#anti donna paulsen
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I made suits Barbie posters! (No spoilers im on season 8 PLEASE-)
sorry for the anti katrina shit she’s just kinda on my nerves rn
#suits tv#suits#harvey specter#mike ross#rachel zane#donna paulsen#jessica pearson#louis litt#anti katrina bennet
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suits
my favorite female character: donna paulsen for sure but also scottie and jessica
my favorite male character: harvey unfortunately ljhgfdsa
my favorite book/season/etc: i never really rewatched the whole show so i’m bad with this but season 3 and 4?
my favorite episode (if its a tv show): the one that comes to mind is when harvey tells donna ‘you know i love you donna’ and then (i think it’s the next one or later in that one???) she quits and is like ‘i love you harvey’ THESE BITCHES
my favorite cast member: patrick is fun but also gabriel, the two of them supreme
my favorite ship: darvey, mike/rachel, scarvey
a character I’d die defending: SCOTTIE MORE PEOPLE NEED TO LOVE HER
a character I just can’t sympathize with: i’m blanking but but daniel hardman yeah what a bastard
a character I grew to love: louis lkjhgfdsa he’s like your annoying cousin that you want to smack at every chance but when someone else does it you’ll go to war
my anti otp: katrina and the intern i forgot his name lmao the married one just no dude
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I did a ~selective viewing of some Suits episodes to do a refresher before jumping in and finally watching the last season... I'm determined to do it because I want to see where a lot of these people's stories went (Louis, Louis/Sheila, Samantha, Katrina, Alex...).
But just the premiere has made more aware than ever of how much I LOATHE Donna. And Darvey. Neither can be on screen without me making this exact face:
[ID: the queen on Brave making a disgusted involuntary expression at her food’s taste.]
I hate her Karma Houdini ass more than ever istg. She massively screws up like once per season, yet nothing happens to her as a consequence, because she's Awesome TM and people aren't allowed to disagree or dislike her, ever (that investigator who refused to work for the film when Donna was a bitch to her and then refused to be convinced to talk in their favor... where are you babe ilu. Same to Anita Gibbs and oh so many
delightful antagonists. Hardman deserves to ruin her life for what she did to Robert, period. The bf she just cheated on should get to be a bitch at the very least).
What's worse, her last stunt not only didn't have negative consequences for her, but it caused MY MAN ROBERT ZANE to be disbarred and damage his reputation (likely irreparably, though I’m hoping that’s not the case and I’m going to choose to believe it even if it’s post-series) to save her and Harvey's asses.This in turn harmed the firm that Alex and Samantha just put their names on, hurting Samantha’s reputation as Robert’s right hand, and caused Louis to lose control of the firm. But none of them are allowed to even be mad at her for it, because It’s Donna. Samantha is within her fucking rights to tear into her but she must make peace with her; it must be understood that Louis worships the ground she walks on (although thankfully lately it’s just words, as he relies far more on literally everyone else -Sheila, Katrina, his therapist, Alex, Robert, Harvey...), Robert can’t be mad and instead must be seeking ~redemption, etc.
One thing that made me FURIOUS though, it’s her call to Rachel at the beginning of the episode. Rachel, her so-called closest friend, and the daughter of the man whose life she just ruined. And she calls her and leaves a message in her voicemail (which I’m choosing to believe as Rachel not picking up because as far as she’s concerned, they’re not on speaking terms), to cheerfully inform her that’s she’s finally worn down the man she obsessively obsessed about for over a decade to fuck her a second time. Hoo-fucking-ray. What the fuck is wrong with her that she calls Rachel to tell her that, right now??
Which leads me to what I can’t stand about the situation. It’s not like the show is pretending that Donna and Harvey are the Ultimate Romance, the writing is consistent and all (LOL at the fact that Louis caught them the morning after, saw Harvey in last night’s clothes... and thought they’d being working all night because the idea is so unthinkable lmao. And some narrative choices are VERY ON POINT, like the fact that things happen in Donna’s appartment and not Harvey’s -where everything about his romantic life has been front and center-, or how Harvey isn’t even allowed to be mad that Donna was still involved with another man without his knowledge when they slept together, something that to the Harvey we knew in the show, would’ve made him feel like shit and angry as hell), but the narrative of Harvey Finally Sees How Awesome Donna Is And That She’s Always Right And Should Be In Charge of Every Facet of His Life... jfc. I hate it here!!
They are living proof of the fact that I hate the Relentless Pursuer trope no matter what genders involve it, I guess, but at what cost. AT WHAT COST I SAY DDDD: I feel terrible for him ugh.
#talking to the void#my thoughts#suits thoughts#suits#suits usa#antidarvey for ts#anti darvey#anti donna paulsen#antidonnapaulsen for ts#rachel zane#robert zane#harvey specter#i'm so sorry this happened to you babe#samantha wheeler#bitter lau tag#i hate her so much i'm now putting
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I dont even know the character but if your Donna rants are as amusing as your Dumbledore rants, then Id love to hear them
Your kindness is much appreciated, anon. Honestly, Donna Paulsen isn't nearly on the level of someone like Albus Dumbledore. She would probably hate him. Hard to say, given how different their worlds are. Still, there are many different ways for a character to frustrate the audience. Donna isn't a horrible person. She's just...very annoying.
The main issue is that she is one of those characters that the show simply refuses to call out on her nonsense. In fact, it really, really wants you to like her, and attempts to portray her as this flawless superhero, this total badass...and it does this mostly through her own mouth. Half of her lines are just her stating that she's "awesome" usually because she figures things out or already knows things about other people. She always acts like she knows everything and tells other people what's right and wrong. So it's sort of like BBC's Sherlock in that sense. This would already be something that could get old after a while, but what truly kills Donna's likeability is how she totally doesn't actually meet that standard, like, at all. She massively fucks up all the time. At least once per season. It would be one thing if she grew from these incidents, or her portrayal changed because of them. But this doesn't happen. Every time, the show either A) treats her as the victim, B) tries to argue that she was right, or C) goes with the interpretation that yes, she was wrong, but it's a one time thing, and shouldn't be held against her with all of the good that she's done. Seriously, the line "One mistake in thirteen years." Comes up in Season 7 and I have to say...really?
In Season 1, she goes behind Harvey's back on the Cameron Dennis case, a betrayal that upsets him so much that he considers firing her. All she says in response is "You're welcome." In Season 2, she shreds that document and gets fired for it. She never accepts responsibility for this and to the end, keeps insisting that she did it for Harvey. In Season 3...eh, I'll give her a pass on the whole Stephen thing. He fooled everyone. But Season 4, oh boy. The Liberty Rail fiasco is one of her worst outings, especially considering that at the end of it all, Harvey got her out of it...and then she left him and went to work for Louis. And all because *checks clipboard* he wasn't sure if wanted to be more than friends? She literally just hires herself back as Harvey's secretary when Mike gets caught. "You saying you're coming back to me?" Uh Harvey, you do realize that you get a say in that? In Season 6, she has the whole "The Donna" storyline, which is...probably the worst arc on the show. It is just so beyond pointless. It reeks of seasonal rot. In Season 7, she gets herself appointed C.O.O. by using reverse psychology and asking for a Partnership she knows she can't have, and causing all kinds of drama...instead of just, y'know, asking. Then she kisses Harvey while he's dating Paula. And has the nerve to criticize how he reacts, and the choices he's made in his relationship. In Season 8, she breaks privilege for personal, selfish reasons...and gets away scot free. Harvey doesn't even care that she betrayed him at this point, he just minds that she "lost faith in him." And this? This is what ultimately gets them together? Please.
I stopped caring about Harvey and Donna's "will they/won't they" in Season 5. It was definitely the season that gave them the most development, before hitting the damn reset button by having Donna hire herself back. Because every "will they/won't they" ends the same way - yes, they will, in the last few episodes or the finale. Harvey and Donna's relationship in Season 9 was wholesome, sure. But it was too little, too late. In general, Donna has a lot of issues about her contributions to the firm. She feels unappreciated, clearly, because half of her lines are just her demanding other people (usually Harvey) recognize what she's done. Even after she found out that he paid her salary and even gave her raises that no other secretary got. There's definitely something to be said about Donna being led to believe she was more important than she is. That clearly affected her and they could have done something interesting if they explored it more. But I think all of the examples I provided are proof that she can be selfish. She loves to dig in her heels and insist that she's put Harvey first again and again for years. Trouble is...I can remember a lot of times she said this, but not that many times that she actually did it. Her actions speak louder than her words. She just feels like a very clear example of a character who the story really wants you to like, and practically instructs you to. Rose Tyler also comes to mind. Yet I don't feel like Donna came close to earning the pedestal that she was placed on.
The other characters made mistakes as well, but they were treated as human beings, not superheroes.
#Suits USA#Suits TV#Suits#Donna Paulsen#Harvey Specter#Darvey#Anti Donna Paulsen#Not exactly#Anti Darvey#But I'll tag it as such just in case
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Donna Paulsen has done more damage to that law firm than anyone else on the show. How many times has she screwed up and had everyone else sacrifice and cover for her? She never takes responsibility for her own stupidity and selfishness.
Also I miss Jessica!
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(Warning: anti Darvey and anti Donna. If you are a fan of either of those, you won’t like it.)
Tbh the main reason why I can’t stand Darvey is that Harvey is totally not into it. And the reason why I am so mad about this kiss is that Donna jumped him as a last resort in the hope that a True Love Kiss will make him come to his senses and realize that they are soulmates.
Donna knows how she feels, and in spite of all the denial and how she refuses to take the hint, she also knows that Harvey doesn’t want her. Her reaction? Kissing him to see if he changes his mind.
“No” doesn’t mean “Take me, I’m just stupid” because he is a guy and she is ‘awesome’. Not letting him finish his sentences whenever he tries to say “I don’t want to be with you” doesn’t mean getting consent.
If Harvey was a woman and Donna was a man people would be losing their shit over this. Donna has always been super-intrusive, and as much as he did take advantage of the chance to lean on her, she wanted him to, she never took any of the chances she had to leave him (except when she went to work with Louis. He had accepted it and surprise surprise she chose to go back), she found hope into being useful to him, it helped her hiding in her delusion that he would someday see the light, and now that he realized that he couldn’t just leave things as they were without Donna demanding more, he tried not to rely on her anymore and as a result... she became even more invasive. And obsessed. She tried to cut herself a role into Harvey and Paula’s relationship when she came to his office. She kissed him in spite of knowing a) of his issues with cheating b) that he didn’t want that. Because he HAS to love her. He HAS to realize that they are soulmates. There’s no other option for her, they are MADE for each other and Harvey is just “not ready” to accept it, he’s being stubborn so in her mind Donna HAD to move things along, to MAKE him see.
I’ve seen people forever labelling men as Rapists, Abusers and The Literal Worst for less.
Harvey is not stupid, fucked-up or even simply wrong for not wanting Donna. He doesn’t owe her romantic love. Nobody owes romantic love to anybody. But Donna is wrong, fucked-up and imo pretty disgusting for not accepting “no” as an answer.
#and i now people are going to get mad at this but at this point i just needed to get it off my chest in my own words#anti darvey#anti donna paulsen#not spn#suits#suits 7x10#suits spoilers#my meta#complaining
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Anyway Donna and Harvey slept together once in the first like, year of their friendship, woke up in the morning, looked at each other, went ‘okay fun times. Felt like I was having sex with my cousin. We’re never doing that again.’ and then they didn’t.
#You know that scene in Jonathan Creek with Maddie and Jonathan going ‘nah that was weird’? Yeah#I got the sudden urge to watch Suits again after a year and I have Opinions#Suits#Harvey Specter#Donna Paulsen#anti Darvey#mine#yes i know they slept together when they first met i'm talking about after that
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I just got a flashback to that time in 'Suits' when whiter than white Donna said she was "black on the inside" and I cringed so hard I think I did myself an injury.
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“I want you in my life”
#Harvey x Scottie#Suits usa#Suitsedit#SuitsUsa#anti darvey#Harvey Specter#Dana Scott#Gabriel Macht#Abigail Spencer#Donna Paulsen#Sarah Rafferty#As Candyumbrella says#this show is not rocket science
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Ever since I began watching the good kind of television (not to sound anti-national but it was American), TV shows took precedence over movies in my life. They had longer and more stories to tell. They could experiment with characters, settings, relationships, and if you’ve watched Supernatural then you’ll know, even form and structure. Most importantly, they felt never-ending. You could curl up in bed with one that had a solid 5+ seasons, and it was escapist heaven. Alas, all good things, including good television, must come to an end. And this week, it was Suits, the series finale of which aired on Colors Infinity in India on September 26.
It was 2011. And of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) walked into the hotel suite where Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) was conducting associate interviews for Harvard attorneys. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now I know if either of them were reading this, they’d love how I slipped in the Casablanca reference in there. In fact, they might even argue over which one of them would be Humphrey Bogart (Harvey) and which one would be Ingrid Bergman (Mike). And that right there, the instant chemistry between Harvey and Mike, which eventually evolved into bromance, and finally brotherhood, to this day remains the heart of Suits for many. They’ve got that Tony Stark-Peter Parker vibe!
Suits started off as a cocky S.O.B, much like its primary lead, Harvey Specter. In fact, rarely have I seen a show’s trajectory share so many traits with its characters. In Season 1, Suits was fierce like Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), impatient like Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), incredibly smart and sassy like Mike Ross, intuitive like Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) and determined to prove itself like Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle).
People began watching Suits because Harvey’s alpha male was sexy, and his Batman and Robin act (banter et al.) with associate Mike Ross was fun. They watched it because they found Jessica and Donna to be formidable women that every man respected and every woman wanted to be. They watched it because Mike and Rachel’s love story was as hot as it was beautiful.
And now, eight years and nine seasons later, as we bid farewell to the firm that we’ve known by many names—Pearson Hardman, Pearson, Pearson Darby, Pearson Darby Specter, Pearson Specter, Pearson Specter Litt, Specter Litt, Zane Specter Litt, Zane Specter Litt Wheeler Williams, Specter Litt Wheeler Williams and Specter Litt Williams Bennett (final for five years at least)—it is incredible to see how these characters have evolved with the show’s storyline.
When we get to Suits Season 9 Episode 10, it’s the final lap of Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl) v. Faye Richardson (Denise Crosby). Despite Faye’s treacherous traps, the team manages to sidestep and pull one last con. In the end, it requires the best closer in town, Harvey Specter, to step into the ring. And since happy endings are a binding precedent when it comes to series finales, you know this means Faye is gone and all’s fine with Pearson Specter Wheeler Williams. Or is it? Because there’s a twist right around the corner. And the promos will tell you, as are two weddings and one childbirth!
It’s the bittersweet ending of your dreams, as you watch Harvey and Donna make a move to Seattle to be with Mike and Rachel, leaving the firm in the hands of some old and some new blood. It is a testament to the Season 9 storyline, about people facing the consequences of doing whatever it takes to win a case, that the naming partners we see at the end of the show are all at least willing to play by the book. But of course, the real moments worth focusing on has to be Mike ‘interviewing’ Harvey, putting his eidetic memory to excellent use by recreating his own interview all the way from Season 1! I dare you not to shed tears as you smile over this!
And then you’ll wish you had someone holding your hand like Donna held Louis’ as she bid goodbye.
In fact, I’ll go so far as saying that Harvey Specter may be a slick closer, but when it comes to series endings, fan service is the best closer in town. No matter how rushed and hurried or ridiculous your final season may appear, if the last ever episode is piled up with fan service moments, then you’re let off the hook. All a fan really wants is to have enough chances to relive it all and say goodbye. And that’s exactly what show creator Aaron Korsch gave us.
The final few episodes were brimming with callbacks to the earlier seasons. Dr Lipschitz (Ray Proscia) came back, Harvey teased Louis by calling him the Prince of England (a subtle nod to HRH the Duchess of Sussex, perhaps?). And all the casual ways Mike, Harvey and Donna brought up Mike’s fraud tied it all up in a nice bow. It felt nostalgic to revisit some of the badass lines Harvey has dropped over the years in the span of the last two episodes!
“Harvey’s maybe the best closer in the city. But I’m the best everything else.” (Louis Litt)
“I don’t play the odds. I play the man.” (Harvey to Louis after he got Faye to back down)
“When your back is up against the wall, break the goddamn thing down.” (Mike quoting Harvey to Robert Zane and Samantha)
“Life is this. I want this.” (Louis to Ted Tucker, when he was pretending to be Harvey)
via GIPHY
“What are your choices when someone puts a gun to your head? You take the gun, or you pull out a bigger one. Or, you call their bluff. Or, you do any one of a hundred and forty six other things.”
(Mike quoting Harvey back to Harvey)
For a show that’s about the cut-throat world of corporate law, Suits somehow managed to reiterate the ideas of friendship, loyalty and family with its extremely well-developed characters and their ever evolving relationships with each other. The final episode showed just how much they’ve evolved. It did feel like only Louis got to evaluate how far he had come with Dr Lipschitz in the episode. But you wouldn’t need a shrink to tell you how there was more love and respect than ever before between him and Harvey. Louis quoting A Few Good Men and Harvey letting him be the Goose to his Maverick (Top Gun reference he’d once shared with Mike) made my heart full!
via GIPHY
Even though she was new to the show, watching Samantha finally be rid of her baggage and ready to play the game with her new family and her old mentor, Robert Zane (a brilliant Wendell Pierce) by her side was touching. And so was Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) finally getting her due! It was reassuring to know that she and Alex Williams (Dulé Hill) would be there to keep Louis and Samantha in check.
It wouldn’t have been easy for Harvey to give up what he did, or to make a lifelong commitment in such a split-second decision. Over the latter course of the show, we’ve seen Harvey being told he’s gone soft. But we finally understand that it is his priorities and what he values most in life that has been changing for him. It helps him forgive his mother and realise his true feelings for Donna. He preferred to work alone at first and cared only about winning. Now, he was ready to move cities to work with his closest friend on cases that helped those in need. Harvey Specter had started caring.
Okay, I’ll admit, I wish some things were different. While it was a beautiful ceremony, I’m not too sold on the impromptu Darvey wedding, more so because Harvey and Donna should’ve known how pissed Louis would be to miss their special day. It’s not Harvey’s style. I’ve made my peace with the fact that there would never be another Meghan Markle appearance, and it makes it easier to then imagine that Rachel missed both Louis and Donna’s weddings. But I would've loved to see Jessica Pearson make an appearance at the event. Or if not that, then maybe a phone call to Harvey, while he was spending his last few minutes in his office. She was his mentor, and he was leaving the firm just as she had, in service of the greater good of the firm. Not even Mike would understand what that felt like.
And finally, I would’ve loved to know what Harvey and Donna’s ritual was with that can opener! Of course, we can’t get what we want. And that’s probably a good thing too. Can you imagine the tears that would come with that? The finale did seem to be moving at a doubly fast pace, patching arc endings wherever they could. And while it wasn’t exactly seamless, it was satisfying because it gave the fans enough reasons to smile and get mushy over it.
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I like all of your stories except for Gal Friday. I don't like the CEO and assistant set up and Sasuke seems out of character to me. I'm sorry. I don't really like the idea of Sasuke having previous relationships before Sakura because it is really out of character. I bet Sakura would not have had any relationships before Sasuke because that is how everyone writes these types of stories with the CEO and assistant AU. I guess that is the main reason why I don't like the story. I'm sorry again.
Part Two: I will be reading all your other stories because I think you are an excellent writer. It is just the Gal Friday story that I am going to avoid. I feel childish for doing so but I always defensive when Sasuke is portrayed as that way. I guess its a result of the anti fandom always saying that Sakura is being cheated on or something. Do you sometimes feel there is a type of story you don’t like either because of the premise?
No harm, no foul. I don’t expect everyone to like everything I write.
And under normal circumstances (read in the canon or any AU version of the shinobi world), I agree with you. Sasuke would not have relationships with anyone else but Sakura, because a) he wasn’t in the mindframe for it and b) even in a non-massacre AU he probably wouldn’t develop a connection with anyone until Sakura. As far as I’m concerned, they’re totally soulmates and would wait for each other.
But considering Gal Friday takes place in our modern world, it would not seem realistic if two adults hadn’t had previous relationships of some sort. Even in Japan, where they’re pretty traditional, most people have had a boyfriend or girlfriend before they start the adult portion of their lives. But the past relationships are not the focus of this story at all.
As for the CEO & Assistant trope, I totally get why you’re not a fan. I’m actually not a fan either, and when I started this story for SasuSaku Festival, this was the prompt that gave me the most trouble. Because generally, CEO & Assistant make Sasuke some kind of sex god and Sakura a wishy-washy, self-conscious virgin waiting for him to sweep her off her feet.
But then I remembered the awesomeness of Donna Paulsen from Suits, and the ideas just came to me. So for this story, I subverted that trope by focussing on traits from Sasuke and Sakura that weren’t explored much in the anime: namely, Sasuke’s general clueless nature when it comes to emotions and Sakura’s hyper-competency.
I’m…not quite sure how any of this leads to Sakura being “cheated on”, but whatever.
And yeah, there are certain types of stories that I definitely can’t do. Anything involving Omegaverse, non-con, and sadly, I can no longer stomach reading teacher/student fics unless they are very clearly set in a college/university setting.
Anyhow, hope you continue to enjoy the other stuff. There’s certainly a lot to choose from!
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Firm (Coming Soon To Theaters Near You)
In which Donna is a film star, Harvey is the best closer in Hollywood, Mike is a strange, strange child, and Rachel is Aaron Korsh.
Ships: Donna Paulsen/Rachel Zane, Mike Ross/Harvey Specter
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: References to anti-LGBT discrimination
Word Count: ~4.7K
For @suits100’s 43rd prompt.
It’s a hot, hazy night in Bel Air, and Harvey Specter-- agent, dealmaker, the greatest closer in L.A., the unofficial king of Hollywood-- is circling his next conquest like a hunter on the prowl. His chosen prey is an actress whom he wouldn’t have recognized before this party, but he decided to snatch her up as soon as she walked in with that flame-red hair and tossed him a knowing, challenging smile.
“I’m Harvey Specter,” he says, reaching out a hand.
She shakes it firmly and says, “I know. I was wondering how long it’d take you to work up the courage to introduce yourself.”
For a second, his usual schmoozing smile slips into something more genuine as he replies, “I assure you I don’t lack courage. I’d be glad to let you personally confirm that other qualities of mine aren’t lacking either.”
She chuckles. “I could take you up on that offer, but I can give you something even better.”
“You’re gonna invite a friend?” he says, raising an eyebrow and smirking. “Male, female, other-- I’m very open-minded.”
“No, I’m offering you me, as a client.”
“I’m not here to talk business--”
“First off, you’re always ready to talk business-- you haven’t taken a vacation in a good five years. Second of all, you’re definitely here to talk business tonight, because Travis Tanner just landed a major client, and you want to show him up and put him in his place.” He opens his mouth, and she says, “And before you ask, no, I’m not giving up my sources.”
He snorts. “How do you know all this?”
“I know everything. Specifically, I know that Stephen Huntley, my current agent, is on his way down, and that I need to find a winner to represent me going forward. I also know that you aren’t willing to both sleep with me and work with me, not after the Dana Scott debacle, which is why I’m telling you all this now and not over breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“You know how to act?”
“Undergrad degree at Tisch and the Lee Strasberg Institute, MFA in acting from Yale.”
He blinks, and she can see him re-evaluating. “Why me?”
“Because we’re both damn good at what we do and hungry for success. And because your former boss is directing one of the most interesting films I’ve heard of in my life, and I want an audition.”
“I’m not sending Jessica anyone but the best.”
“Good thing you’re sending me. And oh, I should introduce myself. I'm Donna.”
If Donna wasn’t as good as she was, she’d be alarmed at how quickly Harvey signs her upon looking into her previous work. But she is that sublimely, divinely good, and Jessica Pearson casts her in her period drama Firm soon afterwards. She’s in one of the starring roles, naturally.
By the sheer power of being Jessica Pearson, Jessica ties up funding, finishes hiring, and moves to the production stage surprisingly quickly, and Donna finds herself filming on location within weeks.
“Hi, I’m Rachel Zane, I’ll be showing you both around the mansion.”
Donna glances at one of the supporting actors, Michael Ross, a young man with golden hair and unfairly blue eyes, and momentarily rues the fact that her make-out scene’s with an entirely different actor.
“Wow,” Mike immediately replies to Rachel, “you’re pretty.”
Donna raises an eyebrow at him, but she also sneaks another look at Rachel. He’s not wrong. At all.
“Good,” Rachel says with a passive-aggressive smile that even Donna has to envy, “you’ve hit on me. We can get it out of the way that I am not interested.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t hitting on you--”
“Trust me, I’ve met dozens of up-and-coming actors and, without fail, whatever new hotshot it is thinks that, because I’m just an assistant, I will somehow be blown away by his dazzling smile, let me assure you I won’t. I don’t swing that way in the slightest.”
And then Donna looks back at Mike, who’s currently undergoing a revelation. “I was.”
“Mm-hmm,” Rachel says, sweet as syrup.
“I was hitting on you.”
“You were,” she coos like a particularly proud preschool teacher. “Now let’s go on with the tour.”
Scratch that. Rachel’s definitely the one Donna wants a make-out scene with.
Donna doesn’t appear in the first scene they shoot, so she stays in her dressing room, re-reading her lines, taking notes in her script. She hears a knock on the door.
“Come in!”
It’s Rachel, with a folder tucked under her arm. “Sorry to bother you, but Jessica just obtained some letters from the Archives of American Art that might help inform your choices in the teapot scene.”
“Wow, where does she find the time?”
Rachel smiles, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear. “Well, to be more precise, she told me to obtain them, and that’s exactly what I did.”
“You like research?”
She shrugs. “I’m very good at it, even if it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Before Donna can reply, a message comes through on their walkie-talkies: “Rachel, what’s your 20?”
“By the dressing rooms, I’ll be back up in two minutes,” she says before looking back at Donna. “Sorry, I gotta--”
“Yeah, go do what you need to do.”
“I’ll see you around.”
As she watches Rachel stroll away, Donna murmurs, “I’m looking forward to it.”
They dance around each other in one late-night research session after another. Finally, Donna asks Rachel out.
With a teasing smile, she says, “I was wondering how long it’d take you to finally make your move.”
“I knew you were wondering.”
“Did you know I already decided on my my answer?”
“Of course, and I wouldn’t have asked unless it was an enthusiastic yes.”
Once they finish shooting on-location, they head back to L.A. Donna lingers around the set one night after filming, reviewing the next day’s scenes. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Mike leaving his dressing room.
“You need help running lines?” As he passes behind her, he peers over her shoulder at her script. “I’ve got that scene memorized--”
“No, I’m fine,” she says. Then she catches the kicked-puppy look on his face and explains, “I have to go meet Rachel in a couple minutes anyway.”
“What are you doing?” he asks.
Donna considers telling him they’ll be doing something work-related, but she opts for honesty. “She insists Shunji has the best sushi in SoCal, so we’re going to go try it out.”
“Yeah, Shunji’s awesome. The omakase sets are upwards of a hundred dollars each, but so worth it.”
Donna raises an eyebrow. “Sounds good. She’s quite the foodie, so I’m excited to explore L.A. with her.”
“Hang on, is this-- is this a date?”
“Yeah, it is.”
She expects those innocent baby blues to fill with tears, but instead he grins broadly. “Hey, that’s great. You two enjoy your sushi, and I’m just gonna . . . go sleep.”
“Right.”
“At my apartment.”
“. . . Right.”
Mike hesitates for a second, then does an awkward finger-gun snap and stumbles away.
“Mike is such a strange child,” Donna says as she relates the whole scene to Rachel over sushi. “I don’t know how he functions!”
“My question is how he affords a omakase set. He doesn’t get steady work, to the best of my knowledge, and it’s even hard for me to buy this without falling back on Daddy’s credit card.” Rachel rolls her eyes.
“You’re an independent woman, huh?”
“That’s the aim,” she says. “It’s not always feasible, but I’m attempting to establish myself without relying on the name of ‘Robert Zane, famous producer.’”
“Speaking of establishing yourself . . . you never did tell me what you wanted to spend the rest of your life doing, if not research.”
Rachel chuckles, suddenly bashful. “It’s a little silly.”
“When I was younger, I wanted to grow up to be Joan Holloway. Try me.”
“Well, I’m a writer.” She pauses.
“And?”
“See, that was the jump scare, and this is the part where you run screaming.”
“I’m an actress, darling, it takes more than that to get rid of me. What do you write?”
“I’m interested in film in the long term, but right now I’m working on an idea for a TV show.”
“What kind of TV show?”
“A legal drama? It’s not a procedural exactly, or at least I don’t want it to be. It’s about these two characters, Jim and Reg, and Jim is a pothead but also a secret genius and Reg is a shark in the world of New York corporate law, and he decides to hire Jim as an associate-- that’s a junior lawyer-- except Jim doesn’t have an actual degree and-- oh god, I never explain this well.” She sinks her face into her hands.
“It sounds interesting,” Donna says with an encouraging smile.
“It doesn’t sound half as good as it is. I never know how to present it right.”
“Do you have any of it written?”
“I have a treatment, plus a pilot and detailed notes for the next three episodes, but I am not showing those to anyone in their current state.”
“All right, I’ll let you wiggle out of giving me details,” Donna says, “for now.”
Filming wraps up a few weeks later. Harvey immediately has Donna out doing auditions while Rachel stays with the project, helping Jessica with post-production. Still, the two women spend every possible night together.
“Ugh,” Rachel says, letting herself into Donna’s apartment one Friday night and collapsing immediately on her couch. “I’ve watched that damn teapot scene fifty times in the past eight hours.”
“Why?” Donna asks, pecking Rachel’s cheek and then taking a seat on the nearby ottoman.
“Jessica’s a worse perfectionist than I am, and so she is trying every possible combination of shots. If you weren’t in that scene, I would have put my fist through the screen by now.”
“Aww.”
“I’m serious! God knows I love everything about this film, even now, but I think your acting might be my favorite part.”
“Speaking of which--” Donna nudges Rachel’s leg with her foot-- “do you by any chance want to go out for drinks?”
“Maybe. Is there a particular reason?”
“Well, alcohol might help you scrub the teapot scene from memory, though after fifty iterations that may no longer be possible . . . And also, I got cast today in that new Hamlet film.”
Rachel bolts upright. “What part?”
Ever so casually, she shrugs and says, “Ophelia.”
And then Rachel is leaping onto her, and they’re both squealing at the top of their lungs.
Less than an hour later, they’ve zipped one another into two of Donna’s fanciest cocktail dresses and headed to a bar.
“All right, we’re going to celebrate in grand fashion--” Donna begins.
“Without paying a dime.”
“Wait, how?”
“You’re the actress, you’ll catch on.”
And Donna watches Rachel swagger up to some guy, flash him her sexiest smile, and say, “Hi, I’m Michelle Ross.”
“I’m . . . Harriet Specter. The best goddamn closer this city has ever seen.”
“I’m the smartest paralegal on this coast.”
“I’m a COO who regularly rescues multi-billion dollar deals.”
“I’m a professional food critic.”
“I run an artificial intelligence start-up up in SF. VCs love me.”
For all Donna’s improvisational skill, Rachel undoubtedly wins the most free drinks. She stumbles back into Donna’s apartment far past tipsy and then throws her arms around her girlfriend, leaning in for a kiss.
“Hey, no--” Donna pushes her back-- “I’m not taking advantage of you in this state.”
“What if I want you to take advantage of me?” she slurs.
Donna raises an eyebrow. “You really want that, huh?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“How about you show me your pilot?”
“Pilot?” she titters. “I don’t even have a plane yet.”
“Not that kind of pilot,” Donna laughs. “I mean the Jim-and-Reg pilot.”
“Ohhhh. Yeah. Yeah, it’s on my laptop.”
“Can we go look at it?”
“Sure!”
Donna maneuvers them over to the couch, and Rachel clumsily pulls her laptop from her bag and opens it, all the while muttering about how she’s going to get herself a jet one of these days, just you wait.
“Here,” she says, clicking on a file named ‘Law Dorks’ with a flourish. “Here is the meaning of life.”
“Go to sleep, Rachel.”
Rachel hums and burrows in her shoulder, mumbling, “Comfy.”
And when she nods off less than a minute later, Donna places a kiss on the top of her head and then starts reading.
“Oh, my god.”
Rachel awakes with a shudder on the couch, under the blankets Donna carefully draped over her.
“Oh, my god. Donna! Did you read it?”
“I read it--”
“Oh god, you hated it, didn’t you? Please, ugh, it wasn’t ready, I’m still working out the pacing, and there’s so many plot holes I have to fix--”
“And I loved it.”
Rachel stops mid-sentence. “What?”
“I want to hug Jim. I want to be Roberta. I want to worship at Katherine’s feet, and I really want to see Reg naked.”
“What about Elizabeth?”
“Well, since she’s clearly just an adorable baby lawyer version of you, I want to cuddle with her on the couch--” Donna flops down and nuzzles Rachel’s neck-- “and then smack her upside the head for not already being a Harvard lawyer, or, in real life, not already turning this genius of a story into an actual show.”
“Ow!” Rachel yelps as Donna really smacks her upside the head.
“Seriously, what’s the hold-up? You don’t need any LSATs to shop this script around, and god knows you have enough connections. Jessica alone would be able to put you in touch with people, and when you account for all your previous jobs and also the fact that you know me--”
“I don’t know how to pitch it,” Rachel blurts. “I don’t have a hook, I don’t have a good summary, I don’t even have a title at this point--”
“Two lawyers, one degree.”
Her eyes widen. “There’s my hook.”
“Mm-hmm. And one more question-- are you aware of the sexual tension and possible burgeoning love between your two leads?”
“Aware?” Rachel scoffs. “Donna, if I get to keep even the slightest bit of control-- and I will, because no network is going to push me around on this-- those two are ending up married.”
“Perfect. Now run with the hook, get this story out there and go take over the world.”
“On it!” She snatches up her laptop and bag and scampers out of the apartment.
“And when you end up tackily rich I get to share your jet,” Donna calls after her.
Rachel turns terribly secretive about her progress with the show, and Donna doesn't pry-- not directly, anyway. Soon, she gets swept up by the buzz around her own accomplishments. From the first reviews, Firm is a hit with critics, and they rave over her performance in particular. She knew they would, but still there’s something downright magical about looking at an article and seeing her name in the same sentence as the words “Oscar buzz.”
Due to the timing of the film’s release, Firm misses the deadline for the Golden Globes, but other nominations and awards start filtering in, along with interview requests. The reporters ask Donna about her love life, and she plays coy, sending them all off with different and increasingly implausible stories until they know not to even bother.
She spends long stretches of time off filming Hamlet in Scandinavia, so fortunately she avoids the worst of the paparazzi harassment. Still, there’s definitely someone camped out across the road from her house when she comes back to L.A.
“I don’t think we should meet at my place,” she says, calling Rachel up on Skype. “I’m being low-key stalked.”
“I don’t care if the paps see me,” Rachel replies. “If they realize we’re a couple, hey, I’ll just spin it into publicity for the show!”
“Lemonade outta lemons.” Donna grins before turning serious again. “But seriously . . . I don’t know if I want to come out yet, publicly.”
Something shifts in Rachel’s expression. “Wait, what?”
“Maybe you’ve been sheltered because you’ve grown up in Hollywood, and California cities are just generally good about these things, but . . . It’s not like that everywhere. And I don’t want to rock the boat for the film during awards season.”
“Jessica wouldn’t care. Hell, she’d try and spin it as good publicity too--”
“And what if she can’t?” Donna interrupts. “It’s not fair to her to throw that kind of bombshell out there, not before the Oscars.”
“Then what about after the Oscars?”
“I-- I don’t know.”
“So, what?” Rachel snaps. “You just want us to spend the rest of our lives sneaking around and having dates on Skype?”
“Rachel--”
“I’m going to talk to to you later, but I need a little time for myself right now.”
She disconnects.
Actress in a Leading Role.
There she is on the Academy Award nominations list. There’s Donna Paulsen, right between Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep.
But Rachel’s “little time” has stretched into weeks, and so it doesn’t feel quite like a victory.
The day before the Oscars, there’s a knock on her door.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Can I come in?”
Donna steps aside and lets Rachel into her apartment. She’s dressed professionally, with a briefcase in one hand and a file in the other.
“In case you’re worried,” she says as soon as Donna shuts the door, “I’ve been meeting with everyone from Firm who’s going to the Oscars to go over some simple red carpet do’s and don’ts, so nobody’s going to read too much into this. I just came from Jessica’s place, and I’m heading over to Mike right after this.”
“To his house?”
“No,” Rachel frowns, “he wants to meet at Hot Dog on a Stick.”
Simultaneously, they whisper “strange child,” before falling silent.
“How have you been?” Rachel asks with a soft smile.
“I don’t know,” Donna answers, frowning. “Everything’s good, everything’s bad, it’s all a bit overwhelming right now.”
“I’m sorry for dropping off the face of the planet like that,” Rachel replies. “You just took me by surprise that day, because I forget sometimes how much the world sucks.”
“And that’s what I like about you, you know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a silly, pessimistic worrywart on the small scale, but when there’s a big problem, you are the bravest woman I know. You just march right in with your head held high, and you ignore anybody who would dare stand in your way.”
“That’s . . . really sweet. And I agree, I am somewhat brash when someone tells me I can’t be who I am or have something I want, which is why I didn’t want to talk to you until I figured things out--”
“Rachel--”
“Wait, let me finish.” She inhales deeply. “My parents raised me to be an open person. I don’t try to hide who I am, or what I believe, or who I love-- none of it. And yet you’re asking me to hide us from the rest of the world, and I understand why you’re doing it, but it goes against the core of who I am. Do you understand that?”
“I do.”
“And I’ll do it.”
“What?”
“You’re asking me to defraud the whole world, and I’ll do it. For you. Because I happen to be in love you, and I know you love me too.”
Her eyes go wide. “I do.”
“I know.”
Donna swallows hard. “This isn’t fair to you, is it?”
“All’s fair in love and business.” She shrugs, trying to act casual, and continues, “Anyway, we have actual work. I gotta get you all ready for tomorrow. Do you have an acceptance speech drafted?”
Donna rolls her eyes. “Why would I? It's not like I’m going to win.”
“And the award goes to . . . Donna Paulsen.”
“Wait, what?” Donna blinks and turns to her mother, her plus-one for the night. “What just happened?”
“You just won,” her mother says, beaming back at her.
“Wait, what?”
As she goes up to the podium, she focuses on not tripping over her gown and also on adjusting herself to the new world order. Because really, she’s more than a queen tonight-- she is a goddess. She can do whatever the hell she wants.
Can’t she?
“I don’t have note cards, or any notes at all, because according to the gambling sites there was a 5.78% chance I would be up here tonight. If I forget someone and thus lose a lifelong friendship, I’m suing said sites for emotional damages,” she jokes, and the audience gives a warm laugh. “First of all, thank you to the Academy, and to the cast and crew of Firm-- Jessica, congratulations on your Best Director award, may it be the first of many. I also have to thank Harvey Specter, my agent, for actually being as good as he says he is-- not an easy task--” thanks to his reputation in this town, that gets another laugh-- “and to the other nominees, all of whom inspire me everyday . . .”
She ticks off all the typical boxes of an Oscars speech, and it’s not hard-- she’s been watching them since before she could read. People start zoning out, she knows, and she keeps her cool and plods along all the way to the end--
“Thank you to my parents for not forcing me into a so-called ‘sensible career.’ And thank you most of all to the person who held my hand and taught me about this character and this world, who ran lines with me, who held me after the teapot scene sent me into a nervous breakdown-- the woman I love, Rachel Zane. Thank you all, and have a good night!”
The room is silent for a moment, and then she gets a standing ovation.
“So tell me,” Donna strolls up to the bar at a particularly exclusive Oscars afterparty, “how screwed is my career?”
Harvey turns to her, one eyebrow raised. “Why would your career be screwed?”
She raises an eyebrow of her own. “Because I just came out on the largest stage in what is still an intensely discriminatory industry?”
“The fact that you picked the biggest stage works in your favor-- this town can’t resist high drama.”
“Harvey.”
“Okay--” he takes a sip from his scotch-- “let me ask you a question. How could your career possibly be screwed, when you just won Best Actress, your film would have won Best Picture if things were even a little less rigged, and your agent is even better than he says he is?”
She resists the urge to roll her eyes.
“Here’s my advice. Just give some thoughtful interviews, don’t make broad statements you don’t mean, and stay the hell off Twitter for a few weeks. I’ll handle the rest. Even if offers slow down in film-- which I highly doubt-- you’ve got options elsewhere.”
“What’s worth doing elsewhere?”
“TV, Netflix--”
“Broadway?” she says hopefully.
He shrugs. “I wouldn’t count it out.”
Donna grins at that. “Hey, how’d you get in here anyway? Whose plus-one are you?”
He looks at her in mock-offense. “Excuse me? I can get into any after-party in the city on the strength of the Specter brand--”
“He’s here because I brought him.”
Donna turns with a start and finds Mike behind her, smirking.
“Firstly, congrats to you and Rachel, and remember not to feed the internet trolls unless you’re trolling them back. And there will be trolls. That said, I personally welcome you as Hollywood’s bisexual overlord.”
“What am I,” Harvey protests, “chopped liver?”
“Secondly--” Mike barrels on as if he didn’t hear-- “congrats on taking home a naked man.” He reaches out to stroke the golden statuette in the crook of Donna’s arm. “Still not as pretty as mine, but you’ll make do.”
“Kid, you have to stop calling me ‘pretty,’” Harvey sighs, shaking his head.
“I call him all sorts of things, and he loves it,” Mike mutters in conspiratorial fashion to Donna. She just stares as he leans in, plants a kiss on Harvey’s cheek, and says, “See you around, babe. I got networking to do, just like you taught me.”
“Just like I taught you?”
“Okay, maybe not just like you taught me, I don’t really want to deal with sexual harassment suits . . .”
“Get out,” Harvey commands with a wave of hand, but Donna notes the clear fondness in his expression. He turns to see her gaping at him. “What?”
“On the one hand, I now understand how he affords the omakase set. On the other hand, on what planet are you two dating?”
Harvey frowns. “What, am I not good enough for him?”
“What-- what? No, I’m thinking the other way around.”
His eyes widen, and then he bursts into chuckles. “Oh, Jesus, he’s trying not to scare the mundanes again.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’d say he’s a modern-day Einstein, but that doesn’t actually do Mike’s brain justice. Once he reads something, he understands it. Once he understands something, he never forgets it. He plays the genius angle down because it freaks people out, but I think he overdoes the act sometimes.”
“Wait, he has a perfect memory?”
“Yep,” Harvey says, smiling into his scotch.
“Oh, my god, that’s just like--”
“Hey, Rachel’s here,” he says, and Donna halts mid-sentence and whirls around to look.
Rachel’s standing at the entrance of the room, downright stunning in an all-black gown-- it’d never play on the red carpet, but here in this dark, crowded club she takes Donna’s breath away.
“Harvey.” She nods to him as she strides forward.
“Rachel, good to see you. I’ll give you two some space,” Harvey says before slipping away.
Donna can feel all the other eyes in the room on them, but she doesn’t care, not when Rachel is beaming at her, throwing her arms around her, kissing her and then pulling her close. “You’re the bravest woman I know, you know that?”
“I did it for you. It wasn’t fair to make you hide.”
“And I am so proud of you for that. And also for winning an Oscar. You know, that’s kinda cool too,” she chuckles.
“From what I hear, you’ll be up for awards next.”
They share a look.
“Donna, how did you know?”
“I know everything. Seriously, did you think your show could get picked up for a pilot without my knowledge?”
“I obviously should have known better,” Rachel laughs. “Anyway, I’ve gotta figure out casting now, and I have the worst idea, and I need your help to make it a reality.”
“What role are we talking about?”
“Reg.”
“Who do you have in mind?”
“Harvey.”
“Not the strangest thing I’ve heard all day, and that says a lot about today.”
“Bear with me-- because of my dad’s work, I saw Harvey all the time growing up, and I definitely patterned a lot of Reg’s personality off of him.”
“But Harvey isn’t an actor--”
“But he was once! All through his childhood he was trying to break into the industry, and he did actually make it when he was in college, his senior year. He got cast in nothing less than a Bond movie.”
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Donna exclaims.
“He broke his shoulder right before shooting, got replaced, and never got another role. Then he went off to Harvard Business-- so he could control casting for a change, I guess. But I dug up his old audition tapes, and he was incredible. I can’t believe he’s given up on acting entirely, even now.”
Donna thinks about it for a moment. “He does sometimes treat his life as a role.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if he’s shown a genuine expression in the past decade.”
She barks out a laugh before saying, “You’d be surprised. His boyfriend gets a surprising amount of honest caring out of him.”
“He’s in a relationship?”
“With an actor, who incidentally might have an eidetic memory like Jim and definitely has a hell of a lot of chemistry with Harvey.”
“Oh my god, who?”
“Mike Ross.”
Rachel’s jaw drops. “Our strange child?”
“Our strange child’s all grown up, and potentially a great cast opposite Harvey’s Reg.”
“Well, then, please excuse me for being busy on your special night, but I’ve got to go talk to Harvey.”
“Oh, I’m coming with you. I’ve had practice persuading him to do ridiculous things, and also I fully intend to give you all the support that you’re willing to take.”
“Marvelous,” she says, pressing one more kiss to Donna’s mouth. Then she takes her by the hand and leads her over to the table Harvey’s claimed. “Let’s find ourselves ‘the best closer in New York.’”
“Hey,” Donna asks before they quite pounce on their victim, “what’d you end up calling the show?”
“’A Legal Mind.’”
“That’s funny-- ‘a legal,’ ‘illegal,’” Donna muses. “But still, I feel like we can do better than that.”
A/N: In this AU, writers post fanfic where Jim and Reg are actors playing characters named Patrick and Gabriel.
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this is just mean, but Elementary was on tv, on that episode from s1 where a secretary murders her boss’ rivals behind his back so he can get better positions (and therefore, so does her), and her name is Donna and I can’t stop laughing about this xDDD
#bitter lau tag#not really but i guess this is the tag to blacklist for pettiness lol#anti donna paulsen#anti darvey#talking to the void#my thoughts#suits thoughts#sorta
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You're the first Donna Anti I've seen on this hellsite. (Tho the Suits following is pretty small from what I've seen.) I liked her okay up until The Kiss. Had to give up on her after that.
Okay first of all, I love how you capitalized it and referred to it like that, because it reminds me of how the Potter fandom refers to The Prank from the Marauder era. We all know, we can all well remember. And yeah, I'm 100% down for this incident being immortalized the same way, because what even was that.
I honestly gave up on D*rvey ever happening or being interesting when Donna went back to work for Harvey, because it basically undid all of the growth their relationship went through in Season 5. So when Donna kissed him I just kind of thought, "Huh, so they're finally doing this." But then it still took another season and a half to get there. Like, I just figured it was the will they/won't they finally answering with the "they will" that was inevitable at that point, but instead, we got...the kiss storyline. See, the kiss itself isn't what bothers me the most. What bothers me...is the scene where they talk it out. How Donna reacts when confronted. (A lot of grumbling lies ahead.)
Now, to be fair, this is coming off the tails of Harvey letting his anger out during a meeting, but still. First, Harvey calls Donna selfish, and then she says what she always says, which is "You have some nerve saying that to me, when you know I have put you first for years." Like...actions speak louder than words, Donna, and you really love to say that, usually whenever you fuck up. Which happens a lot. Even if I do believe that statement, It has nothing to do with her kissing Harvey, because that was selfish. She claims that she "needed to know." No, you didn't. What you needed to do was respect Harvey's relationship and boundaries.
"Our lines have been clear for a long time." Is a pretty clear statement, but then Donna just ignores it and says that their lines are blurry. Like, no, maybe yours are, but Harvey seems to disagree, so instead of listing off a bunch of aspects of your friendship, none of which are inherently romantic except maybe the claim that "we flirt" why don't you try to figure out where the miscommunication happened? These two are supposed to be best friends, and it's been thirteen years. Oh and, not too long ago, Donna pushed Harvey to consider becoming more than friends and when he was reluctant, she went to work for Louis! Since then, he has entered a relationship with another woman. What did Donna think was going to happen?
But that's okay, because she actually doesn't want to be with Harvey. Are you freaking kidding me? She kisses him without his consent, and then decides she doesn't have feelings for him? What kind of emotional manipulation is that? What if Harvey had decided he wanted to be with Donna instead of Paula after that kiss, and dumped her as a result? What if he'd dumped Paula out of guilt? Or told her, and then she dumped him out of anger? Or she didn't dump him, but it caused a lot of anger and tension they had to work through. Or what if Harvey decided to keep it a secret and felt terrible guilt for doing so? And all because Donna couldn't sort her feelings out on her own. I like how she says "I didn't feel anything when I kissed you, so you can relax if that's what you're worried about." Yeah, because this is about your feelings, Donna. That's what matters right now.
Ultimately, Harvey does seem to go for one of the options I listed. He points out that he feels like he has to keep this from Paula, Donna says to just go ahead and tell her, because he didn't do anything wrong. For someone who always claims to be inhumanly smart, she really does live in a fantasy world. Paula didn't see the kiss, she doesn't know what happened, and Harvey and Donna have always been close. Of course she'll be upset. I also don't like how it comes out that Harvey felt something during the kiss. "It did affect you, didn't it?" Donna, no, stop, that's not even close to being any of your business, and it so, so not the point. "That's not the same as feeling something." You're not the one who decides that Donna, Paula is! How is it that she's steered the conversation to being about this instead of, y'know, what she's done wrong?
Harvey finally spells it out for her, something she ought to have implicitly known since...well, honestly since before she carried out this stupid idea. That by kissing him while he's in a relationship, Donna forced him into a situation where he felt like he cheated on his girlfriend, and there's nothing in the world Harvey would hate more than that. That was Donna, Harvey's supposed best friend, his eventual wife (gag) putting him in that position, that she knows (or should know) damn well is going to hurt him worse than anything. She knows about his issues with infidelity. She knows how far back they go. She has watched him end previous relationships because of situations like this in the past! In what universe did she think that wouldn't be a problem? And when Harvey calls her out on this...Donna just kind of...ignores it. She downplays it.
She remarks that it was just a kiss. (Y'know, that thing that almost tore Mike and Rachel apart?) Which...again, Donna, Paula is the only one who gets to decide how serious this is. She reminds Harvey that they've done more than kiss in the past...which has nothing to do with the current situation either. She then asks if Harvey has told Paula that they slept together, and that is likewise none of her business. (Semi-irrelevant question, did Harvey not tell Paula about his past with Donna during their therapy sessions? Seems like the kind of thing that would have come up.) When she realizes that he hasn't told her, Donna offers one final middle finger by suggesting that Harvey shouldn't be mad at her, that it's his fault for not telling Paula that he slept with Donna thirteen years ago. Just...Harvey does bite back that he doesn't want her advice, but the moment she even said "If you want my advice" I just shook my head at the screen. Like, no. Stop. You have completely misunderstood the situation and utterly failed to take responsibility for this betrayal. You are trash, Donna Paulson. Glitzy, fancy trash.
She's not evil. She's not even really an asshole most of the time, the way so many of the characters on this show can be. But she oversells herself to an astounding degree, and for whatever reason the characters keep buying - so to that effect, it feels like the show itself is overselling Donna, which makes her flaws that much more pronounced. She's arguably the biggest screwup in the cast. I could make full rant posts like this one about The Liberty Rail fiasco, about the document that she shredded, about the time she broke privilege. But go on, Donna. Tell me more about how kissing Harvey was "one mistake, in thirteen years." Y'know, she's a much more realistic kind of annoying, and I sort of like that? But I also don't like what a karma houdini she is, how self-absorbed she acts. "The Donna" storyline almost felt like parody for that reason, but no...that was a plot-line in the show, that actually existed and aired, and we were meant to take it seriously. Like...wow...
#Donna Paulsen#Is rather like Albus Dumbledore#I could complain about her all day#Suits#Suits USA#Harvey Specter#Anti-Darvey#Not that I dislike the ship per se#But I sure don't say kind things about it in this post so#Paula Agard#Also comes up
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Suits rewatch...
OMG by season 4, Mike and Donna have become unwatchable in their self-absorption and/or self-righteousness.
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I don’t like the “The Donna” storyline, but in this episode it brought up something that I loved to see addressed: Donna was lead to believe that she was worth more than she is, starting with Harvey putting more money into her paycheck without telling her that it wasn’t the firm that was paying her. In this episode, she had to face reality: being confident and good at reading people doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll take you seriously, especially when you are trying to do business.
Business is full of sharks, and Donna? Donna is merely a fish that believes herself to be invincible. I liked that she got this wake-up call, it was time to show her that no, not everyone will fall at your feet if you act like you own the world.
I’d love to see Donna’s confidence more explored, honestly, this is the kind of storyline I want for her. Less magic-machine, more Donna’s character exploration.
And all this also brings me back to the whole thing about Harvey and Donna not being a match according to me because of the power imbalance: Donna is a legal secretary, she is not on the same level as Harvey, who has been shown seeking accomplished, challenging women.
We were just slapped in the face with the fact that Donna is a little fish, and honestly if they want to make Darvey end-game it wasn’t a good move, it just reminded me of one of the reasons why I don’t like them.
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