#thought id be embarassed when i saw that a boy was also wearing them to school

[suedemotion]

personally thriving on this revival of 2000s nostalgia. i can finally participate in the trends i saw on grownup girls that i so admired. like choker necklaces, and chunky platforms (l.e.i. clogs were my fave), “brazilian” cut panties, thin eyebrows and overlined lips, etc.

[currentfandomkick]

Bio! Dad Strange part 8

This is just a bunch of random things that amuse me from this au, i will try to keep them in a coherent order but no gaurantees.

Everyone in Marinette’s friend group (Max, Kim, Alix, Nino, Sabrina and (somehow) Chloe) has at least one color unique to them, some with a secondary or pattern, to show that they are psuedo-family.

Chloe mentioned the idea after listening to Adrikins go on about anime magic girls and go off on Sailor Moon for too many days.

The group starts it as a joke—if you dont wear your color, you are mad at someone in the group enough to disown them. Wearing someone else’s color meant you saw them as really close compred to the others. Wearing all of the colors meant you felt very loved by the group and are proud damnit!

Chloe picked yellow, and added stripes as her pattern just incase they added another yellow later.

Sabrina demanded purple and argyle patterns as hers. Why? “Purple is mystery i will solve them all!”

Max picked green and decided collared shirts were his domain. Sabrina and him foght over this sometimes, as ‘no we both like this, Not eachother.’

Kim called Red and yellow, since he likes chlow he called her color as his secondary.

Sabrina picked up on the meaning and so did Nino. It didnt register for Marinette, Nino and Max.

Chloe claims this is why she wanted a pattern too.

Alix demands black as her color, despite Max’s protests that no, black is not a color. Alix says she’s all the colors as black, and picked stripes as her pattern like Chloe. Alix has her stripes as knit fingerless gloves, while Chloe wears hers as a shirt.

Nino call blue, and specified his hat as proof of friendship. When he is mad at them he doesnt wear it and everyone assumes a war is going on between him and someone. He forgot it one day and everyone was worried.

Marinette kicks kim and says she wanted Red. In the end she agree to either red or oink—depending on whatever rules her parents made about her wearing any color too much. She picked her signiture flower design as her pattern.

Why is this important?

Becuase now whenever any of them dont wear one if these colors or patterns visibly, it means someone did something and the school intervenes.

So the day Marinette came in early with a too big faded red hoodie and Kim was late without his red on, there was Tension.

He chases Marinette to get his hoodie back. She refuses, dodging and weaving until he ends up in the art class and Oh.

Marinette chucks a better red hoodie sweatshirt at him while saying “this should stop the shippers!”

No one but Chloe and Sabrina knew what that meant. Both were embarassed. They mentioend people thought Kim was crushing on her since his hoodie was getting pinker, and she did wear a lot of faded reds and pinks.

It did not stop the shippers. Only made them swap from romantic ship to ‘oh god these are destructive sibling cinnamon rolls’.

Becuase kim almost crying while tackling Marinette in a hug, in public, while Marinette goes off on him having bà’s hearing and squirming to escape and start another game of chase?

Intense ‘dorky brother loves his new sister who wants to play not be mushy in public’ energy that no one was stopping.

—

For those wondering, yes these kids have group sleepovers—boy’s night, girl’s night and ‘everyone night’ usually at Marinette or Chloe’s for the everyones. Yes, these are weekly.

—

Chat noir keeps trying to claim Marinette’s room as his part of the miraculous team’s base.

In this au both he and Ladybug have chosen weilders for various miraculous. They are partners but do lead two teams—Marinette’s focused on support, civlians, and strategy and his focused on combating akumas.

Due to this, Ladybug has a team she oversees, and Chat has a team he oversees.

Fu uses this to decide which would make the better gaurdian, as he trains them both here.

Marinette regrets being the only weilder Tikki approves of weilding her due to how the Cure works is people died. Marinette has to relive their death and decide if they should come back or not (was it too truamatic to go on after living it herself? Did they want to live? Questions like that are hers to answer). She is happy to share her job as Ladybug with other ladybug weilders, but is the only one who can cast the cure if there’s death involved.

Adrien is known to not be a perfect fit for the Black Cat, and he agrees that if a better cat comes along, he will give up his role as Chat Noir but not as a member of the team. Fu admits to him he’s a peacock more than cat early on, and while adrien loves plagg—that’s his cat-god-dad—he knows as a guardian trainee he has to do what’s best for the kwami and Paris. He agrees to training potential cats as Aspik until they can find, reclaim and fix the peacock.

Identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir are kept from each other to prevent them being an easy target for the Hawkmoth in this au. Others can know, but unless they weild a miraculous its dangerous given Nooroo’s weilder is their foe. Also name drops can be a thing and its bad all over.

Marinette is insistent on the secret identities being kept as she doesnt want to compromise her identity as a civilian that is not a meta when Ladybug is a known meta. The Miraculous she’s iffy on, and Tikki admits thst if they werent facing Nooroo, it was normal for all weilders to know eachother’s identites for covers and alibis and such.

Chat is upset about this until she mentions how metas are treated and her being out as a meta as ladybug but not as a civilian and why. Then he’s pissed at the govenrment and starts helping out at protests and crashes anti-meta rallies in Paris on Ladybug’s behalf, and points out that if it wasnt for a tiny meta none of them would be alive after syrenx, so shut up. He accepts her stance and only asks if he can tell her his identity when hawkmoth is done for.

Marinette agrees to post-hawkmoth reveal between them. Their teams hate that only the bugs and cats cant know each other’s identities as bugs and cats. Miraculouses are swapped like candy here, so you may know one hero is also another hero but not civlilin id or vice-versa

Yeah, writer salt here rather than character salt. Especially to how the characters were treated.

—

On Marinette’s powers, she does have them escalate as she grows and doesnt use her treatments. She takes her meds to prevent this as she’s already scared if her abilities when she leaves them unchecked for too long.

Her treatment is mircodosing kryptonite to keep the kryptonian part from taking over completely. She has all the abilities only when she’s more kryptonian than human cells at the time. Kryptonian cells multiply faster which is why she heals faster.

Max is the only one that she knows knows about her powers in Paris.

Sabine is implied to have an inkling but she ignores her own inkling often. Marinette thinks her mom is pretending she doesnt have powers.

Tom does notice but has no idea how to help, so he’s a cheerleader dad and helps her hide damage sometimes. They have a pact that they dont talk about the time she flipped him, and he fixes whatever she broke, no questions asked.

—

Side thing but when the miraculous come into play, warning that i will use character non-hero name for what they’re thinking and saying, while their hero-name is for what they are phsycially doing, as some will change mid-fight.

—

Hey i know this wasnt the expected update, but its more idk how to do Jason as Red Hood finding Marinette again.

First option is he was hunting strange, saw a picture of her on his desk and she calls strange asking about jow she should keep hiding since the restrictions just got worse on metas and she’s scared and ‘are you sure i cant just stay in Gotham? I...i dont feel safe here anymore’ and then Jason going on a Quest to find her in Paris, weird-happy reunion, and he goes back to Paris to live with Strange and work on things as Red Hood where Marinette can’t—mainly ground work. She helps him coordiante with the batfam via Tim, and handles gang attack coordination between Gotham Police, Batfam, Jason and RKC. Zsasz calls Jason his apprentice and trains him on hitman etiquette, guns, and yes, his signature form of ‘conditonal promises’. He was given League of Assassin Training, just cant recall it actively (talia gets memory magic becuase i said so. Blocked it until it would be safe for Jason to process here). He does not go to school, he just tracks down who he wants and ensures they cant hurt people. Is a bit obsessed with this when Marinette and Rose dont stop him by force.

Second Option is they both are targetting the same gang and their bust night is the same. Marinette helps him out in her Harley knock-off outfit (new and improved) while she evacuates the girls making the drugs, and Jason is just hunting dealers to find the drug den, finds a small girl dangling a major drug dealer, while Rose is there with the others tied up in plants. He gets caught by Rose, who recognizes his mark. He doesnt remember much about who he was as Robin, mostly as Red hoodie and is so confused. Marinette claims him as her brother and from there Rose takes on a new brother, dumps him on Strange as ‘i am many things, but i dont think i can handle memory loss and whatever happened to him. You do, so fix it.’ Strange winds up adopting him and Tom and Sabine encouraging him to add them as legal gaurdians. Here Jason is listed then on as Tod J. Smith—he cant remember his name in the right order so that’s what he got. His red hood outfit is revamped by Marinette, who coordinates his attacks on gangs with Batman’s, Gotham Police’s, and the RKC’s attempts at gang busts to maximize gang minimization. Somehow Joker starts helping J as a fellow J-J in Marinette’s life, with Zsasz claiming Jason as his apprentice. He does remember the League Training, but isnt sure if he was Robin and if he could be again if he was given that he was a their and kills the worst of the worst (mostly) of his own volition. Here is does go to school in Gotham.

In both Gina kidnaps him for chrismas with the family like she does with Strange. In Both he’s a teen still (hasnt aged since the Pit) and it takes Marinette and Tikki working together so he can later on (maybe? Idk on that point)

Comment which option you like better, becuase i cant choose.

And yes, rogues will be involved again soon.

@ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @dast218 @weird-pale-blonde-person @mystery-5-5

[szopenhauer]

Would you ever chew gum after someone else already has? noooo, yuk

Earrings or a necklace? necklace

Have you ever wished on 11:11? I do smth else/have different tradition

Have you ever listened to the Goo Goo Dolls? Iris, even recently

Have you ever watched Lost? nah

Do you have pictures of your exes? I think I deleted them

Do you have Ozzy Osbourne on your mp3 player? I don’t listen to him but I liked to watch Osbourne’s family tho

Do you read romance novels? the only one I could count as a romance was Five feet apart

Did you draw pictures for your crushes in preschool? no :o

Have you ever not asked someone out cause you were scared of rejection? yep

Have you ever liked someone just because of their appearance? had some crushes like this, especially celebs lol

Pink or green? green but pink with green looks interesting

A bracelet or a ring? depends

Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter? LOTR

By airplane or bus? bus

What’s the last thing you binge watched? She-ra

Do you watch youtube videos or tv shows more? yt videos

What are you tired of right now? everything

Have you ever gotten rid of something and then regretted it? If so, what?  several things, personal

How does your stomach feel right now? silence before the storm?...

Do you live in an apartment that has inspections? I don’t live in an apartment

Do you hate taking naps during the day? yes and no

Who in your immediate family has the best natural hair? my grandma has, she never got grey hair nor dandruff etc.

Do you know anyone who thinks they’re more talented than they are?   obvi

What is the origin of your last name? polish?

Have you ever been inside a Victorian mansion? I wish

What was the most boring field trip you ever went on? hmm...

What are your favorite types of videos to watch on youtube? music videos, thrift hauls, interiors, fashion, funny stuff...

What’s a DIY craft project you want to try? I’m not into DIY

Are you a hoarder? yep

Do you ever call yourself stupid in your head? often

If you were to start a collection, what would it be? not counting those I already have? for example - znicze

Would you ever give your daughter the middle name Marie? I could, especially if it was a boy :P as it’s legal to call him Maria if it’s the middle name lmfao

Do you have a relationship with God? some sort of it

Have you ever “fired” a doctor? could say so

Who is the prettiest Asian youtuber that you can think of? I don’t watch any Asian youtubers

What was the temperature where you live today? less than 30 Celsius but it felt colder

Is your sleep schedule all messed up? umm...

Did you wear green last St. Patrick’s Day? I don’t celebrate this 

Food: Are you adventurous or do you stick to what you know? stick 

Do you know both of your biological parents? I do

When was the last time you wrote so much your finger ached? last night

Do you store a lot of pictures you’ve taken that no one else has seen? ppl close to me saw them

When did you first start using the internet? regularly or very first time?

Do you prefer tents or staying in hotels? prefer hotels

Do you have any family traditions for certain holidays? Which? personal

Do you enjoy clowns / street performers or are they creepy to you? some I like

Have you ever had a teacher who would just babble about nothing? for example - we had a priest who was always talking about war times or his night dreams :D

Do you ever look at a word and think that it looks odd? hahaha it happens

Did you ever dream about being an animal? plenty

Which vowel occurs most in your whole name? A

What’s your favourite colour on a dog? dunno

Do you prefer Skirts or Dresses? dresses, I can use them as tunics

Have you ever been told you are fake? once :(

Can you do cartwheels? not well

Do you like the name Sara? no longer...

What’s your first name without an r, e, s or l? doesn’t change

What’s your age plus two divided by 4? 7.5

Do you know someone named after a month (April, May, June)? used to know May

Stop typing. What do you hear? someone is mowing grass as every other day ugh...

What was the last book you read that also is a film? Five feet apart

How often do you get a new purse or a new wallet? whenever I feel like it but I thrift them so it’s not like I spend lots of money

What is the most money that you have ever spent on getting your nails done? few PLN for a nail polish and done them myself lol

Does it matter to you if your girlfriend drinks? I wouldn’t date an alcoholic, someone who is drunk a lot and then do stupid stuff, pukes, have hangovers often, spend all their money on alcohol, smells like it, gross!

Has a little kid ever fallen asleep on your lap before? nah, just cat

If you heard your best friend’s significant other was cheating on them, would you tell them? Even if you couldn’t prove it? I’d mention that to them

Do you plan on having both your parents at your wedding? if they want to attend...

Have you ever stayed on a ride at a theme park to ride it again? nope

Where did your mother and father meet for the first time? in front of the church

Would you rather read books or magazines? depends

Have you ever had your cheek pinched? I hate that >.>

Do you own any plaid pants? I have a pair of plaid leggings and pajamas

Do you talk in your sleep? nah

Have you ever fallen off a horse? never been on a horse to fall

Can you pick things up with your toes? I do this often

If you are a girl, do you get bad PMS, or is it not so bad? my PMS were usually worse than my period

Would you rather have your shirt be too long or too short? too long

Are you the type of person who can shake insults off easily, or do they tend to stick around in your brain & bother you? stay forever

Do you like clothes with ruffles on them? usually not

Were you happy when you woke up today? I wasn’t

Have you used the opposite sex’s bathroom in a public place before? had to 

Do you rent movies frequently? I don’t have money for that

Do you quote movies or songs to answer survey questions? very rarely as it’s annoying

What is your name spelled backwards? Annazuz :3

How do you think the world will end? people will destroy it?

An alien ship lands at your house, and they want you. Do you go with them? 

If you were in a horror flick, would you be one of the first ones to die? I think I would survive or die saving someone

What movie has been taken WAY too far, as far as sequels go? most of them but it’s more shows’ thingy

Do you get a fake Christmas tree each year, or a real one? fake, I’m against using real ones

How long would you have to know someone before tying the knot? it’s not about length of time that much

Would you embarass yourself if you met your favorite celebrity? probably :x

If a person had a glass eye, would that scare you? no idea, hope not as I don’t wanna make them feel bad, sorry in advance

Are you a twin? am not

Do you get paranoid that someone’s looking at your through your window? my neighbor sometimes does so...

Mountains, oceans, or forests? forests

When was the last time you “de-haired” your hairbrush? recently?

Are any of your great grandparents still alive? they’re all dead

Where’s your significant other? visiting her dad

How much blankets do you sleep under? 1-2

Is a hair dryer a necessity for you? it is

If you were atop a tall building, would you throw stuff at people below? don’t do that!

Do you believe we really landed on the moon? I don’t give a shit

Name a movie everyone else thought was funny, but you couldn’t stand: majority of comedies tbh

What topping do you HATE on pizzas? same, I’m more into simple food

Got any interesting wigs? bunch

Can you resist temptation? most often

Would a credit card get you into trouble? if I lost it, I would be paranoid about it 24/7, omg I just got scared I’ve lost my ID and bus card 

Truth or dare? truth?

Which is more annoying: sequels or prequels? *shrug*

Do you use rechargeable batteries? when I did they were blowing up, didn’t charge back or smth like this so I prefer normal ones thank you very much

Describe the chair you’re sitting in. Is it comfy? it's so old there’s barely anything left to sit on but I have no cash for a new one nor can get that kind of chair anywhere so... 2 pillows under my butt have to be enough

What would you do if you thought someone was following you? try to lose them

[gotatext]

PREFERRED NAME — nora. i think i started going by it in like, 2009?? my full name is eleanor but i hated it n thought it was way too pretentious n i never felt like it fitted me so when i started writing on forums i decided i’d be a nora rather than eleanor and then my school friends called me it and it just kinda stuck, the only person who calls me eleanor is my mum

PRONOUNS — she / her / ethereal being beyond comprehension

AGE — 23 but i tell everyone im 21 because even tho time is literally fake im desperately clinging to that fleeting thing we call youth trying to catch it like smoke in my hands

PINTEREST — i actually have two. this one is my main one where i just cram all my shit n i’ve had it for years and some of its super unorganised. then i also have this one which is one i made for exclusively female characters. it started as mythological figures but now its like, women in literature and the occasional oc as well. variety is the spice of life!

DISCORD — lindsay lohan’s meth#8664

TUMBLR (PERSONAL/MUSE/RPH) — i used to be froseths but now im pvrscphones cos ya gal is a fucking whore for mythology 

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE — oi oi guvna ere’s me twitta. also here’s my letterboxd n my goodreads if anyone still uses tht

MYER-BRIGGS — enfp / infp border .... the classic profile of a lit student

HP HOUSE — hufflepuff, am fuckin mad. 

ZODIAC — libra which is a joke because i am in no way balanced but i guess i AM indecisive and a peacekeeper so?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY? — i believe it when it says good shits gonna happen in my life and blame it if bad shit happens but i don’t strongly follow it i just find it interesting

HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU STARTED RPING ON TUMBLR — maybe like 14?? my first rp blog here is literally so embarassing i wrote as clove from the hunger games n my best friend irl wrote cato :/ it was wild

WHAT YEAR WAS IT? — like 9 years ago?? 2010 maybs

NAME A RANDOM ROLEPLAY THAT STICKS OUT IN YOUR MEMORY — me n my friend ellie made this really cool group the summer before we left for uni which was loosely based on a concept mentioned mayb once in the divergent series, but it gave us loads of freedom to make it our own thing. it was called the fringe n it was like..... this dystopian society where people with different genes were cut off from the rest of society n lived in overrun slum cities where different groups had like, a monopoly over weapons, produce, etc.... my character jack was the leader of this lost-boy-esque tribe called the wolf pack who were hunters n used to run across the rooftops wearing the skins of animals they’d killed and engage in tribal rituals with sacrifices to the gods n shit. sounds lame but everyone there was so invested in their character arcs that it was a shame to see it go. but ! it kind of reached its end point so we blew it up w nukes n they all died. tragic.

WHAT WEIRD ANIMAL WOULD YOU HAVE AS A PET IF IT WAS REALISTIC — a fox?? do ppl keep foxes? idk i’ve always just felt a sense of connection w them like when a fox stares at me im like this shit is life i am living and breathing in this bitch.... visceral

NAME THE FIRST SONG ON YOUR DISCOVER WEEKLY ON SPOTIFY OR THE FIRST SONG THAT COMES ON APPLE MUSIC / ITUNES SHUFFLE — everbody party tonight by cobra man n summer girl by haim..... not my usual stuff but big summer chillin vibes,.....

NAME A BOOK THAT YOU READ IN SCHOOL THAT YOU SURPRISINGLY LIKED — lord of the flies and also the handmaid’s tale. one of assignments was to write a chapter from another character’s perspective n i chose moira

NAME A BOOK YOU HATED THAT MOST PEOPLE LIKED — skellig. fuck off with ur asprin ugly bat man i don’t care. also of mice and men. don’t care about the rabbits or curley’s goddamn wife.

WHAT TV SHOW DID YOU RECENTLY BINGE? — im not a big binger bc i find it jst makes me depressed if i watch tv all day but im nearly finished stranger things season 3 n i recently finished euphoria (big rec but proceed w caution as quite triggering content)

FAVOURITE QUOTE — cool girl speech from gone girl. but also “there’s something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls” i know its like.... such an overused quote but it really encapsulates this kind of feral girlhood that a few of my characters like bridget n greta have tapped into. i also loved the line “i feel like i could eat the world raw” from song of achilles, that really captures this kind of.... pure n childlike enthusiasm tht i wanna achieve w rory 

LINK TO A VINE THAT EXUDES YOUR ‘ENERGY’ — this is my energy completely am always covered in glitter n staring broodily out of the windows of ubers at 4am like im in the sad bit of an indie film 

DO YOU WRITE OUTSIDE OF RP? WHAT DO YOU WRITE? — uhh.... not as much as i shd.... i want to be a writer so i shd be makin some effort to get my stuff Out Into The World but im just not.... lol. ive done a lot of poetry collections . i wnt to finish a novel @ some point too.

THREE YOUTUBERS YOU STILL TRUST — bold of you to assume i trust any youtubers

A CELEBRITY CRUSH THAT JUST WON’T QUIT — id literally die for saoirse ronan n timothee chalamet :/ chance perdomo also owns my ass. 

EVER MEET A CELEBRITY? SHARE YOUR STORY — i once high-fived dani harmer, the actress who played tracy beaker. today my sister text me tryin to make me guess what celebrity she just saw on holiday in wales and for ages she let me think it was timmothee but it was actually bradley walsh from the chase :/

WHAT’S YOUR PICTURE-PERFECT NIGHT? — i am in a bomb ass crop top and mini skirt, several scrunchies in my hair, glitter all over my face, wearing cowboy boots. we eat dinner in a trendy but affordable pub that doubles up as a cocktail bar n then we drink zombies or sex on the beaches n go to a rave where everyone is on the same wavelength n i share drugs with girls in the toilets and we swap numbers knowing we will never text each other but its ok bc in that moment we feel like we are soulmates and everyone is super drunk n touching everyone else n its all very visceral and we walk through the woods when the rave ends and lie in the grass because we wish to suck out all the marrow of life 

A CONSPIRACY THEORY YOU KINDA BELIEVE IN — princess diana was murdered 

ARE ALIENS REAL? — maybe the real aliens are the friends we made along the way

PLAY ANY PHONE GAMES? WHICH ONES? — love island game im addicted and way too invested in my fictional relationship with bobby, a cartoon

WHAT’S A FILM YOU LOVED WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG AND RECENTLY WATCHED, ONLY TO FIND OUT YOU DON’T ANYMORE — bold of u to assume i remember my childhood. but if we’re talking last 10 years angust, thongs n perfect snogging is so so cringe 

DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? — pairs of glasses belonging to other ppl when they break / get new ones even though i can see perfectly well. 

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BUT YOU’RE TOO LAZY? — mythology...... always a craving and a wish i’d read like ancient texts but my school wasn’t good enough to do greek or latin or any of that shit n even tho i could read english translations i cant be bothered. also criminal psychology

THREE LANGUAGES YOU DON’T SPEAK, BUT WISH YOU COULD — italian, french and latin

MOVIE YOU’VE WATCHED MORE THAN 5 TIMES — ladybird, about time, angus thongs, shrek 2, what we do in the shadows, the history boys, atonement, coraline, the breakfast club, ferris bueller’s day off

NAME A FICTIONAL CHARACTER FROM TV/FILM/MOVIE/GAME/BOOK THAT YOU FIND YOURSELF PROJECTING ON / YOU RELATE TO — cecilia lisbon. rue in euphoria. alison brie in glow. adam parrish in the raven cycle. richard papen. olivia cooke’s character in thoroughbreds. allen ginsberg in kill your darlings. lily in sex education. holliday grainger’s character in the film animals --- i too am an aspiring writer who never writes and just gets drunk instead .

DO YOU FOLLOW ANY SPORTS? WHO DO YOU ROOT FOR? — no. cba

HOBBIES BESIDES WASTING AWAY HERE? — i go to the movies basically every day bcos i work in a cinema. im also a voracious reader n i occasionally do theatre or costume making

PLUG A TV SHOW / MOVIE / BOOK / VIDEO GAME / ETC… YOU WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD CHECK OUT — where the wild things are (film by spike jonze).  animals. beats. the book fen by daisy johnson and a girl is a half formed thing by eimar mcbride. andy warhol’s biography from a to b and back again

WHOSE BRAIN WOULD YOU LIKE TO PICK, ALIVE OR DEAD? — phoebe waller-bridge on how i get her life. carey mulligan on how she got to be such a good actress n how i can become her. maybs wes anderson. maybs gillian flynn. i tend to listen to podcasts w the ppl i really wanna pick the brains of.

TEAM EDWARD OR JACOB? — edward :/

LAST MOVIE SEEN IN THEATRE — blinded by the light n i lovd it

DO YOU STILL READ? — when i finished uni i kinda got out of the habit but this week i finished two books so ive set myself the challenge of a book a week.

IF SO, WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? — i finished song of achilles yesterday n i also finished call me by your name yesterday. started circe by madeline miller today, im also partway through milkman by anna burns and the plays of annie barker

ON A SCALE OF 1-10, HOW MUCH DID YOU HATE FILLING THIS OUT? – 3 i didnt hate it bcos at heart i am self-indulgent and love fashioning some sense of self when i feel lost in a world that is scary and constantly changing 

[chocolatemillkk]

Red-Handed (JS)

Request: Joe imagine where you secretly are reading a fic abt him n he catches you (ur in a relationship) 💙 and it’s funny 😉

A/N: I kind of hate everything I write rn which is why I haven't been posting but this one was really fun and quick to write so I hope you guys enjoy it just as much! Thanks to the anon who sent this one in! <3

Your eyes skim the screen:

"You're the one that I want. For the rest of my life." Your mouths collide as he seals his words into your lips and you swallow them....He expertly slid his tongue over your bottom lip-"

"Hello?" Joe's voice calls behind you.

"Hi! Yeah!" You quickly quit out and turn the phone off, throwing it down on the pillows beside you.

"I've been calling your name ever since I came in," Joe enters the room in his white button up and trousers. He drops a bag onto the bed and looks at you suspiciously. You suppose that your flushed cheeks and stammer didn't help you look innocent.

"S-sorry babe I was just uh, I got lost in my phone-"

"What were you doing?" Joe asks slowly, his eyes moving around the room. He probably thought your suspicious behaviour had to do with some sort of prank. Typical.

"Um," you bite the inside of your mouth. You couldn't tell the truth so you settle for half of it. "I was just reading a...post. A blog post."

He raises an eyebrow, "A blog post?"

"Yep!" You climb over the covers to where the big bag sits. "What's in here? How did your meeting go by the way?"

"It was really good-they liked my ideas. But back to you-what sort of blog post gets you this flustered? Was it sex tips? Are you reading's Vogue's ten tips to pleas-"

"Oh shut up!" His joke lessens the awkwardness but you were still mortified at how close he came to catching you.

Yes-you already had Joe for a boyfriend. For almost a year too! Yet, a fan had linked an imagine to you on Twitter and for some reason you were inclined to check it out. And boy, did the writer have an imagination; it started with a fight between you and Joe and then Joe confessing his feelings in such a romantic way you got swept away. And the passion-that had kept your eyes glued and your mind wandering, which is why Joe's shouts had gone unnoticed.

"Remember your phone case broke the other day? I just bought you a new one so you don't break your actual phone." Joe shoves the bag at you.

"You did?" You open the bag and pull out a black case with a simple floral design. "Aw Joe that's so thoughtful!"

"Nah," Joe starts to look uncomfortable. "I saw it so I just picked it up. Knowing you, it'll be next year before you get around to buying one."

"Are you calling me lazy?" You pretend to look offended.

"I'm not I j-"

Joe stumbles back as you launch yourself at him, arms outstretched, and he catches you in his arms. You squeeze him and kiss the tip of his ears which are burning.

"You're cute when you're embarassed," you say to his face.

"Alright," Joe chuckles. "Let's put the case on-it's got a built in charger."

"No wonder it was heavy," you realise. "You open the package."

Joe rips it open and before you could react, he grabs your phone and snaps it into place.

"Perfect," Joe says, turning the case over.

"Okay," you make a grab for the phone but the desperation in your eyes triggers Joe's curiosity. He dangles the phone away from you, too high for you to reach.

"Wait a second," Joe says calmly.

"Joe!" You plead. "Give it here!"

"Why do you want it so bad?" Joe laughs, thinking it was fun but you were agonizing over how he would react if he opened your phone. He reaches his other hand up high and puts his finger on the home button.

"Joe Sugg don't you-" you gasp as he unlocks your phone and swipes over the apps, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "Your touch ID is for emergencies!" You shout, betrayed and also freaking out. "You can't! Abuse! Your privileges!"

"This is an emergency!" Joe laughs. "I don't see anything-what were you doing?"

"I already...told you!" You manage to swipe the phone and hold it against your chest. "I'm so deleting your fingerprint from my phone."

"I don't know what the big deal was?" Joe exclaims, giving up on figuring it out. "You're acting so odd. Anyway, I'm gonna take a shower."

"Alright," you squint at him. "You can warm up dinner after-I left some for you."

"Thank you love," Joe says against your lips before capturing them with his own. You push him away.

"I'm still angry at you!"

Joe still kisses you again before heading to the shower. As soon as he's in, you open the imagine eagerly and continue reading it and you don't realise how monumentally fucked you were until you feel a wet drip on your neck. You swipe at it as if it was an annoying fly until a voice rumbles beside yours,

"Joe knew your body like the back of his hand-that's true-"

"Joe!" You squeal as you turn around and hide the phone behind you.

"Wait!" He wraps his arm around you trying to get the phone. "I want to read what Joe does next!"

"Stop!" You moan in embarassment. "This is so embarassing."

"Just let me see! Joe seems sexy!"

You bury your face in the pillow and shove the phone into your bra, screaming into the pillow in embarassment. You could not believe Joe caught you.

"Why are you reading an imagine about me?" Joe laughs like it's the funniest thing ever. "You've got the real thing babe."

"I know!" You shout into the pillow, too mortified to face your boyfriend. "Somefanjustlinkedittomeand...fuck! I was reading it for fun and then it got really good!!"

"Maybe we should make a video on my channel where we re-enact what I just read," Joe's voice comes from right beside you. He's sat on the backs of your thighs with his knees supporting him on either side of you. "I bet that would get millions of views."

"Oh bugger off!" You shout. "Your fans barely know I'm your girlfriend."

"Apparently my own girlfriend doesn't know she's my girlfriend!" Joe tickles you from the side and you squirm as you try to turn in place. "She's reading about me like she doesn't get some every night."

"I can't...believe.... you just said that!" You gasp as Joe's tickles leave you breathless. Finally managing to turn under Joe, you push your feet up and he falls to the floor. "I do not 'get some' every day."

"Do you want to?" Joe's amused face pops up beside the bed. "Is that why you're reading sexy Joe Sugg stories?"

"I hate you!" You throw the blanket over his face but his laughter bubbles out of him and tears stream down his face over your embarassment.

"Y/N," he tries to stop laughing. "Jeez Y/N, baby, I'm joking! If there were sexy stories about you on the internet I would be reading them too."

Your mouth makes an O as you throw yourself on top of him and the two of you wrestle between the blanket. Joe's nonstop laughter makes him easier to defeat but your hand over his mouth doesn't stop him from tickling your sides.

Finally, out of breath, you lay on the floor staring at the ceiling as Joe wears off his laughter but they still come out in short bursts. You groan and walk out, going down to the kitchen to get away from him.

"His hair is soft like cotton candy and it smells like it too," Joe voice carries down to you.

"I wasn't even reading that one!" You shout but by now you were coming down from the embarassment. It was actually amusing how good Joe felt in this moment.

He appears shirtless in front of you and you give him a wry smile, shaking your head as he grins down at you.

"I'm never living this down?"

"Never," Joe says triumphantly.

"What if I promise to never bring up the time you fell off the side of a slide into dog shite?"

"Hm," Joe strokes his chin. "You would have to destroy all evidence too."

"Fine," you struggle.

"But I get at least a week's worth of teasing before we're even."

You bury your face in your hands. "Fine. I deserve that."

"You know what else you deserve?" Joe asks, closer to your ear.

"What?" You ask wearily.

"A spanking," Joe gets out before bursting into laughter.

"Joe!" You say but can't help laugh too. "I wasn't reading fifty shades, just a small tiny imagine about you!"

"It's funnier when I pretend you were reading Fifty Shades of Joe Sugg," Joe wipes at his tears.

"Is that what you were reading?" You laugh.

"Yeah look at this!" Joe shows you on his phone and the two of you pour over the first chapter before your bellies ache and you can't read any more.

"You should eat your dinner," you remind Joe after the two of you have calmed down.

"All that laughing actually made me really hungry," Joe gets up and gives you a hand. You get up and wrap your arms around him, inhaling his freshly bathed scent.

"I love you even though you make my life hell," you say into his neck.

"I love you too," Joe hums under you. "Which is why it made my year to catch you red-handed."

"You didn't catch me red-handed!" You let go of him. "Like I was doing something wrong!"

"You were being secretive!" Joe argues and so it continues as the two of you make it to the kitchen, banter and laughter bouncing in between.

You knew the next week was going to be hell as Joe milked every opportunity to tease you but he was yours-actually yours-and that shot enough sunshine into your heart to keep the clouds of embarassment away. Well, mostly away.

[multimatchupmadness]

hi!!! i love your blog!!! i saw that you write! and i saw this post where it's like write out the first two sentences of 20 fics you're working on! if you could do that that would be GREAT!!! id love to see your writing!! you obviously don't have to do 20, however many you want is up to you, thank you!! :D

Of course, no one has ever been interesting in my writing I’m so happy to share this with you thank you!!!! I have to see how many I have in the woodworks hahaha, but i’ll start off with my posted ones first! I’m also straying a bit and not doing the first two sentences, but the ones I like the most, because my style of writing doesn’t have like… gripping first lines? ANYWAY!!! moving on:

1: Greed 

    > Oikawa and Iwaizumi thought they would be able to deal with the hardships that came with a long-distance relationships. Thought being the keyword. After their break-up, Oikawa’s despair ends up placing his conciousness into a parallel version of himself. A demon king version of himself

“Can I trust you?” Akaashi challenged.

“I’m in a world where I don’t know what the fuck is happening most of the time. Iwaizumi is supposed to be my prisoner but instead he’s like a roommate. Kuroo is shifty around me because apparently I’m different from the Grand King in a bad way and I just want to go home.” Oikawa’s words sped up as he said them, the end coming out in a rushed jumble.”

2: A Thousand Years 

   > Iwaizumi and Oikawa have known each other since they were eight, it’s not until late in their lives that they realize how much they mean to each other

“Iwaizumi huffed and stood up, turning him away from the mirror, “Oikawa. You look great. Your hair looks great, your outfit is great. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

Oikawa blinked at him a few times before bursting into a big smile, “Iwa-chan! If you flatter me like that, I’ll start to think maybe you have a crush on me!” 

Iwaizumi went red and scoffed, “As if I could like someone as annoying and stupid like you.””

3: Sissy That Walk 

   > Bokuto is a dancer at a club and a drag queen, Kuroo is in love

“”Yo, you weren’t practicing in those in the house right? You know how long it takes to get those scuffs out of the floor!” Kuroo called in his wake. 

“No no, I’m not trying to get reprimanded by you for a full hour again.” Bokuto said, coming back.

“Good, those are a real pain to clean. Also, no stretching on the counter anymore, you nicked the corner of the wood with the heel.” Kuroo said, rubbing at a little indentation in the edge.

“I’m the one that wears heels, yet you act like more of a housewife than I do.” Bokuto teased.”

4: To Win is To Lose 

   > Eren and Jean make a bet over who will be the first one to fall in love with who will be. It was a mistake both of them didn’t realize they made.

“Jean looked from Eren’s smiling face to the cotton candy and tentatively parted his lips and Eren pushed the sugar into his mouth. Both of their faces were dusted pink as they shared the sweet.

Eren looked over at Jean and went, “Oh, you have a little…” And leaned across the table and swiped at his lower lip.

Jean felt like everything went in slow motion when he felt the pad of his thumb drag across his lip. Eren leaned back, examined his thumb and then stuck it in his mouth. Jean just watched with wide eyes and jaw nearly on the table.

Eren smiled mischievously, a spark in his eyes as he said, “Sweet.” And winked.

Jean seriously thought he was going to die.”

5: Second Chances 

   > Yuu is a barista who runs into his childhood best friend, who carries some less than friendly emotions towards him. 

““You’ve changed, Mika.” Yuu said. It was supposed to be an insult, but honestly it sounded like he was pained.

Mika scoffed, “Of course I have. I grew up. Without you. So you don’t know me.””

ONTO THE ONES I HAVE YET TO FINISH LOL

6: Until It Breaks

***I’M ALMOST DONE THIS ONE AND AM PLANNING ON STARTING POSTING CHAPTERS AT THE END OF THE MONTH!!!!!!!***

   > Oikawa, the resident playboy, made a bet with Makki, his roommate and best friend, that he wouldn’t sleep with the hot guy that sits in the back of his physics class for a full month, but genuinely date them. Iwaizumi, the broody tattooed boy in the back of the lecture hall, made a bet with Mattsun, his best friend and roommate, that he would get the resident playboy to fall in love with him, to give him a taste of his own medicine. However will this fateful and oblivious relationship play out?

““I - Iwa-chan, what has gotten into you today?” Oikawa asked with a wary laugh at the end.

Iwaizumi shrugged, “Maybe it’s something in the air.”

Oikawa gave him a quizzical look, “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean I’m having a good time, with a guy who is on his first date in a while, and is kinda cute. So what if I get a bit carried away?” Iwaizumi said, smiling at him and walking ahead of him.

Oikawa stared back him, his chest felt like it was constricting in on him, but he felt really really good. Oikawa smiled and walked to catch up with him, “Only kinda cute?”

“For now.” Iwaizumi said, a small smirk dancing on his lips.”

7: Satisfied

   > An Iwaoi one-shot based off the song “Satisfied” from Hamilton (yeah its painful lmao i hate myself)

“”I’m planning on proposing to her, Tooru.” Hajime said suddenly over lunch one day. 

Everything sort of went in slow-motion for a few seconds for Oikawa, it was like his brain hay-wired and everything inside of him shut-down. Proposing. He’s getting married. He’s losing him to someone else. They were in public, so Oikawa couldn’t meltdown like his nerves were threatening so he just looked up at Iwaizumi with an as-natural-as-possible smile, “That’s great, Hajime, I’m happy for you.””

8: Make Me Whole Again

   > A MikaYuu fic inspired by Yuri on Ice, really only because Yuu is an ice skater. But the premise is that Yuu is an ice skater that needs to change his style from aggressive to bring a shock-value, so he confides in the prima ballerina, Mikaela and learns more about him than he expected.

““I appreciate the sentiment, Yuu-chan. But you can’t fix me. I’m not fixable. I’m this… empty thing… but it’s okay. I’ve always been this way.” Mikaela said, looking at him with watery eyes, pulling back and away from Yuu.

“Then I won’t fix you. But let me help you fix yourself, because you deserve at least that much.” 

AND THEN HERE’S TWO THAT ARE JUST IDEA RIGHT NOW BUT IM 100% GONNA WRITE BC I’M SUPER HYPE ABOUT THEM!!!!

9: Supernatural based fic

   > Kageyama enrolls in a mixed school, mixed being supernatural beings and  humans attend classes together, because he’s a mixed child, something rare since the presence of supernatural beings is newly accepted in the common world, however, he has yet to tap into his supernatural side and has never met his father, so he’s unaware of what his supernatural side is. In the meantime of trying to figure this out, he’s paired up in his botany class with this annoyingly pretty and just plain annoying fire fairy named Hinata. It all goes downhill from there. 

10: Harem fic!!!!!

   > The Hinata harem is strong in Haikyuu, so I decided to just make a super-duper cliché harem story, Hinata being the MC, Kageyama being the mysterious, broody love interest. Oikawa being the overly flirty, charming boy who may or may not be dating his best friend, Bokuto being the over-protective older brother, Kuroo being the mischevious trouble-maker who is also ridiculously smart which makes him lethal, Kenma as the best friend, Tsukishima as the antagonist that isn’t actually the antagonist but wants to be. Side cast: Suga and Daichi aka the best parents ever, Asahi is the uncle that everyone is scared of but is a sweetheart, Akaashi is the boy Bokuto is ridiculously in love with

That’s it for the ones that have the most potential to be posted!!! I do have a few *cough*NSFW*cough* fics but I’m not posting them here, nor have I actually posted them bc EMBARASSING and there are others that i have in my archives, but i highly doubt they’ll ever actually get written. Thank you so so so much for this ask again!!!!

~ Mod Usagi

[deathtrapnest]

The Fatal Flaw

fandom: Supergirl (2015), Supergirl comics, Superman comics, Smallville pairing/warnings: Lena Luthor x Kara Danvers ( Supercorp ), Clark Kent x Lex Luthor ( Clex ) 

summary: Kara Danvers attends a prestigious university where she feels she doesn't fit in until a chance encounter with a fellow student, Lena Luthor, changes her life irrevocably leading them both spiraling into a dark and complex web of self discovery, lies, secrets, and murder.

Loosely inspired by Donna Tart's "The Secret History"

also on AO3 (i love comments!) 

Looking back she would wonder where it started, where it ended, what was the ‘middle’, where had things gone wrong. Tracing back through lines like constellations, connecting moments like star bursts that stung bright and vibrant in her memory.

 Had it been at the school, had it started with something as banal as signing paper work? She could remember how big it had seemed once, tall ivy coated stone buildings that seemed to touch the sky, because she’d had no perception of ‘sky’ then. The air, though, that she could remember accurately- in the midst of the turn over between summer and fall, balmy but with the scent of nature’s decay like an edge. She remembered the way everyone had seemed so beautiful and unapproachable then, so invincible. The hug of Calvin Klein on trim, athletic, bodies, the click of Louboutins on freshman girls- wearing their most expensive heels to class as a show of dominance on their first week. They all had long eyelashes, and french nails, and not a wrinkle to be seen on their clothes. Kara was equal parts terrified of them and in awe of them. Boys in boat shoes spinning down the campus roads well over the speed limit in shiny convertibles- glib smile full of blindingly white teeth, bronze hair fluttering in the wind, Ray Ban sunglasses. A dangerous animal.

 Back then they’d all seemed so rich and powerful, not fragile and breakable the way Kara saw them now. She thought she’d never be able to touch them. What a stupid thing to worry about.

 Maybe it had started before she’d arrived. The memories of that didn’t stand out in such stark relief. Banal worry. Reassurances from her sister (“Just because they’re rich doesn’t mean all of them are snobby. And there will be lots of other scholarship students like you. You can’t let things like this intimidate you. I know you kick ass, we all do, your grades clearly know it, the college’s ‘you got in’ letter knows it, so- now the only person who needs to know it is you.” a kiss on the forehead “You’ll be great. And if anyone gives you trouble, you know Clark will just kick their ass.”). The heady mix of anxiety and excitement. Wondering what to do with her hands and ending up doing too much- chewing down her nails, smoothing her palms over her clothes, fiddling with her hair, adjusting her glasses. Smiling too wide for her ID photo.

 She could only go back so far on her own. Her earliest memories were awash with confusion. An adopted child. A sister who didn’t share her blood but who she shared everything else that mattered with. An older cousin, handsome and kind and self assured- her only known blood relative. He’d been adopted by another family but he’d always been a part of her life, even if kept at a distance. He’d visit her. Ask how she was, ruffle her hair, as if he were a brother. Always there had been something reticent in him that she should have noticed, but she was just a child. A concern that edged beyond normal. Piecing blue eyes that always scanned over her, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

 Other times, she visited him. A long and bumpy bus ride to a farm that she thought of as a second home. Warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla icecream melting on top, the smell of hay, the tassles on top of corn stalks swaying in the wind that seemed to go on for miles, as endless as a wave across the ocean’s surface. Clark’s hand- huge and warm and strong- placed between her shoulder blades guiding her as she tried not to get her feet imbedded in the mud as they walked through the fields to pet her favorite cow. Lying in the grass with shoulders touching, looking up at a sky that seemed so vibrant and endless that it could only be a painted picture or a blanket, layed carefully over their town, enveloping it from all sides. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything at all. I’m your family. Even if… even if it’s something that scares you.” But there had been nothing to tell back then. She was a normal girl. A normal girl who felt embarassed sometimes when she laughed because she thought it looked ‘geeky’, who pushed green vegetables to the other side of her plate, who had a slight astigmatism even.

 She’d always felt like the sky was part of her. The hours she’d spent connecting the dots of stars, finding shapes and creatures in the forms of the clouds, breathing in so deep it felt like it could all be sucked into her lungs. But she’d never realized back then how the sky was closer to her beginning than any quiet, loving, household or any mud between her toes, or even the brush of her sister’s hair against her cheek. Most people take the setting of their beginning for granted. Surely she couldn’t have been expected to guess that where it started wasn’t even on earth.

 Or… the story could start with blood. Sticky warmth flooding over her, inescapable and nauseating. So much more vividly colored and slippery than she ever could’ve imagined. It could start with the scream she didn’t know was coming from her own mouth and the hand that went over her lips to stifle it. But no, for argument’s sake, Kara thought- that must be the middle.

 Because when everything that had truly mattered began was love at first sight. That was the beginning of the story Kara would’ve wanted to tell. With love. Occuring like a big bang. All in one moment, how everything could become new and fresh. And how her chest had never felt that light and that stricken simultaneously.

 The first time she saw her was in profile- a sleek curtain of dark hair, a slash of dark lipstick on a pale face. The gentle curve of her shoulder, the line of her nose… She turned her head, stunning green eyes, her lips quirked up slightly at the edges- not quite a smile, and her eyes flicked over Kara, her eyelashes dark and stark against her cheek. Kara was never the same again.

 She could’ve been cut from marble. Sharp jaw and cheekbones, an elegant long neck, the full lips. She carried herself with a self assuredness that was foreign to Kara herself. One hand rested on the stone ledge of a stained glass window, the other held a tumbler of scotch loosely. She was all alone, even amidst the sea of people talking and drinking and shouting on the stairwell. But the expression on her face told Kara that it was of little consequence to her. A common occurrence, maybe even a preference. She was a creature from a Greek tragedy. The heroine.

 Kara couldn’t remember how long she’d been holding her breath but when she finally inhaled it felt like it had been ages and ages. To her horror the girl was sauntering over to her, the same half smile perfectly at home on her lips.

“You look set adrift.” She said. But her voice was kind. She met Kara’s eyes with a gaze that didn’t waver.

 “Am I that obvious?” Kara huffed a laugh, smoothing her palms down the sides of her skirt in an attempt to smooth some imagined wrinkle. “Uh- I don’t really. This isn’t-. My cousin is here, somewhere, and I don’t really-“ she began babbling.

 “So this isn’t really your ‘scene’ you mean?” She asked, leaning one shoulder against the wall, her half smile developing into a genuine smirk now, the glass of scotch still precariously dangling from slender fingertips.

 “Oh, well-“ Kara took a deep breath to make room for a new set of ramblings. “I just, I don’t really know any- and I mean, in high school I was never like the-“ she stopped herself. She could be cool Kara. Somewhere deep down some version of herself like that existed. She forced herself to press her lips together and just nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, this isn’t really my scene.”

 The other girl’s eyes were glittering with private amusement. They seemed to reflect all the little lights in the room. “Well, then we’re kindred spirits.” she said.

 Someone in a toga a few feet away let out some sort of war cry and the surrounding throng began chanting “chug, chug, chug”.

 The dark haired girl smile again, shaking her head and leaned forward, brushing her fingertips against Kara’s wrist. “C’mon” she said and with no knowledge of where she was being taken, Kara followed.

 The party was in a dorm that was a converted castle. All the walls were stone, the ceilings cathedralized and hanging with ornate chandeliers, every window was stained glass and the floors all mahogany. The dark haired girl walked through it with complete ease, navigating them between turned over kegs, throngs of party goers, and puddles of spilled drinks. Until finally they got to a large wooden door which she opened with a brass key from her pocket. Kara thought, rather hysterically, that it felt like a fairy tale adventure but with more puking and togas. The other girl ushered her in after and shut the door. It was a secondary lounge, though apparently one shut off to the public as it was empty. The overhead lights were off but the entire opposite wall was made up of ceiling to floor tudor style arched windows and moonlight filtered through them onto the floor in the colors and patterns of the stained glass- purple and red and blue like walking into a kaleidoscope.

 “It’s beautiful in here.” Kara whispered.

 “It’s a good place to catch your breath. You sort of looked like you needed it.” the girl chuckled, placing her scotch down on a side table and sliding into a leather couch. She moved with impossible grace. Kara perched on the other side of the couch, folding her hands awkwardly in her lap.

 “I did.” Kara said, once again feeling like she was actually breathing for the first time in days and days. Maybe the oxygen was just effecting her differently now. Everything seemed vivid and fuzzy at the same time, she wondered if it was possible to become drunk second hand. “So you uh… live here? This dorm?” Kara asked, waving one hand around to gesture to the space.

 “Yes.” she said. She propped her arm up on the edge of the couch and leaned her head to one side slightly, almost like a tic, her eyes lingering over Kara as if she were the most interesting thing in the world. Kara didn’t know what her eyes were doing. She didn’t want to know. Her gaze flickered all over the girl spasmodically, not sure what to take in first, not wanting to stay anywhere for too long.

 “I’ve always wanted to see what it looked like inside of here.” Kara explained. “It always looks so beautiful from the outside. All those gothic archways and stone balconies. My cousin’s uh- dating someone who lives here so he comes here all the time but I’ve never been inside until tonight.”

 “Oh?” the girl’s lips quirked up, a strangely familiar expression on the face of such an otherwise otherwordly being- gossip lust. “And who is your cousin? I may have seen him about.”

 Embarassment immediately flooded over Kara at having said too much. She’d tried so hard to avoid living in her older cousins’s shadow at school but it was a difficult task to accomplish.

 “Oh, he’s-“ she began stumbling over her words as she tried to think of a way to avoid the topic but the other girl interrupted her, seeing her distress.

 “I’m sorry, I’ve taken you away. Should we go back into the fray to look for him? I’m sure I can help you find him, if you like. This is my brother’s party-”

 Kara was still stuttering excuses when the words finally registered in her brain. They looked at each other and as Kara’s astonishment registered on her own face, she saw the embarassment she’d just been experiencing fill the other girl’s.

 “This… your brother…” Kara took a deep breath. “Oh my god.”

 Of course she had a secret key to secret rooms and held herself with such grace. Their name was on a plaque to the dorm. Luthor Mansion.

 “You’re Lex’s sister.” Kara confirmed out loud.

 The girl winced awkwardly, biting down on her lip. She gave a sort of half shrug.

 “No, no,” Kara started, putting her hands up as if in a gesture of comfort. “I just mean- you’re going to laugh.”

 The other’s eyebrow lifted skeptically.

 “My cousin’s Clark Kent.”

 And she did laugh. A musical, lovely, sound, Kara noted.

 “Your uh… Your brother’s dating my cousin.” Kara lamely announced the obvious as the other girl continued laughing.

 “Oh, how serendipitous. It’s so strange that I don’t know your face by now. My apologies. I’m Lena.” the directness of her gaze when she offered her hand, smile fresh off of her laughter showing all bright teeth, made Kara’s heart palpitate. She shook the hand, feeling awkward in the formalness of the gesture.

 “Kara Danvers.” she offered in return, with a small nod.

 It felt strange to know that they were in some ways a sort of extended family. It only pushed the lingering sense that their meeting was fated. Kara felt that deeply, in a way that warmed her bones.

 Since coming to the college, Kara had spent some time with Clark- being shown around and having lunch to ‘catch up’ but he had his own established friend groups, his own agenda, and he always seemed like he was running in from or rushing out toward somewhere that she could not follow. And she’d only caught glimpses of his enegmatic boyfriend- the slender, bald, aristocrat who was so notorious on campus. And never had they been formally introduced.

 “I know your cousin, in that case.” Lena went on, smiling more openly now. “My brother and I are both actually quite private people deep down if you can believe that. He doesn’t have many close friends and even fewer of them he would deem a good enough influence to dare introducing me to. So I was actually quite pleased to make Clark’s aquaintance. He’s certainly a rarity- in more ways than just that, I mean. He’s very…” she tapped her finger against her lips once, thoughtfully.

 “Handsome?” Kara attempted to finish for her dryly.

 Lena looked up in surprise and laughed incredulously. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

 Kara shook her head. “Sorry. Just- ever since I’ve come here, everyone knows me as ‘Oh- isn’t your cousin the one who looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model?’ It’s exhausting.”

 Lena smirked, her eyes glancing over Kara once before she said with significance- “He’s really not my type, actually.”

 “Oh.” Kara breathed.

 “I was going to say that he’s mysterious.” Lena finished her thought from before, taking another sip from her drink.

 The word made the hair on the back of Kara’s neck stand up. Yes, Clark was mysterious, wasn’t he? But it was rare that she heard other people describe him that way. Usually it was- ‘Clark is so kind’, ‘Clark is so wholesome’, ‘Clark is such a lovely young man’. It felt like a betrayal to think anything else of him. Especially when he was her only blood. But while he may have been kind and lovely, he was something else too. And Kara had never been able to put her finger on what that something else was.

 “Yeah.” she agreed quietly.

 “Are the two of you close?”

 Summers with her toes squished in the mud of the Kent farm driveway. Rubbing corn silk against her cheek as Pa told her it looked just like her hair. The heat from Clark’s back even through his flannel shirt as he gave her piggyback rides around the barn.

 “Sort of.” she said distantly. She blinked and forced a smile. “What about you and your brother?”

 Lena seemed to suppress a scoff. “I suppose he’s a bit infamous on campus. He has a bad habit of making enemies, I think he’s always been like that. But Lex has always been very good to me. He’s only my half brother, you know. I was adopted into his family when he was already living away at boarding school. All the same, we’ve always got along.” she gave a teasing smirk. “So I guess we’re ‘sort of’ close as well.” she said, repeating Kara’s words.

 “It’s a bit of pressure, huh?” Kara finally levelled, wincing. “I mean part of the appeal of coming to school here was that I wanted the comfort of having someone I knew already to be able to show me around, introduce me to people. But really, I think it can be a handicap. You don’t get to go in fresh. People already have this unavoidable idea about you.”

 Lena shrugged. “Why not just treat it as a challenge? And there’s no such thing as unavoidable.”

 Kara laughed incredulously. “Isn’t there?”

   Lena seemed to ponder this deeply and finally said, “Well, maybe there is. But sometimes unavoidable things are what makes life interesting. I suppose if everything were avoidable I’m afraid I might do nothing at all.”

 Kara nodded her head slowly. “That’s fair.”

 “Take this party for example. I live in this dorm… but I could leave if I really wanted to… And there are worse hardships than free booze and a little loud music on a Saturday night.”

 Almost on cue someone outside accidentally body slammed the door, making it shake on its hinges, followed up by the sound of muffled raucous laughter.

 The dark haired girl smiled. “To be quite honest I find them rather charming. I don’t think I’ve ever let loose like that. I envy the experience.”

 And then the way she’d first seen her on the stairwell seemed to make perfect sense. The gentle smile on her face as she stood all alone, staring out at the sea of grinding sweaty party goers.

 “Living vicariously through toga parties?” Kara offered.

“Something like that.”

“You’re an observer.”

“And you’re an odd one out.”

 Kara blinked. Lena quirked an eyebrow, as if waiting and hoping for an outraged response.

 “When I saw you.” she continued, “You stuck out like a sore thumb.”

 Kara forced a huff of laughter and said with a note of bitterness “Well. Nervous scholarship student at one of the most expensive universities in the country. It will happen.”

 Lena laughed and shook her head. “No, not at all. It wasn’t that.” she made a humming noise at the back of her throat as she mulled over a way to verbalize her thoughts, picking up her tumbler and rubbing her thumb along the rim of it. “You were… You kept looking around the room and doing little-“ she moved one of her hands in an impression of nervous, abortive, hand gestures, that were all too familiar to Kara as being her own. “It was like that part of your body was all nerves but. Your face.” she nodded almost resolutely. “Somehow all that didn’t match the expression on your face. Everyone else at this party is scared but they’re just better at pretending. You didn’t seem like you were pretending. But you didn’t seem scared either. Not like they are. Something about…” she smiled, meeting Kara’s gaze, “Your eyes I suppose. Gives off a sense of courage.”

 Courage. Not a word Kara would automatically associate with herself. Yet when she thinks back on bullies she’s held facedown in the dirt until they apologized, of pursing her lips and keeping her chin steady under the scrutiny of her adopted parents when they thought she wasn’t watching them the first few months- before they really knew her, of jumping off the highest point of the Kent’s barn for the thrill of it when she was 12 and the hysterical laughter that bubbled up out of her as ma and pa kent frantically checked her for broken bones and scolded her…. she could see it.

 But the word seemed as surreal as the rest of the night. Her wild fairytale fantasy shifted and took new shapes- her as the chivalrous knight, full of COURAGE, the dark haired woman the mysterious princess in her tower, shrouded in moonlight, looking at Kara with too perceptive eyes over her shoulder. And then who was to be the dragon…?

 Kara nodded slowly. “Okay. Alright. Courage, huh? I can accept that compliment.”

 “Yes. Courage, I think, is different than bravery.” Lena continued. “Bravery, in my mind, suggests that one is facing something to be feared at that very moment. Courage is the innate capacity to rise to the occasion to face fears bravely as they come.” she smiled at her own words. “If that makes sense.”

 Kara re-assessed the girl before her. Re-assesd. Foolish. She’d been assessing her and re-assessing her since the moment she laid eyes on her. Unable to look away. But she tilted her head once more to look at her again. Lena was relaxed in a way that Kara could never be. Or at least she was faking relaxation better than Kara ever could. Her body fell as fluidly as a piece of fabric over the leather couch, effortlessly louche. The moonlight seemed drawn to her skin. In the moment of silence between them she was unperturbed. Like they were old friends, and a space without conversation was of no consequence.

 It was nearly too intimate. There was something abnormal about the night. Like it was already a memory, even as it occurred. As if it was just a start of an orbit, events and words occuring on a predestined trajectory- to what? She didn’t know. But the weight of them seemed evident.

 “Is there something I should be afraid of?” Kara asked.

 Lena’s eyes turned to her, slowly. Green as emeralds but almost bestial in the way they luminated and maintained color even when the rest of her face was washed out in moonlight, anemically pale even down to her lips. Which parted. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked down abruptly.

 Whatever ease had existed, that strange familiarity that had been holding them together in the room since they’d first spoken to each other, turned cold all of a sudden. And Kara shivered, rubbing one hand over her arm idley.

 “Maybe.” Lena answered under her breath.

 If you’re ever unsure of yourself… you can tell me. If something strange happens. Even if you’re scared- Kara closed her eyes. She’d spent her whole life asking that question, never allowing herself to vocalize it: what is there to be afraid of?

 But why did Lena react that way? Maybe that was natural too. ‘Luthor blood is poison’ that’s what people said. Lionel Luthor was as cold blooded a businessman as they come and implicated in a number of crimes he’d gotten away with. The newspapers never went long without there being a mention of the Luthor name. Kara had known them before she’d started attending the same school as them. Before her cousin had started dating the heir apparent.

 She’d seen pictures of them. The father, middle aged but still dashing, a charisma that carried itself even through still photographs. She’d seen the mother’s cruel, tight lipped, mouth, in the background. Not a hair out of place, a neutral expression like a mask, but eyes that showed fierceness. Their son- who the media had taken turns purpoting as a sickly freak, a child prodigy, a bad boy, a reckless party animal, a young genius, in line to be the greatest new entrepeneur of the century, depending on the month, in cycles, depending on whether Lex had most recently created a new theorem on astrophysics or crashed his porsche into the side of a Metropolis night club…. And what of Lena?

 Kara had never seen a photo of Lena before that she could remember. Though she’d heard the name. It had been rather a scandal when an illegitimate daughter had been brought to light and then accepted into the family. It had confirmed to the wider public, as if any confirmation was necessary, that Lionel was a snake and now he was a casanova to boot. That had been what the focus was on. Lionel and Lillian. Never Lena. Maybe that was on purpose- a merciful thing.

It floated into Kara’s memory that she did remember reading once about Lena when the scandal had first hit. In the midst of an article trying to paint Lionel as a benevolent father figure for taking her in, it mentioned ‘Lena Luthor, the child in question, is a bright, straight A student’.

 Hardly a description of character. It was about as much information as one gets about the people featured in mathematics word problems. ‘Lena Luthor is a bright, straight A student and she has 4 pieces of cake she wants to divide among her friends-’

 Kara wondered, if she hadn’t figured it out earlier when Lena had said it was her brother’s party… would she have ever introduced herself by name? When? How long would she wait into the conversation? Long enough for Kara to form her own opinions? Long enough that it would feel like a deception?

 Because for better or for worse, it did raise questions for Kara. Not the type that it may have for other people, she was sure. Kara had no judgement. What she did have was a wealth of curiosity. What did it feel like?

 Kara had once cried all night when she was a child after being at elementary school for several months. When her sister had asked what had been wrong she’d answered ‘everyone thinks we’re sisters because we have the same last name. But we’re not REALLY sisters, are we? We didn’t come from the same place. And now I’m lying to everyone. But I don’t want anyone to find out.’ and her sister had dutifully wiped the tears and snot from her face and said with seriousness ‘of COURSE we’re real sisters.’

 And like so many conversations that had started in tears, that was the end of it. Kara wondered often if she was a child who was too easily comforted. Or had had a sister who was too shrewd and convincing. How many times had she let something be pushed aside, allowed herself to be soothed, instead of delving into it deeper?

 She’d been scared that night, crying, not because of insecurity about her place in the family but in how others would see her and how they would react to knowing she lived with people who were not HER people… The question that would seem to logically arise would be: if they aren’t your parents, then what happened to the real ones? Are they dead? Or were you not good enough for them? Did they love you more than the parents you have now?

 The Danvers tucked Kara into bed all through her childhood. Laid kisses on her forehead. Packed her lunch for school with the things she liked. Sang Happy Birthday to her. Hugged her so hard it left her sore.

 But even amidst all that, there was always the thought. Was this the be all end all of parental love? Kara imagined her birth parents… and thought, ‘is there any way they could have loved me more? If they’d been here?’ The thought was horrifying in its selfishness. And had to be repressed.

 But Lena knew. Lena had grown up with a birth mother only to lose her and be thrust into a cold, poisonous, anemic family. Where lack of love may not have even been the primary concern as much as need for survival was. Kara thought of the calculated, handsome, family photos printed in the magazines of the Luthors. And imagined that being adopted by those people would be no less than being dropped into a pit of snakes.

 But here Lena was, a Luthor too. Even in blood. A distinction that while Kara knew only the barest threads of, she also knew could be the most mystifying social link a person can have. Clark was in many ways so strange to her- she was sure she’d never understand him. And yet she was like him. In ways she was still struggling to comprehend. She looked at him like a carnival mirror. You’re me, but you’re not me. Where am I in you? Where are you in me? Where are our parents? What happened to us? What are you? What am I … becoming?

 Lena had to do that too. She had to look at a father who was universally both reviled and admired. A tactician but a tyrant. A charming monster. A modern king but bankrupt of morals. ‘Lionel Luthor Absorbs Family Run Businesses By Day, Wears Armani And Smiles At The Camera At Charity Balls By Night’, every headline seemed to sourly redact the implied ending of ‘The Utter Bastard…’.

 That was her blood. Her past, her creation, her future.

 Or her brother- only slightly more ambiguous, at least from the media’s perspective. Seen first as a creature of pity- freakish for his lack of hair, afflicted by some unknown illness possibly, maybe even a cause of public sympathy for Lionel- his retribution for years of wickedness. Then he’d been the prodigy- child mensa, ’12 year old Luthor heir beats chess grand master’, small photos in publications of a smug adolescent looking blasé about his victories. Following had been the inevitable breakdowns. It had become public knowledge that he’d been kicked out of several elite private schools- not for his academic performance, which continued to be outstanding- but for bad behavior, anti social tendencies. By the time he was 17 he was already a regular figure in the gossip pages and the press surrounding him was mostly negative. Following in the footsteps of his father. Or maybe even worse than his father. A precocious young sociopath but with no self restraint- getting arrested, overdosing, crashing cars, rehab. Headlines read ‘Young Luthor Sets Bar For Teenage Rebellion’. And that was Lena’s blood brother. Who she’d never known until it was too late to really know someone as a brother. How much of him was in her? Did Lena look at Lex and see a carnival mirror reflection? And was she pleased with what she saw? Or revolted?

 Luthor blood was poison. Kara’s blood was… a mystery. Unknown substance.

 Two ticking time bombs, in a dark empty room.

 “I don’t know anything about you.” Kara said.

 “We’ve only just met, there’s still time.” Lena made light, but her smile had stopped reaching her eyes.

 “No, I meant… I’ve always heard about Lex, and your parents, in the paper and such.” Kara continued boldly. Her hands didn’t twitch, her eyes remained level. Somehow in Lena’s presence she felt stripped of some façade she hadn’t really known was a façade. And a stillness replaced it.

 She studied Lena’s face for a change of expression. The dark haired girl smiled, utterly calm and unperturbed.

 “Yes.” she agreed.

 Kara huffed out a laugh. “I don’t think I even knew you went to this school.”

 “I keep to myself.”

 She kept Kara’s gaze and for some reason, it felt like they were sparring, though the conversation seemed innocent enough. But if they were sparring then Lena was the one who submitted first, as she sighed and picked up her tumbler, swishing it once and peering into its contents without taking a drink.

 “I’m studying bio-engineering and computer science.” she offered without prompting.

 “You’re smart.” Kara deduced, stating it as a fact, not as a compliment.

 “I am.” Lena returned, once again stating it as a fact and not a brag. Though her lips did quirk up at the corners when she added, “When I was 11 I started being able to beat my brother at chess. He was already in high school then, and had bested a grand master.”

 She leaned her head on her hand. “I was sent to an all girls boarding school. Awful affair. They made us wear pleated skirts everyday. I caused a bit of trouble there but it was hard to out do Lex on that front. I think my minor offenses of skipping class, returning library books too late, and sneaking vodka back to the dorm all seemed rather wholesome comparatively. They never made the papers and I was glad of that.”

 “Do you not want to be seen by the media?”

 “Not until it’s on my terms. For something I’ve earned.”

 The comfort in their silence had returned. Kara leaned her neck on the back of the leather couch, delighting in the way it pushed against her spine. Her foot was falling asleep tucked under her leg. It had been some time since they’d heard anyone chanting ‘chug!’ from the other side of the door.

 “You’re a bit like a reporter yourself.” Lena commented. “Is it strange to feel like I’m being interviewed or is this how normal relationships become instigated?”

 Kara grinned. “What’s normal?”

 “Nothing tonight, it seems.”

 Kara turned her head back to look at her, the angle different now that her neck was bent back. Still impossibly lovely. Still unreadable and straight forward in a way that left Kara feeling in her core a twisted mixture of curiosity and satiation. She wanted to know her, and yet even as she was, she liked her none the less. The image that her mind held. The enigma. Was its own reward.

 “Yeah. The air feels different.” Kara whispered. She turned her head toward the window. “The sky looks different.”

 The other girl chuckled. “So you feel that too?”

 Kara glanced back at her, wide eyed. “It’s not just me, is it?”

 “Well the two of us are in this room together, aren’t we?”

 Kara thought about it. The noise outside the door had died down considerably but she could hear voices and clattering, muffled behind the huge oak frame as if the party were occuring miles away. For all she knew the room could be suspended in space. And the window’s view of the velvet blanket of the night sky with stars so bright they seemed closer than anything real, was no assurance of their position on the ground.

 Kara sat up on her haunches and leaned over the back of the couch, until her face was closer to the window. It was a whimsical compulsion. She wasn’t sure why she followed through on it. But experimentally she took of her reading glasses, perching them in her hair.

 At first she squinted, the familiar effect of having the world go into a blur of shapes and colors like it had been painted with harsh brushstrokes, settling in. But then… to her amazement, it began to change. And the more she blinked and squinted, things began to come into focus. As if she were wearing glasses again. No- even more clear than she’d ever been able to see with her glasses.

 God, suddenly every star felt like she could reach out and touch its warmth. Everything in the universe was burning for her.

 “This is…”

 “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

 Kara forced her gaze away to look back at Lena who was smiling serenely at her and wondered what kind of spell she’d been under. If she was experiencing what she was experiencing, everything so transformed, or if Kara was going mad.

 “Are you seeing this?” she asked with a hint of apprehension.

 Lena quirked an eyebrow at her. “The stars?”

 Kara looked around the room, shaking her head slightly. “No… everything.”

 And not just seeing. Hearing. She blinked and could hear a slosh of beer in a cup outside like a crash of an ocean wave. Could hear the bed strings creak on the third floor under a pair of one-night lovers. “Terry…” the girl whimpered against his neck. He groaned in response. She could smell sweat from all sides, the perfume daintily applied to Lena’s collarbone- floral but with a spicy kick- perfectly elegant, she could smell the sharp, musky, scent of polished mahogany as if her face was pressed up against the floor.

 Then Lena touched her hand gently. And she was staring at her with full lips parted. Kara swore she could feel the gentle inhale, exhale, as if it was being breathed against her neck. The bat of her eyelashes as if they were running up her thigh.

  “Kara…” her voice was filled with concern now. “Are you… sorry, but I have to ask this… are you on something right now? Are you drunk?”

 Kara stared at her wide eyed. “I’ve never even smoked pot before.” she mumbled vaguely.

Which made Lena laugh. Kara put her glasses back on and blinked several times. She was surprised to find that things became blurry again when she put them on, as if she’d just taken them OFF instead. So she nervously removed them once more and tucked them into her pocket and began rubbing her hands up and down her thighs as if for warmth.

 “Uh- just. Air. I think I need some air maybe? I don’t really… I swear I haven’t had ANYTHING to drink tonight, it’s just.” she shook her head. “I don’t know. I feel a little-“

 “Overstimulated?” Lena finished for her.

 “You too?” Kara gasped.

 Lena’s lips curved up into another gorgeous smirk, which Kara was beginning to understand as her trademark. “No. I’m fine.” she stood up, graceful and fluid, her dress flowing around her, and offered Kara her hand. “I’ll be your rock.”

 Kara’s body felt heavy as she let Lena pull her up, and then she was holding hands with her again, being led again. It felt like déjà vu from when they’d entered the room. And foresight at the same time. Like this was something that had happened a million times before and would happen a million times again. Kara’s chest ached so painfully she wanted to double over.

 The veranda was made of stone and garnished with sculptures of Greek heroes and scholars. It looked like they’d been with the college for some time, or installed from someplace else, as they were as chipped and faded as real ancient art. Lena looked at home among them, sauntering elegeantly between their bodies and trailing her fingers over their shoulders. As if this were her party now, in the quiet moonlight, and these guests her familiar friends. Kara tried to stay close to her. She had a feeling that if anywhere was haunted, this mansion was.

 “The stars are bright tonight.” Lena admitted, wide smile on her face.

 “I’ve never seen them like this.” Kara agreed.

 “Can you see at all?” Lena’s voice had a hint of an edge in it, playful but still dangerous, and Kara wondered what it would be like to be her enemy for a fleeting moment.

 “What?”

 Lena waved one slender finger around the area of her own eyes. “I noticed you took your glassess off.”

 “Oh.” Kara said, having no plausible explanation to offer. Because really, why was she able to see perfectly, better than ever, in this moment when a few hours ago if she’d taken them off she’d have been stumbling into the Greek statues and apologizing profusely.

 Lena shrugged, as if she didn’t want to push the matter, didn’t care enough. But she sidled up next to Kara so their shoulders brushed together. And pointed to the sky. Kara followed her finger, staring at the cluster of stars which had become so beautifully bright now that they were nearly blinding.

 “There’s Andromeda.” the whisper against her ear caught Kara off guard and she jumped which made Lena snicker, self satisfied.

 “And Cassiopeia” Kara raised her own hand to point. Lena raised an eyebrow at her approvingly. Kara smiled back smugly.

She trailed her fingers up Lena’s arms until her hand was over hers and guided her to point to another cluster. “And Perseus.”

 “You know your astronomy. Color me impressed.”

 Kara dropped their arms but let her hand linger over the other girl’s wrist. She could smell her perfume again. So vividly it was like a cloak wrapped around her, something tangible that she could bury her face against.

 “Do you think there’s anything up there?” Lena’s voice was so soft it barely left her lips but Kara heard it. Kara thought she might be able to hear anything.

 “In Space?”

 “Just forget about it.” Lena’s laugh was lilting, soft as a breeze. “I’m in a silly mood tonight. I wonder what’s come over us.”

 Kara looked back out at the sky. A helicopter or plane was a blinking red light in the far flung distance. It looked like it might collide with the stars around it. She wished it safe travels. And then pressed her lips against Lena’s.