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robinofgothamcity · 3 years

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scenario: you start seeing Jon which leads to the two of you having to hide it from your family and especially Damian.

pairing: jon kent ( superboy ) x fem! reader

note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / can you tell my kent family hyperfixation hasn't left yet? i swear it's becoming an issue lmaooo but this might actually be the longest fic i've written for this blog.

you talked with your friends who you had snuck into the gala with. Rachel had begrudgingly agreed to come to meanwhile Cass and Steph were the only other ones who agreed to come on their own accord.

"Damian, your only friend is here," Dick said, earning a kick from his younger brother before getting up and leaving you and Raven alone. you knew it was a rare occasion that she even decided to show up so you didn't want to leave her alone. "we probably won't see my brother for the rest of the night. whenever his friend comes, it's like everyone becomes a background character. for him being my adopted 'twin' brother, I have yet to meet this friend."

Raven laughed as you saw the wine that the couple on the dance left on your table drunkenly. the bottle was little more than half-filled and you gave one quick look to Raven before pouring the wine into both of your glasses and discarding it right away.

"to not having fun for the rest of the night," you giggled as the two of you chugged the wine down in a mere few seconds, "drier than I thought it would be but it beats having to pay for it," Raven muttered as you agreed to sneak another bottle from the bartender so you wouldn't have to pay for it. even with your dad paying for all your necessities, the drinks at his galas were far too expensive for you to even willingly pay for them yourself. the only reason why he even paid for all your expenses was because you agreed to skip out on college to help run some parts of Wayne Enterprises with your brother.

another reason why you couldn't exactly go and pay for it yourself was because Bruce was not one to exactly be chippy at the idea of you getting plastered drunk at one of his public galas. "I got one of two ideas. one: I'll go flirt with the bartender and you can sneak behind him and get the other bottle or two: I can flirt with the bartender for enough time to see if he'll just willingly give it to us," you told Raven as she nodded with option two.

the bartender happened to be in his younger 50s. you recognized him from previous WE events and although he was familiar with your family, you doubted that he would say anything to your dad about you flirting him with. all you had to do was push the top of the dress down a bit and hike up the bottom to get his attention.

"hey Martin," you said, leaning up against the bar table and smiling, "enjoying the night?" you asked as you saw him flinch back in surprise. he nodded, trying to divert his eyes from looking at you in anyway you could have felt to be disrespectful.

"I was thinking, how much does the bottle of Lafite Rothschild go for?" you asked, giving him a pouty face. he gulped nervously, "almost ten grand ma'am," he replied, grabbing it from the wine stand, "even for me? I mean, my dad must've paid for it so does it even go for that much considering I am his child?" he asked.

you could tell that you had caught him in a predicament, "I would assume not, I assume you're twenty one, right?" he murmured, handing you the precious bottle. you smiled (a fake one that anyone could see through) and nodded before giving the old man a light kiss on the cheek, "thanks Martin, I appreciate it," you said, giving him a wave before leaving.

Raven perked up seeing the bottle in your hand, "snagged a ten thousand dollar bottle," you said excitedly as you waved it in your hand. Raven stared at you in shock, "you got a ten thousand dollar bottle in less than five minutes?" she exclaimed.

you giggled before whispering in her ear, "the benefits of being a child of Bruce Wayne is that you can practically get away with anything. especially when you're the daughter." you popped open the bottle as you handed her the wine glass and poured the drink with care. you gave her a slight cheers before taking a small sip and being pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as dry for a wine with a huge amount of alcohol percentage.

as the night progressed, you and Raven got actively more drunk. you hadn't realized how hard the wine had hit you until Raven was drunkenly getting pulled home by Gar as you sat at the table with a little less than the bottle still full. you hadn't seen your dad or brother all night and you figured they must've been pulled into doing Batfamily work at some point and left you alone with Steph or Cass. hell, maybe even Dick if he was still around.

you weren't actively apart of the vigilante work all of your siblings did but you did help them out with the technical parts of it when Tim wasn't available. you didn't really like fighting or risking your life so after you graduated, you interned at Wayne Enterprises under Tim's orders while Damian worked under your dad.

at the age of twenty-one, you still hadn't met most of the league for the exception of Wonder Woman and The Flash. the rest were strangers in your head and much to Damian's luck, he wanted to keep it that way. at least in his case with Jon.

"ow, I am so sorry," you slurred as you managed to hit someone on the shoulder. he chuckled seeing as how you were not attempting to get up, "you okay there ma'am?" the man with a southern accent asked. you giggled as you attempted to get up, "I'm ( your name ) and you are?" you asked.

"Jon Kent, pleasure to meet you," he said, kissing your hand. you blushed as you heard one of your favorite songs come through the speakers, "would you like to dance?" you asked, not even caring that you had met this just a few mere seconds ago. he nodded, figuring that since Damian left him stranded at the gala, he had nothing to lose.

the song 'telepatia' by Kali Uchis played throughout the ballroom. Jon immediately took the reigns as the lead as the lights got dimmer and you danced against Jon sensually. "what got you dragged here?" you asked Jon. "my best friend invited me as his plus one. you?" he whispered in your ear, "I work for the company so I kind of had to attend," you managed to say before turning around and facing him.

you looked at Jon with drunken yet loving eyes, "you're handsome, you know that?" you said with no hesitation in your face. Jon laughed, placing his hand on your cheek, "right back at ya, darlin'," he replied as the song switched to another one of your favorite songs.

side to side by ariana grande started.

you shrugged, feeling as though you had nothing to lose and got up on your toes gave Jon a kiss on his lips. he was slightly taken back but played it off by returning it. the two of you remained kissing through the entirety of the song until Jon felt a familiar tap on his shoulder.

"I gotta go but if you're up for it, I'd love for ya to give me your number," you nodded excitedly as you practically snatched his phone from his hand and typed it in as quickly as possible with your name having a hundred emoji's next to it, "text me in the morning!" you screamed.

Jon laughed before following Damian from behind, "you suck, you know that!" Jon exclaimed, "I meet one girl I actually like and you drag me away!" Damian rolled his eyes, "please, you act like there isn't more girls out there to hit on." this time, it was Jon's turn to roll his eyes, "I got her number so I guess that's a plus."

you woke up the next morning with a pounding headache but to a few messages on your phone. you smiled realizing that it was the boy you had met the night before.

"good morning...or actually good afternoon!"

Jon laughed from his side of the phone.

"good afternoon darlin'. I hope you had a good sleep."

you were texting your way down the stairs, greeting Alfred and Bruce before grabbing a plate of lunch and sitting down on the bar top. "what time you'd make it home?" Bruce asked, sensing the hangover you had. "a bit past midnight. drank a bottle of Lafite with Raven before dancing with a boy you invited," you said honestly.

Bruce felt himself go stiff at the admittance of you drinking the Lafite bottle but remained silent as Alfred placed Advil and one of your Gatorades next to you. "yeah, whoever must've danced with you last night must've been drunk too because you'd want to dance with you?" Damian said coming down the stairs.

you threw him a fork, Damian dodging it with ease, "I'd shut up if I were you. I'm actually getting coffee with the guy in like an hour," you replied, chugging down the rest of the food before getting up and going to your room, "yeah and I pray for the man who now has to deal with you," Damian screamed loud enough for you to hear.

you pulled on a skirt and tights before slipping on a sweater and fixing your hair and quickly doing your makeup. you grabbed the keys from your bag and took the back entrance to get to your car. one of the benefits of getting paid so much was that you were able to afford cars that were out of price range for a lot of people your age.

the coffee shop you decided to meet Jon at was a few blocks into the heart of central Gotham. you got a table farthest from the crowd as you didn't want any attention on you and your potential boyfriend. you saw Jon approaching at the front of the coffee shop and pulled on your sunglasses so no one outside could see who you were.

"nice to meet you, this time with me not being drunk," you told Jon, giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek, "pleasure is all mine sweetheart," he replied, putting his arm around your shoulder. you got up to the front of cashier and scanned the menu.

"I'd like a venti mocha with oatmilk, what about you?" you asked Jon as he scanned the menu nervously before muttering that he hardly orders coffee. you smiled, "and an order of a grande peppermint hot chocolate," you added on as you took your card out, Jon's eyes widening at the black American Express card.

"wow, Wayne Enterprises must pay you really well," he exasperated, "yeah, I guess you could say that," you said as hesitantly as possible. after the two of you got the coffees, you got back to the table as you took off your sunglasses in a sigh of relief.

"do you really wear sunglasses everywhere you go?" Jon asked. you debated on telling him the actual reason but decided on a vague answer, "eh, it's more for secrecy. I guess if I get another date, I might tell you the real reason," you winked, making Jon blush.

through the weeks, you decided to keep the biggest part of your life a semi secret to Jon still. he knew vaguely of a few things but one mistake on your end managed to throw all of that away in more ways than one.

you were walking downtown with Jon, his hand grasping yours as the two of you roamed an area of town that you knew didn't have major significance to WE. you were holding a coffee in one hand as you walked about a few things that happened to you that week to Jon. it wasn't until you walked towards a busy street that your heart fell to your stomach.

a huge billboard, like signs you would see on highways, of you and Damian representing Wayne Enterprises stood in the middle of an intersection. you stared at the ground, your one secret given away as Jon stared down at you, a look of shock in his eyes.

"wait, you work with Damian Wayne?" he asked as he could tell that you did not want to look at him. you sighed, a bit scared, "work partners might be a little too far from what we are," you gulped, finally realizing that you had to admit to your family ties.

Jon looked at you, now more confused than shocked.

what you didn't know was that at the same time that you were about to confess everything to Jon, a paparazzi had taken dozens of photos of you and Jon that were immediately uploaded to various Twitter accounts and gossip magazines.

"Damian Wayne is my adopted brother. Bruce Wayne is my adopted dad. that's why I have a lot more money than any regular Wayne Enterprise worker."

Jon immediately stumbled to the ground, not expecting that answer coming from you. you immediately felt tears hitting your eyes as you figured that maybe Jon didn't want to be with someone so rich and famous. someone's whose family was always in the spotlight.

"DAMIAN WAYNE IS YOUR BROTHER?" Jon screamed, catching you off guard as this was the first time Jon had ever screamed at you. you nodded, trying not to look at him in the eyes, "he's going to kill me. your entire family is going to plot my murder. I'm a dead man. Clark is going to find me in a ditch," Jon started talking to himself.

it was now your turn to look at Jon confused, "wait, what?" you asked, wiping your tears. "YOUR BROTHER IS MY BEST FRIEND. Damian Wayne is Robin and I'm Superboy!" he whispered the last part, "I've been dating my best friends sister this entire time without realizing it!" he screamed.

you finally connected the dots. every time Damian said he was going on patrol with Superboy meant that he was going to hang out with Jon and every time Damian said that Jon turned down a patrol session usually meant that you were going on a date with him. both of you stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"small world, eh?" you asked, trying to defuse the tension, "guess we better figure out a way to tell them, huh?" Jon replied as you both heard your phone going off with texts and calls. you opened it to see that Dick, Bruce, Tim, and even Jason and Alfred were frantically calling you.

"hello, what happened?" you asked, picking up Dick's call. "GET HOME NOW!" he yelled through the phone as you heard Damian's screeching voice from the other side, "why? what happened?" you asked, staring at Jon now in fear.

"SHE'S DATING JON? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM BEFORE I KILL HER!" you heard Damian scream before something broke, "pictures of you kissing Jon came to the public on Twitter and he saw them," Jason said, half annoyed.

both of your hearts fell to your stomach as you realized it was now or never. everyone knew of your relationship and it wasn't even something both of you tried to do intentionally. you grabbed Jon's hand, yours shaking in fear as you got into the passenger side of his beat up red truck. he could tell you were beyond scared to go home and he now knew it was time. he had to man up before it got worse and you attempted to break up with him.

once you arrived to Wayne Manor, you sat still, not moving an inch. "it'll be okay darlin', I promise it won't be too bad," he murmured as he opened your door. you nodded as you hopped off and started walking towards the door.

you could hear Damian's yells still going on from the other side door as you opened it. you grasped Jon's hand and walked into the living space, Damian's eyes immediately looking at you before charging to Jon with every ounce of strength he had. Jason quickly grabbed you as Jon dodged him and Damian went straight to attack him again. you couldn't bare to look at the sight and felt tears spring to your eyes as you hid your face into Jason's side.

"hey, you okay?" Jason asked. he could see the tears in your eyes which instantly made him a bit upset. "enough," Jason screamed, catching everyone's attention. Jon and Damian saw the hurt look on your face and as soon as Jon realized you were upset at the fight he was having, he kicked Damian off of him and walked towards you.

he grabbed your hand and whispered an apology into your ear as he stroked your cheek lovingly, "I'm sorry dear but I wasn't expecting Damian to do this," Jon said as Damian watched the way Jon was treating you. a part of him knew that Jon would treat you right. Jon wasn't like your typical average boy but the fact that neither of you told him is what set him off and seeing you being so lovingly with Jon set him off again.

Damian ran towards Jon again but this time, you shielded him which made him stop immediately, "Damian, stop, please," you croaked. Bruce saw you trying to neutralize the situation and stood next to Damian, hinting at him to quit it, "I'm sorry we never told you but the reason why we never did was because we had no idea who the other was. I didn't know Jon was your best friend and clearly didn't know that he was Superboy and he had no idea I was even related to you nevertheless your sister. please, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine," you explained.

Dick, Jason, and Tim stared at Jon who grabbed your hand and pulled you to the side, "and I would have never made the move if I knew she was your sister but we fell in love and it was like a soulmate connection. we were meant for each other and I want her to be in my life. she's it for me," Dick sighed mesmerized as Tim and Jason gagged at the cheesy confession.

Damian growled, "if you even think of hurting her, Clark will be down one son and I mean it. that's my sister and no man will ever be good enough for her. you are my best friend and she might be a pain in my ass, she means the world to me. I will not hesitate to dig your grave and bury you alive if I see one tear of sadness coming down her face," Damian stated before hitting Jon on the shoulder purposely before walking away.

you smiled, your heart swelling at Damian's speech. he never once said anything like that about you and in his Damian way of being, you knew this was his way of accepting your relationship with Jon. you smiled at Jon before giving him a huge kiss on the lips, making your dad and all of your brothers gag at the sight.

"okay, save that shit for privacy, no one needs to see that," Jason said as he walked away. Bruce gave you one look before turning to Jon, "your father knows in case you were wondering but feel free to stay for dinner if you'd like," Bruce said before walking away with Tim and Dick walking away with him.

"I love you," you whispered to Jon as he let out a laugh against your lips, "I love you too and I'm all of this was cleared out." you nodded in agreement as you grasped his hand, "wanna come up to my room? I figured we should catch some sleep before Alfred calls everyone for dinner and Damian starts another fight," Jon agreed, giving you a kiss on your head as the two of you walked up the stairs.

#dc comics #dc x reader #dc imagine #dc #jon kent x y/n #jon kent x reader #jon kent imagine #superboy x y/n #superboy x reader #superboy imagine #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne x reader #robin

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dramatic-squirrel · 4 years

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Damianette December Day 2- Swordplay

I’ll apologize in advance for the duel scene. I’m mostly just taking a stab in the dark when it comes to writing action, in particular fight scenes, but at least I try.

@daminette-december2019-2020 “Are you really okay with teaching me Kagami?”

“Of course Marinette. I would not offer my help half-heartedly only to change my mind at the last moment. Besides, you are determined to learn and already naturally talented at fencing, it would a shame if you did not learn.”

The two girls faced each other, each with a rapier in their hands. The park was oddly quiet despite the perfect day. And it was the day Marinette was finally going to learn to fence. Swordsmanship wouldn’t be much help with her yo-yo, but if she ever became Lady Noire again, she wanted to be prepared.

“We’ll start with the first position, en garde.” Marinette mirrored Kagami’s position as best as she could. “Not too bad, but you’ll want to angle your back foot at a bit more until it’s at a 90° angle from the front foot, Make sure your weight is balanced.” Marinette shifted to correct her position. “Yes, that’s satisfactory. Adrien has already told me from your first match with him that you’re footwork is already very good, so we will start with parrying. I’ll attack first.”

And so they spent the next couple of hours practicing in the park. Obviously, Kagami won most of the matches but, Marinette managed to get a few lucky points in, surprising the Olympic fencer.

It just so happened as they were practicing however that someone who knew Marinette recognized the pair and made their way over.

“Hey Pixie, what’re you doing here?” The voice stopped Marinette during the match, letting Kagami get the point.

“Jason! Why are you in Paris? It’s good to see you again!” It was the first time she had seen him ever since they first met almost a year ago. “You said you had to head back to Gotham to take care of some family business. Did you finish?”

“Uh… yeah. In fact, I’m in Paris for some more business, this time with the rest of my family.” He looked at the foils that each girl was holding. “Are you a fencer? Is that what you’re doing out here?”

She was a bit embarrassed at being called a fencer, she could hardly say she had enough experience to be called a fencer. “Actually, I’m just a beginner. My friend, Kagami, is teaching me. Oh right, I didn’t introduce you too. Jason, this is Kagami Tsurugi,” she pulled the girl forward. “And Kagami this is Jason. He came by the bakery a lot when he was staying in Paris back in October last year. He managed to help out a bit with some of the more rude customers when my mom was out of the shop.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jason.” Kagami turned to Marinette. “Would you like to stop here for today, we’ve already been at it for some time.”

“Sure, we can get some orange juice from the bakery after we pack up too.” Except before they could start packing up, Jason stopped them.

“Actually, before you leave, would you be interested in helping me take one of my brothers down a peg?”

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

About a week later they met back up in the park. This time, Adrien joined Marinette and Kagami and Jason brought along someone who could only be his brother. He was about their age although he seemed more serious than any high school student should ever look.

Apparently, he was also very good at every style of swordsmanship, including fencing. Which is why Jason dragged Marinette into this. He wanted them to fight and, assuming she won, would ‘humble’ his brother. At first, she didn’t want to participate in the whole debacle but, Jason did make it seem like his brother, Damian was really rude to everyone else in their family because of some superiority complex and she really hated people who looked down on others.

Of course, this plan would only work if she could beat him in a fencing duel, and she doubted that that would happen anyway. Jason said he saw a bit of her practice match with Kagami and that if she really was a beginner, she was naturally talented (She wouldn’t tell him that it was really her miraculous giving her a cheat ability.

Although the only reason she was chosen for this role instead of Kagami was that Kagami was too recognizable as a famous fencer. Marinette’s advantage would be her natural reflexes that have been honed by her superhero duties, the stupid amount of luck she gained from wielding the ladybug miraculous, and the fact that her opponent was bound to underestimate her capabilities.

So, here they were, taking a part in Jason’s plan. His utterly ridiculous plan, as Chloe would say. Without a word, Marinette took up a position on one side her lack of enthusiasm showing. On the other side, Damian, clearly annoyed and unwilling to be there, took up a position at the other side facing her.

“Let’s get this over with quickly. I don’t know why I have to duel an amateur like you but, I’ll make sure to take it easy so as not to completely crush your pride.” Those were the first words he spoke to her. And while she agreed that he would probably win, his attitude was more than a little infuriating.

“Bold words for someone who hasn’t won yet.” She raised an eyebrow at him, thinking about the way Kagami might act in the same situation. Suddenly, her determination to win was surging. He looked back at her a bit stunned at the change in her demeanor. But, he still held confidence in his ability to win. So, when Kagami calls en garde, he was not entirely prepared for her attack.

She wasn’t going to wait for him to take the right of way, so she lunged at him with the foil. Taken aback by her sudden move forward, he parried her foil just in time and moved to riposte, unfortunately for him, she was too quick, and she managed to disengage before he could scour a point. Recovering back to the en garde position, she back down a bit to see what he would do next.

Damian took the opportunity to also recover back to the en garde position and analyze the situation. Marinette was fast, faster than one would normally expect from a beginner, implying previous experience with fighting but, that could be any number of things. She could gain quick reflexes from learning any number of martial arts or sports. He would either have to be faster than her or catch her off guard.

He feinted to her right before going to attack her left side, yet it didn’t work. She didn’t fall for the feint and when he made his move against her, she was ready to parry. Deflecting the blade, she advanced forward, and, attacking from the slight angle below that her short stature afforded her, she came from under his blade and jabbed him with the point of the foil, ending the match.

If Jason’s plan was to embarrass him, he managed to fail. Rather than embarrassed, Damian was in awe that this petite girl actually managed to beat him at a match. He acknowledged that if she had fallen for the feint then she wouldn’t have been able to block his attack and then he would have won the advantage but, either she was incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled at managing to see through the feint.

He just stood there for a while, making Marinette concerned that he may be in too much shock. “Are you alright, Damian?” she waved a hand in front of his face. He blinked in response finally showing some emotion.

Except he still seemed out of it. He was mumbling to himself but it was loud enough that Marinette was still able to hear it and blush at what he said. “I think I’m in love.”

Jason started laughing out loud when he saw Marinette’s face go up in flames. He had a fairly good idea of what Damian had said if she was reacting like that. And so did Adrien.

Adrien made his way up to them and, leaning against Marinette’s shoulder, spoke to Damian. “She’s free tomorrow at 12. She’ll meet you near the Canal Saint-Martin. Make sure you be there or you’ll have half of Paris ready to hunt you down.”

“Adrien!” she whacked his side in annoyance. “Don’t just make plans for me.” His only response was to raise an eyebrow at her and she admitted defeat. “Well… thank you anyway, I’d probably be stumbling over my words for the next three months otherwise.” she turned to talk to Damian who was still a bit shocked over everything happening.

“If you’d like, we can hang out tomorrow. We didn’t really start with the best impression of each other but, first impressions can be misleading, right Adrien? Kagami?” she nudged his side and then looked at the girl who seemed like an ice queen but was really sweet. “I’d love to get to know you better while you’re staying in Paris. What do you say?”

He finally managed to understand what was going on and, to say he was out of his depth was an understatement, but he knew his decision immediately. “I would love to accompany you tomorrow. It’s a date?”

She smiled at him. “Yeah, it’s a date.”

#damianette december 2020 #damianette #maribat

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robinrequiems · 3 years

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One of them trying to set up the other on a date, date doesnt show up and they both somehow end up going on a date

i have so many other asks to do, but I’m getting to them. slowly. I hope you enjoy:) and sorry this probably isn’t as long as the others

• jon set damian up on a date,. they’re around 18-19

• damian hasn’t gone on a date for years

• too bad that when he did, the person was a no show

to jon: ive been waiting for an hour.

to dami: oh no:(

to jon: this was a mistake, im gonna go home

to dami: wait wait no

to dami: what about we just hang out?

to jon: okay

to dami: great! what about we just go on a platonic date

to jon: im surprised you know what platonic means

to dami: shush, meet me at the bar by my apartment

to jon: i don’t wanna drink

to dami: no, idiot, I have stuff I wanna show you around there, and we aren’t even legal???

• it was in the afternoon, since the two had to go patrolling tonight anyways. and jon, the dumbass, thought that Damian being in metropolis for a date was a good idea, even though he lives in gotham??

• jons a dumbass

• so anyways, Damian goes and meets up with Jon, jon looked good, he won’t deny that, he always looked good. unfair but whatever.

• Jon’s outfit: a white tight shirt ( Damian wonders how jon can’t get a date, he’s obviously hot: like what ), blue ripped jeans ( jon has never bought a pair of jeans w/o holes ), and of course, red vans. damn.

• Damian’s outfit: green sweater ( look, Damian DOESNT wear mini bruce clothes. anymore anyways. he hates fancy clothes, they are uncomfortable ), black jeans, and just doc martins, plus a plethora of jewelry. ( jon always finds it funny how much time damian spends putting on the massive amounts of jewelry Damian has collected over the years )

“Dami!” Jon popped out from around the corner, a bouquet of tulips in his hand. Why did he even have that? “Look, I got you flowers!” Red tulips, symbolizing perfect love. Damian was sure Jon didn’t know that.

“And why did you do that?” He anyways took the bouquet of flowers into his hands, sniffing them a bit. They smelled nice. Why was Jon doing this?

“Because silly, just because that guy was a no show, it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a perfect date.”

“And you’re gonna give it to me?”

“Yeah, of course. You deserve the world.”

• so jon took him on a date, held his hand and everything. bought him lunch.. and took him to his favorite places..

• odd.

“So? Did you like today?”

“I did.”

“Great!”

“Thank you, it was nice.”

“Don’t thank me, you deserve the world.” Damian won’t admit that his cheeks were on fire, nor would Jon admit that his was too.

“Oh shut up, sap.”

“Never! But I’m glad I gave you a good date..” jon was nervous. fidgeting. something was going on.

“Yeah. So. How did you have all this prepared?” Damian was getting suspicious.

“Huh?”

“How did you know where to take me? And you had reservations to that restaurant.”

“I.. um.”

“You set this up.”

“.. okay yes I did— but I didn’t think you would say yes if I had asked you on a date—“

“I would’ve. I would’ve said yes.”

“— I like you a lot, I’ve liked you for so many years and I just.. told a white lie? It took me a while to find the flowers. Apparently they weren’t in season here and— wait what?”

“Jon. I like you too.” Damian smiled, he didn’t even bother to hide it. He was happy. Damian may have had a small crush on jon that he had been ignoring for the past few years. He knows he tiptoed the line of boundaries on friends and.. more than friends a few times, but Jon never noticed. Dumbass. But it seems like Jons smarter than he looks. He planned this whole thing for Damian. He can’t believe it. Damian.. was in awe.

“Great! I was worried you might’ve caught on by the flowers..”

“You knew what the flowers meant?”

“Well yeah- i know you wouldn’t like roses, you would say that they are too cliche.”

“Damn, you really know me.”

“I do.”

“I’m glad.” With that being said, Damian kissed Jon. It was a small peck, but it was so.. nice and righr. They were perfect for each other. He couldn’t believe that Jon actually liked him back.

“Soo.. what’re we now?”

“I was hoping boyfriends..?”

“Yeah. I like that.”

#no show date trope #cliche asks #damijon #Damian wayne #jon kent

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ellana-ravenwood · 5 years

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Batfam and friends after dentist

I just remembered this video : clickclickclick, and this happened. Please, don’t take it too seriously it’s just a fun little joke post haha. I hope you’ll still enjoy it a little nonetheless ^^. Here we are, the Batfam and friends, after dentist :

DICK

Dick : “Turns out my dentist is not giving me a plaque for great teeth after all. He really hurt my fillings.” Makes all the WORST pun you can think about, to calm his nerve, as he’s about to go to surgery to take his wisdom teeth out. Bruce is there, for support. Of course, he’d be there for his son. Dick wakes up, the surgery went GREAT. He looks around, a little groggy, looks at his dad, and...Starts to rap absolute nonsense, as if his life depended on it :

“I'm feeling the rainbow like skittles

dropping reptars like my name was tommy pickles

for rizzle, thats drizzle?

nah my nizzle, thats the shizzle”

Asks Bruce to buy him a “big ass gold chain” and if the dentist could transplant silver teeth on him now, “while we’re at it”. Bruce is able to reason with him and convinces him that sure, he’ll buy him the gold chain he wants, but he should wait for the teeth because his mouth is still too numb and such. Dick agrees that it sounds sensible, but does not drop the subject of him becoming a successful rapper. On the way back to the Manor, they stop to buy a gold chain, because Bruce cannot resists when his kids give him the “puppy eyes”. Dick choses the ugliest biggest thing in the entire shop. It says “bling bling” on it, has a few shiny diamonds, and is about twice the size of his head. He looks at it as if it was the best thing on earth while on the ride home. The drugs start to wear off but as a result he’s super tired again, he goes to sleep...Wakes up with that ugly chain, wondering what the hell happened.

JASON

Woke up after wisdom teeth removal. Got pissed because he really wanted Coca Cola but there was only Pepsi. Proceeded to tell Bruce that him bringing Pepsi back instead of Coke was worst than when he didn’t kill the Joker to avenge his death (queue Bruce nervously looking at the nurses, and really insisting on how funny people who just got their wisdom teeth removed could be). After the Pepsi/Coke debacle claimed he has 9 children (Bruce’s influence for sure hahaha). Apollo and Jean-Claude being his favorite two. Proceeded to cry because he admitted he had favorite children, and thought it was horrible to choose a favorite. Apologized to “his” kids that were definitely not there and talked about how his dad (pointing at Bruce), never had favorites. Bruce is touched. Until Jason remembers the Pepsi incident and tries to escape the room by jumping out of the window to go pouting alone somewhere. Queue a ridiculous struggle between Bruce and his son, as Jason, still quite limped and out of it because of the sleeping drugs, resists as best as he can while his dad drags him to the car to go home, trying to be as gentle as possible because he doesn’t want to hurt Jason’s mouth. Just to be sure, Bruce stops on the way to buy a bunch of coke bottles...

TIM

After waking up from getting his wisdom teeth removed, sitting in a wheelchair because he can’t stand yet (Tim is very resistant to anesthetic, and they had to give him more than usual for it to work), telling to Bruce who’s wheeling him back to the car, in a very dramatic way : “Lady, I thank you for your help. You have to release me back to the ocean now. My time on land, is over.”

Bruce, not sure he quite understood : “...What was that, chum ?”

Tim : “I said please m’am, get me back to my people. They need me.”

Then the boy proceeds to stick both his legs up, and move them as if he was a mermaid, making “woosh” sounds with his mouth as if he was splashing water around. Bruce doesn’t even try to reason with him (he remembers how it was impossible to do so with Jason and his Coke, or with Dick who really thought he was a rapper), so he goes along with it, talking about Tim’s “people” and why he can’t stay on land. Queue a dramatic full of adventure stories where he was taken away from his land and...and Bruce realizes the boy is kinda telling Aquaman’s story (that he probably learned by hacking into Batman’s secret files he has on everyone). He seems to really believe it...When they get back home, Tim is suspicious because there is no ocean, but his dad convinces him that the pool is said ocean, and Tim solemnly say “good bye” to Bruce, before dipping into the water. Of course, Bruce keeps an eye on him, because in the state he is there might be accidents, but Tim just lays there, on his back, floating around and mumbling about fish species he knows. Eventually, the cold water gets to him and he finally comes back to his senses. Bruce helps him out of the pool, and Tim goes to sleep, wrapped in blankets, holding his dad’s hand.

CASSANDRA

She had to have a rather heavy mouth surgery after an accident, and woke up ,slowly, in a hospital bed. Bruce was there of course, waiting patiently, worried, and hoping she’d wake up soon. It was nerve wracking to wait for your child to be better ! When she does wake up, she doesn’t even look lost or anything, although the surgeon told Bruce that she was probably gonna be feeling a little hazy and such. So the fact she seems totally fine reassures her dad. And then suddenly she throws her blanket off of her, stands up so fast that Bruce’s brain doesn’t have time to react, and walks to the nearest fire alarm. She looks at Bruce straight in the eyes, pull the alarm, and just says :

“Shit’s fire.”

DAMIAN

He had to have a minor surgery on his jaw, but was still put under anesthetic. Bruce, having witnessed his other kids under it, is ready to have a good laugh...But his boy is just sitting there, waiting for his father to fill in some paperwork and pay for the surgery. Yeah sure, it’s a little weird that he keeps petting his tongue but, ya know, maybe he’s feeling weird because his entire mouth is numb. Then Bruce is done with paperworks and such, and goes to Damian, who proceeds to tell him he got “a ‘ew ‘at” (a new cat)...

“Um. Really, champ ? Uuuh...Where is it ?” ----> Bruce playing along. And then Damian looks at him and breaks into a huge goofy smile and says : “’Ight ‘ere.” (Right here) Showing the tongue he has been petting for the past twenty minutes. Damian then tells to whoever goes by that he has a new cat and asks them if they want to pet him. Bruce takes him home, laughing to himself all the way, and promises a Damian who came back to his senses that this little story will indeed stay between them.

BRUCE

Not actually him after dentist, but something I thought about a lot :

Dentist : “Mister Wayne, do you grind your teeth ?”

Bruce : “Yes. Have you seen how many children I have ?”

Also, he waits the last minute before having to urgently remove his wisdom teeth, because the big bad bat is...afraid of the dentist. Alfred has to go with him. Bruce makes sure all the kids are busy this day, to their great disappointment...Alfred takes a lot of video for them (because it’s unfair he got to see them all floozy and they didn’t). The kids make a montage of it and post it on YouTube, as well as on instagram stories, calling it : “Is Bruce Wayne ok ?”, and it’s like a bunch of short images of what Bruce did after his surgery, still under the anesthetic’s influence. Him crying, him laughing like a mad man the second after, him hugging a pillow shaped like a tooth and refusing to let go because he thinks it’s the one they took out of his mouth, blabbering nonsense, asking for a “taco milkshake” etc etc...Of course, video went viral.

ALFRED

Has apparently nothing wrong with him, which is infuriating to the family who was really expecting him to have something that they could eventually use against him. Since he “raised” most of the them, he has way too much leverage against them, and they have way too little. But he’s just normal, and it’s so annoying.

Up until they come home, and he goes in the kitchen, ignores Bruce telling him that he needs to get some rest, and proceeds to whip a five course meal, making the weirdest combination ever...Porridge and Turkey ? Saurkraut in an Enchilada ? Salt and Vinegar chips in a smoothie ?

STEPHANIE

Bruce picks her up after her wisdom teeth removal (it’sjusttheeasythinghaha), along with Tim, and she has that dreamy look in her eyes. Tim asks her if she’s alright, and she’s like :

“The dentist said I need a crown.”

Tim and Bruce are a little perplex, like, this doesn’t sound nice ? But then Steph looks at them and just says :

“I said, I KNOW RIGHT ?! Guys. I’m going to be a queen.”

Queue Bruce and Tim smiling, and Steph mumbling something about how one day, she’ll be the boss of them haha.

DUKE

Of course, Bruce went with Duke because...Well, he unfortunately has no one else :/. And when you have any sort of surgery, it’s nice to have someone you trust with you. So. Anyway. Surgery goes on, and Duke wakes up after a few hours, a little out of it. He looks at Bruce, smiles and is like : “Hiii Brush !” while laughing a little to himself. Which makes B smile too, but then he gets worried because all of a sudden, Duke freezes, and stares at the nurse. Then after a few seconds he’s whispering to Bruce :

“Hey, hey, why didn’t you tell me that Céline Dion was my nurse ?”

Evidently, Bruce is confused. Duke then proceeds to admit his biggest guilty pleasure is to blast Céline Dion’s songs when he’s alone. Gushes over that nurse that looks NOTHING like Céline Dion, but he’s SURE it’s her. He blushes and is embarassed because he’s such a fan ! But then finally asks for an autograph, sings her songs badly (even worst with all the gauze in his mouth), and leaves the room, holding onto Bruce, with tears in his eyes because man...he just met Céline Dion !

BARBARA

Wakes up from having her wisdom teeth removed, crying, admitting that she killed the president...Which one ? Martin Van Buren of course. Spends the next few minutes crying about how she’s a disgrace to her family because she killed someone and HER DAD IS A COP !! Starts to sing : “Mammmaaaaaaaa, I killed a maaaaaaan” while still crying. But then suddenly is sure that she actually got framed, and becomes super suspicious of everyone, everything culminating when Dick comes to pick her up to bring her home and she thinks he’s the one that is “blackmailing” her, so she takes a run for it...Dick gets Barbara back to her place with a black eye, saying “I don’t want to talk about it” to Commissioner Gordon. Haha.

LUCAS FOX :

As the dentists says : “I need to put some bitewings in your mouth for the X-rays ok ?”

Luke Fox : “Bat...wing ? Oh. OH ! BATWING !” Hahahaha (could also work with David of course).

************

Ok done. Again, nothing to take too seriously, it’s obviously just a few little jokes :). Wanted to share nonetheless, I like writing “domestic” lighthearted Batfam stuffs...haha ^^' .

Ah and yeah I know some members of the Batfam extended family (it’s pretty big now) are missing, but I guess it just means I’ll make another post about it hehe. So please, don’t give me too much grief about those I “forgot”, it was getting too long ^^.

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hyannah · 5 years

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Anon Archives vol. 4 (right?)

full res: x I miss him too. He was the first of the cast I ever designed and without him, there would simply be no TBoA. Rest assured there will be no shortage of him in the comic :) I understand that the concept of Wolfe with facial hair will be like marmite for most of you, but it’s probably something that you should prepare for regardless! Wolfe no longer has use of his hands due to extensive nerve damage and he has to get imaginative with ways to keep his grip on things - but some tools, like razors - are simply impossible for him to use anymore due to his tremors. Before the gang comes together he will be looking quite worse for wear.

full res: x She calls him “Marty” :) Her mother called him that so it makes him happy. He’s not her father but he loves her as one would. He was the one who delivered her as a baby, though during the process there were complications. She broke her leg on the way out and though Martin was able to treat her, it caused her to walk with a slight limp growing up. Teaching her to dance wasn't just Martin's idea of physiotherapy but his way of showing her how dearly he cared for her. Music and dance are our good doctor's love languages, you see. He will have Twinkletoes refer to him as “Sir” when he reprimands her, but due to some of Martin’s own issues growing up, he hates disciplining children. If he absolutely must, it’s firm but merciful, and under no circumstances would he ever raise his hand to them.

full res: x Michael Graves is one of three of Ashwick’s Senior Wardens, the other being Hunter Gerhardt and an as of now unannounced third. Wardens are the town’s law enforcers who work directly under the church’s orders. Neither entirely police nor militia, they’re a bit of both. Wardens patrol the streets at night and make sure no one is out after Curfew. Wardens are simultaneously feared and revered amongst the deeply religious townsfolk who view them as God-sent, but no one strikes pure terror into their hearts quite like Graves. While Hunter is known for being terrifying but sometimes merciful, Graves holds no such reputation. If gunshots are heard in the night or blood stains the cobblestones in the morning, townfolk know to keep their mouths shut and heads down.

Thank you so much! I still have some demons to battle but I want to get better, and your support means the world.

Thank you! I kinda wanna die when I look at that piece. Damian deserved better than my art in that funky phase and I will capture his true beauty one day.

LOL Bloodborne has been a huuuuge visual influence on me over the last few years. Expect to see some similarities I'm sure.

Thank you ;.; I used Paint Tool Sai religiously but I've unfortunately fallen out of love with it in the last year in favour of Clip Studio Paint. I would highly recommend CSP and since it comes with a one-month free trial you'd be missing out not to give it a go. I occasionally use Photoshop for some final touches but not enough to say it's worth paying that silly subscription fee for. Lately, I've been using Procreate on my iPad. It was one hell of an investment (😔💸) but it was worth it - the iPad feels great to draw on.

Thank you! Yes, definitely expect that. There are a few timeskips in canon and I have outfit changes planned.

Wolfe can sometimes be seen circling a bed or chair a few times before sitting/lying down not unlike a dog would. Rose cannot - and I truly mean this - fathom numbers. To say she is bad at math would be a terrible understatement. Martin needs a few shots of whiskey a day to keep him going but he never seems inebriated so it’s impossible to tell (unless you’re Hunter). Hunter is so tall that churches are the only buildings he doesn’t have to duck to get in to and he Riker Sits everywhere. Gloria is a little superstitious, and Graves is a cigarette smoker. Twinkletoes likes pigeons.

I would certainly recommend it! If drawing inspires you, give it a shot! Though whether or not I recommend going to school for it is a more complicated question. The good thing about pursuing a career in art is that at the end of the day your work ethic and portfolio are your best friends. Having degrees and connections will help in the industry for sure (and why I DO recommend art courses for people who have the money and want to experience student life), but if you're a poor kid that can't shell out the dough for art school or if you studied a different field, or if college didn't/isn't working out for you, it's not the end of the road. You can build your career on your own terms if you're driven enough.

Hm, let's see. I think Wolfe and Gloria would appreciate some sweet treats! Hunter rarely eats anything that isn't meat, and Rose has lived on the road most of her life so campfire food is what she's used to. She's the kind of person you'd see eat something horrifying like uncooked beans straight from the tin. Gloria appreciates her guilty pleasures and Wolfe recalls her sharing taffy with him as a little boy. But those memories are hazy now, and he's long since forgotten the taste.

Oh jeez, that would mean the world to me! As for the dialogue, it’s probably a bit of both honestly haha.

Hunter: 43, Wolfe: 23, Gloria: 41, Martin: 45, Rose: 19, Graves: 38. Some of you may recall Hunter being younger but I had to make a few timeline adjustments. Otherwise, everyone has remained the same.

Oh, well, it just might be! Wolfe is used to carrying the frail and sickly through the Charnels, but human touch in that regard is alien to him.

You're right about one thing, Ashwick is certainly in the title! I'm pretty close to revealing it so hopefully you won't be stumped for too long. I can reveal however, if I haven't already (and I think I may have, I haven't read the previous Anon Archives in years), that TBoA was going to be called Memento Mori.

He raises an amused brow at your sentiment but if you're under 35 you're all toddlers and babies to him. Plus he can't go 5 minutes without thinking about his wife so it's safe to say he’s settled down.

Haha, yeah! All of the above. Though it goes both ways. Hunter’s antics drive the poor man up the wall for sure but Hunter will be the first to tell you that doc is a force of nature too when he’s got to be. They’ve known each other for decades. They’ve taken bullets and bruises and stabs wounds for one another. Martin makes sure Hunter doesn’t get himself killed (at least he did before Malignancy took that off the table) and Hunter makes sure Martin doesn’t work himself to death. Gloria just wonders why they both have to be so damn dramatic.

1. Rose's candles simulate artificial sunlight and can temporarily vanquish Spectres from the area at night until the wick runs out. These are especially useful to the common folk who may be suffering from seeing their dead loved ones night after night. Her special coloured candles are different, though. They block a Malignant from being able to possess their Host's body and thus allow the Host to keep control of themselves when night falls. You'll learn more about the ins-and-outs of this mechanic in the comic.

2. I can't share that! You'll just have to wait and find out. Though it is a wonder how someone as formidable and self-disciplined as Hunter could fall prey to a Malignant's manipulation … I suppose even men like Father Gerhardt have been vulnerable at one point in their lives, huh?

It’s private, sorry :( It was a kind gesture from a fan who wanted to show their appreciation but it quickly got a little out of hand and very inappropriate. I’m good friends now with the few who did join so it’s not so bad and we have a good laugh, but it’s given me a small taste of “Fandom” on a grander scale and it was enough for me to realise it makes me pretty uncomfortable to be in the middle of it. I love being able to communicate with you all but I don’t love being in awkward situations so much. I might try again in the future, we’ll see.

Malignancy is unpredictable and what happens to one Host won't necessarily happen to the other!

ohohohoh who knowsssssss ;D

Nope, she’s Hunter’s danger noodle gal.

Yes, I love them!!!! I recall checking them out after you sent this message quite some time ago. I had heard a few of their songs before but I've been listening to them regularly ever since. I appreciate the recommendation since music is a really big thing for me.

Oh thank you very much! They're my own characters yes :) I first created them when I was 16 for a college project. One day I would like to share that with you all because it's come a long way. The comic is in development. Thank you all for your questions, I think that’s most of them. If you don’t see your ask in here it’s because it was asked already, I got a similar question and took a screenshot of that instead, it was too inappropriate, I can’t reveal the information yet, or I simply didn’t see it. As always if you’re looking for more prompt responses please message me off anon so I can reply privately since I respond to most anons in bulk!

#anon archives #tboa #tboa (webcomic)#my art #digital art #Illustration #wolfe grey #martin mcgregor #michael graves #twinkletoes #asks #anonymous

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sprnklersplashes · 4 years

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heart of stone (1/?)

AO3 (trigger warning for teenage cancer)

Janis Sarkisian has a heart of stone and a spine of steel. Her body, however, is just as fallible as anyone else's. When the world comes crashing down around you, how do you stay standing? More importantly, who stands with you?

Janis zips up her backpack, the same one she carried with her through the first three years of high school. It may be old, but everything inside is new, pencils, pens, notebooks, you name it. Her mom even got her a new water bottle that keeps her water cool all day for her. She assured her that it wasn’t breaking the bank and maybe it wasn’t, but that’s not the point. The point is her mom still went out and bought her a fancy water bottle to keep her water cold for her.

She laces up her boots and looks in the mirror, a surge of insecurity coming over her, the kind she hasn’t felt since she was thirteen and stepping back into middle school after a year. It’s been a while since she’s spent this long picking out her clothes for school, but the plus side she guesses is that she doesn’t have to spend so much time on her hair now. So swings and roundabouts, really.

Cady spent almost all of last night on Facetime with her, telling her about being ‘the new kid’ and listening to Janis complaining about it. She had nodded sympathetically, almost nothing to say to her other than ‘you’ll be fine’ and ‘good luck’ and ‘I love you’. It’s not her fault, but it’s the way it is. Because Janis isn’t the new kid, not really. Certainly not in the way Cady was. Cady was joining a group of total strangers, but practically everyone in North Shore knows Janis’ name by now, even if she doesn’t know 99% of them and they’re a year younger than her. Everyone she knows is off in college, living their best lives, and she’s starting senior year now.

It’s funny when she thinks about it. In middle school and high school she had to disappear for a year, both due to factors beyond her control. Fingers crossed she’ll make it through college without a hitch.

Downstairs, her parents are no doubt having a hushed discussion about her even going to school. They had gone over it with her so many times it made her head spin, asking her if she’d prefer to Skype her classes and work from home. Her mom had even asked Mrs Heron about homeschooling her, much to the other woman’s delight. Who knew that when her mom and Cady’s mom finally bonded, it would be over this.

The old Janis would have rolled her eyes at them and tossed her hair over her shoulder, telling them they’re being over protective and dumb and that she’ll be absolutely fine, there’s nothing to worry about. But now, Janis can’t blame them, can she?

They’d one hell of a year.

One year (and 10 days) earlier

Asking out Cady Heron was probably the best decision Janis had ever made. Okay, it wasn’t entirely her decision given that Damian had told her that Cady liked her, suggested Janis ask her out and also pushed her towards Cady’s locker, as well as hanging around just within earshot so he could intervene if something went wrong. Which miraculously, it didn’t, and she and Cady had spent a lovely evening with dinner and a movie and a kiss that made the butterflies in Janis’ stomach flap their little wings so hard she nearly flew away herself.

That was a lovely four months ago, and now she and Cady are laying on her bed, hands joined, legs intertwined, Love Simon playing on her laptop. While her computer is burning her legs (damn she needs a new one), Cady’s the one who is really keeping her warm, the warmth and gentle and golden in her chest as she nuzzles into Janis a little. Her dad likes to jokingly call Cady a pixie, as in ‘she’s a pixie and you’re a vampire, Jan’, but Janis thinks there might actually be some truth in it, since her skin tingles when Cady’s hand slides under her top and her fingertips run across her side and stomach. Janis isn’t looking, but she wouldn’t be surprised if there was a trail of pink sparkles in her wake.

Janis kisses the top of her head, adjusting her hold on her girlfriend and pull her closer (she’ll never get used to that word, girlfriend, being used to describe Cady in relation to her).

“I’ve watched this movie like 10 times,” Cady begins. Janis won’t tell her, but she’s actually wrong. They’ve watched it 13 times, and she knows she’s watched it with Damian at least three more times. It’s a masterpiece though, so that’s acceptable. “But every time I watch it, I start worrying that Blue won’t show up at the Ferris wheel.”

“Or it would be Martin,” Janis says just as Simon gets on the ride for the first time.

“You know when you first showed me this, I thought that he was Blue?” Cady says. “Just for like a tiny, tiny second. But that’s what I thought.” Janis’s bed shakes as she laughs, her usual loud cackle that she’s still a little self-conscious about, even now. But it’s fading more and more every day. Cady laughs along with her, her light and musical tone more than making up for it. “Don’t blame me. I was close to peak Plastic back then.”

“Peak Plastic,” Janis echoes, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, a little purple lipstick coming off.

“Mm-hm.” Janis bites her lip, just a little, her skin beginning to crawl. She’s told Cady over and over that she’s been forgiven, even before they were this, but she wonders if Cady’s sure of it. Hell, Janis herself still wonders if she’s been forgiven for everything she did. Sometimes she likes to pretend that their junior year ended in December with Regina’s butt eating her underwear at the talent show, and then she and Cady got together and everything just became beautiful.

So she gives Cady a double kiss on the head to make sure she knows.

When Blue does show up, Cady lets out the most adorable squeak of excitement and her hand squeezes Janis’, her smile putting the late-August sunshine outside to shame. She buries her face in Janis’ chest so that only her brown eyes peek out, and lets out a long, high-pitched hum that makes Janis’ heart melt.

“They’re so cute,” she whispers. “They’re so cute, I am dying, send help.”

“You’re dying?” Janis asks thoughtfully, walking her fingers up and down her arm while she subtly and slowly pushed herself up on her side, her legs tingling as she mounts her attack. “Does that mean you need mouth to mouth?”

“Wh-”

Before Cady can answer, Janis flips the two of them over, her bed shaking and tapping loudly against her wall with the force. She takes a moment to hope her parents weren’t passing as she tries to catch her breath. For a few seconds, the world gets darker and her chest heaves, seemingly desperate for air. It does strike Janis as odd; she’s out of shape, maybe, but this out of shape? Really? Has her summer vacation been getting to her?

“Janis?”

“Did I hear someone say she needs mouth to mouth?” Janis asks, already feeling herself again. Cady’s anxious expression disappears, replaced by a flirtatious smile, her hands grasping Janis’ shirt.

“Maybe,” she responds, tilting her head up a little.

Some responses come to mind, but they all make Janis cringe, and so she leans in and presses a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips, sighing at the taste of honey and lemonade and the scent of orange blossom in her hair. Most of all, the sweetness of her lips, how gentle they are, how they make her toes curl and Janis’ head settle, chasing away any worries or woes. There’s no room for them here, not when it’s her and Cady and the world doesn’t matter.

Yeah, her girlfriend must be magical.

Cady texts her mom when the movie is over, as per Mrs Heron’s request. As over parents go, the Herons actually aren’t that bad, probably because Cady sticks to the rules they’ve laid out. She tells them where she’s going, and with whom; up until recently she’d text them every time they ran into someone, and how exactly she knows them. She obeys her curfew and is always home for dinner, asking ahead of time if she can come home later and guaranteeing she’ll eat when she’s out. As a result, Mrs Heron lessens her curfew more and more with each week and is apparently close to letting Cady learn to drive. That’s what Janis likes about the Herons, not that she hates her own parents; they see Cady as a person, and when she respects them, they respect her.

The two wait in the living room for Cady’s dad to pick her up, throwing the ball for Maxie, only interrupted once, by Janis’ dad, who tells them to be careful not to get Maxie too hyper or he will most definitely shit himself in the hallway.

“And I am not clearing that up,” he tells them, gesturing wildly with the end of the newspaper.

“Cady can do it,” Janis offers, scratching Max behind the ears while he nips at her hand. Okay, maybe her dad had a point. “She spent all her time before moving here cleaning up animal poop.”

“No I didn’t,” Cady protests before considering it. “Okay, a little bit. Kind of. But I did a lot more than animal poop.”

“Animal piss?”

“I’m going to leave before this conversation gets weirder,” her dad announces, eyeing the two of them with equal amounts of fondness and confusion. “Although if Cady ever wants a job cleaning up after Maxie, we’re open.”

“Get them dollas, Caddy,” Janis tells her, punching her arm gently.

“You know, I actually might get a job this year,” Cady says, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “You know, start saving up for college.”

“Smart plan,” Janis agrees. Despite the temptation, she’s not quit her mall job yet, designated her ‘the money friend’. College had never crossed her mind until Cady brought it up.

“Wish I’d thought of it earlier,” she says glumly, resting her chin on her knee. “What with school starting next week, I won’t have time!”

“Eleven days,” Janis reminds her, tapping her cheek. “School starts in eleven days. And you’ll find somewhere. I’ll help you.”

“Really?” Cady asks, her cheek smushing against the couch cushions. “You’d do that?”

“Of course, miss Caddy,” Janis replies, running her finger through Cady’s softer-than-soft hair. “That way you can start paying for date nights and we can be real fancy.” Cady grins, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist, making Janis’ cheeks glow and bite her lip to trap the excited giggle where it is. She will not giggle, not in her own living room where her parents can hear.

“Oh, that’s my dad,” Cady sighs as a car horn toots out front. Janis is sort of in love with Cady’s dad’s car, mostly because it looks exactly like the kind of car Cady’s dad would own. It’s small and shaped like a box and dark blue, a little silver line running around the edge, and the horn toots like a little cartoon car. It came straight out a 1950’s move and it’s one of the most precious things Janis has ever seen. She hopes that when Cady starts driving, it’s this little shit she drives around in so Janis can revel in the cuteness all the time.

“See you tomorrow,” she tells her at the door, her hand resting on the handle. She glances shyly down the hall; both her parents absent, before looking back at Cady, whose eyes sparkle with anticipation. Who am I to refuse the lady? she thinks as she bends down to give her a goodbye kiss, humming in contentment against her mouth and lingering in her space a little after she pulls away.

“See you tomorrow, Janis,” Cady replies, slipping out the door, taking a final look at Janis when she reaches the gate and giving her a finger-wiggling wave. Janis salutes lazily with her finger, watching as Cady gets into her dad’s car and they pull away from the kerb, rattling along down the road and around the corner, off to Cady��s little house.

And then Janis can feel the worst feeling of all; the relief that she’s gone.

It’s not relief, not exactly. Well, it is. Just not for that reason. Being with Cady is one of her favourite things to do in the world. But once Cady’s gone, she can drop the act she’s been keeping up for hours and her legs can give way, her back hitting the wall as she drags her hand over her face. A long, heavy sigh escapes her and her eyes fall shut as the remaining strength drops from her body. She could almost fall asleep standing against the wall were it not for the dog pawing at her legs, demanding hugs.

She’s just so damn tired.

She’s not entirely sure how long this has been going on, maybe just before school finished, or at the start of the break, but she’s felt like there’s been this little creature clinging to her back and sucking all the energy out of her. She’s gotten relatively okay at hiding it, thanks to extra espresso in her coffee and make-up hiding the shadows under her eyes, not to mention that her friends are always down for chill, relaxed activities. It’s not really affected her mood either, in fact, now that she’s with Cady, found some sort of friendship with Gretchen and Karen (Regina is a big question mark) and found some catharsis for her past, she’s found that, emotionally speaking, she’s better than she’s been in a long while.

But it’s there. Clinging to her back and reaching down to her legs, slowing her down, keeping her in bed longer than she wants to be and making her miss being at home even when she’s with her two most favourite people in the world.

Whatever this is, it may hurry up and leave before school starts, she thinks as she makes her way to the kitchen and leans against the counter, rubbing her heavy eyes. She is not dealing with this crap during a six hour day.

“You okay hon?” her mom asks, concern lining the edges of her voice.

“Just tired,” she replies, flipping the kettle on and taking out her Disney mug.

“Oh, you look it.” She knows her mom means well, what with the ‘what’s wrong sweetheart’ edge and airy tone of her voice, but her words are so blunt that Janis can’t help snorting.

“Love you too, Mom.”

“You know what I mean,” she says fondly. Her voice trails off, leaving a tense silence, her mom cocking her head to one side as she studies her. “You’ve been tired a lot lately.”

“I have?” she says, feigning ignorance and dropping the tea bag into her mug. “Didn’t notice.” Her mom hums in agreement and then pats Janis on the shoulder, her touch careful and casual, and yet Janis jumps a little, stifling a gasp.

“You’re okay though, right?” she asks. Janis nods, her mind involuntarily going back to the time where she picked at meals and spent hours in her room and walking around the house with empty, haunted eyes and shadows on her face. There’s a reason Regina remains a question mark, no matter how many times she sits with her at lunch.

“I’m fine, Mom, really,” she says, turning to face her. “Just need to catch up on the sleep.” Her mom nods and runs a hand through her hair with a half-convinced smile.

“Okay kid,” she says after a while, her voice strained at the edges. “Do you need me to pick anything up for you tomorrow?”

A fully functioning body she thinks as she lifts her warm mug. Instead she shakes her head, giving her mom the ‘I’m okay’ smile she knows no one in her house fully believes anymore and mumbling a response before heading to her room, her hand always on a wall or bannister to keep her upright.

*****

She’s pulled from sleep in the early hours of the morning, her eyes blinking open and adjusting to the darkness just in time for her to feel her sleep shirt clung to her back and her hair wrapped around her throat and sticking like a spider’s web.

“Oh shit,” she sighs. She throws the covers off and runs a hand down her damp leg, sighing in frustration before pulling herself up and making her way to the bathroom.

She looks worse when she turns the light on. Black patches are splattered across her top and the sweat glistens in a pretty vile way, making Janis shudder. In addition to being tired pretty much every damn day, she’s also been dealing with this. It was sparing at first, but recently it seems like it’s every other night she’s woken up in the middle of the night a hot and sticky mess. And worst part is that the novelty of an innuendo has long since faded.

She presses a cold washcloth to her neck, sighing as the coolness fights against the heat of her skin. She considers getting in the shower and just letting the cold water pour over her body for a while, but she doesn’t want to wake her parents and once she gets in, there’s a chance she won’t get out. Her parents would find a giant cold raisin instead of their daughter. So she pulls her top off instead and holds the cloth against her chest, her stomach, her back, anywhere she can, forcing the prickling warmth off her body as quickly and as quietly as she can.

She hasn’t let her parents know about this. Mostly because she’s sure it’s nothing, some days it slips her mind entire. But also because she’s sure her mom would go batshit and be fussing over her every single day, buying out the entire herbal tea section at the store and all the medicine she can legally buy in one go. Two different responses clash in Janis’ head; one urging her to smile as a surge of fondness rises in her and another pulling it down, dampening the wave and pulling her back, all the while scolding her. Her parents took care of her enough back in eighth grade. They deserve a nice life for themselves now.

So she keeps doing what she was doing, taking care of herself, something she’s more than capable of doing anyway. She refreshes the cloth and holds it against herself, counting to ten each time. Much as she appreciates all they do for her and loves every part of them, she doesn’t really need her parents, not now. She’s got all this under control.

Besides, she thinks with a shrug, flicking off the light. It’s probably nothing serious.

******

She wakes with a stiff neck and heavy eyes the next morning, as well as her bare legs rubbing against her mattress and goosebumps prickling along her skin. Just before she collapsed onto her bed a few hours ago, she decided to take her pants off as well and stuff them under her pillow along with her shirt. Despite the chills that raced through her body and made her tremble, the way her pants stuck to her legs became way too uncomfortable for her. So she pulled the blanket around her almost-naked body and shut her eyes tight until she fell asleep.

Sleep is still reluctant to let her go, wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her back down. She may as well, after all, her alarm hasn’t even gone off yet. She turns over and grabs her phone to check the time, ready to give into her body’s demands once she knows-

“Fuck.”

11:37. She was meant to meet her friends almost ten minutes ago. That’s why she had an alarm set for 10:45, specifically for this purpose. So she wouldn’t be late. Like she is now. There’s three texts from Cady, two from Damian and one from Karen, all variations of ‘where are you?’ or ‘are you coming?’.

“Oh crap, okay,” she sighs. She pushes herself out of her bed, rubbing her heavy eyes with one hand and pulling on clothes with the other. Not having time to go to her closet, she picks the same loose grey t shirt and black skirt she wore yesterday, hoping Cady doesn’t notice or mind. She runs a brush through her hair while texting Cady a quick apology, promising that she’s on her way. She doesn’t even have the time of doing make-up, instead throwing some eyeliner and mascara in her bag and haphazardly lacing up her boots before taking the stairs two at a time.

“Dad?” she asks, leaning on the living room doorframe. The world tilts and sways a little and her hands tighten on the wood. Her dad looks up from his laptop, clad in jeans and a shirt and tie, the classic working from home look. “Dad… I’m sorry but I overslept and I was meant to meet my friends ten minutes ago and can you drive me to the mall?” Her tone is the kind of apologetic caution that was common in her preteen years, and even as he stands up and lifts his jacket, Janis feels a quick, sharp pang of guilt cut through her chest. “Actually screw it, I can walk.”

“No, it’s fine,” her dad says, picking his car keys up and closing his laptop. “I don’t have a meeting until one. I can drive you.”

“Okay,” she replies. Her dad pauses as he approaches her, his eyes scanning her face with concern. All Janis can offer him is a shrug as she tries to get her breathing back to normal.

“I’ll do my make up in the car,” she says.

“Okay.” Clearly, that’s not what he was thinking, but he takes it. “Did you eat breakfast?”

“Dad, I don’t have time-”

“Yes you do,” he insists. “Most important meal of the day.” He makes a detour to the kitchen and grabs her a granola bar and banana. As he presses them into her hands, his eyes narrow and he gives her another once-over. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine,” she insists, crossing her fingers behind her back. She briefly considers about calling Cady and saying that she’s sick but dismisses it just as quickly. “Just a little... you know.”

She manages to do a decent job of her eyeliner and mascara, wishing she’d thought to put concealer or powder or something in there as well. Still, she’s done a good enough job of hiding the circles under her eyes and if anyone asks, she can dismiss it as stray make-up.

When her dad pulls up at the mall, her friends are hanging around the entrance, not exactly hard to spot. She thinks she could find Cady in any crowd, and Damian is over six feet tall and today decided to don a rainbow t-shirt and red suspenders. And aside from them, Karen’s ice cream bag stands out more than anything.

“Thank you,” she says, turning to her dad, once again feeling normal. “A lot.”

“You’re welcome kid,” he smiles back, squeezing her hand gently. “Go have fun, I’ll pick you up when you need to.”

She jogs up to them while her dad pulls away, Cady meeting her halfway for a light hug.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says, grasping Cady’s hand. “I slept through my alarm.”

“Maybe set a better alarm next time,” Regina suggests, not a note of kindness in her voice as she inspects her nails. Janis takes in a deep breath but doesn’t bother to hide the eye roll. Not even Cady can make her promise that.

“Okay, let’s go,” Damian says, steering Janis away from Regina before it can turn ugly. Regina ignores Janis’ eyes entirely, toying with her blonde curls and feigning interest in whatever Karen is telling her. That’s just fine by her; Janis can cuddle up to Cady, revelling in the joy of holding her hand out where everyone can see, and listen to Cady excitedly point at the drawings of animals at the art stall, sold between $5-10 a pop. As they walk past the other shoppers, she likes to think she is silently communicating “that’s my girlfriend!” with her beaming smile. She can swing their hands and insist on buying Cady an iced coffee and they can share a little muffin and Cady can slip her hand into Janis’ back pocket and rest her head on her shoulder. They can do all this out here, in public, and most importantly in front of Regina, and Janis can just not give two shits.

They follow the Plastics around the make-up store first, since apparently they’re all in need of some back to school make-up. That’s fine too since Janis can look at her favourite brands and test out new shades on her skin. Karen even bounds up to her with the same kind of energy that Maxie has when Janis comes home from school and asks her opinion on eyeshadow colours. A few months ago this would have sent alarm bells going off in Janis’ head and her eyes darting around and her waiting for the catch. Now she smiles and compares the colours to Karen’s fair skin and recommends she buy the pale ones. There’s something satisfying about Karen’s smile and bounce as she thanks her, squeezing her hand a little before running off to the counter to pay. And it’s not the kind of satisfied she felt when she was watching Regina fall; while she won’t admit it to anyone, it’s kind of better.

Once they’re done there they head off to the stationery store, all six of them in need of new stuff for school. Janis is relying on her spikey backpack to get her through the last year of school, since it took her through the first three, but she wraps her arms around Cady as she contemplates which backpack to get, enchanted by the one with little cartoon frogs and captivated by one with flowers sketched onto the fabric. Janis chuckles and hugs her tighter. She could watch Cady choose backpacks forever. That’s why she’s fine standing there, not because she’s tired.

“So should we just leave you here for an hour or so?” Damian jokes as Janis approaches the art department. She chuckles, poking her tongue out at him.

“I’ll just be a second,” she says. “I got a load of new stuff over the summer. I just need a new book.” She ignores the hardbacked books and the ones with the highly decorated covers in favour of the same ones she always gets; bottom shelf, end of the row, the plain black covers that she can decorate herself. If her art is inside it, why shouldn’t it be on the outside too?

As she bends down, she finds herself pressing her hand against the shelf to steady herself. She hadn’t realised how tired she had felt until she was sitting down, even if her legs are bent awkwardly beneath her and it’s not exactly the most comfortable position. Maybe it’s from oversleeping, but she could just lay down here if she didn’t care about her pride or store policy. She lets out a long breath-has her chest been this tight all day?

“Janis?” Damian asks, frowning a little, his Mom-friend instincts overriding anything else. He’s probably a minute away from kneeling down and whispering ‘you okay baby’ in her ear. To which she would reply “yeah” because that’s what she is. Completely fine.

“I’m good,” she says, picking up the book and pulling herself up, her weary legs protesting as she does so. She shakes her head, resisting the urge to rub her eyes, and gives them a smile that she hopes is convincing. “I got it. I’m fine.”

As she passes them, Cady and Damian share an uncertain look that they think she doesn’t see, and she tries not to be annoyed at it.

Once she noticed how tired she is though, she can’t ignore it, and it’s not for a lack of trying. Weakness and fatigue settle into her body and cloud her mind as they go about their day, and it becomes harder and harder to shake off. Her chest soon starts feeling hollow and cold, her legs unstable and shaky. The worst part is her brain lagging and freezing like the computers in school. Focussing seems to become more of a challenge with each step she takes and the long, steady beep of the store’s alarm doesn’t do much to help.

Oh, right, she thinks to herself, feeling foolish. That’s me.

She pulls her jacket tighter around herself as the air turns colder. Did they go outside? No, they can’t have, they’re still in the mall. Did someone leave a door open maybe?

A weight falls from her hand and it’s then she realises that she hasn’t passed anything yet.

“Janis?” Cady asks. She blinks, looking at Cady’s barely-concealed worry, her eyes wide, her hand slowly creeping towards her. She looks behind her and sees Karen looking at Gretchen, then Regina and finally Damian in confusion while Gretchen’s mouth falls into an O shape and even Regina looks worried, her hand halfway extended towards her and her eyes wide.

Janis scoffs at herself, or at least she thinks she does. It’s hard to tell right now. She needs to get her shit together, and that needs to happen now.

“I’m fine,” she says breathlessly. Because she is. The room is definitely not tilting. “I’m just… I’m just tired.”

The word ‘tired’ has barely left her mouth before her legs crumple and her body crashes into something warm and both soft and firm at the same time. No, not something. Someone. Damian guides her down to the floor, his arms strong around her, one hand holding hers and the other stroking her head.

“I’m okay,” she whispers. For a second, she wonders if anyone heard her, but the thought flies out of her head in an instant. Damian asks if she can hear him and she nods, mumbling something that probably made more sense in her head. She leans against him, letting her body have the rest it’s been begging for. Cady kneels next to her, asking Damian something she can’t make out and beginning to pull Janis’ coat off her despite her protests. Or what are meant to be protests anyway. She feels Cady’s hand against her cheek and manages to hear the word ‘burning up’ in her voice.

She pushes herself up on her elbows, trying to sit somewhat independently despite Cady and Damian’s wishes. Someone offers her a bottle of water and she takes it gladly, not having realised how thirsty she was. She thinks it might have been Regina but logic doubts it. Regina would pour the water out in front of her instead.

The world comes back into focus again, little by little, and thankfully she feels too drained to be embarrassed.

“You’re back?” Damian asks. She nods in response, taking another swing of water. Has water always tasted this good? “Think you can make it outside? I’m going to call your dad-”

“No, Damian,” she protests, her voice cracking. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not,” Cady corrects her. “Janis, you’ve got a fever and you just passed you. You’re not fine.” She strokes her cheek, a gesture that’s half affection, half worry, her brown eyes pleading and breaking Janis’ heart with the way they grow. “Please, Janis.”

“Okay,” she sighs, squeezing Cady’s hand. “Okay I’ll go home. I can get outside.” And she makes it, even if she’s mostly leaning on Damian. As he calls her dad, she sits on one of the benches with Cady on one side and Karen on the other, the Plastic rubbing her back and stroking her hair, while she keeps sipping water and her brain puts itself back together.

Yep. There’s the embarrassment.

“I’m sorry guys,” she says. “I’m sorry I messed up our day.”

“You didn’t mess it up,” Gretchen assures her. She’s kept her distance since Janis collapsed, but now she inches forward a little, and then a little more and kneels in front of her, patting her knee kindly. “You just got sick, it happens.”

Janis hums in acknowledgement and takes another shaky sip of water, wincing a little. This is probably to some degree her own fault. Not like her body wasn’t giving her all the warning signs possible.

“Here.” She hands Karen the pink flask when her dad’s car pull up beside them. “Thanks Karen.”

“Oh it’s Regina’s,” she corrects, throwing the other girl the bottle. Janis’ head swings so quickly from Karen to Regina that she almost passes out again and the queen bee offers her nothing but a casual shrug and a sympathetic look that makes Janis’ hands curl into fists.

So it’s gotten to the point of Regina being nice to her? Is that where she’s at now?

Christ she better get over this fast.

Damian helps her into her dad’s car and pats her head gently.

“Rest up, Buttercup,” he tells her affectionately, his face still creased with concern. She squeezes his hand and gives him a smile before he closes the door and her dad pulls out of the parking lot. The farther away they go, the more her heart clenches in her already-pained chest, a nasty cocktail made of anxiety, embarrassment and guilt brewing and bubbling inside her. She checks her phone and tells herself she’s stupid for doing so. They’re having fun. Without her. That’s their right, isn’t it?

“You just lay down, kid,” her dad tells her, helping her into her room. She’s past the point of refusing help by now and leaned on her dad all the way up the stairs and into her room. “You need anything? Some water, some food?”

“I’m okay,” she says, leaning back on her hands and wincing at the sharp pain in her head. “I just want to lie down.”

“Okay, kid,” he replies, ruffling her hair affectionately and checking her temperature at the same time. He takes in a sharp breath, his shoulders tensing. “I’m going to get you some medicine, just to be safe, okay?”

“Fine.” When her dad leaves, she tosses her jacket to the corner and starts unlacing her boots before peeling off her tights and skirt. She’s cold in just her t-shirt but getting a sweater would involve getting out of bed and she doesn’t trust herself to stay upright. So she presses her face into her pillow and pulls the covers tighter around her, the pain in her head and heart fading the closer to sleep she gets.

When her mom comes home from work that evening, she’s managed to change into leggings and a sweater and move her ass down to the living room. A grilled cheese sits on her lap and her dog’s head rests beside her as she watches TV. Despite being warned by her dad, she slips Maxie little bits of sandwich every now and then. If she’s not going to finish it, then it may as well go to a good home.

“How’s the patient?” her mom asks, leaning on the doorframe.

“Fine,” she replies, meaning not at all. Her whole body feels empty and run-down like an abandoned house; she imagines cobwebs hanging from her ribcage and a family of mice burrowing in her chest.

And that image put her off her sandwich.

“Your dad said you passed out,” she presses, coming to sit on the edge of the couch. Janis nods, looking down at her lap. There have been texts since this morning from everyone bar Regina; when she woke up there were six just from Damian alone, five asking if she was okay and one asking how he looked in the new waistcoat he’d bought. Despite how shit she had felt, Damian’s concern had made her forget just for a few minutes.

“Yeah. I think I was just overtired or something,” she sighs. “I overslept this morning.”

“And you’ve got a fever.”

“Okay, WebMD,” she jokes, shrugging. “I don’t know. I’ve probably just come down with something. It’ll go away on its own.”

“I don’t know about that…” Her mom moves closer to her, her face falling even more, confusion clouding her features. “Janis… how long has that been going on?”

“How long has what-ow!” Sharp pains jerk through her neck and her back and even up to the back of her head. Her breathing turns short and rapid until it subsides and she’s left with a phantom feeling buzzing on her skin. “Mom!”

“Sorry, hon,” she says. “Just… that swelling around your neck, when did that happen?”

“Swelling, what, where?” she asks. She gets up and goes over to the mirror on the wall, at first seeing nothing, but when she turns the light on, moves her hair and looks closer, she finds fat little lumps on the underside of her jaw. Turning around and straining her eyes, she can see some on the back of her neck as well, normally hidden by her hair. It looks like someone shoved a ping pong ball down her throat. Against her better judgement she pokes one, gasping as the same pain jumps out at her. “The hell?”

Had those always been there?

“Are they new?” her mom asks.

“I don’t know.” She lowers herself onto the chair behind her, resting her head against the wall and chewing her nail. Her mom doesn’t even tell her to stop.

“Maybe I should make a doctor’s appointment for you,” her mom says, checking her forehead again. “Hopefully, it’s nothing… wouldn’t want you to have to miss your first day.”

“Okay,” Janis agrees, her fingers straying to the swellings again. Now that she’s seen them, she can’t not be aware of their presence. They call out to her like little sirens that live on her body. Her mom pats her head before going to the kitchen, her phone already out of her bag. Down the hall, she hears her talking to her dad about her, mentioning strep throat and tonsillitis and other such illnesses. Janis sighs, leaning her head back only to be created with painful twinges. Thanks, little body sirens, she sighs.

On the couch, Maxie shows no sympathy towards her, instead gobbling up her leftover sandwich. He looks over at her, eyes innocent and mouth covered with crumbs and cheese, and it makes her laugh.

“You’re lucky I wasn’t planning on finishing that,” she tells him seriously and she takes his little squeak as an ‘I know’.

Janis really doesn’t like doctor’s offices. Everything’s way too clean and the people are too smiley, save for the bored looking receptionist who has to remind herself to be happy every couple of minutes. People avoid each other’s eyes as they wait; an exhausted mom holding a newborn on her knee and a toddler at her feet, a little girl playing with the outdated toys, a grandpa with a newspaper spread across his lap. They all look at phones or books and not each other, except for when the toddler comes over and starts poking at Janis’ boots, fascinated by the silver buckle and deciding he wants it.

When Janis’ name is called, the kid protests loudly, and she agrees with him. Sitting here chilling with a toddler sounds way more pleasant than whatever’s going to happen in there.

“Hi sweetie,” the nurse greets. Her white coat is thrown over the chair and her light hair tied back in a ponytail, her smile is covered in pale pink lipstick and her gentle eyes are framed with eyeliner and pink eyeshadow. It almost puts Janis at ease. Almost. “So your mom said you’ve been sick for the past few days? You passed out on Wednesday, right?”

“Yeah.” Janis sits up on the bed, taking comfort in the way her feet dangle above the floor. At her height, this is a pretty rare occurrence, so sue her for liking it. “I um… I’ve been really tired lately.”

“Okay… do you know when this started?” She bites her lip, shaking her head.

“Um… maybe just before school ended, or just at the start of summer,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck and wincing. “Oh, and I’ve got these boys.” She pulls her hair up so her doctor can get a better look at them. “I don’t know when they showed up. My mom noticed them before she made the appointment.”

“Do they hurt?”

“Only when I touch them,” she answers. “Then they scream like a-then they hurt.” Her doctor chuckles at her word choice, although her smile quickly disappears.

“Has there been anything else?” she asks. “Chills, fever, night sweats?”

“Check, check and check,” she replies grimly. “I um… I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and just…” She gestures to all of herself, searching for a less-gross way to put this. Her brain immediately thinks ‘does she really need to know this’, apparently unaware that they’re in a doctor’s office for this very purpose, and this probably isn’t the most disgusting thing she’s heard today. “Sweat. Everywhere.”

Is it any wonder she’s never seen above a B in English?

“Okay,” the doctor says thoughtfully. “What we’re going to do is take a little blood from you so we can run some tests, and I’ll just give you a quick check to rule out anything else. We’ll hopefully have the results in less than a week, and until then just rest up, try not to do anything too wild, and maybe limit contact with other people, just in case you have something contagious. Sound good?”

“I’ll clear my social calendar,” Janis replies. She takes a deep breath as the doctor sticks the needle into her arm and she turns to look at the posters on the wall instead. In the back of her mind, there’s a little black cloud, trying its best to grow bigger and bolder, insisting this won’t be over soon. Like there’s something around the corner, something bad, and that the little prickle of anxiety is right.

And the scariest part is that she can’t wave it off this time.

#mean girls broadway #cadnis #janis sarkisian #cady heron #damian hubbard #mean girls fanfic #mean girls ff #check ao3 for author's notes #its out there now #*screams*

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primeemeraldheiress · 5 years

Note

Heyy, i got a lot of letters for u. C, E for If I Told You, F, K, P. Rant as much as you like!

C: What character do you identify with most?

So, I’m gonna be awful and actually say Hermione Granger. I know, I’m (mostly) a Batfam blog. But to be honest, it’s definitely Hermione for me. I was always the outcast, the perfectionist, the reader etc. I even had the hair. I just didn’t have the two best friends. I didn’t grow out of the know-it-all thing until I was an adult… Or did? -looks around at her desk in the law school library- Maybe I just learned to hide it better.

E: If you wrote a sequel to If I Told You, what would it be about?

While not a direct sequel, there is actually a companion work coming out for this called Ils M’ont Dit that’s going to showcase a few conversations that happened before and during If I Told You. This story is going to expand on Jason’s background with the League, specifically Talia, and what Bond Broken is.

If I were to write an actual sequel, though, it would probably be some family feels and fluff. Maybe a dash of pregnant Jason because Damian needs a baby sister. Talia would probably make an appearance because in IITY she’s a bit of a possessive jealous bitch.

F: Care to share a favorite hurt/comfort fic?

I have to pick just one?!

In all honesty, I know this is a little odd, but it’s probably Take Your Finger Off the Trigger by Skalidra.

Not your traditional H/C fic by any means but I just really fucking love how Bruce and Dick are completely willing to listen to Jason once they have him back and the work they do to make him comfortable. It’s just - idk. I love it.

I’m not just saying this because she tagged me earlier but I fucking LOVE

You’re Alone ‘til You’re Not Alone and We’ve Got These Chains by WorkingChemistry (and pretty much everything she writes)

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

I’m not going to answer this… Mainly because it’s actually in the works right now and being co-written with another lovely author. We’re not anywhere near the point I feel like we can tease or let anything slip but let me tell you, it is some serious Dead Dove. It scares Garpie64.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)

I’ve never heard those terms before this. Bit of both? The way my ideas come to me is in scenes. You know what, I explained this to someone like yesterday. I’m gonna some copying real quick.

I get a scene in my head and world build around it. For example:

I got the scene from Vertigo first with Dick grabbing a Jason who was still male at this point and doing the whole “why do you smell like —-?!” bit etc and then some of the stuff that followed with the “how dare you act like we’re pack” stuff

and needed a mate that I knew would send Dick and Bruce into a tizzy but could and would go toe-to-toe with Bruce without batting an eye

I think I’d just read a couple of Scandal’s stories, too, so Slade popped into my head and then I’m like “what would up the angst factor?” “OH! Let’s make Jay female!”

then I’m like, “well, how did that happen in the first place?!” and that’s how Suspending Gravity happened

But for longer stories, like To Shatter Olympus and Carry Me Home that are still in the works, I get tend to get several scenes. For Olympus, it actually started with a scene near the end and I was like… well how did we get there? So I had to figure that out.

But in general terms, its a series of scenes that I tend to know how they’re going to go, some more fluid than others, and then I weave it all together. The weaving though? Man who the fuck knows how that’s gonna turn out. I have ideas; ways I want things to go. Sometimes they happen. Sometimes I send my drafts to all my friends and go I THINK I FUCKED UP!

(-coughCarryMeHomecough-)

CMH almost went accidentally cracky.

#Ask Emerald #Ask Meme #CarryMeHome #ToShatterOlympus #OlympusVerse #IfIToldYou #IlsMontDit #ConversationsVerse #dailuuuuuu

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rynne311 · 6 years

Text

300 Follower Sentence Starters

Hi all! I decided to put the sentence starters in one post, linking to each individual one. That way this can serve as a mini master list for those prompts!

“God!! Even Alfred could do better than that!!”

“God!! Even Alfred could do better than that!!” Dick teased as he sat in his dress shirt and boxers watching you press his pants.

“I’m sure Alfred could, but could you?” You quipped. “You’re a grown man, Dick. There’s no reason I should have to iron your pants for you. Besides if you keep it up, I’ll use extra starch.”

As you set the iron upright on the ironing board and moved to unplug it, you felt strong arms wrap themselves around your waist. You had a feeling where this was going, but you wanted to see how far Dick was willing to go. When you felt his lips on your neck, you knew it was time to put an end to it.

“If you wrinkle my dress before Damian’s award ceremony, you are ironing everything,” you threatened.

You heard Dick whine a bit as he released your waist to get his freshly pressed pants. He tried to sound like he was joking as he pulled his pants on, but you knew he was was serious when he said, “Alfred tried teaching me how to iron, I just kept accidentally starting small fires before I was banned.”

“Glad to know you have friends…” - Alfred to batboy

“Glad to know you have friends, Master Jason,” Alfred quipped from the open bedroom door as you tried to sink as far down into the mattress and sheets as was physically possible.

You felt like you were a teenager again, about to be reprimanded for having a relationship. If there weren’t a man you only knew through stories standing in the room you’d laugh at how ridiculous it was that you felt like this while lying in bed next to your fiance.

“I was sent to fetch Master Jason, but I’m sure Master Bruce will wish to speak to both of you in the study,” Alfred informed you both, you didn’t know him well enough yet to tell if there was a thinly veiled judgement in his voice. “I do recommend you both put clothes on before you go in there.”

You waited until the door closed to slip out of bed to get dressed. This was not how you had imagined meeting your future in-laws, but very little in your life had turned out the way you had planned.

“Don’t worry about meeting him, Y/N,” Jason assured you. You swore sometimes that man seemed to be able to read your mind. “He’s going to love you, especially since I snuck you in here, I haven’t been complaining about being confined to the manor.”

“I can’t believe I scaled a trellis for this,” you said as you rolled your eyes. You wanted the moment you met your in-laws to be on your terms, not after you snuck into their house and got called out for it.

“I mean you did it for this,” Jason retorted, gesturing to his body.

“Oh! Do you hear that?” you quipped, voice laden with sarcasm, “Everyone wants you to shut up!”

Opening the door to face the music and get this first meeting over with, you were surprised to find Jason’s brothers listening in on the other side of the door. Not bothering to introduce themselves, the youngest spoke up, “She wasn’t wrong, Todd.”

“Right now, I don’t know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge.” -Jason

“Right now, I don’t know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge,” said between spoonfuls of ice cream.

“Well I did already die once, but not from being propelled off a bridge. It would be a different way for me to go,” Jason shot back, jokingly. Even without being serious, he wanted to say something that would pack a punch.

He knew joking about his death would set you off further. You were both beyond frustrated, and he knew you were uncomfortable. Trying to hide the tears welling up in your eyes, you told him, “Now I’m really leaning towards the bridge.”

“All because I grabbed myself a beer when I got you your ice cream?” He asked, exasperated. “You’re ridiculous and I don’t even know

“No, I’m pregnant,” you spat. “ You’re the one who’s ridiculous.”

Now he understood why you were upset in the first place. You were partners and your partner had just left you behind for a little of his own fun when he knew you couldn’t partake. You were hurt, even if you didn’t already have an agreement that he wouldn’t indulge in a drink while you couldn’t.

“Fine I’m a ridiculous idiot who should know to have my beer in the kitchen instead of tauntingly in front of my pregnant wife who can’t have one with me,” he conceded. “Happy?”

“Mostly,” you hummed, scooping the last spoonful of ice cream into your mouth.

“Good,” he said, pulling you into his side. “Now let’s get this movie started.”

If he played his cards right, he just might earn that kiss from you before the night was over.

“Let me take care of you.” - older!Damian

“Let me take care of you,” Damian pleaded through clenched teeth. It was an incredible blow to his pride that he was being bested while trying to change a toddler’s diaper.

“I can’t say that I’m disappointed that you’re getting a taste of your own medicine now,” you chuckled from the doorway. During your time with the League, you had taken care of Damian when he was the same age as your daughter wriggling away from him, but a lot had changed since then. Sometimes you found it hard to believe that the young man in front of you was the same child you had taken care of. Looking back, you were so young to have been given that responsibility, but now in many ways you still felt like Damian was a son to you, and you knew he felt the same way.

“I was not this defiant,” he argued as you knelt down to make quick work of diapering.

“No, you were worse,” you joked as you stood up with your daughter on your hip. “Besides this, how was she tonight?”

“She was perfect. This was our only incident,” he assured you before asking, “How was your evening with Todd?”

“Jason and I had a very nice evening, thank you,” you answered, as you walked Damian down to the front door.

Once he wished you a goodnight, you called out, “Hey Damian, next time you want to have your girlfriend over while you babysit, just ask instead of sneaking her in. This is the third time the poor girl has pulled a Cinderella and left one of her shoes behind while trying to sneak back out as we get home.”

You could hear the laughter from your bedroom as Jason saw Damian’s reaction in the front walkway, making any awkwardness of the situation more than worth it for you.

“So what are we going to do about all this sexual tension between us?” - Bruce

“So what are we going to do about all this sexual tension between us?” He asked. You wondered how he even thought that would work as a pick up line, but still you went with it.

“You should be careful, Mr. Malone. I’m a married woman,” you replied in a sultry tone as you leaned in close to his face. You thoroughly enjoyed the soft sound of his breath hitching as slowly pulled away.

“What that stuffy husband of yours doesn’t know won’t kill him,” he coaxed, gently pulling you from the bar to the dancefloor. “Besides a woman as beautiful as you deserves to be the center of attention.”

“And what about your wife, Mr. Malone?” you asked. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the wedding band on your finger.”

You didn’t think you’d ever be able to catch him off guard, but still he seemed to pause to reflect on the best answer to give you. Finally he whispered in your ear, “When I see you, no one else seems to exist.”

You never knew pretending to be strangers with your husband would be so fun, but now you wanted your husband to be just that, your husband not Matches Malone. Kissing his cheek, you started to pull him to the exit. “C’mon Bruce, let’s get out of here. Just Bruce and Y/N, the way it’s always been.”

“I never thought I would hear Alfred curse that much and for that long.”

“I never thought I would hear Alfred curse that much and for that long,” Bruce leaned over and whispered. He probably thought he was disarming the situation for you, but he didn’t realize how much Alfred’s colorful tirade made you feel right at home.

“Mr. Martin across the hall from Mom and me would give him a run for his money,” you said with a laugh. “But there’s no way he’d win if Mr. Martin had gone to the bar that night.”

The look of confusion on his face nearly made you burst out laughing all over again. It’d been a rocky few weeks since Bruce discovered your existence and you’d moved in. There was still so much that he didn’t know about you, and he’d only just heard you laugh for the first time.

“Wait, you consider this normal?” he asked incredulously.

“Normal? I consider this tame!” Again, you had to resist the urge to just laugh in his face. “I mean Mom never yelled or cursed like that, but a lot of the neighbors did and the walls were thin enough you could hear everything.”

With that, Bruce began to think he might have to start paying the boys to cause enough trouble to get Alfred that worked up on a more regular basis. Your normal was so different from his, but if he had the chance to give you a little more of what you were used to, he was going to seize that opportunity.

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.” - Jason

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it,” he seethed as you got into the stairwell to some semblance of privacy.

“Then what are we, Jason?” you pleaded. “Because you never wanted to put any sort of label on what we’re doing, and frankly, I’m sick of it. I want to know what we are.”

“Well I don’t know what to tell you, Y/N. I love you too much to let you get hurt,” he blurted out in frustration.

“What did you just say?” you asked as the realization hit you. His own words seemed to sink in as a look of sheer panic washed over him.

“I didn’t mean to say that…” he tried to backpedal.

“Yes you did,” you argued. “I’ve known you long enough to know you don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“Fine!” he exclaimed. “I love you! I love you and it terrifies me because you’re damn near perfect and I am the farthest thing from perfect. I’m scared that you’re going to realized that and leave! I’m scared that you’re going to get hurt because of me, and I can’t stand to see you go through that.”

You tried to process everything he had just said. Silently, you reached up and wipe away the tears that had forced their way to the surface before wrapping yourself around his strong torso. Within seconds, he responded to hold you as close as he could. You always loved that he held you like you were going to vanish.

Looking up at him, you confessed, “I love you too, and that scares me too. But I’m ready to work at this if you are.”

He leaned down to kiss you, and said, “I think I am too. Let’s get back to your place where we don’t have to worry about random people hearing us.”

“While unnecessary, the double flip was amazing.”

“While unnecessary, the double flip was amazing,” you praised. Dick’s face was begging for an answer, not for praise on his abilities. “Yes Dick, I will marry you!”

You barely had a moment to blink before you were wrapped up in Dick’s arms as he kissed all over your face. It wasn’t until you steadied him enough to kiss him properly that his brain started working again. After a moment of thought, he pulled away and asked, “So you would’ve really said yes if I hadn’t thrown the double flip in there?”

“Of course,” you assured, kissing him again. Part of you couldn’t believe you were going to get to start calling him your fiance.

“I draw the line at tutu’s.” - Jason

“I draw the line at tutus,” Jason resisted. He had the scowl on his face that you always thought looked kind of adorable.

“Well without the tutu, you’ll just look silly wearing your fairy wings,” you reasoned, “besides, you made a promise to your daughter that you’d dress up however she wants for Halloween. Are you trying to teach her that you can’t be trusted to keep your word?”

The scowl deepened, but you knew he was coming around. Finally, he said, “Fine. I’ll wear the tutu, but just try to talk her out of the glittery makeup. I really don’t need to be finding glitter in my helmet until Valentine’s Day.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Fairy King,” you promised, planting a kiss to his cheek.

“And I thought I had problems with Damian.”

“And I thought I had problems with Damian,” Jason muttered under his breath.

You knew he was joking, but it still stung. Bits and pieces of your adult memories stayed with you when you got changed into a child, but you were still mostly starting fresh. You were the child neither Jason nor his brothers ever got to be. No matter how much he loved you and loved seeing you carefree, Jason wanted his girlfriend back the way he was used to.

“When does she change back into an adult? I can’t take this much longer,” Jason said in defeat to no one in particular. Knowing he wasn’t winning this battle, he called down the hallway, “Fine, Y/N you don’t need to take a bath, but it’s getting late so we need to stop running around the apartment.”

“I hate my nose.”

“I hate my nose,” Dick complained between sneezes.

“I think you’re just projecting your hatred, babe,” you retorted. “Your nose, like the rest of you is beautiful, and if you don’t love it then I’ll just have to love it enough for the both of us. It’s just allergy season and you’re getting hit harder than usual.”

You pushed some of the hair back off of his forehead, leaning over the couch to kiss him. You were just as disappointed that Dick’s allergies were hitting him this hard, but there wasn’t much you could do about it.

“I still don’t have to be happy about it,” he shot back with a pout on his face.

Moving to sit with him, you cuddle up close to him. Once you were settled, you comforted, “No you don’t have to be happy about it, but I hope you’re happy that we can use it as an excuse to stay here cuddled up together all day.”

“I am always happy about that.” Pulling you closer, Dick placed a kiss to your temple.

You were both happy and content until he went to give you another kiss and he sneezed in your hair. Maybe today you could hate his nose just a little bit too.

“Now hold on, I would much rather go on a date with Scarecrow than Clayface.”

“Now hold on, I would much rather go on a date with Scarecrow than Clayface,” you interjected, earning a room full of disbelieving looks, including your very worried looking husband.

“I’m just saying that if I had to go to dinner with one of them, I’d rather go with someone I can talk to. Like it or not, but Dr. Crane is very intelligent and would be able to hold a quality conversation,” you explained.

The boys seemed to just accept your answer and moved on with their game of villain would you rather. Bruce, however used your answer to reflect upon the beginning of your relationship. Pulling you aside, he asked, “Is that why you kept putting off going on a date with me when we met? Because you thought I wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation with you?”

“It would seem that way now wouldn’t it?” you teased. “But no, I was afraid of becoming just another notch on your belt while I got my heart broken. Knowing what I know now, I’m glad I took that chance because you have given me way more than just an intelligent conversation over dinner.”

“How long do we have before they find out we’re not in the reception hall?” “I don’t know, but if we get caught then Dick’s going to make us Cha Cha Slide and I don’t know if I can handle that.” - Jason

“How long do we have before they find out we’re not in the reception hall?” you asked in a hushed voice.

Jason listened for any sign of movement before answering just as quietly, “I don’t know, but if we get caught, then Dick’s going to make us Cha Cha Slide and I don’t know if I can handle that.”

The thought of Jason doing the Cha Cha Slide in his tux made you giggle until he gently placed his hand over your mouth, listening again for any movement near the coat closet you were hiding in. You knew once someone notice you were missing, the coat closet would be the first place they would check.

Satisfied that no one was coming, Jason finally moved his hands to cup your cheeks. You always loved when he got that lovestruck look in his eyes, making you feel like you were the only people in the world.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered, barely audible as he pulled you in for a kiss.

When you imagined your wedding as a little girl, you never thought you’d spend the reception hiding in a closet with your new husband to avoid a dance neither one of you wanted to perform. Hiding in a closet or not, you didn’t want this moment to end.

“You little bitch.”

“You little bitch,” you shrieked, waving a broom around the small kitchen. You were jumping around, broom in hand, trying desperately to destroy the small mouse you’d seen.

You kept a clean home, and an even cleaner kitchen. You hated the thought that there would possibly be any vermin in the same space you kept your food. Like clockwork, Jason came running into the kitchen ready to kill whatever had caused your shriek.

Surveying the kitchen, it seemed out of order that you were jumping around with a broom and the meat sauce you’d spent all day making was spilled all over the floor. Confused, he asked, “What’s going on?”

You could feel the blood rushing to your face. Having taken a moment to process what had happened, you felt absolutely ridiculous. Sheepishly you answered, “There was a mouse.”

“Babe, it’s Gotham, that’s to be expected. I thought there was actually something terrifying in here,” he joked, earning himself the fiercest glare you could muster.

223 notes · View notes

xavinisms · 3 years

Text

of whiplash and hope - 2021 review

I didn’t want to write this blog. The main reason for that is the same as to why I didn't want to (and didn’t) write one last year.

The last time I wrote one of these ‘end-of-the-year round-ups’ was in 2019 before the world shut down. And I did it proudly and hopeful of better and more calm futures...

But last year and today, I wasn’t keen. It’s been too much and too frightening to look back for so much has happened. I thought it would overwhelm people, and most probably overwhelm me.

Many of us have experienced quite the tumultuous year. The on-going pandemic and the grief that it continues to bring to our lives, the growing climate anxiety, rampant fascism across the UK, the decimation of culture sectors and the constant uncertainty of what will happen next...

Yet somehow, now that the main bulk of my workload is winding down, I need to make sense of what happened these past few years, if only to honour everything that was achieved and the people who made it happen. But also to acknowledge that the only way I managed to persevere and survive throughout was by working myself sick. Literally.

In the hope of some personal and collective healing, I tried to be as open and raw as I can here, without impeding on anyone else’s experiences. This isn’t an easy read, but it is essential for me to put it out there.

So here it is. It is a sort of reflection of events of the past 12 months, with the heroes I had the pleasure to make magic with, but also with some absolute bastards whom I have no pleasure of ever having met or will ever give credit to.

Eventually, somewhere, I will write more on some of the events of this year. I think I need to and so many others do to. There's a lot of people waiting for a resolution. For clarity and justice, but also to start the process of letting go.

For now, here are the main events of the year.

If we were in each other's company and/or collaborated this year, please know I have nothing but love and appreciation for you.

I hope that somehow some of this brings you joy, or the potential for some.

Please do let me know if you have any note, or comment, or words about what you experienced from the below. I am keen to listen and thankful for your time and patience.

performingborders

The present and the future. What an amazing year it has been for our PB and the team. We spent a big part of the year reflecting and changing our we work, what the intentions of the work are and what we, as curators and culture workers want to explore. Internationalism, solidarity and horizontality were some of the new ways we have started to look at not just how we operate but how we collaborate with our partners, our friends and the artists we commission. We got a new team member, Anahi Saravia Herrera, who is a brilliant writer and has changed PB from the inside out. With this new dynamic, we were able to commission some of our favourite artists to create new performances to camera, bi-monthly newsletters, our own reflections, interviews and our very first e-Journal - the first of its kind for migrant artists.

We've also partnered this year with the wonderful friends at Necessity who have been supporting our work and will continue to do so into 2022. Moving forward, performingborders is going to be my main point of focus, work wise. As a curator and caretaker I love it, I love the work we do, how we do it and our friendship. You can keep up and get in touch with performingborders through our website and newsletter (Link)

Commissions:

Spells for a border town (retrocedare) by Diana Damian Martin (LINK)

Long term collaborator of PB Diana dives into the entanglement between a receding process and de-colonial practices in Eastern Europe, paying attention not only to the territorial but to the temporal. Her collaboration with Rusanda Curcă, Mihaela Drăgan, and Iulia Mărăcine gifts us the wonderful “Spells for a border town (retrocedare)” with interviews and a series of spells against fascists, against the states, for independence, for the future, and much more. Text and audio. English, Romani and Romanian languages.

Recipes for Autonomy by Syowia Kyambi (LINK)

Our friend Syowia (based in Nairobi, Kenya), shares an episode on ‘Unthethered Magic’ by Sauti Msituni, an independent radio station hosted by Kibe Wangunyu and Dennis Kiberu, as well as gifting us an advice booklet from the collective ‘what the hEll she doin’ where we hear from the artists Usha Seejarim, Immy Mali, Sonia E. Barrett and Kyambi herself. The issue closes with an ongoing conversation between Syowia Kyambi, Kijo Agacuand, and Sibonelo Gumede titled ‘(In)Formal Frission: Another Conversation’.

Shifting Landscapes by Xavier de Sousa, Alessandra Cianetti and Anahi Saravia Herrera (LINK)

Coming together to explore our own researches together, we digested ideas of collectivity, horizontally, and open language through four reflections: Alessandra wrote A journal, Un diario, Xavier interviewed choreographer Dinis Machado in On temporalities and process of transformation, and Anahi wrote Entre acá y allá, Encuentros Solitarios. We were also joined by Istanbul Queer Art Collective who reflected on “automation and possession in live art and performance” in their text Whatever Possessed You To Perform? as a part of an ongoing collaboration and conversation that performingborders is having with the Performance, Possession & Automation project.

performingborders e-Journal #1: fragments for borderless futures (LINK)

We hope that this will be the first in a yearly series, creating a space to collectively reflect on borders, live art, community, and resistance. We want these journals to be a space that centres embodied knowledge and artist perspectives and we are launching the first issue with text contributions from Elena Marchevska, Syowia Kyambi, Jade Montserrat, Vijay Mathew, Jemima Yong and Sagar Shah. These sit alongside new commissioned works, including a place to sit, a performative reflection by Tara Fatehi Irani as well as a visual essay titled urgent images by Manuel Vason. To be experienced as a whole. Curated by Xavier de Sousa, Alessandra Cianetti and Anahi Saravia Herrara.

Amnion by Lynn Lu (LINK)

This new performance to camera thinks through hydrofeminism and reflects on water as an agent that connects all watery bodies - living, creature, hydrogeological and meteorological. In this work, Lu considers the relationship between water, life-giving, and menopause as liquid processes of change. There is a leakiness to all borders: between each other, between humans and the environment, between humans and creatures, and in our own watery selves. Conceived, written, narrated & performed by: Lynn Lu; Directed, filmed, edited by Ana de Matos; Second performer: Satsuki Lu-Sharpe

My solo work

It was never my intention to premiere two brand new shows this year, specially not during a pandemic and definitely not after some drastically traumatic events. However, I am thankful for them for they challenged me and saved me. Both were the most expansive I've ever been and experimented with, not just in terms of form but in terms of language and scope of discourse. Both these shows form the middle and final part in a trilogy of performance works that I am calling Slow Cooking. The first one was POST which I had been on tour with over 3 years and explored personal and political inheritances, and belonging in the context of migration and national identity.

Pós- opened at Teatro do Bairro Alto, Lisbon, after many years of coffees, launches, gossip and challenges with Francisco. It marks my first show in Portugal and also the first one to blend both the Portuguese and the English languages in me, creating a sort of 'migrant language' on stage that I loved playing with. It was a very raw and honest look at a country going through a crisis that is long-incoming: its confrontation with a horrific colonial past and legacy, and how we are treating migrant and queer/trans communities today.

If POST looked at the past, Pós- looked at the here and now, so it wouldn't make sense for me to be alone on stage. I had been away for too long, looking in. After many discussions with Ana Rocha, my dramaturg, mentor and pretty much the person who kicked me up the arse anytime I needed it, we decided to open the space up more and give it to others to come in and collaborate, take space and ownership. Instead of a solo show, Pós- became a type of Fado House, where communities converged, songs about loss and longing were sang and new queer fado was danced to. We invited Luis Silva for the lights, Lisbon-based queer fado band Fado Bicha and performance makers Puta da Silva and Gabriella Gomez of the incredible Casa T to join us. I can't quite tell you how this impacted me yet, I am still discovering that. But it felt joyous and disruptive. And for the first time in many years, I felt like I was challenged in ways that I wasn't expecting. Plus, I got to show my ass by mooning around Lisbon's main colonial monuments, so I'm happy.... And it is all Francisco and Ana's fault, really... blame them! You can find info on the show here, here and here.

REGNANT was the final piece in the trilogy, and this one focused on looking at the present so we can dream about the future. A long-gestating show that had encountered many forms until a last-minute injury and surgery demanded that we adapted it to a performance installation. In hindsight, I cant even picture how the show was meant to be originally anymore, for this new shift - although very abrupt as the surgery happened only two weeks before the show - actually allowed us to settle on a form that we are all much happier with. It was the biggest show I've done so far. 6hours, no interruptions, with a team of 14 people, including 4 on stage with me. Whilst I hosted every single one of the audience members who got on stage and sat the table with me, the wonderful Yas Clarke provided the sonic landscapes; An* Neely created these beautiful clay mats for people to write on; Sonia Sandhu made her vegan dall and served everyone. Emmy Lahouel (jumping in at last min after our Jade Montserrat had to pull out), created a live manuscript that was projected onto the back wall. I made 379 pieces of pottery for people to eat with (and for decoration purposes). Hannah Sibai made these beautiful tables and the table cloth that stretched onto the back wall, projecting Emmy's work. Tarrick Wilks' lighting held the piece together with what I like to think as the passing seasons over the narrative being done on stage. At the end of the day, the show was very much a recreation of labour. The labour we do every day to adapt to new contexts. The labour from the working class migrants that goes unseen by those they serve every day. The labour of dreaming collectively about a potential future from the destruction all around us. It was an absolute please, even with my arm on a sling for the 6hrs and then weeks of pain afterwards! I should really listen to my doctor, really....

You can find more info on the project here and here.

The show really wouldnt have been possible without The Uncultured, Theatre in the Mill, Live Collision International Festival and METAL, amongst a few others. You are really all amazing!

Part of the reason as to why REGNANT took so long, was because this idea of 'most of whats on stage is created by us for you' involved me learning a new skill and my first instinct was that I wanted to create a large amount of materials that would serve both as decoration but also the utensils we would use to serve people with. So the wonderful folk at East Street Arts gave me the resources, fee and space (and patience) to do just that. I learned pottery!! First in lockdown, then by having my own pottery studio set up in their Convention House building. This was such an incredible experience, precisely because I got to play and get lost in a whole new practice. 379 pots and over 130 spoons were created by hand over a period of 6weeks. And I loved every moment of it.

New Queers on the Block

Throughout the last four years of amazing collaborations, initiatives and new friendships across Brighton, Bradford, Folkestone, Hastings and Blackpool, we managed to support the development of new artists across parts of the country where there was a distinct lack of support for queer markers.

Some have gone on to make incredible work in incredible places . Along the way, new companies, new spaces and queer-support groups were set up as a consequence of our work and with our support. We always listened to the demands of local communities and the project turned from a touring initiative into a artist and community development one.

This year, we were able to launch a new phase of it, where instead of the usual commissioning strategies, we want to instead support artists with 6-month long salaries, producing support, mentorship, dramaturgy, residencies and community-development strategies. It is an experiment, and a new model that I hope will have long-last impact on how we programme and work with artists in the UK. Alongside this, our team of Associate Producers in each location will be setting up new initiatives and events that will be come part of this extended network. So far the response has been amazing and the new artists line-up will be announced in the new year... You can follow up the project here.

Sadly, the time has come for me to leave this project. It is all very bittersweet for me, and I wish things had panned out differently but I am pretty fucking proud of what we achieved, how it impacted people and my own work. And that's all thanks to the my friends at Marlborough Productions.

Producer Gathering

Hard to believe that Producer Gathering got a second wind this year!

After the wonderful Anna Jefferson and Sam Worboys from Arts Council England contacted the Marlborough Productions team to create a new initiative to support independent producers, we thought that the best thing would be to look into what is already out there and elevate it. So we went back to PG, a web page of free resources and information that the legendary Sally Rose and I created back in 2016!! We grew it, expanded it and invited a bunch of amazing collaborators to create new resources for free distribution on the website.

Alongside case studies with Sud Badu, Rob Jones and our own Lee Smith, we commissioned Industry Rates packs, quizes, How To Broadcast, How To Produce Digital Festivals, new COVID-19 related resources, budget templates, fundraising How To's, etc... It is another project I am deeply proud of!! You can get everything for free here.

With my PG hat on, and as member of BECTU and ITC, I also undertook some work on the new Freelance Producer agreement that was launched late November. Im pretty proud of that document, specially as it provides producers with new base-lines for rates of pay and support -in-the-work-place information, and it marks the first of its kind in the sector. I would recommend you joining those organisations, as both provide vital support for the sector.

Writing

I started of this year in isolation like the rest of the world, and I cannot tell you how impactful that was for me this year. I had never written a text for publications like these, and invites to write based on my approaches to language, navigating bilingual contexts and being lost in translation were thrilling and set me on a new investigative path. I started to play with writing form and the merging of languages. In some places, passages of Portuguese, English and Iraqi Arabic (translated by the wonderful Tara Jaffar) took form across performances, audio pieces and publications. I have to thank Larisa Faber, Mark Richards and Ruth Campbell for kicking off this new focus, really! I love you all.

You can find some of my writing from this year in the following contexts:

In Other Words by METAL

Triptyphon (Season 2, Ep 4) https://www.xavierdesousa.co.uk/post/639031549407395840/somewhere-in-between-the-flowers

Les Cahiers Lucembourgeois 2021 #1 http://cahiersluxembourgeois.lu/

Centre national de littérature de Luxembourg, 'Theatre Talks 4' by Larisa Faber https://shop.literaturarchiv.lu/fr/accueil/204-theatrical-talk-larissa-faber.html

As Produtoras, de Vânia Rodrigues, https://www.wook.pt/livro/as-produtoras-vania-rodrigues/24432459

An impossible situation

I've been thinking a lot about rage and healing, in light of the events of this year and how they go together, hand in hand, one driving the other. Can we ever truly forgive? Sometimes I don't think we can, and perhaps there is a lot of hope and healing in rage about something you cannot change. The way I deal with trauma is by engaging and getting my hands dirty. Sure is primarily a copying mechanism but it is also my pathway to healing. Often, resolution comes from feeling like I was able to do something about it. I might take me a long time to get there, and often it is scarred with a lot of sleeping, isolation and depressive periods. You harness that rage and turn it into action, or into trying to get some peace of mind at least.

But some moments are just too big. Too impactful on you and those around you.

Too many people have been marked by the events of Chris Goode's death this year. And many were also deeply affected by the violence he perpetrated over the decades of his career.

Together with an amazing group of people that were historically survivors of his abuse, we managed to get support for individual healing, collective therapy and industry change. We've been working to challenge the company for 5 years, and were the only ones who did it, often with quite awful consequences to our careers and mental health. This is still on-going and I am thankful that those waiting on more news have been patience. Healing takes time, and so does change.

I am sure that more will come to light in the near future. That is my hope, at least for now for I believe it is by being open and honest that we can collectively healing.

This can no longer be about *yet another* abuser in the sector who so many people knew about but did nothing. That type of person is very common in our sector and I am fucking sick of abusers who suffer no consequences for their actions.I have no issue with saying that this was the most impactful moment of recent years, for it tapped into other circumstances of personal abuse in and out of this sector that I hadn't dealt with. So for me, this is it. I'm done with not speaking up for fear of consequences.

This is what I mean about rage being part of hope. I am hopeful that the rage we feel about this will lead to a better tomorrow. It has to. Otherwise, what's the point, right?....

2022

I’m going to rest next year. And I will also take time to enjoy life, for I seemingly have forgotten how to do that if it is outside of work.

So if I make a promise to myself about next year is that I will focus on stop using work as a copying mechanism. Instead, I will focus on me and my friends.

With love and in solidarity x

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eddycurrents · 7 years

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For the week of 19 March 2018

Quick Bits:

30 Days of Night #4 gets into the first assault on Barrow from the vampires. It’s bloody and beautifully illustrated by Piotr Kowalski.

| Published by IDW

Avengers #685 is a whole load of fun and despair as a large portion of the US Avengers team (and Lightning, Vision, and Quicksilver) attempt to stave off the assault of the Immortal Hulk. It really feels like we’re headed towards the endgame now and the braintrust of Mark Waid, Jim Zub, and Al Ewing are just churning out an epic. Also, the art from Paco Medina, Juan Velasco, and Jesus Aburtov is gorgeous.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: Back to Basics #2 concludes the first arc with Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor attempting to stop Fenris and the Disir from bringing about Ragnarok. It’s a fun and action-oriented story from Peter David, with some great humorous moments, and the art from Brian Level (with colours by Jordan Boyd) is pretty much worth the price of the book alone. Great panel compositions and page layouts that greatly help the issue’s story feel meaty.

| Published by Marvel

Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack #7 gets us close to the end, but of course it’s not as easy as rescuing Egg Shen and defeating Ching Dai, there has to be funny misadventures, in-fighting, and heaps of betrayal.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Cable #155 is pretty damn great. It begins the “Past Fears” arc from the new creative team of Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Germán Peralta, and Jesus Aburtov and leaps headlong into Cable’s past mixing it up with some body horror. Thompson and Nadler have a nice grasp on Cable and Hope’s characters, showing off their heart and stubbornness. Peralta’s art puts the book over the top, though.

| Published by Marvel

Dark Fang #5 brings to an end the first arc of the series, finally giving the lead character a name in-story itself. It’s a bizarre approach to vampires from Miles Gunter, almost like a twisted Disney fairy tale, but it’s entertaining and has some great artwork from Kelsey Shannon.

| Published by Image

Death of Love #2 features more wacky hijinks as Philo tells his friends about seeing the little Cherubs/Cupidae and...naturally they don’t believe him. It just gets more absurd from there as Justin Jordan and Donal DeLay push the series into new and more disturbing territory.

| Published by Image

Dept. H #24 ends what has been a good series with a nice bit of quiet reflection, Mia reminiscing about her father, her first case, and morality as she struggles upward for that last leg of survival.

| Published by Dark Horse

Dissonance #2 dives deeper into the machinations of the Fantasmen as they plot and scheme to control humanity. Singgih Nugoro and Ryan Cady are laying it on pretty thick, while making you wonder what all of it is truly for.

| Published by Image / Top Cow - Glitch

Doctor Strange: Damnation #3 is basically an issue’s long fight between the damned Avengers and the Midnight Sons. There’s some nice character bits and humour thrown in. Plus, a seemingly most ineffective plan.

| Published by Marvel

Evolution #5 sees Joe Infurnari and Jordan Boyd step up their game, and the art on the series was already incredible. It seems as we go on, the designs and presentation of the infected just get more and more impressive.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Harrow County #29 returns with the beginning of the end. Emmy is trying to come to terms with her actions in the last arc, while Hester’s return heralds more nightmares to come. Tyler Crook’s artwork is stellar, horrifying and evocative, elevating the terror with each subsequent panel.

| Published by Dark Horse

Ice Cream Man #3 is weird, trading in the more traditional horror notes of the past couple of issue for absurdist science fantasy, following a washed-up, fading musician who penned a one-hit wonder as he fades into obscurity. W. Maxwell Prince’s story gets pretty strange, but it allows for Martín Morazzo to really flex his muscles.

| Published by Image

Infinity 8 #1 begins adapting in English and North America’s standard comics format the Infinity 8 series that was previously published by Rue de Sèvres, created by Lewis Trondheim and Olivier Vatine. Part of the pitch for the book is an 8-part series each containing three issue arcs. The 8 parts certainly play into the structure of the story as each part will be done by a different creative team, and focus on a recursive time loop of agents exploring a debris field.

This first arc, written by Lewis Trondheim and Zep with art by Dominique Bertail, focuses on Agent Yoko Keren, a woman looking for a compatible mate among the ship’s crew so she can get pregnant and basically retire better off than she is currently. She gets to be the first guinea pig for the Captain’s time loop exploration of the debris, and it gets a bit weird when some of the ship’s complement of aliens decide that eating it is of the utmost importance. This story is weird sci-fi in the vein of Heavy Metal, but to me the draw is Bertail’s art. I’ve really been enjoying Bertail’s art in Ghost Money and he proves equally adept with wacky space stuff.

| Published by Lion Forge / Magnetic Collection

Iron Fist #78 jumps head first into Danny’s unresolved issues in what’s probably the best Damnation tie-in thus far. Ed Brisson uses the chaos of the event and the trigger of the penance stare to dredge up Danny’s feelings and reactions to what he considers his loss and failures, giving some really deep cuts into continuity in an organic, natural fashion. The art from Damian Couceiro and Andy Troy is also up to the heavy lifting. The layouts and panel designs at the beginning of the book as Danny navigates the surreal landscape of his memories and fears are particularly impressive.

| Published by Marvel

James Bond: The Body #3 has some great art by Rapha Lobosco, in the first of two series that have his work this week. His art is in a similar style to Eduardo Risso and it lends itself well to this dark tale of neo-Nazi arms dealers from Aleš Kot.

| Published by Dynamite

Kick-Ass #2 asks some important questions as Patience backslides into justifications for her criminal behaviour. Mark Millar steps up the moral quandary from just the vigilantism of the original Kick-Ass, even as she later protects a child from an abusive father figure.

| Published by Image

Lucy Dreaming #1 is fun. For starters, it’s nice to see Michael Dialynas again on another sci-fi/fantasy series after The Woods, even if it is just a limited series. His art naturally lends itself to the fantastical and it pays off in spades in this first issue, with nice designs for aliens, starships, and more. It’s also great that Max Bemis is bringing more of that weirdness and altered realities from his works like Centipede here. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this goes from here.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Mighty Thor #705 will break your heart. Epic storytelling and gorgeous art. Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, and Matthew Wilson should be proud.

| Published by Marvel

Ninja-K #5 brings the battle to the Acclimation Bureau and sparks off a deadly confrontation between Ninja-C and Ninjak. Christos Gage and Tomás Giorello bring this first arc to a stylish conclusion.

| Published by Valiant

Pathfinder: Spiral of Bones #1 brings the adventuring party back for a new expedition, this time far beneath Kaer Maga, the City of Strangers. Crystal Frasier is a new voice to the Pathfinder comics, but old hat to the roleplaying game, so she slides in nicely to the writer’s chair here. There’s a good amount of set-up and humorous banter as the Iconic character Imrijka is introduced in the comic as an old friend of Valeros.

| Published by Dynamite

Punks Not Dead #2 gets into more of Fergie’s ordinary life and the supporting cast of characters at his school and beyond. David Barnett fleshes them out fairly well, setting up some interesting hooks for what might be coming next. Combined with Martin Simmonds artwork, this series really is a must buy for anyone who enjoyed the British supernatural flavour of mid to late ‘90s Vertigo or the later series Vinyl Underground.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Regression #8 sees Adrian explore the nature of the cult and their grounds a bit more, although there is a weird bit in that he’s seemingly all right with the past lives, the demons, the cult itself and such, but apparently an orgy is a bridge too far. Death, murder, and demons are copacetic, but as soon as sex is introduced, Adrian wants to bug out. I’m hoping that Cullen Bunn does more with that theme in a future issue.

| Published by Image

Rumble #4 mainly deals with the fallout from Bobby’s injuries, with John Arcudi penning a growing divide between Rathraq and Del. David Rubín’s art perfectly capturing the insanity and the heart of the entire situation.

| Published by Image

Runaways #7 begins the “Best Friends Forever” arc with the team trying to adjust to their new status quo and “normal” life. Rainbow Rowell is great at these kinds of interpersonal relationships and it makes for an entertaining read.

| Published by Marvel

The Spider King #2 is more glorious madness blending Vikings and bizarre alien technology. The artwork from Simone D’Armini just fits this action perfectly.

| Published by IDW

Summit #4 concludes the first story arc, with Val coming to the realization of Lorena’s motivations and Foresight’s shadiness that readers of the broader Catalyst Prime line already know. It comes a bit suddenly after a moment of misdirection, but it makes more story sense to get Val back to her friends at the MIT labs.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Tales of Suspense #103 is that issue that tells us exactly what has been going on with Black Widow while Hawkeye and Winter Soldier have been running around chasing after her body count. It’s kind of dark and has some fairly complicated potential Alien Resurrection style implications. Matthew Rosenberg still throws in some humour with Ursa Major, but this one’s really an opportunity for Travel Foreman to showcase some of the darker end of his skill set.

| Published by Marvel

TMNT Universe #20 continues the excellent “Service Animals” arc from Ian Flynn, Dave Wachter, and Ronda Pattison that’s getting to the core of what Null has been doing, and providing an interesting, humanizing look at Raphael and Alopex. The art from Wachter and Pattison is wonderful. There’s also a great back-up from Matthew K. Manning, Adam Gorham, and Brittany Peer that tells a humorous and heartfelt tale of Raph trying to get some sleep.

| Published by IDW

Thanos #17 is the penultimate chapter of “Thanos Wins”, featuring both Thanoses against the Fallen One, with a few surprise guests. Geoff Shaw really gets the opportunity again to showcase just how damn good he is at action and spectacle.

| Published by Marvel

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #1 is the first of the series to follow the series of series format Dark Horse tends to use for Mike Mignola’s Hellboy universe. Regardless of the approach, this still has the same great Stan Sakai taste. Ostensibly we’re dealing with some fugitives, and a secret package, being tracked down by agents of the shogunate, but we’re light on details so far and high on mystery.

| Published by Dark Horse

Vampirella #11 is the second of the books illustrated by Rapha Lobosco this week as he and Jeremy Whitley bring this current volume to a close. This issue serves as a recap of Vicki’s adventures with Vampirella as she comes to a new understanding of herself, opening up to find a solution for the fake heaven and missing God problem.

| Published by Dynamite

Weapon H #1 is probably better than any one would have thought as ridiculous a concept as a Hulkverine would be. Spinning out of the “Weapons of Mutant Destruction” crossover and subsequent Weapon X follow-up arc, this series follows Clay, a former soldier and test subject for some mad science experiments blending Hulk and Wolverine DNA. Greg Pak blends those two aspects in the story itself, taking elements from both the Hulk and Wolverine legacy, and wisely begins this with a new take on the tale that introduced Wolverine to the world in the pages of Incredible Hulk with a new Wendigo. The art from Cory Smith, Marcus To, and Morry Hollowell sticks the landing.

| Published by Marvel

Witchblade #4 continues the trend of being another great issue of this series. Caitlin Kittredge is beginning to get into the meat of the lore behind the Witchblade and the thirteen Artifacts, tying the reboot in to the mythology of the original Witchblade/Darkness universe, while also fleshing out more and more of Alex’s backstory. The art, again, by Roberta Ingranata and Bryan Valenza is some of the most beautiful on the shelves today.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Other Highlights: Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #17, Archie #29, Babyteeth #9, Berlin #22, Corto Maltese: The Golden House of Samarkand, Descender #28, The Further Adventures of Nick Wilson #3, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call #4, Go Go Power Rangers #8, Incredible Hulk #714, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Fairies #4, Kill or Be Killed #17, Mata Hari #2, The Mighty Crusaders #4, Monsters Unleashed #12, Monstress #15, Moonshine #8, Ms. Marvel #28. Outcast #34, Quantum & Woody! #4, Southern Cross #14, Spider-Gwen #30, Star Wars #45, Star Wars: Poe Dameron #25, Superb #8

Recommended Collections: Aliens: Dead Orbit, Black Science - Volume 7: Extinction is the Rule, Giant Days - Volume 7, Harrow County - Volume 7: Dark Times A Coming, Iron Fist - Volume 2: Sabretooth Round Two, Moonstruck - Volume 1, Rick & Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It, Spider-Men II, X-Men Blue - Volume 3: Cross Time Capers

d. emerson eddy is doing stuff, Lori. Things!

#This Week in Comics

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lavender-lotion · 7 years

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By Our Side; Always | 2,262k

Find the rest here! Read on AO3 here!

From pumpkin picking to running into old friends. Loosing themselves within corn mazes and cuddling during b-grade horror movies.

This is Halloween with the Argent-Hale-Stilinski family.

Sequel to Meet The Families

“ October 31st - Halloween. If it features Halloween in anyway, this is the day for it. Trick-or-Treating, toilet papering houses, dressing up and going out, don’t care. Have fun! ” @tridom

Stiles was excited!

Seriously he was all but bouncing on his toes as he dragged his husbands towards the rows upon rows of pumpkins. He was ecstatic, had been looking forward to the thirty-first for weeks now.

This was a big year for him, after all. It would be his first time in years that he would be living in a house during the holiday - meaning handing out candy, decorating the lawn, decorating everything else - but more so he would be living in his own home!

They’d been living in Beacon Hills for nearly half a year now, moving in right when Stiles graduated. At that point Peter had already moved most of his business so having a place to stay was essential. Because of that they had bought their house - really it was more like Chris and Peter bought a house and Stiles was just along for the ride - two months before Stiles’ grad, though Peter hadn’t done a thing for decorating. Instead he had bought a bed, the necessary kitchenware and toiletries, and left everything else.

He also came back every weekend, Friday all through Monday, so he was hardly even living in the house. Because of that moving in had been beyond exciting. Honestly, Stiles went a little wild, but this was his first home, and that was a big deal! By now they were settled, the feeling of overwhelming accomplishment that came from having one's own home slowly fading away.

But now it was October and that meant Halloween which meant decorations and themed treats and costumes and pumpkin spice lattes and actual fucking pumpkins!

Which is why Stiles is dragging his two grown husbands into a pumpkin patch primarily occupied by children and their relenting parents. It wasn’t as though he was expecting his men to be as excited as he was - hell Chris had turned forty-six this year, of course the man wasn’t excited about pumpkin picking - but Stiles was, and neither man were in the habit of denying their boy much.

Which was why they were letting him drag them through overgrown grass, Peter willingly dirtying his shoes - though he did cuff his pants as to keep them safe. The field was fairly large, kids running around as parents and young adults strolled by. The pumpkins were many, rows upon rows piled high and Stiles sped ahead, bouncing on his toes as he carefully examined the piles. He knew how to pick out pumpkins, had been doing so with a sharp eye for years now and only the best would do.

Stiles was fawning over a large pumpkin, looking at it intently to judge whether or not it really was perfect (he was 97% sure) when a large, dark pair of hands grabbed it from right in front of him. Stiles reeled back, outrage written across his features as he took a deep breath, preparing for his rant as he looked up. He squinted his eyes at the man before him, still as tall and as bald as ever and had no trouble placing him.

“Boyd!” He exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. Stiles had gone an entire four years not seeing a single person from high school - which probably had a lot to do with his lack of friends during the years - and now that he was back always got excited. He liked hearing what certain people were up to - like when he found out Lydia Martin had gotten pregnant during her first year of University, dropped out and was now a besotted housewife to Jackson Whittmore, or how Greenberg was doing pretty good as an Indie actor.

“Uh, Stilinski?” The man asked, brows drawing close in concentration.

“Yep, that’s me! Oh my gosh dude, how are you?” Stiles shot right back, now bouncing on the balls of his feet, his smile huge.

“Uh, I’m good?” He said after a pause, shifting his weight back further from the boys excitement, “What are yo-”

The loud screech of “DADDY!” cut the man off as a small child barreled into his legs, followed quickly by a leggy blond.

“Erica Reyes?” Stiles said, eyes blown wide.

The woman just smirked, giving Stiles a serious once over before hefting the child onto her hip and saying, “Hey Batman.”

“Hey ba’man!” The boy echoed, dark, tight curls bouncing around his face as he spoke.

“Hey Catwoman, and little dude, hello!” Stiles enthused, holding up a fist and all but melting when the boy bumped theirs together, “Dude, so how have you been?”

Erica laughed at that, smiling widely, “We’ve been good. Busy, but good!”

“How old is this guy?”

“I’m three!” The boy announced, raising his chin with a huge grin.

“You are adorable!” Stiles told him sending a smile to Erica, “Gotta admit, totally rooted for you two.”

“Thank you, Stiles.” Boyd told him, taking his son from Erica and settling him onto his shoulders as the boy clapped in glee. “How have you been?”

“Great! Graduated earlier this year and moved back home. I got a place over on Snare Street! Where are you guys at? What are you up to?”

“Just over on Applebottom, been there since right after high school,” Erica went on, “This one came out the summer after we all Graduated. I work over at the studio on Elf and Boyd is in construction.”

She pulled her sleeve up showing off the full arm of tattoos and Stiles cooed, “Ohh nice!”

“Thank you.”

“What days are you in this week? I had a great artist before moving and really wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to find somo-” Stiles said it all quickly, grinding to a half when an arm settles around his waist. He turns to one of his faincé’s, smiling widely at Peter, “I found a tattoo artist!”

“Very good dear,” Peter says, glaring hard at the younger man, “Christopher and I do not appreciate being abandoned in such horrific conditions.”

“Oh my god,” Stiles sighed at the man's dramatics, but smiled and leaned into his sides nonetheless, “Okay, Erica and Boyd this is one of my husbands, Peter Hale.”

“One of?” Erica asked, her brows raising.

“Uh yeah oh, babe where is he,” Stiles stretched onto the balls of his feel, peering around the patch. It was busier then when they had first gotten there, the crowd of adults much thicker then it had first been. There were more kids as well, the noise level gently raising as more people piled in. Stiles couldn't stop the smile on his face, the excitement in the air getting to him as he scanned the crowd.

He saw dark brown hair greying at the temples and smiled wider, shouting out the man's name and waving, leaning further into Peter as he struggled to gain height, making sure the man could see him. The man could see him - obviously, considering there weren’t nearly as many people as Stiles had convinced himself - and the man nodded his head, eyes wrinkling slightly at the corners at the sight of Stiles’ excitement.

“And thi-s,” Stiles said, stretching out the word as Chris came near, snagging the man’s hand in his, “Is my other husband, Chris Argent!”

“Nice to meet you both,” He said politely.

“Right and these are Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd and little dude!”

“My name is Damian. Named after the fifth and best Robin out there!” The boy sad proudly, grinning wide when Stiles burst out in laughter, offering Erica then Damian a fist bump.

“Good going, Catwoman, boy knows his stuff.”

“Only the best, Batman.”

“See, I told you this would be fun!” Stiles said, sounding as chipper as he could. He was trying to keep the mood up, keep their energy on the high as they continued to walk, corn grown high all around them.

“Stiles we have been lost for two hours I want to go home!” Which was true, and he could understand where Chris was coming from. The older man hadn’t wanted to come with Stiles through the maze, citing this exact situation as a reason to stay out. But Stiles was adamant they do everything Beacon Hills had to offer. It was their first year celebrating the holiday as husbands - as illegitimate as the term was in their case was, Stiles insisted on using it - and he was going to do it right. It as also their first time celebrating Halloween in Beacon Hills, and the town knew what they were doing.

“I said this was a bad idea.” Chris grumbled, voice a deep rumble. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he’d last spoke and the man had his hands shoved in his pockets, walking behind Peter and Stiles whose hands were linked together, Stiles all but skipping along.

He was having a great time. Everything in October seemed so much better. The air was beginning to turn crisp, the trees changing into a gorgeous array of warmth. He got to wear sweaters every single day without being judged, was able to steal a copious amount of clothing from his men and they couldn't say anything about it because it was all in the name of staying warm. Everything smelled like cinnamon and pies were easy to come by.

October was awesome.

It didn’t matter to him that they’d gotten lost, he was having too much fun to mind as he dragged Peter along, the younger of his husbands being much better company at the moment. He was telling the man a story about his high school days, nostalgia brought on when he saw the couple a few days prior. He had never told his men much about his high school days, the number of good memories he had far outweighed by the bad, be he was happily reminiscing, enjoying the cool air as it nipped at his nose.

“Do you think we could try to get out?” Chris demanded, voice showing off his annoyance.

“Oh my god stop whining you’re forty-six!” Stiles snapped, glaring at the man.

“I am not whining, I am simply stating my dis-”

“Nope you’re whining and you’re grown man wh-”

“And you’re an insufferable chi-”

“Why don’t we all calm down-” Peter’s voice broke in, causing both men to shout his way.

“Back off, Peter.”

“Peter, not now!”

Both men looked away from where they’d turned to glare at the other man to instead stare at each other. They only lasted a moment before they started laughing, Chris a deep chuckle and Stiles an embarrassing giggle. Peter just smiled calmly at the two, before his lips twitched up into a wolfish grin.

“I just wanted to say that I thought of something a little more fun we could do,”

Stiles let out a little sigh, snuggling closer to Peter whose chest he was currently half atop of. The man was propped up by several pillows against their headboard and was the only one still paying attention to the horror movie on the TV. This was for him, after all, seeing as neither Chris nor Stiles particularly enjoyed them. Chris was curled around his back, one hand occasionally reaching for the bowl of pumpkin seeds in Peter’s lap and idly crunching on them.

Stiles just closed his eyes and cuddled deeper, sighing when Chris pressed his lips to the boy's neck, gently scraping his teeth over the skin. It were days like this that Stiles treasured, wrapped up in bed with the two men he loved more than he ever thought possibly. Sometimes he felt like he was bursting with it, with how much he felt for the two and he wasn’t sure how he was able to contain it all. He had never expected anything like this, could never have. He had spent so many years thinking he’d be alone - that he’d be too loud or too energetic or too weird for someone to ever really love him - and somehow he had found two people that made his life worth so much more.

And of course it sucked to never legally be married to either man, but it didn’t matter to him, not anymore. He had been calling them his husbands for months now, starting only weeks after the proposal. Only months earlier, during the summer after his graduation, Peter and Chris had organized a commitment ceremony. They decorated their new backyard in fairy lights and bright flowers, inviting those who meant the most to them to bare witness as they promised themselves to each other. He’d been given a second ring during the event, a thicker - and more diamond studded - version of his original engagement.

He twirled them both now, smiling into Peter’s chest as Chris’ arm wrapped tighter around his waist, the ridiculous screaming of the b-grade horror movie lulling him to sleep.

“Trick or treat!”

“Oh my god you are so cute!”

“Trick or treat!”

“Dude sick costume!”

“Trick or treat!”

“Oh my pumpkin my heart!”

“Trick or treat!”

“YES!”

“Trick or treat!”

“Wow, gotta say I’m more of an avengers guy but that group costume is awesome!!”

“Trick or treat!”

“Epic!”

“Trick or treat!”

“You are the cutest thing I have ever seen!”

“Trick or treat!”

“I want one!”

“Trick or treat!”

“Christopher I want a child, do something about it!”

“Trick or treat!”

“A BUNNY!”

“Trick or treat!”

“What are you?”

“Trick or treat!”

“Would you like a candy, my lady?”

“Trick or treat!”

“Taking the night off from fighting crime, huh?”

“Trick or treat!”

“No Stiles let that child go we can’t keep them!”

#Stetopher Week #Stetopher Week 2017 #Stetopher #stiles stilinski #peter hale #chris argent #halloween #pumpkin patch #horror movies #cuddling & snuggling #fluff #slash #polyamory #polygamy #alternate universe - human #trick or treat

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renaroo · 7 years

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Wednesday Roundup

*long deep sigh*

Okay, I said last week I was going to cancel all Marvel subscriptions in response to the bullcrap that was revealed in Secret Empire. And I continue to firmly stand on not supporting Marvel on any decisions involving that catastrophe. But I must go back on my word. After discussing with friends and others about the best course of action, I am afraid that Marvel set things up -- what with the anti-diversity talks just a few weeks ago -- to make it seem as though any boycotts that would come about due to the Hydra revelations last week would be scapegoated to the titles that are doing the opposite. So I want to support titles that do just that -- titles like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur -- so long as their book isn’t involved with the crossover and if their authors don’t seem to have much involvement either.

... also I pre-ordered Deadpool Vol. 6 for a specific reason that I’ll get into in the review.

All that out of the way, let’s get into the comics this week~

DC’s Batman Beyond, Marvel’s Deadpool, DC’s Detective Comics, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s Wonder Woman

DC’s Batman Beyond (2016- ) #7 Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Marcello Maiolo

*long heralding sigh* We can’t leave well enough alone, can we, DC?

The continuity of Batman Beyond has somewhat been in the toilet from the start. Anything which got its start thanks to the awfulness that was Futures End was sort of doomed to that, especially since they were trying to make that the canon ending of the DCU proper, while at the same time drawing in elements from the animated series.

This book, though, honestly gave me a lot of hope for what it was doing, which was to focus on the characters pretty specifically from the DCAU Batman Beyond cartoon and growing their stories and relationships rather than focusing on trying to put itself too immediately in the Earth Prime timeline.

And those moments from this issue are great. We get more Max and Bruce interactions, which I love. We get some actual growth of Dana and Terry’s relationship. Curare is still one of my favorite villains. Matt’s increased role excites me.

And then we get this fucking page.

I have a bad history with DC splash pages of “our family history” already (see any of my Batgirl (2009-2011) rants), but this one just goes straight for the throat. Sorry literally every woman in the Batfamily ever. I mean, usually at least Barbara gets a shoutout but not even that this time around. And then the worst offense is that Damian and Duke are both whitewashed. What the actual fuck.

This entire page is a disaster, especially since we are very obviously just using it to foreshadow that the leader of the League of Assassins has to do with Damian, because godforbid anyone but the biological child be treated special.

Oh, sorry. Biological male child. Or else we’d see some plots with Helena Wayne, couldn’t have that.

Oh, Batman Beyond. Why must you hurt me the way you do. I was enjoying you so much too.

Marvel’s Deadpool (2015- ) Volume 6: Patience: Zero Gerry Duggan, Matted Lolli, Scott Koblish, Guru-eFX

So I’ve obviously made some exceptions to my Marvel rule and that is simply a case-by-case basis. There are stronger reasons for the other exception this week, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, which I would honestly be devastated if it was taken down because of this monumental grossness that is Marvel right now because it’s the epitome of everything that’s not the Secret Empire catastrophe.

The other is Deadpool because I pre-ordered this volume months ago and because Deadpool is just a weird exception of a comic to begin with. At least as Deadpool is written under Gerry Duggan and how these particular issues especially are written.

So yes, while I would recommend all the issues in this trade to comic fans, the issue I really bought this volume for is for a very personal reason: #20 is the issue dealing with suicide and mental illness and... as someone who struggles on this road in my own life, in both point of views we have here, I am... very particular about how these issues are approached. I hate the way it was handled in Robin (1993-2009), despise the way it was portrayed in All-Star Superman, I just honestly don’t feel like I’ve ever read a story -- especially in comics -- that spoke to me and made me feel like I benefited from it the way the comics were obviously trying to make me feel.

Deadpool goes the most realistic route I’ve ever seen this handled. It’s about “death is permanent, so let’s make sure there’s nothing else you want to do first” It’s about helping someone out, giving them other things to focus on in the moment, giving them more to experience, and then knowing when professional help is needed, when you’re beyond your means.

And it’s hard. Deadpool says it best -- unkilling someone is way harder. And I’ve never felt an issue strike such a cord with me before.

Of course, that’s only one of several issues collected, and we finally get the climax and our answers with Madcap. The entire storyline was rediculous, dramatic, frightening, and any range of emotions between. A great story overall even if anything involving Hydra -- especially Bob -- inherently sickens me at this point.

If you’re on that level with me on the Hydra stuff, I would recommend buying #20 on its own and then #25 to finish up the Deadpool 2099 story which, for me, had a good conclusion to it.

But yeah. This was a splurge purchase at least partially because... I have a feeling I won’t be picking up the next few trades of Deadpool flat out, honestly. Lots of Secret Empire this way comes. And I’m not happy about it. Hopefully I can pick up Vol. 8 or 9 and we can get back to Deadpool and Ellie and Preston and everything that makes me love this comic to begin with.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016- ) #955 James Tynion IV, Marcio Takara, Marcello Maiolo

CASS HAS A GIRLFRIEND BALLERINA AND SHE APOLOGIZED AND ALL IS GOOD AND NOT AN ORPHAN ANYMORE BE STILL MY HEART

OKAY. So that’s out of my system. Last time (two weeks ago) I went into a full on rant about how there are things I Love about Tynion’s writing -- relationships, character building, the sense of family, understanding how to write Cass the way few writers other than her creators have truly gotten -- and things I Hate about Tynion’s writing -- an overall lack of build up for payoff, weak plots, a bit of a ‘break the status quo’ mentality despite a lack of building said status quo -- there are Things. And I can make entire essays about how I feel he needs to grow as a writer especially when it comes to writing mysteries which is what Detective Comics should be at its core.

I’m putting that aside for now -- still there, I still have my issues with this arc -- but this issue is... It’s going to be a milestone.

It’s going to be a milestone in bringing Cass’ character back into full form. And I loved every moment of it. The pacing was still.... ehhh. Could’ve probably benefited more from immediately starting with the flashback explaining Cass’ recovery and reintroducing our ballerina girlfriend, then launching into the present time uninterrupted. Maybe show Cass rescuing the others from their naked Hell, because as far as I can tell that just means we’re going to have another disorganized flashback in the next issue which isn’t making me excited because that should be the finale to all of this.

Yatta yatta. Critical lenses are on, everyone, don’t worry. I’m still the Rena you know.

I just don’t care as much because those things I Love that I mentioned? They where here and they were with my favorite characters. And ALSO???? Tynion planted the seed of the ballerina and Cass living above the studio many issues ago??? And then actually gave us payoff for it??? What is this, a personal letter to me?

Nah, can’t be. No windows were broken in this issue.

I enjoyed myself is what I’m getting at. It’s amazing how I can be really irritated with Detective Comics and then all the sudden it drags me right back in with an issue that gets me just right.

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015- ) #18 Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain

So i’ve dropped some books in my personal Marvel ban, and I will be avoiding anything remotely related to Secret Empire like the plague, and I still encourage other people to do the same. But there are some books, some ideas, some diversity in the Marvel lineup that for me are simply just too important to throw out with the bathwater.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is 1000% a book I want to survive Marvel’s current tirefire.

And since Marvel curiously made it clear that they were going to throw their diversity titles under the bus and blame them for any loss of sales this summer just before knowingly putting out a terribly controversial book, I can’t help but allow my suspicions to rise.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur continues to be the best of the genre and the first book I recommend to kids -- which is something I do quite a lot. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know that I am very active in trying to get new, young readers into comics and have personally given out comics to kids in and out of the country. It’s something that is very important to me, having been raised with comics myself.

So I am very happy to go back on my word for titles like Moon Girl and I’m so glad that a book so inviting and loving is around in the disaster that is the larger comic landscape for the Marvel Universe.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016- ) #21 Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, Laura Martin

Considering how vocally I have been annoyed with the “B story” of this Wonder Woman run thus far, it’s a real relief to finally be able to say, as the storylines converge and we come sadly closer to the end of Rucka’s return to Wonder Woman, finally this slow burn has been worth it. And this moment I chose in particular -- Veronica Cale at long last taking Diana’s hand -- is so built up, is so necessary that it makes everything truly feel like it’s deservedly come full circle.

And Cale’s motivations in Rebirth fit so much better than they did in the Post-Crisis comics, it makes everything about this confrontation and this conclusion worthwhile.

Though there’s still a lot to be fixed in terms of Rucka’s more... tone deaf treatment of earlier racist tropes and so on that have proven to be basically completely unnecessary to this plot. That’s a pretty gross road to end up going down for no reason.

And finally we get to Ares. And maybe it’s the animal lover in me but I’m like “those poor Dobermen, hope they still have a home with Cale after the twin gods’ souls are released.

... Look we all know I’m going to pick Detective Comics for my pick of the week this week because I’m a sheep and it hit everything I wanted from an issue of Detective Comics including giving us more Cass-Ballerina action and having a fanciful callout to Phantom of the Opera that made my heart soar.

But I would, for this week, also like to provide a secondary pick for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur for being not just a fantastic book (which it is) but continuing to provide a bright light at the end of a very, very long and dark tunnel that is the Marvel Universe. It is the Marvel of tomorrow if they could just stop with their bullshit. Which, because it’s Marvel, they probably won’t.

But these are just my thoughts and opinions, I’d love to hear from all of you. What did you think of this week? Any good titles I’m not picking up? I’d love to hear from you

#Rena Roundups #Batman Beyond (2016 )#Deadpool (2015 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015 )#Wonder Woman (2016 )

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