#the het ships were 'he was a (conventionally attractive) boy she was a (conventionally attractive) girl'

[starburstgalexies]

You know, I was almost convinced Yanqing and Yunli were gonna be just any other dull teenage hetero ship written as love interests and I was ready to hate it for that, but they have great chemistry and a trope-y but interesting back and forth (you can say it's a good trope).

It might be too early to say these I am entirely judging this based on their first (technically first two) meeting in the beginning of the new Trailblaze Mission and they have plenty of time to disappoint me, but so far so good.

[brocktonbay]

I am 80% sure that Taylor was just a lesbian in denial. Thoughts?

Yes. Totally. 

(apologies if you were looking for a serious, thought-out answer. i’ll write that up another day)

There is another parallel universe, so close to Earth Bet that it’s nearly indistinguishable. We’ll call it…Earth Het ;)

In this universe, Taylor pretends to have a crush on Brian because hey! He’s conventionally attractive and friendly enough, and normal teenage girls like Taylor are supposed to like boys, right?

Wrong. Leviathan happens, and Taylor’s whole perspective changes. She’s not the “hero” she thought she was and she’s seen and experienced things the average sixteen-year-old couldn’t even fathom. Who gives a fuck what people think about her anymore?

Taylor comes out of the closet, much to both her and Brian’s relief. The whole thing between them just felt forced, anyways.

And yknow how in canon Taylor’s pretty oblivious to other people’s perceptions of her? Well, that’s the same here.

Lisa is aroace, she swears up and down and left and right that she is, but ever since that night on the rooftop, where she saw a fresh-faced hero taking on the scariest fire-breathing motherfucker in all of Brockton Bay, well, she may be questioning her stance on love. It’s two years later, at the end of the world, when Taylor pulls the ultimate martyr move by forcing a second trigger that Lisa truly moves on. She gets enough migraines from her power alone. 

Aisha HATES that she has a “schoolgirl crush” on Taylor, as Alec likes to put it. She supposes she’s grateful that Taylor and Brian broke things off because it means Aisha doesn’t have to devote as much time to being petty and jealous of her brother. The problem is that she can’t quite tell if she likes Taylor or if she wants to be Taylor. That respect carries all the way through Gold Morning, when Aisha protects Taylor and holds her close as Taylor’s mind crumbles away (it’s the least she can do, for one of the only constants she’s had in her entire life). Aisha hopes she can lead the Heartbroken the same way.

Amy’s life has been a shitshow for as long as she can remember. Circumstances of her birth and all that. She doesn’t like to think about the Slaughterhouse Nine, but Skitter is something of a bright spot in that dark time. She swept in like some sort of knight-in-shining-armor on a horse (or a beetle), facing down the most notorious serial killers in all of North America without a trace of fear. Hell, she even offered Amy a place on her team. And for what it’s worth, saliva was the easiest way to spread her counter-pathogens around.

Neither Sabah nor Lily have had crushes on Skitter. They only have eyes for each other. 

Weaver’s presence turns the life of the Chicago Wards upside-down. She’s scary competent and straight-up scary and probably their best bet at surviving through the end of the world. 

Grace hates her guts completely and utterly. She hates Weaver’s stupid curls, and her slender arms, and the way Weaver gets up-close and physical in their training spars, not even remotely flustered like their dorky boy teammates. So Grace teases her, gets up close and pushes Weaver around. She never learned about the proper ways to show affection, beyond the oft-repeated idea that “if a boy hits you, he likes you.” Why can’t it work for girls?

Poor Theo. He doesn’t even realize Taylor doesn’t like boys. Luckily, he’s started bonding with Cuff “Call-Me-Ava” over how cool their new teammate is. They decide to start training together, so that they can impress Weaver with their improvement.

Dennis still gets the most attention from Parahuman gossip sites. Missy thought it would be funny to send him a link to a popular fanfiction page for the so-called ship “Tick-Tock.” If only they knew the truth…

And then there’s Rachel.

Rachel and Taylor, who’ve gone from friends, to enemies, to friends and back again. Trust is hard earned, but these two have worked harder than most to earn it with each other.

Rachel knows what it’s like to have a brain altered by powers. She can’t quite remember what she was like before, but she knows it wasn’t this. Rachel doesn’t believe in wasting time on what-ifs and could-have-beens. 

Taylor, too, was affected by her powers. It was slow and insidious, the kind of thing you couldn’t notice until it was too late. Maybe Lisa knew, at the bottom of her heart, but didn’t want to admit it. How could she, how could any of them, when Taylor was getting more successful, more unstoppable with every victory? They basked in her confidence, they flourished under her guidance.

Rachel steps into Taylor’s control-range of her own will, because after all this, she still trusts Taylor.

The Queen Administrator doesn’t care about the feelings of an inferior shard. Khepri doesn’t care about some silly dog-girl. But Taylor cares. 

She releases Rachel from her control. Even though she’s losing her higher cognitive function, precious names and faces and memories, she trusts Rachel.

The world ends, but All of the earths, all of the worlds, all of the universes are saved. The girl responsible is nowhere to be found.

Lisa is good at making deals. Contessa is tired of being the boogeyman.

They stick Taylor in Earth Aleph and close the doors behind her, because it’s the closest thing to a happy ending Taylor is going to get. Sticking with the Undersiders will be a death sentence, by way of parahuman or passenger.

But the heat dies down. There’s crazier shit on the horizon, new heroes and old villains and everything in between, and people don’t ask about the girl anymore.

Rachel has a little farm on Gimel. It’s a lovely and peaceful place, where she learned to heal all those years ago. Foster care to runaway to wanted criminal makes it hard for Rachel to settle down.

She calls her farm “home.”

And when Taylor comes home, there are tears in her eyes. She’s clutching Rachel’s hand so tight that Rachel feels it go all prickly and stiff. Crying is bad. Why is Taylor crying?!

“It’s okay,” Taylor tells her, pressing their foreheads together. Her glasses are fogged up, and Rachel resists the urge to wipe them off. 

“I’m happy here.”

Rachel nods, confusion dispelled for the moment. She smiles and drags Taylor through the front door.

“We’ll be happy here,” Rachel replies, so quiet as not to be heard over the sound of dogs barking.

ANYWAYS! That’s my explanation for the technically-Ward-Compliant AU where Taylor is just chillin on Rachel’s farm and enjoying an early retirement. The Heartbroken love visiting, even though they’re not allowed to tell anyone outside of the Undersiders that Taylor Hebert is alive.

(Also Victoria is bi, but that’s a conversation for another day.)