. “Not yet, anyways.”

Leisurely, deliberate claps reached your ears, and you lifted your head from under Loki’s chin to see the Grandmaster smirking at you. The expression on his face was enough to make you physically ill, but you held yourself back, pressing your lips together in a firm line.

“What a show, Mute,” he said, shaking his head as he stepped closer to you. “Were you really that taken with the Lord of Thunder?”

God. You wanted to correct him. God of Thunder. You clenched your fists.

“Well, I’ll be kind, then. Be grateful.” He laughed, folding his hands in front of him. “Since he and my champion are such good friends, I think I’ll allow them to be roommates. They can train together and give me more shows as good as this one. And, for providing such good entertainment, I’ll throw the Lord of Thunder a little bone…”

You narrowed your eyes at him, not sure you were following just what he intended to do with any of you, but you knew you didn’t have much of a choice.

“A bone?” Loki asked, a hint of malice in his tone as he tightened his hold on you.

“Why he no wake?”

You let out another sigh, reminding yourself to keep patient and calm, even if this was the twentieth time the Hulk had asked that question. “Because he was badly wounded, Hulk.”

“By me?” He almost seemed proud.

“Yes, by you,” you stated as you kept your eyes on Thor’s peaceful face. You moved carefully, so not to disturb him, as you dipped your cloth in a bowl of water the Grandmaster “oh so graciously” gifted to you. You wrung it out as best you could, keeping the lower half of your body still.

You had already examined most of Thor’s body earlier, looking for broken bones or any signs of internal bleeding. After the beating he went through, he should have had at least a few fractures, but there wasn’t a hint of swelling anywhere on his body, just a few minor cuts and bruises.

He really was a god.

“Why you hold him like that?”

Your cheeks flushed at the question. Why did the Hulk have to know why you were keeping Thor in your lap?

“It makes my job easier,” you answered. It wasn’t quite a lie. You could see a lot of his cuts closer up, and making sure you had cleaned them well enough was less difficult this way. “Plus, you won’t share your bed.”

Your green companion huffed at that, turning on the mattress to show you his back.

You shook your head at his childishness, wishing Banner would take over already. While Hulk did have his likeable moments, he had become quite the narcissist since becoming the Grandmaster’s Champion.

To say you were a little ticked off at him for treating Thor as an enemy was an understatement.

A groan from the person laying on your thighs made you still your hand, only gently dabbing at a particularly bad cut on his brow. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open only to be squeezed shut again as he lifted a palm to the top of his head. “Ow…”

“How are you feeling?” you asked, lowering the arm that was currently tending to his wound.

Thor opened his eyes again, gaze focusing on your face above his. “Y/N?”

“Yes?”

He shot up to a sitting position before groaning again, his body swaying slightly. You touched his shoulder, urging him to be more considerate of his condition.

Apparently, he was more concerned with your presence than his own well-being. He turned to face you completely, his legs crossed, blue orbs wide. “You ended up here, too?”

You nodded. “Loki arrived before me.”

“Wow…It is so good to see you!” he exclaimed, a boyish grin on his lips as he took in your appearance. “Are you okay? Did Loki look after you?” He paused, lifting an eyebrow. “Why are you dressed like that? That man…the Grandmaster? He didn’t lay a finger on you, did he? If he did, I swear to you, Y/N…”

You lifted your hands, attempting to calm him down. “I’m fine, Thor, really. Loki did watch over me…in his own way…And despite the get-up I am forced to wear, the Grandmaster has done nothing more than leer.” This knowledge seemed to placate the man before you, and he let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping.

His attention then shifted from you to the bowl and bloody rag next to it. “Were you caring for me?”

The way he phrased the question sent heat to your face, forcing you to bow your head. “Yes…Although, you did not need much first aid.”

“Regardless, I thank you for it.” He nodded, his calloused fingers brushing against your bare shoulder in a gesture of gratitude.

All was silent for a moment, save the Hulk’s snoring, until Thor parted his lips to speak again, his brows furrowed. “Your eyes are red. Were you crying?”

Slightly embarrassed that he had noticed, you chuckled nervously, still avoiding directly looking at him. “Oh…uh…I was at the match, and at the end, I thought you were, well…”

“Oh…You were watching the fight, then.” His baritone voice seemed flat. “It brings me great joy that you worried so much for me, but, as you can see, thanks to you, I am more than fine.”

“Yes. I seem to forget that you are a god.” You smile, trying not to dwell on his hand, which still rested on your left shoulder. It slid down to your palm, his fingers engulfing it as he brought your skin to his lips.

“Thank you, again. I seem to always find myself indebted to you.” His kiss lingered, and you knew you had to be red from head to toe because of it.

“It’s uh…no problem,” you replied, averting your gaze as his hands slipped from yours.

Thor got to his feet, turning as he took in his environment. “Where are we?”

“This is the Hulk’s room.” You stood, bending down to take the bowl of water from the floor. “He spends most of his time here or training.”

“I see…” he trailed off, heading towards the window. “Do you know how the Hulk got here?”

You met his gaze over his shoulder. “When I asked, he said he flew here.”

“Flew?” he whispered, mindful of the sleeping giant as he turned partially toward you, the sun illuminating the perplexed lines of his face. “How? He can’t fly.”

“I don’t know, honestly. I would assume the quinjet, but…” you shrugged, not quite confident in that assumption. You hadn’t thought to ask Hulk about it, and if it was on this planet, you weren’t sure it was in working conditions. Scavengers had probably dissembled most of it, selling or finding new use for its parts.

“That is very likely…” he said, falling silent as he looked over at Banner. He sighed after a few moments. “I’ll just ask when he wakes. We’ll need his help to escape.”

“He won’t want to,” you informed him, the corners of your mouth falling. “I already asked him if he would help me escape, but even when I begged, he absolutely refused to.”

“What? Why?” Thor’s brow knitted together.

“Well, I think he likes the attention he gets here. You’ve seen how they cheer for him in that coliseum.”

“I will talk to him,” Thor stated gravely, bringing a hand up to his face to stroke his beard. “We’ll need the help of the Valkyrie as well…”

“The Valkyrie?” Your face lit up like a Christmas tree, and you took a step closer to Thor. “They are here?”

He chuckled at your excitement. “One is. She’s actually the one that brought me here…But it won’t be easy to convince her…” His mood deflated as he said this. “She holds an immense amount of hatred towards me.”

“Why is that? From what I’ve read, they fight for Odin.” You shake your head, confused.

“They did…I don’t know what happened,” he exhaled, closing his eyes briefly. “This won’t be easy, but at least I have you on my side…” He trailed off, eyes narrowing as the focused on you.

Heat crawled up your neck as you withstood his intent stare, but it only got worse when he took long, deliberate strides to stand right before you, his hand lifting to touch the small, metal crater that was inserted into your skin. It matched his, and its purpose was no different. Should you act out, you would be punished.

You heard Thor’s sharp intake of breath, his lips pressing into a taut line. “Have they used this?” The tips of his digits caressed the skin near the obedience disk, causing you to unconsciously shiver. You prayed he didn’t notice.

“N-No…I haven’t given them a reason to.”

“Good.” His muscles relaxed, the severity of his expression disappearing some. “This complicates things. I have to find a way to get that off of you.” He withdrew his hand, backing away from you. “How long has he been asleep?”

“Huh? Oh…Hulk? He went to bed just before you woke up.” You blinked, cursing yourself internally for sounding like such a lovesick fool. You’d be beyond shocked if Thor didn’t know the effect he had on you and why.

“Shit…Okay. I’ll wait.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to get him any angrier.” He sat down by the window, resting his elbows on his knees. After a few seconds of silence, and you awkwardly standing after putting the bowl down on a table, Thor turned to you. “Come, sit. Tell me of your life since Ultron.”

You gave him a hint of a smile before moving to sit beside him, and he shifted in the seat to face you better. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

Since the Battle of New York, whenever Loki showed up, you weren’t the happiest of campers. You could tolerate him, but you didn’t trust him as far as you could throw him; for good reason, too, because he did try to betray both you and Thor during your escape from Sakaar, just as the God of Thunder had anticipated.

Now, however, as you were attempting to defend yourself against an undead army, you were the happiest you had ever been to see the God of Mischief. You were never a fighter, and maybe with a safe place for the Asgardians, you could actually begin to help those injured.

Loki spotted you immediately, yelling to his people to board the ship before making his way over to you. Once he reached you, he grabbed you by the shoulders. “Thor has told me that you have the power to heal.”

“Well, in a way…” You were about to explain how you had no magical abilities, that your methods were entirely based on medical science, but you decided that now was probably not the time.

“Come.” He wrapped an arm around your torso, fighting his way back to the ship. “I have found a healer!” Loki announced loudly over the sounds of frantic citizens. They made a path for you, allowing you to get aboard the spaceship ahead of many.

As soon as Loki had declared you someone that could help, people were rushing forward with friends and family members, asking for your help. It was very had to do with very limited supplies, but luckily, many were willing to offer up parts of their clothing as bandages. Quite a few people also had jugs of water, similar to canteens, while others had filled them with some form of alcohol.

Despite help from many, you were one woman, and it was very difficult to keep up with the number of patients you were receiving, some far more wounded than others. You tried to prioritize, and it became clear that this was also quite the task. You could not see all your patients at once, so it was hard to determine who was more in need of care than another. You tried your best to recall your training, including the ABCs of prioritization: Airway, Breathing, Circulation.

Finally, a brave Asgardian offered up her services, followed by a few others. You quickly explained what you needed them to do, giving them those that came in with less complicated injuries. With more people helping you out, you moved onto those that were hurt fighting the undead. And, god, you had never seen so much blood…You didn’t typically deal with stab wounds or missing limbs on your unit of the hospital, but, with your knowledge of how the body worked, you knew what you had to do.

The sounds of agonizing screams as you cleaned deep lesions or bound gaping holes would haunt you in your sleep. You were sure of it. Without access to painkillers, it was very difficult to care for those in writhing pain. You would have given them alcohol, and some did ask for it, but you were reserving it for sterilization because it did better than water.

What really killed you, though, was when you were unable to save someone. Their loved ones would be circled around you, and with one look at the patient, you knew, even as an Asgardian, they would not survive. You still did your best, but by then, those around you would realize it, too.

You didn’t have time to mourn with them, to exercise proper family-centered care, as you were taught to do.

Tears would stream down your face as you moved to the next person that needed you, and it didn’t sit well with you. Your own heart would tighten because you didn’t deal with death often–you were in the business of preventing death–and it meant you failed. While the more rationale side of you knew that there was nothing you could have done, your emotions refused to listen.

It made it hard to concentrate, especially with the sounds of war right outside. At some point, thunder had joined the cacophony, and you wondered if Thor had been victorious against Hela. But the fighting would of stopped right? The steady stream of patients would have stopped. It didn’t. You were still overwhelmed.

Why didn’t it stop?

The ship began to move, and your head cleared enough for you to focus again. You had all the time in the world to freak out later.

More people rushed in–the last, you thought and hoped–and you quickly urged a man close to you. “Keep the pressure on his elbow, please!” He just nodded numbly as you got to your feet, shouting above the screams. “If anyone needs medical attention, please come to me!”

And then you were flooded again. More volunteers came forward.

“What is your name?” A man with dark skin and eyes unlike any you had seen came forward, lowering a woman to the ground before you.

“I am Y/N.” The words were hurried from your throat as you ripped some of the woman’s cloak to wrap around the gash on her shoulder. “Hold my hand,” you told her, and she nodded, wrapping her fingers about yours. She squeezed, hard, when you doused her wound with alcohol and then drenched it with water to, hopefully, deaden the alcohol’s effect.

“So you are the one he spoke of,” the man whispered, helping the woman to her feet after you had wrapped her injury. She leaned on him as he stared at you, studying your features. “You are the Midgardian that lifted Thor’s hammer.”

“You know about that?” you asked, a bit breathless as you ripped more of your skirt for bandages.

“Yes. I am Heimdell,” he introduced himself with a small smile. “On behalf of all the Asgardians, I thank you for your help.”

“It is no trouble,” you said before seeing to a man who had lost his arm in battle. On your way to him, shots rang out, and you froze, eyes darting to the man who held two guns, similar to those that you had on Earth. You turned to Heimdell. “We are leaving Asgard?”

“Yes. Thor has asked that we do.”

“But he is still fighting?”

Heimdell gave you a look, one that answered all the questions you had lined up in your head. Your chest constricted, making it impossible to breathe, but you ignored the feeling and marched over to the man that was in need of care.

If Thor died, he would not die in vain. You would save as many of his people as you possibly could.

But, as fate would have it, Thor was on the ship with Valkyrie and the Hulk minutes later, making a ruckus as he called for you. When he saw you, he did not hesitate to take you from whoever you had just finished tending to and bring you into his arms.

“You are well,” he said, chest heaving as he pulled you in closer. He smelled of sweat and blood, but you didn’t care. His hug calmed you in ways you did not understand; after just being through a war, something you had never experienced before, you were moments from falling apart.

You peered up at him, choking on whatever words you had for him when you saw…

“What the fuck happened to your eye!?”

And the blond bastard just let his head fall back, his one remaining eye squeezing closed, as his booming laugh filled your ears.

“There.” You took a step back, exhaling softly as you lowered your arm to your side. “I’ve never had to patch up an eye, but I suppose there is a first time for everything.”

“Yes. I suppose so.” Thor’s lips stretched into a grin, but something about it was fake. How could he smile in such times, when he had been through so much?

You stared at him for a moment, and, evidently, your scrutiny was too much for the god. “What?”

Moving to sit beside him on the bed, you took his hand in both of yours, peering at his face. “How are you?”

“What do you–?”

“This couldn’t have been easy for you. Hell, I’m still having trouble with everything that happened, but you’ve just been through a lot more than I have, Thor. You lost a father, you killed your sister, and your home has been reduced to space dust. And that’s just the main stuff.”

Thor chuckled lightly, but there was nothing cheerful about it. He put his other hand on top of yours, patting it gently. “All that happened, yes, but those are matters I don’t really have the energy to think about. What is really bothering me, is the role I must assume. I have people I have to take care of.”

You nodded, swallowing thickly as his blue eyes captured you, making you unable to look away.

“How do you do it?”

You leaned back in shock, not having expected him to ask you that, of all things. You scoffed, pulling away from him slightly. “I…Wow. Um…Thor, being a king and being a nurse are very different things.”

He shook his head, the wrinkles accompanying his laugh genuine this time. “You are wrong, Y/N. Your training, while not inclusive of the aspects of governing a country, does include the basic thing that a king must have.”

“And what is that?”

“Compassion.”

You giggled despite his seriousness. “Then why are you asking me what you already know?”

And for the first time since he met Valkyrie, you experienced a sight that set your heart aflame: Thor being embarrassed. He bowed his head with a tint of pink to his face. “I suppose you are right…”

“Thor.” You scooted closer to him, meeting his gaze. “You will make a fine king.”

The corners of his mouth lifted as he moved his dominant hand from yours to slowly brush your cheek with his knuckles. “Thank you. For everything. And I am sorry…So very sorry…”

Your breath caught in your throat as Thor sincerely apologized to you, and water blurred your vision of him. “Don’t apologize.” You begged. “Please.”

“Oh, Y/N…” You felt him touch the side of your face, fingers brushing the soft curve of it. “Do not cry.” His voice cracked as he said this.

“You know…” you sniffled, lifting a hand. “I just…I saw a bit what war is like today as well as its casualties…And despite the fact I should have been focused on what I was doing, maybe I would have saved a few more people…”

Thor hushed you, cupping your face in both his large hands, thumbs swiping away the drops that spilled down your skin. “You did more than enough. Asgard thanks you for it.”

“But…all I could think about was how much I didn’t want to lose you…” you sobbed, closing your eyes to avoid seeing his reaction to your confession. “And I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want to go back to Earth and just go on living like this never happened because I won’t be able to…”

Thor’s fingers stilled long before you finished speaking, and when all was silent, save your staggered breathing and the pounding of your blood organ against your chest wall, you felt warmth upon your tear-stained cheeks. Strong arms pulled you into a body that radiated heat, and supple lips brushed against yours.

“I won’t be able to, either.” The words were soft against your mouth as a palm came up to run along your temple. “I need you, too.”

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[ninjagoat]

Notes on Supergirl 3x14

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

I've been annoyed with the show for a while now. Season three came out of the gate with four solid eps, and then draaaagged for another seven; before finally putting things back in order: slamming a season's worth of Lena's 'development' into reverse so she can actually have her own worldview and agenda once again; giving the Legion a hidden agenda so they actually have some narrative juice; giving Alex and Kara a genuine ideological conflict for the first time since... I can't remember, and actually having a plan for the World-killers because of it; and, important to me especially, the re-emergence of Winn as a recognised problem-solver.

Which brings us to 3x14, a MASSIVE episode for Winn, and, in terms of scale, a massive episode in general: the two major action sequences are of a kind you'd expect from a season finale; they've landed a *recent* Academy Award Nominee for a guest star; there's a frank discussion of later-life mental illness, and an insight into J'onn's specific attitude toward his adopted race; and a hilarious sequence of our heroes just... hanging out.

In short, in just a few episodes (which, by sheer coincidence, would all have finished being scripted *after* AK was suspended and fired for being a mediocre sex-pest)... they fixed the show.

THEY FIXED THE DAMN SHOW.

Notes below the cut (it’s a long post this week):

- "People being addressed as soldiers going into battle before actually just trying something fun and silly" is one of my favourite tropes, and that look Winn and Kara exchange is one of the best indicators of their long-standing friendship we've seen in a long time (Winn is, of course, Kara's best friend. You many have heard her give statements to the contrary. THESE ARE LIES).

- The choice to have the characters, all played by actors who can sing, do 'karaoke voice' instead of their actual voices is a good one. Having Kara do Beastie Boys side-steps the whole 'we've heard her sing' problem; J'onn and Mr. J are both wonderfully appalling; and Alex letting the lyrics of her ballad run on as she stops to drink is, as the kids say, a Mood (I'll come back to Mon-El and Winn at the end).

- THERE ARE *STILL* NO ALIENS AT THE ALIEN BAR. WHAT HAPPENED TO KEVIN? OR BRIAN?

- James's constant need for validation crashing against Lena's particular brand of emotional - and literal - unavailability is a good choice; we've not really seen James's interest in Lena manifest outside of her needs until now, and it's the first time he's had a relatable problem since 1x06. And pairing him up with Mon-El for this scene - who's having his own issues right now - is nice.

- Speaking of which, Imra's telepathy: is this the show telling us she definitely *doesn't* have mind-control powers, or that Mon-El - currently not the most reliable expert on the Legion - doesn't *know* she has mind-control powers?

- "FELLOW DRUNKS!"

- I'll admit, James was my least favourite option for who could be Winn's emotional support in this episode, given his long history of being really quite bad at it; but in this first scene, he's actually pretty good, providing Winn with the avenues he needs to avoid the old-school masculinity coping methods he's trying to use instead.

- Winn making ABSOLUTELY SURE that his Winslow's dead, even before they tried to put him in the ground, is on point.

- Mary. MARY. The writers knew they had Tony-award-winning Steppenwolf alum Laurie Metcalf on board, and it SHOWS. She's nervous and tentative, but she's also forthright; she takes over the space when she feels she ought to (a lot of her funnier asides could have been put in Cat Grant's mouth with no problem), and physically, tangibly awkward when she doesn't; and Metcalf runs through the gear changes as only a pro of her stature can. In her first scene, she's anxious, yes, and she's having difficulty separating Winn from the little boy she left behind; but it's also clear that THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF HER LIFE, even if it isn't her son's. Mary is a catalyst for Winn's pain, but has a whole existence outside of it. That's good writing, that is.

- Speaking of Winn's pain... DEAR. LORD. That story goes toe-to-toe with any crappy parent story you've ever heard (and blows all of Lena's solipsistic crap out of the water); and Jeremy Jordan, having done so much with so little every week, completely sells that this is a story he's been waiting two decades to tell, and how being left alone with no-one to be *except* his father's son absolutely broke him.

- The Flying Monkeys sequence is the best action scene this show's ever done. Better than Reign. Better than Crossfire. And again, Mary and Winn: every time they're not focused on the time they've spent apart, it's almost like they were never apart at all.

- Winn calling out James for suggesting he forgive Mary is absolutely on point; and James admitting that he was a selfish, sulky little brat after his Dad died as an argument of how it could have been just as bad if she'd stayed is interesting (James is making it up to her now, though, by... never going home for a single holiday. Ever. Still, baby steps). His argument will also end up applying, subtextually, to his relationship with Lena; stop being ungrateful for the time she's not there for you, and just be happy for the time that she is. It's what she needs you to do. She's got her own stuff going on.

- "He doesn't always get the credit, but he keeps us going around here." Kara's gentle tribute to her friend (her BEST friend) and the adaptive, outside-the-box thinking that's been keeping everyone alive for years is wonderful; not just for what she says, but for how comfortable a rapport she has with Mary, while never forgetting that being told how great her son is by *Supergirl* is as good, if not better, than hearing it from the President herself (and if Mary needs that... it could be arranged).

- On a downer note, anytime a show starts talking about a side character as the "heart of the team" or somesuch... it's usually not a good sign for that character.

- I'm not ready to go into Mr. J's illness yet. I have a personal relationship to stories like this, and I can't write about it in this format. But Carl Lumbly is still ABSOLUTELY the best.

- And I'm not the person to get into J'onn's opinion on his own blackness; except to say, in a week when David Harewood met with British MPs to discuss the 'accidental' deportations of the Windrush migrants, this is a BIG DEAL.

- Since I'm doing asides into side plots: Mon-El and Kara. His apology - agenda-free this time - is honest and heart-felt, and his full disclosure about *why* he's apologising now raises interesting questions: at what point is this honesty defined as over-sharing? Where is the line drawn between being 'open about your feelings' and 'demanding emotional labour from others'? Kara has a firm boundary - they are *not* going to talk about his marriage - and he respects that. But should he have told her about it in the first place, even if it does lead in to the new information about the World-killers? I've said before: Supergirl is the only show with a significant male audience that, whether you believe it should or not, actually tackles questions of what healthy masculinity *should* be (albeit with varying degrees of success), and it's good that they're keeping it up.

- Mary's story is not only an important reminder that the men who commit mass-murder often begin by terrorising the women in their own homes; but also, in the context of Childish Things, addresses Winn's misunderstanding of his own fears. Winn has always believed that his father was a good person, until one day, when he just wasn't; and Winn believed that any time he didn't keep a lid on his own anger, any time that he might use that part of himself to stand up and say 'no' against those that would hurt him, the same would happen to him. But Winslow Sr. wasn't a good person. It took a long time for his anger to consume him, a long time for his battles against perceived slights to affect anyone except Mary. Winn has little to worry about.

- And her decision to take the gun and take on Toywoman(?) alone is immediate, consistent, and believable. She's been without her son for twenty years to protect his life. He will NOT be taken from her now.

- Delightful stunt-casting for Toywoman, by the way (If you haven't watched The Silence Of The Lambs recently... go do that).

- The second action sequence: not as good as the flying monkeys, but still has some banging moments, as the 'heroes' drop out to handle various contraptions to leave Winn to rescue Mary.

- Speaking of contraptions: "Cloth Magic." Comics Mon-El fans, that's got to feel good.

- How many times did Mary have to sit through New Hope when Winn was a kid? I'm guessing 'more than ten'.

- Winn being offended at the idea that he's going to be killed with something as pedestrian as a *firearm* is the absolute business, and annoying because it's a beat I'd already gotten it noted down for my own fic series.

- "You haven't just survived, you have EXCELLED."

- Mon-El *butchering* a song now synonymous with a TV show that *LIVES* in the kind of masculinity he's been used to deconstruct (again, with varying degrees of success) is a solid piece of work. As is his apology.

- Okay, this episode isn't exactly what we all wanted for Winn. No-one has hugged him. No-one has told him they love him. Kara has not re-iterated that he is, in fact, her best friend (because he is). He's not designing the Valor suit. We didn't get to hear him sing. And his twenty-year-long trauma of being alone in the world is resolved a lot more speedily that it really ought to be. But that doesn't matter. Those are indulgences, and that's pretty much what fan-fiction and the Miscast performance videos are for.

    What this episode *does* do is reiterate the show's mission statement once again: We, as a people, are at our best when we depend on each other. Forgiving when we can. Understanding when we can't. And more than anything else, simply being there for each other. Whether it's supporting each other through a personal crisis, or through the decline of a loved one; teaching each other new skills, or helping to mend a beloved outfit; or even, sometimes, just having the courage or shamelessness to perform karaoke with your mum; the same truth remains:

    WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER.

- Which is why it's perfect that the show end on Lena. Alone. Keeping the truth from the people she's closest to. She hasn't told James. She won't tell Kara. She's just there, trapped inside the box in which she's imprisoned her oldest friend, with no-one else there to help or to guide her. For all her claims that Kara Danvers is her hero... ultimately, the only person she will ever truly depend on is herself.

   And it's all going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

-LyraWatch: I'm bringing it to a close. It's now been eighteen episodes, and nary a mention of if they're still together or where she's gone. It's so very unlikely that she'll be brought up again.

-LenaWatch: 14 episodes (record high: 16). Most likely at this point, Winn and Lena will have a scene at some point after it's been revealed she's been working on Sam (and has probably made things worse); and Winn will, for the third time, have to help bail her out of the war-zone-like situation she'll have created through her own hubris.

[dfnews]

Episode Recap of "The Vuolos Buy a House" Season 7 - Episode 2 or Part Two of Episode 1 First Aired: February 26, 2018 1. Jinger and Jeremy bought a house in Laredo. This happened late last spring. They hired professional painters instead of the Duggar stooges to repaint the interior of the house. Another step forward for Jinger. It's fun to watch them give the Spanish speaking painter directions in spanglish. I'm imaging a fun mix-up such as a painted toilet or Jeremy's office being painted pink. Phone translating isn't enough for Jeremy. He resorts to communicating through pantomime and sound effects which is hilarious.  Jeremy is happy to spring his books from the prayer closet that Jessa sent them to in the old apartment. Jessa doesn't seem to value book leaning as much as the guys. You know fundie women have no place for book learning. The being available thing doesn't mean to read. 2. Joy and Austin are home from their long honeymoon and again forget to mention their controversial stop in Israel. I wonder why? Joy says she has learned that Austin does not like to be touched when he's sleeping. She hopes he'll get over that. Sounds like a good deal to me. Touch me while I'm sleeping and I'm gonna smack you. The newlyweds are living in an RV outside of their fixer-upper. Joy seems okay with it but Austin wants to man up and get into the house. They predict about four months to get into the house. You would think if they brought out the Duggar army they could be done in a couple of weeks. What happened to good old fashioned barn raising?   3. The Duggar army arrives in Laredo instead to help JinJer move their crap to the house. They couldn't do that themselves? I think the help is much more needed at the Forsyth house but whatever. Jeremy leaves the apartment as the siblings, friends and babies pack. John sits on his ass the entire time holding Hank and Jessa and Jana argue over who is the designing queen. At the new house they talk about what to do with the kitchen cabinets. Jinger and Jeremy are okay with changing them and Jana and Jessa are really for it. The Duggar boys nix the idea of any extra work because they are that lazy. Jed Bob chimes up with the worst thing I've ever heard coming out of his mouth. He says, "I give you permission to change the handles but don't paint the cabinets." Who the f are you to give permission to anyone in that room!!! You are a guest in that house! Jed Bob, you are now in my time-out corner. Don't come out until the end of the season! It was good though that everyone in the room ignored his idiotic comment.  Jessa is firm about the changes she wants but neglects to mention the retail value those changes would make which when Jeremy realizes that, he's on board. I think they were all on board earlier but just staged the scene for the fans. 4. Joe is off to play with the Caldwell family. Pastor Caldwell is the idiot who thinks eunuchs are the same as homosexuals. You know Joe isn't visiting him to participate in a think tank. No thinking going on with that dad. Joe is taking a break from his job of wedding planning, which he doesn't give a damn about, to play disc golf. The disc golf course is on the land of the Duggars' old house where Joe was born. I thought that land was going to be turned into a parking lot. Joe admits the Caldwells believe exactly as the Duggars believe which confirms the Duggars also think eunuchs are homosexuals. How embarrassing for them. They show clips of the old Duggar house where Joe was born and he entered his courtship with Kendra and he speaks very affectionately about the house. I'm guessing TLC forgot this is also the house where Josh attacked five young girls multiple times. I'm thinking Joe's memories of the house are different from the girls. As they leave the field, Pastor Caldwell says, "I guess we're all winners. We all get a trophy. That's so discouraging." I guess giving a trophy to one person and watching the two year old cry is not discouraging. This was family fun, not the olympics, Mr. gay hater.   5. Back in Laredo, they're still packing the apartment up. Things are being moved into the new house. John does a little work this time. Sexism is highlighted with Jessa mentioning how Jeremy is excited about setting up his office as a girl would be setting up a nursery. Ummm, both spouses should be excited by both rooms. Jana goes into superwoman mode and creates a back splash for the kitchen with Laura and Jason helping. Jed Bob shocks me again by hammering in a nail with the picture he's hanging up. I think this kid has some anger issues. There is a lot of praise for Jana in this episode. It begins to sound like they are trying to sell her off to the highest bidder again. The house does look good in the end but it is tiny. They will outgrow it quickly. They need to take down the wall between the kitchen and living room and really open it up. I suggest Jed Bob head down their with his attitude and sledgehammer that wall. 6. Joystin are at F*ck Rock Family Camp helping Austin's parents for the weekend. This is a total commercial for the child abuse endorsing camp. They cook, they play, they sell switches and rods to tame evil babies. How did I ever get through life without ever being beaten for God? I've never been arrested, on drugs, broken a major sin (like Josh) or committed a major crime? I must be a fluke to the Duggars. 7. Joe and Kendra and posse go to visit Miss Cindy about their wedding. Michelle shows up for this scene. Joe doesn't really want to be there. He just came to be emotional support for Kendra. Joe seems as excited as a slug about his wedding. They must be paying Miss Cindy well for her to show up for another Duggar disaster, where flowers die, men don't do anything, and certain guests need to be sunglared out.   8. WTF TLC?!!! You showed the molestation house and the camp that is endorsing child beating books in this episode! How much of the Duggar crimes and sins are you apart of that you have no shame but to participate and advertise their sick and evil ways? WTF TLC! WTF?

[thesportssoundoff]

“History for one man, history between two women and a load of decent fights leading up to it” A UFC 215 Preview

The UFC returns to PPV with the sort of card that suggests that they need this new TV deal for more than just dollars and cents. This is a good card from the top to the bottom. It has two title fights, both highly intriguing in their own rights, and then a collection of fights on the PPV portion that either have divisional relevance (RDA/Magny, Pedro/Latifi) or the potential to be a slugfest (Stephens/Melendez). The free TV portion pits some of Canada's best hopes for being new leaders in Canadian MMA (Arjen Bhullar and Gavin Tucker) against vet competition (Luis Henrique and Rick Glenn). Also on this card you have some good WMMA fights and some interesting on paper fights pitting Canadian veterans against unheralded opposition. It's a good card----but is it the kind of card you pay $60 for? It's easy to argue that it isn't---but it's also easier to argue that there's no alternative. The average UFC event when worked out on paper roughly accounts for about 2 million dollars. A UFC PPV that does around 150,000 buys at $60 when you remove the PPV providers cut is about $4 million and change plus whatever they get for airing prelims and etc etc. It's just too big a financial relief to put it on PPV. So you're stuck with a card that might not be worth the PPV entirely (although if you bought UFC 208, 212 or 213,  I don't want to hear that shit) but also has no viable alternate. Now with that said, let's get the real meat and potatoes of this bowl of fruits and nuts.

Fights: 12

Debuts:   1 (Arjan Bhullar)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: (Junioe Dos Santos vs Francis Ngannou cancelled)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): (Mighty Mouse, Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, Neil Magny, Rafael Dos Anjos, Ilir Latifi, Gilbert Melendez, Jeremy Stephens, Sara McMann, Wilson Reis, Henry Cejudo)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:  4 (Henry Cejudo, Mitch Clarke, Jeremy Stephens and Gilbert Melendez)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 6 (Ray Borg, Valentina Shevchenko, Tyson Pedro, Amanda Nunes, Demetrious Johnson, Kajan Johnson)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 24-23)- Arjan Bhullar

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 17-25)- 0

Second Fight (Current number: 22-27)-  Gavin Tucker

Cage Corrosion (11-5)- Kajan Johnson, Mitch Clarke, Sarah Moras, Gil Melendez, Ilir Latifi

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I'll try to elaborate more on this but what necessarily IS history in the context of MMA? Like if you think about it, the Guinness Book of World Records is filled with "historic" records but do you care about half of them? Even pro sports there are records that people don't give much of a shit about. So what is history for MMA? What is being the champion with the most title defenses in a sport like this really worth? You'd assume a lot given how I'd venture a guess and say MOST champs can't go three title defenses in a row----but is this a record people care about? If so, how do you get them to care?

2- There has to be a part of everybody who is simply tired of talking about this that or the other thing when it pertains to the drawing power of Mighty Mouse. Either you appreciate his gifts and his greatness or you don't and at this point, the only people who should be worried with how many PPV he sells are the UFC and Mighty Mouse.

3- Just for the sake of argument; a brief comparison between the title defenses that Anderson Silva has had and the title defenses that Mighty Mouse has had. Caveats of course being different era, more active contenders, less shows, established weight class etc etc etc. PLUS you have to weed through the fights Anderson Silva had at 205 as well:

A. Silva- 47-18  UFC record at time of title defense; 1 undefeated in org, 0 undefeated overall; longest winning streak- 5 (Patrick Cote); rematches 3 (Franklin, Sonnen and Okami)

D. Johnson- 40-12 UFC record at the time of title defense; 6 undefeated in org; 0 undefeated overall; longest winning streak- 4 (Kyoji Horiguchi and Henry Cejudo); rematches 2 (Benavidez and Dodson)

4- Is there a backup plan in place if Ray Borg misses weight as he's been want to do in the past?

5- We sometimes rail on MMA but when the best fight the best, it can be really fun. After watching Shevchenko and Nunes run through the 135 lb division throughout all of 2016 and the start of 2017, there's no doubt these two are the best 135ers currently going. They're not the stars that Rousey and Tate were (and Holm by extension) BUT they're better fighters as evidenced by the success they've had. Nunes has come a long way (with some flaws that remain since her Strikeforce tenure) while Shevchenko continues to be a consistent ass kicker. They match up well stylistically, both fighters have the ability to finish the other and it's the perfect matchup of slow and steady in Shevchenko vs the aggressive immediacy of Nunes. The weight cut failure/sinusitis (depending on who you ask) doesn't help matters but we're getting the fight and that's what counts.

6- So.....who is the #1 contender post EITHER title fight? That's less of a problem at 135 lbs where Holm can jump down/GDR can pinch hit for the spot/Rocky Pennington is hanging out around. Even Ketlen Vieira could probably get that fight if she beats Sara McMann. It's a little less clear at 125 lbs where Mighty Mouse has beaten, well, everyone. Sergio Pettis is a fresh face although I don't think that fight would do remotely well on PPV or even on free TV. Same could be said for Ben Nguyen although Nguyen has a well earned fight finisher rep.

7- If they kill the 125 lb division if Mighty Mouse wins again, you cool with that?

8- Gavin Tucker looked very, very good in his UFC debut. Even though he's 31, he represents the slightest glimmer of hope for a UFC Canadian scene that's been floundering since GSP left. The UFC is giving him a moderate step up in Rick Glenn; one of those guys who might epitomize a AAAA fighter (too good for the regional circuit, not good enough for the bigger orgs).

9- Speaking of the future of Canadian MMA, Arjan Bhullar makes his debut. Just to show the difference here; Bhullar at 31 would be tied for the 4th youngest HW in the top 10 behind Volkov, Struve and Ngannou. He'd be tied for 4th OLDEST in the featherweight division (Yair, Aldo, KZ, Moicano and Ortego are all younger), Stephens being 31 as well.

10-Henry Cejudo showcased a wealth of improvement from his earlier UFC fights when he took Joseph Benavidez. He didn't get the decision (which most people disagreed with) but the improvement was there. He'll draw Wilson Reis who is about a level above the guys he was beating pre-DJ but below Mighty Mouse and Benavidez. Cejudo is still young, he's still improving and chances are he can maybe make a run in the division again. Assuming he doesn't miss weight/pull out/lose a winnable fight here.

11- Is it wrong to be a stick in the mud re: Gil Melendez vs Jeremy Stephens? Gilbert has had a lot of great fights in his career BUT his UFC run consists of really only one great performance vs Diego Sanchez. Caveats about Mexico's altitude and Benson Henderson aside, Gil's just really not the same dude anymore. Jeremy Stephens has historically been a fighter who has two types of fights; the fight where he brawls his way to a killer finish or a boring fight where he's decisioned/wins a decision. He is a guy who hasn't evolved despite his success; fighting the same way he has since 2010. Now having said that, perhaps there's a chance that the two stylistically match up for some kind of crazy war. I'm just not sold on that being the case; we've seen Stephens booked in these kind of fights before (Melvin Guillard, Donald Cerrone, Cub Swanson, Max Holloway off the top of my head) and it always ends with him being handled.

12- The quality of the 205 lb division has been dragged over jagged rocks plenty of times but Tyson Pedro seems like he could be a guy who has a bright future. The Aussie is undefeated in the UFC, both by finishes, and as we're seeing Khalil Rountree is no joke. The question becomes whether he can handle a serious step up in terms of style which is what Ilir Latifi represents. Latifi is a strong dude who doesn't need to hit clean to hurt folks and he's got an active ground game to match. He is a stern test for Mr. Pedro.

Must Wins

Demetrious Johnson

No duh. This is a must win. History is on the line here and a record that would stand until the end of time is on the line. Let's see if he can get it.

Ray Borg

Mighty Mouse is going for the record. That's without question a massive must win scenario---but a win by Mighty Mouse might legitimately end the 125 lb division in my estimation. That would suck for all involved. Ray Borg wins and there's an IMMEDIATE hot rivalry which would stretch the lifespan of this division out somewhat. Beyond that, Borg as a champion might convince a few new people to give 125 lbs a chance given how the issue seems to be about Mighty Mouse superficially and maybe not so much the division.

Tyson Pedro

I thought about Amanda Nunes here but I get the feeling that all roads will end positively there regarding her and the UFC. Tyson Pedro is a different kind of situation entirely; if he wins, 205 lbs has a new hot face on the scene at a time where Jon Jones is gone (for now), Rumble is gone, DC is going to be gone soon and Gustafsson fights every once every leap year. Pedro is a fight finisher who is 25 years old in a division lacking other fight finishers. He pretty much has to win.

Five Fights You Shouldn’t Miss

1- Ray Borg vs Demetrious Johnson

History is on the line. This is the fight to see.

2- Amanda Nunes vs Valentina Shevchenko

The first fight wasn't just good, it was the launching point for Amanda Nunes' career as it stands. Now they meet again with Nunes as the dominant champion who just iced the two most famous female mixed martial artists ever and Shevchenko chasing the only woman to beat her in MMA. It's a perfect story.

3- Sara McMann vs Ketlen Vieira

Ronda Rousey is not coming through that door. Miesha Tate is not coming through that door. Holly Holm is a 145er now (I suppose). You need new talent in the ranks and that ultimately means that Ketlen Vieira is of importance. The 26 year old Brazilian faces Sara McMann who at this point kind of is what she is. She's a frustrating fighter who when she puts it all together could beat anybody---but seems reticent to put it all together.

4- Henry Cejudo vs Wilson Reis

First, the challenge is on Reis to show he's not completely cooked and burnt out after getting thrashed vs MM. Wilson has had a long career and has fought up in weight, down in weight and in the middle. He's a good veteran fighter but he's got a lot of wear and tear on him. Henry Cejudo looked great in a loss to Joe Benavidez----so which Cejudo shows up? The one who upped his game vs Benavidez or the dude who slept through fights with Juissier Formiga and Chris Cariaso?

5- Rafael Dos Anjos vs Neil Magny

Tarec Saffiedine was a decent challenge for RDA at 170 lbs. Now comes a more perplexing challenge; a long limbed guy who exists in that "good enough to win but not great enough to win in one way." Magny has no true calling card; as a striker he's able to mix things up well enough. He has an understanding of angles and a variety of tools he uses to outpoint folks. He doesn't have the power to finish a guy outright and whenever he gets touched, he seems to react in the exact opposite fashion you'd want someone to. On the ground, he's good enough to challenge with subs and get to his feet but not good enough to stop takedowns and when it becomes chain for chain, he loses.  Dos Anjos on paper is good enough to beat Magny but in the words of Kevin McHale; good big beats good small every single time.

[yournair92]

EP FANFIC UPDATE

Since there seems to be some issue with WordPress as well, sharing the fic here . It is kinda long. Flashbacks are written in italicized font. Hope you like it, reviews are always welcome. COMPLICATED : CHAPTER 1 Portia scrolled through her playlist on YouTube, as she waited in her office-which was part of her residence- for her PA to report back to her with the schedule of her coming month. She had to do a lot of press the next month to promote the new movie she was starring in. She had to do a few interviews here in London and a few in US. She had asked her PA to finalize the schedule after getting in touch with the Promotions -In -Charge for the movie.

She finally selected the video she had been searching for and hit Play.

The video( some three years old):

A scene from a sitcom plays out:

“Because what, Nelle?” asked a woman in her twenties,with long blonde hair.

“Because…because I am in love with you goddammit!! answered another woman, older and with short hair.”

The scene cuts out into a TV studio where the two characters from the sitcom are seated with two other ladies who are the anchors.

“Well what we just saw was an epic scene from season two of the famous sitcom ‘Roommates’, and we have with us in the studio today, Portia de Rossi who plays Megan and Ellen de Generes who essays the role of Nelle,” said Hooda as she introduced the guests. Ellen and Portia smiled.

“ I remember that scene, that was one emotional episode for a sitcom. How was it during shooting?, Portia?” Kathy asked.

“ Yeah, it was an emotional episode, but it wasn’t really high on emotion while shooting. I mean this woman here,” she said pointing to Ellen, “can make you break character in the most emotional moments . I mean she has this mesmerizing pair of blue eyes and you think it would be really easy to just naturally fall into it and just say all those romantic emotional dialogues. But just when you are saying your dialogues and trying to make it look emotional, she will always bring up this naughty smile of her from around the corner of her mouth, and you lose it, you are bursting out laughing and the director is glaring at you. I think we have more tapes of our bloopers rather than of the actual sitcom.” she added.

“You don’t make it any easier for me either, you try to break my character as well,” Ellen added.

“That is me trying to get back at you,” Portia answered.

“ So what’s going on between you two? You know there are rumors that you are dating” asked Kathy, to Portia.

“Oh come on, not at 6 am in the morning,” complained Portia. She continued,“ everywhere we have been, they have asked us this question and I am like is there nothing else we can talk about? Ellen and me are really good friends and that’s all, we share a lot of similar interests, but that’s all there is to it, there is no romantic angle to it.”

Portia and Ellen were promoting the sitcom that they were together in, on various talk shows across the country and today they were doing a morning show, TODAY and were being interviewed by Kathy and Hooda.

Ellen who was sitting next to Portia added,“ I know that we have been clicked together on various occasions, and I do not deny that we hang out together, we do, a lot. But the reason behind it is everyone else on the cast and crew, are either in a relationship or are family people, so every chance at a break from the shooting schedule they are off to meet their family or their boyfriend or girlfriend, leaving the two of us. Initially it was more like she is from Australia and new to this place, so I kind of showed her around LA, but now I am stuck with her,” she said, making a face.

Everybody laughed- the audience, Kathy and Hooda, Portia stuck out her tongue.

“No, seriously, I mean, just this last weekend Portia wanted to go horse riding and guess who on the cast was sore and walked awkward during promotions tour, the next week…ME!! Me and her together as a couple!! No way.I mean she is already in a relationship with that jar of Vegemite that she carries around everywhere,"Ellen added.

Portia shook her head and smirked as everyone else in the studio continued laughing!

The video ended. Portia looked around at the table in front and her eyes landed on a photograph of both of them with the horses, it was clicked years ago, the day Ellen had just mentioned on the show.

Were they just friends? Portia wondered.

Portia was pulled out of her thoughts by the knock on her door, It was Brad, her PA. He handed over the schedule to Portia and sat down in the chair in front of her. Portia looked through the schedule, the London ones were fine. The ones in US were a bit hectic, a few shows in New York and then in L.A. Her eyes skimmed through the list of talk shows and suddenly came to a halt at one.

She will be meeting her after so long.

Did Ellen know that they would be meeting? She didn’t mention anything on the email, but then that was like a week ago. It’s going to be weird and what’s more she has to fly back to London the very next day to be able to attend the premier, Portia thought.

So many years later, but for such a short time,Portia wondered oblivious to the fact that she had said it out loud.

"What? Anything wrong with the schedule?” Brad asked.

“Huh…nothing…no, it’s fine. Thanks Brad,” Portia said, managing a smile.

Los Angeles (Present) Ellen was busy in her office, accompanied by Mary, Andy and Ed. They were going through the list of guests for the coming month that had been approved by the network executives and discussing possible segments that could be included. The day time talk show was into it’s first season and they were doing pretty good so far in terms of rating. The entire team was putting in all their efforts to make it a hit talk show. They had regular meetings and planned well in advance. Ellen was so grateful to her staff to see them all working so hard.

“Hey…we have Portia de Rossi on next month..” Mary stated, being the first one to go through the list. She read real fast. Ellen’s eyes shot up “What?"she exclaimed. "Oh yeah…man, she’s beautiful” exclaimed Andy as he finally reached the page with Portia’s name.

Ellen’s eyes caught the name as well. She tried to shift her focus to something else, when Ed added, “ Didn’t you do the sitcom 'Roommates’ with her?” “Yeah, I did” Ellen answered. “Hmm… then, you know her well I guess, see if you have some backstage photos with her of that time that we can show during the show? That would be nice.” Ellen nodded her head. “ Excuse me, but I just need to get some coffee. I will go over to Starbucks and grab one, you guys need anything?” Ellen said after a little while. “ Don’t wait up for me, I will catch up with you.” She added. The others nodded their head.

Ellen walked out of the office. She passed a few studio stages on the way and the one where they used to tape 'Roommates’ was one of them. They were taping some new show there these days, but the stage always reminded her of her sitcom days, having a fun time every single day, with Portia. Portia, Ellen sighed wondering why every time she thought about her, it made her heart beat faster and why did she think about her every time! And now she was going to be on the show and Ellen did not know how to react. A part of her was happy to be meeting her and a part of it was nervous. There were a lot of things unsaid and it was easier to keep it that way when your only way of keeping in touch was via e-mail, but when you meet in person, it’s a different story. Ellen reached Starbucks and ordered her coffee. She sat down on a chair outside, with her mind still wandering among her memories; she thought it was better to take a break rather than seeming lost in her office while working. From the table she sat down at, the 'Roommates’ stage was still visible and Ellen thought of her first day there.

At a studio stage, LA,(about four years ago): “Hello Ellen! Arriving before time as usual!!!” remarked John as Ellen stepped into the studio stage. “Hi John, how have you been?” Ellen replied, giving him a hug. “I have been good. Waiting for others to arrive, so that we can proceed with the table read .Come on, I will show you around the set till then.” John was the director of the sitcom, he was also one of the writers and producers of the show. He had known Ellen since her stand up days and had suggested her to audition for this role. The role meant a lot to Ellen, especially since it marked her return on TV after coming out as a gay person publicly, on national television, two years ago. TV had come a long way since then, there was a bit more of acceptance, though there was still some amount of discrimination. But the fact that they were now doing a sitcom based on a lesbian lead and her roommate who also happened to be bisexual was a big deal and Ellen wanted to be a part of it because at some level she felt it would bring to light the fact that people from the LGBTQ community are just like any random human being. “I don’t think you have met any one of the cast yet, have you?” John asked. “ Well, Jen and Jeremy I know, I mean we are friends. I have also met Louise and Robert earlier. But I don’t know this Portia de Rossi.” Ellen replied. “ Oh yeah, she is kind of new, I mean she has done a couple of movies in London. She is a gem of a person. She is smart but she still has that innocence in her. You will get along with her well. You better do, I mean the chemistry between your characters is what this show is banking upon.” John said. Ellen nodded her head. A few members of the technical crew were around the stage. It was built like a replica of an apartment with two bedrooms, a living room which had a kitchen to one end and a balcony. A few minutes later, as Ellen and John stood talking to each other, someone called out from behind, “John, is that you?” John turned around and so did Ellen. “Hey, Portia!” John exclaimed as he recognized the source of the voice. Standing in front of them, a few steps away and now walking towards them was a woman in her late twenties, tall and slim with long blonde hair, a smile on her face and hazel green eyes, holding a bag in her hand. “Did I mention that she is drop dead gorgeous?” “No, you did not,” Ellen replied grinning.

“ Portia, this is Ellen. Ellen , Portia,” John said as he  introduced them to each other.

“hi, ” Ellen said as she hugged Portia.

“Hi, I am a huge fan, I mean I have seen your previous sitcom and I am so much in awe of you since you took the decision of coming out in public, it was a really bold step.” Portia said, sounding excited and nervous at the same time.

“Thanks, at least someone thinks it was a good step.” Ellen said, giving a wink as John laughed.

“ OMG! your eyes they are really so blue, have always found them so beautiful” Portia exclaimed.

“ About my eyes, don’t look at them much, people say they forget to think straight when they look into them” Ellen said and winked as John laughed, Portia blushed.

That was how they had first met, on sets of the sitcom, co-stars to the best of friends in three years, and now after having not  seen each other for more than a year, they would meet again.

Ellen took out her phone, thinking of sending Portia an email about her visit to the show. The past one year they had been in touch through email only.

[velmaemyers88]

Theresa May to step down, Boris Johnson to become U.K. prime minister, in elaborate transition of power

Karla Adam

London correspondent covering the United Kingdom

July 24 at 9:34 AM

The British government is in transition on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May steps down and Boris Johnson takes her place. Here’s how the day will unfold:

●In her last remarks in front of 10 Downing Street, May wished success to Johnson and encouraged young girls who have seen her as a model to think “there are no limits to what they can achieve.”

●May will now submit her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

●Johnson will formally become prime minister following his own audience with the queen.

●Johnson will deliver his first speech at Downing Street and begin to form his cabinet.

LONDON — The transition of power in Britain’s parliamentary democracy is brutal — and lightning quick. The United Kingdom is not without a premier for more than an hour. Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May will curtsy to the Queen Wednesday afternoon and resign. Boris Johnson will bow and be asked to form a new government.

When Johnson walks through the black enameled door of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, he will fulfill what his biographers describe as his relentless “blond ambition” to follow his hero, Winston Churchill, into Britain’s top job.

He will immediately face the buzz saw of Brexit. And although his supporters hope the charismatic Johnson will rally a divided Parliament and a divided country in a way that Theresa May failed to do, he comes into office as a controversial leader, not especially well-liked by most Brits.

Johnson — a bombastic, Latin-quoting Oxford classicist with a mop of intentionally mussed yellow hair — made his name as an over-the-top journalist and a colorful London mayor. He then galvanized the successful Brexit campaign in 2016, which won him many fans and many enemies. 

[Who is Boris Johnson? Everything you need to know about Britain’s next prime minister.]

On Wednesday, the transition began when May appeared in the House of Commons for her last session of prime minister’s questions, a weekly exchange between the ruling government and the opposition, as tradition dictates, “two sword lengths apart.”

Lawmakers thanked May for her term and her 33 years in public service. The harshest lines were reserved for Johnson, whom opposition rivals called “flagrant” and “reckless,” a usurper with no mandate, and someone who is prepared to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and his friends.”

May offered tepid support for her successor, said she was “pleased” to hand over to Johnson, whom “I worked with when he was in my cabinet,” and who is committed to delivering Brexit. Johnson notably quit May’s cabinet over her handling of Brexit.

When May herself came under attack, she gave as good as she got.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn laid into her — saying that under her tenure, child poverty was up, pensioner poverty was up, school class size was up, food bank use was up. May retorted that she was proud of her record. She then lowered her head, eyeballed Corbyn and poked him with her horns: “As a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same.”

Jo Swinson, the new leader of the ascendant Liberal Democrats party, asked May if she had any advice for “women across the country on how to deal with those men who think they could do a better job but are not prepared to do the actual work.”

May smiled but didn’t take the bait — if that’s what it was — to make any references to Johnson. Instead, she offered: “Be true to yourself, persevere and keep going.”

Harriet Harman, the longest-serving female member of the House, honored May as Britain’s second female prime minister. But Harman added a sly reference to May’s rocky relationship with President Trump: “Sometimes you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.”

Although May had a relatively short tenure for a British prime minister, she noted that she had answered more than 4,500 questions over the course of 140 hours in the House of Commons.

After she steps down as leader, May will return to the backbenches of Parliament as an ordinary and not very influential lawmaker. This is far different from the tradition in the United States, where a former president scoots offstage to write memoirs, deliver speeches and build a library. In May’s case, she will back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, asking questions of Johnson.

Outside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, Fleet Street was in a tizzy over possible picks for Johnson’s team — including the “great offices of state” — the chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary — and what they could mean for Brexit and his style of governing. Johnson has just 99 days to find a Brexit solution. Otherwise, he has warned that Britain might accept the economic risk of leaving the bloc without a withdrawal agreement or transition period.

Will Johnson lean toward compromise? Or tilt toward a ‘no deal’ Brexit? The lineup of his top team could also signal whether he intends to govern, as he suggested on the campaign trail, like he did as mayor of London, where he was known as a liberal Conservative.

Johnson awoke Wednesday to a pile of British newspapers on his doorstep announcing his victory — some celebratory, some not. The Metro tabloid went with “Don’t Panic!” as an all-caps headline. The Express front page read, “Hang Onto Your Hats. Here Comes Boris!”

Next on the schedule: May has arrived at Buckingham Palace, where she will tender her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II and recommend Johnson as the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons. 

After May’s car leaves the palace, one carrying Johnson will arrive for a ceremony known as “kissing hands.”

In the movie “The Queen,” starring Helen Mirren, the actor playing Tony Blair kissed the hand of the monarch, but in reality, there’s more likely to be shaking hands. Theresa May shook hands and curtsied — deeply — during her meeting with the queen when she became prime minister.

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband, Philip, stand outside 10 Downing Street on July 13, 2016. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

Johnson will be the queen’s 14th prime minister. Over the course of her long reign, Elizabeth II has seen them come and go: Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and now Johnson.

Much attention today will focus on his remarks after he leaves the palace. The first speech a prime minister delivers is heavily scrutinized and often long remembered. 

For her first speech as prime minister, May talked of tackling “burning injustices” in society and leading a government that worked for everyone, not the “privileged few.” Those promises for a Tory-led “social justice” program were often thrown back in her face, when May mostly failed to address those issues. She was consumed with Brexit. The same could happen to her successor.

Matt Hancock, a Conservative politician who has been helping with Johnson’s campaign, told the BBC he expected Johnson’s speech to include “a surprising amount of detail, especially on the domestic agenda.” He said that, at the same time as delivering Brexit, Johnson wanted to focus on domestic issues and pointed out that on the campaign trail Johnson spoke about education, social care and policing.

Once prime minister, Johnson is expected to start naming his new team and new cabinet. Johnson has said he wants a cabinet rich with pro-Brexit voices — with each chair filled by someone who is okay with the incoming prime minister’s vow, that if he does not get the Brexit deal he wants from Europe, then Britain will crash out with no deal.

Johnson handily won the leadership contest on Tuesday. The former foreign secretary Johnson captured 92,153 votes to current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 — a decisive victory. 

New Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Boris Johnson leaves his campaign office in central London on Tuesday. (Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)

But the vote involved only dues-paying members of the Conservative Party. A mere 139,000 people cast ballots in a country of 66 million. A lot of Britons feel left out at a pivotal moment. On social media, #NotMyPM was one of the many Johnson-related hashtags trending. A YouGov survey found that 58 percent of Brits have a negative opinion of Johnson — a wicked-high number for a first day on the job.

The 55-year-old Johnson will take up residence at Downing Street. His 31-year-old girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications official and a top Tory spinner, may move in over the weekend, according to British news reports. Expect a lot of tabloid interest in this unprecedented arrangement.

When Johnson clocks in, he will face an overflowing in-box of items that need urgent attention, including a showdown in the Persian Gulf with a belligerent Iran. The two countries have been in a tense standoff since Britain impounded an Iranian tanker suspected of sending oil to Syria, and Iran retaliated by seizing a British-flagged oil tanker last week.

Politics watchers are keen to see whether Johnson continues Britain’s effort to salvage the 2015 deal designed to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons, or whether he bends to U.S. pressure to impose sanctions on Iran.

[Want to understand Boris Johnson, Britain’s probable next prime minister? Read his incendiary journalism.]

But Johnson’s main challenge will be getting Britain out of the European Union.

May’s failure to deliver Brexit on time was the reason her Tory lawmakers ousted her.

Read more

Who is Boris Johnson? His life in photos.

Boris Johnson wins vote to be U.K. prime minister

Theresa May packs her bags, her legacy dominated by failure

Want to understand Boris Johnson? Read his journalism.

What Boris Johnson said about Trump when he wasn’t being so diplomatic

Boris Johnson says he’s prepared for a no-deal Brexit. Critics say he’s reckless.

Boris Johnson’s rise could be a preamble to his fall

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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[reneeacaseyfl]

Theresa May to step down, Boris Johnson to become U.K. prime minister, in elaborate transition of power

Karla Adam

London correspondent covering the United Kingdom

July 24 at 9:34 AM

The British government is in transition on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May steps down and Boris Johnson takes her place. Here’s how the day will unfold:

●In her last remarks in front of 10 Downing Street, May wished success to Johnson and encouraged young girls who have seen her as a model to think “there are no limits to what they can achieve.”

●May will now submit her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

●Johnson will formally become prime minister following his own audience with the queen.

●Johnson will deliver his first speech at Downing Street and begin to form his cabinet.

LONDON — The transition of power in Britain’s parliamentary democracy is brutal — and lightning quick. The United Kingdom is not without a premier for more than an hour. Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May will curtsy to the Queen Wednesday afternoon and resign. Boris Johnson will bow and be asked to form a new government.

When Johnson walks through the black enameled door of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, he will fulfill what his biographers describe as his relentless “blond ambition” to follow his hero, Winston Churchill, into Britain’s top job.

He will immediately face the buzz saw of Brexit. And although his supporters hope the charismatic Johnson will rally a divided Parliament and a divided country in a way that Theresa May failed to do, he comes into office as a controversial leader, not especially well-liked by most Brits.

Johnson — a bombastic, Latin-quoting Oxford classicist with a mop of intentionally mussed yellow hair — made his name as an over-the-top journalist and a colorful London mayor. He then galvanized the successful Brexit campaign in 2016, which won him many fans and many enemies. 

[Who is Boris Johnson? Everything you need to know about Britain’s next prime minister.]

On Wednesday, the transition began when May appeared in the House of Commons for her last session of prime minister’s questions, a weekly exchange between the ruling government and the opposition, as tradition dictates, “two sword lengths apart.”

Lawmakers thanked May for her term and her 33 years in public service. The harshest lines were reserved for Johnson, whom opposition rivals called “flagrant” and “reckless,” a usurper with no mandate, and someone who is prepared to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and his friends.”

May offered tepid support for her successor, said she was “pleased” to hand over to Johnson, whom “I worked with when he was in my cabinet,” and who is committed to delivering Brexit. Johnson notably quit May’s cabinet over her handling of Brexit.

When May herself came under attack, she gave as good as she got.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn laid into her — saying that under her tenure, child poverty was up, pensioner poverty was up, school class size was up, food bank use was up. May retorted that she was proud of her record. She then lowered her head, eyeballed Corbyn and poked him with her horns: “As a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same.”

Jo Swinson, the new leader of the ascendant Liberal Democrats party, asked May if she had any advice for “women across the country on how to deal with those men who think they could do a better job but are not prepared to do the actual work.”

May smiled but didn’t take the bait — if that’s what it was — to make any references to Johnson. Instead, she offered: “Be true to yourself, persevere and keep going.”

Harriet Harman, the longest-serving female member of the House, honored May as Britain’s second female prime minister. But Harman added a sly reference to May’s rocky relationship with President Trump: “Sometimes you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.”

Although May had a relatively short tenure for a British prime minister, she noted that she had answered more than 4,500 questions over the course of 140 hours in the House of Commons.

After she steps down as leader, May will return to the backbenches of Parliament as an ordinary and not very influential lawmaker. This is far different from the tradition in the United States, where a former president scoots offstage to write memoirs, deliver speeches and build a library. In May’s case, she will back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, asking questions of Johnson.

Outside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, Fleet Street was in a tizzy over possible picks for Johnson’s team — including the “great offices of state” — the chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary — and what they could mean for Brexit and his style of governing. Johnson has just 99 days to find a Brexit solution. Otherwise, he has warned that Britain might accept the economic risk of leaving the bloc without a withdrawal agreement or transition period.

Will Johnson lean toward compromise? Or tilt toward a ‘no deal’ Brexit? The lineup of his top team could also signal whether he intends to govern, as he suggested on the campaign trail, like he did as mayor of London, where he was known as a liberal Conservative.

Johnson awoke Wednesday to a pile of British newspapers on his doorstep announcing his victory — some celebratory, some not. The Metro tabloid went with “Don’t Panic!” as an all-caps headline. The Express front page read, “Hang Onto Your Hats. Here Comes Boris!”

Next on the schedule: May has arrived at Buckingham Palace, where she will tender her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II and recommend Johnson as the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons. 

After May’s car leaves the palace, one carrying Johnson will arrive for a ceremony known as “kissing hands.”

In the movie “The Queen,” starring Helen Mirren, the actor playing Tony Blair kissed the hand of the monarch, but in reality, there’s more likely to be shaking hands. Theresa May shook hands and curtsied — deeply — during her meeting with the queen when she became prime minister.

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband, Philip, stand outside 10 Downing Street on July 13, 2016. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

Johnson will be the queen’s 14th prime minister. Over the course of her long reign, Elizabeth II has seen them come and go: Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and now Johnson.

Much attention today will focus on his remarks after he leaves the palace. The first speech a prime minister delivers is heavily scrutinized and often long remembered. 

For her first speech as prime minister, May talked of tackling “burning injustices” in society and leading a government that worked for everyone, not the “privileged few.” Those promises for a Tory-led “social justice” program were often thrown back in her face, when May mostly failed to address those issues. She was consumed with Brexit. The same could happen to her successor.

Matt Hancock, a Conservative politician who has been helping with Johnson’s campaign, told the BBC he expected Johnson’s speech to include “a surprising amount of detail, especially on the domestic agenda.” He said that, at the same time as delivering Brexit, Johnson wanted to focus on domestic issues and pointed out that on the campaign trail Johnson spoke about education, social care and policing.

Once prime minister, Johnson is expected to start naming his new team and new cabinet. Johnson has said he wants a cabinet rich with pro-Brexit voices — with each chair filled by someone who is okay with the incoming prime minister’s vow, that if he does not get the Brexit deal he wants from Europe, then Britain will crash out with no deal.

Johnson handily won the leadership contest on Tuesday. The former foreign secretary Johnson captured 92,153 votes to current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 — a decisive victory. 

New Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Boris Johnson leaves his campaign office in central London on Tuesday. (Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)

But the vote involved only dues-paying members of the Conservative Party. A mere 139,000 people cast ballots in a country of 66 million. A lot of Britons feel left out at a pivotal moment. On social media, #NotMyPM was one of the many Johnson-related hashtags trending. A YouGov survey found that 58 percent of Brits have a negative opinion of Johnson — a wicked-high number for a first day on the job.

The 55-year-old Johnson will take up residence at Downing Street. His 31-year-old girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications official and a top Tory spinner, may move in over the weekend, according to British news reports. Expect a lot of tabloid interest in this unprecedented arrangement.

When Johnson clocks in, he will face an overflowing in-box of items that need urgent attention, including a showdown in the Persian Gulf with a belligerent Iran. The two countries have been in a tense standoff since Britain impounded an Iranian tanker suspected of sending oil to Syria, and Iran retaliated by seizing a British-flagged oil tanker last week.

Politics watchers are keen to see whether Johnson continues Britain’s effort to salvage the 2015 deal designed to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons, or whether he bends to U.S. pressure to impose sanctions on Iran.

[Want to understand Boris Johnson, Britain’s probable next prime minister? Read his incendiary journalism.]

But Johnson’s main challenge will be getting Britain out of the European Union.

May’s failure to deliver Brexit on time was the reason her Tory lawmakers ousted her.

Read more

Who is Boris Johnson? His life in photos.

Boris Johnson wins vote to be U.K. prime minister

Theresa May packs her bags, her legacy dominated by failure

Want to understand Boris Johnson? Read his journalism.

What Boris Johnson said about Trump when he wasn’t being so diplomatic

Boris Johnson says he’s prepared for a no-deal Brexit. Critics say he’s reckless.

Boris Johnson’s rise could be a preamble to his fall

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Credit: Source link

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[weeklyreviewer]

Theresa May to step down, Boris Johnson to become U.K. prime minister, in elaborate transition of power

Karla Adam

London correspondent covering the United Kingdom

July 24 at 9:34 AM

The British government is in transition on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May steps down and Boris Johnson takes her place. Here’s how the day will unfold:

●In her last remarks in front of 10 Downing Street, May wished success to Johnson and encouraged young girls who have seen her as a model to think “there are no limits to what they can achieve.”

●May will now submit her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

●Johnson will formally become prime minister following his own audience with the queen.

●Johnson will deliver his first speech at Downing Street and begin to form his cabinet.

LONDON — The transition of power in Britain’s parliamentary democracy is brutal — and lightning quick. The United Kingdom is not without a premier for more than an hour. Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May will curtsy to the Queen Wednesday afternoon and resign. Boris Johnson will bow and be asked to form a new government.

When Johnson walks through the black enameled door of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, he will fulfill what his biographers describe as his relentless “blond ambition” to follow his hero, Winston Churchill, into Britain’s top job.

He will immediately face the buzz saw of Brexit. And although his supporters hope the charismatic Johnson will rally a divided Parliament and a divided country in a way that Theresa May failed to do, he comes into office as a controversial leader, not especially well-liked by most Brits.

Johnson — a bombastic, Latin-quoting Oxford classicist with a mop of intentionally mussed yellow hair — made his name as an over-the-top journalist and a colorful London mayor. He then galvanized the successful Brexit campaign in 2016, which won him many fans and many enemies. 

[Who is Boris Johnson? Everything you need to know about Britain’s next prime minister.]

On Wednesday, the transition began when May appeared in the House of Commons for her last session of prime minister’s questions, a weekly exchange between the ruling government and the opposition, as tradition dictates, “two sword lengths apart.”

Lawmakers thanked May for her term and her 33 years in public service. The harshest lines were reserved for Johnson, whom opposition rivals called “flagrant” and “reckless,” a usurper with no mandate, and someone who is prepared to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and his friends.”

May offered tepid support for her successor, said she was “pleased” to hand over to Johnson, whom “I worked with when he was in my cabinet,” and who is committed to delivering Brexit. Johnson notably quit May’s cabinet over her handling of Brexit.

When May herself came under attack, she gave as good as she got.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn laid into her — saying that under her tenure, child poverty was up, pensioner poverty was up, school class size was up, food bank use was up. May retorted that she was proud of her record. She then lowered her head, eyeballed Corbyn and poked him with her horns: “As a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same.”

Jo Swinson, the new leader of the ascendant Liberal Democrats party, asked May if she had any advice for “women across the country on how to deal with those men who think they could do a better job but are not prepared to do the actual work.”

May smiled but didn’t take the bait — if that’s what it was — to make any references to Johnson. Instead, she offered: “Be true to yourself, persevere and keep going.”

Harriet Harman, the longest-serving female member of the House, honored May as Britain’s second female prime minister. But Harman added a sly reference to May’s rocky relationship with President Trump: “Sometimes you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.”

Although May had a relatively short tenure for a British prime minister, she noted that she had answered more than 4,500 questions over the course of 140 hours in the House of Commons.

After she steps down as leader, May will return to the backbenches of Parliament as an ordinary and not very influential lawmaker. This is far different from the tradition in the United States, where a former president scoots offstage to write memoirs, deliver speeches and build a library. In May’s case, she will back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, asking questions of Johnson.

Outside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, Fleet Street was in a tizzy over possible picks for Johnson’s team — including the “great offices of state” — the chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary — and what they could mean for Brexit and his style of governing. Johnson has just 99 days to find a Brexit solution. Otherwise, he has warned that Britain might accept the economic risk of leaving the bloc without a withdrawal agreement or transition period.

Will Johnson lean toward compromise? Or tilt toward a ‘no deal’ Brexit? The lineup of his top team could also signal whether he intends to govern, as he suggested on the campaign trail, like he did as mayor of London, where he was known as a liberal Conservative.

Johnson awoke Wednesday to a pile of British newspapers on his doorstep announcing his victory — some celebratory, some not. The Metro tabloid went with “Don’t Panic!” as an all-caps headline. The Express front page read, “Hang Onto Your Hats. Here Comes Boris!”

Next on the schedule: May has arrived at Buckingham Palace, where she will tender her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II and recommend Johnson as the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons. 

After May’s car leaves the palace, one carrying Johnson will arrive for a ceremony known as “kissing hands.”

In the movie “The Queen,” starring Helen Mirren, the actor playing Tony Blair kissed the hand of the monarch, but in reality, there’s more likely to be shaking hands. Theresa May shook hands and curtsied — deeply — during her meeting with the queen when she became prime minister.

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband, Philip, stand outside 10 Downing Street on July 13, 2016. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

Johnson will be the queen’s 14th prime minister. Over the course of her long reign, Elizabeth II has seen them come and go: Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and now Johnson.

Much attention today will focus on his remarks after he leaves the palace. The first speech a prime minister delivers is heavily scrutinized and often long remembered. 

For her first speech as prime minister, May talked of tackling “burning injustices” in society and leading a government that worked for everyone, not the “privileged few.” Those promises for a Tory-led “social justice” program were often thrown back in her face, when May mostly failed to address those issues. She was consumed with Brexit. The same could happen to her successor.

Matt Hancock, a Conservative politician who has been helping with Johnson’s campaign, told the BBC he expected Johnson’s speech to include “a surprising amount of detail, especially on the domestic agenda.” He said that, at the same time as delivering Brexit, Johnson wanted to focus on domestic issues and pointed out that on the campaign trail Johnson spoke about education, social care and policing.

Once prime minister, Johnson is expected to start naming his new team and new cabinet. Johnson has said he wants a cabinet rich with pro-Brexit voices — with each chair filled by someone who is okay with the incoming prime minister’s vow, that if he does not get the Brexit deal he wants from Europe, then Britain will crash out with no deal.

Johnson handily won the leadership contest on Tuesday. The former foreign secretary Johnson captured 92,153 votes to current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 — a decisive victory. 

New Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Boris Johnson leaves his campaign office in central London on Tuesday. (Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)

But the vote involved only dues-paying members of the Conservative Party. A mere 139,000 people cast ballots in a country of 66 million. A lot of Britons feel left out at a pivotal moment. On social media, #NotMyPM was one of the many Johnson-related hashtags trending. A YouGov survey found that 58 percent of Brits have a negative opinion of Johnson — a wicked-high number for a first day on the job.

The 55-year-old Johnson will take up residence at Downing Street. His 31-year-old girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications official and a top Tory spinner, may move in over the weekend, according to British news reports. Expect a lot of tabloid interest in this unprecedented arrangement.

When Johnson clocks in, he will face an overflowing in-box of items that need urgent attention, including a showdown in the Persian Gulf with a belligerent Iran. The two countries have been in a tense standoff since Britain impounded an Iranian tanker suspected of sending oil to Syria, and Iran retaliated by seizing a British-flagged oil tanker last week.

Politics watchers are keen to see whether Johnson continues Britain’s effort to salvage the 2015 deal designed to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons, or whether he bends to U.S. pressure to impose sanctions on Iran.

[Want to understand Boris Johnson, Britain’s probable next prime minister? Read his incendiary journalism.]

But Johnson’s main challenge will be getting Britain out of the European Union.

May’s failure to deliver Brexit on time was the reason her Tory lawmakers ousted her.

Read more

Who is Boris Johnson? His life in photos.

Boris Johnson wins vote to be U.K. prime minister

Theresa May packs her bags, her legacy dominated by failure

Want to understand Boris Johnson? Read his journalism.

What Boris Johnson said about Trump when he wasn’t being so diplomatic

Boris Johnson says he’s prepared for a no-deal Brexit. Critics say he’s reckless.

Boris Johnson’s rise could be a preamble to his fall

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Credit: Source link

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from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/theresa-may-to-step-down-boris-johnson-to-become-u-k-prime-minister-in-elaborate-transition-of-power/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=theresa-may-to-step-down-boris-johnson-to-become-u-k-prime-minister-in-elaborate-transition-of-power

[courtneytincher]

Have Britain’s Remainers Blown Their Last Chance?

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Opponents of a no-deal Brexit in the U.K. parliament continue to insist they can stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal. There is “no parliamentary majority for no deal” gets repeated like a mantra.Brexiters say: So what? Parliament voted overwhelmingly in 2017 to trigger Article 50, which set the Brexit countdown clock in motion. Now supporters of a no-deal exit claim both the clock and the constitution are on their side.They have a point. A look at the options being offered (I count seven) to delay or stop the no-deal train shows why Johnson’s threat has much greater credibility than Theresa May’s ever did.Parliament could pass a law requiring the government to seek an extension. Back in April, the Labour MP Yvette Cooper sponsored a bill that placed a legal obligation on the government to, once Parliament approves, seek an extension of the Brexit deadline to avoid a no-deal exit. However, repeating that trick will be difficult, as Maddy Thimont Jack, a senior researcher at the Institute for Government, explains.To pass that kind of law again (the Cooper Act no longer applies), those opposed to a no-deal Brexit would likely have to take over the “order paper,” which controls the parliamentary schedule, as they did earlier this year with the help of House Speaker John Bercow. Opponents of leaving without a deal will have to try to manufacture those opportunities, perhaps by amending an emergency debate motion. But it will be up to the speaker to decide whether to allow it. Even if such legislation were to pass the House of Commons, it could get held up in the House of Lords, where filibusters and other procedural obstacles could get in the way.The bigger problem with this route is determining what comes afterward. EU leaders made clear that they would be willing to grant another extension, but that must be approved unanimously by the 27 other members and one or more (French President Emmanuel Macron, for example) could decide they want to attach conditions.Parliament could pass a vote of no-confidence in the government. This is the scenario everyone has been talking about, but it’s far from an automatic brake.  A no-confidence vote (which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has signaled he’ll call when Parliament returns) can be held only after a motion is put forward, which means a vote would realistically be held only Sept. 4, the day after parliament returns. Given the law requires 25 working days before an election can be held, it would just be possible to fit in an election before exit day on Oct. 31.Only what happens if Johnson refuses to go? If a no-confidence vote passes, the majority party would have 14 days to try to assemble a new government, which means he could simply declare a new election for the day after Brexit.QuicktakeNo Confidence VoteSome have advocated for a “national unity” government to be formed across party lines following a no-confidence vote. There are political obstacles there: Corbyn has ruled out any alternative government he doesn’t lead, and his leadership is a deal-breaker for the Liberal Democrats, who now have the ambition to at least replace Labour as the main opposition party if they can’t win an election. At any rate a national unity government in time to stop no-deal would still require the current prime minister to step down once he lost a confidence vote.Even if a general election is somehow engineered to take place before Oct. 31, that is a roll of the dice at this point since a combination of the Brexit Party’s strength, Labour’s weakness, a resurgence of the Liberal Democrats and tactical voting could produce a hung parliament or other outcome that would delay the formation of a government and make it difficult to stop the clock.Parliament could cancel the September recess. Lawmakers return in early September but leave again shortly after that for the party conferences season – a period in which the parties hold their annual meetings and rally behind the leader. There has been talk of Parliament suspending that recess in order to give MPs more time to come up with an anti-no-deal plan. Of course, buying a little time isn’t much of a plan unless any of the other scenarios work.Parliament could repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act. This crucial bit of legislation, passed in 2011 to shore up the then-coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, makes it harder to trigger new elections, something that helped drag out May’s doomed prime ministership, and which is helping her successor now. By repealing that act, Parliament could get a snap election triggered merely with a vote of no confidence, though that would eliminate the chance of forming a national unity government. Lawmakers may instead seek to shrink the campaign period down from 25 days (already an eye-blink compared to American presidential campaigns) in the hopes of getting an election in before the Brexit deadline, but there is nothing certain about how this gambit would play out.    The courts could intervene. Now we get deeper into the constitutional fog. Gina Miller, the lawyer and campaigner whose court challenge gave Parliament a bigger role in the Brexit process, has said she would challenge any attempt by Johnson to stay in place after a vote of no confidence or to try to set the date of the next election after Oct. 31. Her argument would be that a government that has just lost the confidence of Parliament cannot bind the hand of its successors in such a definitive way on such a historically momentous issue. The government would presumably counter that leaving the EU won a referendum and is already on the statute books. Constitutional experts differ on who is right and how this would play out.The Queen could step in. This is the most unlikely of options from a monarch who remains strictly outside politics, apart from the occasional oblique appeal for “common sense.” Constitutional experts are divided on whether Queen Elizabeth II might force Johnson to resign if he lost a confidence vote but refused to leave. Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggested last week his boss might demand it. Of course, it would be harder for her to remain neutral if it were clear that Parliament had an alternative government to put forward.  Parliament could revoke.  Many of those opposed to a no-deal Brexit are indeed committed Remainers who would happily cancel Brexit by revoking the decision to trigger Article 50. But many others – including Labour lawmakers from Leave-voting constituencies and many Conservatives who also pledged to follow through on the referendum result – are not. Revoking Article 50 would be electoral suicide for many of them. It’s hard to see anything short of a severe market reaction that would yield a majority for that option.With a governing majority of one, an election fairly soon seems inevitable. If parliament somehow manages to block a no-deal Brexit or force another extension, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party are still in the game and can divide the Conservative vote, forcing Johnson into an alliance it is trying to avoid. The Remain-leaning parties will either stay fragmented or, as they did recently in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, find a way to cooperate. Either way, the outcome is unpredictable. Johnson’s message (already being delivered relentlessly by ministers) will be that parliament thwarted the will of the people and so the only way to finish the job will be to give Johnson a governing majority.If parliament is unable to stop the no-deal train, an election just after Brexit happens (but before the real pain of new trade frictions sets in) would enable Johnson to blame the EU for any havoc, claim he alone was able to deliver on the people’s wish and argue he should now be given a mandate to focus on crystallizing the promised opportunities of Brexit, including his big-spending pledges. Johnson will like his chances: The remain-supporting Liberal Democrats will be on the back foot since it's not clear what the party wants apart from staying in the EU, the Brexit Party will be left without a raison d’etre and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party will share all the blame but none of the credit. Will history later show that Remainers and those who wanted a deal blew their last chances to stop a no-deal Brexit while May was still in office? Lawmakers have a lot to think about during their summer recess.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Gray at philipgray@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Opponents of a no-deal Brexit in the U.K. parliament continue to insist they can stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal. There is “no parliamentary majority for no deal” gets repeated like a mantra.Brexiters say: So what? Parliament voted overwhelmingly in 2017 to trigger Article 50, which set the Brexit countdown clock in motion. Now supporters of a no-deal exit claim both the clock and the constitution are on their side.They have a point. A look at the options being offered (I count seven) to delay or stop the no-deal train shows why Johnson’s threat has much greater credibility than Theresa May’s ever did.Parliament could pass a law requiring the government to seek an extension. Back in April, the Labour MP Yvette Cooper sponsored a bill that placed a legal obligation on the government to, once Parliament approves, seek an extension of the Brexit deadline to avoid a no-deal exit. However, repeating that trick will be difficult, as Maddy Thimont Jack, a senior researcher at the Institute for Government, explains.To pass that kind of law again (the Cooper Act no longer applies), those opposed to a no-deal Brexit would likely have to take over the “order paper,” which controls the parliamentary schedule, as they did earlier this year with the help of House Speaker John Bercow. Opponents of leaving without a deal will have to try to manufacture those opportunities, perhaps by amending an emergency debate motion. But it will be up to the speaker to decide whether to allow it. Even if such legislation were to pass the House of Commons, it could get held up in the House of Lords, where filibusters and other procedural obstacles could get in the way.The bigger problem with this route is determining what comes afterward. EU leaders made clear that they would be willing to grant another extension, but that must be approved unanimously by the 27 other members and one or more (French President Emmanuel Macron, for example) could decide they want to attach conditions.Parliament could pass a vote of no-confidence in the government. This is the scenario everyone has been talking about, but it’s far from an automatic brake.  A no-confidence vote (which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has signaled he’ll call when Parliament returns) can be held only after a motion is put forward, which means a vote would realistically be held only Sept. 4, the day after parliament returns. Given the law requires 25 working days before an election can be held, it would just be possible to fit in an election before exit day on Oct. 31.Only what happens if Johnson refuses to go? If a no-confidence vote passes, the majority party would have 14 days to try to assemble a new government, which means he could simply declare a new election for the day after Brexit.QuicktakeNo Confidence VoteSome have advocated for a “national unity” government to be formed across party lines following a no-confidence vote. There are political obstacles there: Corbyn has ruled out any alternative government he doesn’t lead, and his leadership is a deal-breaker for the Liberal Democrats, who now have the ambition to at least replace Labour as the main opposition party if they can’t win an election. At any rate a national unity government in time to stop no-deal would still require the current prime minister to step down once he lost a confidence vote.Even if a general election is somehow engineered to take place before Oct. 31, that is a roll of the dice at this point since a combination of the Brexit Party’s strength, Labour’s weakness, a resurgence of the Liberal Democrats and tactical voting could produce a hung parliament or other outcome that would delay the formation of a government and make it difficult to stop the clock.Parliament could cancel the September recess. Lawmakers return in early September but leave again shortly after that for the party conferences season – a period in which the parties hold their annual meetings and rally behind the leader. There has been talk of Parliament suspending that recess in order to give MPs more time to come up with an anti-no-deal plan. Of course, buying a little time isn’t much of a plan unless any of the other scenarios work.Parliament could repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act. This crucial bit of legislation, passed in 2011 to shore up the then-coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, makes it harder to trigger new elections, something that helped drag out May’s doomed prime ministership, and which is helping her successor now. By repealing that act, Parliament could get a snap election triggered merely with a vote of no confidence, though that would eliminate the chance of forming a national unity government. Lawmakers may instead seek to shrink the campaign period down from 25 days (already an eye-blink compared to American presidential campaigns) in the hopes of getting an election in before the Brexit deadline, but there is nothing certain about how this gambit would play out.    The courts could intervene. Now we get deeper into the constitutional fog. Gina Miller, the lawyer and campaigner whose court challenge gave Parliament a bigger role in the Brexit process, has said she would challenge any attempt by Johnson to stay in place after a vote of no confidence or to try to set the date of the next election after Oct. 31. Her argument would be that a government that has just lost the confidence of Parliament cannot bind the hand of its successors in such a definitive way on such a historically momentous issue. The government would presumably counter that leaving the EU won a referendum and is already on the statute books. Constitutional experts differ on who is right and how this would play out.The Queen could step in. This is the most unlikely of options from a monarch who remains strictly outside politics, apart from the occasional oblique appeal for “common sense.” Constitutional experts are divided on whether Queen Elizabeth II might force Johnson to resign if he lost a confidence vote but refused to leave. Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggested last week his boss might demand it. Of course, it would be harder for her to remain neutral if it were clear that Parliament had an alternative government to put forward.  Parliament could revoke.  Many of those opposed to a no-deal Brexit are indeed committed Remainers who would happily cancel Brexit by revoking the decision to trigger Article 50. But many others – including Labour lawmakers from Leave-voting constituencies and many Conservatives who also pledged to follow through on the referendum result – are not. Revoking Article 50 would be electoral suicide for many of them. It’s hard to see anything short of a severe market reaction that would yield a majority for that option.With a governing majority of one, an election fairly soon seems inevitable. If parliament somehow manages to block a no-deal Brexit or force another extension, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party are still in the game and can divide the Conservative vote, forcing Johnson into an alliance it is trying to avoid. The Remain-leaning parties will either stay fragmented or, as they did recently in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, find a way to cooperate. Either way, the outcome is unpredictable. Johnson’s message (already being delivered relentlessly by ministers) will be that parliament thwarted the will of the people and so the only way to finish the job will be to give Johnson a governing majority.If parliament is unable to stop the no-deal train, an election just after Brexit happens (but before the real pain of new trade frictions sets in) would enable Johnson to blame the EU for any havoc, claim he alone was able to deliver on the people’s wish and argue he should now be given a mandate to focus on crystallizing the promised opportunities of Brexit, including his big-spending pledges. Johnson will like his chances: The remain-supporting Liberal Democrats will be on the back foot since it's not clear what the party wants apart from staying in the EU, the Brexit Party will be left without a raison d’etre and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party will share all the blame but none of the credit. Will history later show that Remainers and those who wanted a deal blew their last chances to stop a no-deal Brexit while May was still in office? Lawmakers have a lot to think about during their summer recess.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Gray at philipgray@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

August 12, 2019 at 05:34AM via IFTTT

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Vote Leave leader Michael Gove warns rebel Tory MPs

Michael Gove today warns rebel Tory MPs they have less than 48 hours to save Brexit.

In a rallying call on the eve of tomorrow’s momentous vote, the Environment Secretary declares that ‘everyone who believes in democracy’ should get behind the Prime Minister’s deal.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he argues the agreement is the only way to heal the nation’s bitter divisions and make sure Brexit happens. 

Mr Gove, who helped lead Vote Leave, warns that leaving without a deal would not ‘honour’ the commitment made to voters ahead of the referendum.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Michael Gove argues the agreement is the only way to heal the nation’s bitter divisions and make sure Brexit happens

Andrea Leadsom, another prominent Eurosceptic, also last night issued a stark warning to rebels, saying: ‘It’s now or never.’

The Commons Leader said if Theresa May’s deal is rejected ‘it’s really clear that the next steps Parliament will take make the Brexit we want a fading reality’. 

Mrs May is expected to make a dash to Brussels this morning in a last-ditch attempt to secure changes to her deal. But sources on the Continent were yesterday playing down hopes of any meaningful concessions, saying talks could be as little as a phone call.

British officials spent the weekend locked in negotiations with their EU counterparts over their demands for alterations to the withdrawal agreement so the country cannot be trapped in the Northern Ireland backstop. 

Whitehall sources said the ‘atmosphere was grim’ with concerns that any changes may not be enough to satisfy rebel Tory MPs and the Democratic Unionist Party.

The Prime Minister has promised that if her deal is rejected for a second time tomorrow, MPs will get the chance to vote on leaving the EU without a deal or delaying Brexit beyond March 29.

Andrea Leadsom, another prominent Eurosceptic, also last night issued a stark warning to rebels, saying: ‘It’s now or never’

Senior Tory figures yesterday warned Mrs May’s position could become untenable if she is forced to seek an extension to the two-year Article 50 process.

Sources said Britain would be expected to pay another £13.5billion per year, more than the current £9billion, because the UK would lose its rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher. Even a delay of three months would add billions to the cost of the divorce payment.

The second so-called meaningful vote on the Brexit deal comes after it was rejected by a majority of 230 MPs in January, in a historic defeat for the Government. 

In a further development last night, Downing Street did not rule out amending tomorrow’s vote on the deal so it is conditional on securing extra changes from the EU before the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Philip Hammond is understood to be ready to promise billions of pounds of extra cash for the police, schools and tax cuts in his Spring Statement on Wednesday – if the deal is passed.

The Prime Minister has promised that if her deal is rejected for a second time tomorrow, MPs will get the chance to vote on leaving the EU without a deal or delaying Brexit beyond March 29

The Chancellor will release around £20billion currently ring-fenced as a contingency in case of No Deal. 

Mr Gove is pleading for Tory rebels to take a second look at the withdrawal agreement, arguing they should not ‘make our perfect Brexit the enemy of the common good’.

In his article for the Mail, he says: ‘I hope that everyone who believes in our democracy – in the importance of delivering Brexit, but also in the critical need to unite our country – will come behind the Prime Minister’s deal this week.’

He insisted that while the deal is a ‘compromise’, it ‘provides the best way of delivering an exit that can secure our country’s unity and prosperity’.

Mr Gove warns that many of the arguments made against the deal ‘don’t reflect the reality of what’s been achieved’.

‘It is not the case that this deal makes us a colony or vassal state. How could it when it gives us total control over our borders and ends our current automatic payments to the EU?’ he writes.

While admitting there were ‘aspects’ of the backstop he found ‘uncomfortable’, Mr Gove says the version ‘now agreed is very different from the arrangement the Irish Government and the EU first wanted’. 

Philip Hammond is understood to be ready to promise billions of pounds of extra cash for the police, schools and tax cuts in his Spring Statement on Wednesday – if the deal is passed

‘It places more cards in our hands than theirs. If we play them with skill we can get the final deal we want,’ he adds.

‘While it’s uncomfortable for us it’s a mistake to think it’s a bed of roses for the EU… I can’t imagine EU politicians tolerating for very long an arrangement which allows us to keep them out of our waters but sell all the fish we want to them, allows us access to their markets but restricts their citizens coming here, allows us to make our economy more competitive and ends all payments to their institutions. EU countries would want it to end.’ 

Mr Gove warns Eurosceptic rebels who believe that voting against the plan tomorrow will lead to a No Deal Brexit are likely to be disappointed.

He says: ‘Some may say that ditching this deal will allow us to leave without any compromises, but we didn’t vote in June 2016 to leave without a deal.

‘That wasn’t the message of the campaign I helped lead.’

He adds: ‘It would undoubtedly cause economic turbulence…We would get through it, of course, we’re a great and resilient country. But jobs would be lost in the short term and none of us can be blithe or blasé about the inevitable damage leaving without a deal would cause.’

Mr Gove’s warning comes after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Tory MPs they risk losing Brexit altogether if they fail to back Mrs May’s deal. 

He said there was ‘wind in the sails’ of the opponents of Brexit and that it would be ‘devastating’ for the Tories if they failed to deliver on their commitment to take Britain out of the EU. 

MICHAEL GOVE: Only by backing the Prime Minister’s deal with the EU will ensure Brexit happens and heal the bitter divides across the country

By Michael Gove  

The great Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once lamented that Britain had become ‘two nations’ between whom ‘there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets’.

Disraeli was writing of the gulf between rich and poor in the 19th century. But his words echo down the decades. 

It seems, at times, that our country is now just as divided — between those insulated by wealth from the effects of globalisation and those who feel shut out; or between those who compete on Twitter to signal how virtuous they are and those who are made to feel that patriotism is prejudice and love of country is now the love that dare not speak its name.

There are other divisions, too — between politicians in Westminster and a population becoming alienated because of those politicians’ failure to listen. Between broadcasters who seek to serve the public and a public that is increasingly switching off.

Between elites who think their professional success means they know all the answers and those who wonder why these elites failed to see the banking crisis coming and failed to spread economic growth more fairly in the boom years.

Disraeli was writing of the gulf between rich and poor in the 19th century. But his words echo down the decades

Those divisions in our society were exposed for all to see by the Brexit referendum. There were different reasons why people voted to leave the EU, but at the heart of the campaign was a wish on the part of the majority to take back control from unaccountable elites, to make politicians more answerable to the people, and to make our country work in the interests of all: one nation once again.

But since the referendum, it has often seemed as though that desire for a fresh start has been continually frustrated by an unwillingness to come together behind that democratic vote.

Listening to some partisans in the ongoing Brexit debate, it is clear that they behave as though they think the other side are indeed ‘dwellers in different zones’ or ‘inhabitants of different planets’. Insults are hurled, cries of treachery traded, any suggestion of finding common ground denounced as a heresy. Sympathy for others seems in short supply.

But for democracy to work, there has to be understanding between people; there has to be compromise and a coming together.

Along with a majority of other people, I voted to reinvigorate our democracy by taking power back from unaccountable institutions and taking back control of our laws.

I recognise, however, that while the majority to leave was decisive, executing that decision, like all democratic decisions, means respecting everyone in our democracy.

Forty-eight per cent of the country voted to remain. Their voices need to be listened to, their hopes incorporated in our plan for the future. That doesn’t mean giving in to the much smaller number who want to overturn the decision and frustrate Brexit.

But it must mean that none of us Leavers should try to make our perfect Brexit the enemy of the common good.

Which is why I hope that everyone who believes in our democracy — in the importance of delivering Brexit and in the critical need to unite our country — will get behind the Prime Minister’s deal this week.

It is, of course, a compromise. But so many of the great British traditions and institutions I and many others value are the result of compromise.

Which is why I hope that everyone who believes in our democracy — in the importance of delivering Brexit and in the critical need to unite our country — will get behind the Prime Minister’s deal this week

We are governed by a system that reconciles the different interests of Government, Parliament and the Courts; our constitutional monarchy is underpinned by centuries of compromise, as is our national Church.

The devolution settlement is a compromise; our Press balances freedom of speech with a responsibility to be accurate in reporting; our economic system and welfare state balance the individual freedom to pursue success with the collective need to protect the vulnerable.

As the great liberal thinker Isaiah Berlin rightly argued, when one value or a single perspective is valued above all others, the tree of liberty is hacked at its roots. 

So while the Prime Minister’s deal is a compromise, it is not to be rejected for that reason alone. Quite the opposite. In balancing the freedoms that Brexit brings with assurances that smooth our path out of the EU, it provides the best way of delivering an exit that can secure our country’s unity and prosperity.

Of course, there are some who voted Remain for whom no Brexit is acceptable. Whatever deal Mrs May secured, they would find fault with it. But their answer, a second referendum, would only deepen and inflame the divisions it is our duty to overcome.

As the great liberal thinker Isaiah Berlin rightly argued, when one value or a single perspective is valued above all others, the tree of liberty is hacked at its roots

The demand for another vote is a declaration that those who voted Leave in 2016 were too stupid to know what they were doing or too prejudiced to appreciate the consequences.

Holding another referendum would only confirm the feeling among many that politicians don’t listen and won’t change.

It would undermine confidence in our democracy and any campaign that ensued would further fray the bonds that hold us all together — not least by fuelling demands for new votes in Scotland and Northern Ireland to break up the United Kingdom.

But it’s not only those calling for a second referendum who are, I fear, making a mistake. Some of those who believe most sincerely and passionately in Brexit have allowed arguments to be made about the Prime Minister’s deal which don’t reflect the reality of what’s been achieved.

It is not the case that this deal makes us a colony or vassal state. How could it when it gives us total control over our borders and ends our automatic payments to the EU? Colonies, by definition, don’t have control over their borders and they give up their natural resources to others.

This deal means we have the absolute freedom to decide who comes into this country, and on what terms. It also allows us to decide what pan-European programmes, if any, we want to join in.

As one of the leaders of the Leave campaign, I know that two of the most resonant demands from voters were control of our borders and money. This deal delivers — completely and, as it happens, without compromise — on both.

Some of those who believe most sincerely and passionately in Brexit have allowed arguments to be made about the Prime Minister’s deal which don’t reflect the reality of what’s been achieved

It also ensures we leave the EU’s legal order and, save for a few very limited areas, we are outside the control of the European Court of Justice. We can, if we wish, choose to continue to meet EU standards, as they change, to make cross-border trade easier. But we can refuse to accept any new EU rule on goods or agriculture we don’t want.

The ratchet of European integration has been stopped. Ever closer union ended.

We can begin to do things differently in all manner of ways when the deal is concluded. We can have new rules for our service sector to help create new jobs in the fastest growing part of our economy. We will continue to maintain the highest environmental standards but we no longer need to follow the EU rulebook and can do things in our own, better, way.

The deal also means we aren’t bound by the EU’s Common Defence and Security Policy and we’re out of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. Our farmers are freed from the bureaucracy that held them back, and we take back control of all our fish stocks and access to our waters.

There are, of course, aspects of the deal which cause concern. It requires us to accept an arrangement called the backstop which places certain restraints on the ability of Northern Ireland to diverge from the EU in the event that we don’t conclude a full trade deal by the end of 2020.

The Irish government have pressed for a backstop throughout these talks because they see it as an insurance policy in order to keep the current open border on the island of Ireland.

But the backstop we’ve now agreed is very different from the arrangement the Irish government and the EU first wanted. It places more cards in our hands than theirs. If we play them with skill, we can get the final deal we want.

As a Unionist and a Brexiteer, there are aspects of the backstop I certainly find uncomfortable. It creates a difference in treatment between Great Britain and Northern Ireland which is troubling. I’d much prefer it if we had a unilateral exit mechanism.

But while it’s uncomfortable for us, it’s a mistake to think it’s a bed of roses for the EU. There are many reasons why they would not want it to last indefinitely — and it’s worth looking at them in detail.

If the backstop ever kicked in, we’d still be able to export our goods to Europe without any tariff barriers, but we would also have full control of our own borders, with free movement of people having ended. More than that, we wouldn’t be paying the EU any money any more. Not a penny.

More, even, than that, we could stop EU vessels entering our fishing waters. If we wished, we could deny French and Danish boats any of our fish. But they couldn’t stop us selling our catch to them.

On top of that, in the backstop our ability to ignore new EU laws, and indeed roll back the vast majority of existing EU laws, would be extensive. We could make our economy more competitive from day one, and still have guaranteed access to their economies.

In the backstop we could still negotiate, sign and implement new trade deals. They wouldn’t cover goods but could cover services, professional qualifications and investor protections.

Leaving without a deal on March 29 would not honour that commitment. It would undoubtedly cause economic turbulence. Almost everyone in this debate accepts that

I cannot imagine EU politicians tolerating for very long an arrangement which allows us to keep them out of our waters but sell all the fish we want to them; allows us access to their markets but restricts their citizens coming here; allows us to make our economy more competitive and ends all payments to their institutions. EU countries would want it to end. And if we do play our cards right, we can ensure that it does — on our terms.

Any objective assessment on this deal shows it delivers on the key Brexit demands and gives us the freedom to go further in the future.I fear, if MPs don’t support the PM’s deal this week, then the chance to come together as a country may be taken from us.

Some may say that ditching this deal will allow us to leave without any compromises. But we didn’t vote to leave without a deal. That wasn’t the message of the campaign I helped lead. During that campaign, we said we should do a deal with the EU and be part of the network of free trade deals that covers all Europe, from Iceland to Turkey.

Leaving without a deal on March 29 would not honour that commitment. It would undoubtedly cause economic turbulence. Almost everyone in this debate accepts that.

EU tariffs on food would hit farmers; new trade frictions would harm manufacturers. We would get through it, of course — we’re a great and resilient country. But jobs would be lost in the short term and none of us can be blasé about the damage leaving without a deal would cause.

We would also be open to criticism from those many Remain voters who are prepared to compromise and leave with a deal, but don’t want to depart without a deal, that we’d preferred our perfect to their good. They could argue we’d preferred ideology to inclusivity. Given the fragility of faith in our politics at the moment, it’s not a course I’d want to take.

And it’s a course we may not be able to take anyway. If the deal is voted down, then the Government is no longer determining events.

Parliament will then vote on whether we leave without a deal on March 29. A majority are likely to say they don’t want to take that risk, and Parliament is likely to ask for an extension of EU membership.

Whatever the merits of that course, it’s undoubtedly the case that it creates another risk — of the Commons diluting Brexit or the EU offering us a poorer deal.

The decisions all MPs face in the next few days will not be easy. And I respect the sincerity and passion with which every one of my colleagues holds to their position.

But if we don’t think coolly about what’s in the best interests of our country, we may find that we have failed to rise to this moment; failed to find the common ground on which our best future rests.

Delaying and diluting what we have or leaving without a deal risks perpetuating the difficulties when we need to overcome divisions to meet new challenges. It’s time we became one nation once again.  

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