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Pound the Table | An X-Men Self-Insert

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horngeek said:
Noa: "The actual worst thing about my mutation, I'm telling you-"
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Noa: "The actual worst thing about my mutation? It's not the no ears bit, it's not the tail making a lot of seats and chairs uncomfortable. It's the shedding. Every few months, all of these scales? Gone, replaced by brand new ones. And the new ones are really bright and shiny when they first come in, and I love the way they look, yes. But that's maybe three days, and there's two weeks of just itching beforehand. Also, all that keratin! I need to eat so many onions and so much garlic, so much sweet potato and salmon! And then it means my nails are going to be horrible in another two months, because there's only so much keratin to go around!"
 
October Daye said:
Noa: "The actual worst thing about my mutation? It's not the no ears bit, it's not the tail making a lot of seats and chairs uncomfortable. It's the shedding. Every few months, all of these scales? Gone, replaced by brand new ones. And the new ones are really bright and shiny when they first come in, and I love the way they look, yes. But that's maybe three days, and there's two weeks of just itching beforehand. Also, all that keratin! I need to eat so many onions and so much garlic, so much sweet potato and salmon! And then it means my nails are going to be horrible in another two months, because there's only so much keratin to go around!"
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Noa has a clear opportunity here to use her shedded scales as fake nails. Just opening up a line of cosmetics. Noa Schaefer, makeup entrepeneur.
 
October Daye said:
Noa: "The actual worst thing about my mutation? It's not the no ears bit, it's not the tail making a lot of seats and chairs uncomfortable. It's the shedding. Every few months, all of these scales? Gone, replaced by brand new ones. And the new ones are really bright and shiny when they first come in, and I love the way they look, yes. But that's maybe three days, and there's two weeks of just itching beforehand. Also, all that keratin! I need to eat so many onions and so much garlic, so much sweet potato and salmon! And then it means my nails are going to be horrible in another two months, because there's only so much keratin to go around!"
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Could be MUCH worse. At least some species that shed their scales have real difficulty in seeing during that process so Noa actually is luckier than she might appreciate.
 
So, she is saying to others she sheds scales from her body.

Is she advertising such? There are some people with quirks that would buy them, for whatever purpose.

A 'magic potion' or scientific concoction? Who knows?
 
TerraBull said:
So, she is saying to others she sheds scales from her body.

Is she advertising such? There are some people with quirks that would buy them, for whatever purpose.

A 'magic potion' or scientific concoction? Who knows?
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Selling your own body sheddings might have undesirable consequences, either social (it's pretty weird in most contexts) or esoteric (sympathetic magic or who knows what else). And Noa really doesn't need that kind of money.
 
I mean, it's kind of an open question what Noa even is. She's clearly an Au Ra, but not even they know what they are. Part dragon is the most common answer, but no one really knows.

Though I have to say, a dragon lawyer makes WAY too much sense.
 
Firehawk242 said:
I mean, it's kind of an open question what Noa even is. She's clearly an Au Ra, but not even they know what they are. Part dragon is the most common answer, but no one really knows.

Though I have to say, a dragon lawyer makes WAY too much sense.
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I mean, I'm going with "the closest analogue is pangolins" regarding the scales. Plus a few other odd little physiological differences to try and make what were clearly aesthetic decisions make sense on a physiological scale.
 
October Daye said:
Noa: "The actual worst thing about my mutation? It's not the no ears bit, it's not the tail making a lot of seats and chairs uncomfortable. It's the shedding. Every few months, all of these scales? Gone, replaced by brand new ones. And the new ones are really bright and shiny when they first come in, and I love the way they look, yes. But that's maybe three days, and there's two weeks of just itching beforehand. Also, all that keratin! I need to eat so many onions and so much garlic, so much sweet potato and salmon! And then it means my nails are going to be horrible in another two months, because there's only so much keratin to go around!"
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Ouch. That would really suck.

Being itchy all the time is a nightmare.
 
It's the price of being an Au'ra in a non FFXIV setting

You know their natural habitat with foods and prey to best fit their dietary needs and shedding and stuff or something something science I have a humans degree I haven't opened a biology book in 2 fuckin decades and this joke has lost control
 
This seems like a good point to put forward my answer to this challenge:
October Daye said:
Also, I finally had a chance to go and really show everybody one of Noa's major character flaws. I'm honestly a little disappointed in myself for not having made it all that evident just yet. Then again? Given how plot-development-heavy everything has been, and how much work I had to do to characterize everybody else, I figure I can let the main character's foibles slip in the short term.

And if you can put a definitive label on this character flaw, you may have an internet cookie.
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Even just looking at the update you posted that in?
October Daye said:
Instead of using a nail, I took a pair of scissors I kept in my desk drawer and used those to open the package. A paper envelope was one thing, but I was not about to ruin my nails on cardboard and packing tape. It was a good way to get your manicurist massively passive-aggressive at you – but more importantly it was galling, having my nails get cracked, chipped, and messy.
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October Daye said:
I reached into my purse and pulled a couple of tissues out of a small disposable pack I carried, then held that over my nose. Cigarette smoke was one of the few things in this world I well and truly loathed. It reeked. It gave me headaches just smelling it. It irritated my eyes and made my contact lenses itch. And the worst part?

Cigarette smoke makes your boobs sag.
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October Daye said:
I shrugged. That wasn't exactly how I would put it, but I could see where Jameson was coming from. After all, what was worse: realizing that you were simply incapable of accepting a hard-fought loss, or realizing that every victory you'd attained was at the sufferance of somebody who was capable of trouncing you right from the start?

Personally, it was the former, because it spoke more about your character, or lack thereof. But that was just my take, perhaps due to the fact that I cared about my image more than most.
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October Daye said:
A stern brunette sat at the desk, her hair in a perm that was probably barely holding on two months ago but was now desperately in need of a salon
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October Daye said:
I countered with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. We both knew why I was here, and I wasn't going to let her judgment bother me. After all, she was the one who made the decision to get a perm, even knowing Jameson would have her too busy to maintain it.
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October Daye said:
The door opened, and I could hear Betty's failing perm rub up against the door.
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Vanity. Not the grandiose obsessive screaming compulsion that seems to be the only time media recognizes it. But a sort of small, petty form of placing the appearances of things, of people putting care into their appearance being a measure of them as people, at higher value.

It had showed up previously in some of the particulars of how Noa registered the appearances of other characters, and even her immediate lint-rolling in the prologue chapter, but those all being fairly up front and in your face about it helped make it clear. It manifests elsewhere, in how she thinks about losing a case (most of the time), and little hints and nudges all around, but once you see it, you see it.
 
So, recent discussion elsewhere has given me an itch, one that can only be scratched by Canary from Worm getting a competent lawyer crowdfunded by her fans. Specifically, writing an AU Omake of Noa in Earth Bet. Trouble is, I don't know anything about the process by which Lawyer A could take over a case midtrial from Lawyer B, let alone when given consideration to particulars such as "in Massachusetts" or "from different firms."
 
Ganurath said:
So, recent discussion elsewhere has given me an itch, one that can only be scratched by Canary from Worm getting a competent lawyer crowdfunded by her fans. Specifically, writing an AU Omake of Noa in Earth Bet. Trouble is, I don't know anything about the process by which Lawyer A could take over a case midtrial from Lawyer B, let alone when given consideration to particulars such as "in Massachusetts" or "from different firms."
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Not a lawyer, but did have to switch lawyers in the middle of a case once, there are just a set of standardized motions a notice of appearance, a motion to substitute counsel, and an order on substitution.
Also, a Pro hac vice filling allows a lawyer to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction even if they aren't admitted to the local bar.
 
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