toomagic

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cherie can't help but find herself amused by the way hughie managed to find any reason at all to be elsewhere leaving herself and emerson alone. she was pretty sure she set hughie on edge, and his brother...well, she was certain he had other ideas for how to amuse themselves while their associates (because cherie hesitates to call anyone but frenchie a friend) were scattered doing their own tasks.

she'd sized him up when they first met, but she looked him up and down again and strode toward him. she leaned against the mostly clear work table between them, palms flat against the surface. "let's be clear, frenchie is not a part of this equation right now." she knew what she and her friend had was hard for anyone besides them to understand, but they were not exclusive. if she wanted frenchie to be front of mind right now, she would have invited him. but he wasn't here and emerson was. she narrowed her eyes, looking through her bangs at him. "if you want something from me, you've gotta ask for it."

this woman that seems close to frenchie is there again. the boys were spread out on jobs - here and there across the city. the twins remained behind and hughie's already vanishing, knowing exactly what kind of nonsense his little brother is into.

blue eyes look the woman over. very clearly interested. he's a sub. anyone can probably fetch the vibes off of him. "frenchie's not here. anything i can do for to?" word spoken as a clear innuendo.

@toomagic cherie .

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nylah was used to supes, she grew up with them. she'd watched her dad and his friend do the same thing leon just did with the beer cap. it was just more surprising coming from him. she gripped her clipboard and flyers a little tighter, trying to make up her mind about how she felt about her current situation.

"i mean yeah you would. if you weren't, i could walk you through how to register online. it would be a no strings attached kind of thing, you wouldn't be agreeing to vote for any specific party." this was the kind of spiel she gave to teenagers and almond moms who were on the precipice of voting republican. it didn't really matter though because he didn't need it. "but like you said you're already registered."

she heard voices from inside, quiet complaining maybe. she couldn't be entirely sure. "am i keeping you from something? i'm really sorry if i am, i can get out of your hair." she put a check mark on her list of neighborhoods to canvas. this was the last one in this neighborhood. nylah tried to look past him inside, but she couldn't see past him enough to make anything out.

leon pays enough attention to the news as he needs to. robert singer had his vote the moment victoria neuman had opened her mouth. the supes not being in the military, smart play frankly. yeah, he served. but he thinks about how many times fucked up he is because of it and he'd live forever [ unless acted upon by an outside force ]. everything about it spouted a bad idea. and, there's not way victoria neuman is not supe thanks to her publicly speaking out in defense of supes. not that one couldn't be human AND be an advocate for supes. strange, strange world they live in.

not even his house and he answers the door. no shoving necessary as he had just finished the bathroom and grabbing himself another beer, before its time to do another line off one of the girls he'd left pouting on the carpet. about to cut her off, already voting for them thanks. she does it for him. and the reaction enough doesn't make him slam the door in her face. that and he doesn't think he'd slam it and it has everything to do with the fact that she's a beautiful woman. there's a special place down under for him and he's okay with that, he's resigned to it. but again before he can respond, nylah throws a curveball so hard, it makes him chuckle. pops to lid off his beer bottle with his thumb, it chinks as it hits the concrete of the porch. I've been alive for over a century and you don't think i'm registered to vote. a startled response no doubt. ‘‘ last time i checked I was. why? would I get to spend more time with you if i wasn't? ’’ forward, but that's how he is when he sees something he likes, with anything not just people.

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You’re gonna take a little jog over to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Buy yourself a nice Louisville Slugger. Bring it right back to the quad and swing that bat as hard as you can into your nuts. Every hour, on the hour. And every time you swing, yell "Jumanji." Sound good? MADDIE PHILLIPS as CATE DUNLAPin GEN V S1 (2023)

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"you can smell it?" mattea asked. she tried to think back to all the time she spent with other supes, tried to think if she'd noticed a smell. maybe she had, maybe she hadn't. she couldn't be sure. she tried to give the air between them a sniff without seeming like she was.

she cleared her throat, took another drink of water and then spoke again, this time perfectly mimicking her companion's voice "alright, so maybe i am holding back." it was gruff, gravelly and felt a little like there was something in her throat. she loved to do it, but barely got to because of how under wraps she had to keep her abilities. it would be fun to do with her friends if she had any she trusted enough to keep it secret. until now mattea settled for telling reporters and talk show hosts that doing accents was her party trick.

her lips tensed and then untensed as she relaxed her facial posture. it was like another muscle, when she didn't use her voice to it's full capacity it felt a little tight especially after a full concert. "i'm holding back a little, but it's not like vought needs me for anything real."

a certain high overtakes him when others seem nervous around him, but there are parts of him— the leon parts that miss the way it felt to just be without having to project this persona out to the world. it's only gotten worse as time marched on and cameras were everywhere now. the mask barely holding on by a thread. except for right now where the cameras are not currently. and she feels it too, finally relaxes. not completely but vought tends to keep them on short leashes, especially the ones in their pockets but officially not in their pockets. they were all products. even her, the smell is unmistaken. compound v always had that distinct smell to him. hard to let anything slip past him now. he'd been careless before but no longer.

he leans forward away from the back of the couch now bringing his hand down from the back of it. a shake of his helmeted head, ‘‘ oh come on, you're a smart girl. ’’ gestures with his fingerless gloved hand, ‘‘ i can smell the reek of compound v on you. ’’

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she didn't wonder how he got past her dad or security. both were protective, but they weren't stupid. if they saw the most powerful man in the world, they'd let him by instead of challenging him. she didn't blame them for that, or for not giving her warning. mattea...didn't really know what she would do if she had warning about who was waiting for her. freak out maybe? hide out for a little while in the bathroom or offer to sign cds for a little while.

instead, she was looking at captain vought comfortable as could be on her couch with a stain that wasn't there on the carpet before she went on stage. it was all weird.

a lot of the time she felt like she was going to get in trouble with vought. when she started pushing for an image shift, or to write more of her own music and have more say in how it was produced. when she put a stop to the incessant daily pap walks when she was just trying to walk her dog. everything in her life felt so rehearsed, and perfect. and she loved a lot of it, she got everything she dreamed about as a kid. she got to sell out stadiums and sing and dance in beautiful clothes. but she was always being watched. her leash was loose, but it tightened when she pushed back or stepped out of line and needed to be reminded that she ought to be more grateful.

"yeah, i can see that." he smile didn't waver, just settled into a more natural less adrenaline fueled one as she allowed herself to relax a little. she'd be coming down from the show high for a while, but she could breathe a little easier now. she reached for a chapstick on her dressing table and smoothed it over her lips while he spoke. she didn't dare pull the bullshit 'i've got nothing to do with vought' act she did when asked about them and whether she was a supe in interviews. but she wasn't sure she wanted to be so honest with this stranger either. "what do you mean by that? you think my music is shallow or something?"

being a veteran of both the military and vought international, it granted him access to things others normally wouldn't be. sometimes however, he's still met with a "captain vought, sir, you can't go in there" or "you are not authorized to be here captain vought, sir" sometimes standing there ground despite the shake and stutter to their voice. then he dangles it before them, looming like a dark cloud that never dissipates: his loss of the last four decades, life-times they took away— and not just his. they back off then, probably don't think their life is worth being lost over a job at vought international. nor did they probably want to go against a man who essentially came back from the dead. in a manner of speaking.

this time, he didn't have to use his words. just his piercing gaze form under his helmet did the trick and the pa folded like an exceptionally bad poker hand. why was he forcing his way into her dressing room? he's become making a habit out of getting to know as many supes as he can. some due to his curiosity, he was the first after all. back then he didn't have others to bounce ideas off of, he, along with the rest of the science team had no idea how to proceed following his sole survival. it was a learning curve he had to do alone. but also if he thought he had any success in bringing down vought international, he'd need as many anti-vought people as he could muster, supe or not. one many army status wouldn't cut it. the added extra of potentially seeing her undressed, that was the optional bonus.

leon takes a sip of his ice coffee. he spits it out. who the fuck made this. it's shit today. he peels back the lid and dumps the contents onto the floor of her dressing room. fucking yuck. plops himself down onto the couch, man-spreads, puts a pillow between his legs. one arm to the back of the couch and relaxes into it. she enters a few moments later, clearly exhausted by the way her sweat smells. but a smile etched upon her features none the less. her pa didn't tell her who it was evidently. that's fine, always more fun to catch the scent of them during their surprise. his nose wrinkles, ‘‘ I'm full of surprises. ’’

his eyes track her movement from under his helmet as she moved to sit close-by, ‘‘ I think vought is wasting your talent. ’’

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LIKE for starter from mattea ortega

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ALL-AMERICAN BITCH Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour

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FINALLY posted mattea's bio

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"kittens for all," cassie agreed. she knew annie would. the other woman had actually been trying to make time to come see cassie's collection of permanent residents, strays and fosters. "did you have pets growing up?" she wasn't trying to assess maeve's fitness to be around pets, she was just curious.

"I sometimes have those." She said. They were all used to following the rules and scripts they were handed that thinking outside of the box didn't usually occur on the first round. A smile from her. "You have my number." She said. "I think Annie would like it too."

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this song and video are so deeply mattea's vibe if she tried to rebel (this would be the intro to her bangerz era lbr)

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thought about someone calling cherie claudia again or speaking russian or ukrainian to her and got a lil dizzy.

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@w3atherwitch sent " you should see the other guy. " (for Cassandra?)

"oh, i'm sure he looks like shit," cassie laughed. she'd been sent here by vought to clean up actual criminal activity and make it look like one of vought's heroes dealt with it and not like they were late to the scene. cassie thought it was embarrassing for her and for the other woman. "let's just get this over with, okay? i'm sure this isn't ideal for either of us." setting up crimes, saves, and fights was just obnoxious, but at least cassie was being sent on assignments now.

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they were going old school for this campaign. they had to. the internet was a nasty place to be right now. and they were doing a lot online, but for every ad the singer neuman campaign put out, there was so much more shit from the opposition campaign pushed out into the internet landscape. singer and neuman could go on podcasts and do interviews, but those almost never reached people who were on the fence. they had to go out into the streets and canvas.

"hi, i'm nylah! i'm with the singer-neuman campaign. would-" she got the whole beginning of her usual spiel out before she realized who had opened the door. the beard made a difference, but there was no mistaking him. "holy shit," nylah drew the word out and stepped back a little. "i don't assume you want to hear about the singer-neuman campaign, do you? are you even registered to vote?" as strange as the question might be, it was the most appropriate thing she could think to say. despite everything she felt about vought and supes, she still thought they should be able to vote. even him.

STARTER CALL | starter for @anti-supe / leon marshall *

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paranoia came with the territory, being a mother, a public figure, stan edgar's daughter. it was all laced with hypervigilance. she knew she couldn't protect all of it forever. she already had people watching nadia 24/7 and moved her to online school for even further protection while they were on the campaign trail. she seemed to be taking to it alright, but victoria could see that she was missing her friends and routine from before. that was why she took extra time with her to help her with an assignment even when she knew that it would make her late for her meeting.

she did eventually leave her daughter sitting at the kitchenette counter in their hotel room and ditch her security to drive out into the country. it was properly dark by the time they got to the location they'd picked, and victoria hadn't realized just how shitty of a place it was. the gas station was run down and even the led lights that illuminated the small parking lot seemed to be worse for wear. she got out of the car, pulling her jacket around her. it was windier out here than she'd expected. "i'm late, i know." she announced to the driver of the only other car in parking lot. victoria leaned against the hood of her car, waiting for leon to approach her. "this place really is in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, isn't it?"

STARTER CALL | starter for @anti-supe / leon marshall *

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vought did a lot to capitalize off it's supes, but sometimes they picked another strategy entirely. the character they had built for mattea was one of mystery. she was talented, 'captivating' was one way she remembered being described while they talked around her. mattea knew, she didn't have to look in the subreddits or her instagram comments to see people speculating about whether or not she was home grown talent or whether vought was backing her. it got to her sometimes, knowing the truth was more of one than the other, but there was nothing she could do about it. the choice had been made for her and she stood by it. for the most part. she was just biding her time until vought decided to make some big publicity move out of 'revealing' that all that speculation had been true.

she ran off stage and stopped midway down the hall to her dressing room to catch her breath and reach for her water bottle when one of her pa's approached her saying that there was someone here to see her. it wasn't entirely unusual, but she usually had more warning. besides, the pa seemed a little...on edge. mattea nodded, slurping through her straw as she walked down the hall to her dressing room. light seeped through the crack in the door before she pushed it open. she was tired, but plastered on a smile to face whoever was behind the door.

"oh!" she set her water bottle on the shelf by the door as her eyes fell on the once (still) famous captain vought. "i didn't know you were a fan." she didn't entirely believe that he was. she wasn't sure what to make of the man who seemed to have made himself comfortable in her dressing room. he was in her usual spot, but she wasn't about to ask him to move. she left the door ajar and moved to sit on one of her closed trunks. "what did you think?," mattea asked, but there was also an unspoken what are you doing here?

STARTER CALL | starter for @anti-supe / leon marshall *

[toomagic]

"i want you not to treat me like i have the plague, but you do kind of have to be willing to touch me for us to get through this exercise." lizzie was used to feeling isolated. there were more than a few people who outright refused to touch her. even some of her friends would hold josie's hand, but not lizzie's. "i know what it's like to be afraid of what you can do, and for people to be afraid of you. i'm not going to use that against you." she meant it, even if it was hard for her to admit to that kind of vulnerability.

@toomagic. the fact that lizzie's ability existed at all was unsettling. there was no universe in which people should be able to take parts of other people's powers ... and for someone like wylder who had worked his ass off to develop some sense of control? the idea of her threw him off completely. ❝ that's for the best. ❞ wylder said when she reassured him that she didn't want to handle his powers, ❝ the darkness isn't for everybody. it took me a while to be able to do what i do. ❞ the fact that he could now not only remove the light from a room but weaponize the shadows? he had worked his ass off on that. maybe there was a part of him that was a little afraid of what lizzie would do with his power ... but he'd never admit that. ❝ so you want me to touch you then? ❞

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when do i get my lizzie/cate isolated girlies whose powers people are afraid of ship?