#tech panel interview

[dtupdating]

DREAM did an Interview with MirrorUS!

[justwhisperingfantasies]

Girl At The Rockshow Part 3

Characters: Jensen Ackles (xreader). Aunt Patty (o.c)  Jared Padalecki. Genevieve Padalecki.

Warnings: Language, Fluff,  Talk about losing loved ones. LMK If I forgot any.

Summary: Getting dragged to that live show might have been the best thing that ever happened to you. Now you get to spend the day with Jensen as he shows you around Austin. 

Word count: 6,009 words

A/N: When you get to the question part. Some of his are true (found them via interviews and panels.) some are just for story purposes. I tried to do (insert answer) for reader answers, but it just kept taking me out of the story. Hope ya'll enjoy 💗

Part 1

Part 2

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{} Reader’s P.O.V {}

“I get to drive Baby?!” You said standing there. 

“Yes ma’am,” He said 

“Are you sure? What would Dean say?”  

He chuckled. “ I think he would make an exception for you.” He shook the keys at you. “ You better take them before I change my mind.” You smiled, took the keys, and hopped in. He walked around and got into the passenger seat. 

“So what if I wreck? What if I break her?” He opened his mouth to rebuttal but you cut him off. “ What if I hit a cow and total it?” 

He laughed. “If you see a cow the break is right.” He grabbed your leg and put your foot on the pedal. “There. I think you’re capable of not wrecking and she doesn’t break easy.” You turned the key and Baby hummed to life. “ There’s a bar under the seat to move it up.” He helped you scoot the seat into the right position. “Don’t worry darlin’ you got this.” He slapped your knee for encouragement then wrapped his hand around your thigh. You put the car in reverse and look behind you to make sure you can start backing up. “ Go out the way we came in and turn right on the main road. Who would you rather have as your navigator me or Siri?”

“You, but you have to sing the directions.” He chuckled.  

You made it to the stop sign at the main road turning right when you were clear. You hit the gas pedal a little too hard and the tires squealed for a second. Your cheeks got warm. “Sorry.”

He laughed. “Easy there turbo. I thought you were trying not to break her.” 

“I'm sure I’m not the first to squeal her tires.” 

“Fair enough.” He grinned. “You’re gonna go straight through 4 lights. At the 5th one turn left.”  You gave him a nervous look. “Don’t worry I’ll remind you before you get there.” He turned the radio up and started belting out the lyrics to Back in Black making you smile as you went through the first light. The second one was red as you came up on it. You were more careful with the gas pedal this time as you started to go. You made it to the 3rd light. Red again. 

“Do you intentionally pick the streets with the most red lights on them?”

He chuckled. “Trust me, I feel the same way you do.” Back in Black faded out and The Dance by Garth Brooks starts to play. You turn the volume up a smidge and start singing along. “ You know Garth Brooks?!?” He said shocked. 

“Yes. I like country music too Ackles.”  

He grabbed his chest like he was in pain. “My heart!!’” He smiled. 

You smiled back at him. His thumb started to stroke your leg as you both sang along. The light finally turned green and you started to go.”So Mr. Ackles.” He looked at you with raised eyebrows. “ Why acting?” you said in your best reporter voice. 

“Oh, didn’t know I had an interview today,” He smirked, “ Well, My father is an actor. He played in a few Dallas episodes, and 5 episodes of Walker Texas Ranger, and he did some supporting roles in movies. I used to watch him study the script and help him memorize his lines. I was amazed. How he could flip a switch and just be another person. I did some modeling and commercials when I was young. Got bullied for it so I took a break, and got really into sports. The plan was to go to Texas Tech University and become a physical therapist. Ya know help out my fellow jocks,” he chuckled. “ I loved sports. Still do, but it just wasn’t the same. My real passion was acting. So my sophomore year I decided I didn't care what everyone thought. I took a theater class.” You made it to the 5th light ”Left at this light sweetheart” you got in the turn lane and waited. “After this light straight through 2 lights, over the bridge, then go under the train tracks.”

“2 Lights over water under the train tracks. Got it.  

 He smiled and continued his story. “ After I graduated I moved to L.A to pursue it fully. Started auctioning and landed a couple of guest spots. Then my big break was on Days Of Our Lives.” You looked over at him with wide eyes. He put his hand up “Shush I learned a lot on that set. I did Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek, and Smallville. Got to do a movie with my dad in 2005 right before Supernatural.” He turned back to you “Why Med school?”

The light turned green and you rolled forward as the traffic started to go. “Well, My father was a surgeon so it was determined before I was even born that I was to follow in his footsteps.” You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. You had his undivided attention “I wasn’t all in until one night when I was 14 my dad and I were coming home from a baseball game. There was a bad crash and He didn’t hesitate he rushed in and started triaging people and helping them while I dialed 911. It was amazing. I even got to help out after the operator told me help was on the way. After watching him there wasn’t a doubt in my mind. I wanted to be just like him, a hero, saving people.”

 “ Your pop sounds like quite a guy” 

“ Oh, He was.” The smile left his face. “You should have seen him on the day I got my acceptance letter from Columbia. He was so proud. Same premed program he went through ya know.” You made it through both lights green, you started on the bridge. “ The 3rd week into premed he was killed by a drunk driver.”

“What year was that?” 

“August 23rd, 2005.”

“Yeah, 2 weeks before. So after that, I immersed myself in school. Nothing else mattered” You started under the train tracks

“And now I feel like a complete jackass.”

“Don’t feel that way, hun. You didn't know.” you put your hand on top of his. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers through yours. “ But directions might be nice.”

“Shit sorry, straight 2 lights. Right at the 3rd.” He looked at you 

You could feel his question in the air and the silence was getting overwhelming. “You can ask why I didn't go through with it..” He looked at you with furrowed brows. “ Yea like you weren't thinking it?”

“Maybe. So what happened?” 

You got to the 2nd light before you hit a red light. “ So, I got my bachelor’s degree, passed the MCATS, Got through medical school, and during my internship, I talked my mom into moving to New York. We got closer than ever.” you took a deep breath, “ My second year of residency she got sick and didn’t make it.” The light turned green and you started to go. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. I lost all motivation for medicine and everything that went along with it.”

“I can take over if you wanna pull over.”

“Thank you, but I’m ok,” you said, turning at the 3rd light. He looked over at you with questioning eyes. “Seriously I’m ok.” 

“Watch out for pedestrians up here. Straight through 4 stop signs. Left at the light. Then straight through one light. Right at the second.” He was quiet for a minute. “I'm sorry about your folks, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?”

“Um, no way. This might be the only time I get to drive this car.”

“Not if I can help it.” He winked at you, and you smiled. You made it past the pedestrian stop signs “ What was your mama like?” 

“She was my best friend. After she moved to New York I swear she decreased in age. More like my sister than my mom. She was crazy.” You said with a smile on your face.” you stopped at the first stop sign and went through it. “You’ll probably like this one. One of the biggest Cowboy fans you’d ever meet.”

“Oh yeah?” 

You nodded.  “She always told my dad she was gonna leave him for Troy Aikman.” He chuckled. “ Everyone tells me I look just like her. Their wedding photo is on my lock screen. You handed him your phone as you stopped at the second stop sign then continued. 

“Aw. You do look just like her.” You smiled. “ They are beautiful”

“Thank you.” You smiled at him as you stopped for the third stop sign. He was so cute. Not just in a physical way. He was genuine and such a nice guy. You thought to yourself, You just hoped this wasn’t too good to be true. 

“What?”

“Oh, Nothing.” You said as you went through the intersection. 

He shook his head and chuckled. “So you ever think about going back into medicine?”

Stopping at the 3 cars deep at the 4th stop sign you sighed. “ I don’t know. Mac mentioned it a couple of times. I’m not gonna lie, I have thought about it. It would be nice for my job to mean something to someone, but if I were going to I would become a Physician assistant maybe. To become a surgeon I’d have to finish the resident years, then go through a surgical internship then a lot of testing for board certifications and licensing. I’m too old for all that. If I did I would just want to jump in and do it.” You looked at him as you stopped at the crosswalk. He was smiling at you now. “What?”

“You’re cute when you ramble.”

“Not rambling, thinking out loud,” you said in a mocking tone. He laughed.  You went through the intersection, You made it through the 3 lights green as you both sang along with the music. 

“Don’t hate me. Straight through 7 red lights.” He said wrinkling his face. 

“SEVEN?!” 

“Yes.”

“Oh my freaking gosh. I’m going to die of starvation Jensen.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make a deal and bring you back.” You let out a loud dramatic sign. He chuckled. You made it through 4 lights green. “See that wasn’t so bad.”

“I'm sorry I couldn’t hear you over the growls of my empty ass stomach.” He laughed and slightly threw his head back. You made it to the last light before you got stopped again. 

“Almost there, I promise. Tell me. Who's your favorite country singer of all time?’

“Randy Travis” you didn't even have to think about it. 

“Really?”

“Absolutely. His voice is incredible!”  You said as the light turned green and traffic started to go.”You?”

“Garth Brooks.”

“I see that. I saw him live once with Mac.”

“Oh yeah? Me too, not with Mac thou.”

“I’m sure she’d be interested if you want me to set it up.” He squinted at you “I’m just sayin.” 

He rolled his eyes. “I think you and Padalecki would get along. You both got some dumb jokes.” you chuckled. “Right at the next road and it's the first building on the right. Uh, how are you at parallel parking?” You squinted at him now, turned right, and parked with ease. You turned to him and stuck your tongue with a wrinkled nose. He laughed. 

 “This is Paperboy.” He said with excitement in his voice. “One of my favorite breakfast/ brunch places in Austin.” You turned the car off and got out. He met you at his side of the front of the Impala. He held his arm out. You took his hand and wrapped his arms around your shoulders while wrapping your around his waist. He grinned. The building was cute, a white building with a funky brown lattice. A small patio by the front door and the second floor was an open patio as well. You stopped at the hostess stand and he asked for an upper patio table. “Of course Mr. Ackles.” The hostess grabbed 2 menus. “Will Mr Padalecki be joining you two today?”

“Nope. Just the two of us.”

“Alright, follow me.” Once you got to the stairs he unwrapped his arm and gestured for you to go first. You followed her up the stairs to the patio. She sat you at a shaded table in the back corner. You pick your chair and Jensen sits across from you.  “Patty Sue will be right with you. 

“Thank you,” you both said as you started to look over the menu. 

“So, what looks good?”  You looked up at him up and down raising an eyebrow. He chuckled as his cheeks got slightly pink. “On the menu darlin’.”

“Well, I'm just so hungry everything looks good.”

“Aww you poor little thing.”  He said in a playful tone making you laugh.

“Hello, my name is Patty Sue. Oh Jensen, How are you dear?”

“Hi, Aunt Patty. I’m good. How’s your day going?” 

“Ya know this place is busy as always.” 

“Aunt Patty this is (y/n). She’s new here in Austin and I got the honor of showing her around today.”

“Hey there sugar.” you shook her hand. “What have ya’ll been up to?

“We just got done canoeing at Barton.”

“Aw, how fun, Are you enjoying Austin so far?”

“It has some good attractions.” you winked at Jensen and he smiled his bedazzling smile again. 

“Well. Ya’ll probably worked up an appetite, Wanna start with some drinks?”

“Just sweet tea for me please,” you said 

“Make it two.”

“I’ll be right back guys.”

“Thank you, Aunt Patty,” he said as she turned to walk away. He sat his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hands.”So, what’s next (y/n)?” 

“I don’t know. You said you had a mini round trip planned.” 

He chuckled. “No, for you. Job, car, Boyfriend?” He raised his eyebrow at the last word. And your cheeks got warm. 

“Well remember how I said Mac has mentioned medicine a couple of times?” He nodded. “The first time we talked about it I told her what I told you. About being a P.A. The second time she brought it up she just so happened to run into Erica. Erica and I interned at the same hospital. And can you believe they have an opening in their office?”

“Let me guess for a Physician assistant.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s like your psychic.” He smirked. 

“Here’s your drinks my dears.” Patty said sitting down your teas.” What can I get ya to eat?” Jensen gestured for you to go first. 

“Can I get the steak and egg sandwich with a side of cheesy hashbrowns, please?”

“You sure can honey, Jay you want your usual?”

“Please” 

“Alright, I’ll get that in for ya.”

“Thank you,” you both said again. And you smiled. 

“So, you gonna call Erica about it?” he asked taking a drink.

“Like I said I’ve thought about it and it would be nice to feel like I’m doing something that matters.” you took a drink “Mmm this sweet tea is amazing.”

“Just wait till you have the food.” He smiled. Then he readjusted his hand.” So, I’m not pushing, but I think you should.”

“I know. I just don’t want my mama to feel like I betrayed her. Since ya know medicine failed her.”

“Sweetheart. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting your mama, but I don’t think she would feel betrayed at all.”

“That’s what Mac said.”

“See 2 against 1,” he said and you smiled. “You could give it a try and if your heart is not there try something else.”

“You make some good points, Ackles.”

“I usually do,”  he said in a smartass tone, making you laugh.

“So, What lies ahead for the famous Jensen Ackles, Big movie? Starring in another TV show? Supernatural reboot?” you used your reporter voice again. You grinned and took another drink.

“Stop.” He said smiling. “ I would actually love to do a Supernatural reboot, but I can’t confirm nor deny if I’m ever going to get to. I’m gotta fly to Vancouver here in a couple of days and shoot this episode for Tracker. Should only take a couple of weeks max. Waiting on a call from Kripke about shooting the final season of The Boys. And Countdown should start later this year. We’ll see,”

“How exciting.” again in the reporter's voice. 

“Would you stop?” he grinned. 

“Ok, I’m done.”

“Here we are, guys.” Patty came back carrying your food. “Everything looks good?” You both nod. “Anything else I can get for ya?’

“No, This looks great. Thank you.” Jensen said as he started mixing the egg and steak tips on his plate. 

“No problem Dear. Yell if ya’ll need anything ok?”

“Will do” you said as she walked away. “Well that looks delicious,” you say looking at his plate. He chuckles stabbing a piece of steak with his fork and reaches it over to you. “Mmm,” 

“I am going tomorrow morning to pick up a car from the dealership,” you said after swallowing and picking up your sandwich. 

He swallowed his food. “So what was next?” He smiled his bedazzling smile. Your cheeks got hot and you could feel them turning red. You took a bite of your sandwich pointed to your full mouth and shrugged. He laughed “ Ya gotta swallow eventually.” You cough almost choking as your mind takes his comment in a dirty way. He smiled. “Perv.”  you raised your eyebrows and dropped them with smirking lips. The food was amazing though. You would definitely be coming back here. 

“ More sweet tea?” Patty asked walking over. 

You swallowed your bite. “Yes please.” Jensen nodded with his mouth full. 

“So her question you’ll answer,” he said after swallowing his bite. 

“I’m sorry i just have to get something in my stomach after stopping at all those red lights.” 

He laughed “So dramatic.” You smiled and continued eating. Patty was back in a flash with 2 more teas. As you finish your food you debate in your head about the P.A job and Jensen’s boyfriend question popped up a couple of times. Was he crazy? You haven’t even known each other for 24 hours yet? But it’s not like he was asking to be your boyfriend more like a Are you open to the thought. Were you open to the thought? “Penny for your thoughts darlin’,”

His voice snapped you out of your head. “I’m gonna call Erica about that job tomorrow.”

“Yeah?” He smiled. “ You sure?”

“Yes. I’ll take your advice if I don’t love it, I’ll try something else.”

“Good.”

 You both finished eating and Patty came to clear your plates. “Anything else for you guys?”

“Nope. I am stuffed.”

“No Aunt Patty just the check please,” Jensen said.

“Ackles?” He turned around as soon as he heard his name. 

“Oh my god! It’s Jared Padalecki!!” And let out a squeal. Jensen stood up to hug his friend. “ And Genevieve Padalecki?!” He squealed again. “(y/n) he played Sam Winchest.. oh wait never mind.”

You rolled your eyes. “And I’m the dramatic one?!” You stood up and stuck your hand out. “I’m (y/n)”

Jared laughed and took your hand. “I’m Jared. This is my wife Genevieve.” 

“You can call me Gen.” She said as you shook hands. 

“So… Whatcha ya’ll up to?” Jared asked Jensen with raised eyebrows and a huge grin. 

“ You’ll have to excuse my friend,” Jensen said to you and turned to Jared. “ (y/n) Just moved here. I met her last night at the radio company show. I’m showing her around Austin.

“So, like a date?” Jared asked. Jensen rolled his eyes. 

“Jared quit,” Gen elbowed his stomach. 

“We just finished, but do you guys wanna sit down?” you asked them.

“No, we don’t wanna impose,” Jared said.

“No imposition, Give me the dirt Padalecki.” You said and Jensen glared at you. You raised your eyebrows and shrugged. “What? You said we’d get along.”

“Really?! “ Jared turned to Jensen.

“Yeah, you both tell dumb jokes. I think that is what I said.” Jensen admitted. 

“Are you sure?” Gen asked. 

“Sit down, Genevieve,” Jensen said. You all sat down. Jensen looked at you and raised his eyebrows and licked his lips.” Jared, get this shit. (y/n) has never seen Supernatural.” Your lips went in a hard straight line as you looked at him with a blank stare. He poked the tip of his tongue out at you.

“Are you kidding?’ Jared turned to you. “How have you never seen Supernatural?”

“Oh I don’t know, just not my thing I guess” You took a drink. Jared opened his mouth to say mouth, but stopped when you put your finger up “However, Gilmore Girl though. So good. Dean Forester seems so much better than Dean Winchester.” You smirked at Jensen with a wrinkled nose. Gen and Jared laughed.

“I like her Ackles.” 

Patty brought your check back. “ Well look what the cat drug in.” Jared and Gen got up to hug Patty. “ How are you two? How are the babies?”

“We are all good Aunt Patty,” Jared said as he squeezed her. “Hey. We’re gonna let ya’ll get back to it. See you later Jensen.” Jensen got up and hugged Jared. You got up to shake his hand, but before you knew it you were in his embrace. You squeezed him back. “It was really good to meet you. I hope we see you again.”  

Gen stuck her hand out. “Again sorry about him. It was really nice to meet you though.” She said with a smile. 

“You guys too.” You said with a big grin. They turned and started walking to their table. You sat back down. 

Patty laid your check in the middle of the table “ I better get his food going. We all know how he eats.” Jensen chuckled. “ Ya’ll have fun and (y/n) don’t be a stranger.” you smiled at her. 

 “Your friend is a goober,” you said to Jensen after Patty walked away.

“I’m sorry have you met your friends?” You both laughed, 

You snatched the check folder. Jensen’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. “Uh I think the fuck not!” he put his hand out. You slowly shook your head with a wide grin. He took a deep breath closing his eyes and loudly sighed. He raised his hand then dropped it again palm up. “Now!”

“Or what?” you bit your bottom lip

His eyebrows raised. And he brought his first to his chin resting it on his thumb and closed his eyes. “(y/n)” He said in a deep growl.

“Jensen” You lowered your voice as much as you could. He smiled for a split second then his face was hard again.

He quickly slid to the chair beside you and put his hand on your knee. You manage to keep your composure. “Last chance.” Your heart starts racing as his hand slides up to your mid-thigh. “3.” He tightened his grip. You bit your lip fighting the urge to laugh. “2” he squeezed even harder. He opened his mouth to say 1 but you couldn't hold in the laugh anymore. He releases his grip and then squeezes again.  “Alright, you win,” you said while laughing. He started to squeeze again “Take it.”  He took the folder with his free hand and sat it on the table. He gave you a wide grin and started tickling your leg. You grab his hand and lean towards him, pushing it back into his lap. You swallowed hard when you looked up into his mossy eyes, his lips just inches away from yours. Your heart almost burst out of your chest when his soft, full, perfect lips met yours. The kiss was short and sweet. He ended the kiss and nuzzled your nose with his. You whined. “Public place, there babe.” you nodded and tried to catch your breath. He kissed the tip of your nose as you pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He sat straight up picking up the folder. You lean back in your chair. Your cheeks warmed as you thought about how you’d be kissing him if you weren’t in a public place.

Putting his wallet away he asked, “You ready for that road trip?” His voice snaps you back to reality again.

“Restroom first.” 

“Downstairs by the front doors.” He said.” I gotta make a phone call and say bye to Jared. Meet me at the front door?” he said taking his phone out of his pocket. 

“Sounds good Ackles.” You grabbed your purse, and as you passed behind him you stopped, you felt his muscles tighten as you put your hands on his shoulders and leaned down to his ear.  “Don’t forget to tell him what an awesome driver I am,” you whispered. Walking away you hear him chuckle and then talk into his phone.

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{} Jensen’s P.O.V {}

He couldn’t stop himself from watching her walk away as he finished his call. Damn, what I would do, He shook his head trying to get the naughty images out of his mind. He stood up and slid his phone back into his pocket as he started for the stairs. 

“Oh my god, it’s Jensen Ackles,” Jared said and started fanning himself as Jensen walked up to his table. 

Jensen dropped his jaw. “Where?!” Jared and Gen laughed, 

“So?” Jared asked acting giddy. 

“So?” Jensen repeated. Jared raised his eyebrows. Jensen grinned.“ I’ll call you later.”

“You better.” They bumped fists. “Love you.”

“Love you more,” Jensen said walking away. 

As he walked down the stairs, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He tripped and almost fell. Come on, Jensen. He stopped once he got to the doors and waited for her. He opened the door open for an elderly couple. “Thank you, young man.” The older woman said to him.

“Not a problem ma’am,” he told her as she walked through. He looked over and there she was. Watching him with the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. After the couple passed through he gestured for her to come through. “My Lady.”

“Good sir,” She said as she walked through. She pulled the keys out of her pocket and held them out for him. He opened her car door and shut it after she got in. Walking around to the driver's side he smirked as he noticed her scoot more toward the middle. Her cheeks pinkened as she realized she was caught. So freaking cute he thought. 

He got in and started up the Impala. “Here, connect to this thing.” He disconnected the Bluetooth adapter from his phone. “I want to hear this epic playlist you were telling me about.”

She smirked, “I don’t know if I’d use the word epic, but it’s got some good tunes.” She said pulling her phone out. He watched her. Darlin’ everything about you is epic he thought to himself. 

“Yeah Yeah. Play me some music, cowgirl.” She laughed as Friends in Low Places started to play, He wrapped his arm around her. He watched from the corner of his eye as she snuggled up to him and started to sing. Oh sweetheart what are you doing to me? 

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{} Reader's P.O.V {}

He started singing along as he pulled out. “Jensen, I have a question. “

“Shoot.”

“Can you this one time please.” a puzzled expression came over his face “ Not take the route with the most red lights and stop signs?” 

“I’ll think about it.” He laughed as he turned onto I-35

You made it through about 30 minutes of halfway driving before you had to do something.. “Alright Ackles, you got courage for a round of 21 questions?” You asked raising your eyebrows. 

He chuckled. “ I think I’m up for it” 

 “Ok let's start easy. Favorite color?  

“Blue. Favorite season?” He asked

“Fall. Favorite Movie?”  

“Saving Private Ryan. What's your favorite color?” 

“Pretty Sure there's a rule against repeats.” 

With a smile, he says“Oh I didn’t realize we are in a championship match where the rules matter.”  

You rolled your eyes. “Smartass.”  

“You know it kettle.” he chuckled. 

 You smiled.  “It's Teal or blue. Favorite holiday?”

“Christmas. You get one superpower. What is it?” 

You thought for a second. “ can I pick 2?”

“You get 1.” He smiled. 

You sighed. “Fine. Probably the ability to fly. 

“What was the other one?”

“Invisibility.” He raised his eyebrows. “Oh come, how fun would that be. I would just fuck with people all day.”

He laughed “Of course you would.” 

 “Who was your favorite character to play.” He opened his mouth “Besides Dean.”  

“Hmm,” he thought. “Ben. Soldier boy from the boys. He was really fun. First celebrity crush?”

 “Tom Cruise. Favorite horror movie.”  

He thought for a second. “ The Shining. Dream vacation?

“Uh. Either Italy or Bora Bora.” He smiled. “First concert?”  

“Michael Jackson 1984. Do you believe in ghosts?”

“Sometimes yes, sometimes no.” You shrugged. “ Favorite Food?  

“Steak.” He thought for a second. “The best gift you've ever been given?” 

“My locket.” 

“Go on ” 

“ Mac gave it to me a couple of Christmases ago. It has a picture of my mom on one side and my dad on the other.” He looked at your neck. “ Favorite radio company song to sing?” 

“City grown Willow. What's your favorite radio company song?” 

You smirked. “City grown Willow or Let Me Be.”

He smiled. “ I gotta know why.”

 “City grown willow, the lyrics and melody with your voice is mwah.” You gestured a Chef kiss. He chuckled..” Let Me Be, because of the fun you had last night while singing it.” 

“So you were watching me?” He said in a hitch-pitched voice. 

“Kinda hard not to you.” He smiled and his cheeks turned pink. 

 “Favorite music genre?” 

“Country. Favorite TV show?

 “Friends. If you could look into a crystal ball and see everything about your future,  would you do it?

He thought for a second. “I don’t think I would.’

“Interesting.”

“Ok Freud” You giggled. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Nope. I'm an only child.”

He smiled. “That makes sense.”

“Excuse me?”

“Calm down.” He chuckled. “Only children tend to be more independent.”

“Oh. I thought we were going to the spoiled brat route.”

“Eh, not yet.” He joked. 

You laughed, “What's the first thing you notice about me?”

“ You're hair. It looked really soft and I wanted to touch it. You?”

 “Of course, I'm gonna say you're eyes. Have you seen them suckers?” He laughed. “ When did you have your first kiss?”

He sighed. “Preschool.” 

“Oh, so you started young huh?”

He laughed and then his face went serious.  “Are you looking for a relationship?” 

“Really Jensen?” 

“I'm just playing the game sweetheart.” He grinned slowing down on the exit onto I-35 Frontage Rd.

“Maybe.” You raised an eyebrow at him. 

“A maybe Isn't a no.”

 “Birthday?” you asked. 

“March 1st.  Favorite subject in school?”

“Science. Yours?”

“Look who's reusing questions now.” He chuckled. “Algebra. Favorite food?”

“Loaded nachos. Craziest place you've had sex?” 

He cleared his throat. “Spicing things up are we?” 

“I'm just playin' the game sweetheart”

He chuckled “Bar bathroom.” He slowed down for the red light ahead. When the light turned green he turned right onto Wonder World Dr. “ And no it wasn't a random hook-up.” 

“I wasn't judging.”

“Sure.” He smiled. “ you?” 

“Playground” He looked at you with raised eyebrows. “It was after dark, Nobody else was there.”

You turned to him. “ Have you ever cheated?”

He sighed. “Once. I was 19. I was young and stupid. It hasn’t happened since and It never will again.” At least he was honest and it did seem like he was remorseful. 

He looked at you. “Dealbreaker?” 

You thought for a second. “Not necessarily.” you cleared your throat “Everyone has done things they aren’t proud of. The thing that matters is you learn from them.” 

“Ok, Freud.” you smiled, “ Trust me I did.” 

You two stayed silent as Turn The Page faded and  Sounds Of Someday started to play “Oh my god, this band is so good.” Jensen chuckled. 

“I saw them live last night, They’re ok.” You said as you shrugged your shoulders. He threw his head back and laughed. 

“Is there ever gonna come a day where you don’t give me shit?” he asked.

“Eh, probably not,” you confessed. He laughed again. “What number are we on?”

“16 I think and I do believe it’s my turn.” you gestured with your hand for him to go. “It’s the zombie apocalypse is here. You get 3 people for your team. Who is it?”

You chuckled. “ Well, I have heard about these 2 brothers that are really good with that stuff.” He chuckled. “ Oh, Rambo. He’d fuck some shit up.”

“Is that your 3?” He asked slowing down for another red light. 

“Yeah, I think so. Worse case I have some eye candy before I die.” He rolled his eyes and smiled. 

“So, 17 would you rather be 15 minutes late or 1 hour early?”

“Definitely early. I hate being late.” He shook his head. “When was your first kiss?” 

“About an hour ago. ”You burst out laughing as he looked at you in shock with wide eyes. “I'm just kidding. 4th grade.”

“Not funny.” He declared as he started to go after the light finally turned green. He went straight onto route 12.

“I’d have to disagree”

“So. Mr. Ackles, He looked at you. “Are you looking for a relationship?” you raised your eyebrows. 

“I wasn’t, but ya never know.” He winked at you making you grin.  

“Biggest turn-off?” He asked. 

“Rudeness.. I can not stand rude people.” With an approving expression, he nodded You sighed loudly. as he slowed for another red light making him laugh.

“This is like the third red light, diva.” He joked.

“Of this drive, The 136th one of the day though.”  Your rebuttal made him laugh  “Have you ever sent nudes?” 

He chuckled nervously  “Yes. You?”

“Yes.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Interesting…”  you scrunched your lips as your cheeks turned pink. He smiled 

“Who would you haunt if you were a ghost?”

“Either Jared or Misha. Yeah, I see your point that would be fun.” he chuckled as he slowed down for the red light. Your cheeks got hot as he kissed your cheek. “Almost there darlin’.” he turned left onto County Line Rd 1492 ‘ What smell do you hate that doesn’t seem to bother other people?” 

“Patchouli.” you scrunched your nose. “I can’t stand that smell.” he chuckled. 

“Now, don’t take this the wrong way, Ackles.” 

“Um ok?”

“I’m not asking, never mind. I’ll ask something else.”.

He smiled. “Just ask the question.” He said turning left onto Winn Valley Dr. 

“Fine. Would you ever get married again?”  His face went blank. “See it’s weird we can move on.” 

“Honestly. It depends.” he said as he drove through the open-ended cul-de-sac.“I’m not opposed to it, but I couldn’t just going to jump into it. There would be a lot of thought put into it.” He looked at you. “Does that make any sense?” he nervously chuckled. 

“Yes.” You look over to see a sign. “Ranch Madrone?” You knitted your brows at him.

“You’ll see.” He continued down the road. “Last question. How are you with heights?” 

You looked at him with a puzzled look. “Really? That's your last question?” He pointed to a say sign that read Wimberley Zipline Adventures. Your heart started pounding “We are zip-lining now?!”

“You up for it cowgirl?” He said with a grin

“Oh hell yeah!!.”

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

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[longwuzhere]

Here are some cool Easter eggs that I found the newest My Adventures with Superman episode, “Let’s Go to Ivo Tower, You Say”. Links to the easter eggs post:

Episode 1 is here

Episode 2 is here

Episode 3 is here

Episode 5 is here

Episode 6 is here

Episode 7 is here and here

Episode 8 is here

Episode 9 is here

Episode 10 is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

SPOILERS if you have not seen the episode of course:

Perry assigns our intern trio to go get interviews about Anthony Ivo. I previously mentioned Ivo's deal in the comics in this post, but we'll talk more about this version of Ivo later.

Shout out to Lois' hanbok! As a kid in the 90s my first exposure to the DC was through the DC Animated Universe. Because of the way some of the characters like Lois, Clark, Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Terry, were designed, as a kid, I thought they were Asian. Very cool to see this version of Lois be Korean.

Before Lois shows up for their black tie event at Ivo Tower, Jimmy knocks down a stack of papers and magazine and Clark goes to pick it up and stumbles upon the Metropolis Star with a cover that shows him as a kid flying 15 years ago.

The Metropolis star is a rival newspaper to the Daily Planet in the comics. The publisher makes its first appearance in Superman #9 (1987) (W&P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tony Ziuko, L: John Costanza).

When our intern trio makes it to Ivo Tower, Lois spots some very interesting powerful and political figures of Metropolis, the CEO of Galaxy Communications and Mayor Fleming.

Galaxy Communications makes its first appearance in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (1970) where it was headed by Morgan Edge, the then leader of Intergang. In the comics Clark and Lois does work for Galaxy communications thanks to it buying out the Daily Planet forcing Clark to be the evening news anchor. The Galaxy Communications panels here are from Swamp Thing #68 (1988) (W&P: Rick Veitch, I: Alfredo Alcala, C: Tajana Wood, L: John Costanza).

Mayor Fleming makes her first appearance in Action Comics #894 (2010) (W: Nick Spencer, P: R.B. Silva, I: Denis Freitas, C: Dave McCaig, L: Rob Leigh) where she appoints Jimmy Olsen and Sebastien Mallory as a welcoming committee for Dalwythians aliens. Like her MAwS counterpart she is obviously the Mayor of Metropolis.

Later, Lois goes and questions Senator Sackett at the party/event.

In the comics Sackett was a councilman not a senator who makes his first appearance in Superman #130 (1997) (W: Dan Jurgens, P: Norm Breyfogle, I: Joe Rubenstein, C: Glenn Whitmore and Digital Chameleon, L: John Costanza) depicted here in the issue's panel wearing a Superman costume. Sackett in the comics is in Luthor's pocket.

I am like 99.99% sure this is Lex Luthor like who else in Metropolis is named Alex, has red hair (if this is Lex Luthor and he shows up again, I'll talk about him and what I mean by this in another post.), and works in the science and tech field.

We finally meet Ivo and he is as I was hoping he'd be a major techbro tool. The way he acts in his introduction and his meeting with Clark is very much like Lex and Clark's meeting in Batman v Superman. Both Ivo and Lex upon meeting Clark know how strong he is. In MAwS Ivo punches his chest and it hurts him and in BvS you heard an audible thud when Lex knocks on Clark's chest. Very similar vibes between both scenes.

Clark confronts Ivo about one of his deals and name drops one of Metropolis' mob families.

Bobby Gazzo, head of the Gazzo crime family in Metropolis, makes his first appearance in Batman: Dark Victory #1 (W: Jeph Loeb, P&I: Tim Sale, C: Gregory Wright and Heroic Age, L: Richard Starkings). Fantastic sequel to Long Halloween, highly recommend reading both books.

After Clark gets thrown out and Lois offers to repair his jacket, we see Lois mentioning her dad, Sam Lane a military general and if the person at the end of the second part of the first episode is Sam Lane...

...and he shows up again in the show I'll talk more about it in another post. For now this is all just speculation.

Might be reading into this but maybe a subtle nod to how the words "Superman" and "pal" are often used together. Both have been used as a comic book title, "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" as I've mentioned in these posts a few times.

The show here did a very clever thing with Ivo. Normally any other media pertaining to Ivo would give the audience his power and weakness stealing robot Amazo, but here the MAwS team was able to combine both Ivo and another villain in Superman's rogues gallery, Parasite.

The first Parasite, Raymond Jensen, makes his first appearance in Action Comics #340 (1966) (Cover Art by Curt Swan, George Klein, and Ira Schnapp). All iterations of Parasite have the ability to temporarily steal away anyone's energy, strength, and their knowledge. As I've said there have been other Parasites that Superman fought, the second and most recurring Parasite is Rudy Jones, the Parasite I'm more familiar with, who makes his first appearance in Firestorm #58 (1987).

Cover Art by Joe Brozowski, Bruce Peterson, and Tom Ziuko Alex and Alexandra Allston the third and fourth Parasite (green Parasite and purple Parasite respectively) first appeared in the Adventures of Superman #633 (2004).

Cover art by Gene Ha and Art Lyon

The latest Parasite, Joshua Allen, makes his first appearance in Superman #23.4 (2013).

Cover art by Aaron Kuder and Dan Brown So yeah there are similarities between the Amazo robot and Parasite and it was smart of the MAwS team to just combine Ivo with Parasite to avoid redundancies. Besides the Amazo robot is more of a Justice League villain anyways.

Near the end of the episode, after the Parasite suit wrecks Ivo's body, he begins to look more like his recent iterations in the comics now. The panel here is from Justice League of America #4 (2013) (W: Geoff Johns, P: Brett Booth, I: Norm Rapmund, C: Andrew Dalhouse, L: Rob Leigh). Hope you all had a wonderful time checking this post out. Like I said at the beginning my other MAwS easter egg posts are:

Episode 1 is here

Episode 2 is here

Episode 3 is here

Episode 5 is here

Episode 6 is here

Episode 7 is here and here

Episode 8 is here

Episode 9 is here

Episode 10 is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[miniwhisk]

Universal Distress Signal

If Peter was going to keep Rose safe, she had to forget him. He made her promise to leave him behind, to go live her life and try to heal from all of their hurt, to stop running. And she did, standing completely still and holding his watery gaze through Catherines window as he was driven away from the hotel - to where, he didn’t know. 

She promised him that she would forget him.

He never said anything about forgetting her. 

——————————————————————————————————

“Ad Verse is a company that I, along with my esteemed colleagues, have worked tirelessly to build with the highest possible level of transparency and accountability - our privacy is extremely valuable in today’s day and age, but we can work with stakeholders rather than against them to reframe the business-consumer relationship to one built on mutual trust and understanding.”

Peter’s coffee was getting cold. He told himself he liked it better that way, that since he had gotten used to the hardships of field work he was above everyday luxuries like a hot drink. The truth was, he missed the little things like that- waking up with the sunrise, long walks around the Washington Mall - or did he really just miss the person he remembered, that he dreamed, of enjoying those things with?

After glancing at the door as its bell rang, he let his eyes go back to the tv in the corner of the cafe where news coverage of SXSW was playing at a barely audible volume. Thankfully, the captions were on, so he could keep track of what was happening without appearing too interested. A recap of the Women in Tech panel was just ending, and he wasn’t going to miss a single second of her.

She looked good, he thought. More than good. She’d cut her hair into a choppy bob, framing her eyes and giving her an air of sophistication that he’d never gotten to see her with before. She wore a green blazer over dark jeans, her legs crossed and to the side as she leaned toward the interviewer. And those boots. Those stupid ankle boots.

“So, Ms. Campbell, are there any people who helped you along your road to success?”

Peter bristled at the insinuation that Rose needed anyone’s help - she was brilliant, strong, resilient. She didn’t need anyone anymore. Including him.

Rose smiled shyly. “My aunt and uncle, before they passed, made me believe that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. My first computer science professor, Dr. Lang, encouraged me to stick with it when I felt like a total fish out of water.”

She paused for a moment.

“And my friends. They looked out for me, were there for me when things got tough. I want them to know that I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” 

She looked away from the interviewer and into the camera then, and Peter gave himself one small luxury - the delusion that she was somehow, someway, looking at him. God, if all he ever got to do was look at her one more time…

“Thank you so much, Rose! We know you have a busy schedule and rarely get to be the face of all your hard work, and we appreciate you being here! Best of luck to you and the rest of the AdVerse team!”

Rose stood then, shaking the interviewer’s hand and looked out to the applauding audience. She waved as she walked to exit, but turned her body at the last second back towards center stage. 

Peter watched on as she zeroed in on the camera, waved once more, then held her hand still, palm outstretched, before folding her fingers down over her thumb. She waited only a moment more, then turned quickly on her heel and exited the stage, out of view.

He must be seeing things. After 48 hours with no sleep, he couldn’t trust his own senses to know whether or not that had really happened, if that meant what he thought it meant. But no, they had talked about it when they went to Sloane’s suite all those months ago, trying to get to Markus before it was too late.

The universal distress signal. 

Peter was frozen, but his mind was going a mile a minute. How could he get to her without putting her back on Monroe’s radar? He had just started to climb the ranks and build trust, if you could even call it that. Why was she in danger? Where was she now?

Then everything stopped. In a moment of clarity, all Peter could think, could feel, was that Rose needed him. He had to find her, to help her, and to get her out of whatever situation she was in. 

He had done bad things to save her before. He would do much worse if he was too late. 

The bell on the door cracked against the wall as it swung out of his way. 

[captaincapsicle83]

The Stark Internship

The Avenger Series - Part One

Masterlist

"Yes he should be-" The nice blonde lady said, possibly the same one you spoke to on the phone. Her voice sounded familiar. She had told you when to arrive, 10:30 am.

Arrive where? The Stark Tower, house of Stark Enterprises. A prestigious company ran by the man who had become the youngest CEO to take hold of a company, after his father's death when he was around 20 years old.

The nice blonde lady was taking you up the glass elevator, and through it, you got a view of the city. In all its trashy reality, you found it quite beautiful. Of course, thats coming from someone raised in a farmhouse on the outskirts of a small Canadian town.

Well, not really raised. That wasn't the right word the way you spent your childhood. No, it was the house you lived in when you weren't in a boarding school, when you weren't at an awards ceremony, and when you weren't being interviewed for being a "Child Prodigy."

The elevator opened up to a pristinely kept floor, the tunes of ACDC blasting through your eardrums. You thought the traffic on the street was loud, yet this was like thunder clapping in your head.

"Hold on, Sweetie," The blonde woman touched your arm, her voice kind. It's turns shrill and seems to be full of anger as she screams, "TONY!"

Your hands go up to your ears at the blindsiding change of energy. You drop them just as quickly, shaking them as you follow the woman, and her clicking heals.

"So, you go to MIT?" She asks you, voice kind again. You had been so distracted when she told you her name, all you could come up with were states. It was definitely a state, but which one...

Maryland?

"Uhm...yeah. I- I got a letter, and a scholarship to go there. And uh... My guidance counselor wanted to set me up for an internship at a tech company," You were explaining, and she seemed genuinely interested as the two of you walked through what seemed to be the towers lab-area floor. "I...I got a lot of offers, but uh...I picked this one. It seemed..."

You voice trailed off ad you walked through automatic doors, that opened up to a room filled with things you'd dreamed of, and seen in magazines and on TV. It was a tech geeks wet dream, and you were guilty of the stereotype.

"Different," you finished your sentence, barely audible.

You were mostly focused on mechanical engineering. You planned to double major in something after those four years were up (you were two years in). You hadn't picked what yet.

You had started at MIT at 16 (technically 15, you had a late birthday). Although, you had graduated from secondary school officially at 13.

You had wanted to go to a real college, in person, not just online like your mother wanted. You wanted the experience.

You wanted to be in the world.

Also, you ran track for MITs team. Just for fun. And for the record, you were good.

The music on this floor seemed to originate, and be the loudest, in this room.

"TONY!" You regrettably flinch again at the unexpected snap of noise.

The man working at a silver table seemed unbothered, although you got the notion he heard her.

Half of Manhattan heard her.

You could now see the clutter of the lab. The tools scattered hazardously over all the surfaces. Projects, both finished and seemingly discarded ones, lay everywhere, in their own heaps.

The woman clicks a button on the wall, and the music dies away. Not looking up from the panel he was working on, the brown haired man says, "Don't turn down my music. We've been over this."

"Well, Tony, your intern is here, and I'm not just gonna leave her on your doorstep like a lost puppy," The blonde lady's eyes roll, and her tone makes you understand that, whoever she is, she's probably the most reasonable, sensible person around here.

Tony abandons his project to spin around in his stool to face you.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, why didn't you alert me that my intern was here?" He looks up at the ceiling, as if expecting Jesus to answer.

And he does.

"Sorry sir, but, you've threatened me many times that you don't like me speaking over your music."

Oh no. Oh God. Jesus is here, in the ceiling, and he's British. You always knew stealing candy from that blind priest would catch up to you.

"Then turn the music off."

"The music is off, sir."

"Are you serio-!?"

"Sir, your intern is here."

Tony gives the ceiling a nasty look, scoffing, before clapping his hands and turning his attention towards you.

"Jesus is British?" You ask, getting all your priorities straight out of the gate.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. It's Just A Rather Very Intelligent System," Tony smirks, looking pleased with himself.

You blink. You wonder why you have to think about blinking so often. "It's an acronym."

"Oh goodie. Thank you Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome."

Tony sighs for a good ten seconds, pinching the bridge of his nose, before gathering himself. "Take a seat, Mr. Starks class is starting."

You looked around the lab. Among the clutter, and among the hazards, you came to the conclusion that the only seat was the one Stark was sitting at, a poor excuse of a stool.

"There aren't any," You say, in an even tone. Tony was perplexed, how you had done basically nothing, yet stepped on every nerve he had.

"Then...lesson one! Build a chair," He said gleefully.

"I didn't sign up for a woodworking class," you cross your arms, and the smug smile drops from his face. The first emotion you expressed besides indifference, and it just had to be snarky.

You just had to be like him.

You earned a seat at the table. Minor correction- on the table. You pushed aside a very expensive looking piece of equipment, and it clattered to the floor.

You hopped up onto the surface, and smiled at his blank face.

"What the hell?" You shrug, and he waves it off, turning back to his work. "How old are you."

"Eighteen...next month," you say, picking at your fingertips, but also watching his project closely. He seemed to work on autopilot, like he didn't have to think at all.

"Hmm," He says, nodding, with a smile on his face. You got the notion he liked you. You annoyed him, you confused him, yet he liked you. "Go to any cool parties recently?"

He was getting you something to work on. He had a basic blueprint, a holographic sketch, that you were admiring as he gathered your tools.

"I've never been to a party," you say. You take the titanium alloy, and lay it out in front of you as you grab a tape measure. You spread it over Tony's chest, and he spreads his arms out for you as you do so.

You could've been a tailor, you thought. Move to Romania, or Sokovia, live in a quaint little shop. Nonetheless, measurements were elementary to you, as were most things. Like astrophysics or quantum science.

"Well, what do you and your geek burger friends do then," He pops a cherry twizzler in his mouth and you turn back to your titanium. He watches you hesitate. Watches you fumble on where to set the tape measure, before you speak again.

"You should make it red and gold, can we do that? Like Captain America was red, white, and blue. It's about the marketing process of things. The capitalism in it," you say, clearly interested in the propaganda of things. You pull up old Captain America adds from the forties on your clear pop up screen.

Tony analyzed you for a bit, long enough for you to turn your head since you were clearly expecting an answer. "Yeah," He nodded. "Red and gold works. Whatever floats your boat Miss America."

You smiled warmly, it lighting up your whole face. You had moved onto the repulser technology Tony had planned.

People weren't easy. They weren't predictable like other things in the world. You couldn't use stoichiometry to figure out what would happen when you started a conversation with someone.

And Tony Stark may not have been predictable either, in fact he was the opposite. He was impulsive, if nothing else. But you liked talking to him. It felt...

It felt like what having a friend felt like. What you remember it feeling like.

And Tony seemed to like you too, and although you couldn't fathom as to why, you accepted it.

Embraced it, actually. His dialect and diction rubbed off on you.

☆ ☆ ☆

"I don't think it's the best idea," you were saying. Tony stood in front of you, dressed in the titanium alloy suit you had helped create. One of many, someday hoped to be millions.

"I do, you trust me, don't you?" His little metal helmet tilted to the side. The tone of voice he was using was the one you recognized as how he got Pepper to do things he wanted. Pepper being the blonde woman who had first greeted you.

"Do you trust me?" You asked back. In your left hand was a repulsor, ready to beam a bright light.

"A suit of armor around the world," Tony had said. "That's what I want. To just...make everything..."

"Controlled?"

"Protected, y/n. When horrible things come, not only would we be able to stop it, but they'd be protected in the end."

"We?"

"Yes, we. I trust you. With my life. More than anyone. You're the smartest person I know, and you know better than anyone how to work these kinds of things."

"You're the hero. I'm just...I'm not sure I'd be so good at that."

"You don't need to be so scared."

"Im not scared. But I'm also not a hero."

" You can be."

So here you stood, armed for target practice. And for whatever bright idea he seemed to always have, Tony's newest was making himself the target.

"Of course. With my life," He makes a motion of crossing his heart, making you laugh a little. "Okay Wonder Kid. Ready, set-"

You shoot from your hand before the go comes, knocking Tony to the side, and a hole in the back wall of his mansion.

"Oops," you say sheepishly. Tony is laughing inside his suit, you can tell, and Pepper suddenly comes out onto the lawn.

"What is going-! Tony, what is this?" She looks at him, as he steps out of the suit, and towards you.

"Target practice," you shrugged, as Tony was adjusting the repulsor loosely strapped to your hand.

"Isn't she doing great?" Tony cooed at you, as if you were a small dog learning tricks.

"NO!" Pepper gasped.

"I told I didn't think it was a good idea using one of these outside of a suit," you say. The two of you were barely holding it together over Pepper's distraught state.

"Then why'd you do it?" He says in a mocking tone, obviously knowing why.

"'Cause I trust you...Clearly a horrible decision."

"Yeah, my wall thinks so."

☆☆☆

You had a room in the tower. It was empty, mostly, but not as bare as when you had gotten here. You took a lot of pictures, that Tony allowed (did not have the knowledge of) you to print on the tenth floor. You hung them up on your walls, and on your bedframe. It made the place less lonely.

It was dark out, and you were sitting on your bed, one leg hanging off. The overhead light was off, but your small bedside lamp illuminated your writing space.

It was an idea you had when you were young. To keep notes on the people you met. Things you wanted to remember about them, their personalities, who they were. It helped your brain, to organize things better.

You were sure most people kept lists like these on a subconscious level. And maybe one day you wouldn't feel the need to write that Tony Stark was genuis or a billionaire. Or that he was your friend.

But you liked the safety net. You liked knowing that it was something you could turn to. Something you could reread, something that ensured you would never forget.

Next part

[thunderstomm]

Hot Wheels City News Presents: An EXCLUSIVE Interview Panel! (HWLR Future AU: Q&A)

“Hey there, Hot Wheels Fans, and welcome to today’s big broadcast! We have not one, not five, but seven guests joining us today! You may recognise some of these guests from the Ultimate Garage Camp & Tournaments hosted 8 years ago, or from more recent endeavours, from making grand debuts to the pro racing scene, saving the city from mass destruction on multiple accounts, or the latest technological innovations in Hot Wheels technology! Without further ado, here are today’s panelists!”

“Spark Turner- The founder of SparkPlug Tech, and the next big name in innovation, from cars, to defensive technology, and everything in-between!”

“Mac Caliper- Hot Wheels City’s most popular stunt driver, whose record-breaking feats are yet to be beat!”

“Brights Hikari- The Hot Wheels 500’s latest track designer, a professional photographer, and a visual designer for all things Hot Wheels- what can’t she do?”

“Sidecar Cotter- Hot Wheels City News’ very own, our latest addition to our commentary and journalism teams, and a hit with racing fans everywhere!”

“Axle Spoiler- Hot Wheels 500 racer, and the son of retired pro racer Striker Spoiler. Currently leading in the popularity polls across the city!”

“Coop Feng- Current Hot Wheels 500 champion racer, and the youngest winner to date!”

“Cruise Rearview- Hot Wheels 500 racer, making it all the way to the finals last season! [And the daughter of Hot Wheels City’s resident supervillain!]”

“Today, all seven of our guests will be answering your biggest questions on our panel! If you want to submit your questions, find out how you can here! Thanks for tuning in!”

Questions can be submitted via the ask box- please specify that they are for this event, and who the question/s are for! You are free to ask multiple questions, whether they are in the same ask, or separate asks. Questions can be sent for one specific character, multiple specific characters, or for the entire group present.

This event is being written as an in-universe professional interview panel, so not all questions will be answered in the full truth. However, if this is the case, I will try to include clarification and further information either under a ‘read more’ or in the tags. Some parts of the AU have been left intentionally vague, as the series proper has not ended yet. If questions regarding these aspects are asked, the answers either won’t be given, or will be incredibly vague.

If you’re not sure if your question has already been answered in a previous post, check out the #hwlr future au tag on my blog!

Thank-You in advance to all who send questions!

[mariacallous]

Zechariah Mehler wanted to see the swastika for himself.

It was September, and Milwaukee was abuzz over a mural that had gone up on the side of a commercial building in the city’s sixth district. Painted on slabs of vinyl affixed to the brick, the mural — a large rectangle about the size of the building’s ground floor — featured a background that appeared to depict mass graves, weeping mothers, drones and other scenes of carnage in Gaza.

At the center: a Jewish star with a swastika inside it, along with the words, “The irony of becoming what you once hated.”

The city council had passed a resolution condemning the mural, and local Jewish leaders had called to remove it. But the building’s owner, a Palestinian real estate businessman named Ihsan Atta, said he was making a principled stand against Israel’s war in Gaza. When a local mother splashed black paint on the mural and confronted him on camera, yelling, “What are you promoting for our kids to see?” Atta yelled back and had it repainted by the next day.

Any doubts that Mehler had about whether the mural was antisemitic were erased when he visited the site and, he said, saw anti-Zionist protesters harassing Orthodox Jewish teenagers.

“You had the Free Palestine group just screaming at these kids, you know, ‘baby murderers and Zionist pigs,’” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It was aggressive, it was intimidating.”

So Mehler — a 42-year-old dreadlocked former tech worker known as “Zee” who used to work as a kosher caterer and run a blog about kosher food — said he decided to take matters into his own hands.

On the night of Sept. 14, he recruited his 74-year-old father Peter, a retired rabbi who is in poor health, to accompany him to the site of the mural. They brought an ax, a sledgehammer and a pry bar and went to work. Moving quickly, the two struck the mural and pulled the vinyl plates off the wall, in full view of Atta’s security cameras. Zechariah turned to one and flipped it off: “Double middle fingers,” the police report would later read.

The pair were derailed — and the incident nearly veered into violence — when a bystander who supported the mural tried to intervene. So Zechariah Mehler returned the following day to finish the job, prying the remaining panels from the wall.

Two weeks later, shortly before Rosh Hashanah, police came to his home. He and his father were arrested and charged with criminal damage to property, which in Wisconsin carries up to nine months of jail time.

Mehler says he knows that what he and his father did was illegal — in fact, he expected to get caught. But he’s convinced they did the morally correct thing, the only option that didn’t require them to ignore or shrink from a threat.

“It is certainly destruction of private property,” he said in an interview. “The question becomes whether or not [the mural] posed a tangible threat to the Jewish community. That’s our argument.”

Peter Mehler says that he, too, has no regrets. He lives with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its own nerves.

“The last 10 years, I’ve been a shut-in, basically,” he said. “But this was an opportunity for me to have a last chance to be active about this message. We cannot allow Jews to be converted into Nazis.”

Now, the Mehlers are hoping to make their case in court. A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday, though it’s unclear how the case will progress. At a previous court appearance, Zechariah Mehler called Atta profane names and, he said, tried to take a selfie with the mural’s owner to post on social media. Since then, a new district attorney has been sworn in to prosecute cases in Milwaukee, and he hasn’t yet commented publicly on this one.

The case has become a major flashpoint in Milwaukee, where Golda Meir grew up and first became active in the Labor Zionist movement, and where some vocal pro-Palestinian activists have brought a level of hostility to local affairs never before seen by the city’s Jewish community.

Over the summer, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, whose main campus library is named after Meir, enraged some local Jewish groups by making a deal with his campus’ pro-Palestinian encampment; he wound up apologizing. A progressive Jewish member of Milwaukee’s city council, who’d co-signed a joint resolution condemning the mural, recently died by suicide, an act some of his friends say was motivated by anti-Zionist bullying.

The Mehlers’ case is also capturing attention beyond the city, where the question of how to respond to anti-Israel displays has flummoxed and sometimes divided Jews.

The leader of a group called Betar US, which advocates for Jews to be more forceful, even physical, in confronting the threats they see, invited the father and son to represent the organization in Milwaukee. The group also helped raise nearly $20,000 toward their legal fees.

Betar US is a reboot of a century-old paramilitary group originally founded by early 20th-century Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Betar members have been involved in several altercations with pro-Palestinian demonstrators over the last year, and it has even gone after other Jews at times. The group is also collecting information about international students who participate in U.S. pro-Palestinian protests in an effort to get the students deported.

“My politics and Betar’s politics are very different. I’m not a right-wing guy,” Zechariah Mehler said. But he said the group’s president, the Jewish public relations executive Ronn Torossian, assured him, “This is more about, do you believe that Israel has a right to exist, that Jews have a right to live in peace?” Of utmost importance, he said, was that Jews should stop “just being meek and allowing ourselves to be threatened and walked over. So I said, sure.”

Torossian has called the Mehlers “heroes.” He said in an interview that their actions perfectly fit the nonprofit’s vision of seeing Jews publicly fighting back against perceived threats to themselves or Israel.

“The Mehler family is a big reason why we restarted Betar,” said Torossian, who said he grew up in earlier iterations of the movement. “It’s a shame that this man has to stand up and act alone. It’s a shame that this man is facing a criminal trial and the entire Jewish community is silent. That won’t continue. I can assure you, we’re going to get him more support.”

It does not appear that any of the support will come from local Jewish institutions and organizations, whom Zechariah Mehler derided as “deer in headlights” when it comes to the problems presented by anti-Israel activism.

A representative for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council reiterated the federation’s denunciation of the mural as “antisemitic for many reasons,” including that it promotes Holocaust denial and dehumanizes survivors and victims of the Holocaust. But the groups declined to comment further on the Mehlers’ case or on the mural’s actual removal.

The groups have in the past discouraged Jewish vigilantism: In May, amid intense activity at the UWM encampment, the JCRC advised local Jews not to counter-protest, saying that it could escalate a risky situation.

When the Mehlers sought to purchase an advertisement in the local Jewish newspaper, which is owned by the federation, they were rebuffed. “You come with an ongoing backstory that could present content and/or reputation challenges for a Jewish publication,” a federation executive wrote to Zechariah Mehler, in an email that JTA obtained. The official added that the federation “can’t put ourselves in a position where folks can even get the sense that we endorsed any actions of your past.”

Some in the city are sympathetic to the Mehlers. Matt Stolzenberg, a tattoo artist whose parlor had been located in the same building as the mural, has been outspoken about his distaste for it. Following its installation, Stolzenberg — who says he is not Jewish but has Jewish family — said he and his business partners moved his shop’s location at considerable expense, “specifically to avoid vandalism and other issues that a giant swastika will bring to a business.”

Some of his customers interpreted his move as “an anti-Palestine thing, which I’m not at all,” Stolzenberg said. “But I’m also just not anti-Jew, nor pro-swastika.”

Asked his views on the Mehlers’ case, he added, “I think that if I were Jewish, there would be no other option than to tear down the giant swastika mural.”

Atta installed the mural in place of a previous one erected in memory of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot by police in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020 who became a symbol of nationwide racial justice protests that year.

After the first vandalism of the mural, by a local woman, Milwaukee’s city council issued a statement condemning the image as “hurtful and divisive” and saying that it “is not welcome in our community.”

“Some people look for any excuse to wave a swastika,” the council members wrote in their Sept. 14 statement. “It has long been a symbol of intolerance and hatred, designed to psychologically injure and oppress those who are different.” The council member who represents the district where the mural was located did not return a request for comment.

Atta also did not respond to requests for comment made through an intermediary. But he has consistently defended his mural, including at a press conference he held at the site shortly after the Mehlers tore it down. The conference was called by the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, whose co-chair is Atta’s sister.

“It was an artistic way of expressing the current genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people by Israel and which is being supported by our government and funded with our tax dollars,” Atta said of the mural at the event. He said the Star of David on the mural was not a Jewish symbol but instead pulled from the flag “of an apartheid regime” as a political symbol.

Adopting language popularized in large part by Meir Kahane, the far-right Jewish extremist, as a response to the Holocaust, he added, “It is a statement to say that ‘never again’ means never again for anyone.”

Several of his supporters wore black T-shirts emblazoned with the mural’s swastika design at the event, which was also attended by local members of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace.

Yet even JVP, which tends to back Palestinian-led protests that many other Jews find offensive and even antisemitic, acknowledged the mural’s provocations.

“We understand why it’s polarizing,” the Milwaukee chapter, which is a member of the pro-Palestinian coalition, wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement posted just prior to the mural’s destruction. “There is a legitimate critique that can be made about it, particularly concerning the language of the mural implying that Jews, whom the Nazis persecuted and exterminated during the Holocaust, have become oppressors not unlike the Nazis in regards to Zionism and Palestine.”

The statement, which the chapter’s co-founder, Rachel Ida Buff, read at the press conference, added, “It should be made abundantly clear that Judaism and Zionism are two different things, but it understandable how someone might read the mural as conflating the two.”

But the statement went on to conclude that Israel’s behavior was “far more reprehensible and antisemitic” than the mural, and that “it is not our or anyone else’s place to police Palestinians as they express their pain through creative means.”

Local JVP chapter co-founder Rachel Ida Buff, a history professor at UWM who is Jewish, told JTA she personally believed the mural “was meant to generate conversation, which it succeeded in doing.”

Buff added, “If seeing the image of a swastika in River West upsets people more than the images of murdered children coming out of Gaza, that is a moral problem.”

What upset Peter Mehler most when he saw the mural, he said, was thinking about his former congregants, many of them Holocaust survivors, at the synagogues he led in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Northbrook, Illinois.

“I was really outraged,” he said. “For them, this would have been extremely traumatic. And it was traumatic for me, too, to watch this guy take the Star of David and make it into a swastika.”

He rejected any comparisons between the Gaza war and the Holocaust.

“The war in Israel is nothing like the Holocaust, and I am offended by the idea that the Palestinians have turned this into us as offenders when they, in fact, were the attackers,” he said. “You know, once they attacked, then they have to realize that they opened up Pandora’s box, and anything that Israel did, they were responsible for.”

Both men said their activism had almost taken a dangerous turn when the bystander accosted them while they were ripping down the mural. The man “said to me, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know what genocide is. Describe genocide to me,’” Peter Mehler recalled.

The exchange triggered him, and he said he considered hitting the man with his hammer. But Zechariah said he “explained to my father that our methodology was not one that was intended to be aggressive.”

The bystander, Michael Gauthier, shared a similar account of the encounter during the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine press conference. “I stood here on this curb and there was an angry man screaming in my face, waving a hammer, saying he was going to hit me with it,” he recalled. “Thank God that didn’t happen. Thank God his partner in crime talked him down a little bit.”

Family members tried to discourage Peter from joining his son in the first place, citing his health, both Mehlers said. But he insisted.

“It’s the responsibility of a rabbi to be the symbol of true north for the Jewish community,” Peter Mehler said. “We’ve got a symbol of antisemitism hung on a wall, and not anybody will speak out about it.”

Both father and son say they’re prepared to go to jail over their actions. Peter insisted things wouldn’t come to that and vowed to appeal any penalty. Zechariah, meanwhile, said he would relish the attention such a sentence would bring.

“You know what’ll happen if they put me in jail for this? Oh my God, then every Jewish organization would be on it,” he said. “Alan Dershowitz would be here. They don’t want that.”

[avacoleman]

when the lights go out || a firstprince fic

summary: Henry Fox’s career is in crisis and his dating life isn’t faring much better either.  After a chance encounter with a charming man becomes memorable for all the wrong reasons, Henry throws himself into his next assignment: writing the memoir of a beloved C-list actor. Henry, however, knows Alex best for the role he played as his random, awkward one-night stand. Henry enters their professional partnership keen on keeping their relationship just that. But after Henry confesses that their hookup was less than spectacular, Alex concots an arrangement that Henry is unable to resist. In addition to ghostwriting Alex’s life story, Henry will teach him a thing or two about satisfying a man.  As they spend months out on the road together, they must decide if the connection between them is yet another story worth telling.

chapter 6/8 || rated e || read on ao3 *updates every tues. and fri. *

Miami, FL SuperCon Day 1 Their first day in Miami finds them at one of the city’s most notable radio stations just before noon. For months now, it’s been exciting to shadow Alex like this on different appearances, to get these glimpses into what the life of a Hollywood star is like. Through it all, Henry has most admired how completely down to Earth Alex is, seemingly indifferent to just how interesting a life he leads. The elevator doors open on the tenth floor and Henry instantly finds himself squinting against the sunlight that bathes the entire space in natural light.  Employees mill about, some answering calls, others walking past quickly with their heads together discussing something. It’s all fast-paced and exciting and immediately, Henry feels swept up in the flurry of activity. He follows after Alex as he heads straight to the receptionist area. The woman at the desk is on the phone, typing something into her computer. She looks up once, then does a double take, her eyes widening just fractionally before she composes herself and finishes her call by the time they reach her. “Hi, I’m–,” Alex starts to say, but the receptionist smiles widely at him, already getting to her feet.

“Alex Claremont-Diaz, yes. If you could just follow me, please,” she says, smoothing out her dress and coming out from behind her desk.

Her heels practically echo as she leads them down the corridor. Henry takes in the different posters adorning the walls of radio hosts and promotional shots throughout the years for concerts the station has put on.

The receptionist rounds a corner and brings them to a halt just outside of a door paneled with a window. Henry gets a clear view of the studio and a man seated inside, fiddling with headphones.

The receptionist opens the door, gesturing for Alex and Henry to head inside.

The studio is just like any other, microphones and other tech equipment placed on a large gray table with swivel chairs around it. There are more posters inside the room, but also photos of presumably past guests. Henry sees quite a few familiar celebrity faces smiling back at him from their frames.

Introductions are made and the show’s host gives Alex a quick rundown of how the interview will go. It’s as straightforward as they come.

Henry makes himself into a fly on the wall, taking a seat on the sidelines, checking and double checking that his phone is off as Alex gets situated at the table and slips his headphones on.

A man in the adjoining room counts them down and before Henry knows it, on-air light flashes on, the host welcoming listeners to the top of the hour.

Henry isn’t even the one being interviewed, but his heart beats a bit faster, an antsy feeling sinking in. Alex, however, is the picture of cool as he sits back and makes himself at home as the host continues to speak.

“We are live and on the air with Crescent Valley star Alex Claremont-Diaz. You know him, you love him. And in just three days, you can see him at SuperCon here in fabulous Miami before the show returns for its well-awaited special. But enough of hearing from me. Let’s get into it with the man himself. Alex, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”

Alex’s smiles warmly and Henry recognizes that easy way Alex has of making people feel close to him. It’s the same way Alex has been this entire tour with fans all over the country. It’s the same way Alex had charmed Henry that very first night in New York. There’s a certain charisma Alex exudes that no one is immune to. Henry, arguably, knows that better than anyone.

The interview gets underway and the two chat for about fifteen minutes about Alex’s career and time on the show before the host winds down to talk about the upcoming special.

“Fans have been asking for this for years. How does it feel to be able to give viewers another look at the series?” the host asks.

Alex smiles a little to himself and there’s something almost bashful in his expression that Henry finds endearing. 

“It’s nothing short of incredible. The support our fans have shown us since the beginning and all these years later means far more than I, or anyone in our cast and crew, could ever properly say. Their love and passion made this happen and I’m beyond grateful for it.”

Alex shakes his head, clearly taking a moment to get his thoughts together.

“This role launched my career. It’s given me the opportunity to interact with people from all walks of life, from all corners of the Earth. That’s a gift like nothing else. From all of us on camera and behind the scenes, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who tunes in and I hope you guys enjoy it.”

The interview wraps with the host reminding listeners that Alex will be at SuperCon in a couple of days. Henry watches as the on-air light goes from red to gray and he finds himself wondering for the hundredth time how Alex is able to juggle this life. Interviews, cons, filming, photoshoots, it’s a complete whirlwind and yet Alex seems perfectly at home with it all. He supposes years in the industry must have made this all second nature, but Henry doubts the speed of it all would ever be something he’d be able to adjust to fully.

Alex takes off his headphones and thanks the host for his time. They take a picture together and the man tells Alex that he’s excited to catch the special when it airs. 

The way the host looks at him though, Henry suspects Alex might be the main selling point of watching it. It’s almost endearing how Alex doesn’t seem to notice the heart eyes being lobbed at him. Henry wonders what it’ll be like after Alex’s book releases in a few months and the radio host– and queer men all over the globe– find out that Alex is part of their community.

It makes Henry happy to know the world will open up even more for Alex, even though selfishly a small part of him will miss being in this exclusive bubble of a select few who know Alex’s truth for now.

They head out of the studio and start walking back down the hall to the elevators.

“Do you feel like going out tonight?” Alex asks abruptly.

For a foolish, fleeting moment, Henry thinks Alex is asking him out on a date, but logic kicks in.

“Don’t want to spend the first night holed up in the rental, huh?” he muses as he hits the down button.

“Precisely. I’m feeling…I don’t know. We’re young and hot and in Miami of all places. It feels like we should be taking advantage of that, right? Let’s go dancing.”

Henry barks out a laugh that makes the receptionist jump. Henry quickly apologizes before stepping into the elevator that mercifully arrives to aid in his escape from the scene.

“Alex, you’ve come to know me so well. Surely you can surmise that I don’t dance. ”

“That’s not the same thing as can’t,” Alex objects as the doors close and he pushes for the ground floor. “And besides, you’re forgetting that I’ve seen your hips move in the bedroom pretty damn well. Trust me, I know you’d be lethal on the dancefloor if you gave it an honest try. You didn’t even get on the floor with Pez in Denver. I’m not letting you cop out this time around.”

Henry’s head is still reeling from Alex’s second statement.

“Sex is different,” he argues. “I couldn’t possibly move like that with others around.”

Alex smirks as they reach the ground floor and the doors chime open. 

“Oh, Henry. Miami nightlife is gonna teach you a thing or two. Just you wait.”

~*~*~

Nighttime in Miami feels like an absolutely different realm of existence. It’s almost as if the sun dipping below the horizon somehow flipped a switch on Henry’s surroundings. 

“I suppose this is what Dorothy must have felt like when she entered Oz,” Henry says as he and Alex wait in line outside of a club. From the line snaking around the corner, Henry can tell it’s a popular one.

The heavy bass from the music spills onto the street and feels like an undercurrent to Henry’s anxiety over this evening. In theory a night of dancing should be fun, but despite Alex’s prediction, Henry still maintains he has two left feet and is more than likely to make a fool of himself in front of not only Alex, but a roomful of people.

When they’re finally admitted, Henry’s nerves lift sky high. The place is packed with people all moving to the music.

Alex takes to the vibe of the club like a fish to water. He looks genuinely excited, his eyes drinking everything in. Henry does too, but all he notices is how adept literally every person in the room is at dancing. He supposes liquid courage might be doing wonders for a good portion of them, but even still, he’s impressed with everyone’s ability not to overthink. 

He wonders what a life like that would be like and quickly has to stop himself from ironically overthinking about overthinking.

“Don’t be nervous!” Alex shouts over the music, already bopping a bit.

He sets his hands on Henry’s hips and shakes him side to side while laughing. 

“Live a little. Move a lot,” he says before letting go and beginning to dance all on his own in earnest. Henry can only watch him and marvel at how fluid Alex’s movements are. It’s obvious just how freeing this is for him and it’s downright captivating.

A gorgeous woman appears at Alex’s side as if summoned by his movements. She’s a vision with long dark curly hair and rich brown skin that’s accentuated perfectly by the red dress she has on. Henry wonders briefly if she’s a mirage.

Alex’s eyes cut to her for a moment and back to Henry, almost as if asking for permission. Henry tips his head, urging Alex to take her on as a dance partner. 

Alex smiles and takes hold of the woman’s hand and they move as one immediately, so in sync with the blaring horns and percussion. It’s really a sight to see and Henry can’t help but to smile knowing just how much Alex is enjoying himself. 

One song bleeds into another and Alex continues to dance with the woman. Secretly, Henry is glad she’s able to distract him; better her than him on the dancefloor now. Henry moves away and heads for the bar to get drinks for himself and Alex.

It’s a battle to make it through to the overcrowded bar, but Henry feels victorious when he manages to get the bartender’s attention.

“Whatever he wants, it’s on me,” a voice beside him says before Henry can even get a word out.

He looks to his right and sees an, admittedly, attractive guy half smiling at him. This feels a bit like déjà vu.

In a different bar, in a different city, he’d been approached.

In a world pre-Alex, Henry would have been intrigued by this man based on his appearance, certainly enough to graciously accept the drink to see where the night could lead.

But now, his mind is already calculating how quickly he can put an end to this. The brown eyes looking at him now aren’t the ones he’d like to stare into.

“That’s quite alright, but thank you for the offer,” Henry says politely to the stranger.

The man feigns a wounded heart.

“If I can’t get you a drink, could I at least get your name, sexy? I want to hear more of this pretty accent that goes along with that truly pretty face,” he says, voice lilting, his eyes a little unfocused. 

It’s clear he must have nursed a few drinks here tonight already aside from the one currently in his hand.

Henry’s skin feels stretched uncomfortably. The bar is so swarmed, there isn’t much he can do to escape without notice, especially as the man continues looking at him expectantly.

Henry opens his mouth, but suddenly he feels a hand on the small of his back out of nowhere. He glances and sees Alex smiling tightly at the stranger. Henry relaxes into his touch at once.

The tipsy man looks between the two of them.

Alex continues to stare, glare really, before turning his attention on Henry. 

“You good here?” he asks. 

Henry smiles.

“Considerably better now. Thanks, love.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you were with someone,” the man mumbles. 

He at least has the good sense to look apologetic, but Henry loathes the fact that it took someone else stepping in to get him to back off.

The man staggers away from the bar and Henry shifts his focus back to the whole reason he came over here in the first place.

Henry sighs seeing the bartender now taken up with other patrons. Of course the man would have lost interest immediately when there’s an army of people vying for his attention, money in hand.

“I intended to get us drinks,” Henry says uselessly to Alex, frowning. 

“And then you were rudely interrupted by that vulture?” 

Henry laughs as Alex glances over towards wherever the man vanished off to, a sour look on his face.

“Careful now, I might start thinking you were jealous.”

Alex purses his lips. Something changes in his expression, but the lights flashing inside the club makes Henry think he might’ve imagined it. It looked somewhat like irritation. Henry dismisses the thought quickly. There’s no reason why Alex would or even should be bothered by the other man’s advances.

“Dance with me,” Alex says.

“Where’s that beautiful woman from before? My savior? Perhaps I could convince her to pair up with you again.”

Alex lightly pinches Henry’s side and leans in by his ear.

“She’s not the dance partner I wanted this evening. I want you to watch you move,” he replies, a hand snaking down to Henry’s ass.

Henry’s eyes widen.

They’re in such a public place and though no one has come up to Alex professing themselves to be a fan, he still wants to exercise some caution.

He looks around, but no one seems to be paying them any mind. He turns his gaze back on Alex.

“I really am dreadful. I wasn’t being facetious.”

Alex laughs, shaking his head.

“You’ve been teaching me things for months now. Let me return the favor and show you a thing or two.”

He gives Henry a light tap on his ass before taking a hold of his hand and leading him back toward the dancefloor. Henry feels trepidation with each step as if he’s been led to the gallows. But his curiosity and the burning need to touch Alex keeps his feet shuffling forward.

The band jumps into another song with heavy rhythm. Alex swivels his hips instinctively to the Latin music and Henry is once again mesmerized by how Alex moves, the sheer confidence and ease.

With a light sheen of sweat above his brows and his curls in lovely disarray, Henry simply cannot get over how sexy Alex is.

He reaches out, putting his hands on Alex’s hips, his eyes trained on his feet as he starts to mimic Alex’s footwork.

He’s hardly skilled, just as he knew he wouldn’t be, but he hasn’t managed to step on Alex’s feet yet so he considers it a win.

“There you go. I knew you could do it,” Alex boasts.

Henry keeps looking down, not trusting himself not to muck it up if he isn’t watching his feet. This is a far cry from the posh lessons he took as a child, learning antiquated moves like the waltz at his grandmother’s insistence. 

“Just feel it, Hen. Relax.”

Alex comes in closer, his arms encircling Henry in return.

“Look at me,” he says. It takes Henry a moment but he does. 

He keeps his eyes locked onto Alex, studies the way the light dances off his face, casting his features into shadows every few seconds. It’s almost hypnotic. Henry certainly feels as if he’s in a trance.

He notes the way their bodies naturally fall into step after a few moments. He wills his brain to shut off for once and heed Alex’s advice. To just trust his body and feel it.

Alex had been right back at the radio station; their bodies have been learning each other’s frequencies for months at this point. They are perfectly in tune now that Henry’s working to get out of his own head so much.

It turns out, Henry is actually decent at this. He finds himself laughing, a carefree sound that bubbles out his chest and joins the sounds of the nightclub.

There’s a curious look into Alex’s eyes as he seems to study Henry. He doesn’t speak his thoughts and Henry figures now isn’t really the time to ask.

The music changes, the live band being replaced by a DJ who plays dancy pop music. He and Alex adjust to the new tempo, but their bodies still remain pressed together. Alex rolls his hips teasingly, catching Henry by surprise. His body feels like an absolute live wire and any bit of contact with Alex has Henry utterly convinced he’ll blow at any second.

Arousal grows in the pit of his stomach. To be quite honest, it’s been brewing for some time now.

Alex turns, his back pressed against Henry’s chest. He grinds down as Henry grips his hips tightly. 

Henry’s whole body feels hot and logically he knows that’s a byproduct of dancing for multiple songs straight in a dark crowded club, but he knows truthfully it’s mostly due to the fact that Alex’s perfect ass is now repeatedly rubbing against his growing erection.

Alex clearly has no regard for any of this as he reaches a hand up and combs his fingers through the hair at the back of Henry’s head, soon curling his hand into a fist. He continues keeping time with the music, grinding down again.

Henry can’t help it; he’s only human. He moans against Alex’s ear, his fingers digging deeper on Alex’s hips as he thrusts back.

“Have you any idea what you're doing to me right now?” he says, low enough for only Alex to hear. 

He feels Alex’s body shake with laughter as he does it again, slower and harder this time.

Bastard, Henry thinks.

Before he can chide Alex for his cruelty, the man turns to face him. If Henry thought he himself was keyed up, it’s nothing in comparison to Alex’s molten gaze.

Alex doesn’t say a word as he takes a step back, subtly tipping his head towards the area where the restrooms are. Henry catches on quickly and together they navigate their way through the crowd, away from anyone else’s eyes.

The music carries over into the restroom, but as the door closes, it’s at least somewhat muted. Alex surveys the bathroom before tugging Henry into the closest stall.

“You look so fucking good out there,” he all but growls. “So good that apparently other guys couldn’t help but notice too.”

Henry searches his eyes, trying to absorb what’s happening here. 

“Wait. Alex, were you actually jealous?” he asks, genuinely taken aback.

All the pent up tension seems to rush out of Alex at the question. It’s dizzying.

Alex avoids his gaze and shrugs. 

“Not jealous. I…I don’t know. I know we aren’t…,” he stops short and shakes his head. “It felt weird seeing that dude look at you like that. He was getting way too close and for a second I thought maybe you might be into what he was trying to offer or...I don’t know. It’s dumb.”

Henry bites back a smile. 

“You do realize that literally nothing would have happened between him and me, right? Even if he hadn’t turned out to be an absolute drunken knob, I would not have been interested. I came here with you,” he says, hooking his index fingers into Alex’s belt loops. 

“I’m leaving with you. That’s just as I’d like for it to be. End of story.”

Alex’s shoulders relax a little.

“So, I haven’t made a complete idiot of myself then?”

Henry pretends to think about it.

“Eh, like three percent. Five tops,” he teases. “The peacocking out there really came in handy and all that dirty dancing redeemed you a bit.”

Alex playfully swats at his arm. 

“You fucking dick.”

Henry grins.

“No one could ever accuse you of being a sweet talker.”

Henry tugs Alex forward a bit by the waist and Alex is quick to kiss Henry, his hands immediately slipping into Henry’s hair. 

A public restroom is hardly an ideal setting, but it astounds Henry just how little cares as he kisses Alex back. The kiss intensifies quickly from light and sweet to heated, especially as Alex grips Henry’s hips firmly, his tongue working its way into Henry’s mouth.

Alex moans into his mouth, tugging Henry's shirt free from where it’s tucked in at the front. He runs his hands up Henry’s abs, his warm skin making Henry feel even hotter and more aroused.

Henry grabs a fistful of Alex’s curls and rolls his hips forward, whimpering softly when he feels Alex’s growing hardness against his own. The way he craves this man is downright maddening and should be studied.

He has to stop kissing Alex for a moment. They haven’t had even a drop of alcohol tonight and yet Henry feels drunk out of his mind off this man alone.

“Do you want to try something a little new?” he rasps, suddenly struck with an idea.

Alex’s eyes are so dark again, his lips red from how heavily they’ve been kissing. He nods, taking a few breaths as he stares blearily at Henry.

Henry shifts ever so slightly, wedging his right leg between Alex’s legs, his thigh packed in tightly against Alex’s groin.

The man lets out a staggered breath, one hand falling to Henry’s shoulder, cursing under his breath. Henry kisses the side of his face.

“I want you to take the edge off…or work yourself up, depending on how you look at it,” he muses. “But don’t come. Stop as soon as it gets to be too much. I don’t want you to finish.” 

Alex groans. 

“At least not here. Not like this. I want to take you apart myself for that,” Henry continues, brushing a hand through Alex’s curls.

“Can you do that for me, darling? Hm? Do you think you could at least try?”

Alex nods, his breathing already a bit heavy.

“Yeah. I’ll be good,” Alex whispers and Henry shivers at those words, his eyes closing faintly for a moment.

“You always are. Off you go, love.”

Alex nips on Henry’s bottom lip before he ruts up against Henry’s thigh tentatively, slowly seeking out friction. Henry knows Alex is teasing himself, but it’s every bit as pleasurable for Henry as well. Alex is making a meal of this, taking his time grinding against him. 

Henry kisses him heatedly, licking his way into Alex’s mouth. It riles Alex up; his cock rubs a bit faster against Henry’s thigh. Alex breaks the kiss first and Henry’s ears swim with the soft raspy sounds that fall from Alex’s lips as he gives in to what his body is asking for.

Henry’s hands slide down to Alex’s ass, urging him forward, his own knees feeling weak but he stands strong, offering up his body to receive Alex’s call.

Alex buries his face in the crook of Henry’s neck, panting as he gradually moves faster, all out humping Henry’s leg, his sounds growing wilder and more intelligible.

Alex moves quickly and hard enough to make Henry’s body slam against the stall, the metal rattling. Henry's brain feels like it’s flying. Alex’s whimpering becomes desperate. His teeth sink into the pulse point on Henry’s neck as he stifles a scream.

“Jesus,” Henry mutters, so thoroughly turned on, his grip tightening on Alex’s ass.

Alex shudders hard against him and he takes a sudden step back. His face is a stunning shade of pink, his eyes wild. He looks as if he might be mere moments from losing it right then and there. 

Alex rests back on the opposite wall of the stall, closing his eyes. It’s a small space, but the distance seems to be enough to let Alex get his head on straight. Henry watches as he takes a steadying breath and it seems like it’s taking every bit of Alex’s willpower to collect himself. Henry can relate all too well. That was one of the hottest things he’s ever experienced.

“Take me home,” Alex says, his voice catching as he looks at Henry.

“What’s the magic word?” Henry goads, unable to attempt some sort of control here though he himself is desperate to get Alex into bed.

Alex smirks and rolls his eyes.

“Please, baby. I can beg from my knees later if you’d like.”

Henry groans, his head tipping back against the stall.

“You can’t just say stuff like that to me, Alex.”

Alex’s grin is wicked and thrilling in one breath as he crowds Henry again, placing a hand between his legs. 

“Can’t I? Take me home,” Alex repeats, lightly stroking him. Henry inhales sharply as Alex’s kisses along his jaw and to his ear, his voice deadly sweet as he speaks again.

“I want you to finish me off.”

~*~

Miami, FL

Day 4

Henry looks out over the balcony, taking in the gorgeous sunset. He doubts he’ll ever get used to the humidity in Florida, but he can’t deny the stunning view before him that looks like something on a postcard. Even with the impending rain he can smell in the air, the purpling sky is captivating all the same.

Alex’s appearance at SuperCon was yet another success and the perfect way to call an end to his tour. It was only fitting, in Henry’s eyes, that they celebrated with dinner at a restaurant downtown. It was nice surprising Alex and finding a way to somehow pay him back–even in a small way– for bringing Henry on this tour in the first place.

Now back at their rental, Henry feels himself in something of a contemplative mood as he watches the city. They’ve got another night out here before Henry tags along to Los Angeles for all things Crescent Valley reunion. He’s gotten through the last set of edits he received and upon his return to New York, Henry merely needs to round out the book with a portion on the reunion and Alex’s feelings about it all.

It makes Henry feel wistful knowing just how soon he’ll have to move on from this project. Perhaps even from Alex in general. He tries to picture a world in which they’d be able to maintain a friendship. He worries that, like this tour, their connection might run its course too.

Everything attached to this project came with a deadline. Maybe their dynamic would suffer the same fate.

He frowns to himself, a bitter lens now falling over the landscape in front of him.

“There you are,” he hears Alex say.

Henry half turns to look at him, getting his bearings together and flashing a smile. It becomes more genuine the longer he looks at Alex, the man still dressed sharply from their night out.

“I didn’t mean to disappear on you. I just couldn’t resist this,” he says, turning back and gesturing at the view.

“I’ve gotten so used to being on the road these last few months, it’ll be a bit strange returning to my normal life after L.A. That’ll be my absolute last chance to see palm trees in person before I go home,” he muses.

Alex’s arms encircle his waist from behind unexpectedly, his chest firmly against Henry’s back. Henry holds his breath, not daring to move. They’re once again falling into this precarious dance where they flirt with the line they ought not to cross. Henry supposes in different ways, they already have.

Alex kisses his shoulder, his lips skimming up towards his neck where he lets out a breath before pressing his lips to Henry’s skin. Alex places slow, soft kisses up the length of his neck. Henry’s pulse quickens, his body trembling a little as Alex exhales again.

“Do I make you nervous?” Alex asks quietly.

Henry lets out a breath, turning his head to the side to look at Alex as the man rests his chin on his shoulder.

“Among other things, yes,” Henry replies truthfully.

Alex’s hold on him loosens and Henry takes advantage of the moment to face the other man full on. For the life of him, he can’t read the look in Alex’s eyes. Alex blinks quickly and looks away.

“Darling, what is it?” Henry asks, angling his head to force Alex’s gaze again.

“I hate this. I know we still have a bit more time when you come to L.A., but it’s really starting to sink in that this is almost done, you know? I’m going to miss being around you every day. I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

Henry blinks twice. Alex’s words harken back to the night they met. They hadn’t known then that they’d have more time together. Perhaps life could surprise them again, if they were lucky.

Henry tucks his hand under Alex’s chin and searches his eyes.

“We’re here now together. Let’s make the most of it.”

Alex’s bottom lip quivers just slightly before he nods, his eyes grow intent, renewed with something akin to determination.

Alex places his hands on either side of Henry’s face and kisses him. It’s slow and sweet and cracks Henry’s chest wide open with the care he’s being shown. In another world, this could be his.

Henry’s arms wrap around Alex’s waist and pull him in closer, their chests resting squarely on one another’s. Henry wouldn’t at all be surprised if Alex could feel just how fast his heart is racing. 

Alex breaks the kiss first, his eyes looking like blown out stars. Henry cups his face with his right hand and Alex pulls in a breath, looking as if he’s preparing to say something big.

“I’m ready for the final lesson,” Alex says, peering up at him through his gorgeous lashes. “I want all of you tonight...if you’ll have me.”

Henry sighs softly, his eyes closing as he rests his forehead to Alex’s. He wants this so badly, he can hardly stand it. Their night after the club had been intense, so much so that Henry had almost floated the idea himself. But this was quite literally Alex’s timeline. He wouldn’t rush his process.

“Yes, love. It’s time.”

Henry takes a hold of Alex’s hands and leads back into the house and to his room. Henry closes the door behind them and suddenly the full weight of this night begins to settle over him. 

The air in the room feels charged somehow, like a storm of a different kind is brewing within these four walls.

They move towards each other, drawn like magnets until they’re mere centimeters apart.

Alex keeps his eyes on him, even as he undoes the buttons on Henry’s chambray shirt completely. He slips his hands to touch Henry’s bare skin, the palms of his hands smoothing down his sides.

This is hardly the first time Alex has touched him, but Henry knows it could very well be the last. There’s a bittersweet tone to the night that breaks Henry’s heart to a degree he knows it shouldn’t.

All the same, Henry does his best to center his attention on the here and now. 

He locks eyes with Alex and begins undoing the man’s shirt in return, pushing the fabric down and off his shoulders completely. He kisses down the side of Alex’s neck and to his right shoulder, his lips sweeping across Alex’s collarbone and back up the other side of the man’s neck.

He plants these kisses like seeds, wondering if they could ever bloom into something tangible between them, something they’d be able to hold onto beyond this night.

Henry looks him in the eyes once more and Alex smiles softly before kissing him again, his hands running smoothly up Henry’s back as he walks them towards the bed, their shirts falling away like faint whispers against the floor.

Alex lays him down gently and Henry cannot take his eyes off him. Between the soft sound of the promised rain starting to fall outside and the warmth of their bodies pressed so closely together, Henry feels as if he’s in a haze.

He cups Alex’s cheek and kisses him deeply as the man undoes his pants and undresses him completely.

Alex sighs and looks down at him.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

It’s the first words either of them has uttered in minutes and the compliment makes Henry feel flustered.

Henry blushes at once. “Alex, come on.”

“I’m serious, Henry,” Alex presses, his tone leaving no doubt that he is. “You’re fucking gorgeous. I can hardly even look at you sometimes. It’s almost too much.”

Henry smiles bashfully, his heart skipping several beats. He tucks his face into the crook of Alex’s neck, placing a soft kiss there, murmuring a quiet thanks against his skin.

It’s all he can muster now.

He doesn’t doubt Alex’s sincerity in the slightest, but it is quite hard for Henry to fully conceive of the thought. This is a man whose life is set perfectly in a land known almost exclusively for beautiful people and yet, Alex seems keen to hold him in the highest regards.

Henry sighs softly and settles his back on the bed once more, reaching out and toying with the key around Alex’s neck, just as he’d done that night in New York that now feels like two lifetimes ago.

From the small smile on Alex’s lips, Henry can tell he’s thinking about that evening too, of how they’ve come so far with each other in the months since.

Henry tugs gently on the chain, drawing Alex’s mouth to his again and kissing him deeply as Alex’s fingertips skate down his body and down to his legs, parting them.

Henry moves as guided, spreading himself out against the sheets, back arching at Alex’s gentle exploration. His body trembles delightedly at the feel of Alex’s fingers brushing against his rim, his body aching for more of his touch. 

Alex breaks the kiss, his lips plump and eyes heavily lidded. The way he’s looking at him now sends a shiver of anticipation down Henry’s spine.

“Where’s—”

“Top drawer,” Henry answers immediately.

Alex chuckles but leans over, grabbing supplies from the nightstand before guiding Henry’s legs to push back, his feet planted atop the bed. Perfectly open and on display. Alex’s eyes comb over his body and a wounded, affected sound falls from his lips.

Alex places a kiss on one of Henry’s knees as he coats his fingers and settles in closer to him. 

Henry can’t help but to think once more of their first night in New York, how in over his head Alex had seemed and genuinely was. Comparing it to now, the look of sheer confidence and utter know-how is truly like day and night.

The first brush of Alex’s fingers against his entrance makes Henry’s whole body buzz at once. Alex kisses his cheek before ensnaring his lips slowly, the pad of his thumb circling teasingly at the same pace. It drives Henry crazy and he loves every second of Alex taking his time with him, building up the moment just as he said he enjoyed.

The first slip of Alex’s finger inside him makes Henry’s eyes roll shut as a low moan escapes him.

“So needy,” Alex teases, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

Henry couldn’t deny it if he tried. He feels thoroughly desperate for any and everything Alex deigns to give him.

He trembles as Alex starts to set a pace, working in and out of him. He rolls his hips forward, hissing softly as his body adjusts to the intrusion. But already he wants more.

His eyes flash to Alex and his wants must be clear as day on his face because when Alex’s hand returns to him, he’s added another finger. 

“Better?” Alex asks.

Henry nods, his eyes closing again for a moment. He continues to rock forward, getting lost in the rhythm of Alex’s ministrations.

Alex shimmies down his body, dropping kisses all over his torso as he goes until he’s level with Henry’s groin, his fingers never stopping all the while. 

That mischievous twinkle Henry loves is in his eyes and Henry takes in a breath to prepare himself for whatever Alex has in mind.

Henry gets the answer a beat later when Alex takes a hold of Henry’s cock and swipes his tongue across the head.

Henry lets out an undignified curse, his breath catching. Alex smiles up at him and does it again before sucking on just the tip.

It’s a sight Henry doubts he’ll ever be able to process, but one that is sure to cement itself in his mind, to live forever in his memories as something he’ll refer back to in the future ahead where he and Alex go back to be just…former collaborators? Friends? 

The uncertainty of it all is a thought he can’t afford now. He won’t spoil this night by breaking his own heart.

He rakes his fingers through Alex’s curls and moans softly, keeping his eyes locked onto Alex’s as the man pleasures him.

His eyes roll shut at the feel of Alex’s fingertips gently brushing his prostate.

By the time Alex adds a third finger, Henry feels ready to burst.

“Alex,” he whispers, his throat dry and cracking on the name.

It’s enough to get the point across. Alex retracts his hand and mouth, rubbing gentle reassuring circles on Henry’s thighs. He looks between Henry’s legs, his face flushing. Henry can only imagine how he must look, gaping and ready, perfectly poised to take him.

If I can make you lose it like that with my fingers, just imagine the things I could make you feel when I’m buried inside you, Alex had said that day in Reno when he left Henry a quivering mess in his hotel room.

Here it was now that Henry would no longer have to wonder. He’s mere moments away from knowing firsthand what a well-practiced Alex was like.

Alex finishes undressing himself and though Henry has been aching to feel Alex inside him, he has to take a moment to admire Alex’s body. His hands run from his shoulders to his chest, his torso, and to his hips.

He can’t imagine ever having a partner as breathtaking as this ever again.

He looks up at Alex who— by some miracle— has been quiet this whole time.

“Sorry,” Henry says, dropping his hands.

Alex’s brows furrow.

“Why are you apologizing? You’re doing wonders for my ego right now,” he muses before he opens the condom wrapper.

“May I?” Henry asks.

Alex lifts a brow, his face intrigued. He hands it over all the same. Henry gives him a quick kiss before working it over Alex’s length, his fingertips brushing along his shaft. Alex shivers a little.

Henry takes a hold of him, guiding Alex to his entrance, teasing himself a little by rubbing the head of Alex’s cock against his rim, never letting it slip in.

Alex’s thumbs work over Henry’s nipples, adding to his pleasure.

Henry moans softly, feeling his cock twitch and stiffen in response.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, feeling as if he might be monopolizing their time by teasing himself. The buildup is just too good to resist, knowing the reward will be all the sweeter.

Alex shakes his head.

“No more apologizing. Take whatever you need. I don’t mind one bit, baby.”

He leans forward and traps one of Henry’s nipples between his teeth, biting down gently. Henry keens, rubbing Alex’s tip against himself again as Alex starts to suck on his delicate flesh. His tongue is a menace against the hardened nub, encircling it before switching sides.

Henry bites back on his own lower lip and aligns Alex to his entrance, nodding up at Alex to proceed. 

Alex doesn’t hesitate; he tips his hips forward and slides slowly into Henry, filling him up inch by inch. Henry grips his sides, mouth falling open.

His body shudders as Alex keeps going until he bottoms out completely.

They both gasp and freeze, taking a moment to collect themselves. Henry feels so full, his walls clenching around Alex’s length. He feels him everywhere.

Alex drops kisses on the side of his face, the tension in his body stretched like a rubberband ready to snap.

“Jesus Christ, Henry. You feel incredible.”

Henry lets out a breathy laugh.

“I had the same thought about you.”

He licks his dry lips and rolls his his upward, crying out at the sensations coursing through him at once. Alex slowly starts to pull out and Henry clutches him tighter. This already feels so different, in the best way, than New York.

“I need it. I’m ready,” he pants.

Alex thrusts back in and Henry sees stars as he’s filled again, his body utterly starved for the man above him. He kisses Alex heatedly as they get underway, Alex fucking him in earnest now that he’s been given license to move freely.

Henry’s brain feels as if it’s made of cotton balls or gauze, something light and airy that feels viable to blow away at a moment’s notice.

He hooks a leg around Alex’s hips and the position drives Alex in deeper. They both curse at the same time. Alex buries his face in the side of Henry’s neck, nibbling and sucking his skin as he hips keep time. Henry feels himself dripping from the overstimulation and somehow hungry for more.

He drags his dull nails up and down Alex’s back, his body feeling as if it’s on fire.

Alex pulls back enough to look at him and the intensity of his gaze is almost overwhelming. For all the hooking up they’ve done over the past few months, he’s never seen this expression on Alex’s face.

It’s almost too much, but Henry wouldn’t dare put a stop to this. 

He grabs at the sheets, his hands gripping a fistful of fabric to keep himself steady as he snaps his hips forward to meet Alex’s thrusts.

Henry turns his head to the side but Alex touches his face lightly and gently coaxes him to face forward again.

“Eyes on me, baby. I want to see you.”

Henry trembles as he stares back, gasping softly as Alex takes a hold of his slick cock and strokes him.

Henry breathes softly, mouth still agape as he rocks his body toward Alex, surrendering fully, allowing himself to feel everything wholly without hesitation.

“There we go,” Alex says quietly as he smiles. “Beautiful.” 

Henry seeks out his lips, his head tipping up to capture Alex’s mouth, kissing him gently as his hands settle on the small of his back.

This connection had been missing entirely that night in New York. All their weeks together have culminated in Alex being confident within himself and secure with taking the lead. In every respect, Henry knows he’d follow wherever Alex deigned to take him.

“More, please,” Henry rasps, fingers digging into Alex’s sides.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

Alex rolls his hips, burying deeper and slamming harder into him as Henry’s nails dig in more firmly, anchoring him as his body thrums.

“God, yes,” Henry moans when Alex strikes him just right.

The difference between their very first night and now cannot be overstated. Alex is almost like a different person entirely to him.

No, Henry thinks. Different skill set, yes. But that magnetism has been in place this entire time.

He seeks out Alex’s mouth again even though he can barely breathe as it is.

Alex is relentless now, hitting that sweet spot over and over. Henry’s walls cinch around him, his toes curling as his orgasm builds. 

“You’re right there. Fuck, Henry. So good for me,” Alex grits, taking a hold of Henry’s cock once more and jerking him off. His hand moves quickly against his shaft, pumping and squeezing his length.

Henry’s eyes water and he can feel himself throbbing, climbing closer and closer to his peak. He thrusts back shamelessly, greedily taking everything that Alex gives to him and offering himself back. His breaths are heavy and uneven, his heart pounding almost dangerously, but Henry has never felt more in control of himself even as he goes careening off the edge a moment later.

Alex’s name falls from his lips in a deep, desperate moan, loud enough to ring in the quiet of the room. Alex doesn’t let up, his body still moving against Henry’s and carrying him through. Henry’s grateful for it, eager to savor the last remaining moments of this.

He spills out in the small space between them, his stomach warm with his own release. Alex’s hand doesn’t break stride, nor does the man break eye contact. Alex looks absolutely ravenous, practically feeding off Henry’s response to him.

Henry’s whole body is hot and drained, but he doesn’t stop moving, so eager for Alex to feel this level of euphoria too.

He can feel Alex’s cock throbbing and twitching inside him, his finish just moments away at this rate.

Henry kisses up to Alex’s ear, hanging onto his shoulders as he whispers to him.

“Come for me, Alex. You’re so close. I can feel it. Use me.”

His teeth graze Alex’s earlobe and he bites down just enough to add pressure.

Alex gasps out a shaky breath and a beat later, a string of curses falls from his lips as he fucks into Henry roughly. Henry’s hips move forward steadily as Alex comes, his nails scratching down Alex’s back as he sees him through his finish in kind. Alex grips his hair, his body trembling with the aftershocks of his orgasm.

Henry rests the palm of his hand over Alex’s heart and feels how quickly it’s racing. He peppers Alex’s jawline with kisses, his other hand rubbing his side.

“Breathe, darling,” he says softly, searching Alex’s eyes. They’re dark but so clear, reinvigorated even.

Alex doesn’t say anything, merely crushing his mouth against Henry’s as Henry smiles and drapes his arms over Alex’s shoulders. 

Alex skims his fingertips down the side of Henry’s cheek as he rolls off of him, Henry sighing at the loss of feeling Alex inside him. Alex disposes of the condom and returns immediately to Henry’s side.

Henry kisses him slowly at once, slinking an arm over Alex’s waist. Time feels infinite and truly irrelevant. All there seems to be is this perfect moment with Alex as he kisses Henry back unhurriedly.

Henry breaks first to catch his breath. He brushes damp curls off Alex’s forehead as they stare in silence at each other for a few seconds.

“I think I’ve made up for New York now, yeah?” 

Henry laughs heartily at the statement. 

“Yes. I can say, without question, that you have. Ten times over in fact.”

Alex grins toothily before his face grows a bit serene, his fingers now trailing along Henry’s jawline as he gets his thoughts together.

It’s a tender move and it makes Henry’s heart flutter like the wings of a butterfly. It certainly feels that delicate.

“Thank you for giving me this. All these weeks with you. Nothing could ever compare to it.”

For now, Henry thinks. After all, these lessons had been nothing more than practice for whatever next guy comes along and manages to dazzle Alex. Henry feels sick to his stomach at the thought though this has been the truth all along.

This moment feels like both a thank you and a goodbye.

Henry wants to ask if it has to end here, but he knows that it must. 

“Stay with me tonight,” Henry says instead, splitting the difference and pushing past the sudden lump in his throat.

Alex’s brows knit slightly and Henry can’t blame him. That had been one of their rules, no spending the night in each other’s room though Austin had been the one unavoidable exception.

All the same, with this being their last night of lessons, Henry figures perhaps they could bend the rules a little.

Alex continues to look at him for a moment in silence.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course,” Henry says, quickly losing his nerve. “I know we said we wouldn’t do that.”

Alex shakes his head, stroking Henry’s cheek with his thumb.

“Stop. That’s not…I’m staying. I want to stay. Honestly, if I were to have to go back to my room, I’d be bouncing off the walls. It makes better sense to just…not leave,” Alex rambles.

Relief floods through Henry’s body at once. They've been on borrowed time since the beginning, but at least for tonight he’s able to buy them a few more hours.

Alex kisses the tip of his nose.

“And besides, if memory serves— which it absolutely freaking does— you promised me something back in Reno. I want to cash in on that tonight.”

Henry’s brows furrow for a moment before he remembers, a smile spreading across his lips as he gently spreads Alex’s legs.

He relishes in how quickly the move shuts Alex up and clearly excites him.

That certainly makes two of them. Henry’s mind has been running wild for weeks picturing himself not just working Alex open, but being inside him, bringing him the kind of pleasure he’s never experienced before.

It might seem like a daunting task to some, but Henry views it as a privilege he’s more than capable of handling.

“You’re right, darling,” Henry says, skimming his fingertips along Alex’s inner thighs, delighting in the way Alex trembles. “Next round’s on me.”

[jhsharman]

Is Decarlo, Is Not Decarlo

I do not know what I am looking at with this not used cover for The Comics Journal, and how far it came to production. I almost prefer it to the one that was used -- slotting in Josie and Melody for foreground, who were -- after all-- at ownership issue at the time and one main propeller to get the interview done. But then come the background panels and you have a serious problem. Archie as Caesar. Drawn by Stan Goldberg. Multiple excerpts from the late 60s "Groovy Tech" story. Drawn by Bill Vigoda. The pie in the face image obstructed by "Comics Journal" also ain't Decarlo. There is more not Decarlo art in the background than there is Decarlo art. Who threw this together and was there a realization at some point that forced a course correction? In the more proper released copy, they do keep the Melody, Josie, and Valerie walking in the mall, and have it unobstructed. I think I would want to toss in some non-Archie Decarlo images -- Millie, Kool Aid Man, that Casper rip-off, Jetta -- but I guess this collage just as well. Funny, the interview does not touch on the earlier 50s pin up pages, though the cover plucks it in.

[duckprintspress]

How We Plan, Implement, and Publish Anthologies: Max Jason Peterson’s Planning Approach

Last week, I posted my personal notes from the Press’s Patreon Panel about lead-editing multi-contributor projects such as journals, anthologies, and fanzines. This week, I’ve got the notes from a second participant in that panel, Max Jason Peterson. He generously provided this write up so I could post it as a guest post on our blogs!

-

Most of my editing experience has been on behalf of nonprofits, who had their own budget, marketing, graphic design, printing, and distribution in place. I did spread the news and actively call for submissions. I also handled mailing (or arranging for mailing of) contributors’ copies.

This is not all my editing experience, but it’s what I’ll be discussing. It occurred under various bylines such as C. A. Gardner, Lyn C. A. Gardner, and Adele Gardner.

I’ve organized it along the timeline of when it occurred.

(read more)

Virginia Library Association (Virginia Libraries)

9 years; coeditor (with Cy Dillon) of VLA’s quarterly print journal, 2003-2012

The journal is archived online by Virginia Tech. Some issues are now only visible in HTML (transcription imperfect); others can also (or only) be downloaded as PDFs (for accuracy and original formatting).

Sample issues:

52.2, Welcoming Everyone

54.3, For the Love of Reading

56.4, The Particular Delight of Special Libraries

Sample interviews:

“History and the Work of Memory: An Interview with Luisa A. Igloria”

“Painting out of the Past: An Interview with Jay S. Paul”

Cy and I rapidly hit upon the idea of having themed issues. We actively promoted and solicited for submissions to these. For each issue, themed or not, we took turns or collaborated to provide an opening statement bringing the issue together.

This job often required a great deal of developmental editing. Since it was a professional journal rather than a newsletter, we sought a somewhat more formal style of writing. While many articles arrived in near-perfect condition, others held a more colloquial style and underwent rewrites. Cy and I also conducted interviews, wrote additional articles and book reviews, and covered sessions at VLA conferences (as well organizing coverage of other sessions from volunteers).

We worked to a deadline, as the journal was mailed to the entire membership on a quarterly schedule. From the beginning, often by email, sometimes by phone, Cy and I discussed each issue and the articles we had in mind (ones we’d solicit, or write, or had received over the transom), including our progress, division of labor, issues that arose, etc. We each solicited and/or developed articles by others, as well as conducting interviews and writing articles and book reviews. We each did the copyediting for the articles we’d brought in, and divided the editing for those that came in on their own. For each issue, one or both of us would create an introduction, which often became an article in itself.

While Cy and I did contribute book reviews from time to time, for many years the journal was fortunate to have a book review column organized by Sara B. Bearss and written by staff at the Library of Virginia. When Sara retired, Cy and I took on the task of organizing this column as well.

Throughout, Cy and I were always brainstorming future articles and special issues, which we would discuss and plan along with our ongoing work. Once we decided upon a theme and timeframe for a special issue, we would announce it in our introduction and put out several calls for submissions to the membership via the newsletter (while that was still in operation) and the general VLA listserv.

As coeditors of the journal, we were also part of the VLA Council and would attend their quarterly meetings and provide them with reports. We also found it helpful to announce upcoming themed issues and general calls for submissions, asking the council members to spread word among their contacts.

Cy and I set a timeline for each issue, though we did have a certain amount of flexibility. We needed a schedule so we could follow up with people who planned to provide articles (who might have queried us, or whom we might have asked to write about a topic they’d engaged with recently). We also needed to schedule times for interviews and make sure we received books we’d be reviewing (and, later, coordinate this with the other reviewers as well).

For the articles written by others, I would send changes back to the authors for approval wherever and whenever needed. Some articles only needed light copyediting; others might go through a few rounds of revision with the authors. Sometimes I requested additional content, including images or more exploration of an interesting point. I had a lot of background in this sort of work from my time as editor for The Mariners’ Museum.

Once Cy and I had everything ready, I assembled all the content into a big file and did a final copyediting sweep. For issues that included conference coverage, both of us selected images from those provided by VLA’s official conference photographer, Pierre Courtois. Many articles had visual elements as well. I sent all of these things to our graphic designer. The graphic designer sent us galley proofs. Both Cy and I reviewed the galleys, and I did the final proofreading. Once all changes had been made, the graphic designer sent the issue to the printer, along with the VLA mailing list, so the issue got mailed directly to the members.

The mailing list included extra copies sent to both Cy and myself (we specified the number we needed per issue). When the issues came back from the printer, I mailed copies to contributors I’d worked with, including those who were not members of VLA, such as the interviewees and subjects of book reviews. Cy did the same.

-

Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association

SFPA provides detailed guidelines to all editors, covering the expectations of work to be performed and deadlines for all aspects, such as when/how submitters will be notified of acceptance/rejection, delivery of the content to the graphic designer, publication dates etc. The selected editor agrees to these terms.

Eye to the Telescope, Arthuriana

Issue 27, Jan. 2018

Eye to the Telescope is the online journal of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association.

Each issue focuses on a theme proposed by that particular guest editor. To become a guest editor, you submit a proposal to SFPA with information about your suggested theme as well as your credentials. Once you’re accepted, SFPA gives you a slot and a timeline. Selected poems are purchased at the SFPA rate; there’s a budget cap for the issue, of which the editor must be mindful. 

SFPA continually refines its guidelines. Here are the current guidelines for guest editors of Eye to the Telescope (including how to apply for the job).

The editor is generally expected to help publicize the issue, including spreading the news through all professional and personal channels available to them, both to call for submissions and share news of the publication. The editor also has a chance to participate in nominating published works for awards, such as Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. Because Eye to the Telescope has a different guest editor per issue, each editor will submit suggestions from their issue, and the SFPA Executive Committee then decides what to nominate.

As submissions arrived, I evaluated them and decided whether to pass immediately or hold some for further consideration. Some editors send a blanket rejection at the end to all poets at once; this is probably a better workload than what I did. I sent individual responses as the poems arrived, for two reasons: in a few cases, I wanted to run a possible change past the poet with no pressure on either side; and by sending rejections as the works came in, I invited the poets to try again if they wished during the open submission period.

I did end up with a large core group of strong poems that I wanted to include. The existence of a budget cap meant I had to make quite a number of hard choices. However, all the poems in the issue are ones I absolutely loved.

As I accepted works, I got in touch with the poets immediately to make sure the work was still available and the terms acceptable. I had a shortlist longer than my ability to publish, just in case any declined (I notified these poets that their work was held on the shortlist). As soon as I had the contents firmed up, I sent regrets to the remaining poets whose works I’d held but couldn’t use.

Then I assembled all the poems and wrote an introduction for the issue. I proofread, getting in touch with the poets as needed, and sent the material to the webmaster to create the mockup. I shared this proof with the poets for their review. One of the poets raised a few concerns, which we addressed. And then the issue went live and I helped spread word about that (and got a chance to help nominate some of the poems).

Dwarf Stars 2022 (coedited with Greer Woodward)

As with ETTT, SFPA has guidelines for editors which are regularly updated. A link to the most current “Dwarf Stars editor guidelines” may be found here.

The editor of the annual Dwarf Stars anthology is also the chair for that year’s Dwarf Stars Award. The anthology itself is the voting tool for the award. So achieving the deadline is imperative.

SFPA has set a specific nomination period when submissions may be sent (open from April 1-May 1). (This has since been revised so that people can send nominations any time using a form, as well as submit directly to the editor during the open submissions period). Anyone may nominate as many works as they like by anyone (including themselves), provided the work was first published in the previous year as a poem of 10 lines or less (100 words or less for a prose poem) containing speculative content (with the broadest definition of speculative).

Although many nominations did come in via email, the editors are expected to be familiar with a broad range of work published, to scour both literary and speculative journals for eligible works, and to be sure to consider the global field of speculative poetry. We did our best to peruse all the journals we could from around the world. From the very beginning, I reached out to both literary and speculative contacts and venues to spread word of the submissions period and request journals from editors.

Excerpts from the introduction [with additional comments in square brackets & italics]:

We sought far and wide to find qualifying poems, reaching out to organizations, editors, individual poets, and lovers of speculative verse. From 88 individuals who sent their own work and that of others, we received nominations that resulted in 1,371 qualifying poems covering the work of 408 separate poets and multiple issues of 171 journals and anthologies. As part of this mix, we ourselves carefully reviewed and collected work from multiple issues of 78 different magazines, and consulted all the SFPA members’ Rhysling-eligible files.

[These are files prepared for the Rhysling Award; some members had Dwarf Stars eligible poems but did not submit these works directly to us.]

Every single poem, as well as the cover art, was carefully rated by both of us and rose to the high spot through multiple rounds and styles of voting and discussion. Since we had such a large pool of poems we both loved, we found ways to showcase not only our convergence, but also where we shine as individual editors […]. We also decided to include one work per poet, so we might include as many poets as possible. Ultimately, we selected 120 small-but-mighty poems […] from multiple issues of 55 different publications, journals, anthologies, and collections. Our poets bring the world to us, currently hailing from Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, and more. We’re so grateful to cover artist Elisabeth Alba, who created Oberon, the Wizard Cat. We did a lot of looking to find him, scrolling through 700 or more images […].

[I leaned heavily on my membership in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, particularly the Illustrators Gallery, in which I also take part. The fact that I was a fellow member helped when I reached out to our shortlisted artists and inquired whether they’d be amenable to their work being used for our cover. Our first choice, Elisabeth Alba, a pro artist frequently published by Llewellyn,agreed in part because SFPA is a nonprofit.]

A number of the poems we wanted to include were ones we found rather than having sent to us. And some of those sent to us were nominated by others, not the poet. So we did have to do some legwork to find some of the poets. In many cases I reached out to the editors who’d published them. A few we were unable to reach by the tight deadlines we needed to meet. But we had such a long list of poems we wanted to include. In order to stay on schedule, I had to give deadlines by which we needed interested poets to respond to verify that the work was eligible, that it could be reprinted, and that they wanted us to do so, as well as be available to review the proofs. When the deadline passed for those we couldn’t reach, we contacted the next ones on the list.

We did have some technical difficulties with the official email address for submissions, which was set up to forward to the editors’ actual email addresses. Fortunately, some people got in touch with us through alternate routes to let us know that submissions were randomly bouncing from the official email address. But this meant that we needed to respond to all nominations immediately (rather than sending a blanket thank you) so that people were aware of whether their messages had reached us.

Considering this number of poems was challenging for a number of reasons—including not only the agreement of two editors, but multiple nominations for the same works. I created spreadsheets galore to tackle everything, including whether we’d responded to people who’d nominated work, titles and publication details for nominated works, who sent it, and the contact details for everyone involved. And then, whether it had been selected, whether we’d let the poet know, and whether they’d agreed, etc.

I created massive files of eligible works for both of us to consider and vote on. We held several rounds of voting as we narrowed down our selections. (We did the same with our potential cover art—which has the earliest deadline.)

With the acceptance letters, we asked the poets to confirm or provide an official copy of their work. I assembled these into one big file and proofread, getting in touch with the poets as needed, and giving them all a chance to review their work at multiple proof stages. Meanwhile, Greer and I created the introduction for the book. Then I sent everything to SFPA’s graphic designer, F. J. Bergmann. In addition to Greer and myself reviewing the proofs, I sent them out for the poets to review and passed on the changes. We were up against the deadline and had a lot of proof reviews at the last minute.

I also wrangled the mailing addresses for all the included poets to receive their contributor copies. When there were issues, there was some back and forth with me acting as go-between.

I obtained and passed on information about contributors’ discounts and postage breaks if ordered before printing. I was told that there were quite a lot of additional orders for this edition of Dwarf Stars.

Dwarf Stars 2022 contains truly exceptional work. Please check out the winners and honorees here.

It’s well worth mentioning that in addition to taking second place in the 2022 Dwarf Stars Award for his poem “Colony,” Jamal Hodge is the first black man to win or place in the competition.

[ikoninovelist]

Paradox Mon - The Past (and Future) in our Present!

The Open Source Tech Festival of Phoebe city was absolutely abuzz with activity this weekend. People have come from around the world, dressed in their finest “nerd” chic. Linux’s iconic Eiscue, Tux, adorns bags, jackets, and banners as attendees make their way from panel to panel.

I have the singular honor of interviewing Professor Montague, one of our region’s foremost experts on Paradox Pokemon. He is a grizzled figure. Far older than one would expect for someone speaking on a phenomenon so recently discovered, but he seems more than comfortable as he sits down to speak with me. After introductions I, of course, begin with the foremost question on everybody’s mind.

Q: “What do Paradox Pokemon have to do with Open Source tech?”

A: “Paradox Pokemon, whether past or future have a lot to teach us. Future Paradox pokemon are the most obvious. They give us a glimpse into what we will achieve in the future. By studying future Paradox mon we can help ourselves along a bit more smoothly, hopefully avoiding whatever pitfalls we might have otherwise run into. While the relevance of past Paradox mon isn’t as clear, it is, I promise, very relevant.  The evolution of tool usage greatly parallels our relationships with the world around us, including, perhaps especially, pokemon. Technology is a tool, and tools are technology, so by studying Pokemon from the past, we can hopefully come to a greater understanding of how our own technological evolution took place.”

Q: “Do you mean to say that Pokemon are tools?”

A: “Oh certainly not! Perish the thought! Pokemon are our partners, and therefore our own progress must accommodate for their own unique physiologies. The question is not, how were the pokemon used, so much as, how do the pokemon inform the advancements we have made and will make in the future.”

Q: “Are you concerned about any sort of disruption in the timeline due to these studies?”

A: “Hardly. I think the universe is better at self-correction than we are at fouling it up! Besides which, the Purrloin is already out of the bag, so to speak. It is up to us as scientists to ensure these studies are done as safely and ethically as possible.”

Q: “Do you have a favorite Paradox Pokemon?”

A: “Perhaps a bit unoriginal, but I am quite fond of Iron Treads. It might look a bit menacing, but truthfully they’re actually awfully gentle beasts if given the right enrichment and environment.”

Q: “Do you have any advice for trainers who have, or looking to acquire a Paradox Pokemon of their own?”

A: “Good heavens! I honestly wouldn’t suggest trainers pick up any such pokemon so recently discovered. We still know so little about them! Alas, I suppose many trainers already have managed to get ahold of them.

My advice is, first of all, your local pokemon center will likely not have information specific to your Paradox mon’s physiology. They do have the resources to get answers to those questions, such as we have any, but you may be waiting a bit longer than usual during Center visits. 

Second, if your Paradox mon’s temperament seems a bit extreme, try contacting Pokeroid Central. They are a fantastic resource for the creatures, though I for one am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we can communicate with them at all!

Finally, if you find that you are unable to care for your Paradox mon, it is very VERY important that you do not simply release them! Neither should you leave them at a shelter. We still know so little about these fascinating creatures. Your local shelter may not be equipped to handle them, and releasing them into the wild could have catastrophic consequences for the ecology of your region. Instead, please take them to a Pokemon Center where they have the tools to send them to a facility that will best suit their needs.”

Q: “Thank you so much for your time, Professor. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?”

A: “The world is wondrous and her secrets are immeasurable. In the interest of progress we can always use more curious minds to ask questions and study her mysteries. Paradox mon only scratch the surface of what there is to learn, so never stop being curious!”

//idk if @pokeroid-central is still active, but I wanted to give them a shoutout

[longwuzhere]

Here are some cool Easter eggs that I found the newest My Adventures with Superman episode, "My Interview with Superman" Links to my first two easter egg posts for episode 1 and 2 are here and here.

Link to my episode 4 easter egg post is here

Link to my episode 5 easter eggs post is here

Link to my episode 6 easter eggs post is here

Link to my episode 7 easter eggs post is here and here

Link to my episode 8 easter eggs post is here

Link to my episode 9 easter eggs post is here

Link to my episode 10 easter eggs post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

SPOILERS if you have not seen the episode of course:

We start off the episode with an Amazo Tech blimp crashing into a building in Metropolis

You don't see a lot of blimps in Metropolis. Gotham is usually the one with a lot of blimps flying around. If you saw the episode on Adult Swim when it premiered on air you'll know that the next episode involved Professor Anthony Ivo and Amazo Tech. Throughout the previous episodes and this one, the Amazo Tech brand is shown to set up next week's episode. After the scene we go to a break in at Stryker's Island (more on that location later) as we see one of the villains for the episode Mist...

and one of his partners...

Rough House who are trying to break out...

Siobhan McDougal. If you know your Superman comics, you'll also know here as Silver Banshee.

Kyle/Mist is a VERY old DC supervillain from the 1940s who first appeared in Adventure Comics #47 (1941) as the arch villain to Starman. Mist's design in the comics is RADICALLY different from the show.

MAwS modernized Mist's design compared to here in these comics panels (W: Alfred Bester, P&I: Jack Burnley, C: Raymond Perry, L: Betty Bentley). In the comic Mist's power allows him to turn his body into a gaseous form thus the name. MAwS uses Mist as someone who can turn himself and objects invisible (lowkey when Mist showed up I was like "is that Luminus from Superman the Animated Series?") Fun fact in the comic, we don't know what Mist's last name is. All we know is that his name is Kyle and in the show that is what Rough House calls him on accident but at least he has a last name, McDougal in MAwS.

Rough House makes his first appearance in Adventures of Superman #544 (1997) (W: Karl Kesel, P: Stuart Immonen, I: José Marzán Jr., C: Glenn Whitmore & Digital Chameleon, L: Albert DeGuzman) where we see him rip open a door with his bear hands as a member of Intergang (more on them later).

Siobhan McDougal aka Silver Banshee makes her first appearance here in Action Comics 595 (cover by John Byrne). In the comics Silver Banshee's powers are a lot different than how MAwS does it. Comics Silver Banshee has the Banshee Curse giving her powers like flight, super strength, a death stare, and of course her signature thing, the Death Wail, a sonic scream that can knock someone into a coma or it outright kills them. The version in the show gives Silver Banshee her signature sound manipulation powers through a mask...

which kind of invokes her comic counterpart's skull face design.

Mist and Rough House break into Stryker's Island to free Mist's sister Silver Banshee (in the comics Mist and Silver Banshee have no familial connection). Stryker's Island makes its first appearance in Superman #9 (1987) (W&P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tom Ziuko, L: John Costanza) where Joker arrives in Metropolis to challenge Superman. Stryker's Island is supposed to be a stand in for Riker's Island in New York even though there is a Riker's Island in the DC Universe because Metropolis is often a reflection of New York City.

The next Easter egg is the scene after where Lois name drops Waid's Cafe as a reference to...

Mark Waid, one the best writers in the comic book industry. In terms of DC work, you might recognize his writing credit on Flash with artist, Brian Augustyn (we miss you Brian), Kingdom Come with painter, Alex Ross, and Superman Birthright with artist, Leinil Yu (highly recommend checking out all three titles). He's also currently writing for Batman/Superman: Worlds Finest with artist Dan Mora, which I also HIGHLY recommend reading. Fantastic writer, super nice person if you ever meet him at a convention.

Later, Jimmy is heard screaming "back you monsters" and we see some more of the Daily Planet staff...

From left to right its Cat Grant (doing the anime high society lady laugh), who runs the celebrity and gossip side of the paper, Steve Lombard, who reports on sports, and Ronnie Troupe, the investigative journalist on the team. Their names were mentioned in the previous episode after taking Lois, Jimmy, and Clark's credit for the Superman piece.

Cat Grant make her first appearance here in the Adventures of Superman #424 (1987) (W: Marv Wolfman, P: Jerry Ordway, I: Mike Machlan, C: Tom Ziuko, L: John Costanza) as a potential love interest to Clark to shake up the Clark-Lois-Superman dynamic. You might've seen her in the live action CW Supergirl show. Like in MAwS, in the comics Cat does the gossip columns writing for the Daily Planet.

Steve Lombard makes his first appearance in Superman #264 (1973) (W: Cary Bates, P: Curt Swan, I: Murphy Anderson) as a foil to Clark Kent. Steve acts very brash and rude to contrast Clark's mild manner and friendly demeanor. Later iterations of Steve give him the mustache that becomes part of his signature design.

In MAwS, Ronnie Troupe is a gender swap of Ron Troupe in the comics who makes his first appearance in the Adventures of Superman #480 (1991) (this page specifically, W: Jerry Ordway, P: Tom Grummett, I: Denis Rodier, C: Glenn Whitmore, L: Albert DeGuzman). Like his MAwS counterpart, Ron is an investigative journalist and very level headed. He was the first to break the story about Cyborg Superman meeting the then PoTUS, Bill Clinton.

A news report on TV in the Daily Planet shows Bethany Snow of Channel 52 News reporting about the break out in Stryker's Island. The logo for Channel 52 News reminds me very much DC's 2005 logo.

As for Bethany Snow and Channel 52 News, Bethany made her first appearance in the New Teen Titans #22 (1982) (W: Marv Wolfman, P: George Perez, I: Romeo Tanghal, C: Adrienne Roy, L: Ben Oda) as a news reporter and follower of the Brother Blood cult.

Later iterations and retcons had Bethany Snow as just a reporter where she does the Channel 52 news in the back end of DC comic titles in 2013.

Freddie E. Williams II is the artist for these as Channel 52 was way to let readers know what is happening in other DC titles that they might want to check out with other DC characters reporters accompanying Bethany as seen in the promotional art with Vartox, Ambush Bug, and Calendar Man. Obviously MAwS redesigned Bethany Snow but they at least kept her occupation.

A quick one but we see Lois call Clark "Smallville" a nickname that has been used in various media involving Clark and Lois.

After news report on TV, we cut to Siobhan, Kyle, and Rough House in their hide out where they name drop their group name, Intergang.

In the comics and other media, Intergang is a world wide crime syndicate who is supplied with powerful high tech weaponry from the evil New Gods of Apocalypse, if you know your DC universe, that is everyone is Darkseid's circle. Intergang first appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 (1970) created by LEGENDARY artist Jack Kirby.

Here in Forever People #1 (1971) (W&P: Jack Kirby, I: Vince Coletta, L: John Costanza), you can see they have direct contact with Darkseid. Originally led by Morgan Edge, later versions of Intergang had leadership change from Joe Danton to Max Danner. Post-crisis, Intergang is led by Bruno Mannheim (the Intergang boss that I am familiar with), his father Moxie Mannheim would later lead Intergang. Current continuity in DC has Bruno still be the leader of Intergang.

In the episode we learn that MAwS version of Intergang is very small time. Siobhan, Kyle, and Rough House rob convenience stores and make smash and grab runs. But maybe MAwS will move Intergang in the criminal syndicate direction in the future who knows.

After the Intergang scene we cut to Lois, Jimmy and Clark walking up to the front of Stryker's and Jimmy mentions something interesting about convincing the warden to spill on the government's... (read Jimmys quote in the screenshot to complete the sentence)

The term meta-human has its roots in the DC Universe if you did not know! The term was first used here in Invasion #1 (1988) (W: Keith Giffen and Bill Mantlo, P: Todd McFarlane, I: P. Craig Russell, C: Carl Gafford, L: Gaspar Saladino)

In the comic, the Dominators discover that certain humans have what is known as the meta-gene which grants them powers when under a lot of duress and so to test this they rounded up a group of humans and experimented on them with only 6 surviving who gained powers. The Dominators conclude that the human population must be eliminated or there will be a rise in meta-humans on Earth.

How does the government, according to Jimmy, connect to all this. is a possible nod to one of the plot points in Doomsday Clock where the idea that 90% of DC's meta-humans are from the US and they have been engineered by the government. This conspiracy, in the comic is known as the Superman Theory.

This here is one part of the back matter you can read at the end of Doomsday Clock # 5 (2018) (W: Geoff Johns, P&I: Gary Frank, C: Brad Anderson, Back Matter Design: Amie Brockway-Metcalf). Later the trio, specifically Lois, steals the warden's ID badge and were able to access where Siobhan was kept. On the ID the warden's name is Agatha Zorbatos, who's first appearance in the comics was in Batman #23.4 (2013), as the warden of Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham

Obviously her design in the comic is drastically different from how she looks in the show. The one on your right is from Batman Eternal #4 (2014) (Story: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV, Script: John Layman, Consulting Writers: Tim Seeley & Ray Fawkes, P: Dustin Nguyen (my favorite comic book artist of all time), I: Derek Fridolfs, C: John Kalisz, L: Rob Leigh).

At the climax of the episode we see more of the alien crystal that Superman encountered last episode from the tech that MAwS Intergang used and it strangely looked familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if the animation team were fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion especially with the way the robots were designed in the first part of episode one and here how the crystal reshapes itself like the angel Ramiel. Also since I'm at my 30 image limit here and I can't post anymore, I also want to point out that the poster that Siobhan has in her cell was a cat with the words "Believe it" over its head I like to believe that is a Naruto reference because the dub has Naruto say "believe it" all the time. I guess I'm gonna be doing the Easter Eggs and references for each episode so expect this to be a weekly thing. I hope you all enjoy my doing this If you made it down here and want to see my first two easter eggs and reference posts for episodes one and two are here and here.

My post of episode three's easter eggs is here

My post of episode five's easter eggs is here

My post of episode six's easter eggs is here

My post of episode seven's easter eggs is here and here

My post of episode eight's easter eggs is here

My post of episode nine's easter eggs is here

My post of episode ten's easter eggs is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[dannyphantom-zero]

GOTHAMS BRAT 2

He ran to his apartment to drop off his new things and change into a more professional outfit before he ran down the crowded busy streets of Gotham.

As he arrived in front of the Stark Industry building he recalled the day he had been hired.

He had finished out highschool earlier than his peers after taking a couple courses in business and engineering. His school counselor strongly encouraged him to apply to an ivy League school.

Danny wouldn't hear any of it. He hated the thought of attending any college. Highschool had been more than enough.

The first thing he did after graduation was move away. He moved someplace new with fresh.

A city that's criminals never slept.

He had marched straight into a branch of Stark Industries with a blueprint in his hand and his high school diploma in the other.

The interviewer asked to see the blueprints to which the boy shook his head no.

"If you don't show me then I can't consider you for the job" the interviewer threatened.

Stark himself had been walking by when he heard something he liked. Stark had only come to Gotham because a new project had come to light.

So he listened in and quickly came to like the applicant.

"It would be stupid to let you see the blueprints, I'm not a sucker."

The interviewer pursed his lips.

"I have a better idea. If I can assemble the item in under five minutes, you have to hire me, then I'll show your boss the blueprint"

The interviewer grew red.

"No! Show me the blueprints! If you can't listen to your superior LEAVE! We have no use for the likes of you-"

"Actually, I think it's a terrific proposal" Stark said leaning against the door frame.

The teenager smiled. If he hadn't been given a chance back then to work at Stark he would have created his own company. A tough plan B for sure.

He made his way through the building and reported to the design room.

Lucky for him he was exactly on time. He sat at the table sketching out blueprints for something titled B tech. It was a secret task Stark had entrusted only him with.

Stark stood in a sound proof room with Bruce Wayne.

"Thanks Stark. This is the only place I could bring the car too. I'll be back tonight to pick it up." Bruce said.

"Don't worry about it Bruce, nobody will know"

Bruce shook Starks hand before leaving. Stark immediately headed towards the design room as soon as Bruce had left.

The car had been brought in the night before in secret and a tarp lay over it as it sat in a locked car repair station.

"Danny!"

The boy flinched before raising his head to see his bosses wide smile and overly optimistic demeanour.

"Morning boss" he said as he set his pencil down.

"Listen, I need you to fix up a car for me. And you have to keep this between me and you. I swear I'll pay extra for the job"

Danny smiled at the prospect of even more money.

"You have my word, and my address. I won't tell a soul" Danny said standing up.

As soon as the tarp was off the car Danny was in awe.

He didn't even want to touch it.

" Did you design this?!" Danny asked.

"Yes I did" Stark replied proudly.

"Its amazing!" Danny said examining it.

"It's outdated. I need you to reprogram it, modify it in a sense. I'll be back to see what you have done in a little while" Stark said leaving the boy to his devices.

Once Danny got past the fan boying he got to work. He had to peel up some panels and reprogram the circuit board. He thickened the wires and added a new piece of technology.

Danny worked for hours on the computer. Finally Danny took a step back. He touched a button and the cars exterior became of blanket of camouflage.

He had used state of the art technology that reflected the area around it. This way, Batman (Danny squeals), could hide his car.

Danny went under the car and tinkered with its engine. Danny had just finished adding the boosters and the cooling fans so it didn't overheat and catch fire.

Of course it was costed with a special paint that was impossible to catch on fire, but Danny didn't want to take any chances.

The sound of footsteps approaching the car made Danny excited. He popped out from under the car, ready to show his boss what he had done.

Instead he saw a strange man standing in Starks place.

"Who are you?!"

[vex-verlain]

Escapade Online 34.5 will take place next weekend (July 13th and 14th, 2024)! If you enjoy fandom and slash, please consider registering for this online slash convention! (Registration is $20; here's the expected programming.)

Online cons are so important to those of us who are disabled or otherwise unable to travel. I had been participating in fandom for over 20 years before I attended my first virtual convention in 2021. Though I realize the importance of in-person conventions, I hope online conventions are here to stay—especially since the two can peacefully co-exist!

More information about Escapade can be found below the cut.

Escapade is a fan-run convention for slash fans that has been taking place in person for more than 30 years, with fans meeting in hotels up and down the southern and central Californian coast. Since 2021, there has been at least some virtual component of the con, allowing fans from all over the world to attend. In addition to the traditional in-person convention, Escapade's concom hopes to also have a mid-year online con going forward, but in order to do that they need people to attend!

There are currently three panel tracks: fandom-specific, meta/general, and tech/workshop/alternative.

Fandom-specific panels focus on a particular canon. Some of the fandoms represented at last year's online convention were D&D: Honor Among Thieves, Interview with the Vampire, Kinnporsche, MCU, The Old Guard, Our Flag Means Death, The Professionals (1977), Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Star Trek, Ted Lasso, Teen Wolf, Transformers, and The Untamed.

Meta/general panels cross fandom lines or focus on fans and fandom. "Bechdel Variations," "How to Keep Your Fandom Alive & Vibrant," and "The Writers’ Strike and Fandom" are a few of the meta/general panels from last year's online convention.

Tech/workshop/alternative panels are more instructive (vidding, fan/web integration, writing, etc.) or don't quite fit into the other two categories. "Accessibility in Fandom," "Fanfic Book Binding," and "Manage Your Ebooks with Calibre" are a few of the tech/workshop/alternative panels from last year's online convention.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil can expand foreign trade and increase port efficiency

Rethinking business on a global scale and improving relations with Latin American countries are essential for the sector's expansion

Rethinking the business to become more attractive in the global market, investing in decarbonization to increase port efficiency, and strengthening Brazil's relations with Latin American countries to expand trade are some of the points raised by executives interviewed by A Tribuna at TOC Americas 2024. The event, one of the largest in the sector, has been held in Panama since Tuesday and will conclude this Thursday (3).

In parallel to the lectures and panel discussions, the Tech TOC conference offers sessions focused on technology and a trade fair where participants can learn about the latest innovations in the sector.

Grupo Tribuna is represented at the meeting by port consultant Maxwell Rodrigues, who regrets the absence of authorities from Brazilian public ports at the event. He believes the gathering is an opportune moment to attract investments from foreign companies.

Leonardo Levy, Director of Investments for the Americas at APM Terminals and columnist for A Tribuna, notes that the Federal Government shows interest “in understanding how the port system operates abroad, but needs to be more present.”

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