#which only makes the Lesbian Illusion worse for the people who think his name is audrey

[coochiekrab]

I have a worse confession than having thought Audrey and Kuri were lesbians. I thought Audrey and Rumi were the same character. I knew Rumdrey was Kuri's daughter and then i saw the comic of audrey struggling to get off because he's thinking about kuri doing stupid shit, and i was like "huh maybe a little unusual but funny" and then the next comic i saw was the kuri does oral one and that's what made me realize i might have gotten something wrong somewhere

Whos gonna tell anon

[memoriashell]

hey i really like you ( can we go out? )

Characters /  Pairing: Fukawa Touko / Naegi Komaru, techincally some background Ishimaru / Oowada, Makoto gets a few lines, and Syo’s present for a bit in the begining.

crossposted on ao3

Notes: hello here's your late day five of @tokomaruweek​ week!! valentine's day prompt!!

the format for the texting section might look a little funky on tumblr since there’s no easy way of aligning right side / left side text but hopefully it’s obvious enough who’s texting what.

heads up i'll be skipping day 6 for now probably! i’ll come back to it when i’ve finished the rest of the week, i just might get stuck on it for a hot minute and i’d like to get the rest of the week out of the way first since i'm already behind.

anyways it's probably also noteworthy to mention that this drabble works on the basis you have a basic understanding of the cultural differences in how japan celebrates valentine's day. i was originally going to try and incorporate white day into this drabble instead of just mentioning it but i wasn’t super happy with how this one was turning out anyways and figured it was best to just get this out as it is!!

i also feel like i should clarify bc that i realize the way i characterize toko in everything this week has made it seems like she hates kiyotaka’s guts but honestly i think they’d be real close!! i really like them as two outsider kids who can relate to each other. they are two sides of the same narrative coin and in this essay i will /j anyways please understand she rags on him from a place of ( platonic ) LOVE. and also bc they r both my cc’s i could never be that mean to either of them. well. no meaner than canon is to them.

edit: forgot tws. nothing super huge bc it's mostly fluff, but it does refrence bullying ( although would you consider faked love confessions / etc as bullying? it's just cruel :( anyways. )

Summary:  valentine's day has never been good for ugly girls ( and hopeless romantics ) like her. 

Valentine's Day. Every girl’s least favorite day.

Or, well, at the very least, her least favorite. Uh, one of her least favorite holidays? Then again, it’s not like Touko really has a ‘favorite’ in the first place, so maybe her point is moot— but she’s getting side tracked here.

One would presume that a romantic like her, an author who writes romance for a living, would live for a holiday that's practically centered around love and romance, but they would be wrong. It’s a miserable reminder of a day for her who has practically been scorned by the idea of relationships. It is a bitter reminder of failed loves and societal norms that she’s never been able to meet.

( Ugly. Rude. Awkward. Unsociable. So what if they’re right? Who is she to tell them they’re wrong? )

If it is not for the fact that she is pretty sure Ishimaru will be at her door if she doesn’t show up, she would probably skip class today. Oh, to be a confident gay man on Valentine's Day and not a closeted lesbian who feels the need to meet heteronormative societal norms. It’s unfair because not only is he ( mostly ) unaffected by this kind of holiday, he’s probably one of the people who care the least about the delicate social intricacies ( and romanticism ) of a holiday like this one. If nothing else, so she can’t say she envies the position this puts Oowada in, because Ishimaru would probably just see this as a learning moment. Anyways before she sounds too envious of her peers for getting their shit together, she just wants it to be unknown that she thinks it’s really unfair that he would get to judge her reasons for wanting to skip school.

( Actually, if she fessed up the deep-seated issues related to why she’d rather not have to be present on a day like today, the last thing he’d do it judge but that’s not really something she wants to acknowledge right now )

Moving on.

Despite the fact that, internally, she is making a fuss about a holiday, she suspects that most of her class probably doesn’t really care about these things. That doesn't mean she feels any less pressured to conform. It’s not like any of them would want chocolates from someone like her anyways, so it’s not like she really needs to be worried...

It’s not the end of the world, stop being such a debbie downer! Syo butts in, ever so helpful. By which she means is very, very unwanted and unhelpful. All the same, they ( unfortunately ) have a point and if she has to put up with this shitty day then at the very least she’d like to have breakfast before someone sees fit to break down her door.

You technically don’t have to do anything. Syo sounds almost too enthusiastic to help with the ‘issue’ at hand.

Using you to escape my problems isn’t always a viable strategy. Touko rebukes. Nor is it a choice, usually.

Only because you try and make yourself as miserable as possible by making things worse for you.

She has nothing to say to that, and instead focuses on braiding her hair to be passably presentable.

“Fukawa-san?” Oh, what she wouldn’t give to not have to hear her name today. Granted, Touko doesn’t think hearing her name being called on any given day is usually a good sign, but it still feels too early in the day to willingly put up with anything and shoots a glare at Naegi, standing in front of her desk. It probably doesn’t help that he sounds nervous for some godforsaken reason, but that’s technically not out of the ordinary, and she’s pretty sure Syo has something to do with that. “Sorry, uh...I was going to try and catch you at your locker this morning, but I guess I must’ve missed you, huh?”

She gives him the most deadpan, withering stare she can muster at the moment as if to say obviously. She’d even turned up to class early because she figured that dealing with whoever else would be in class would be more manageable than having to deal with anything going on in the halls ( because Hope’s Peak is not a normal school and god knows if something can go wrong, it will, and she is not having any of it today ). She assumed that if she looked busy, anyone with any common sense would leave her alone, but Makoto is not the brightest, clearly.

It still kind of throws her for a loop, however, that he chooses to approach her today, of all days. If she were anyone else, or if this exchange happened in any other context, she is sure that him acting like this on Valentine's Day would seem like it was setting up for a love confession. If it weren’t for the fact that Naegi already had a partner so, that’s probably not an issue— not that that would be a theoretical issue, because hey it’s not like Naegi was likely to be the kind of person cruel enough to fake a love confession. That’s definitely not something that’s happened to Touko before and gotten her hopes up only to be horribly crushed and definitely not the reason she’s been particularly defensive today. Nope.

( Yeah, okay, she’s not fooling anyone, but thankfully the only one aware of this is herself. And Syo, but both of these things are clear givens )

It occurs to her that Naegi hasn’t said anything, waiting for her to say something to him, and she grits her teeth irritably. “Wh-What? Spit it out already.”

“Err...are you...” He starts to say something and then seems to think better of it, sheepishly ducking his head for a moment before holding a bag out to her. “Sorry. Komaru asked me to bring these to you. Kirigiri-san had to convince her to not try and sneak into the main building just to bring these to you herself.”

It takes a long minute for her to process what he says before snatching the bag from his grip and holding it close to herself. Friendship chocolates...? That’s probably what’s in the bag. Which is a pretty nice thought in itself— Touko doesn’t usually get gifts like this. It almost makes her not want to touch the bag and ruin the illusion, refrain from eat whatever’s in the bag: but honestly if she doesn’t, Syo will probably make sure to savor it, so she won’t even pretend like that’s an option.

( There’s a part of her that feels a little guilty too, that she hadn’t even considered that Komaru might do something like this and have something prepared for her in return, but if she’d made something and not gotten anything then she’d look like a fool, and it’s not like she would’ve been able to get it to her easily anyways, so she really shouldn’t feel guilty about accepting it, but— )

“I’m glad you like it. She was kind of worried about how you’d take it.” Naegi speaking breaks through her current train of thought and is he still standing here? Had she been stupidly smiling to herself? How embarrassing!

“It’s n-n-not like that...and what kind of person do, do you take me for, anyways...!” Well, if she had been showing any sort of positive emotion on her face, she isn’t anymore. Touko takes this as an opportunity to shove the bag into her book bag, before anyone can notice. For some reason, he looks vaguely disappointed. “I was...ugh, I was just th-thinking that it was surprising she’d trust you with it given the, the track record with how your l-luck turns out!”

Makoto opens his mouth to refute this but thank god someone calls his name from the doorway, and she takes that opportunity goes back to her books before he can try and say anything further to her.

touko-chan!!!!

makoto said he gave you my gift successfully so i know u got it

i think

i didn’t expect u to thank me or anything but it’d be nice

pls tell me u got it right

did u at least read the note i left in there for u

Does Komaru not have homework, or what? She could at least give her a few minutes to try and get a word in. It’s not her fault math is a bitch and Touko is too stubborn to maybe talk to one of her peers into explaining the subject to her.

                                                     Yes, by some miracle I did manage to get it.

                                                                                                             Thanks.

                                                                                        You’re a good friend.

                                                                                                               Sorry.

                                                                                         Is that all? I’m busy.

That is not all, apparently, because Komaru forgoes texting to call her directly. If it were anyone else, she’d ignore it; but since it’s her she figures she can probably talk and do math at the same time.

“So you didn’t check the bag at all?” Komaru speaks before she can even consider greeting her, and Touko rolls her eyes despite the fact that she cannot see it.

“Hello to y-you too. Uh…honestly, I shoved it in my bag earlier and...and haven’t checked on it since. I assumed it was j-j-just candy, and it’s probably safer hid from Syo there.”

“Ugh! I told Makoto to mention to you that I put something else in there. And there’s a box for Syo in there too!” She can practically hear her pouting through the phone line. “Well, uh— I guess that’s fine since you’re busy...? Just check it when you get the chance, okay? Please? I promise it’ll make sense.”

“I got it, I got it. I’ll take a break once I finish this up and check it out. Good enough for you?”

“Mhm! Thank you Touko-chan! I’ll let you go now, so you can focus. Bye!” If Touko wasn’t mistaken ( but probably is ), she sounded almost nervous, the way her words come out in one rushed breath.

Admittedly, now she’s too intrigued by whatever had Komaru pressed enough to make sure she was aware of it, and she doesn’t think she’ll be able to focus now, so...opening the bag it is. She grumbles and groans to herself for a moment, stretching as she gets up from her desk to grab her bag.

She hadn’t really noticed at the time, but now that she thinks about it, there’s some definite weight to this thing, more than she’d expect from some candies ( even now knowing that apparently Komaru had accounted for Syo as well ). Not much though, and she probably would’ve just passed it off for the box the sweet is stored in if she were to really think about it, but now she figures that’s probably not the case. Touko peeks inside the bag a little hesitantly— curiosity wins out over anxiety in the end, and spots what appears to be a small booklet along with a box of chocolates.

Oh god.

She braces herself because, this is probably some kind of manga if she knows Komaru and ( unfortunately ) not a mini-novella but otherwise has no idea what to expect. And once she opens it, she has to thank whatever higher being made sure Makoto didn’t say a thing to her about it because there’s absolutely no way she would have been able to keep a straight face if she’d looked at this in class.

One, she forgot how generally talented Komaru was at this type of stuff. Obviously, still room for improvement, but not nearly as bad as Touko would have thought. Two, this is not really a manga, but a fucking thinly veiled love confession, complete with the most casual ‘Hey I really like you, can we go out?’ Third, she’s extremely glad Komaru did not insist on being on the phone while she checked this out because she does not think she can coherently answer that right now.

In fact, it takes Touko a good half hour to calm herself down enough before she can even consider texting her a response. There’s no way she’s embarrassing herself any further by calling her about it, even if that might have been a more meaningful exchange, but like Komaru just confessed to her through manga so clearly they’re already past that point.

                                                                                                     You’re a dork.

                                           I hate that you’re using your talents for this though.

:)

thats not a no?

                                                                                                          Not a yes.

                         Very tempted to make it a no for making me suffer through this.

touko-chan;;;;;

be gentle to my poor heart if ur gonna reject me :(

                                                                                              Ugh. I was kidding.

                                                                                                      Yes you idiot.

                                                    Just don’t use manga for this stuff next time?

ok!!!!! :)

actually i promise nothing

lol sorry ♡

                                                                                                  You’re the worst.

hehehehehe >:)

i love you too!!

are you busy this week??

let’s meet up!!!

                                             Some of us care about our grades. As should you.

                                                            But Thursday and Friday are lighter days.

                                                                      Yeah yeah. I like you or something.

thank uuuuu ♡♡♡

She chews on her lip as she rereads the message and mulls over it as she tries to ignore the flip-flop of her stomach. It’ll be fine. She’ll just aim to have something planned out for White Day in return.

[palmett-hoes]

Hi, I really loved your post with the monsters as Birds of Prey! Was wondering if you had any thoughts on the Foxes as Marvel or Mcu characters? I feel like I could see Dan as Carol Danvers and Andrew for sure is Jessica Jones, idk about the rest.

oh wow old post!!

haha unfortunately i’m not really a comics person so i don’t feel like i can really give the best analysis possible, but i have seen most of the mcu movies and bits and pieces of the netflix show so i’ll try my best. also im using dc characters too bc i want to

1. Dan: I think your instinct with Dan as Captain Marvel is spot-on (at least uhhh,, based on the movie lol sorry comics ppl). Her direct, forceful powers and fighting style are definitely reminiscent of dan’s no-nonsense leadership approach. similarly the themes of overcoming sexism and acceling in a male-dominated industry in the captain marvel movie is pretty much the same as dan’s story establishing herself as the first female exy captain (tho sports is way more valid than the military). plus there’s a lot of emphasis on love and friendship between women that dan is ALL about. also lashana lynch would be a god tier dan wilds fc. Dan could also def have that lawful good Okoye from Black Panther energy. Loyal, disciplined, no-nonsense leader. no powers except discipline. no hair. also danai gurira in 2012 with the dreads and the sword and the cape on TWD was definitely part of my middle school sexual awakening

2. Kevin: Aquaman. this is based pretty much exclusively on the fact that jason momoa is my #1 kevin fc and also that Pasifika kevin is phenomenal and mandatory, actually. otherwise i think he has a decent amount of stick-up-the-ass cyclops energy. or dick grayson nightwing energy but i don’t have any evidence for why. kinda looks like him tho

3. Andrew: andrew gets the most characters bc he’s my favorite. i think ur jessica jones instincts are absolutely correct, both in her storyline (i only watched the first season) and her powers. i’ve seen some powers au and the tendency seems to be giving andrew like,, psychic powers or the like, and i don’t really agree. andrew is a very direct character. he’s pragmatic, he confronts problems head on, and he doesn’t muck about in details. to me this really translates best into physical powers like super strength that help u big punch straight thru all ur problems. also i def think andrew would be not just a solo hero but a mercenary (or a detective) because he’s not altruistic enough to be a standard vigilante. he doesn’t care enough about other people to hang out on rooftops all night waiting for Crime to occur. there’s a price for that.  which brings us to the NEXT andrew hero: deadpool. maybe in personality more of a drugged andrew but the superpowered mercenary is really a perfect fit for andrew. also, healing powers have a decidedly tragic poetry to them on andrew. already he’s self-destructive, if he had a healing factor his concern for his own well-being would be so beyond rock bottom it’d be in the earth’s core. even worse when you remember that with a healing factor, as opposed to indestructibility, you still feel all the pain. which brings us to Wolverine and X-23, who have the same thematic points as deadpool but are much more of a personality match and they have knife hands, which i really think andrew would appreciate. ending that sadness train and onto another tho, andrew’s aesthetic and Vibes fit the Winter Soldier just SO well (just that movie tho, not really civil war or anything past that) and a reinterpretation of the captain america story using the twinyards would be incredibly interesting. and finally, one last hero that would work really well for andrew: rogue, only remove the angst around not being able to touch people, andrew would love that. one touch and their comatose? baller. don't fucking touch him.

4. Matt: Shazam. I didn’t see the shazam movie but my dad and brother did and they said it was very funny and all the trailors looked like it had a lot of fun himbo energy and i really think that fits. in terms of matching himbo disaster energy i think i’ve heard good things about comics hawkeye (not mcu). thor?

5. Aaron: Mr. Fantastic. now this might be a stretch but aaron is a character who uses a skin-deep veneer of anger to cover the fact that he’s actually quite pliant and bends to other people’s wills. and he’s a doctor or w/e. he could alse be like,, antman. he’s smart right? hank pym not paul rudd. katelyn can be wasp

6. Seth: Arm Fall Off Boy. no i will not elaborate.             ..... ugh fine, but i'm using my favorite piece of superhero media of all time: x-men evolution, the one where they're all teenagers in public high school. seth can be lance alvers/avalanche who’s a bit of a jerk and has a lot of issues with authority and has a rivalry with cyclops very reminiscent of seth with kevin, but still there’s the recurring theme that he’s lashing out because of low self-esteem and a bad situation and he’s a surprisingly sympathetic character who i’m very fond of. his power is earthquakes but i think the name makes that pretty self-explanatory

7. Allison: Iron Man. cocky, bitchy, and rich rich rich. sounds like allison to me. then to elevate it a level higher: emma frost, rich bitch extraordinaire. also if allison had telepathic powers she would be unstoppable. plus one more bitchy, morally-gray blonde (but chaotic this time): Harley Quinn

8. Nicky: Okay so I do wanna give a quick shout-out to Northstar, the first openly gay comicbook superhero, who’s a speedster which I’d actually say fits Nicky pretty well. However, if i had to choose a superhero to represent nicky in presence and powers it would have to be Jubilee from x-men (... from what i’ve heard lol. i’ve never actually consumed any of her Media hahaha anyway) she’s a joyful, energetic presence and her powers are setting off fireworks which i think is a good balance of nicky being a supportive cousin-parent AND a chaotic train wreck garbage trash man. also gonna throw in johnny storm for a cheap 'flaming' joke

9. Renee: Thunder/Blackbird from Black Lightning bc she’s a fufkin lesbian lol. (i don’t watch the show but i do follow nafessa williams’s tag). now the fr ones i’m gonna do together because to me they have the same Vibes so i chose them for the same reasons. Wonder Woman and Storm who to me have the same  reserved, impartial, regal energy. honestly ethereal and somewhat otherwordly, and quite literally goddesses. also op as hell.  black widow and her “red in my leger” looking for redemption story also fits thematically.

10. Neil: okay lazy answer first: the flash or quicksilver. get it? because they run fast? and neil run too? yea i like to think i've proven myself to be better than such a surface level interpretation but worth the mention ig. so for srs now, mystique and her shape changing powers would be an interesting interpretation of neil's identity issues, but i wanna push it a step further. nightcrawler would actually be possibly the MOST interesting hero to apply to neil 1. because powers still very movement go fast place to place 2. because of the thematic focus on neil's unusual looks and the lengths he goes to hide them, very much in line with the way nightcrawler will use a hologram-projector in order to look human, yet in both cases it's only a surface-level illusion, and 3. his parentage. here, mary would be mystique, which i also think works very well considering mary seemed to be the far more effective chameleon on the run than neil, and also fits with her place as a morally grey character, as mystique herself is often a villain or an antagonist, with her own agenda and shadowy motives. then nathan matches well with nightcrawler's father: azazel, a literal demon, and also where kurt gets his appearance. it's a shockingly coherent narrative between the three of them. then, to also give neil some powers that aren't contingent on his fucked up geneology and rather on his own merit and abilities, Black Canary and her sonic voice parallel the way that neil began to anchor his identity and take ownership over himself through his voice and his sick roasts

and 1 extra, wymack: batman, on account of his altruism, his dedication to second chances, and his many, many adopted children

---

anon, ik it's been a sec since you sent this, so i hope it gets back to you. i had a fun time with it and it prompted like,,, 7 different au s that i'll never write

[bubbletimestories]

Quarantine Beck (Quentin/reader)

Summary: The story of how Quentin Beck is so bored during confinement that he decides to find a damsel in distress for Mysterio. Except he falls on your profile and you start to trot him in the head. Between the heat, the confinement and the fact that he can send drones to observe whoever he wants, Quentin could well lose his mind.

Warnings: stupid Beck, he’s an asshole, as usual. Broken mug.

Themes: love, obsession, being bored, quarantine

A/N. This is not an ad for Smule (the application used at the end) but it is true that it relaxes. I especially wanted to stage a slightly stupid Beck and the fact that he sings ^^ Fic written quickly, without proofreading, for fun.

Translated with Google traduction, sorry ^^’

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540031 (eng)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24539569 (fr)

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

Everything was ready for the big appearance of Mysterio, for the Elemental’s very first attack which would bring a whole new hero into the spotlight. Everything, absolutely everything was ready. And then the Covid struck.

At first, no one really cared, they weren't planning to launch any of their virtual creatures in China. A little Asian virus was not going to steal them the limelight in the newspapers, not against an earth giant or a walking tornado. But the little Asian virus did not stop there and we all know that in the space of a few months, the whole world was frozen behind thick windows. When the confinement was announced, more than one citizen felt a ball of anxiety crushing their throat, but it was nothing compared to the dull terror experienced by all the members of the "Mysterio" team. Being locked up is one thing, but when the greatest danger is cloistered between four walls with you, the global pandemic seems very slight.

The confinement was declared several weeks ago, the spirits are still heating up but many have already resigned themselves to having to wait quietly for the sun to shine on them again. Speaking in a low voice in a corner of the warehouse that has served as their home for far too long, Janice laments, carefully dusting the costume of the hero who does not yet exist.

"There is at least one good thing ... the helmet fits perfectly with the rules of hygiene. "

Victoria chuckles behind her back, recovering almost immediately with a concerned look upstairs, where their leader has taken up residence. Amid the debris of drones and other shattered objects, he turns in circles like a tiger in a cage, his slender figure cutting against the smoked glass window. Impossible to launch their great illusion now, it would be ridiculous to see a monster devastating a deserted city. No drama, no tension, it would have as much effect as a wet firecracker. So they have to wait, wait again, praying a little louder every day so that the operation chief does not commit murder. When he grabbed the hammer lying there yesterday, everyone held their breath as they imagined their last hour arriving.

" Hello everybody ! "

A cheerful voice startles the two women as Quentin descends the shaky staircase to mingle with the crowd, his face radiant and freshly shaven. He greeted everyone, patting one on the shoulder, saying funny word to an other, his irresistible charming smile on his lips. He’s sorry for yesterday, he got a little carried away, nothing serious. After all, there are worse things than being stuck here with friends. It gives them time to discuss, to refine certain details, to perfect what they have prepared with such care. Maybe they could think about how to add a little emotion to their script, although the tearful story of the bereaved soldier is already a great teardrop. Finally, he comes up to the costumer, slipping a hand behind her back, leaning over to watch her work.

- I am always impressed by the detail of this cape, all these hours of work… - It's ... it's because it's for you, Quentin.

The young man smiles and darts his blue eyes on Janice, just long enough to see her lose all means. It is easy for Beck to lead his world, a simple look is enough for him, a smile or a well-placed word opens all the doors. He decides to prepare a coffee before returning to see the seamstress, taking the opportunity to exchange a few words with Guterman on the story they have invented, the alliance on his finger... After having recovered the drone control bracelet to be able to check certain settings by speaking (he likes to be able to play with them), Quentin returns to his armor which he examines with a critical eye. Suddenly, his face darkens as he points to a small scratch on the shiny surface.

" What is that ? "

There is silence all around them although the tone of the young man has remained calm and playful. Janice suddenly feels in balance on the razor's edge and explains like a mother would talk to her son, if the latter was armed with a butcher's knife.

"Well ... it's a trace of past battles. The story of the Quentin Beck fighter will be more credible if the public sees traces of wear on the armor. "

He was the one who made this remark, insisting strongly that small details are the glue of good lies and that it should be as true as possible. The team leader nods slowly when he hears this common sense answer.

"More credible for the public ... it is for the public to believe in it ..."

With a great movement, he smashes the happily empty cup on the edge of the desk. He doesn't even pay attention to the handle that remains in his hand while the rest of the ceramic lies in a thousand pieces around him. His immense eyes give off a burning anger, unless it is madness dancing in flames in his angelic pupils.

"The audience will see what I want them to see. They'll believe what I want them to believe. Everything must be absolutely perfect, I mean PERFECT, for the arrival of Mysterio and perfection does not admit a scratch on the armor! "

He laughs as he steps aside, his fingers absently gliding across the control screen to make the drones fly, these obedient extensions of himself. Unlike others whose metal tentacles are the real masters, he can fully rely on the robots that roar around the warehouse, their weapons out and ready to fire. Quentin walks slowly, scratching his thin beard, deeply saddened by the fact that he has to live with people who fail to meet his ideal.

"I invest myself body and soul, we are all investing body and soul in this adventure, to make all these years of work something more important than stupid therapy for an alcoholic billionaire. All this hard work shouldn't go up in smoke because of a little mistake. "

No one dares to answer for fear of being shot in the head. Beck seems to regain his calm as he gently places the broken handle on the costumer's desk. The latter, tense of apprehension, feels uneasy when she feels a hand go up along her back to her shoulder, pressing gently as for a massage. The contact, as unexpected as it is sensual, is accompanied by a warm breath that disturbs the strands near her ear.

"Janice, Janice, Janice, you are a pearl ... Forgive me for this moodiness, I'm sure you can rectify that without problem. "

The woman nods vigorously and the drones all disarm together to return to land in their corner, their leader smiling, whispering before standing up.

"I knew I could count on you, honey. "

He can count on everyone here, they are a very close-knit team. Why these burial faces? It's a good day. Quentin regains his good humor, as do his comrades, as if the mug incident no longer existed. Well, since they're stuck here, why not put a little spice in the frame of their future hero? The young man has been thinking about it for a few days, but finding a damsel in distress would be a way for Mysterio to gain points. Who doesn't love rescue stories with a hint of romance? It's decided, he will take advantage of this confinement to choose the ideal candidate as others would peel the dating sites.

“We will find the ideal pigeon for our history. "

That's it, he is again totally focused and excited by their project, which reassures more than one person in the group. They are coming together, it will be like a game where everyone will judge the female profiles, even if the last word will obviously go to Beck. The latter settles down quietly, letting Will do the research and project the images using drones (they are very useful for watching a film). Quentin's eyes sparkle as he imagines the perfect prey, the one who will swoon in his arms under the applause of the crowd.

"She has to be pretty but not vulgar, not a bimbo or a brainless doll. Nor should she be too self-confident or intelligent, that would sound elitist. It is out of the question to take a teenager or an old woman, maybe a few years younger than me and obviously without disability, I don't want anyone to think that it is out of charity. Besides, she must be able to run and shout my name. Skin color doesn't matter, I'm not picky. "

Despite this last sentence, William realizes that his boss will not take the first young lady and it is by mopping the sweat on his forehead that he begins his research, going from photo to photo, from a Facebook, LinkedIn profile to another at the whim of "no", "no", "too cliché", "too ugly" from his leader. Hours go by and no woman really finds favor in Quentin's eyes, in his quest for perfection. If only he had a really clear idea of what he wants ...

- Walentyna Chmielewska… - Unpronounceable. - Alina Baez, dermathologist… - No - Y/N, she is currently in… - Ordinary - Christina Liang, professional dancer. - Lesbian, take a better look at her profile.

With an annoyed sigh, Quentin puts an end to this game which no longer amuses him, which in fact no longer amuses anyone. He will look for a young woman on his own, it will be simpler and faster. He therefore goes back to his office, giving free time to his team, eager to take advantage of a little calm. All the glimpses seen mix in his mind with a crisp buzz, hundreds of fake smiles, photoshoped skin and seductive poses. Although a photo trots in his head, very clear compared to the fog of other female figures. He found you ordinary and didn't even take the time to reflect on who you are.

Y/N... You are far from having a beauty of a model and besides, you don't seem to know how to pose or show off, even in selfies. But there's something in your eyes, in your way of smiling as if you were thinking of something secret that catches Quentin's attention. Since there is nothing else to do, he will be busy for an hour or two. Peeling your Facebook page turns out to be excruciatingly fast, you post nothing, your likes being limited to a few trivialities. Empty Instagram account, the only source of information is from your LinkedIn profile. If your photos reveal a blatant lack of narcissism or even self-confidence, your professional career shows that you are far from being stupid. You even have a higher level of education than Beck, which should offend his pride. He has rejected more than one profile for fear of being overshadowed, he likes to be the smartest one in the room. But no, you don't seem aware of your genius or you don't care.

"A girl like you posts more than that ..."

It is sure, you must have a pseudonym to browse other sites. Finding which alias you use takes him longer than he would like to admit, but when he finds out, it's the cave of wonders that opens before his eyes. Starting with your Tumblr account, nourished for years with your obsessions of the moment : fandoms, ships of all kinds. If a man's heart goes through his stomach, yours goes through your passions. With infinite fun, Quentin discovers what makes you vibrate, sometimes laughing with you in front of some funny posts.

Outside the office, the atmosphere gradually returns to normal. The debris from the cup are swept away, the drones carefully stored out of sight. Beck's absence gives the team some respite and they take advantage of it while it lasts. They do not know that a young qualified woman of some sort is currently occupying their chief, making him smile without even having met you. Without saying that you are fascinating, the engineer discovers you day after day, layer after layer, first the intelligent woman then the obsessive fan. Finally, he comes across a nugget, an oil well: AO3.

He should have suspected it, you love to write, it's an uncontrollable impulse that takes you to your body and pushes you to strum furiously on your computer for long hours. When he starts reading your fics, Beck likes to imagine you in front of your screen, shortness of breath and dilated pupils, letting the stream of words flow freely at your fingertips. Even if he is not really interested in these fandoms of which you speak, he swallows one, two, five fics without realizing it, carried away by your style. He imagines you as the reader, chatting with fictional characters, quivering under their caresses in your few writings for adults. Hidden behind your screen, you expose yourself and reveal a sensuality that cannot be totally imaginary, totally fictitious. You have written several since the beginning of confinement, translating your thirst for adventure, your hunger for physical contact, with a touch of humor. But do you only have experience in body and love games? It is not certain and it is all the more exciting: he can make you discover sensations that you hitherto only partially imagined.

Without even knowing it, you creep into the mind of the young man to occupy his thoughts, ghost or fantasy that has nothing to do with the companion he wanted for Mysterio. You are neither magnificent nor the kind to languish against a hero in armor, but Quentin does not think of you for his avatar. He imagines you with him, behind the smoke screen, impressed by his ideas and his virtuosity. Confinement is bad for him and he spends most of his time with you, in thought, until he decides to go further with the discovery. He wants to see you, not only in pictures but moving, living. Without really telling the rest of his team, he sets out to send a drone outside, devoured by curiosity. After all, if he has to make you the love interest of Mysterio, it is normal that he learns as much as possible, he is the perfectionist type.

This is not really voyeurism, he does not intend to spy on you in intimate moments and, anyway, he could only see through the windows. Feeding his obsession, Quentin does not care about the surprised or even disapproving whispers which fill the warehouse a little more every day. Opinions are divided between those who find that their leader goes too far, especially using their precious drones, and others who see this little break as a deliverance. As long as Beck is busy elsewhere, the team is safe from his rage. Even though citizens are cloistered at home for their security, Quentin sees the world scrolling from his small screen as one could walk on Google maps. You're not hard to find, sitting at your desk above your study books. Since the announcement of confinement, your brain has paused and you can’t work, even for an hour. Not knowing you are being watched, you breathe a dramatic sigh while rocking back, arms dangling on each side of your chair.

"I'm so lazy..."

Your unsightly and totally natural posture has something comical, especially for the one who spies on you, drinking from you for days. You look younger than he thought, maybe because of your loose t-shirt that makes you look like a teenager. It’s strange to hear your voice for the first time, as if you suddenly became real. The ambient heat makes your skin shine and you get up by shaking your top to get some air under the fabric, still grumbling. Beck loses nothing of your movements or the detail of your silhouette with full curves that terry shorts absolutely do not hide. He suddenly wants to be really close to you, to feel your thighs streaked with white under his fingers, to hear his first name in your mouth. What is your laughter like? What does your skin taste like? Do you like popcorn in the movies? It’s totally unrealistic, stupid and even perverse to be so interested in you. He really has nothing to do with his days to be so bitten. He hadn't been spying on a woman for years, it was the withdrawn and bizarre teenager who resurfaced. Today, he can have all the women he wants with a snap of his fingers and yet he still finds himself fantasizing about a chance encounter, a way of approaching you.

"Show yourself instead of looking at me from afar, it's scary. "

Immersed in his thoughts, Quentin jumps when he hears you say that, he made sure to hide the drone, you cannot have seen it and even if it was, you cannot react so calmly by knowing you were being spied on. An icy chill runs down his back but you are not looking in the right direction, your eyes lowered towards a ball of hair which comes to rub against your legs. A cat, you were talking to your cat.

« Since you're here, I consider that you send me a sign. No more work, I relax. »

Always ready to see signs of the universe when it comes to not working, you close your book and get a headset and your phone, your thumb fluttering at high speed on the cold surface of your screen in a gesture automatic. Intrigued, Quentin bends down slightly to observe your strange ride, the way you walk back and forth by adjusting the microphone of your headset before clearing your throat. Are you about to call a friend? You dance slightly while staring at your screen, marking a rhythm that only you hear while continuing to stroll under the bewildered gaze of your voyeur. What are you doing ?

In sleep, he sang to me In dreams, he came That voice which calls to me And speaks my name…

You sing ... you sing into your micro while holding your phone, your voice soaring up to the drone as you smile without being able to stop yourself, as if you were on a Broadway scene, simmering with excitement. Hidden in his warehouse, Beck does not believe his senses ... Not only do you sing well but you are simply magnificent, radiant with simple joy, thinking you are alone in the world. Thinking that you’re out of sight and criticism, you have fun without shame and it makes you beautiful. Fascinated, the young man who shakes an entire team of engineers, who is only animated by the burning fire of pride and revenge, has eyes only for you. Without realizing it, he begins to sing too, joining you softly for what is technically a duet. When the song ends and you catch your breath, Quentin lets out a satisfied laugh. He holds his solution to approach you, not as Mysterio but as... himself : he will join you on this application and sing with you.

More cheesy, you die.

[wynndygoon]

How I Met A Zoroark- Story

Noma was flipping through records at an entertainment shop at the mall in her city. Looking through the records helped keep her mind off of the breakup with Elise. It wasn’t really a breakup per se, because they are still good friends and there is no hatred towards each other, but they decided to end the relationship because both of their jobs were too demanding and conflicting with each other’s schedules. By the time that Noma would get home, Elise would have to head in to work. The only time they really got to see each other was whenever Elise had to come to Noma to pick up shipments that they had ready, and they figured why not just end the relationship and remain friends.

Noma agreed and while it could have been worse, she was still upset that the first real relationship she had and the first girlfriend she ever had was now just her friend.

‘Maybe I fell too hard for her.’ She thought as she was skimming the tops of the records with her fingers. ‘It’s probably something I did.’ She shook these thoughts away when she shook her head and tried to regain focus on finding the Nico Vega record she wanted and had been searching for for a while. As she moved from record aisle to record aisle and bin to bin, she never really paid much attention to what was going on around her because she was caught off guard when an employee came up and tapped her on the shoulder to ask if she needed any help looking for something.

“No, no. I’m fi- actually, yeah, no, I do need some help. I’ve been looking for the ‘Fury Oh Fury’ album by Nico Vega for months now. You wouldn’t happen to have it somewhere? I swear I’ve looked everywhere else but here and I’m hoping that you all would have it.” She asked with a smile and moving the hair out of her face.

“Oh man, that IS a tough one to find since they aren’t the most well known group around. Let me check our computer to see if it we have it!” The Exploud said as he walked back to the counter and started typing away.

Noma kept looking through the records to pass the time and see if she could find it herself and save him the trouble. After a few minutes of flipping through, she heard the Exploud say the he didn’t have it logged in the computer, but that he could check in the back.

“Oh, you don’t have to, it’s no big deal.” Noma replied with a smile.

“Eh, you seem like you’ve been looking for a while, I really don’t mind to check!” he said as he disappeared into the back storeroom.

Noma smiled and decided to go and look at the best selling aisle and see if there were any that she didn’t already have. As she was standing in the aisle, looking through the covers, she heard her name being called from outside of the store in the mall.

“Noma? Noma Kindling?!” A small, purple Zoroark was standing out in the mall in front of the store waving her hand up in the air towards the Blaziken. By now, the Zoroark was making her way to Noma, all the while she was trying to think of the fox’s name.

“Ayla?” Noma asked.

“In the fur! How long have you been here? It has been forever since you moved away for college!”

“Well, I went to college here at Castelia University, so I moved her when I left home.”

“I never expected you to move to the biggest city in all of Unova. It doesn’t seem like you would enjoy it all that much.” Ayla replied, shifting her shopping bags around.

“I could say the same for you!” Noma laughed. “And besides, I live on the outskirts of town, away from all the noise and busyness.”

“Well I came up here because my boss said that there may be a bar that one of his old friends was selling and that I may be able to get it for a pretty cheap price, so I decided that I would come up here and check it out.” Ayla explained.

“How long are you here for?” Noma asked curiously. She noticed that Ayla’s clothes looked a little bit worn down like she had been sleeping in them for a couple of days.

“Who knows? I’m just looking for a cheap hotel or apartment complex to stay in since I’m tired of sleeping in my car like I have been for the past few days. I also came by here to pick up some new clothes,” motioning to her bags that she had on her arm, “and just trying to get by until I can meet with the owners.”

At this point, all of Noma’s worries and past issues with her split with Elise were gone, more interested in catching up with her best friend since high school than even looking for the record which just so happened to not be in the store because the Exploud had returned from the back and said that he couldn’t find it there either.

“Well, what happened to your whole plan of joining an orchestra? Didn’t you get a scholarship for your talents on the Saxophone?” Noma asked, walking out into the mall and motioning for Ayla to follow her.

“Well, about that, yes I did get a scholarship, but I still needed money to help pay for college because my fucking bigot parents weren’t going to help out, so I got a job working at a bar. You know the one on Nesbeth Drive, Getting’ Lit?” Ayla asked.

“Yeah, the nightclub?”

“Yep! I worked as a dancer there starting out.” Ayla said proudly.

Noma just about choked in surprise. “Wait what?”

“What?”

“You worked as a dancer at a night club?!” Noma asked again for clarity.

“Uh-huh. It’s not like we were strippers or anything. We were all dressed up in the bar’s uniforms and we were there just to have something for the people who were too socially awkward to dance to watch. Everything was modest and there was nothing sleazy about it because the owner and manager didn’t like women being portrayed that way. And besides, we only danced for certain parts of the night when people would vote on what song which dancer should dance to, and even then, there had to be a majority vote per song per dancer. When we weren’t dancing, we were serving as waitresses and bartenders.”

“Huh, honestly, that kinda sounds like a fun job!” Noma chuckled.

“Oh it was, especially once I moved up and became a manager myself. Eventually we also convinced the owner to let us dancers have our own costumes for when we danced, which was more fun because we really became more individualized then. Since a lot of us decided that we wanted to show some more skin, that’s when a lot more people kept trying to get a bit too touchy and we were told by the manager, who was a Pangoro that if any sick bastard tried anything that we didn’t like to beat the shit out of them or call over security. There were a few people who tried to grab a few of us, but that didn’t last long after people witnessed those people get their teeth knocked in. When I became a manager, I didn’t have to worry about that anymore because I mainly worked as a bartender, but I used my illusions to make it look like I was dancing along with bartending so I was able to mess with some people.” Ayla laughed.

“God, wasn’t that scary people trying to touch you and get in your personal space?”

“Nah, cause we were up on a stage, if someone wanted to get up there, they would have to drag themselves up the front of the stage and by then, we would see them trying to climb up and could just step on their hands. Not only that, but most of the customers who saw anyone trying to get up to us would usually tackle them and knock them out themselves, so we were pretty well protected.”

As the two talked and were getting each other caught up in their lives, they walked to a tea and coffee shop and Noma asked what Ayla wanted to drink.

“Oh, oh no, I can’t let you do that after running into you again. I’d feel awful.”

“Oh nonsense, you’re in the middle of moving and I want to do something nice for you! Besides you were always there for me in high school.” Noma blushed and smiled.

“Alright, but I’m paying you back for it later.” Ayla replied.

“Dude, It’s like 6 bucks, don’t worry about it.” Noma laughed while explaining.

After finally convincing Ayla to let her pay for her drink, Noma bought them both some tea and also got them both a danish and they went and sat outside in one of the picnic tables.

“So, you don’t have a place to stay since you’re looking for a cheap hotel and whatnot?” Noma asked after finishing her danish.

“Yeah man, you know of a good place?” Ayla perked up.

“My house. Completely rent free.” Noma offered.

Ayla just stared forward at Noma and was trying to comprehend what she just heard.

“So? Sound good?” Noma asked trying to confirm.

“Noma, we’re best friends and all and you are really fun to hang out with, but I can’t just mooch off you by living with you, especially for free.” Ayla said still shocked at the offer.

“Ayla, it’s no problem. I fact, I’m kinda lonely and would like to have a roommate again. Had a breakup a few months ago.” Noma said stirring her tea somewhat dismissively.

“I’m sorry sweetie. I hope you’re not too upset over him, you’ll find someone better who deserves you and will treat you like a queen!” Ayla said, reaching out and holding Noma’s hand and reassuring her to try to make her feel better.

Noma just chuckled a bit before she said, “Yeah, except it wasn’t a guy and she did treat me right. Maybe it was just the magic of my first girlfriend and most serious relationship I’ve had yet that made it magical.” Noma trailed off for a few seconds before snapping back to the present.

“Whoa, wait what? Girlfriend? Noma, I never knew you swung that way! That’s, well, amazing.” Ayla exclaimed with visible excitement.

As Noma talked on, Ayla was sitting in awe about what she just found out about Noma. They were friends all through middle school and high school is when they became really close friends and was also when Ayla came out as lesbian. It was difficult for her considering that she was in a relationship with one of her best guy friends at the time that she came out and that she had a lot of her friends that she really wanted to date and thought were pretty. Noma was one of those friends that she thought was attractive but quickly moved past the feelings since they were such good friends and didn’t want to ruin their friendship. It was difficult to not ask the tall Blaziken how she felt about her when they would hang out and when Noma would tell Ayla how pretty she was and how jealous she was of Ayla’s natural markings.

“So Ayla, if you are still on the fence about staying with me, would you at least want to go and check out the house?” Noma offered, hoping she would.

“Sure, why not?” Ayla said, already getting up and gathering her bags. “Where are you parked? I’ll follow you out.”

“Um,” Noma laughed, “I really don’t have a car or truck. This city here is not tall pokemon friendly. One of my friends, an Aggron who was even taller than me doesn’t have a car either because all these stupid dealerships only carry small compact cars. I do know how to drive though, besides, I like the exercise!” Noma said while rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

“So you walk everywhere? That’s balls dude. Come on, my car is tall enough for you to ride in.” Ayla grabbed Noma’s hand and led her to the car. “It’s only a two seater sports car, so there will be more than enough leg room, you lanky bastard, but you’ll have to hold the bags unfortunately.”

Noma laughed and said, “Maybe if you didn’t spend your whole paycheck on shirts that you’ll wear once and then never again, then maybe you could fit them more easily in your car.”

They both laughed and they kept digging at each other just as they did when they were in high school. When they finally reached the car, Noma saw that it was bright race red and was very low to the ground. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a convertible and that the engine was a V-8 Hellcat.

“Holy shit, you’re gonna have to show Joan and my parents this car, they will be so amazed!” Noma said while walking around the car, getting a good look at it.

“Yeah, I’m proud of her, she’s a bitch to keep running though, but gas isn’t all that bad believe it or not.” Ayla said while pressing a button on her key that opened the doors vertically. Noma whistled when she saw this and sat down in the comfy leather seats. Ayla explained some more things about the car as she hopped in and sat the shopping bags down. Noma moved the bags into her lap and looked around the interior of the car and noticed that the entire lower half of the doors and even the section between the seats were filled with speakers.

“Aright, show me where to go!” Ayla said. They left the parking lot of the mall and Noma gave directions to her house. After a good 10 minutes, they pulled in to the driveway and Noma let them both in.

“Well, here it is. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like no problem and no rent!” Noma said while motioning for Ayla to follow. They walked down a hall to their right and then turned to the right again and entered a bedroom. “If you want, here is another bedroom that you can use. It comes complete with its own full bathroom and walk in closet. Unfortunately, we would have to get you some dressers and drawers and stuff, but that shouldn’t be too bad. If anything, I can move the ones out of the guest room to this one.” Noma offered.

“Wait, this isn’t the guest room?” asked Ayla.

“You think I’m gonna let my best friend take a shitty guest room when there is a master bedroom perfectly available? This used to be Joan’s before she moved out, so no one is using it, so feel free to make it your own!” smiled Noma.

Ayla blushed and thanked Noma. Noma said that she’ll be in the kitchen trying to figure out what to do for lunch while Ayla gets moved in. The purple Zoroark moved to the bed and sat her shopping bags down beside her and flopped back on the bed. It felt so good to actually have a bed to just sit on. She looked around the room and saw some photos on the wall and they looked like they were different photos from Noma’s childhood. Ayla got up and moved to look at them. There were a few pictures of her mother and father together, there was one of a very young Noma, who was a Torchic at the time, and Joan, who was a Pawniard, sitting on a swing together with Joan holding Noma in her lap. Ayla couldn’t help but laugh at the thought that Joan was actually taller than Noma at one point. In the next photo she saw another picture of Noma as a Combusken with a giant bow around her neck and an oversized sweater that completely covered her feet. Beside that picture, there was one of Joan and their mom both arm wrestling with Elizzabet looking like she is struggling with all her might to beat Joan and make her feel like she is super strong. Ayla started to tear up looking at all of these sweet pictures of Noma and her family and started thinking back to her own family and how they treated her after she came out to them. While she was deep in thought about her own family, she was snapped out of it by Noma’s voice asking if it was okay if they just ordered some take out.

“Uh- yeah, yeah that, that sounds nice actually.” Ayla stuttered. Placing the picture back on the wall, she walked out in the hall and eventually found her way into the kitchen where Noma was bent over on the counter looking at a menu on her phone.

“Hey, did you get settled in? I know it may be hard to store your stuff without proper furniture, but we’ll get that taken care of right after I place this order. Have you ever had anything from Dragon’s Wings?” Noma asked, still scrolling through the menu.

“Not that I can remember, what all does it have?”

“Well they mainly serve hibachi stuff, but if you would want something different, just let me know, there are plenty of restaurants around here that deliver.”

“Actually, that sounds pretty good right now. I could go for some hibachi steak and some eggrolls right now!” Ayla aid with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll place the order.” Noma said while proceeding to the delivery section of the website. After everything was ordered, Noma clicked on the checkout tab and Ayla laid her hand on Noma’s and said that she would pay, that it was the least she could do to pay Noma back for everything that she has done for her today. It took a lot of convincing, but eventually Noma let her pay.

“Well, if you want, before we move the dressers into your room, we can put all your clothes into the washing machine and get them cleaned while we wait for the food.” Noma suggested.

“Noma, look, we’re good friends and all, but I’m not gonna get naked and-“

“You know I have clothes you can borrow, right? How about this, you gather up all your new and old clothes into the bags and set them in front of the door to your room, I’ll get you some of my clothes that I know will fit you, and you can take a nice shower and get refreshed. I’ll move the dressers and stuff into your room and start the laundry. When you’re done, you can just come and hang out in the living room with me until the food gets here. Sound good?” asked Noma.

“At least let me help you with moving the furniture.”

“Pfft, you kidding? You’re my guest, I can’t have you doing that junk.” Noma said nonchalantly.

“Well…if you don’t mind…I’d like to be your roommate.” Ayla said nervously. At this point, she was overrun by the kindness the red pokemon had shown her and decided that it would be nice to live with one of her lifelong friends. It beats living alone in her car or some dingy cheap hotel any day. “And if I’m your roommate,” Ayla continued, “then I’m gonna pull my weight around here. Besides, I’m not letting you show me up!” She said, nudging the stocky Blaziken.

“Oh yes! I’d love to have you stay here as a roommate! It’d be just like when we would spend the night at each other’s house again! And seriously, don’t worry about helping move the furniture, you’ve had it pretty rough the past couple of days, living in your car and everything, so just let me do this for you.” Noma said, holding up her index finger and winking as she turned to retrieve the dressers.

Ayla stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame and watching Noma as she walked to the other room. If it weren’t for the fact that they had been friends for so long, Ayla would have already asked Noma to go on a date, especially since she found out about Noma’s orientation. She knew the potential for her to mess up such a long friendship and that if they were going to be roommates, then she would rather just suppress the want for a meaningful relationship to keep what they already had. “Well, better go ahead and start that shower.” She said.

Noma had started to lift the dresser up and make her way to Ayla’s room when she forgot that she told the Zoroark to pile her clothes in a hamper and leave it in front of the door and tripped over the hamper causing her to drop the dresser and fall onto the carpet. Obviously, there was a lot of noise, but Noma was hoping that somehow Ayla went deaf just long enough to not hear.

“Oh my God are you okay? What happened?” Ayla said, poking her head out of the bathroom door.

Noma, still lying face down on the ground with the dresser drawers sprawled out everywhere said, “Never better. I forgot I told you to leave your clothes in a basket in front of the door, and I couldn’t see it. But yeah, I’m fine.”

Ayla giggled, “Man, you always were so clumsy. For someone as graceful in appearance, you sure throw people for a loop when you do stuff like that. Here, I’ll help you up.” she said, emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She crouched next to the Blaziken, who was still lying with her face buried in the carpet who just kept saying she’s fine and that she didn’t need any help. The purple fox ignored Noma’s words and grabbed her by her hand and pulled her up. When Noma was fully sat up, she had a look of indifference and annoyance on her face to which Ayla couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m so sorry, I should have set the basket somewhere else an-“

“Nah, it’s my bad for not paying attention to where I was going. Thanks though, for helping me up.” Noma said while turning to face Ayla. When she finally saw the Zoroark, she quickly looked away as her cheeks flushed up in a brighter shade of red.

“What, you’re not embarrassed to see another woman in a towel are you? Didn’t you play softball and have to use the showers before? Or hell, have you ever been in a locker room?” Ayla asked.

“Oh hush. You want me to move your furniture or not?” said Noma as she stood up, dusting herself off.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to strike a nerve. I’ll go ahead and start my shower. And…thanks again, for everything. Seriously, you are amazing!” Ayla said while giving a smile.

After Ayla started the water and Noma heard the shower curtain pulled, she started gathering up the drawers and putting them back into the heavy wooden dresser. Once that was done, she set it in the corner near the bathroom so that Ayla could easily get clothes out after she was done showering. Next she made sure to move the hamper out of the way of the door before going back and getting the rest of the furniture that needed to be moved such as a small cabinet nightstand and the T.V cabinet. A few minutes had passed and as Noma finally set the T.V in the spot in the cabinet, she was exhausted and walked into the kitchen to grab herself a bottle of water and relax on the couch in the living room.

________________________________________________________________

Ayla was standing in the shower, letting the warm water hit her back and wash away the worry that she had been carrying around with her about where she was going to stay. Running her claws through her hair and grabbing the shampoo, she was thankful to be able to wash her hair and her fur from the grime and sweat of travel. Rinsing her hair and holding strands of where her black hair blends into purple, she relished in the silky feel her hair now has and then looked for the soap to wash the rest of the body. After she found the bottle of soap, Mane and Tail, and started lathering up her washcloth. Running the cloth down her body and feeling the dirt and stress just run off with the soap was the best feeling she had experienced in a while. Finally, after getting herself washed off, she let the water hit her back once more for another minute or so before finally turning the water off. As she reached for the towel and started drying off, she breathed in the steam and pulled the curtain back. Before stepping out, she lifted one leg up and rested her foot on the lip of the bathtub and ran the towel over the top of her foot and up her leg. When she got to her hip, she switched legs and rand down the other one. Once done, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself and combed through her hair to straighten it out so that it could air dry quicker. As she put down the comb and opened the door, she saw a large t-shirt, some sweat pants, and underwear lying on her bed. ‘I guess these are the clothes Noma left’ she thought to herself. Dropping her towel to the floor, she reached for the underwear first and tried them on. The boxers fit her alright and were comfortable enough. ‘Kinda weird that Noma wears boxers instead of panties, but whatever.’ Ayla thought about maybe getting her a pair or two before, but now she wasn’t really sure. She liked how comfortable they were, but hated how roomy and loose they felt. Next, she reached for the bra and tried it on. After a solid minute of trying to stretch it behind her to hook it together, but eventually gave up. ‘Damn, I knew Noma was smaller than I was, but shit. I’m outta breath.’ She decided to ditch the bra and folded it back on her bed. She looked at the sweat pants and held them up to her and decided not to wear them as well since the waist came up halfway up her stomach because of the height difference between them. She then picked up the shirt that had a picture of a coffee cup on it with “More Coffee Please?” written on it. Looking at it, she noticed it was designed with a stretched out collar and sleeves and was loose fitting even for Noma, like a shirt that you’d wear on a lazy day where you didn’t care how you looked or who saw you. After slipping it on, Ayla realized that it was a little too big for her since the neck line fell completely off her breasts and back onto the floor. She then put it back on, taking a part of the collar in between her teeth and holding it on her as she took a hairband and tied the back into a bunch. It helped a little but was still slack on her, but hey, at least it covered everything! She picked up her towel and walked into the bathroom to hang it up over the shower rod and take a new towel to dry her hair off some more with before putting it up into a messy bun. Feeling refreshed, she decided to finally go and meet up with Noma in the living room and wait for the food, if it hadn’t gotten there already.

________________________________________________________________

Noma was watching a cooking show and taking notes on the names of the dishes that were shown when she heard Ayla’s claws tapping on the hardwood floor as she walked.

“Feel better?” she said while leaning her head back.

“Yeah! Thanks for letting me use your shower.” The Zoroark replied.

“No problem…also, where are the rest of the clothes I laid out for you?”

“So, uhh, It would seem I’m much smaller than you everywhere but my chest. The boxers fit because of the elastic band, but the sweatpants were too big and kept falling off as well, also, I know your chicken nuggets are smaller than mine, but I never knew it was by that much, and the shirt kinda fits, I had to scrunch it up in the back and tie it because it would just keep falling off, speaking of which, where did you find this style of shirt? I love the loose neck designs but can’t seem to find any.”

“Whoa what the hell do you mean by ‘chicken nuggets’?” Noma asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the fox.

“Aww, don’t be like that. They’re cute! I’m just saying, you can’t fit 40 pounds of stuff in a 10 pound bag.” Replied Ayla while she was taking a seat on the recliner across from the red bird.

Noma just rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle before returning her attention to the T.V. “And for your information, I bought that shirt at Level 21 back in Imann city.”

“Well, it’s very cute and I’m sure it looks great on you.” Said Ayla with a smile.

“Quite your shit, I know you’re just trying to make it up for what you said about my bust, which I am quite happy with, thank you!”

Ayla said something about not taking her too seriously which Noma just waved her hand at dismissively and continued watching her show. She wasn’t mad at Ayla, but just miffed, but she figured she may as well get used to it if they are gonna be roommates. To try and how her that she wasn’t bothered by what Ayla said, the Blaziken turned to her and asked if she wanted to keep the shirt, saying that she didn’t wear it much except for pajamas or if she was really lazy and didn’t want to get dressed for anything.

“Sure, I’d love it! As long as you don’t mind that is.”

“Yeah, have it, at least with it being yours, it’ll actually be worn. Also, what do you wanna watch while we wait? Show’s over.”

“Oh, I uh, don’t watch much T.V. so I don’t know what’s good.” Ayla said.

“Oh, shit, well I’ll pull up Netflix and Hulu and we can find a show that you think you’d be interested in.”

Noma began flipping through the selections of Netflix first and Ayla suggested ‘The Hateful Eight’. So they started it up and Ayla mentioned about how she used to watch Westerns a lot and really enjoyed how cheesy they could be but loved whenever the big shootouts would happen. Noma agreed and mentioned that if she liked Hateful Eight, then they’ll have to watch Magnificent Seven to which Ayla immediately agreed to.

About 30 minutes into the movie, the doorbell rang and Noma answered and came back with food in hand. “Alrighty, let’s dig in!” she yelled from the kitchen.

Ayla came into the kitchen and took her takeout box and flipped open the lid and noticed that she forgot to ask for a fork instead of the chopsticks that normally come with the meals. Noma noticed she looked somewhat annoyed and asked what was wrong.

“Oh no, did I accidentally order the wrong thing?”

“Nah, it’s right, I just forgot to ask for a fork instead. With the way my hand is with these claws, it’s hard to hold them right.”

“Here,” Noma said while opening the drawer she was standing in front of and pulled out two forks, “use this till you find one.” She said with a smile. “I don’t really know how to use them either.”

Noma pulled out her chair and Ayla sat beside her and they both started their meals together. Throughout the time they spent eating, they enjoyed some small talk and the stories that they told each other and Ayla felt stronger in her feelings towards Noma.

Noma was feeling somewhat flustered as well and loved it when Ayla would laugh. She missed hanging our with her throughout their childhood and now it was perfect. She also knew that since they are both out of the closet that it may be awkward at times in the future especially since she was thinking of the possibility of going on a date with her just to see how it would go. Maybe it’s the fact that she was feeling lonely and coincidentally, here came one of her childhood friends who just happened to be lesbian into her life that was swinging her to ask Ayla out. She quickly dispelled these thoughts so as to not blush and make herself awkward like she usually does.

After they finished their meals and were putting things away, Noma said something to an unseen person to play some music. Ayla’s ears perked up when she heard “Hotel California” pop up from somewhere in the kitchen. Noma was humming along when she turned to see Ayla looking around for the source of the sound and her ears trying to focus in to where the music was coming from.

“Confused?”

“Yeah, where is the music coming from?”

“I set up a sound system all throughout the house with a smart home AI installed so I can play music wherever. It was expensive as hell, but so worth it for parties and junk. With the speakers being stored in plain sight, you wouldn’t know where to look. See that cabinet above your head?”

“Yeah?”

“Doubles as a speaker. The back extends into the wall and hold the speaker there. There’s plenty more scattered everywhere.”

They continued with their small amount of cleaning that they needed to do which was over pretty quick. They continued to dance and sing along to the playlist Noma had and just had some fun. As the playlist ended after three more songs, they moved back into the living room to finish the movie.

 _______________________________________________________________

After an hour or so, the credits rolled and it was starting to get late and Noma got up and stretched, arching her back and leaning from side to side. “Well, I’m off to bed. Gotta be up at work early tomorrow to fill a big order I got in. Gotta carve a 300 pound arrow out of a block of steel.”

“Holy shit, really? Can your fire even get that hot to cut through that?”

“Yeah, check it.” Noma cracked her knuckles and finger joints before giving a snap and a bright blue flame appeared at the end of her index finger. “I can even control length and temperature as well.” She made the flame a deeper blue and extended the reach from about 3 inches to a full foot before extinguishing it again. Ayla looked surprised.

“Well, goodnight! I hope you enjoy it here! It’s been nice to catch up and hang out like old times.” Said the Blaziken, smiling.

“Yeah, it has been fun. I guess I’ll be headed to bed too.” Ayla said, getting up from her seat.

“You don’t have to, if you want to stay and watch T.V or play video games, that’s fine by me. This si your house as well.”

“I’m pretty worn out myself, maybe tomorrow after you get home from work though?” the purple fox asked hopefully.

“Yeah, we can.” Noma said before stretching again. This time she bent back further than before and stretched her arms back as far as they would go which lifted up her tank top a bit to expose her stomach. Ayla noticed and could not take her eyes off of Noma’s abs and how in shape she was. Her face started feeling warm and she turned her head and looked away. When Noma was done stretching she pulled her shirt back down and apologized for her shirt riding up on her. Ayla said it was fine a bit too quick and Noma turned down the hall and started walking to her room.

“Goodnight, sweet dreams!” the lanky bird said.

“Yeah…you too.” Replied a blushing Ayla. As the clicks of Noma’s talons faded down the hall, Ayla soon followed and turned into her room and shut the door. She hopped onto her bed and folded the clothes that Noma laid out for her earlier and decided to go ahead and ask Noma where the washing machine and dryer was. She walked over to Noma’s room to ask and opened the door but quickly realized her mistake as Noma was in the process of getting undressed. They both just stopped and looked at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time before Noma jokingly said to come in. Ayla slowly handed her the clothes back and shut the door and walked back to her room, turned the lights off, and hopped in bed trying to forget about what just happened.

 _______________________________________________________________

The next morning Noma was up and cooking breakfast for both of them and still laughing to herself about the events that took place the night before and how red Ayla’s face got. Admittedly she was a little embarrassed, but stuff like that is gonna happen some time or another with roommates right? She was finishing up with the eggs and toast when she heard Ayla’s door open and her walking down the hall. She watched the Zoroark turn the corner and quickly look to the floor as soon as they made eye contact.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Noma said while laughing, “stuff like that is expected to happen with roommates.” Noma said trying to cheer her up. Ayla didn’t say anything and kept her head down and didn’t look at Noma. After Ayla went back to her room last night, Noma thought more about the possibility of dating Ayla. Sure, it could potentially ruin the friendship they have if everything goes wrong, but it would be a much better relationship if it worked out than what she could have with anyone else. She knew Ayla well and they are close, so it’s not like they would have any trouble getting along or having to spend time getting to know each other, so she figured why not? She did have to admit though, that deciding to ask Ayla out on a date after being seen naked was probably the weirdest time to ask someone out, but nowhere to go but up from there, she reasoned.

“So, uh… last night was…interesting huh?” the fire type asked. Ayla didn’t respond, but she noticed her turn a darker shade of red around her cheeks. “Well, I was thinking that uhm…maybe to try and show you that it wasn’t a big deal, maybe we could…go out on a date, or something?” She finally asked.

Ayla’s ears perked up and she slowly lifted her head and met Noma’s gaze. The Blaziken was smiling softly and was blushing? Ayla couldn’t really tell since Noma was red already. ‘What kind of game is she playing?’ she thought to herself, but decided that she would go along with it. ‘What kind of person asks someone on a date AFTER they were seen naked?’ “Sure, sounds nice, but don’t you have work today?” asked Ayla.

“Well, funny story, there was an accident with the shipping procedures, no one was hurt or anything, but a bunch of shit got misplaced, so they shut down my floor and only the people involved with the shipments that were supposed to go out today are allowed in to help try and sort everything out.” Noma was relieved that Ayla had agreed to go on a date, but she didn’t plan out anything past asking her, so she stalls for time to try and think of an idea.

“Oh, that’s cool…” Ayla trailed off. She was still confused and her head was spinning by everything that happened in the past day. “So, what’s the plan for our date?” she asked cheerfully.

“Why did you have to ask me that? I didn’t plan this far ahead!”

They both laughed and ate their breakfast. With the tension falling away and both of the worries that they had dissolving, they could both look forward to and plan for their date.

[scigaminim]

( MADISON PETTIS, FEMALE, SHE/HER ) — ✧ that looks like ZARINA ZATARA! they’re the NINETEEN year old DAUGHTER of ZACHARY ZATARA (ADOPTED). [ they are also an UNDERGRAD STUDENT at paragon. ] i hear they’re CONFIDENT & ADVENTUROUS, but tend to be COCKY & UNRULY. her file says that her power is MAGIC/SORCERY. *wcs: illyana’s sorcerer apprentice, morgan roth ex girlfriend, roman darkholme’s roommate, andromeda isley quinsela’s dance partner*

Name: Zarina Zatara

FC: Madison Pettis

Age: 19

Height: 5’2

Sexuality: Lesbian

Father: Zachary Zatara (adopted), biological unknown

Mother: biological unknown

Powers: magical abilities from his father, further sorcery from Illyana

HISTORY ;;

Your earliest memory is dark, dank, cold. You’re so small, so young, huddled together with your siblings who you refuse to let go even before you can understand why. All you know is cold eyes and harsh hands, grabbing and pulling and carrying you without care, and no matter how much you cry and scream and plead - they don’t care.

They’re not your parents. They’re not anyone’s parents. You’re in what feels like prison as young as three, and as a toddler your only experience with love is how attached you are to your siblings. You don’t know who your parents are, you just know they left you here - no one is here for the three of you. No one loved you enough to keep you. You three have nothing but each other.

Your siblings protect you, despite you being a few minutes older than both of them. When your foster “parents” hit you, they defend you and get struck in return, leaving the three of you pained, miserable, devoid of hope, clinging to each other.

If it weren’t for your connection to your siblings, you wouldn’t make it through the worse days, but there’s.. Something. More than just the connection any triplets would have. There’s a link, a sort of sense for them at all times. When they hurt, you hurt. And vice versa. Their emotions fill your soul, the good and the bad, and that connection is like a fire that can’t be extinguished, keeping you going.

You’re five when someone comes to look at the youngest of your siblings. Youngest by sixteen minutes only, of course - but youngest nonetheless, and you’re enraged at the idea that they only want them. Not because they doesn’t deserve to be happy - but because you know the three of you cannot be apart. That if the connection is severed it will break all three of you, and none of you will make it.

It takes two days of planning, careful watching, and a lot of luck, but three little five year old children, terrified and desperate, make a break for it in the middle of the night. You don’t know how you escape, you just know you hold onto your siblings’ hands and you don’t let go for anything.

When he finds you, you’re scared, starving, desperate to stay with your siblings, mortified at the idea that he may be another to try and pull you apart. You can’t imagine anything worse than being taken away from them, but.. He’s gentle. He’s careful, and offers you all a soft hand an a promise of safety. A promise that you will never have to be apart from your siblings, and that you will never need to want for anything ever again.

Your young, tired mind wants to believe in… something, and your siblings convince you to believe in him, hungry stomachs and battered hands winning out over fear. And finally, you are given a home. Warm and bright, comfortable, full of everything you could ever imagine. Zachary takes care of you and your siblings in a way you’ve never experienced. It takes some time but you begin to ask for things, timidly at first - a second helping at dinner, a stuffed toy you saw in a shop window, a glittering pair of shoes that caught your eye. And he never says no, never lets you wonder what it might be like to have something you wanted.

It takes a year for you to call him dad, but when you do it feels… right. You know you could never leave this family, and you’ll never want to.

Your connection to your siblings grows and flourishes, becomes something so strong, impenetrable and enlightening, joining the three of you in ways you never would have comprehended.

Better than that, though - your new father teaches you something more. He teaches you magic.

Small tricks at first. Slights of hand, simple illusions, parlour tricks, slowly working up to real spells. Spoken backwards just like your father, and somehow you have an affinity for this. Magic strengthens you, gives you a sense of purpose, the feel of strength and power. But more than that - as you make friends within other families, at schools, you find that showing them your new spells gives you attention, adoration, people hanging off your every backwards word.

You find your calling, your love to perform, to channel your newfound magical powers to capture and amaze. You love the crowds, the squeals of delight, the applause and calls for more. Just like your father, like your aunt, you know this is who you are. You barely even think about the fact that your love for performing has anything to do with your fear of being alone - you don’t let yourself consider it. All you know is you love it, and you know that will never change.

PERSONALITY ;;

Zarina is very showy, she loves attention and loves to show off and perform. She’s all for dramatics and theatrics and very much enjoys performing her magic and showing off showing people what she can do

She can be a little.. self absorbed sometimes, she can’t help it. It’s a bad habit she has just from wanting the spotlight to be on hers at all time

Her need to be the best can sometimes make her a little tunnel visioned

Her siblings are more important to her than anything else. Literally anything. Even her performance and magic displays. They all have a kind of telepathic link that grows stronger when Zarina’s magical skills grow, which is in part why she puts so much effort into growing her powers.

Underneath all the bravado she’s very kind and good-hearted, she’d never intentionally hurt anyone or put someone in danger and she will always protect the people she loves

She has a lot of underlying fear of being abandoned/unloved stemming from their parents abandoning them so young. she never talks about it and never lets anyone know - only her siblings would know, really, and even then she refuses to actually talk through it, but it can make it hard for her to trust people because trusting means letting them get close and letting them get close is a big risk she’s not sure she’s ready to take most of the time

WANTED CONNECTIONS ;;

Her triplets!!! - Zarina loves them more than life itself, she cares for them immensely and has a huge connection to them both. Honestly personality wise i’m happy for anyone to do what they feel most comfortable with so long as they’re close with Zarina and nurture and love that bond they have as triplets!

A best friend - now this is going to be tricky mostly bc Zarina is so close to her siblings but she would definitely need someone outside of her little world who cares for her too. I love the idea of them being a complete opposite to her in a lot of ways, being more conservative and maybe even a little shrewd when it comes to magic and sorcery, they put up with her showing off but don’t exactly endorse it. They’d be good at bringing her down to earth sometimes and god knows she needs that, but not in a way that belittles or hurts her.

Fans - this is really silly tbh but Zarina would love adoring fans, she’d absolutely get a kick out of people who just think her skills and talents and magic are amazing. Zarina would humour them a lot and always put on a show for them but would also be very protective of her fans, especially those who think so highly of her

Skeptics - def give her people who think her magic is nothing but a big crock and it’s all for show, she needs that challenge - and tbh would feed off it, because it’ll make her work harder to become better

Flings (both current and previous!) - my girl is no good at relationships she’s terrified of losing people so she doesn’t let them get close in the first place, aside from Morgan she’s unlikely to have many actual relationships so she would definitely have some flings and fwbs going on - female aligning only pls

[avengers-nextgen]

AU Propositions

So, I have been thinking about doing an AU along with the main series. Below are the theee options I’m willing to write! Each has a snippet or sample of material for that given AU. Please vote on which one you’d like to see based off of wha I’ve written.

— — —

Apocalypse

Factions, were all that remained. Years ago the government was overthrown, the world dissolved into chaos, and loyalty became an illusion. Patriotism no longer existed, one governing body was replaced with many, maps were re-made, and alliances dictated territory.

Ram shackled buildings made up towns, and once superior technology was now lost. The wars had ravaged scientific advancement putting the world’s technological timeline in reverse.

Enemies lurked at every corner as nations tried to re-establish themselves. Safety didn’t exist.

The only hope anyone had was the next generation-the offspring of surviving fighters. Tides were beginning to shift, and alliances were converging to form four powerful states. Keeping peace was increasingly difficult, but the few unattached townships were looking to restore America. If one nation could rebuild itself, then others could too.

— — —

A bullet ridden sign held a few straggling letters naming the town NEW O, also known as ground Zero.

Smoke wafted into the sky, streaming up in plumes from piped chimneys.

“The stables aren’t far,” James assured, stepping aside as a barefoot kid ran past, “we take a ride down south and check on Havoc Sector.”

“Right, my favorite place to be,” Piper sighed, adjusting her backpack.

“It’s just a quick round up,” Alex tried to brighten the mood, “nothing major. Get the medicine, distribute it, and head home.”

“Last time we sent someone to distribute supplies they were killed.” Piper reminded the two siblings.

“Which is why there’s three of us.” James pressed his lips into a thin line.

— — —

Havoc Sector was a shit hole. The only reason none of the states wanted its service was because of its poverty. They had nothing to offer anyone. In fact, Havoc Sector was lucky they even had support from New 0.

“It’s infected,” The Doctor pursed his lips, “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“There has to be something,” Bianca insisted, looking at her discolored arm. The large cut from a work related accident had become severely infected.

“I’m sorry, no medicine can treat this-let alone if we had any.” Part of Bianca wanted to kill the man. He claimed to be medically certified, and maybe he was once upon a time, but the equipment now just wasn’t the same. His abilities were limited.

“I’ll go somewhere else then,” Bianca decided.

“And where will that be?” The doctor frowned.

“The Skids,” Bianca’s assertive tone surprised the doctor, but he was more surprised by the selected location.

“If you go to the Skids you’ll die for certain.” He made no move to stop Bianca from stumbling to her feet.

“So be it.”

— — —

A fist rocked into her face pushing her back against the dusty wall. All around people crowded and yelled at the scene before them. Just beige her opponent could take the advantage, Sage slammed her foot down against their knee.

With a sickening pop the other girl dropped with a cry of pain. Using the back of her arm, Sage wiped the blood from her face, and grasped the unfortunate competitor by the front of her tank top, “Yield.”

“Not a chance.”

“You know what happens if you don’t.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

The crowd roared angrily and slammed their hands down upon rickety wood tables.

Kill

Kill

KILL

KILL!

“You heard them,” The girl smiled thinly. Sage nodded and quick as a wink she snapped the other girl’s neck letting her drop to the ground. With the thud of the body the room dissolved into complete chaos.

Sage scampered from the ring and snatched up her winnings before heading off.

She’d changed quickly, and was now pedaling swiftly towards home. Her mother was sick and dying, if she’d gathered enough money there was a chance she could afford a hospital room. The Skids was a cutthroat place. A place for criminals, but because of that-they had the best health care possible.

80s

“Throw the ball!” Piper yelled, tapping the bat on the base outlined in the dirt. James brought his leg up slow, making the movements grander than they needed to be, before throwing the mall. It whistled through the air in a perfect spin as Piper swung the wooden bat.

A loud crack resounded signaling a solid hit. James glanced at the sky trying to follow the ball as Piper took off to where Scout stood prepped at first base. Orion charged in from the outfield sprawling out flat in an attempt to catch the ball. Recovering he slung it towards second base forcing Piper into a dive.

Nathaniel snagged the ball from the air, stopped over to tap Piper, and cursed when she beat him. “Safe.”

“Yes!” Thalia clapped. Piper stood to dust herself off, all the while taking a bow.

With a sigh James took his place on the mound once more. Adjusting the cap on his head he wiped at the glistening sweat with the back of his arm.

“Hold up,” Scout called, checking his watch, “shit. We gotta go! School is soon.”

Nothing else was said as they all picked up the baseball equipment. An onlooker would have laughed watching a bunch of teens scramble across the dusty field, up and over the hill, down the other side, and disappear in the neighborhood.

— — —

“You have to work on your pitching,” Nathaniel joked accompanying his younger friends to school. College had yet to start for him so he enjoyed the morning cycle to school without the anxiety of having to do any learning.

“You pitch next time,” James huffed, taking the corner sharp into the parking lot. Kids were scrambling out of cars and racing up the steps to meet friends.

“That hit though,” Alex winked at Piper who puffed her chest out in pride. They rode past a car blasting U2 and shortly after another playing ABBA.

“The music tastes of some of these people,” Orion shook his head in dismay.

The conversation was interrupted as an engine came screaming by, a motorcycle sped past sliding into a parking space with ease.

“Hey! Watch it!” James yelled, “You yield to us.”

“Says who? It’s a parking lot. Everyone yields to everyone dip shit,” James’ brows arched in surprise as the biker jerked off their helmet to reveal an intimidating girl with short choppy black hair.

“Attitude,” Alex hummed earning a snicker from Piper. Shaking his head James lead the group to the bike rack.

“Some people have serious nerve,” Scout frowned.

“You get used to it,” Orion assured him hopping up onto the nearby wall, “see you all later.”

— — —

“Glad to see you decided to turn up,” Bianca turned to see her friend climbing the steps to the front of the school.

“I’m still a bit nervous,” Bianca admitted. She’d managed to snag a prosthetic but it wasn’t exactly the most function-able or attractive device.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sage promised holding the door open for her, “I’ll kill anyone who says anything about it.”

“Murder on the first day seems a bit excessive,” Bianca laughed.

“So does getting math homework,” Sage countered.

— — —

“This place is ghastly,” Penny frowned.

“Why? Because you learn stuff?” Chloe asked, arching a brow.

“It’s a prison.” Penny insisted.

“Thanks for that, I can finally cross going to jail off of my bucket list.” Penny rolled her eyes at Chloe before turning her attention to Arthur.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Honestly I am terrified,” Arthur mumbled. The news was all over the place with people who’d been beat up or killed for being gay, lesbian, and trans.

“Just remember to be careful,” Chloe warned.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?” Arthur glowered.

“I’m just saying-“

“Yeah, you don’t want to move schools again I know.”

“Arthur, I’m not mad at you.” Chloe looked a bit offended, “but not everyone is like us. Some people are cruel.”

“The newspapers made me well aware of that,” Arthur swallowed hard, his heart hammering in his chest at too fast of a pace. He was pretty sure he was already sweating.

Demigod

Capture the flag was the olympics of camp half blood. The winner didn’t earn a week of chores, gained honor, and best of all-bragging rights. There was nothing worse than watching people fume over defeat.

Even the campfires were fun if the participation was high enough. Maybe the music wasn’t the best but it got the job done. If anything, it allowed people to be completely unhinged.

Dinner was wonderful too, there were people to laugh with, tell stories with, and simple talk too. It was a vibrant atmosphere meant to be welcoming, but it was also a lonely type of place. There were those who felt confined, restricted, and unwanted.

Chloe hated her cabin. The perfume gave her a headache, the gossip was annoying, and they didn’t value a whole lot. Of course, not every child of Aphrodite was like that, but stigmas existed for a reason. The only one who’d gotten anything good out of the deal was Arthur. A perfect body, the one he always wanted, and with none of the pain.

Even Piper was dissatisfied. There was only so much a person could do with the limited equipment. She had big plans, big desires, and being confined to share a forge was infuriating. Her only solace was Siyanda who seemed to understand the struggle.

As for Scout, there was more to being smart than knowing facts. He was stuck in a cabin full of one uppers. Nothing anyone did was good enough, and someone always came up with something better. He was sick of it. Not to mention everyone’s ideas seemed to follow the same pattern. Originality didn’t seem to be valued as much as tradition did.

Penny and Orion were stuck in the most crowded cabin where something was always missing because someone always took something. You could barely even trust your own siblings with objects for fear they’d take it or sell it for something better. Personal possessions weren’t much of a privilege for them.

James and Alex had a relatively empty cabin. Everyone was pretty alright until it came to intense competitions, then all hell broke loose. People would argue over athletes about who was better or not, and it could go on for days. No one ever admitted defeat, that they were wrong, or that they weren’t as good as their ego said they were.

Violence was quite the go to response for people in the Ares cabin, but it didn’t come naturally to some. Thalia refrained from unseeded conflict at all costs, and instead advocated for peace more often than not. Bianca just wanted to be left alone. She barely spoke to anyone, and they all assumed it had to do with the age old incident.

Being a child of Nemesis meant no one wanted to befriend you. Not to mention the history of Nemesis children at camp. Fox found herself trying to be as detached as possible, but it was hard when people tried to piss you off to see what would happen.

As for Nathaniel, the poor boy didn’t catch a break. He taught archery every chance he got or helped out in the medical wing, but there was one cot that no one touched. It was practically forbidden, but that almost made it worse.

Enzo fit right in with the other peppy magic kids. He went about practicing his powers all day, loved to participate in group activities, and cabin bonding moments. Sage, however, kept to herself on the top bunk in the dark back corner of the rather unpopulated cabin. She found their happiness sickening, and spent most of her time curled up staring at the wall. No one bothered to drag her into activities anymore.

[putris-et-mulier]

Gold vs Blue – if you want to try X-Men and you need to read it now

This is the best opportunity to start reading X-Men because it's a whole relaunch and they are coming out NOW. Seriously, it's going to be a fresh start for all the law time X-Men fans as well because they are forming all new groups. I'm just going to cover the 2 main groups, Iceman, Generation X because I think those are the three new readers are going to be most interested in

If you really don't feel comfortable just jumping in you can pick up X-Men: Prime which will let new readers understand what's going on before we launch into the box

All you need to know is that all the mutants almost went extinct because of the Inhumans but they had a war and it's now over. Some people died and came back to life, some people died and will come back to life later. And I guess Emma Frost is the new big bad guy and everyone hates that but I'm excited

Okay, the last time X-Men was super huge was in the 90s and they had two separate books and teams in the comics, gold and blue, and they are bringing this back

First up, X-Men Gold

This should be called the bisexual book because the whole team is bisexual

Kitty Pryde, Jewish, is the Leader, Storm once a much needed vacation from being the leader. Kitty has extensive combat skills, and the ability to become immaterial and phase through matter. She's back from space dating the main guy from Gardens of the Galaxy, you know the guy who plays him on Parks and Recreation?

Colossus, Russian, super big super strong and can turn metal, is also on the team with Kitty and the two of them have one of the longest on-again off-again relationships so that's going to be a thing. Kitty also has a thing with his sister but they are also broken up right now. He's just coming back from the war with the Inhumans.

Rachel, probably of  Irish American, is also just back from the war. Rachel is the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Gray from an alternate future universe but she moved to the 616 in, like, the 80s. She pretty much can do what Jean Gray can do and she's a trained assassin. You'll see black marks on her face, those are kind of her facial scars but it's a psychic illusion over them. None of her face will be consistent, so don't let that bother you.

Nightcrawler, German, the only member with no passing privilege, he has the ability to teleport and he is super good with the sword because he wanted to be a pirate when he grew up. He is also just back from the war and actually he should probably be in a bad place because he just got thoroughly tortured which fractured his mind and his best friend/ex-boyfriend (current fuck buddies?) Wolverine died.

Speaking of Wolverine dying, we have Wolverine, generics white American. I really don't have to explain his powers. This Logan is "Old Man Logan" which is from an alternate future, different from Rachel's but pretty much as bad. He moved to 616 last year and shortly thereafter the 616 Wolverine was murdered. He is literally no different than the 616 Wolverine except that he looks older and you don't know the entirety of his relationships with all these people from his universe

This is the current regular Wolverine:

And Storm, Kenyan, I'm sure you know her to but just in case: she can control the weather and is one of the most powerful mutants ever born. She just led the X-Men in a war to stop yet another genocide. She is in charge of everything but she needs a vacation but the X-Men would fall apart without her so she agreed to become a regular team member instead of spending a year and a day spa like she deserves.

X-Men Blue: 

This is the original X-Men, all white. They became X-Men in the 70s when they were teenagers and because of science they got sent to the current future where it's suddenly 2017 and everything is a garbage fire. They've met their future selves and it went to varying degrees 

Cyclops freaked out, much to no one's surprise. He is also upset, also much to no one's surprise. Older Cyclops recently died in the war so he is the only Cyclops left on 616 and the general public is afraid of him because they are scared he might get tired of racism like the older version did

Jean Grey is pissed. Still no surprises. She was getting a crush on Cyclops and suddenly they are in the future and she psychically gets shown her whole future, the messy fated romance with Cyclops and her dying and dying again and the world being in a worse place than where she started

The Beasts kind of seem like two dogs that are circling each other. Beast has always been incredibly intelligent but his body is shaped to be more animalistic and the reason he is now covered in blue fur is because he tried to mess with his genetics so he could get passing privilege. Blue Beast has been in lab for 30 years messing with his own body and he keeps heading toward villainy. Young Beast seems to be deciding to study magic instead of science, given what science has done for him

Angel was the saddest one to come into the present time because for weeks he walked/flew around killing time and no one would tell him what happened to his future self and then he met him… Let me try to put this really simply: Angel is an incredibly wealthy and conventionally attractive guy with angelic wings but he is a fucking mess. He is sort of completely destroyed from deliberate torture consistently over the course of many years. The older Angel is referred to as Archangel and he's hidden away right now leading a group of displaced mutants who had their powers taken from them.

Iceman has ice powers and a boyfriend and TV is a lot better than it was in the 70s so he's doing okay… He is also going to have his own ongoing series

This is going to be really interesting. He has always been on the X-Men but he doesn't really get leadership roles. He is a happy guy and tries to break tension with humor and when everyone is upset he will give a good speech about love and everyone will feel better. That's pretty much all he's done for 30 years except for date a bunch of women and then for some reason they keep leaving him because they don't feel like he really wants to be with him.

So, Iceman from the 70s gets sent forward and it turns out he's gay but extremely closeted because it was the 70s and older Iceman is still in the closet because that's just been his life. The young Iceman is actually doing pretty okay even though his boyfriend was on the other side of the war because of genetics so maybe the Romeo and Juliet story will end but he forces his old himself out of the closet.

What is the older Iceman going to do? It'll be interesting to see. He just got outed by his younger self effectively in front of the world and he got home from war. It should be really interesting seeing what they do with him in the series.

Generation X

Written by Christina Strain with art by Amilcar Pinna

Oh my God, everyone is dying to read this.

A team of young mutants that aren't old young enough to be New Mutants and Jubilee is the leader. She also found a baby and kept it so she has a son that's usually strapped to her named Shogo

Jubilee, Chinese, had the power to create fireworks but it got taken away in a genocide. She is still a vampire though. That may not come up. It's usually just a "and also, Jubilee is a vampire"

Bling, unspecified black American, is a really tough lesbian literally made out of diamonds that no one will date for some reason but she and Jubilee have recently kissed so we have to see if that goes anywhere

Quentin Quire, looks super white but knows nothing about his ancestry: a fan favorite! I'm not sure how to explain him… Powers like Jean Gray and Rachel, also one of the most powerful mutants ever born and he's incredibly cynical and anti authority. He has tried very hard to become a villain just to spite people like Wolverine but he accidentally graduated high school

That's the thing with the X-Men schools, the curriculum sucks but everyone graduates eventually 

Eye Boy, white, is a boy covered with eyes. Sweet but socially awkward and tends to just do whatever Quentin Quire says

Nature Girl, Chinese, can commune with nature including animals and for some reason can also fly. Not really a major player until now and we've only seen her a few times as a secondary character

Benjamin Deeds, unspecified race, is a young man who has just come into his mutant powers and because of this his family disowned him (not sure if his being gay had anything to do with that) and he got kicked out of school so he has been living in the X-Men school. He has a pretty cool power, people tend to trust others look and sound like them so when he's talking to someone his body automatically takes on their traits as self-preservation mechanism and he could even use it to make people believe whatever he says.

Lastly, Nathaniel Carver is going to be new to all of us. All he really know is that he is half Korean because Christina Strain, the book's writer, wanted to make a character half Korean like herself

[sapphic-quarian]

Bioware and wlw

(No pics since I’m on mobile..booo) So, we’ve all probably seen Cora Harper at this point. And she is pretty! She worked with asari commandos! She’s a romance option! Yay! But there’s one thing I’m wondering (besides her possible relationship to the Illusive Man). Is she just a romance just for BroRyder, or can SisRyder romance her too? Considering Bioware’s history with characters like her, she probably can’t. Now, going just by appearances and the little we know about her, Cora seems queer. She’s got that whole “shaved side” look that screams “butch” (not trying to say all wlw are butch or all girls that look like that are wlw, Cora’s appearance is just similar to stereotypical perceptions of a lesbian.) She is also connected to the asari, which are a LITERAL RACE OF BISEXUAL WOMEN. But let’s look at wlw in bioware’s past games.

I’m gonna start with Jack, cause I played ME2 recently and feelings about Jack are fresh in my mind. Jack is a badass. The galaxy’s strongest biotic, a master criminal, and also a bisexual woman. “But Kate,” you cry, “Jack was only a romance option for male Shep!” Yes, yes she was. But if you talk to Jack about her criminal past, she mentions a couple she used to “share a bed with.” So Jack has canonically had a relationship with a woman. A poly relationship with her and man, but still. And let’s take a look at Jack’s appearance. Like Cora, she has masculine look to her, with the shaved head and bound breasts. Jack would not be out of place at a gay bar. And yet, she’s still presented as exclusively heterosexual, and rebuffs a female shep’s advances.

And, going back to Bioware’s early days, their very first non-heterosexual romance, is Juhani, from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Juhani is a “romance”, but her feelings towards a female PC are only vaguely referenced in one conversation, as opposed to the fleshed-out romances male and female PCs get with Bastilla and Carth, respectively. Now, this has a simple explanation. This game was co-developed with LucasArts. George Lucas was vehemently against any queer characters in Star Wars, and had his fair share of complaints about Han/Luke fanfics back in the day (they published gay fanfic in magazines! Respect.) So Juhani’s treatment is more the best Bioware could do while still meeting LucasArt’s wishes than intentional portrayal of f/f relationships as meaningless.

And then we come to the asari! Everyone loves the asari right? It’s a race of sexy blue bisexual women! While I could write a whole other meta on the asari and femininity, right now I’ll focus on their sexuality. Liara T'Soni, in Mass Effect 1, is the only bisexual romance, being available to both genders of Shep. But the femshep version has one big difference. Liara assures Shepard that their relationship is okay, because asari are a monogendered, female-presenting race. She’s basically saying “I’m not REALLY a woman, so it’s totally not gay if we kiss each other.” When i heard that, I went back and romanced Kaidan instead. I did not need to go through this feeling like my sexuality was being invalidated. And Samara in Mass Effect 2 is no better. While both genders of Shepard are rejected when attempting to romance her, Samara serves as a weird cautionary tale-thing to asari. She was the product of a marriage between two asari, and she married another asari who also had two asari parents. Their daughters were asari afflicted with a genetic condition, known as Ardat-Yakshi, that caused them to consume their partner’s nervous systems when they mated. Two of her daughters agreed to basically become prisoners-slash-nuns, but one of them escaped. Samara’s loyalty mission involves you tracking the third daughter down, and killing her. Morinth, the third daughter, is a textbook example of the perception of wlw as predatory. She’s literally a space vampire in a leather catsuit. You find a journal from her latest victim, a girl named Nef, and she describes how Morinth seduced her, implies Morinth convinced her to take drugs, and eventually killed her. Once you find Morinth, you then have to seduce her. Then, her mother kills her, or you recruit her. If you recruit her, she flirts with Shepard and you can eventually sleep with her. Of course, your nervous system melts. The idea of the Ardat-Yakshi only being born through a union of two asari makes no sense from an evolutionary point of view. In their home world, asari are the only sapient species, therefore it makes no sense to have breeding with other species being a safer option. The only way it would make sense is if they evolved alongside another sentient species. Basically, asari are all feminine, and they are discouraged from beginning and given consequences for having a relationship with another asari. The idea that cross-species relationships are healthier kind of gives off the “a child with two moms can’t develop well argument.” Then we move to Kelly Chambers. Kelly is your yeoman in Mass Effect 2. Basically, she tells you when your squadmates want to talk to you and when you have mail. She’s also the closest thing the game has to a same-sex romance. Kelly’s pan, and she’ll take all kinds. She frequently gushes about how attractive the alien members of the crew are, and Shepard can lightly flirt with her throughout the game. At a certain point, you can invite Kelly to Shepard’s cabin for dinner. A brief scene of her dancing for Shepard and cuddling ensues, and that’s it. No achievement, no other conversations, nothing. It doesn’t even conflict with existing romances. You can be romancing someone and still invite Kelly upstairs. Her only function, besides informing you about who you need to talk to and that brief moment, is being dissolved by the Collectors if you don’t come for the crew right after they’re taken. She plays a smaller role in the third game, where you can either get her killed, convince her to change her identity, or convince her to change her identity and start a relationship, which only adds a few conversations and the inability to romance anyone else. Then, there’s Samantha Traynor. Samantha’s a lesbian and the Normandy’s comm specialist in Mass Effect 3. She serves the same purpose as Kelly in Mass Effect 3 (informing you about mail and missions) except she can be romanced only by a female Shepard, and she has a full, fleshed out romance. My only complaint about Traynor is that she should have been introduced earlier. She was a good character and I would have liked to see her in more than one game. Now, we go to Bioware’s other cash cow franchise: Dragon Age. Specifically, Dragon Age Origins. Our female love interest for a female Warden is Leliana, a spy-turned-nun. Admittedly, Leliana is a pretty good character in terms of representation. She’s not predatory or overly violent in terms of our setting. However, there’s her former mentor, Marjolaine. Marjolaine embodies the predatory, manipulative wlw stereotype, as shown when she had a relationship with the sixteen-year-old Leliana. Marjolaine’s age is not stated, but she is older than Leliana by a good amount seeing as she had been married once before meeting Leliana. She groomed Leliana into becoming a bard, which in Dragon Age is a spy who can also double as an assassin. She then betrays Leliana and frames her for treason. Later, when Leliana asks the Warden to check up on Marjolaine, Marjolaine plays the victim, and tries to convince the Warden Leliana is not to be trusted. In Dragon Age II, we have two bisexual female characters, Isabella and Merrill. Both are great characters with facets and unique flaws. Honestly, there’s nothing negative to say about them as bisexual women. In Dragon Age Inquisition, we have a trio of lesbian characters. Sera is an elf who’s part of a vigilante group called the Friends of Red Jenny. While Sera is on your side, if a female elf inquisitor tries to pursue a romance with her, it gets a little difficult. Sera berates the inquisitor for being “too elfy”, and at one point breaks off the relationship if they don’t admit the eleven gods were demons. None of the other romances have something like this, where one choice can ruin the relationship, so why does Sera’s romance get it? There’s also Celene and Briala. Celene is the empress of Orlais, which is Dragon Age’s equivalent to France. There’s no other way of putting this, so I’m just gonna say it. Celene is a racist manipulative bitch. She oppresses the elves of Orlais, hurls racist insults towards her handmaiden and lover, Briala, and actually had Briala’s parents killed to maintain her grip on the throne. So, yeah, not a nice lady. But what’s the happy ending of the segment she and Briala appear? Getting them back together! Briala had left her after she did nothing for her people, the elves, and because she couldn’t take Celene’s abuse anymore. I will give Inquisition this, it’s bisexual women, Harding and Josephine, are better written. And in Dragon Age II and Inquisition, last but not least, there’s Cassandra Pentaghast. She’s only available to a male Inquisitor in Inquisition. However, depending on how far you take it, she actually can gain approval from a female Inquisitor’s flirting. “But Kate,” you say again, “Cassandra probably just think’s the Inquisitor’s joking and rejects you when you go too far!” we see in her romance with a male Inquisitor that’s she’s a romantic at heart. Flowers, candles, poetry and all that mushy stuff. She’s probably rejecting a female Inquisitor if she flirts too much, cause she wants a fairytale romance. Also, have you seen Cassandra? For the same reasons as Jack and Cora, that’s a gay if I ever saw one. So that’s why I don’t have too much hope in Cora being a bi romance. Just related to Bioware’s track record of including wlw. We can still dream tho. (In case someone asks why I didn’t include mlm in this meta too, as they arguably receive worse treatment in Bioware games 1. I am not a man attracted to other men, so I would feel like I was talking over actual mlm, and 2. This is already long enough. This was just supposed to cover Cassandra and Jack but I got carried away.)