#moon gets her shit wrecked in engage

[ahungeringknife]

365: June 24

Eric hanging out with @eyesupguardians's YW because that's fun and I love putting my OCs in my friends' sandboxes and seeing what happens owo

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All the little pieces of metal and wires on her Splicer Gauntlet shivered and folded when Hawke landed on the moon. Vanguard had the Vex network dives open for normal Guardians with the right clearance so Hawke didn't recognize anyone with her on sight. Her friends had sat out for the day. They knew what it meant to take a day off. Day off? Sounded fake. She didn't know how to do those. So she was working.

That and someone had to use the Splicer Gauntlet on these things and Mithrax only trusted so many Guardians with it. Usually he sent one of his Eliksni Splicers along if Hawke wasn't around to crack the Vex Network.

It wasn't hard work but the Vex were always shocked and pissed when Guardians showed up to wreck their shit. Especially on the Moon. As if they could let the Vex get a foothold here on the Moon. That was too close to Earth for everyone involved's comfort. But the work let her mind go blank and she just focused on the shooting, the Light. She was a terror with her throwing knives and caused plenty of muffled explosions on her side of the battlefield to take her full attention. She kept off local comms, not interested in the banter really. She just wanted to do the job.

She only really came up to the surface to remember other Guardians were here with her when she heard the snap of Stasis and she looked around half expecting one of Eramis' lieutenants. She wasn't always in touch with the common Guardian so she was genuinely surprised when she was in time to see a Hunter launch a Silence and Squall. She considered herself a good shot and have excellent aim but both kamas landed right in the eye of two different hydras. The precision needed for a throw like that from twenty feet in the air was no fluke.

She punched a goblin as it shambled over to her as the ice storm ripped through the higher rank Vex, freezing them solid in Stasis. Before they could start to chip and shatter a Nova Bomb seemed to just aparate inside the chassis of one of the Hydra and exploded it. Shards flew everywhere, covered in Void goop that stuck to the rank and file Vex making them shutter and become volatile. A Void grenade made them explode in a magnificent display of Light. She'd never seen another Guardian use Stasis before other than her own clan, let alone use it in combination with a Light.

"Woah," she said and her eyes were drawn to the Hunter who landed on the dilapidated habitat who made a familiar and shocking hand sign at a Warlock on the ground. She'd only seen other Hunters use that sign language together. The Warlock responding in like surprised her enough that a Minotaur got close enough to slap her to the ground.

Fucking Minotaur.

She surged to her feet, shoving Solar Light into her gun with a tremendous crack as it became empowered and golden in her hands. One shot shattered the shield, the next took the head off the Minotaur and the third went through into three Vex behind it. She unloaded the rest of the shots into some Hobgoblins taking sniper shots around the edges of the old houses.

A bullet whizzed past her helmet and a Wyvern shrieked from a bullet to its core. She'd been focused on the hobgoblins and hadn't heard the weird chicken Vex approaching.

She didn't have time to contemplate who'd been watching her back. Her Splicer Gauntlet shivered and all the metal bits moved in unison, pulling her towards the conflux. She still wasn't sure quite how this worked but she was able to manipulate the lattice into a construct. The unlocking tower rose like a great tumbler of teal and magenta energy. She had to keep it going, the gauntlet spinning and clicking as the other Guardians correctly sequenced the lock. The tumblers engaged and it rushed into the ground, creating a great sink in reality.

Just by proximity Hawke jumped in first and the rest rushed to follow. The Vex Network anywhere not around Hawke was unstable for Guardians so they kept up. She wondered if she was recognized. Maybe not. She was wearing similar armor as the rest. When your gear wore out your Ghosts recreated it out of what was around. It was wires and cables and scrap pieces of metal and plastic. Other than the Gauntlet she didn't look dissimilar to several other Hunters running the Splice.

They didn't get far into the Network before catching the attention of a higher mind. The Hydra roared in its horrible machine voice as they came upon it. The Hydra put up defenses; impregnable walls, immunity shields, and summoning an endless stream of Vex for them to fight. But this mind was nothing. She'd faced worse. It was nothing compared to Aetheon, or Predothos. The mind shattered but the way ahead of them was sealed, the way for the Vex to get out was also closed.

Hawke finally switched over to local comms to gather everyone up. They needed to get close to avoid missing their ticket out of the Network. There was a ton of cross talk but Hawke narrowed it to the Hunter she'd seen using Stasis outside.

She was standing over a Warlock who was poking at the remains of the Hydra they'd just killed. "There's nothing there, babe, just get over it," she sighed, holding her gun- a long barreled scout rifle Hawke mistook for a sniper rifle at first- up and resting on her shoulder. Her armor was almost the same color as the Vex Network, all aquas and magentas with splashes of yellow like she'd been spat out of a candy store except for her helmet which was a blank black glass front. Her cloak trailed down to the heels of her boots, an older Hunter who took care of their cloak. But her armor itself was... weird. Hawke couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"No I was sure I saw part of it disjoin before it broke apart," the Warlock said, a mechanical buzz to his voice Hawke recognized as belonging to an EXO. He matched her in vibrant colors, his robes a well polished leather. He'd been the Warlock with the Nova Bomb, had to be with the Nezarac Sin.

"Well you can't spend all day poking at Vex guts," she said in a surprisingly patient tone for how insane this Warlock sounded. Hawke noticed a change in her stance and their gaze met through their helmets. "You need something, Young Wolf?" she asked, not meanly just curious.

Well she hadn't meant to be noticed, just be nosy. "You used Stasis," was all she said, their comms narrowed enough she wasn't across all comms. Which was good since Saint and Mithrax were bickering with Osiris about... something.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"That's my business," she said defensively.

"Didn't think the Vanguard allowed it," she'd sure been chewed out by Zavala about it. Not that she really cared.

"Vanguard doesn't have much authority on Hunters nowadays," she said simply with a shrug. Hawke had never considered that. She always just did what was needed or what she wanted. It didn't occur to her that normal Hunters actually did heed the call of the Hunter Vanguard.

"You got a heck of an arm," Hawke said. Landing the kamas so precisely back on the moon was impressive. She wasn't even sure she could do that. And the ice storm had come around a few times after that initial one too.

"Heh, yeah I guess-

"Yeah she does!" the Warlock cried.

"Hawke, you need to get out of there," Saint suddenly boomed in her ear, startling her.

"Right," she said, nodding.

"Everyone form up," Polaris said over comms and the other five Guardians came to stand around.

"Come on, stop fussing with that," and the Hunter dragged her Warlock over to Hawke. He'd been poking at the Hydra carcass again.

The Gauntlet shivered and spun, all the pieces snapping into position to create an elevator up and out of the Vex Network. The tunnel spat them out into the air high above the moon's surface and allowed for about ten seconds of free fall. Two Guardians fucked up their falls. One face planted, one broke all the bones in their legs. Hawke landed lightly, catching herself at the last minute on the Light.

She went over to properly close the Splice, the Gauntlet whirling around her arm and wrist. The other Guardians started transmatting away or getting onto their sparrows if they'd just come from patrol. The Nezarac Sin Warlock came over as the Gauntlet worked, she helping it along. Mithrax just said think about what she wanted it to do and it'd do it. Sounded crazy but it usually worked.

"So how does one get one of those? Or on the list Mithrax trusts?" the Warlock asked curiously over a narrow beam comm. Not quite private but private enough.

"Uh... don't be a fuck head I guess?" Hawke said not knowing how to answer that really. The Warlock laughed.

"Or you know a guy, or girl," Polaris said.

"So I could know you?"

The Hunter came over, having left her sparrow when the Warlock didn't join her. "Savant are you bothering the Young Wolf?" she asked, annoyed with him.

"What? Noooo! I was just trying to be friendly," he whined. Hawke smiled slightly in her helmet despite herself. It was funny. The Hunter was about two heads shorter than the Warlock, Savant, and he was whining at her and slouched.

"My friends usually get on the short list, yeah," Hawke said slowly.

"Really!" Savant asked.

"Short list of what?" the Hunter asked.

"Who can wear a Gauntlet."

"You do not need to wear a Splicer Gauntlet."

"But it's so cool!"

The Hunter looked at Hawke. "Young Wolf, don't let my precious idiot here anywhere near a Splicer Gauntlet."

"You never let me have any fun."

"This was fun!"

"... I guess."

Hawke giggled as the Gauntlet finished what it was doing. "Who are you two?" Polaris asked for her. Thank the Traveler. She didn't want to appear rude.

"I'm Savant-3," the Warlock said.

"Eric," the Hunter said. "And he does not need a Splicer Gauntlet," she shot him a look through her helmet.

"But it would be so helpful with my research-

"You have so many dead Vex on your ship, and in your apartment, and in your workshop-

"Yeah but those aren't from the Vex Net!" he insisted. "These are different."

Eric just sighed and looked at Hawke. "Do not put him on the short list," she told her, deadpan.

Hawke... laughed. "Sure. Whatever you say," she said.

"What? You'll listen to her but not me?" Savant asked dramatically.

"We're Hunters," Eric said.

"Uggggh! Fucking Hunters," he groaned and marched off all in a huff. Eric giggled.

"Is... he going to be okay?" Hawke asked Eric.

"Yeah," she said and Hawke could hear the smile in her voice. "He's just moody he couldn't collect any Vex from the Network. Even though he has some already."

"Do you guys help in Splices often?" she asked casually. These two were fun.

"Sometimes. We were on the Moon and passing by. Better than being stuck in that Endless Night," she crossed herself in a traditional Hunter way to ward off bad luck. Hawke didn't do that kinda stuff or was even that superstitious but she found herself mimicking the motion.

"So maybe you'll be around for the next Splice I find?" Hawke asked.

Eric took a beat. "Sure," she said.

"Eric now you're the one bothering the Young Wolf," Savant's voice came over comms sounding so dejected and whiny.

They both giggled. "Maybe see you around," Eric said and gave the casual Hunter two fingered salute before walking off. Again Hawke found herself mimicking it. She went over to her sparrow, a sleek SIVA inspired thing and saw Savant looked like someone had peeled an Eliksni pike and covered it with bones and chains and set it on fire. So some weird Eververse thing Hawke was shocked was even allowed. They must have been talking over private comms for a moment because there was some gesticulating before they turned their sparrows around and sped off.

"Well they were neat," Polaris said. "Ready to transmat?"

"And search for another warp in the net?" Hawke asked.

Polaris sighed the sigh of 'my Guardian never sleeps', "Yes. For another place to splice," she allowed.

"Yeap," Hawke said and Polaris transmatted her back up to her ship.

[zuffer-weird-girl]

"You must've thought, "As long as I face the future, I can be better!" I can tell you're at a loss for words, so here's the answer! The past never dies! Get it yet!? Y'reap what you sow! Let's tango, you and me—Enji Todoroki!! A dance with your son, here in hell!!"

Fics

Prank goes wrong

There’s no turning back...; There is no turning back..?

Spoiling him

Insecure crush

Only soft for his doll

Discovering his villany

Caught his doll dancing

Hurt by a thunder

Caught on the act

Corona time (stay safe everyone!)

Hunting down the monsters (AU)

Her father figure

distracting kisses

His daughter...

“Dada!”

Little doll

No way out...

Indigo hair dye...

You will be in my heart

Last night.. *nsfw*

bad days are the worst

Can I help?

could have been him..

wreck shit up

protect them

love bites

red hair as roses; turquoise eyes as orchids

to the rescue 

Hcs

His doll working on childcare

Ideal S/o

S/o with a blood manipulation quirk

Doll who has low self preservation skills

S/o calling him “burnt chicken nugget”

Dabi as a father

Anti hero S/o

His doll having a water type quirk

S/o that has a black fire quirk

S/o that plays the piano and guitar

S/o that scratches her neck like Shigaraki

Makeup artist S/o

Reacting when you take your bathrobe off

How they like to dance with their S/o

kissing your neck

Telling him that you’re pregnant by message... by mkstake

Taking care of his kid

S/o who draws clothes and has victorian style

Firedancer S/o

Random drunk headcanons

S/o having a anxiety attack

Bored S/o

Taking care of wounded S/o with their child

Sensitive S/o

Dealing with your bullshit 😂

Quirkless S/o that ceme from the woods

Meme queen S/o

Shiggy”s sister

s/o walks in on his video

Humble s/o

opening up to you

S/o that belongs to the japanese monarchy

incompatible s/o

vampire quirk

s/o who has the personality of max from Stranger things

model s/o who passed away

s/o who has a gremlin  kid

belly dancer s/o

wolf s/o

quiet and shy s/o

bed wetter s/o (if someone judges this anon im coming for your head)

s/o who is daughter of the the big D

overhaul’s body guard

busty fem s/o

sister issues

random

healing quirk

Drabbles

Beach/ shirtless dabi

abused s/o

them in the army

break up and get back to your ex prank

random things my partner did that they would also do

after a fight and hurting your feelings

the best

how they eat pasta

would you still love me if i was a worm?

their daughter being engaged

dealing with a cockroach

dabi isnt an agressive lover

they dreaming that you cheated on them

boyfriend dabi

is funny your relationship

wiping off his kisses

Au's

Chibi Soulmate

modern interruption

pirates

 full moon

[notasiren21]

Your reasons on why lukanette should be endgame were pure comedy, thanks for making me laugh!

Tbh I can’t tell if this is a compliment and warm hearted or if this is a roast and a bullying remark ?

If it is a kind comment (which I’m doubting) thanks!

Rude comment?⬇️

Judging by the tone tho, if this is a negative comment then please acknowledge that the beginning of that post -that I made over a year ago or so- literally stated I wasn’t looking for a “tussle” aka a way to start beef with those who ship the lovesquare 

We all have our opinions but it is rude and unnecessary to bash other people’s preferences and likes, and noting the way you went under anonymous for an ask, you did this intentionally to make an uncalled for comment.

I’m someone who has dissected the characters over time and time again (ask @emikogale or @lenoraishere or @ashdoesfandom ) and have given far better and more elaborated reasons on why I think they would be a far suited couple but this post was prior to me delving in deep and getting to know Luka more than they had already offered before that point.

I don’t believe in bullying or belittling those online just because we have a different ship we prefer, or for reasons to like/hate some things. We’re all perfectly justified and valid in things we take interest in and deserve no shame (unless it’s like really concerning stuff then … maybe see someone).

I don’t know how old you are but please reconsider the next time you decide to leave a condescending comment to someone. It does qualify as bullying and despite how it can be interpreted as something else as well as have very few words, it is a bullying statement that is intended to rip the rights away from a person stating their views and opinions.

This is a kid’s show that I’ve come to grow to not care for now but Lukanette serves as a drive to my writing and have carved a soft spot in my heart. I’m sorry you don’t ship them, and that’s you’re own right, but tell me - did you really need to leave an ask to insult me about a quick post I made one night per my own amusement ?

Did it give you a sense of gratification that you roasted someone who liked one ship you didn’t care for? Did you feel happy after submitting the ask because you intentionally tried to hurt someone?

Lmao, I started this show in high school for extra credit in French class and was interested for the concept (until I found out Astruc stole so many elements and concepts -I.e. Sailor Moon) but I only kept watching because I started to watch it become a train wreck and go against everything I believe in creating not only a story, but a television show aimed at young audience. Not to mention the psychological errors in characters too and how detrimental some actions would be that he neglects.

Literally speaking, as someone who has obtained her degree in media production and is learning from Astruc’s mistakes too as well as furthering her degree -

I could dissect and tear apart the love square if I wanted and show how much of a clusterfuck Astruc has made it and how the fans are trying to ignore his mistakes.

But, those are my own opinions and observations that I keep to myself and my Lukanette mutuals. Those are the things I just acknowledge with annoyance because kids are learning poor relationship tendencies and obsessions.

But yikes- ya think you insulted me for a post I made so long ago that I didn’t spend a lot of time on compared to an analysis and dissection I could do. You think I haven’t encountered a wild LS fan that has no real reason to argue Lukanette existing or being a better suited ship for the show.

I can be mean if I really wanted, but I’m not looking for revenge or to insult you back. I’m hoping you wake up and realize it’s not cool to do shit like this for no good reason and the toxicity of the show is why I don’t really engage with others outside the Lukanette part of the fandom.

Honestly though, think how you would feel if someone just continuously bashed something you liked as well as made fun of you in the process. If they took what you liked and just kept laughing. I’m not talking about you coming across posts that are rival to LS ones. I mean someone personally coming at you for something you like.

If you’re that affected by it and angered or forcing ignorance upon yourself for a ship -of a children’s show, mind you- then consider pulling yourself back and away from the show since you’re letting the toxicity of it consume you to the point where you feel this need to indulge yourself and exert it onto others.

That’s not heathy and it’ll start to impact your views on other things as well.

Also, just don’t leave hate asks? You don’t know what could be going on in someone’s life and sometimes, something as simple as that could be a push for them to do something drastic. It’s uncalled for and invalid. Go ahead and start a friendly debate or ask for a more clear view on something to learn, but if you can’t do that then I suggest you grow up and learn because if you let your comments such as these worsen, then you need help to fix your impulse control and insatiable need to come at others.

For the 12% chance this was a compliment, which I know it’s not lmao, I’m smarter than I appear to be, then thanks but work on your phrasing.

[wwxs-spicy-zixuan-peppers]

so last night while i was avoiding working on my commission, i was going off on discord and friendos were encouraging me so the swan princess (1994) AU.  gratuitous use of the shocked pikachu emoji i have access to on discord.

okay the hot xuanxian swan princess au right- so jzx and jyl are betrothed since like birth. every summer they are brought together to hopefully fall in love, and wwx and jc are with her to make sure their sister is treated right. but jzx is out here looking at wwx and then one summer, they all show up and wwx is hot now. so he breaks the engagement and tries to hit up wwx but wwx is like "lol no" and they leave for lotus pier and they get attacked and jyl and jc make it out relatively fine, but wwx be missing

idk who to make the evil wizard. wrh? he wants wwx for his sexy cultivation secrets passed down from granny bssr???? idk, but jzx is at home thinking about how he really messed up, and he doesn't think wwx would just fuckin die, if he was dead he would have been found by now. so he's off, looking for his mans

so wrh has a bird now, right. he's like "hey. marry my son, give us your shit, idk my motives aren't exactly well thought out during the spouting bullshit phase of the au process." and wwx is like "lol no" and wrh is like "then i hope you like being a bird." and wwx is like ">:("

okay so wwx is a cool goth swan. when there's moonlight on the lake, he can be a cool goth dude. wwx is studying the curse mark and shit, wrh is like "nice try jackhole, only a declaration of true love can break the curse. so if you agree to hand over your shit, my son will declare his very true and sexy love for you" and wwx is like "there is nothing true or sexy about that that boy" and wrh is like "...maybe so."

so jzx is out here, looking for wwx, and he sees this cool goth bird. and wwx is like "squack" and jzx is like "damn, tonight's dinner reminds me of my missing love." then the moon's on the lake and wwx is like "i swear to god you peacock, i will snap at your heels when i get you" and jzx is just so happy to see his mans!! and he goes over there, lifts wwx in a little princess lift spiiiin, and kisses him and wwx is like "damn slow down dude, you were just trying to eat me" and jzx is like "your siblings will be so relieved that you're alive! we will be married at dawn" and wwx is like "yeah i'm kind of cursed here, wrh wants my hot and sexy cultivation secrets. the only way to break it is for someone to declare their love for me??? so i need to kill whr since no one's gonna do that" and jzx is like "I will." and wwx is like "it's gotta be true love" and jzx is like "i truly love you? i'll go scream it at everyone right now." and wwx is like "oh you love me? name three of my albums what do you even like about me?" and jzx is like shocked pikachu face

okay so wrh shows up after jzx leaves and is like "i heard you talking shit, there's no moon tomorrow so you i'm gonna send in a fake you that he'll declare his love for someone who is not you and you die?" and wwx is like "then how are you going to get my sexy info?" and wrh is like "well you're going to give it to me so i do not do the thing?" and wwx is like "i'd rather die than you use this information to hurt the people i care about." and wrh is like "well you have 24 hours to change your mind, and only i can save you"

so jzx is on his way home and is like "okay so i found the love of my life and i gotta prove that i love him" and jzxun is like "gay" and jzx is like "yeah"

so jzx is telling his mom and whore dad about how he's found the person he's going to spend his life with and he needs to throw a really really big party so that everyone in the world knows. that'll show him that he loves him bf.

so everyone is showing up to this party on such short notice, jyl and jc are there. JC is like "hey my brother went missing last time i was here, why the FUCK are we here now?" and jzx is like "i need to declare my love for my future husband and i need the world to know, now everyone wait here so i can go grab him." and he goes off to grab wwx but "runs into him on the way" and he brings him in and JC and JYL are like shocked pikachu face.

so meanwhile, WWX is off in goth bird hell and he's wrecking shit in the manor and is wrecking so much shit before he dies. and wrh is like "damn what the fuck dude. your bf is throwing  a party to show off he loves you, you??" and wwx is like "okay i need to go stop that before he embarrasses both of us" and he goes off and flies directly into the party and beats the shit out of his impostor. [9:38 PM] and jzx is like "wait if you're the goth bird love of my life, then who is tiny waist ass fat over here?" and wwx honks like "really, you only want me for my sexy body?" and jc is like "hey what the fuck is happening?" and impostor wwx is like "you know what, fuck this." and dispels the disguise and walks out.

so jzx has this big goth bird, and everyone is like "hey what the fuck?" and jzx lets wwx go but hugs him and is like "i'm sorry, i was in such a rush to tell everyone how i feel about you that i almost confessed to a whole ass not you." and jyl is like "can you please explain why that person was dressed up like my brother and why he is apparently a bird now." and jzx is like "oh uh, wrh wants his sexy brain and only a declaration of true love can break the curse." and jyl is like "and you love my brother?" and jzx is like "yes" and jyl is like "okay. and what do you love about him?" and jzx is like "uh, everything? he's really smart and it's like effortless. he's kind but he doesn't take bullshit from anyone but your mom. he cares so deeply about things and i can only dream to be one of those things he loves. he's pretty yeah, but his smile is only a reflection of everything inside of him." and jc is like "gay" and BOOM. declaration of love.

and wwx is standing there and and jc and jyl hug the shit out of him and jzx is like. "oh shit i did it" and then he has this realization of "hey wwx do you uhhhh, feel the same?" and wwx is bright red and like "i mean. i've known your dumbass for a long time. i can't hate you for not being in live with my shijie even though you're clearly wrong, you know what you're about. I think,,, i could,,, i could love you back" and then they live happily ever after

[plaidbooks]

A Glimpse of the Future part 4

A/N: You all have @the-baby-bookworm to thank for this--first for asking for it and second for helping me come up with panicking Sonny (when discussing part 3, she mentioned “that dick game so strong, she’d get pregnant even with birth control”). This is the finale (as far as I know, who the hell knows anymore?), so I hope you all enjoy!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Tags: A lot of Catholic guilt

Words: 1324

Taglist: @the-baby-bookworm @beccabarba @thatesqcrush @itsjustmyfantasyroom @stardust-fray @permanentlydizzy @averyhotchner @mrsrafaelbarba @reading--mermaid @ben-c-group-therapy @infiniteoddball

Shit…SHIT! Sonny was going to freak out! Hell, you were freaking out! You sat in your car, still parked in the parking lot of your doctor’s office after a routine checkup. You ran your hand over your face. How were you going to tell him that you were…? No, maybe if you didn’t think the words, it wouldn’t be true. But that’s not how real life worked. You sighed, pulling your phone out of your purse, calling your fiancé, looking at the engagement ring sitting innocently on your left hand.

“Hey, Sonny, we need to talk….”

 ***************

You knew it was a shitty thing to do, to tell him you needed to talk when he got off work, but to not give him details over the phone. But you didn’t know what else to do, and you couldn’t tell him over the phone. No, this had to be face-to-face, and you couldn’t deal with this alone. Sonny promised to be home as soon as he could, even after you reassured him that you were safe, that you were okay. All that left was for you to sit and wait. You idly looked for houses again; you and Sonny had found a handful that seemed like a perfect fit, and now you were going over them again with a fine-toothed comb.

Finally, mercifully, you heard the key in the front door, Sonny rushing in, looking worried. He didn’t even bother taking his jacket off as he quickly made his way over to you.

“Babe, what’s wrong? What happened?” he asked, brow furrowed, concern lacing his voice.

“Well, you know how I had a doctor’s appointment today?” you started. He nodded, the creases on his forehead deepening. You took a deep breath before the words that would change your lives forever left your lips. “I’m pregnant.”

Sonny stood there, struck dumb, unmoving. He was a statute as he stared at you. “B-but you’re on birth control…how, what—?”

“Those pills aren’t 100%, babe, you know that. And I’m six weeks pregnant…it’s from our engagement night,” you whispered, your face warming as you remembered how Sonny had taken you that night, so that ‘everyone would know you were his’. Well, now they would.

The gears were turning in his head as he sat down on the couch. “Okay,” he muttered, nodding to himself. “Okay…pregnant…wow. You’re…we’re….”

“What are we gonna do, Dom?” you asked, trying to shake him out of whatever trance he was in. It was true that you both wanted kids, that this was a miracle. But you wanted to be married first, have a house. And God only knew how his family would react. You loved the Carisi’s, but all of them, Sonny included, were very Catholic. Having a baby out of wedlock was…less than ideal.

Sonny’s eyes snapped up to yours. “Have you told anyone else yet?”

“No, of course not.”

“Okay, that’s good. We just need to get married now, before anyone knows, before you start…showing,” he said, mind working quickly.

You huffed out a laugh. “Do you honestly think no one will notice how quickly we got married? Or the fact that we’ll have a baby less than nine months after our wedding?”

“Shit, no, you’re right,” he ran his hand through his hair, clearly panicking. “Fuck, I don’t know what to do, babe. I-I need to go to church, talk to my priest….”

He stood to leave, and you reached out, grabbing his wrist. “Wait, Sonny.” He stopped, looking back at you. “Please, just…before you leave, tell me you’re at least happy that we’re pregnant.” You didn’t know why it mattered so much, but it suddenly hit you that he hadn’t once shown any sort of excitement. Which was understandable with the information you had just dumped on him, but it still hurt.

Sonny stepped up to you, cupping your face in his hands. He leaned down, kissing you gently. “Of course, I’m happy that we’re going to have a child. I just…I’m a little confused right now, and I need some guidance, that’s all,” he murmured. You nodded, kissing his palm before he pulled away, heading out the door.

 ************************

It was almost three hours later before Sonny finally came home. This time, he shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it on the hook by the door, and toed his shoes off. It seemed like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he seemed content when he came and sat on the couch next to you.

“Did you find some answers?” you asked, leaning against his side, his arm draping around your shoulders. His fingers started trailing over your arm, and you shivered happily.

“I did. As much as I’d rather have our children when we’re ready, after we’re married and more settled down, I’m not upset that God has other plans. I mean, you were on birth control and still got pregnant; if this is God’s plan, then I, for one, won’t fight it,” Sonny smiled down at you, kissing your forehead. “Besides, I’m going to be a father.” His voice broke on the word ‘father’, and your heart strained.

You leaned up, kissing him softly. “Yes, you are. And you’re going to be the best father. Not to mention the sexiest father.” Sonny threw his head back and laughed. You waited for his laughter to subside before you asked, “what are we going to tell your parents?”

“The truth. If they can’t accept that, then that’s on them,” he said simply. The panic you felt must have shown on your face, because he added, “I’m sure they’ll understand. They accepted that your family wasn’t practicing Catholics. They’ll be ecstatic to be grandparents again.”

“They’ll think I’m some harlot who seduced their son,” you grimaced. God, were your hormones already making you crazy?

Sonny put his fingers under your chin, forcing you to look at him. “No, they won’t. My parents love you, babe, almost as much as I do. They’re gonna be over the moon, I promise. Just…let me break the news to them first.” He gave you his trademark goofy grin, and you couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Thank you, Dom,” you whispered, so damn glad that he was the one you were going on this crazy ride with.

“Of course…now, first things’ first! We should come up with a list of names, both boy and girl, just in case, then a list of things we need to buy—”

“Sonny, baby, first we need to decide if we want to buy the house first, or have the wedding. I know you and your family want the full Catholic shindig, at that one church they all got married at—”

“St. Christopher’s.”

“—and that’s going to be a lot of money. We need to decide which is more important; the wedding or a house,” you finished.

Sonny glanced around your apartment; it was modest, not too small. A living room, a full kitchen—a must for Sonny—a guest bathroom, a spare room which was turned into an office of sorts, the master bedroom, and a master bathroom. When Bella dropped off Sonny’s niece, you mainly kept her in the living room, which was kid-proofed. And on the off chance a friend crashed for the night, they normally slept on the couch.

“Wedding first; let’s appease the family. The baby will be sleeping in our room at first, anyways. Then, we can turn the spare into a nursery,” Sonny said.

You nodded. Tears formed, but you quickly blinked them away as you thought about Sonny building a nursery, painting the walls…being a father. Something told you that you were going to be an emotional wreck this whole pregnancy. And, looking sideways at your fiancé, who was already talking about how he’d clean out the spare room, you felt incredibly lucky that he was the one you were spending the rest of your life with.

[poison--ivory]

Haikyuu! Virus AU (Random/Reader) Part 1

“I don’t fear the dark itself, but what may lurk within it.”

Warning: Blood, Gore, Character deaths and trauma

Part 2: link

Yamaguchi loathed the inky room of which he sat in. The only source of light that gave him some comfort was the natural light of the moon. Since the power in the city was out you could hear the wind blowing or the soft barking of dogs. He could barely make out the outline of team Nekoma’s manager, Y/n Shibayama. She was already knocked out as soon as her head hit the makeshift pillow. While he was wide awake, and sort of jealous that she could just sleep like everything was fine. He can’t stay mad at her for too long since her school lost their middle blocker, So Inuoka. Their team captain hasn’t been the same since. Not even a couple hours ago they too had lost another member of their group. 

Ennoshita screams still wrecked his mind and the smell of rotting flesh was forever inscribed in his nose. It really should have been him who went in that trench by himself. He was the one to point out the food truck and even made a small plan to gather the canned goods. Ennoshita and him had a little dispute on who would go and by the time he turned his head to give his side to Daichi, Ennoshita was already marching down the steep hill. A couple of seconds of arguing, before he heard the sharp screech, loud enough to pierce his ear drums. The next thing he knew, Suga and Yaku were rushing down the hill to try and save him. They stopped half way before running back, a herd surrounded Ennoshita in under a minute leaving little to no gaps for escape or retrieval. 

He knew deep down that it was his fault even if the others told him that there was nothing that could have been done. Yamaguchi knew that if he kept his mouth shut Ennoshita would still be alive, yelling at his second year teammates and patting us first years on the head. He tried everything to get his mind off the details, the screams and the stench. Yamaguchi’s mind even makes up certain info to scar his psyche.

Ennoshita wasn’t the only causality. At the very beginning of the outbreak, which to him felt like years, but in reality it was really a few weeks. Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani, Ubugawa and Shinzen planned a last get together for the graduating third years. They all met at the training camp to play volleyball, visit Tokyo and to gain a few memories before they graduate. Really sunny that, but it wasn’t as hot, mostly a comfortable warmth that hugged his whole stature. 

When it started the Yamaguchi and some of the other first years were gallery gazing at the various window shops. Yuki Shibayama was buying a couple sticks of dango for his sister, Tsukishima made a small remark of him being a real sister boy. Haiba at the time seemed to be annoying a very displeased Teshiro. A small and weak yell was heard, however it was quickly brushed off due to the large crowd. Yamaguchi stopped at a food stall that sold fries, even though they weren’t soft as he wanted them, they still tasted pretty good. Hinata and Kageyama were arguing about something. Yachi stood in the middle to make them stop their yelling since they started to draw a small crowd. Another scream echoed this time a bit more heavier. The noise left his heart beating a bit faster; it sounded kind of. . . primal. Before he could react another yell followed by a wave of screeching rang throughout the air. The howling caused even the duo to shut up for once. 

He froze in place as a girl who looked no older than thirteen, a middle schooler was pinned down a lady. Her shrieks sent shivers down his spine, her dog bit the neck of the lady who fell off to the side trampled by oncoming people. The dog licking the girl’s cheek in a loving manner didn’t sense the sudden change in his owner. Her small frame was on him in a second tearing fur and flesh off his yelps and whine would fall on death ears. He managed to escape, but the large chunk left a noticeable hole in his side. Yamaguchi felt useless in that moment, his feet glued to the very dry cement he stood on. He turned to stare at Tsuki who was too engaged in his phone to notice what was transpiring around him. Yamaguchi's hand reached out for his friend, however in a split second Tsukishima was yanked from behind by a man, who looked extremely ill. Everything played in slow motion as the man bit Tsukishima on the neck and in complete shock elbowed the man square in the face. Clenching at the wound to dull the jarring pain.

Blood flowed down his neck and coated his white shirt, his headphones ripped off his ears hitting the pavement with a harsh smack. Yamaguchi remembered running to aid his best friend, dropping the fries in the process, his mind running faster than his legs and before he could even inch forward the same man and a woman gripped Tsukishima and tore his skin from his flesh. His gut wrenching screams through terror into his heart. Witnessing his childhood friend being eaten alive was a pill he tried swallowing, but soon regurgitated it back up. Throw up ran down his chin as Kageyama shoved him forward making him trip on ground beneath him. Yamaguchi noticed Hinata yelling at a very dumbfound Yachi, she stood there frozen, shaking and stunned by the madness happening around her. Everyone knew she was a very anxious and scared teenage girl, even suppressing a scream when she met the captain from Ubugawa again. 

Hinata’s pleading fell on deaf ears as Yachi stared off into the chaos, her mouth slightly shifting like she was mumbling under her breath. He shouted at her as well, but Kageyama pulled him again, cutting him off half way. Yachi was lifted from her stupor the moment someone else bumped into her. She ran off so fast in the crowd shrieking before even Hinata couldn’t grab her and before he could run off to catch up with her Kageyama snatched him up from the back of his shirt. They sprinted through the thick crowd and with luck on their side made it back to the camp and collapsed on the grass from exhaustion. He took notice of the other first years slowly arriving, a dazed Inuoka clutched at his side. Haiba guided him down to the ground and ran inside. Tears fell on the back of his hands and they streamed down his face like a water spout. He lost two of his friends in less than thirty minutes that day and it wrecked him.

It sounds so much like the beginning of a movie more than anything. Even the part of when we thought everything was okay Inuoka transformed into one of those sick creatures. He tore out the throat of Nekoma’s team coach. Coach Ukai with the help of Daichi and Kuroo shoved the reanimated Inuoka out. No one talked as we listened to the moans and screeches constantly banging at the locked doors. 

Yamaguchi snapped himself out of his depressing thoughts as a soft rustle startled him from the dark corner of the room. 

“Go to sleep. I can feel your depressing aura from here.” Konoha grumbled.

“S-sorry.” His face grew warm from embarrassment.

Konoha groaned as he sat gazing over at one of his teammates. Washio was still sound asleep as Konoha shifted out of his own makeshift bed. “Can’t sleep?”

“Yeah, my mind’s running faster than a rabbit right now.” Konoha nodded strutting across the room to my futon, sitting down on his rump and leaning on his head on his knee. “Sorry, that I woke you up.”

“Ya know it’s nearly morning, so don’t worry about it.” Yamaguchi just nodded. “Let’s just keep it down. I really don’t wanna hear Washio complain about us keeping him up.”

“Y-you don’t have to stay up with me. You don’t know when you can sleep peacefully again, ya know.”

“Nah, it’s fine already awake now and I don’t think I can force myself too either.” He gingerly smiled back at his senior. The two young men stayed up for the rest of the night mostly talking about anything that would keep their minds off their dead friends. They yammered on about family members and past friends that still lingered from childhood. Konoha mentioned his older brother and younger sister, but soon switched the topic. Yamaguchi talked about his mother, father and his grandmother who makes his fries extra floppy for him. The memories of sitting in his living room under the kotatsu with Tsuki. The air surrounding them would usually be scented with whatever his grandmother was cooking at the time. It really made him think about some of the embarrassing situations he was in with some family members. Now he kind of wants to wake up to that familiar smell of home cooked meals and laughter.

The conversations waived from school life, hobbies to old crushes. Yamaguchi had opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, he knew it was only a crush. But, knowing that the girl he liked was presumably dead made him suffer a wave of guilt. Konoha on the other hand was shyly gazing behind himself. 

“You know, I kind of have or may have developed a small crush on their manager. During my first year, we met Nekoma for the first time. Her cheeks were so plump that they bounce when you pinch them.” His facial expression stayed the same, however his cheeks were heavily flushed. “She probably doesn’t like me in that way, and that’s fine. I just don’t want it to be weird.”

“I heard that confessing can make you feel better. Maybe, I don’t really have that much experience in this or any experience for the matter.” Yamaguchi shrugged.

Konoha tore his gaze from the small frame hidden under the thin covers. “Maybe, but when shit settles down I’ll do it. Right now, seems like a very bad time.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s the better option.”

Konoha glanced around the room, seeing that the room was being illuminated by the morning sun. “Guess we’ve been talking for a while now.” Stretching, the sound of joints cracking invaded their ears, “So, wanna come with me on morning prep?”

“Yeah, sure.” 

 So, the day starts over. The endless cycle that now fills Yamaguchi’s life starts anew.

[yasbxxgie]

The Artist’s Way: Writer-director Radha Blank ruminates on creative frustration and rejuvenation in her debut feature, The Forty-Year-Old Version

Fair warning: This interview with Radha Blank isn’t business — it’s personal. Right now, like at this very moment, Radha is being introduced to the world as the writer, director, and star of the remarkable new Netflix film The Forty-Year-Old Version. But I remember Radha in the 1990s, smashing open mics at Brooklyn Moon in N.Y.C., rocking a fitted N.Y. Yankees cap and big hoop earrings. I remember her jumping into cyphers and catching wreck (read: she can dance her ass off) at Club Kilimanjaro. I remember sitting in the audience of her play Seed in 2011 and thinking, Damn, homegirl can write. I remember witnessing the rise of her emcee alter ego and one-woman show RadhaMUSprime at Joe’s Pub in 2014 and thinking, Damn, Radha can rhyme. AND she funny AF. Because Radha was (and is) a part of a close-knit artists’ community, I also recall her hustle, the keeping-the-lights-on-while-trying-to-make-your-dreams-come-true shuffle we know so well. Radha worked as a teacher, she wrote for children’s television and for shows such as Empire and She’s Gotta Have It.

So when The Forty-Year-Old Version won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance earlier this year, the community rejoiced! This wasn’t just a win for Radha, it was a win for the people. Here was a film rooted in Radha’s own story, about a woman at 40; a Black artist trying to get her stories told — as a playwright and as a rapper; a daughter grieving the death of her mother. Radha told her story her way, down to shooting the streets of New York on 35mm film in black and white. The result is a whole, liberating mood. There’s even a nod to Prince’s Purple Rain.

Karen Good Marable: First of all, Radha, congratulations! The Forty-Year-Old Version is amazing. Your success feels so much like a win for Brooklyn. A win for us all. Thank you for writing it. Radha Blank: I really did make it for us — us being Black women, Black women of a certain age, Black women artists of a certain age. I didn’t think I’d be starting a whole new career in my 40s, but I think it speaks to what’s possible if you let go of other people’s ideas of where you should be in your life. If I listened to other people and gave credence to their ideas, I would not be here.

Amen. When you were younger, did you have the boxes to check, i.e., “I need to get this done by 30, I need to get this done by 40”? Were you that girl? RB:

I think I was that girl. And I always say this about aging: It’s never really about the person; it’s about other people’s perceptions that you then take on. I thought by 40, I would be married with a couple of kids, all of my work being published, theaters asking, “Can we do a revival of this play now?” I really thought once I decided to be a playwright, which was probably my mid-20s, I thought, Oh, by 40, I’m going to be set up. I will have a house. And I do have a house, but that came from Cookie and Lucious Lyon. They got me a house.

Come through, Empire. RB:

I feel like we’ve all been conditioned to think that 40 is: You’re an adult, you’re accomplished, you’re established. What me and my character share is there’s still all of these “who am I” moments, questions around identity. Especially when my mother died, I really had to figure out who I was, because so much of my life as a woman, as a person, as a Black American, as an artist, was tied to this woman. When she died, I really had no sense of myself. So I feel like my personal experience propelled me toward telling the story. We just don’t see women of that age saying, What do I do next? Am I happy? Is this enough?

Your mother — curator, visual artist, cinephile, and arts teacher Carol Blank — figures prominently in the film. She is a goddess and a guide, but she also represents a complicated lesson in what it means to be an artist. RB: Oh, listen, I feel like everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from my mother — from my frustration as an artist to being a teaching artist for so long. That’s where I learned how to be a director, honestly. I didn’t go to film school. I did stand-up comedy and all this performance stuff, and my first example was my mother. She knew how to turn a phrase or a joke to get the kids interested, and if they weren’t, she wasn’t going to push it. I learned from her first, and I tried to match her energy.

I don’t know what my mother went through when she turned 40, as an artist. I know she was a mom of two by that time, but I gathered — especially because she was a teaching artist for so many years — that she was hustling, jumping between these different roles, trying to make sense of something for herself. In that way, I feel like the movie and my journey as an artist brought me closer to her. I was like, Oh, this is what you had to go through. And then you had two kids on top of that?

In the film, your character is also a teacher. As much as she tries to model support and positivity, sometimes the frustration seeps through. One line stayed with me: “Don’t think that because you created something, people will appreciate it.” RB:

Yeah, I have been bitter. I was able to transform that into a film; it gave me a story to tell. But I did feel that theater as an institution didn’t pay off, there wasn’t much of a dividend. I had done a play in 2011 called Seed, and everyone was like, “Girl, this is your breakout! This is your moment! This play is going on Broadway!” None of that shit happened. Theater was not responding in the same way. I was quietly devastated by it, and I think the movie is my exploration of the why. How come things didn’t happen for me? Here’s someone who has been trying for 20-something years and my biggest accomplishment was 10 years ago when I was 30. That’s why I invented the 30 Under 30 award for my character: The idea that accomplishments are amplified by one’s proximity to youth. There’s no 50 Under 50 award. Or 60 Under 60. Being young and doing something as an artist seems more of a cause for celebration. You know what I mean?

There’s also this theme of displacement that runs through the film. In addition to your protagonist feeling out of place in the classroom and in the theater community, she’s also setting a play, Harlem Ave, that deals with gentrification. RB:

So, my parents were gentrifiers in their own way in the late 60s and 70s, when they moved to the south side of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They didn’t displace people, because what they and their artist and jazz musician comrades would do is take over dilapidated spaces that were considered unlivable — broken-down lofts and factories and storefronts — and create community. There was an investment in engaging the community that came before you, whereas now I think gentrification really is just about an opportunity for the person moving in — “Oh, look at this dope, cheap brownstone that I can get” — with no regard for what came before.

Right. RB: The same thing happens with these artistic institutions: They find a dilapidated space, they revive it and put a million dollars into it. Then when it comes to programming, the people on the stage don’t look like the people outside of the gate. They’re thinking of their silver-haired patrons, because those people can afford a $100 ticket, and that is who I feel most of the theaters cater to. So when diversity shows up on the stage, it’s a version of diversity that protects the audience from feeling bad about racism or sexism. They can still remain in a comfortable place, so they can come back next week or next month and see something for the $300 membership.

But then you brilliantly juxtapose said institutions with the battle rap in the Bronx. RB: I wanted to show these different hubs of art in New York. This film is about capturing an authentic New York experience, and so we shot that battle rap scene at a warehouse space at the tip-top of the Bronx. Art and culture are happening in these spaces that we’re not always focusing the camera on and that don’t have the multimillion-dollar renovation fund of a downtown theater. But this is theater. This is art.

Is that battle based on an actual show? RB:

Yes. Well, we recreated that. Babs Bunny, who people may recognize from Making the Band, created this brand called Queen of the Ring. If you go on YouTube, you’ll see their battle raps. I would watch them because I just needed to see women slaying shit and not being proper or polite. I just wanted to put it into a cinematic world.

Your pen is equally hard-hitting, Radha. Rhymes like “Poverty Porn” and “This Some Bullshit” do so much in revealing character, advancing the narrative. RB:

Thank you. I mean, I feel like if we’re stopping to listen to a song, it should still be about advancing the narrative. We’re still moving forward, riding on this person’s frustration, but into the next scene, next act, or what have you. I think it comes from being a playwright, making sure that everything is earned and not just thrown in there for novelty or because it’s colorful and interesting. I feel like RadhaMUSprime is probably an explosion of her consciousness, the things that she’d been suppressing.But yeah, I’m an emcee. I rhyme. The beautiful thing about the film is I didn’t have to become a professional rapper. I don’t feel like the movie is 8 Mile. I say the movie is 2 Mile,

because she’s not trying to go that far. She’s not trying to be a hip-hop star. For her, hip-hop is a meditation and it shows up in many ways, from the trap beat floating outside her window, to her freestyling in the mirror, or with the dudes in the basement cypher at Arlene’s Grocery.

In some ways, the moral and artistic struggles of The Forty-Year-Old Version remind me of Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend’s 1987 classic. RB:

I appreciate that you bring up Hollywood Shuffle, because I know that because I’m Black and I’m shooting in black and white, people always make the comparison to She’s Gotta Have It. But I feel like my film calls back to Hollywood Shuffle, about a Black artist confronting the white gatekeepers on who gets to tell a Black story and how.

Exactly. And like Townsend, you wrote, directed, and starred in your own first feature film. How was that experience, and do you think you would do it again? RB:

I wouldn’t say I regret being in my film, but I think that there’s probably more of a fascination with my film because I’m in it. And I have too much respect for actors to call myself one. I don’t come from training. I don’t sit in these auditions day after day. I don’t have to endure seven callbacks for a role. I just think that when an audience is familiar with a face, it might make it easier for them to go down the line with this person. So while I don’t plan on being in another one of my films, I do plan on mining my family legacy for storytelling, and on telling stories where music is a driving force.I really want to be an auteur. I’m hoping that my stories get quieter. Very quiet, but very potent. A slow burn, but such a beautiful payoff. I want to make work like that.

Amen.

Photographs:

Radha Blank on set, t & m

Radha Blank with her fellow cast members

[moonyandsaturn]

Paper Rings

little dorlene fic that you can also read here

The moon was high, hanging in the night sky with smoking smells flowing to it. Out the window into the midnight streets.

“I’m not sure this is exactly how I want to meet your friends.”

“What do you mean this is perfect!” Lily smiled.

Dorcas looked around at the abnormally large flat. The walls were covered in nicely printed wallpaper and slightly dusty frames hung paintings Dorcas couldn't remember from any of their art history classes.

“Geez, this place is giant,” Dorcas whistled as Lily continued dragging her up the stairs. The sound of laughter from a higher room (with even higher people in it) was made clearer.

“Yeah, Sirius is a rich asshole,” Lily replied, earning a laugh from her. “Even painted all those paintings himself because he wanted to be original,” she mocked.

“Ha! So who's all here?”

“Oh so there's Remus who you’ve met. Then this is Sirius’ place so obviously he’d here. And then we have James of course.” James was Lily’s fiance. They got engaged about 2 months ago and the wedding would come along soon enough.

“Is that it?”

“No, there's Marlene too. You’ve probably seen her around. She's on the volleyball team.” Dorcas shook their head not remembering any of that. “Well, that's fine anyway they're over here.”

Lily opened the door to a large room. It was sort of a lounge room, it had a TV and all that. Normally they wouldn't be upstairs though.

The two of them entering earned a few “Heyyys!!” and “It was about time you guys got here!” James got up to give Lily a kiss before leading both of them over to the couch they were all on, Remus was already rolling a joint for them.

“Dorcas right?” they looked up at the person asking. She must be Marlene . The girl talking had dirty blonde hair pinned up in a messy low bun. She was wearing a much too large brown leather jacket with a band tee and jeans as well.

“Um, yeah. They/she,” Dorcas had grown accustomed to just telling people their pronouns as a greeting. It just made things much easier.

Marlene smiled back. It had a sort of crookedness to it, in between a smirk and a grin. “She/her.” Dorcas nodded back as she received the fag from Remus.

The talking went long into the night, or morning that is. It was an interesting group of people. Marlene and Sirius were probably the more extroverted and outspoken out of them, though Sirius was kind of whipped and would shut up if Remus said so. Marlene seemed to just constantly flirt with her. Dorcas understood it may just be how her personality seems to her but sometimes it got annoying. Of course she already met Lily and James long ago and didn't learn anything new about them.

Marlene seemed especially interested in her dating life.

“Yeah, and then we broke up. They were pretty nice but it just didn't make sense for us to be together.”

“they?” Marlene looked up from her phone. looks like she was listening

“yeah, me and my partner.”

“Ever dated a girl before?”

“Maybe” Dorcas winked and turned back to finish her story.

By maybe that meant never, and Dorcas was simply playing the pronoun game. Dorcas did have a preference for girls right but they had only dated guys up till now. 3 actually. First was her high school boyfriend that lasted 5 months, Charlie Robeson. Charlie came out as trans several years later so maybe Dorcas should have said her high school girlfriend . 2nd was Gideon Prewitt. They dated for 2 years. Two years of her life wasted really. Dorcas shook the thought from their head. Gideon was a douchebag who could go fuck himself. Her last boyfriend wasn't really a boyfriend at all, they fake dated to get someone else jealous. Ah, yes fake-dating Remus Lupin was probably the best out of her romantic encounters, excluding the part when him and Sirius forgot to lock the bathroom door and Dorcas happened to walk in at the wrong time.

They got into the elevator up to her flat. It was eerily silent at this hour of the morn, creepy almost. She played with her keys for a moment, trying to find the right one before pushing the door open to her modest flat.

Dorcas tossed themself onto her bed kicking the duvet over her body, snoring lightly to sleep and the sun started making colorful patterns in the sky.

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

“Oh, come on Meadowes! Surely you must like me a little after 2 months!”

“Marlene, you’ve been asking me out as a joke for 2 months. sorry I’m not looking to get humiliated!”

Dorcas could hear Marlene catching up to her, a stupid fucking smirk playing on her lips. “What if it's not a joke?”

“Then we wouldn't really be here, huh?” Dorcas said, pulling her bag tighter to her.

“Just a small dinner! You don't even need to come home with me.”

“What a generous offer,” Dorcas rolled their eyes.

“Oh, you know I'm joking,” Marlene smiled, walking backwards to try to keep up with her. “Come on, what's your favorite food? We can go get that when you're free.”

Dorcas sighed and stopped to face Marlene, she was only a couple inches taller than her. Maybe 5’10 or 11. “What about when you’re free?”

Marlene beamed. “Anytime is good.”

“Not now it is, get your ass over here McKinnon! Actually go get the ball then come back!” A booming coach's voice came from the volleyball court.

Marlene bent down to pick up the ball and gave Dorcas a little two fingered salute before running back to the court. “See you later, Meadowes! For dinner!!”

“Hey! That wasn't a yes!” Dorcas called back to her, not receiving a response and shaking her head as she walked away.

Neither of them had each other's phone number so it's fine. To be quite honest, Dorcas wouldn't mind a date. Marlene was attractive and funny, just very very persistent. She could be compared to James in high school, poor Lily.

Dorcas took her thoughts away from their almost date and walked over to the bus stop to meet up with some people for her group project. They convinced everyone to meet up at their favorite coffee shop. Dorcas was unreasonably excited to get some coffee in her system, specifically mocha with some foam and chocolate drizzle on top.

Curse you Remus, now I'm addicted to shit Dorcas thought as she drank almost the entire thing under 5 minutes. She got her things out to wait for the others.

she got home at a decent time, just as the moon rose and the sun set. Dorcas made themself some popcorn to watch a movie with.

Ding! Dorcas checked the microwave but the popcorn wasn't done. Ding! She realized it was her phone and picked it off the counter to see the messages from an unknown number.

Marlene: Hey I thought we were gonna have dinner :(

Marlene: also don't hate me Lily was the one who gave me your number after she saw me stalking you

Marlene: also this is Marlene probably should have said that first so you don't think I'm a creep

Dorcas: You are a creep

Marlene: ouch

Marlene: I thought you liked me Meadowes

Dorcas: I never said that

Marene: Maybe you’re in denial ;))

Dorcas: hmmm let me think

Dorcas: no

Marlene: :((((

Marlene: well now that I can text you when are you free?

Dorcas: you really are annoying aren't you?

Marlene: nah just know what i want

Marlene: soooo????

Dorcas: I'm watching a movie right now

Marlene: ok?

Dorcas: ok so you can come over you persistent arse

Dorcas: you can get my address from lily too creepy

Marlene: is that my new nickname??

Marlene: I deal with the name calling just for you, see you in a minute :))

Dorcas sighed and looked over at the microwaved that was now smoking and smelled of burnt popcorn. She cleaned it up and opened up the windows before enjoying watching some stupid reels on instagram.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Marlene grinned at Dorcas opened the door.

“Har, har,” she deadpanned and let her inside.

“What's that?”

Marlene set a bag on top of Dorcas’ dining table. She didn't answer and instead pulled out one of those bags of sweet people normally bought at halloween.

Dorcas laughed at the size of it. “I don't think we’ll be able to eat all that.”

“That's what you think. I could survive solely off of starbursts,” Marlene replied.

“The orange ones are the best.”

Marlene turned to face them with her mouth open with disgust. “Those are the worst ones!”

“No, the worst ones are pink.”

“I think we need your senses checked, love. There's definitely something wrong with your taste.” Marlene moved closer and Dorcas’ cheeks warmed up at the pet name.

“C’mon I just got Disney plus so we can watch something on there.”

Marlene followed Dorcas to her couch giddily, “Oooo, I vote for Princess and the Frog.” She plopped down on the other side of the couch and Dorcas tossed her a blanket.

“Yeah, okay. Princess and the frog and Mulan are probably my favorites.” She got the remote to turn the TV on.

“Well, maybe your taste isn't all that damaged,” Marlene smiled before turning to watch the movie.

Movie rolled for the full 1 hour and 38 minutes and for part of the credits. The two didn't talk much only making comments here and there, laughing at things they thought funny and pointing when something interesting happened.

“I would die to have something like Ray and Evangeline.”

Dorcas looked over at Marlene who was still watching the credits rolling in tune with the background music.

“The firefly and the star?”

Marlene faced her once again.“Mhm, yeah. I’d wait my whole life for that.”

“Yeah, it's sweet isn't it? How much he cared.”

“Mhm,” Dorcas’ breath hitched. they didn't know whether they were moving closer or if it was Marlene. Oh, it was Marlene and how welcome the closeness was.

Dorcas closed the small gap between their faces. Place a light kiss on the girls lips. When she pulled away only a second later Marlene still had her eyes closed, a soft smile set on her face. She opened up her eyes to see Dorcas who probably looked like a nervous wreck. Marlene's smile broadened.

“Can I kiss you?”

Dorcas fought back her own smile before sitting up and pushing their lips together again, this time less unsure.

They were like that for a long time, hands running in each other's hair (which Dorcas was surprised her curls didn't get tangled in). Pulling each other closer by the neck, running thumbs over soft cheeks.

They eventually pulled apart to breathe. “I wasn't expecting that till maybe the third date.”

“Not’s not a date,” Dorcas held in a laugh and looked away from Marlene who was eyeing her.

“Of course not. Not after you insult pink starbursts,” Marlene said before turning her back to Dorcas, claiming a spot on her lap, sort of using Dorcas as a back rest. they didn't mind. It was the perfect height. Dorcas lifted their chin onto her head and wrapped their arms around her shoulders. She quickly places a kiss into her hair before letting the night's sleep take over them.

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

1 year later:

Dorcas blinked herself awake.

“Morning.”

They looked up at Marlene who had her arm around her head. “Morning. Did I oversleep?”

She looked away from the book she was reading. Ever since Dorcas moved in They’d been reading all the books on her bedside table and now Marlene had to catch up. “No, think you got a bit of a cold, sorry.”

“It's okay,” Dorcas closed her eyes again, feeling comfortable in their girlfriends embrace.

The night before the whole gang took a trip to the beach. At night. Cause they were all utterly stupid. Marlene went into the ocean first urging everyone else to also. James jumped in after free to wallow in his youth and was happy to get a break from babysitting. Harry was an amazing kid but his godfather was also Sirius so Harry too was a bit chaotic. Dorcas eventually joined everyone in the freezing water, Dorcas could have sworn they turned blue.

Marlene turned abruptly, causing Dorcas’ head to fall back on the pillow which wasn't nearly as comfortable as her. “Would you ever want to live together?”

Well, thats an odd conversation starter. Dorcas laughed. “We already are.”

“No, I know that. I mean when we're out of uni, working and all that.”

“Oh, I never thought of that.”

“I’m just saying we don't have to decide I just thought maybe-”

“I never said I didn't want to,” Dorcas cut her off before Marlene started rambling. “I think it would be nice.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Yeah, so stop worrying, creepy,” she laughed.

Marlene gave them a deadpan expression. “When are you gonna stop calling me that!”

“Never,” Dorcas grinned. “Sooo, would you just wanna live together or?”

Marlene laid back down, looking at the ceiling and Dorcas leaned over her. “I don't know. We could drive away and live in the country maybe. We can work from home so our dreary Mondays aren't so dreary.”

Darcas laid down next to her. “We’re bound to have fights and stuff, though.”

“That's fine,” Marlene faced her, but didn't move her body. “We wouldn't be able to be happy if we’re not angry sometimes.”

Dorcas sat up again, pulling Marlene up with her. “Would you ever want to get married?”

Marlene rolled her tongue on the inside of her cheek. “Yeah. Don't have that much money though. Can't get you anything shiny and nice like you deserve.”

Dorcas took Marlene’s hands in theirs.“I hate accidents but you know? I didn't really mind it when we went from friends to this. You’re the one I want, Marlene McKinnon. And I’d marry you with paper rings.”

[silentfcknhill]

AtLA + LoK Villains Evilness Rating

(If you wanna dispute my ratings I’ll be happy to tell you why.)

ATLA:

Ty Lee - 0.5 /10

Cinnamon roll. Too pure for this world. Naïve and will put her faith in you 100%. Kind of ditzy but can take you down with no hard feelings. Needs to be liked by everyone. Is very flexible. Can strangle you with her legs and giggle while doing it. Chooses bad friends. Has frustratingly good luck. 

Uncle Iroh- 1/10

Actual angel but could still open up a can of whoop-ass if necessary. Too supportive and forgiving. Loves tea, sitting around, speaking in proverbs and leading by example. Probably considers you a friend. Surprisingly powerful but mostly peaceful. Hard to provoke but if you do, just run. Fear the nice ones. 

Jet- 3/10

Misguided and extreme but also traumatized. Don't get in his way. Kind of twisted and obsessive af. Ends justify the means, until they don't. Needs a proper role model and has potential. Can be unreasonable and is still kind of a jerk. Will gaslight you. 

Prince Zuko- 3.5/10

Conflicted, violent and angsty but mostly needs a lot of reassurance. Has a major boner for his honor. Will freak out over nothing. Has been through a lot and will not be underestimated. Grumpy and willful af and won't listen to you until it's too late, then will blame you for misleading him. 

June- 4/10 

Might beat you up or kidnap you for money but it's nothing personal. Might insult you as a way of flirting. Looks pretty and delicate but don't be fooled. Can beat you up in a split second and not break a sweat. Will probably take all your stuff and never give it back. Lives for the tough girl aesthetic. 

Mai- 5/10

Is just bored and over it all. Throwing knives is something to do. Apathetic and will probably just follow along with whatever including murder but will complain the entire time. Emo af. Would risk it all for a quick nap. Prone to bite your head off. Too smart for you and will let you know. 

Wan Shi Tong- 6.5/10

A total dick. Tired of your shit and is judging you. Thinks humans are garbage and won't get involved with them until it suits him. Don't touch his books or he will literally eat you. Nerdiest bastard. Doesn't trust you so don't try any shit with him. Sees through your pathetic lies. Kind of an elitist.

Combustion Man- 7/10 

Thinks blowing shit up is a form of art. Doesn't believe in communication. Very serious and focused. Do not fight him. Probably gets crapped on more than he deserves. A mystery wrapped in a bald head. Probably has a tattoo of the names of all the people he's killed and he's ready to add yours. 

Hama- 7.5/10

Traumatized old hag. Created bloodbending but too crazy to do much with it now. May kidnap you and keep you in a dank hole forever. Seems sweet at first but is hiding a lot of secrets. Don't eat her cooking. Thinks sitting at home scheming is a job. Hates you for whatever small thing you did to her 57 years ago. Forgets nothing. 

Long Feng- 8/10

Conniving af. Will brainwash you, lie to your face and maybe make you disappear. Wants everything and will plot to take it all. Perfectionist and control freak, will stab you in the back and you won't see it coming. Is tired of taking everyone's shit. Thinks he deserves better but he doesn't. Kills children. 

Admiral Zhao- 8/10 

Explosive temper. Huge egomaniac and narcissist. Hates the moon. Has probably killed a lot of people and fish and you're next. Will do whatever it takes. Won't listen to anything you say. Punch first, ask questions never. Jumps to a lot of conclusions, is usually wrong. Frequently embarrasses self. 

Koh the Face-Stealer- 8.5/10 

Terrifying and will probably steal your face. Do not approach. Too indifferent to chase you but can be sneaky af so watch your back. Doesn't handle emotions well. A total loner. The guy who knows everything but nobody wants to talk to. Fear him. To know him is to hate him. Makes you question everything. 

Firelord Azulon- 9/10 

Will order your execution on a whim and maybe a relative or two first for the appetizer. Do not question him. Will play favorites and call you out on things that are his fault. Overreacts and you should probably not be around when it happens. Disapproves of all your choices and is very vocal about this fact. Forces parents to kill their children. 

Firelord Sozin- 9/10

Will commit genocide and take over the world while yelling at you for minor shit. Kind of a petty and jealous asshole. Even if you think he is your friend he isn't and is going to attack you. A big old bully with bad breath and a wonky beard. The original starter of all drama and certified instigator shitlord. 

Princess Azula- 9/10 

Unstable and manipulative. Sadist who thrives off of your fear and suffering. Will hurt you badly in all the ways. Avoid at all costs. Acts cold and calculating but really has no chill. Demands your respect but won't earn it. Trolling you gives her pleasure. The spawn of satan and loving it. Mommy issues to infinity. 

Firelord Ozai- 9.5/10

Second worst dad ever. No soul. Will burn every tree and face to a crisp. Child abuse for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Actual sociopath. Will kill someone and banish you for it. Goatee comes first. Will project all his insecurities on you. Will tell everyone your secrets. World's biggest megalomaniac. 

LOK: 

Varrick- 3/10

Will probably lie, try to con you out of money, order you to do things for him and tell bad jokes but that's as far as it's gonna go. Eccentric and annoying af. Doesn't know when to shut up. Needs to learn some lessons in life. Attracts more trouble than he's worth. Has all the good gossip somehow. 

Bataar Jr.- 3/10

The guy that nobody likes because he tries too hard and ends up ruining everything. Enjoys being a bitch. Wants to rebel but is bad at it. Do you love me now father? Tries to act like he doesn't care what you think but cares way too much. Will not kill you but might get engaged to your ex to spite you. 

Police Chief Saikhan- 3.5/10 

Will do anything you say for a price, except give a fuck. Doesn't really care about anything. Might arrest you just because he doesn't like you. The type to pretend he didn't hear you just to avoid responsibility. Likes to yell into things. Hates helping people. Is actually a giant rock in disguise. 

Tahno- 3.5/10 

A total prick. Has nicer hair than you and won't let you forget it. Very flamboyant and arrogant. Will gloat over being better than you at everything even though he cheated every time. Talks mad shit but can't walk the walk. Ultimately a big baby. Lowkey protect him. Wants to be the cool kid but isn't cool. 

Desna- 4/10

Couldn't care less. Actual inanimate object. Lurks around for no reason. Hates everything and that includes you. Listens to his elders and would probably leave you for dead. Just wants to sleep. Secretly goth. Might actually be two small robots in a trenchcoat pretending to be human. 

Councilman Tarrlok- 4.5/10

Attention whore with a savior complex. Smol bean who wants approval. Acts arrogant but is secretly depressed and self-loathing af. Stubborn and clingy emotional wreck with impulse control issues. Needs a hug. Will probably manipulate you through guilt or charisma. Wants to be Lucius Malfoy, but cries at night. 

Hiroshi Sato- 5/10

Has lost sight of what's important. Total extremist. Will get revenge on you for something you didn't even do. Well respected and seems innocent but is plotting your downfall. Can build a whole army and take you down. Kind of a traitor. Loyalty is volatile. Thinks he always knows what's best for you but doesn't know shit. 

The Lieutenant- 5/10

In way over his head. Wants to make a difference but has let bitterness take over. Will probably electrocute you. Puts his faith in the wrong people. Kind of snobby and will hold a grudge. 99 problems and benders are about 98 of them. Tired of being pushed around but still lets himself be pushed around. FLOPPY MUSTACHE. 

Aiwei- 5.5/10 

Thinks he's better than you and probably isn't. Wants to be sneaky but really is just too predictable. Boring af and tries to be unique but fails miserably. Lets everyone take advantage of him. Don't lie to him. Will harbor resentment and take it out on you at a random point in time. Discount Long Feng but not as smart or ambitious. 

Eska- 5.5/10

Will stalk you aggressively. Thinks slavery is a relationship. Eyeliner sharp enough to kill. Never betray her or she will destroy you. Might use you as a footstool. Seems emotionally dead inside, but don't test her dormant waters. Uses everyone and feels no guilt. Hipster trash. No concept of boundaries or social interaction. 

Ghazan- 6/10

Sarcasm game strong enough to fatally wound you. Doesn't say much. Has tree trunks for limbs and will probably use them to throw lava and rocks at you. Lowkey protective af. Don't get on his bad side. You can't get on his good side. Would rather kill everyone including himself than let you win an argument. 

Zaheer- 6/10

A wannabe hippie but will still fight the system and you too. Don't try to control him. Gets annoyed when people breathe too loud. Is kind of a contradiction. Will literally blow you away. Anarchy equals freedom. Fuck the police. Can sit in the same spot for a really long time. Probably a flat earther. 

Ming-Hua- 7/10

Has a significant disability but can still easily slaughter you. Innovative and sneaky af. As fast and agile as an actual lemur. A natural disaster wherever she goes. Doesn't listen to your advice. Overcompensates a lot. Probably her own worst enemy. Is quiet and likes to eavesdrop on your business. 

Kuvira- 7.5/10 

Wants to control everything. Who invited her to poop the party? Highkey evil and just plain mean. Will use your corpse as a decoration if you get in her way. Secretly petty and superficial af. Thinks social bonding is trying to seduce you in order to take charge of your life. Individuality punishable by death. Even other villains hate her. 

P'Li- 7.5/10

Can explode you with her mind. Her gaze will pierce you to the core. Strong independent and violent woman who don't need a man but chooses to have one anyway. Will shave you off just like the sides of her hair. Has no problem fucking shit up. Boss bitch. Loyal to only a select few, so too bad for you. 

Amon- 8/10

Charismatic but scary and mysterious af. Huge hypocrite. Will silently judge you. Powerful, selfish and cruel. Manipulative as hell and uses intimidation to get you to comply. Pretends to have empathy but really just wants control. Will cripple you physically and emotionally without warning. Knows all of your weaknesses but none of his own. 

Earth Queen Hou-Ting- 8.5/10 

The actual worst. Eats your pets for supper. Her yelling is the #1 cause of deafness worldwide. Will keep you prisoner and then have you killed for looking at her. The bossiest Drama Queen ever. Will be the cause of all your misery and will be proud of it. Bark is the same as her bite. Lots of daddy issues. 

Chief Unalaq- 9/10 

Religious extremist. Actually batshit insane. Wants to destroy the entire world. Has ascended from this pathetic plane of human existence. Loner whose only friends are invisible. Wants you to think he's just shy and misunderstood but NOPE. Knows what you want to hear and says it. Will sell you to satan for one cornchip. 

Yakone- 9.5/10

Worst dad ever. Will either bloodbend you, try to live vicariously through you or both. Absolutely no redeeming traits except for being physically human. Abuse equals tough love. Might beat your ass for no good reason and expect your gratitude for it. Criminal mastermind with no conscience and all of the entitlement. 

Vaatu- 10/10

Actually the devil. Literal incarnation of darkness and chaos. Ultimate troll and force of disaster in the world. Doesn't know any better, but still an asshole by choice. Will use you until you're no longer of value. Has a hard-on for destruction. Likes to play the victim. Will consume your soul and burp loudly.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #416

“don’t pray for me when you’re the one to blame  /  don’t think of me when you go up in flames”

Does your town/area have a farmer’s market? Do you ever buy your vegetables there rather than grocery store? Not close enough for us to actually go there for groceries, no. If you had a significant other and somehow got a chance to kiss your celebrity crush, would you still go for it? Well no, given Mark's been in a serious relationship for like six years, and I'd feel disloyal to my partner. I can just dream about it, ha ha. Do you tend to be attracted to people that are more similar to you in interests and mannerisms or do you tend to be attracted to someone opposite/complementing to you? I tend to be drawn to people I'm more similar to. What is a talent that a lot of other people desire or value but you really don’t care to have (e.g., singing, etc.)? *shrug* If someone asks you to hang out, but for some reason you’re just feeling lazy/don’t want to go anywhere, do you ignore them, make up an excuse, or just tell them the honest truth? Tbh, odds are I'm making up an excuse. Would you like to meet an alien? That would depend on its motives. It might have wisdom to share, or it may be nefarious, in which case I don't wanna meet it obviously. If so, would you trust them enough to go back with them to their planet? That's a no no matter how it acts. Trust issues, my friend. And that's with humans. What do you think is at the end of space. It's kinda science that space is infinite... Do you like D&D or Magic: The Gathering the most? I've never played D&D because I know I would be way, way too awkward to actually do it. M:TG is fun, though. What is your favorite Disney movie? TLKKKKK. What’s your favorite book series? Wings of Fire tops the list right now, but Warriors will always have a very special place in my heart. What’s something you wish they’d build in your neighborhood? Idk. Do you usually keep ponytail holders around your wrist? No. I don't even wear my hair in a ponytail because it's too short. Sunny D or orange juice? Orange juice. I have to be in a very specific mood for Sunny D. Can you snap out of a bad mood fast? Nooooo, unless something drastically good happens. How can a person tell if you’re mad or annoyed? My face will probably give it away, mixed with me being short and snippy or more awkward than normal because I'm trying to not be a bother. What’s something you enjoy that’s outside your age level? Certain TV shows. When your friends come and hang out at your house, what do you get up to? The only friend I have that I hang out with once in a blue moon is Girt, and we'd usually play board games or watch TV. Do you think it’s ignorant for people to have unprotected sex when they’re not ready for a child? Yes. Like yes, I'm pro-choice so won't look down on someone getting an abortion, but I still think you should be willing to act to prevent things from getting to that point where that procedure is chosen. For it or against it, abortion is a serious decision and should be treated as such. What were your favourite things to do as a child? My favorite thing had to be video games, specifically Spyro, and I also adored Webkinz and Neopets on the computer. I also loved playing make-believe with my toys like every other kid. I loved watching Dad play video games, too. I've also been a drawing fiend since I was very little. If you were shopping with your best friend, and they picked an outfit that was completely unflattering, would you tell them? I honestly don't know if I would. Her being comfortable and happy in it is what matters, anyway. Do you prefer using air-con or having the windows down when you’re driving on a hot day? Team A/C for sure. I hate the feeling of wind just slapping the hell outta your face and making a nest out of your hair. Can you ever manage to finish three courses when you go out to eat at restaurants? No. What would you say your favourite farm animal is? Pigs! They are so incredibly misunderstood. They're very intelligent, CLEAN (I know, can you believe it?), silly, and happy animals that I just adore. Is your ex currently in a relationship and if yes, how do you feel about that? Idk if "the" ex is with anyone, and it's for the better I don't, probably. Which one of your friends should be a stand-up comedian? Girt. Is your mom a better driver or your dad? Oh yeah. Dad tailgates like a motherfucker. What's your least favorite genre of music? Either rap or country, idk. Do you like poems? I do. Do you enjoy drawing? I have a love-hate relationship with it. I LOVE when something comes out the way I wanted it to, but if it doesn't, I feel very disappointed in myself and bash it into my head that I could do better. Do you even have any drawing talent? So I'm told. Have you ever seen The Sound of Music? Yes, in elementary school's music class. Ever seen Beetlejuice? If so, did you enjoy it? Oh yes, that was one of Jason's favorites. I liked it. How do you deal with oppressive heat? Complain, sweat my ass off, do anything I can to cool off that doesn't involve taking clothes off. What’s one thing that people definitely CAN’T count on you for? To remember pretty much anything whatsoever. What about something they definitely can count on you for? An ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. How do you feel about your handwriting? I like it. Is there a store that bothers you immensely for some reason (people who shop there irritate you or the employees who work there are rude, etc.)? Uhhhh I don't think so. What’s something you complain about frequently? If I'm hot, or my legs hurting. If you’re home alone and someone knocks on the door, what do you do? Ignore it. I'm not answering. What’s one book that you have read that will stick with you forever? Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. It's an anti-war pacifism novel, which is something I'm very much passionate about. Would you ever get one of those old school “mom” tattoos with the heart? No. I know with certainty I want a tribute to my mom when she passes, but definitely not that design. Are you a Giants fan? I don't care for sports, but the NYG always make me think of Jason's dad, who is like, obsessed with them. So I guess I feel a bit of warmness towards them just for memory's sake. Last time you went pumpkin picking? Never. Do you prefer eating corn straight off the cob or corn already taken off the cob? I think corn on the cob tastes better with all the butter and spices you can put on it, but I do enjoy off the cob too because it's just so much cleaner. Would you want your family to go on Wife Swap? Well, I live with my mom and she's divorced, so... I don't have to worry about this. How old is your current e-mail address? God, I've had it since I was a kid. Last time you conversed with someone in a language other than English? Not since taking a test for German in high school. Last video you favorited on YouTube? Oh my god, it was this video from my favorite reptile channel (Snake Discovery) of them taking their pet tegu to the park. She clearly had SO much fun. Now mind you I very rarely favorite things, so yeah, I adored the video. Do you like chocolate with coconut filling? Noooo, I'm not a coconut fan at all. What was the first thing you ate today? Mom made bacon, yuuuuum. Do you know how to play Mahjong? No. Mom loves it, though. Do you have any skirts longer than knee-length? I don't own any skirts. What’s the farthest you’ve gone with someone you weren’t dating? Just flirting. Ever had a promise ring? No. What about one of those “I’ll wait until marriage” rings (I think they’re called purity rings or something)? They're called abstinence rings, and yes, in HS. Funny how looking back I was definitely breaking that vow while I wore it lmao. What is the shortest time you’ve heard of people being together before getting married? My late grandma and her second husband got married SO fast. Like they were together for probably a couple months (maybe less?), then boom, the news came that they were engaged. Are any of your friends currently pregnant? Facebook friends, yes, which are mostly composed of old friends and acquaintances from school. One poor girl very recently got into a bad wreck, but thank goodness she and her unborn daughter are okay. Have you ever played golf? I loved playing putt-putt when I was younger, and then Jason and I once had a mini-golf date. It was really cute. When was the last time you waxed anything on your body, if ever? It's been some years since I used to wax my eyebrows. Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes. A minor one, but still. Can you honestly say you love the last person you kissed? Yep. Are you smiling in your Facebook profile picture? Yeah. Would you ever go on Fear Factor? Noooo. I would NEVER get past day #2 where they tend to do the disgusting shit, and I'm way too out of shape to do the wild stuff they do. What colour was the last mask you wore? Blue. Can any of your friends sing well? Which one has the nicest singing voice? Oh yes, Sara has an absolutely beautiful voice. When was the last time you had a nightmare? I had two last night, actually. I have this habit of taking my APAP mask off in the middle of the night because it's a nuisance, and I never remember doing so. When I do that, I'm much more prone to have nightmares because the mask helps my sleep apnea, which causes my nightmares/terrors. Where do you see yourself in ten years? I do NOT want to imagine this. It's either going to be beautiful or a fucking catastrophe, of that I'm sure. Does your family have traditions? Just pretty ordinary holiday ones. Have you ever met anyone half-way famous? Tez is famous, as far as I'm concerned. :') I also have some musician friends trying to make it, but idk how far they've actually gotten in the industry. Is there a celebrity that you are related to? No, just ancestors. Would you call your last relationship a mistake? Definitely not. Would you ever take up a job in photography? Ugh... that's the fucking dream. But I'm massively losing hope. Do you throw out your assignments once you’ve gotten them back? When I was in school, it depended on whether it would serve as good study material or not. Who was the last person you messaged on Facebook? My old friend Jenna messaged me a few days back just to say she was thinking about me and wished me well, which I really appreciated. Of course I messaged her back wishing her the same and all. Have you ever developed a crush on someone the first day you met them? Don't believe so, no. Do you have any friends who never shut up about their boyfriend/girlfriend? Well, I used to. She vanished. Have you ever showered with a member of the opposite sex? No. Don't want to. I want to be alone when I shower.

[hellyeahheroes]

Marvel Teen Romance: Girls Edition Part 1

Solo Boys Edition

Romance is a dying art in superhero comics. 

In a medium rife with sexism, the idea of romance becomes tainted with unfortunate cliches in a wave of women’s empowerment. Terms like Damsel-in-Distress becomes less of a person benefiting of a hero’s altruism to ranging from the unfortunate burden of being the one who needs to be saved as a sign of a weakness.

Marvel best example of the romance is Peter Parker and Mary Jane. A romance rife with editorial backlash that never liked the former and did their damnest and are doing their damnest to demean the character for their own ideal partner for Spider-man or Peter. MJ was making grown ass men who resented their wives and marriages project onto Peter. If you want to see an example of the sexism of Marvel, look up Christopher Priest’s opinion of Peter Parker and MJ and then after you pick up your jaw, keep reading.

Now women in Marvel have to appeal to the girls reading them. They have to be strong and strength is often interpreted as independence from men. There is rarely moments of weakness or yearning for these characters. They do not fawn for men or anyone at all and if they do long for anyone, it is for another woman, Today’s Marvel female youth opt for solitude and hyperfocus on the mission because writers refuse to even approach the hormone addled teenaged girl which has been derided as a stereotype. There is no swooning or rarely hint of attraction towards anybody, especially the opposite sex.

The pros are that stories are more varied and page space is not wasted on smitten teen girls being smitten on useless boys.

The cons is that it creates an archetype of stereotypical strong independent female in which their only characteristic is that they are strong and/or independent which contrasts men because men can be more varied in attitude and personality while women writers opt not to even engage in romance while also not addressing the character’s sexuality. They are not allowed to be young or be emotional. 

Also, because of classism, the superhero woman opts for her equal in terms of status and usually only date men or women who are also superheroes while men, again are more varied. Men in romances with superheroic women are never powerless and usually fill an utility role. There is a need for them to want to help a perfectly capable woman. There is only one teenaged hero with a solo and a non-superhero partner and even then most of the male partners who aren’t have to be of use to the heroine in their vigilantism. They cannot just have their own lives separate from what the hero is doing like a Mary Jane Watson. They have to be hyper-competent and be apart of the heroines lives. Again, it wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the implied sexism/classism. Spider-Gwen does not get the same fantasy as Peter Parker(will get to that later).

On a side note: To Mayday fans, Anya fans, Pei from Iron Fist fans, Moon Girl fans, Squirrel Girl fans, and any girl that I excluded from this post, they will definitely be in part two. I am sorry, but I just couldn’t. You will see how long this post is and this isn’t malicious on my part, but I hope you understand and forgive me. I mean I have to go back and update the boys edition. Cut me some slack. Anya and Pei were part of the original draft but shit got too long and it didn’t feel right to include them as a footnote.

Here are Marvel’s main solo teen women, romances, and romance history:

Kate Bishop a.k.a Hawkeye

Gender: Female

Orientation: ...Questioning? We’ll just say questioning

Love Interests: Johnny Watts aka Fuse(current), Noh-Var, Tommy Shepherd,  Eli Bradley(retconned), Clown

We are starting with Kate Bishop because she is the closest to a modern woman’s love life. She has a cult following made of predominantly white women because Kate is empowered white girl embodied. And her dating life is modern in that Kate is one of the few women in Marvel that has relationships like men and is never shamed for it. Of all the women on this list, Kate was never not the focus or seen as codependent one. In fact, she is the capable and strong personality in her current relationship with Johnny Watts. He plays the supporting role for her. However varied Kate’s romantic history is, it is the prototypical love life of a teenaged Marvel woman. Every single one of her romances are by definition superheroes or vigilantes or villains. She does not have ordinary men in her life.

Now you are probably thinking that Kate is a team character. You would be right, but I think I speak for all Kate fans is that she is exceptional in that she can and has held books before alone where her other Young Avengers can’t be assed to have an appearance. And I like Kate. She is my favorite white girl in Marvel. So here we go.

And no, I am not going to consider her rapists in Central Park as love interests, but I will say that her relationship with men and her overall independence from them even while she is in relationship with them is because of this assault. There...I said it.

Eli Bradley aka the Patriot. Kate and Eli started off from a rocky place. Kate wanting to be super strong and independent rich girl and Eli being super prideful and somewhat sexist. Eli wants to fulfill his grandfather’s legacy and feels that he has to immediately live up to him no matter what probably did not like Kate upstaging him, and Kate mistook what Eli was saying as sexist. It wasn’t that Kate was a girl that was the problem. It was that Kate was a rich white girl who chose to make rescuing herself and then making he and the Young Avengers look like idiots that was the problem. So they argue and fuss at each other all of the time.

Kate misinterprets Eli’s reluctance to have her and Cassie on the team as sexist when in fact, the team was constructed for a specific purpose and have a specific roster pool to draw from. Cassie and Kate just aren’t in it.

So Eli and Kate take each other apart and both take shots at each other.

So Kate and Eli have this tic for tac relationship which is something Kate seems to relish in while Eli seems to be abrupt with her about it.

And also, the two both have Strong Type A personalities. They both want to be the leader of the Young Avengers.

But during a fight with Kang the Conqueror, both Kate and Eli reach an impasse. 

Kate’s and Eli’s relationship starts to develop a bit and after some revelations about Eli come to the surface and the Avengers disband the Young Avengers only for the team to regroup out of spite of the Avengers. They start recruiting again, then come across Tommy Shepherd, Billy Kaplan’s brother and son of Wanda Maximoff.

And Eli doesn’t like him because Tommy seems to be a little too okay with murder and wanton acts of violence.

Kate and Eli start getting along to an extent. Eli is more of a stern individual and cuts Kate no slack. But Kate often challenges him.

And eventually they go on a date.

Uh. Excuse me. Not a date.

After getting jumped by Ronin on their Central Park, Not-A-Date carriage ride, Kate tried to calm him down after a disastrous evening.

So enough about Eli, let’s move on to Tommy.

Tommy Shepherd is the prototypical fun bad boy. He doesn’t challenge Kate to be better. He dares her to keep up. So after Kate loses her bow and arrow to the original Hawkeye aka Clint Barton in a shooting contest, she goes home feeling ashamed. Eli, still raw from their not-a-date, starts relentlessly criticizing her. Kate did not need that on-top of her embarrassment so she told Eli to fuck off and walked away. Tommy, being less stringent than Eli, talks to Kate. Tommy flirts with Kate, in front of Eli, and they both decide to go out. Tommy was not there for Eli’s and Kate’s fight so he has no idea what is going on. Kate catches him up to speed and well...

Tommy is such an awesome dude when he isn’t murderous. So Kate and Tommy break into Avengers manor and steal back her bow and arrows.

Fun and exciting, bad boy.

The two steal back her bow and arrows and it was a fun date.

Now this triangle business and Kate’s indecisiveness plays a role because eventually she starts teaming up with Clint Barton and she witnesses first hand how disastrous his love life is. But I’ll get to that later. But just to be clear, she doesn’t choose to be with either, Tommy or Eli.

Eli quit the Young Avengers after accidentally having a role in the death of Cassie Lang? It’s confusing. So with Eli’s departure, Young Avengers disbanded and thus Kate decided to team up with the other Hawkeye, Clint Barton, when the other members decided to quit.

Kate Bishop takes up an apprenticeship role under the tutelage of Clint and she helps him out on missions from time to time. There is some hint that Kate is somewhat attracted to him, but she realizes that is nasty and Clint is like twice her age. Clint, however, likes teaching her because Kate is a fast learner.

So this pairing of the Hawkeye’s became somewhat of sensation that propelled Kate to mainstream attraction. The crime busting duo became the bane of low level street thugs all over Brooklyn. But under his mentorship, Kate also saw how much of a wreck Clint’s life was. More specifically, his love life.

Clint was dating Jessica Drew at the time. But he slept with Penny, some woman he rescued, while he was dating her. Natasha is more of his work wife in a sense, you’ll have to ask Hawkeye fans if they ever dated, but she is more concerned with the fact that Clint robbed some gangsters and got arrested. Bobbi was Clint’s ex-wife...well at the time of the comic, she was his separated wife. She wants to find Clint to finalize their divorce. So Kate is dragged into this mess.

Kate witnesses what a mess Clint’s life is, and she gains one fear: to not be like Clint Barton.

Fast forward to the Young Avengers relaunch.

Kate wakes up from a booty call. And it is not some ordinary booty call. No-nonono.

Enter Noh-Varr. Like the narration says, she met Noh-Varr and he collectively kicked all of the Young Avengers asses. And I guess she is over that now and Kate and he hooked up. Noh-Varr is the silly himbo. Stupid but pretty as heck to look at.

It is hard to classify what she and Noh-Varr were because to me, they weren’t really an item as he was more like a one night stand that became a multiple night stand... Good dick is hard to find so if you find one, might as well hold on to it for awhile, am I right ladies?

Anyways, I couldn’t tell you the plot of Young Avengers 2015 because...even I was confused by it. Regardless, we are here for Kate’s love life.While facing the final...whatever the fuck they are fighting, Noh decides to confess to Kate.

And telling Kate that he was semi-seeing someone else on the side kind of drove the relationship to hell.

Anyways, we moving on. Also, America suggests something to Kate.

Another oddity in Kate’s love life is that most, if not all, of her lovers are bi. Juries out on Eli(and will probably stay that way), but both Johnny(we’ll get to him) and Noh-Varr, her only serious relationships, are bi and are attracted to each other. The irreverence that Kate has for dating should be dating because she rarely pontificates on her partners. There is no, “I wonder what X is doing.” It is all business, and rarely play. Also, we are not suggesting that women dating exclusively bi-women are bi by association. We are saying that Kate Bishop isn’t as straight as she thinks she is.

What she fears is having a love life like her mentor, Clint Barton: A fucking mess. Kate is the only young woman who has had multiple booty calls and has pulled the, “Well last night is fun, but you got to get the fuck up out of here” on a dude.

And by doing this, she is acting as self-destructive as Clint who is notorious for doing the same thing. Kate declares that she doesn’t need attachments and that the above boy was too clingy for wanting to hang out after knocking boots. He was a distraction for Kate. Miss America points out the irony of her saying something like that.

On top of everything, Kate decides to get away from Clint and heads out to Los Angeles to start a detective agency. She gets up to some high class hijinx there and in the midst of the chaos, she meets a boy.

Johnny Watts.

What I like about Johnny is that he isn’t overstepping of Kate. He is lax and is perfectly willing to step aside and let Kate be a hero and not let his male ego get wounded by the fact that his girlfriend is a kick ass superhero. Johnny also unlike Eli can keep up with Kate’s wit so their banter/flirtation is quick and rapid.

He is also supportive and understanding.

They hook up after Kate defeats Madame Masque again.

Johnny seems like a normal dude, right. There is nothing strange about him at all. So what is with the above preamble if the first Marvel heroine you mention has a normal boyfriend? Well...

Johnny absorbs the matter of anything he touches and can briefly become the item. It ranges from concrete to even vibranium. Why vibranium? Well he has a nose ring that is made of vibranium. Why does he have a nose ring made from a precious Wakandan resource? Johnny and his sister are Wakandan exiles and they kept a piece of vibranium as keepsakes.

So Johnny has powers like all of Kate’s other boyfriends and exes. When Kate forms the new West Coast Avengers, she enlists her boyfriend as her first recruit. He has issues adjusting into being a superhero, but he is learning. He takes up the alias as Fuse and he and Kate continue with their relationship without much trepidation. Until Noh-Varr comes back.

And Noh-Varr being a himbo doesn’t necessarily jive well with the relationship because Noh-Varr has no tact or grace. He is also really attractive and a pretty boy.

And then it dons on Kate that her boyfriend and her ex are attracted to one another.

All and all, Kate is the standard for super-heroine women in Marvel in.

Miss America Chavez

Gender: Female

Orientation: Lesbian

Love Interests: Ramone Watts(current),Lisa, Ultimate Nullifier

Yes, she is lesbian. Ultimate Nullifier was simply an experiment that she didn’t like after the first kiss. Like one kiss with a guy and she said, “umm nope.”

She is lesbian. She likes girls and from the general reception of the character, girls like her too.I am not going to bother covering her relationship with Ultimate Nullifier because who the fuck really cares about that guy?

I can’t tell you much about Lisa other than America isn’t necessarily a good girlfriend. 

Well she isn’t? Like there was this whole convoluted thing that made America break up with Lisa for a reason I can’t really explain and the narrative tried to paint America as in the right when she was a shitty girlfriend. I just wanted to put Lisa in there because I like to confirm that she existed and still doesn’t have a last name.

Anyways, on to the good shit.

America and Ramone met through mutual colleague and also shared friend, Kate Bishop. Kate was dating Ramone’s brother and America kept Kate around so Kate could ogle her. Anyways, Ramone was trapped in a collapsing building and America saved her and caused Ramone to have what could only be described as gay panic. So naturally, the two decided to date because...well have you seen Miss. America Chavez. If one could describe her, she would be the one woman “reason why I’m gay” justification for women.

That image alone just created like 10 lesbians.

Anyways, the two are just cute. Like I can’t even describe how the two are just cute around each other.

But no one wants to be like deadweight as Nero from Devil May Cry can attest to. So Ramone, like her brother, turn out to be exiles from Wakanda.

And then this happened.

And Allow was born. So after Alloy rescues America and the West Coast Avengers, let’s just say that America was very excited about the new development that her girlfriend has powers just like her.

And they lived happily ever after and are still the item until this day. 

Laura Kinney aka X-23 aka Wolverine

Orientation: Indecisive

Love Interests: Julian Keller,  Warren Worthington(ewwwwww)

tw: sex trafficking, rape, and incest mentions

I don’t know what I expect out of franchise spawned the likes of Wolverine being with anybody or the idea that Wanda and Pietro practicing incest or Professor Xavier being in love with Jean Grey. I honestly don’t know why I hoped they would handle this character with tact as she is the most popular X-character made in the past 20 years. God forbid I expected that the  franchise that insisted on Emma Frost mind raping Cyclops and then being an item  would actually think about Laura Kinney as a character and not do some inappropriate shit...but here we are.

Let me explain the life of one Laura Kinney in the Marvel comics and why everything about her being in a relationship with a man who is the same age physically as her father is a bad idea. We all know about the X-periment and how she was the gender flipped clone of Wolverine...or is she her biological daughter? Who the fuck knows or even cares, let me get to the point.

Laura Kinney is a victim of sex trafficking. She was pimped out and did some weird dark shitty shit and yes, it involved her claws. So her history with sex in general should be handled tactfully. Her life has been nothing but violence and death and dismemberment. And I am not saying that Laura should not find love. I am saying that a girl like Laura should not be with older men, but what do I know. It seems the X-men franchise seems to be looking for writers whose only criteria is that  you have to have a creepy fascination with Kitty Pryde.

Granted, Julian Keller aka Hellion had a relationship with Laura that allowed her to express emotions like a teenaged girl should be allowed to express without the influence of an older men. Julian’s relationship was born of resentment because Laura was not a real mutant, whatever that mean to fear that Laura was nothing but an assassin to admiration after witnessing how much Laura endured. Notice how Julian could never push or influence Laura to do things that she did not want to do. 

Warren is the same fucking age as Cyclops. If you are going to make a stink about Rachne being with Josh Foley, then why in the fuck is this 30+ year old man with a fresh faced teenaged abused girl?

I’m just saying that any character with rape and/or sex trafficking as their backstory should be handled as gracefully as possible in regards to romantic interests and sexuality. Her being with Adam is not handling gracefully.

Gwen Stacy aka Ghost Spider

Gender: Female

Orientation: ?

Love Interests: Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Miles Morales, ...fuck it, I am going to go ahead in put Mary Jane Watson in here

Okay.

“But, Gwemj isn’t canon so why would you put that in here?”

First off, Spider-Gwen is the quintessential pinnacle of everything that is wrong with how Marvel deals with superhero romances with solo women. There is no reason why in the 4 years as of this writing, that you have yet to introduce a love interest that is Spider-man viable in the 50 issues she has starred in. There is no excuse that her first kiss was not with anybody within her supporting cast, but with another established hero. Spider-Gwen, you have an underdeveloped supporting cast and setting, and it fucking shows.

Second, it was clear that the original plan was Gwemj, but Gwen Stacy became popular and marketable so they derailed the sapphic train and landed on the most forced and out of theme romance in recent comic book history. Like for fuck’s sake, she is Spider-man for girls and women. You know how many superheroes Peter Parker dated, 3-4 if you count Kitty Pryde and every time it never worked out because they could never relate to Peter Parker.

That is the fucking point, Marvel/Latour/McGuire although the last person isn’t the biggest offender.

Giving Gwen a superhero love interest negates the fucking point of Spider-man. It is against theme and it is really sexist as shit because every male hero has a love interest that is not superpowered. Not a one woman can hook up with a non-powered boy if they are in hetero romances.

Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy is the most cynical pairing shill that I’ve ever seen.

The fact of the matter is that Gwen has the most chemistry with Mary Jane and most of her romances have been bouts of forced heterosexuality. And it is not that she is possibly heterosexual that is the problem. It is that you refuse to develop said romances and try to make sure the man involved is just as empowered as the girl for no fucking reason. 

It’s pure laziness.

Anyways, it’s hard to pindown where I should start this because the comic creates Gwen’s origin out of flashbacks so it’s hard to figure what came first.. And I guess it begins with Peter.

I’m working with assumption in trying to nail down the chronological order. Okay, Peter noted Gwen’s music in her headphones and identified it. Gwen was on that Neku Sakuraba tip except without the angry at the world attitude so she was this disheveled girl who listened to music openly and isolated herself from cast. But she wasn’t bullied or anything like Pete.

She was a cool loser.

So after their shared taste in music, Peter and Gwen become fast friends, but it is hinted that Peter had a crush on her and it more than platonic feeling for her. Anyways, Gwen’t and Peter’s duet became a 3 man band as they added residnet outcast, Harry Osborm to the crew.

Now do the math, two boys and one girl. 

It is obvious that both boys have a crush on the one girl. Now it is hard to discern Gwen’s feelings for either of the two boys because there isn’t a lot shown. But the main takeaway is that Peter was broken down by bullying. He channelled his inner Vergil because he wanted power. This universe’s Peter is the Peter we see in Ditko’s early Spider-man run without the powers and none of the growth he received later. Harry, on the otherhand, is well aware of how broken Peter is and resolves to not be like him while hoping to move in on the cute blonde.

“...They won’t break me like they broken [Peter]”

So Peter is not exactly the kid you’d say after a school shooting, no one would expect that he was the culprit. I’m pretty sure no one at Midtown would be surprised. So guess what sends Peter over the edge?

No surprise here that Peter Parker without the character growth of becoming Spider-man becomes an incel asshole.

Anyways, some time passes and Prom happens. Guess who is going stag?

No that is an actual question because I am not sure who went with whom. Did Gwen decide to go out with Harry? Are they dating? Who the fuck knows because there isn’t a lot to infer from these panels.

Judging by the clothes, Gwen isn’t dressed up or gussied up. She is wearing a white T-shirt at Prom. She doesn’t appear to be with anybody. Harry isn’t with anybody either and Peter definitely isn’t. And this is why when you make a character, you start at the beginning. This shouldn’t be background or filer. This is essential information because I assumed that we had a love triangle going on with two wayward boys pining after the same girl. It’s clear that Harry has a crush on Gwen. It’s implied that Peter had a crush on Gwen as well with his reaction and calling Harry a traitor.

It’s really unclear and it is a situation that defines Gwen’s story and stories going forward. We really don’t know what happened at prom and the first Midtown attack. We really don’t know exactly what led to Peter turning himself into the Lizard. There are inferences and implications, but nothing is concrete. This series is built on the idea that Peter Parker’s death matters without giving a reason why to care about Peter Parker. And just to remind you that while the Night Gwen Stacy Died didn’t focus on Gwen Stacy, you had nearly a hundred issues to care about her prior to her death. Gwen is not just some iconography and symbolism. She was an actual character. A bad one, but nonetheless, she had more than a few pages to get represent a character.

So after Prom was a murderous incel Lizard shitshow and Gwen stopped and accidentally killed the Lizard(Key word: accidentally because it’s not clear if Gwen killed him because it was weirdly effective punch and she toyed with him like she usually does), Spider-Gwen goes on a severe depression and isolation streak and doesn’t talk to anyone ever...possibly. Again, it is the case of Gwen’s origin not exactly being clear. We don’t know much and what we are shown was presented through flashbacks.

Until she gets wrapped up in Spider-verse and she meets several Spider-folks with most of them looking like her Peter Parker and falls into a depressive episode realizing that maybe her Peter should have been the one who was bittem and she was destined to be miserable all of her life. Following a confrontation with a grief-stricken 616 Peter Parker stating that she isn’t ‘his’ Gwen, Gwen just doesn’t want to deal with any Spider-men that look like Peter Parker or are Peter Parker. And also, she is still being tormented in her own universe by a smear campaign that unfairly places the blame of Peter’s death on her shoulders. Because of said campaign, Gwen is a fugitive and her enemy, Matthew Murderdock, is extorting her for her own powers that only he has access to and  her father’s life in exchange for working with him.

In summary, Gwen is stressed and is at a breaking point. She is miserable and facing an existential crisis that every adaptation of herself has died or suffered horrible consequences and questions if she is incapable of experiencing happiness. She has lost her Spider-power and has to rely on her sworn enemy to have them. And her whole city sees her as a murderer.

Enter Miles Morales.

I already explained why Miles was in E-65 in the previous post. I don’t need to repeat myself. But I can elaborate on why Miles was attractive to Gwen Stacy. For one, he is a Spider-man that doesn’t remind her of Peter Parker. So she isn’t feeling guilty and at least he isn’t a literal anthropomorphic pig. Two, Miles is around her age. This is debatable because in spite of what Bendis says, Miles was 15 at the time of this arc and he clearly aged Miles up so Gwen didn’t look like a cradle robber for daring to be interested in a kid4-5 years younger than she. And finally, this.

Miles presents the one alternate dimension where she is happy and with children. So combined with Miles being a nice if not horny kid and being overwhelmed with guilt and stress in her daily life. Miles starts becoming more attractive to Gwen. Which leads to....

Okey-doke.

I have made myself clear about how I feel about this ship. If you want a summary, I wish it never existed but here we are.

Anyways, Miles goes back and immediately starts pursuing more interesting love interests and Gwen continues to deal with being stressed. I am going to stop it here. But I want to posit a theory.

Spider-Gwen was supposed to be with Mary Jane or EmJay. For the longest, the tension between Mary Jane and Gwen was honestly the only non-superheroic related with the most tension and description outside of her own father and EmJay seemed focused on Gwen to an absurd degree. It wasn’t until it was reported that Marvel pinned Gwen for her popularity that they didn’t want to damage her marketability so being a lesbian superhero in Marvel is kind of a no-no in terms of profit. But GweMJ was and still is a popular ship so to appease fans, Latour basically threw MJ at Glory in a random and spontaneous manner if only to appease those fans.The issue is that Glory and MJ aren’t super prevalent in the book. I mean Glory Grant isn’t even that important to Spider-man mythos as a whole. So it became a case of pandering to the base while simultaneously throwing the lesbians away.

That is all I am going to say on this.

Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel

Gender: Female

Orientation: Heterosexual

Love Interests: Bruno(current), Kamren, Dante Pertuz, Red Dagger, Miles Morales(one-sided), Sam Alexander(one-sided)

Ms. Marvel is a teenaged love story with superheroes. It is a romantic literature geared towards Muslim women or girls. It’s true. And I have earned the right to fucking say it. This is going to feel like I am harping on her religion, but Ms. Marvel’s religion is the core of her character and her story. Believe it or not, it is what makes her a hero. It is her “Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” So it’s important that we discuss how Kamala’s religion has to do with her love interests.

Anyways, let’s start from the beginning.

Bruno has had a childhood crush on Kamala Khan. This subplot is intertwined throughout the book. The struggle however isn’t because Kamala is irreproachable. Her religion is the obstacle.

Kamala’s parents would never accept Bruno Carrelli as a viable partner. In fact, homegirl is not even allowed to date without male supervision.

Kamala initially only sees Bruno as a friend. Her best friend. Don’t say ‘friend zone’ because...grow up honestly.  Kamala didn’t care for boys, but she does care about her independence. Freedom that her cultural mandated patriarchy did not afford her or at least was regimented. I am not Muslim nor a woman, but I would surmise that a lot of teenaged Muslim girls would rebel or want to rebel against such a strict culture especially when they live in America. Kamala strikes the core of conformity to the West being seen being against the Uniformity of Islam and she struggles with being too anti-Muslim to the point that she risks allowing Islamophobia or allowing the cultural misogyny of Islam to guide her and restrict her. That is the internal conflict or religious conflict that Kamala somewhat addresses and part of it has to do with marriage or partnership.

But what makes Kamala heroic is her religion and what makes her strong is her drive to be free.

“Whoever kills one person, it is as if he has killed all of mankind and whoever saves one person, it is as if he has saved all of mankind.

-the Quran

This part sticks with me because while she is quoting a heroic purpose from her religion’s text, she is using patriarchic language so that that quote isn’t referring to who she is not does it apply to her exactly.

Kamala takes the good of her culture and applies it to a purpose to be a hero while somewhat resenting the implied patriarchal stances. This is why Ms. Marvel took off and became the quintessential Muslim Western Hero and Sooraya sadly didn’t. Kamala addresses the internal conflict that a teenaged Pakistani American would have.

I am going to assume that almost every Muslim American girl knows that exact line Kamala’s mom is saying or at least a variation of it.

“But this has nothing to do with her love interests”

It does. Because if her parents control and has the final approval who she is allowed to see, that man is more than likely going to perpetuate the same cultural traditions onto her.

Feminism is a big thing for Kamala so she respects a man that doesn’t overrule her like her father does his mother and her. Which is why Bruno not being a superhero and also being her sidekick is something that she respects and desires. She wants him to assist her and not much else at first when she gained her powers. Bruno becomes her confidant and also her conduit to being Ms. Marvel.

For the bulk of the first volume of Ms. Marvel, Kamala is oblivious to Bruno’s feelings towards her. In fact, Kamala sees him as part of her aesthetic of being a superhero: he is her sidekick. I suspect Wilson didn’t want to have a girl portray a stereotype that girls constantly think of boys.So she flips it on the genders. It is Bruno whose every interaction has to do with Kamala. He is the smitten boy while Kamala is doing her Shounen hero routine. And it is not that she is oblivious to romance. She is just having too much fun being a superhero.

“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”

I know it sounds bad and Bruno is absolutely correct, fellas. There is no such as a friend zone and seeing anyone like that shows that you really don’t care for them.

Apologetic moralizing aside, Kamala just did not see Bruno as anything, but a friend.

So Kamala simply is unaware of Bruno’s feelings. And Nakia kind of reinforces how her family feels about Kamala’s future prospects.It is less about the person and more about about the status.

Enter Kamren

Kamren came with a bit of controversy. The idea is that Kamren was supposed to be a classic villain love interest. The implication was that Muslim men are controlling and white men are liberating.

Normally, Kamala’s father and her brother, Aamir, would be seen as protective if they were in any other culture, but being Muslim and arranged marriages are a well-known and often scrutinized practice in Islam, Willow who is a white Muslim woman, unintentionally opened another can of worms: Commentary on Muslim men being evil.

Look, I am not Muslim and I know the bullet points of Islam. Never read the Quaran, but I understand that the Quaran is supposed to be read in Arabic which given the ideas of the Haj and other Muslim traditions, the religion focuses on tradition and a fidelity to that tradition. Coupled with Western Cultural Imperialism, Ms. Marvel faces the problem of delving into some muddy political waters that in every other book,would just be a typical romance trope.

So I suspect Willow meant no harm because she has been a substantial Muslim feminist champion in a political climate in which that would be an oxymoron to a lot people(Not me, but again, I understand 3rd World Feminism ideals of not seeing feminism in the same lens as the west). You can’t escape the notion that depictions matter and having Bruno, white Italian, being seen as the chief romantic interest while depicting the Muslim one as evil and controlling is going to raise an eyebrow or two.

Kamren was set up as an inevitability cultural and the narrative during this arc was made for the reader to sympathize with Bruno.

Bruno is Emineming this shit and Aamir gives him the cold hard reality.

Up to this point, Kamren has been portrayed as an otherwise decent guy. His only flaw was that he wasn’t Bruno. So of course, the facade of him being the perfect Bollywood male lead begins to come down.

“There’s no reason for you to keep wasting your energy to protect people who don’t believe what you believe.”

That is not an obvious parallel that implies some sort of cultural insensitivity. He is talking about Inhumans, but the cultural parallel to other Islamist radical groups is intentional. So swap Inhumanity with Jihadist Islam, then Kamren’s character becomes even more unsettling.

He uses victim-blaming tactics on Kamala in that she chose to be part of this InHumanist movement the moment she enetered the car with him as if he didn’t zap her body unconscious after he revealed his true intentions. Kamren is a disgusting individual and of course Kamala whoops that ass, but I wanted to point out the unfortunate implications of this romance before I moved on.

Meanwhile Bruno gets an SOS from Kamala and tries to save her. He fails miserably, but at least he has this moment.

This cover encapsulates everything about Kamala’s and Bruno’s relationship in Ms. Marvel Volume One.

And just before the end of the world, Bruno finally spits it out.

So that’s it, right? They are just friends, right? 

It’s a love story, you dumbasses. Read this like a teenaged romantic sitcom. This is just phase one.

So Volume 2 of Ms. Marvel kicks off and the world didn’t end. So you think after that awkward but somewhat romantic confession on the rooftop, Kamala and Bruno would hit it off, right?

Brno/s gay? He is with Mike now? Bruno just skyrocketed in popularity with Yaoi fangirls.

Oh, Mike’s a girl and her full name is Michaela Gutierrez ....AND SHE THICK

It’s over Kamala. You lose before you even knew that there was a game. Bruno took that no and went on and found Barbie Ferreira. Bruno figured out what a skinny girl can do that big girl can’t. Answer: Not a goddamn thing! Ahead of his time, really.

Nothing against Mike, she is delightful and honestly, I’m cool with it. Sure, she is destined for failure because she is in the way of the OTP, but goddammit, put both hands up for the big girls.

Kamala takes it personally and decides to give her not-boyfriend the cold shoulder.

Now, if you are a guy and you think Kamala is being a bit of a hypocrite, you are not thinking about this optically. Bruno confessed that he loved her on that rooftop. That is not some shit you just say capriciously especially to your best friend. It looks like on the surface that Bruno just happened to have a backup just in case Kamala said no thus making his confession not as genuine. If you are pursuing someone as much as Bruno was to the point that he confesses love to that person, you don’t have back-ups like that. It makes his confession seem less genuine.

And yes, Kamala is being jealous and she hates that Bruno unintentionally made a scenario to make her jealous. Because if she had known about Mike instead of being blindsided like she was, then maybe she could have managed that moment on the rooftop better, but it feels like to her that Bruno just gave up and it drives her crazy to see it rubbed in her face.

In defense of Bruno, there is no set time when you are expected to get over someone that rejected you after confessing something. And maybe 6 months is too soon for Kamala, but if she had a problem with him being with anyone and needing to be told, then maybe she isn’t being honest with herself.

Also, sidenote to all writers of superheroines: this dialogue about a sub-plot is what you miss out on if you refuse to approach romance.

Anyways, It sucks to realize that you love someone and possibly took them for granted when you see them with someone else.

Oh and now your best friend who confessed his love for you is now having safe sex with another woman(implied).

Yeah, I’d be a little miffed too.

Since Kamala and Bruno are on break, I’m going to touch and go on their situation because at this point, Kamala’s popularity afforded her several appearances and a lot boys from outside her comic book did a double take.In summary, Kamala’s milkshake brought all the boys to the yard.

First is Miles Morales.

Let me just say that Sara Pichelli draws a gorgeous Kamala Khan. I mean she just makes beautiful teenaged girls in general for some reason. The boys are always ordinary looking, but the girls are always trendy or fashionable or bombshells if not all three.

Anyways, Miles has a definite crush on Kamala, but unlike Sam who I will get to later, he is mostly lowkey about it when they interact. He is also a very supportive friend of hers and honestly her and Kamala are like Peter Parker and Johnny Storm.What is weird about it is that there is no on-page formal first meeting between the two. So we never see when or why Miles revealed his identity to Ms. Marvel. I guess there was a miscommunication between Bendis and Waid and Wilson.

There isn’t much on page thoughts from Kamala about Miles as she mostly kept the air living up to be a hero she admires the most, Carol Danvers. Again, Karol is the model of typical Marvel heroine. As far as I’ve read, Carol doesn’t really have much in the way of romance compared to Spider-man who as @traincat​ would say, is a Himbo(yes, I am going to keep plugging her so you guys can follow her because she is the only Peter Parker expert that I respect). So her and Miles relationship is professional friendship. There was a time when Bruno mentioned something that implied Kamala gushes about a Spider-man’s abs, but that could be just jealousy and it never states which Spider-man he was talking about. All in all, she is not interested in Miles and Miles is interested in her, but respects her too much to act on it. Until Miles confuses an Infinity Stone for a mood stone and spills the beans to her.

Kamala doesn’t return the gesture and it is seen as a way to lightly put Miles down which is okay because he handles it like a champ.

Next is Sam Alexander aka Nova.

He is a little less tactful than Miles about his attraction to Kamala since he immediately hits on her upon first meeting.

Kamala of course thinks he is a brash idiot who shows-off too much.

Sam is persistent in their first meeting, but keeps on hitting the wrong marks and saying the wrong things at inappropriate times.

Sam pretty much can’t take a hint and eventually catches Ms. Marvel in the middle of changing costumes.

*insert the sound of an airplane falling and crashing*

So Kamala and Sam don’t initially like each other as initially, Kamala thought she was being mean to Sam unintentionally and Sam thought he was being idiot. They are both right in their own way, but in the end, Sam sees Kamala as an uptight do-gooder personality and Kamala sees Sam as a reckless jerk. Which has a lot to do with their powersets because Sam is not really meant to be doing street level crime or protection.

And finally we have Dante Pertuz aka Inferno. Now this is one time where Kamala’s interested in a guy and not the other way around or at least it is implied by a third party.

Over the course of Secret Warriors, Kamala and Dante interact and while nothing is initially made out of it, Dante and Quake hook up and Kamala appears to be jealous and annoyed that Dante likes Quake mainly because Kamala does not like Daisy Johnson.

Now we could take Daisy’s word for it, but again, she is kind of a jaded jerk so take it with a pinch of salt. Kamala also denies it.

Ms. Kamala not only shoots down her own ships, but she also bombs other people’s, sheesh.

Now that is done, let’s get back to the main attraction.

Kamala and Bruno and now Mike pretty much go back and forth. Bruno makes kissey faces at Mike, and Mike returns them while Kamala dies a little inside. Bruno is pretty much that guy from the meme who is with his girlfriend, but he keeps looking at the girl they pass and Mike is not a moron and knows that she is pretty much the Cyrano and is conscious of this fact. It hurts because Mike is actually a cool character and her and Kamala become good friends in spite of having the same romantic attraction to Bruno. While Bruno did care for Mike, he could not help but be jealous of the men Kamala encounters as Ms. Marvel such as Spider-man(not sure which). 

Point is that this entire comic is a delicious mess and should be read with the same intention as the audience of Dawson’s Creek.

Eventually, Kamala starts to realize that her idol has a huge authoritarian streak and implements her version of Hitler Youth to patrol Ms. Marvel’s turf. And I think this is a something we need to address in regards to Carol. Yes, she is good, but she is socially aware as a....white woman. No really, she does not stop to think as to why people of color would not be too for a system that arrests people because they are foreseen to commit a crime. It’s profiling or in this case assisting in racial profiling. I always found it weird that of all people, a Pakistani first generation born American would idolize her. But that had to do with Kamala’s own self-hatred than anything Carol was.It is like being a Mexican Trump Supporter.

Anyways, Kamala is reluctant, but she joins Carol’s little SS and starts putting people in detention camps. And people are pissed. People like Bruno are pissed.

So Bruno decided to break Josh, who was wrongfully detained on the suspicion of wanting to bomb a school. Kamala goes and tries to stop him from breaking in the detention center.

Well....

Shit.

This haunts Kamala. You see, Bruno and Kamala are close obviously, but for once, it was her ambivalence that nearly got him killed. She wants so desperately to be her own ideal hero that she completely neglected her own support system in pursuit of being accepted by Carol.People like to point to Kamala’s fandom in superheroes as a main characteristic, but neglect to mention that it was Bruno introducing her to the world superheroes that started it in the first place. It was Bruno who introduced her to Ms. Marvel. 

Bruno becomes paralyzed on his left side.I haven’t mentioned this, but Bruno is an inventor. He creates things and he is also left handed. So his dream was in jeopardy because he was willing to help Kamala out with her dream. So Kamala feels guilty as fuck.

Bruno decides to take a trip to Wakanda and get some schooling. Thus making Bruno the first white boy to be legally allowed to learn in Wakanda.

I’m as surprised as you are. I mean Wakanda gives a scholarship to some white boy in New Jersey, but rejects Lunella Lafayette. Ain’t that some shit?

So just to recap on this drama, Kamala turned down Bruno in favor of superheroism. Bruno got with Mike. Kamala becomes jealous, but Mike is cool so can’t bring herself to hate her. Bruno is jealous that Kamala is hanging out with superhero studs like Spider-man. Mike is just tired of being overlooked for an apparently nice girl. Bruno is annoyed that Kamala is siding with Carol’s harebrained George Orwell fanfiction idea over her friends and decides to break everyone out. He gets injured in the process and leaves New Jersey, but not before lashing out at Kamala for not appreciating him.

A fucking teenaged love story, I tell you.

And the only person happy is the gay one. tsk...

So the two are basically apart at this point. Bruno is on a no-speaking terms with Kamala and Kamala is respecting that. This cover pretty much sums it up.

Kamala took Bruno for granted and Bruno resents Kamala for taking for granted. And of course, it did bomb his relationship with Mike because he is resenting a relationship with a girl that is not currently his girlfriend. But with Bruno in Wakanda getting reverse affirmative action, that means Ms. Marvel is taking a break from romance, right?

Kamala’s milkshake be bringing boys from across the ocean.

Okay, this is Red Dagger aka Kareem. Kamala first met Kareem when she visited her cousins in Pakistan with and without costume. Get your head out of the gutter, they met eachother while they were in civillian identity and superhero alias without connecting the two. Lareem eventually moved to New Jersey because he studied abroad from which Kamala quickly deduced that his identity.

So the two have a team-up from which Kamala feels uneeded so she runsaway and  attends a private school without anyone, even her parents knowing(and people wonder why I felt that Wilson’s Ms. Marvel read like a Saturday Morning Cartoon). Eventually she comes out of it with absolutely no consequences for abandoning her superhero duty because she felt unneeeded and forcing her friends to fight crime in New Jersey in her stead. Whatever, Red Dagger feels bad for making Kamala feel unappreciated and...

This is nice.

That is right, Kamala, You get over your ex, by getting underneath another person. I mean, girl you bold. You went to your boy interest’s former place of employment and hangout spot, and made out on top of the roof. Extra thot points for making him watch another man’s tongue down your throat.

I’m kidding, but yeah, ackwarrrrrrd.

Of course, Bruno and Kamala talk about that situation and Kamala swears that it didn’t happen to spite him in spite of it happening on top of Circle Q. They eventually reconcile and get back on speaking terms and then...

Mike catches the pair holding hands. Actually not what it looks like. Kamala was helping Bruno up the stairs. So much drama. 

Kamala freaks out because she thinks she is a two timing thot because she out here kissing men and thotting and shit. So she runs to her Masjid in hopes to get some spiritual help for her crisis.

So Kamala has a confessional with a third party and surprisingly, he subverts the entire stereotype of Muslim religious patriarch.

He tells her that he laments not teaching young Muslim people in his Masjid to not know how to properly be themselves and not know how to deal with their feeling. He also laments not teaching their parents to not give stern warnings in place of recalling what is like to feel like you are in love for the first time thus giving kids an echo chamber because they don’t feel safe to talk to their parents about this for fear of admonishment.

He tells Kamala to be true to herself unleash the inner thot....I’m kidding.

He tells her to be true to herself and be real with Bruno.

I think this is the most important scene in Ms. Marvel because too many times, media has used the Muslim patriarch as this oppressive tool to admonish Islam as a faith.Is it sexist? Yeah. I can’t lie about that shit, but ultimately it is up to those women who practice it to reform it and modern male muslims tend to be more open to feminism especially if it doesn’t come from white feminism brand that loves to target those cultures.

Anyways, back to the drama, Mike and Bruno break up. Kamala and Red Dagger end things amicably. And now it is a rat race to see how long it takes for Kamala and Bruno to finally hook up because why not? If you have been reading up to this point, you know what is about to happen so I’m going to get straight to the point.

Nadia Van Dyne aka Wasp

Gender: Female

Orientation: Not interested in boys in the very least, but girls who like science....that is a jam so...sapiosexual lesbian

Potential Love interests: Amber

So Nadia Van Dyne is the daughter of Hank Pym who took after the last of Hank Pym’s abused ex-wife, Janet Van Dyne.You should all read the first two volumes of Unstoppable Wasp because Nadia in general was a welcome, wholesome surprise for me. Regardless, I am not just here to gush about Nadia, but explore her love interests, but to be honest, she doesn’t have any so this will be pure speculation and subtext until otherwise stated.

So what is different about Nadia is her disinterest in all things of the opposite sex and her interest in all things about science. She was raised in an Assassin/Scientist school where Nadia was trained to be a super scientist assassin along with other young people. She is a genius, but Nadia developed a love for science. When she was freed from the Red Room, Nadia kept her love for science and sought to make sure all girls like herself could be allowed to express their love for science without a glass ceiling. So she wanted to recruit a science girl gang of sorts.

You could make an argument that Nadia is ace and I wouldn’t argue against you. However, as you can see, it is easy to write off character interactions as that when in actuality they are underdeveloped. I think Nadia is a sapiosexual lesbian because her attraction directly correlates with how intelligent a person the person is. And she hates overly intelligent scientific men like Peter Parker and somewhat resents her abusive father as they kept a glass ceiling in the intelligencia of academic science that chased women out. However, any woman with a compelling interest in science immediately piques her interest. And sure, we could say that this attitude is fostered due to her mission statement of uplifting women of science and girl geniuses in the place of attraction towards said girls, but sometimes we forget that no matter how wholesome Nadia is, she is still a teenager.

This Amber and I’d say that this was the first and only time Nadia exhibited an actual crush on somebody.And sure, Nadia’s innocence could be taken to mean that she was just being her normal bubbly self, I want to take note that she really didn’t ask about Amber’s scientific prowess. She complimented her looks first and then her tattoos and then she saw the Teleforce Tattoo. 

But just like the others on this list, Amber could not just be a normal girl. Nope, she had to be a supervillain.

I am just pointing out a pattern. Boys need their love interests to be non-superpowered and not necessarily the physical equal. Girls have to have their romantic counterparts be just as physically capable as them.

Amber aka Seeker becomes a rival to Nadia until they realized that they aren’t necessarily enemies of each other as the real threat was an Ultron merged Hank Pym who wants to take over the world or whatever does Ultron want to do anymore. Who knows?

So Seeker and her AIM Anti-Ultron think tank joined Nadia’s GIRL. And we never knew what happened between her and Nadia.

Riri Williams aka Ironheart

Gender: Female

Orientation: ?

Love Interests: Xavier King, Viv Vision

Okay, Riri is a bit complicated because her story goes as this: 

Girl goes to school.

Girl becomes bored with school.

Girl starts acting out because she is bored with school.

Girl gets tested and it is revealed that she is a super genius.

Parents of girl freak out because they realized that by boring her, they could have made the next super-villainess.

Girl is then handled with care to ensure that she is not alone all of the time thinking about her inventions and struggles to make human connections because she is smarter than everybody in her neighborhood.

Girl meets another girl who becomes her best friend.

Girl’s best friend and her super nice step dad die in a drive-bye shooting.

Girl decides to close herself off again and be stuck working on her inventions.

So it makes sense that Riri has problems making connections with people. Or Bendis didn’t really bother to give the girl a romantic interest so he hastily came up with one. Xavier King.

Xavier King didn’t get much characterization until Eve Ewing took over and he went from boy that Riri Williams might have fancied to being Riri Williams’ Ron Stoppable to her Kim Possible.

She is the hypercompetent woman and she is pretty much the silly sidekick. I can’t say that the two are dating or romantically inclined, but I can say that I love their friendship

Xavier doesn’t necessarily become a boyfriend. He has a better role: he is her best friend.

He makes her laugh and most importantly, she feel comfortable around him. Which leads us to someone who isn’t as warm....physically....or is she? What is the temperature of synthezoids?

When Riri joined the Champions, her communication skills continued to be sorely lacking. She kind of kept to herself and really only got along with Nadia, Amadeus, and Viv Vision. Just to be clear, she only got along with the geniuses as Miles was too friendly and somewhat got on her nerves. Kamala simply avoided Riri and gave her space and everyone else except for Miles apparently followed suit.  Viv on the other hand doesn’t quite have a grasp on social cues yet.

And the two socially awkward girls connect. Riri and Viv get along quite well. The girls didn’t really advance their friendship until Riri did something monumentally stupid: she tried to take on Thanos.

So after that humiliating shitkicking, Riri pretty much developed PTSD and our favorite synthezoid decided to check on her teammate.

And Viv consoled Riri and the two decide to make Riri a new Iron Man armor.

The end result.

Girls don’t want flowers. They want cool power armor.

Viv and Riri sort of connect more with Viv letting her pet synthezoid hang our with Riri and Riri being the most open to her. And Viv read too much into this cordial relationship between her and Riri...and well...

now I’d like to point out that this isn’t because Riri doesn’t swing that way. On the contrary, it isn’t the gender that Riri had a problem with in regards to Viv. It is the invasion of space that turned Riri off. You have to ask Eve Ewing and Jim Zub, but Riri never explicitly stated that it was orientation incapability that turned her away from Viv. It was because Viv made her feel uncomfortable.

And Viv’s unawareness as to why exactly kissing Riri was distressing to Riri didn’t help.

And this is why Riri actively stayed away from Champions’ related activities for the majority of the run. Viv made her uncomfortable and Riri decided to keep her distancing while still reaching out to Kamala and Nadia.Later Riri was mind controlled by Blackheart who brewed those fears and emotions towards Viv and made those insecurities toxic and violent. So under his manipulation, Riri knocked out Viv and the rest of the Champions.

Riri went for the killing blow, but Viv 2.0(long story) rebooted and took over for the then comatose Viv. 

THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!

Viv rounds up the remaining Champions and Blackheart mind controls the Champions that Riri took out. There was a final battle and Viv eventually took control of her own body and finally confessed to Riri and apologized.

So after the battle between the Champions and Blackheart, Riri and Viv have a heart-to-heart.

So this is all for part 1 for now. It took forever. I may do some updates on characters because it is a growing and developing story for characters. But this is mainly for Marvel. I don’t know if I want to tread the minefield that is DC love interests because that shit is crazy. I also have been trying to figure out wht to do with inner team romances like X-Men, Inhumans, Avengers Academy, Runaways, and etc. So those Nico and Karolina fans, I am aware of y’all and I didn’t forget. It is just that this takes time. Be patient.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day.

@ubernegro​

[bittybattybunny]

I'm enjoying the various facts of the RuClipse Aus, mostly because I was planning to do RuClipse month. So Im curious how many you have? I know you got A LOT, I mean, I remember the list you post before and apparently you have more under your sleeve (Im looking at that Regis kills Eclipse D':). Im just curious as which ones are more present in your mind/you have more facts and lore. -from a RuClipse fan

dlkgjsdkgkldsngkladnklgsfd

I JUST

IM SORRY IM JUST BLOWN AWAY I HAVE FUCKING RUCLIPSE FANS

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE SHEER SHOCK THIS GIVES ME AND DELIGHT

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Speaking of Ruclipse month I’m makign a proper “banner” with teh prompts this is the WIp image

As for Aus!!

this is gonna get long---

Ummmm The lsit wasn’t full full cuz like I have some AUs tied into others and some I’ve made since then... Like i have a number of Aus I don’t talk about since they are mostly JUST RuClipse focus like I have a Kelpie AU in which Arulius is a Kelpie who’s been trying to eat Eclipse since she was a child but winds up falling for her when she’s older because she’s facinating and eventually starts staying with her because humans age too fast. I also have a Red Riding Hood AU that’s cute fluff. Plus my Fairy Cinderella one.

IDK an exact number tbh I’d have to like. Sit and count.  I just like to write them cuz it’s relaxing and I really need that (like man i need relaxing... i had a break down at my day job and my manager had to drive me home by force cuz I wanted to keep working----but that’s because im a severe workaholic with some trauma involved with perfectionism)

Which are my focus/most lore

Right now it’s @eclipseofthehat that’s a big one!!! I’ve been working a lot on the comic scripts and figuring that plot out since I consider that AU kinda my “hub” Au in which everything else is the AU of if that makes sense?

Other than that I’m slightly obsessed with the Nutcracker AU and the Triassic Planet AU but I’m not the main writer on those so I can’t do much lore there.

Well I’m making a shit ton of angst in the Triassic Planet AU but that’s cuz Gin  is as angst fueled as I am.

The thing with me is I get inspired off pretty much anything and can come up with a full damn lore plot in a matter of hours.

Sometimes I go ham on them and they become full-fledged things (like the Lamia AU i have was based off of the simple fact of I was watching Anime, a lamia showed up and I went ‘hey what if’ and now I wrote about 7 short chapters i need to finish) or I just do a snippet (the phantom of the opera au. Like i do have the full plot figured. but I really just wanted to write a small snippet)

I have a lot of like partially written things I just worked on while I was bored, sometimes I sketch things randomly and run off.

I get stressed out pretty easily and over whelmed with day to day stuff so I use this as my escape.

anyhow here’s a smallish list of AUs i have rn I think are new from that list im too lazy to look up:

Under a read more CUZ IT GOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT

Lawbound (Hattie summoned poor law student Prynce Arulius Law who is dead by his fiancee’s hand and trying to solve his own murder. Chapter one is written to post Im doing the cover. chapter 2 is started. Epilogue is also already written)

Red is the Wolf (Red riding hood au, Eclipse is a young woman who’s slowly become a wolf forest spirit due to being born with too much magic. If she interacts with humans she’ll remains human. however she has a terrible fear of people. Her life gets thrown when she accidentally encounters the Prince in the woods and discovers he’s similar to her but his curse is more damaging. She winds up trying to break his curse while slowly falls for her)

The Snake prince (based off my favorite fable from childhood ‘the enchanted snake’ in which Arulius is a Prince who was turned into a snake for the sin of signing the order to execute the forest guardians. his fiance was unable to bear his snakeness and had him trapped in her basement where he escaped injured. he was found by folklorist Eclipse who is a witch and the lone survivor of the massacre. they have no idea of the other’s identity but this is the one AU he’s pretty open about his feelings and while she’s trying to break his curse they end up in love and eventually she has to do the kings trials and Ru semi breaks his curse and the two flee his father who wants her dead. I actually drew a really cute picture of right after eclipse properly breaks his curse. it’s a super fluffy au tbh)

Sunken Ship (new au from the past week. Eclipse is a sea witch who loves ship wrecks. she met the ghost of Arulius Law, a law student who passed away when his fiance shoved him off the sinking ship. She took his skull back to New york with her so he can try to move on. Bittersweet story of them growing close but he’s dead... but mermaids live a long time. and im a slut for reincarnation)

Whipped Water Horse (this is the kelpie au i talked about above. Arulius is a Kelpie who’s been threatened with a whip by Amaris Nightingale since she was a small child and she doesn’t fear the fae. ends up falling in love with her and saving her several times from her human suitors under the guise of “youre my target so no one can have you” has some major angst and some not so fun stuff nearly happen)

The contractor’s wish (Snatcher is a demon who has to grant the whims of those who form contracts by writing in the book he’s bound to. Eclipse found the book while cleaning her attic out and ends up freeing him without question. he sticks around and slowly recalls being human and how he wound up in his situation while trying to figure what his actual wish is)

Cute Barista (a coffee shop au with a cinderella twist. Amaris is a graphic design student who works at her brother’s cafe “the horizon” and attracted the attention of a law student named Arulius law who visits daily. Her brother tried to get him to piss off but sadly the two actually enjoy chatting with each other. As a peck you to her brother they start going on dates. She’s very down on herself and he’s secretly the reclusive prince who’s been in hiding because he’s afraid of peoples reactions after he was scarred by an accident in his youth. he’s trying to find the best way to tell her the truth but also doesn’t want to scare her away. He’s a single father in this having adopted Harriet while doing volunteer work)

the Art Student’s muse (this one is fully written i just haven’t posted it. Basically, Arulius is an art student who became obsessed with this one nude model they had. Like not persay in a creepy way she just captivated him. he gets a lot of shit from his best friend Vanessa but winds up keeping the model in mind despite not seeing her. In his senior year they cross paths again and she has a break down but they wind up together.)

Swapped (a short one shot chapter in which TLC eclispe wakes up as Moon guardian Eclipse and gets very confused emotions when snatcher kissed her)

Darkrai’s Wish (a pokemon au Ive posted one chapter of already in which Arulius is a darkrai but used to be human and doesnt remember this. he has to deal with being human again thanks to a little jirachi and dealing with the fact he loves Eclipse who has issues cuz he used to be a pokemon)

Wolf bite (Prince Arulius was cursed as a werewolf in his youth. as an adult when he got out one full moon he bit a village girl giving her the curse as well. She winds up nearly being burned at the stake for witch craft and he has her saved and brought to the castle. he’s trying to make it up to her but she’s understandably pissed off. It’s a lot of him trying to get her to be not angry but also they start liking each other and she helps teach him a lot about how the world works because he’s naive and sheltered)

Familiar (Amaris lives in a world magic exists. many people have famialars to help do day to day tasks and the more impressive your family the better. Most meet their famialar when they are children, however, Amaris didn’t. But one day her past returns and she is taking care of a small chubby dragon who to everyone else looks like a deformed ferret and has to learn her magic may not be as limited as thought as well as the truth behind her familiar and the strange young man who keeps stopping by her work with flowers for her)

The Prince’s Pet Snake (this is the lamia au. Eclipse is a dangerous lamia with venom to take down an army. Arulius is a naive prince who thought of her as an animal and came to realize she’s far more human than he thought and being dumb to the fact he loves her despite he’s engaged. Has a sad ending)

Tangled Adventure (tangled au: Arulius law was cursed by his wife and is now trying to find the horizon and the daughter of the moon to break it. he picks up a changling child along the way who’s also searching for the horizon to find out where she came from. they meet the daughter of the moon but it seems to break the curse isnt as simple as they think and after making a deal with her to show her the outside they get into trouble when the queen comes looking for her lost prince)

Going Ghost (a danny phantom au idk if i’ve mentioned at all lol. hat and bow are twins and friends of arulius and they are inspecting a weird floor at his girlfriend's house. he winds up getting stuck when they trigger a gate to the horizon and becomes the snatcher. thankfully MJ and Eclipse where there and can somewhat help him calm down but it’s nuts)

Princess and the Rogue (a fantasy Au in which Eclipse is a runaway princess who became a fighter and teamed up with the rogue Snatcher who was cursed after wooing a noble woman. the two have been traveling for a few years and have one of those totally love each other but wont say it but also the search for the princess is getting intense and his curse is getting worse.)

Undergrounded (this is just my undertale au. )

Skates on Point (an ice skating au. Arulius is part of a famous olypic duo, Amaris is a selective mute woman who teaches at her daoptive father’s rink and an ex-ballet dancer. her brotehr was the gold medalist in the olympics but had to quit when he lost the use of his legs in a car wreck. Arulius is stressed over his realtionship and skating and winds up going to skate at the owl express rink where he sees the young woman skating alone in the morning. the two wind up bonding and spending more time togehter and she with his urging and her brother’s urging starts skating competitivly while he starts show skating under and alias and the two wind up performing togehter and realize they may have a thing. Eclispe is in teh process of adopting two little girls but having issues and ru helps and its jsut a lot of healing for everyone. Chapter 1, 2 and 3 typed as well as various snippets)

The little sea wolf (a little mermaid au but eclipse is the mermaid and a sea witch who winds up befriending teh prince after she saved him from thugs. things get sticky when the mermaid princess fell for him after seeing the sea witch save him from a shipwreck and deamnds to have him. the sea witch beause of teh strain of her magic starts to break down and unless she gains a soul she’ll die. Sena punches ru in this one and its great)

So yeah thats the ones on top my head im sure i probs have more but i cant think

[argumate]

Avatar episode 18 and 19 take place at the north pole, which turns out to be a crazy ice kingdom of water benders like Elsa from Frozen but with less anxiety and more patriarchy.

they detect and interdict Appa at long range and escort the gang into town which impressed me as to their defensive capabilities only to utterly fail to notice the massive fire nation invasion fleet until it reached the very doors of their ice haven which was rather less impressive.

there are a ton of water benders in this place, leading to the hilarious scene of Venetian gondolas who don’t need a pole for their boats, they’re just furiously doing tai chi to propel them forward, but Aang and Katara need to train with one master in particular, an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t stand two things: lazy twelve year olds and girls who think they can fight.

the girl power subplot is a bit iffy as it’s been done to death and runs the risk of implicitly devaluing the “female” pursuits that Katara is offered instead, like mastering her nascent healing powers, something that sounds pretty damn handy if you’re about to fight a bunch of people who can throw fire, but they manage to pull it off by derailing the whole thing when it turns out that disdainful master was engaged to Katara’s grandmother before she noped the hell out of the arranged marriage all the way to the south pole, which is certainly one way to avoid ever texting back.

somehow this realisation that patriarchal practices left him forever alone had the instant alchemy required to dissolve his anti-girl prejudice (along with kicking Katara’s ass in an ice duel), neatly tying up that particular plot thread.

oh yeah and this whole time Sokka is macking on the princess who is (surprise!) engaged to be married to some tosser but finds this rustic southerner irresistible.

anyhoo, the fire nation doesn’t give a shit about any of this and Admiral Zhao -- oh yeah Zuko was killed by pirates in the employ of Zhao earlier and Iroh joined Zhao on his quest to defeat the water tribe and capture the avatar, please try and keep up -- Admiral Zhao shows up with a thousand ships and prepares to wreck their city which if you remember is made of ice and hence fairly fragile.

haha of course Zuko survived the attempt on his life, he snuck on board Zhao’s ship in disguise and sets off by himself to capture Aang under cover of darkness watched over by a worried Iroh who sees Zuko as his own son after the loss of his own, okay that is deep and tragic and a rather unexpected revelation.

while the water dudes worry about the fire dudes Aang is off trying to enter the spirit world to uh ask the moon for help? or something like that, anyway he logs off from the material world just in time for Zuko to pop up (after a truly heroic effort breaking into the city via underwater tunnels like a seal, well done Zuko!) and have a quick scrap with Katara who subdues him only to take her eye off the ball and get subdued in turn.

and... cliffhanger! major cliffhanger actually, as the sun rises and Zhao’s troops charge across bridges into the ice city and Zuko legs it across the ice with Aang’s logged off body and Aang presumably is flying around lost in the spirit world, that’s one hell of a cliffhanger.

(also the chief seems to be hedging his bets re his daughter and lining up Sokka as a potential replacement if son in law number one doesn’t make it back from the almost certainly doomed secret mission to infiltrate Zhao’s fleet, so Sokka’s still in there with a chance).

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

Jin Scenario: You think he’s cheating on you

(but he’s not because Jin is a sweet heart and would never do that you)

Jin had been unusually quiet and distant from you for the past few days. In the 3 years you two had been together, he had never acted this way around you before. He was always so happy to see you, always cracking jokes to make you laugh. You could tell something was bothering him but every time you asked him he would plaster a fake smile on his face and assure you everything was fine. You always told him you knew he was lying, but would reassure him that whenever he was ready to talk to you, you would be there for him. He would just ruffle your hair and kiss your forehead, pretending like he had no idea what you were talking about.

After the third day of him acting this way you were getting concerned. You texted Namjoon to ask if he was okay, only to have him tell you the same thing. He’s fine, probably just tired from practice. However it was later that day when you got you answer. You opened up your twitter app to see Jin’s name trending worldwide. You opened it up and the top tweet was a photo a paparazzi had taken of him with some other woman. Your heart dropped into your stomach. Why was he meeting this random girl? Why was he hugging her? You scrolled down to the next tweet and this time you swear his lips were pressed against her own. You were so incredibly hurt. 3 years of your life, wasted on this man that didn’t even love you or respect you enough not to cheat on you. And in public no less? You were furious. Part of you wanted to march down to the studio and confront him and scream at him until your lungs gave out. But a bigger part of you was just so sad and broken. You knew in your heart you needed to leave. If Jin didn’t want you, then there was no reason for you to stay. You grabbed your suitcase and started packing your bags, sobbing uncontrollably the entire time. Every item you packed away was a piece of your heart breaking off. You grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a note to Jin, placing it on his pillow before you left. You looked at the bedside table and saw a photo of the two of you staring at each other with such love in both of your eyes, or so you thought. You scoffed and laid the photo face down. You grabbed your suitcase and walked out the door. You blocked his number, all the members’ numbers and deactivated your social media. You left no chance for Jin to ever find you. And you hoped it hurt him just as badly as he hurt you as you slammed the door, prepared to walk out of his life for good.

It wasn’t until later that evening when practice was over that Namjoon had warned Jin about the photo going around. Jin was panicked, seeing that he had no calls or messages from you like he normally did.

“She must have seen them Namjoon. Oh my god y/n probably thinks I cheated on her holy shit I need to go home now and fix this.” 

“Wait a minute Jin, what were you even doing out with this other woman anyway? You know how the paparazzi eats this kind of stuff up.”

“She’s just my friend Namjoon.. I was asking her for advice.”

“You go to some girl you barely know for advice and not your members? Not y/n?”

“Namjoon please I need to go-”

“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on Jin! You know y/n texted me earlier today? She said you’ve been acting really weird around her and she was so worried about you. Do you know how bad this looks now? You’ve been isolating yourself from her and now these photos surface? I would be surprised if she didn’t already pack her shit and leave.” Jin can feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes now. He reaches for his phone and dials your phone number only to have it go straight to voicemail. He grabs Namjoon’s phone out of his hands and dials your number only to have the same result.

“Oh god no... please this can’t be happening I can’t lose her not now.” Jin collapses on the ground and Namjoon places a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Let me ride with you back to the apartment. We’ll figure this out after we get there, okay?” Jin nods and allows Namjoon to help him off the ground and lead him out to the car. Neither of them say anything the whole ride back. Jin enters the apartment and nervously calls out your name. When he receives no answer he calls it louder, hearing nothing but dead silence in return. He runs into every room of the house frantically calling your name until he gets to the bedroom. He notices your half of the closet is almost bare. 

“Jin..” He turns around and sees Namjoon holding a piece of paper in his hand. Jin’s hands are shaking as he opens the letter and sees the note from you.

Sorry I wasn’t good enough for you.

It’s then that Jin finally breaks down, sobbing loudly into his hands as he sits down on the edge of the bed. Namjoon sits next to him and tries his best to comfort him but he’s inconsolable.

“I met with my friend because she owns a jewelry store. She was helping me pick out an engagement ring for y/n and today when that photo was taken she had given it to me. I hugged her to thank her for designing the perfect ring for the most perfect woman. I had been acting weird towards y/n because I was so nervous. I just kept thinking about how I was going to ask her to marry me and I would freeze up.” Jin pulls the box out of his pocket and sets it down on the nightstand before he curls into a ball and hugs your pillow tightly to his chest. It still smells like you and he can pretend, at least for a while that it’s you. That you’re still here. That you didn’t leave him. 

“I’ll sleep outside on the couch tonight Jin, if you need me just let me know. I’m here for you, okay?” Jin doesn’t say anything. He just stares at the wall, trying to think of a way to fix this.

You went back home to stay with your parents for a while, until you could get back on your feet and find a new place to stay. Not a day went by that you didn’t feel the sting of his betrayal. The internet was flooded with different reactions. Some fans threatening to stop supporting BTS if they didn’t kick Jin out of the group. Stating that he didn’t show the values of BTS and Army at all with his cheating scandal. Other fans were saying hurtful things towards you, like they knew he was bound to cheat because who could be happy with someone like you? Then there were the others fiercely defending him. Stating that there was no way he would ever cheat on you, that he loved you way too much and it must have just been the angle of the photo. You had considered that yes, but given his recent behavior towards you, you just couldn’t believe that was the case. 

In the next few days Jin was a wreck. He refused to leave the apartment, refused to eat. He only drank water when the members came over and threatened him if he didn’t. The members never left Jin alone for a moment. He was thankful for that, for them. He hoped wherever you went that you had someone supporting you and making sure you were okay too. They all quickly realized that you had blocked all of their numbers and deactivated your social media. They had no way of contact you. Jin suspected he knew you went back to your parents home, but he literally felt like he had been drained of all of his emotions and energy after you left. Not to mention your parents had recently moved and he had no idea where you were staying. Jin had no idea how to reach you, he was lost. He felt like half of his heart went missing when you left. You always kept him grounded, you always made sure he felt loved and appreciated. Whenever he had self doubts, you were the one comforting him and reassuring him that he was perfect the way he is. And now that you were gone he had no idea what to do with himself. It was 2 weeks after you had left. Jin was eating now, going back to practice. But he hardly ever smiled, he never laughed. The company had addressed the photos and said that they were taken from a wrong angle, but many of the fans were demanding a statement from Jin himself. It was Namjoon’s idea to do a Vlive to address their concerns and assure them what happened. Namjoon stood off to the side of the room out of frame while Jin opened up the app and started his stream.

You get a notification on your phone, seeing a notification that Jin was doing a Vlive. You had forgot to delete that app on your phone. Your finger was hovering over the X, ready to delete it but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Your heart won over your head and you opened up the app. The sight in front of your face broke your heart all over again. Jin looked like he hadn’t slept at all. His face looked so much thinner, his usual light in his eyes completely gone. His voice didn’t have that happy carefree tone to it anymore. There was almost no emotion in his voice at all. When he speaks his voice sounded so weak and hoarse.

“Hey, everyone. I know many of you are wondering what happened a few weeks ago. Some of you have been asking how I am doing. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s been hell. Y/n...” Jin closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, as if just saying your name is the hardest thing for him to do.

“She is the love of my life. I know how things seemed but, it’s not what you all were thinking. I didn’t cheat on y/n. I would never. She is the moon and the stars on my darkest nights. She’s the sun that lights up my life. In short, I love her more than any damn thing in this world. That stupid photo.. was taken from a weird angle. I was not kissing that woman. She is a dear friend of mine and she...” Jin looks off to the side and you see him grab something and bring it into frame. It’s a small velvet box and the constant ache in your chest intensified.

“She’s also a jeweler. She was helping me design my engagement ring for y/n. That day I hugged her was to thank her for creating the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.. You want me to show you the ring? I’m sorry you guys I just.. I can’t it’s hard enough for me to talk about this as it is.” You can’t stop the tears from streaming down your face. You felt like such an asshole. You should have just talked to him and listened to his side of the story. Instead you let your feelings get the better of you and you impulsively left the only man you had ever loved. You reach for your phone and immediately unblock his number and call him. When Jin hears his phone ringing with the ringtone he chose for you his eyes grow wide. His stream is quickly forgotten as he answers the phone without hesitation.

“Y/n?! Oh my god baby are you okay? Where did you go? Are you safe?” Namjoon walks into frame and turns off the stream to give you two privacy. 

“I’m okay Jin. I... I saw your Vlive.. Can I... do you think I could come home?” Jin lets out a sigh of relief and tries to collect himself.

“Please.. Please do that please come home. I can’t do this anymore I need you baby..” 

“Hey shh it’s okay Jin. I’m going to pack up my things and I’m coming home now, okay?” Your parents lived about 45 minutes away from your apartment. You swear those were the longest minutes of your life. You stood outside the door for a minute, debating if you should knock or just go in. However Jin decided that for you when the threw the door open and tugged you into his arms. You felt his tears soaking your shirt as you buried your face in his chest, crying just as loudly as him.

“Jin I’m sorry I should have just talked to you. I never should have just left you like that.”

“Don’t you apologize y/n. This is my fault. If I wouldn’t have acted so strangely towards you and met my friend in such a public place this never would have happened.” You pull away and before you can speak Jin collides his lips with yours. He kisses you like he’s desperate to feel your touch, to feel you pressed up against him. He lifts you up by your thighs and carries you into the bedroom, laying you down on the bed as he hovers over you and continues pressing kisses along your neck. You lose yourself in his touch, in the feeling of his lips on yours. He pulls away from you and you’re both panting heavily. Jin smiles at you sweetly and kisses you softly on your forehead. He rolls off of you and pulls your back to his chest, tightly wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Hugging you is so much better than hugging your pillow.” You giggle and turn around to face him, pressing more kisses to his face. Jin pulls away and smiles at you warmly.

“Wait here a sec baby.” He climbs off the bed and walks over to his desk and grabs something off of it before kneeling on the floor in front of you. He places the box on the mattress and grabs your hands to sit you up on the edge of the bed. “I think this goes without saying but, I love you y/n. So ridiculously much and I don’t think I can live my life without you in it. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. If you still want me,” He opens the box and you gasp, bringing your hands up to your face as fresh tears are falling down your face as you are met with the sight of the most beautiful ring you have ever seen. “I would love it if you would agree to be my wife. You’re my other half, the better half I think. I want to spend my forever with you and no one else.” You can’t speak as you’re overwhelmed with emotions. You nod your head and Jin slips the ring on your finger. 

“I love you Kim Seokjin.”

“I love you too Mrs. Kim.”

[wetalkinboutbooks]

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Summary: Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honour they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumoured beauty has piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge. (Taken from Goodreads).

Our Ratings: 

 → Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: We really enjoyed this book!! It was well-written, had both engaging characters and an interesting plot. The world building is well done, the plot twists are WILD, and the romance is wholesome. TW: Assault, but Natasha handles that well. The spoiler-full discussion is below the cut.

The Good:

Lei and Wren

Kae: Okay. So we have Lei, the main character with these ~wonderful~ golden eyes. She is taken from her home on account of her golden eyes and delivered to the King as a gift. This all happens because a guard wants to get back on the Kings good side. Now, our girl is a concubine

Geena: We also meet Wren and we know almost nothing about her other than she’s hot (according to Lei) and cold. In addition, a group of other concubines, one of which... Blue... has it out for Lei.

Kae: Wren! I liked Wren from the start. She captured my attention the way she captured Lei’s. She’s always watching. Always calculating. Always alert. We soon learn that Wren’s cold demeanor is just a facade and she’s secretly a bad bitch. 

Geena: I agree, I also liked that Wren was written aloof, but not like an asshole like Blue was shown to be. Both Blue and Wren were from powerful families, but Wren knew how to act. Also! The development we see from Lei seeing Wren and just thinking she’s hot like every other girl and slowly falling for her was *chefs kiss*. 

Kae: Watching Lei slowly fall in love with Wren was so nice to see. In a lot of YA books, the character meets the love interest in one chapter, then they’re declaring their love two chapters later. So it was refreshing to see them fall for each other the way they did. I liked how the audience knew Lei liked Wren, but LEI DIDN’T KNOW SHE LIKED WREN. Silly girl! Wren also takes her time with Lei and allows Lei to take the lead most of the time. They’re going at Lei’s speed and whenever she isn’t ready for something, Wren backs off like the suave lady she is. 

Geena: Oh my god, you’re so right, I didn’t even notice. Wren is probably the most respectable love interests I’ve seen written in a long time, she didn’t force Lei into doing anything she didn’t want to. And like Kae said, it wasn’t INSTA-LOVE, also I don’t know if I’d classify this as YA? More like New Adult, since it does deal with mature subjects like assault. Also god, every time Lei was like “Wren looked ravishing, and it made me feel a type of way… I wonder why…” I wanted to throw my book, she was clearly infatuated but refused to acknowledge her feelings.

Kae: “NA.” That should be a genre. New Adult. That’d work really well. YA shouldn’t even be “YA”. It should be like, not “YA”. ANYWAY. UNRELATED. Yes. Lei had a BIG OL CRUSH. Like, GIRL. YOU LIKE HER. MAKE A MOOOVE. And then… Wren made the move. UGH POETIC CINEMA. Or... Poetic literature. 

Geena: Overall, Natasha wrote a really sweet wlw pairing, and it was refreshing to read… Especially the fact that it was well written AND the main pairing, and not just a jab at “diversity” a lot of books tend to do. 10/10 Romance.

Worldbuilding

Geena: Time to dive into that furry shit. First off, the author takes inspiration from her Malaysian roots, which is cool and all but GODDAMN there was some furry shit going on. She did explain the class separations and overall history really well, right?

Kae: I 100% agree with you on the furry shit and how well everything is explained and written. So basically, we have the Moon Caste (the full on furries/demons) which are the ruling/upper caste. The Steele caste (humans who have partial animal/demons qualities) aka the middle class. Then last but not least (well, absolutely the least in their case), the paper caste who are humans with no special qualities. Except Lei, who has literal golden eyes. 

Geena: Natasha did a really good job on simplifying the differences between the castes and the history that led to their current states. BUT I wasn’t sure of how her magic system worked? Like can only furries be shaman, how do people become shamans? Are they born with it, or is it Maybelline. ANOTHER THING, it was kind of hard to visualize the demons she described, only because my lizard brain always thought of the animals from Kung Fu Panda. Though one thing that threw me for a loop was the fact that Natasha chose to have a Bull-Form demon as the king, because 99% of the time Lions are used to represent rulers (It was cool ngl). What wasn’t cool was when Lei called the king handsome. 

Kae: GEENA I CACKLED. But yes! Kind of freaked me out that she thought he was a cutie. Also was super interesting to not have the king be a lion. But I guess she was going for something different? It definitely works! Natasha also elaborated on the uh- *ahem* way that they’re all built the same when it comes to certain parts which made me think and I didn’t like my thoughts! First thought: HOW? Second thought: OUCH! Third thought: Size LMAO! But give it up to Natasha for explaining that in the simplest way possible without making me have any more than those three thoughts. Either way, moving on, did we explain that Wren, Lei, and these other girls are his concubines? I think we missed that. Surprise…? The Bull King also goes on to explain how he doesn’t have his own name. I also got a hint of him being a little… off. Off as in kind of crazy. Eh? 

Geena: RIGHT I FORGOT that by the end the so-called ‘handsome’ Bull King goes batshit crazy, and I’m wondering if this was the product of the Sickness (which isn’t really discussed) or him being mad that he’s shooting dust and has no kids. Also, thank you for Natasha for constantly reminding us that he was jacked. BUT ANYWAYS. 

The Bad:

Characters that DIED for NOTHING

Geena: Kenzo and Zelle were two different characters that provided both Wren and Lei with support as they all conspired to be free from the King. Kenzo (Wolf demon) being the King’s advisor and Wren’s training partner, and Zelle lowkey Lei’s confidant (who was also a prostitute). BOTH were passionate and the part of the same cause: Get rid of the King and liberate themselves. But then THEY DIE… FOR WHAT? For that BITCH to still be ALIVE? 

Kae: Kenzo and Zelle. Both very likeable characters and both a little sketchy at the start. Just a little. But yes, as Geena stated, they totes died for nothing and it was such a huge let down to see them fall. Especially Kenzo (at least for me), because I thought he had a chance. In the end, he didn’t make it. You know who SHOULD’VE got murked in the end? Blue’s little annoying ass. 

Geena: I LOVED KENZO. I have this bad habit of getting attached to side characters the inevitably don’t play a big role. It would’ve been cool to see his motivations behind getting rid of the King. Zelle, who was paper caste, had made her motivations clear. But Kenzo? Also, Lei and Wren essentially lost, as Natasha described it, a ‘brotherly’ figure. FOR WHA?. 0/10 character deaths that made sense. Blue should’ve eaten shit for ratting out Lei/Wren.

Kae: EAT SHIT BLUE. 

The Ugly:  

The Demon King 

Kae: Alrighty. The Demon King aka little BITCH.  The Demon King presents himself as somewhat of a decent bull-man at first. He is described as handsome and like Geena said earlier, freakin’ ripped. Suspicion of him not being too good of a dude came to me after he had finished with one of the girls. She came back bruised and beaten and shooketh. Didn’t like that. I assume these girls are a lot smaller than him so I expected him to be… gentler? At least considerate. But, that was just a glimpse. When Lei is finally summoned, she decides that she absolutely does NOT want the Bull-King D and fights the guy off of her. He doesn’t like that… at all. He’s up in arms and ready to fight because he has been denied something he wants. Lei is sent to what’s basically solitary confinement for a week with no food. But she does get a special visitor who brings her food and potential cuddles. The King doesn’t summon Lei for quite some time after that and when he finally does, he takes what he was denied from the start. The scene, thank goodness, is not described. But the after-thats what sucks. Lei is beaten and battered and bruised and has to be carried to her rooms. It’s horrible and I couldn’t imagine how that must’ve been. Especially since he’s a literal animal humanoid. Blegh. 

Geena: KAE SUMMED IT UP SO WELL. The king, who has no name and honestly he doesn’t deserve one, is the embodiment of an entitled piece of shit that deserves to be made into ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS. The scenes that we get a glimpse of including him and the girls is scarring, he does NOT know the meaning of consent and it’s obvious the way he wrecks Lei that he doesn’t care. That made me unbelievably uncomfortable and like you said, I’m so glad that we weren’t subjected to a description of that. In addition, the King was also manipulative as fuck? The way he made Aoki (another concubine, and Lei’s friend) fall in love with him *cough* Stockholm syndrome *cough*.  We hate his guts, and he should’ve choked on his blood but :/ I guess the fact that we hate him with such a passion is a good indication that he’s a well-written villain. How the hell he only have like 4 scenes but those 4 scenes just emitted the WORST VIBES. The moment lei said he was handsome and jacked I knew this bitch was going to fuck shit up (a handsome bull demon…. Like really,,, if we’re leaning into that furry shit the only handsome demons are tiger and wolf demons). 

Conclusion

Kae: ALRIGHTY Y’ALL. So this concludes our thoughts of Girls of Paper and Fire. I give it a 9/10. I really enjoyed it and it was a good read. The story was very well written as were the characters. I hope we get to see a little more of the magic of this world in the next book. I look forward to what more Natasha has to tell. 

Geena: I’d give it an 8.5/10, the 0.5 less comes from the fact that the bitchass king survived at the end. Personally, he could’ve died and there could’ve still been another book BUT I DIGRESS. AND I AGREE, it’s a well-written story with likeable characters, and I’m curious to see how Natasha tackles the mystery behind Lei’s golden eyes in the upcoming books.  

[theparadisesystem]

🎊

There are 7 of us in total. Each one of us has a colour, and it’s like a rainbow. I’m ( Carrie ) the colour fuchsia, which isn’t really a part of the traditional rainbow but that’s how it is so hush.

Ruby ( Red ) is loud, passionate, fiery and adventurous. She’s thicc as hell. Long dark brown curly hair and tan skin. Deep, beautiful brown eyes. Her classic look is a sharp cat eye with a red lip. Her whole aesthetic is like, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Loves boxing, motorcycles, cool cars, all that. She’s cringy and does Fortnite dances and all, but she does it ironically. She can be kind of a snob sometimes but she’s still amazing. She’s in her late teens. Best friends with Olive.

Callie ( Orange ) is the mom. Tall, Asian American, very skinny, and pale. She has an asymmetrical pixie cut. Brown eyes. She takes care of everyone and loves them all, but she’s 100% done with our shenanigans. Really. She’s usually very calm but when she gets mad, holy shit. She gets MAD. She loves winter, sweaters, books, fine art, and caring for other people. And she will not hesitate to protect her babes. She will kick an ass. Total butch. She’s in her mid twenties. She doesn’t front too often though. And she’s engaged to Sophie.

Dixie ( Yellow ) is the little of the system. She’s short, and has sunburned cheeks. Tight blonde curls that are about shoulder length. She loooooves sundresses of any kind, especially polka dots. Her whole aesthetic is Sailor Moon. She loves it. She’s always very smiley and cheery, even if she’s secretly upset. She really needs a lot of love. She’s extremely cuddly and dependent. And she always helps out anyone who needs it. 

Olive ( Green ) is the meme lord. She’s very skinny like Callie, but even paler. Her hair is dyed pine green and is almost always up in a messy bun. Her face is almost zombie like, as if she’s been asleep for the past 200 years and just woke up. She does sleep a lot though. Hoodies and sweatpants are her shit. She has very bad depression and bad impulse control too. She’s always either quoting vines or sleeping. She’s also in her late teens and is best friends with Ruby.

Hailey ( Blue )  is sitting in the corner judging all of us 24/7. She’s the neutral one, she’s always solving arguments. She’s also a little bit of a nervous wreck. She’s very connected to nature, the moon and the ocean specifically. She and Sophie are big witches. I’m pretty convinced she’s secretly a mermaid. She’s so damn graceful. She’s tan with long dark hair like Ruby, but her hair is down-to-her-ass long. Big blue eyes. Also thicc like Ruby but has no tits. She’s the most morally right out of all of us. Like Callie, she doesn’t front too often. Mid teens.

Vega ( Purple ) is vaporwave and totally batshit crazy ( in a good way ). She’s a witch like Hailey. She’s tall and tan, with vivid purple hair and a pixie cut. Lots of piercings. She has the perfect hourglass figure. And abs. Like seriously, I’m so jealous. She’s psychic too. Loves astrology and tarot. She’ll remember the most random things, like “Remember the show ‘Wow Wow Wubzy? Like what the fuck” and she makes way too many sexual jokes. She’s very glamourous. She’s also mid twenties.

And then there’s me. Brunette, pale, big ass eyebrows. Chill, laid back, kinda annoying. My aesthetic is very tropical and luxurious. Eh, I don’t have a good description of myself, y’know? It’s hard to describe yourself. That’s all I got

-TPS