How Ivy's Egg Cracked

Kitty? Can I ask you something? 

Kitty looks up from her half-eaten slice of fudge cake. Crumbs circle her lips, and fudge is smeared across her fingers. She's been eating it with her hands.

Yeah. 

Who's your favourite Disney Princess? 

Princess Elsa! Princess Elsa! Or.... or... Jasmine. Or Ariel. Or … … … or … or... … … Does Mulan count as a Disney Princess? Because if she does, then we would act-u-ally say Mulan. 

Let's say yes. 

Then it Mulan. Did you know she helped Ivy come out of her egg? 

Yeah? 

Yeah! She and…and…and… Ping. And…and…and Zelda and Sheik. I like Zelda. And Talon like Sheik. 

Talon is sitting near us, biting on his chewy Superman stim toy, bopping along to something on his phone. He's not listening to the conversation—not until Rouge unplugs his headphones and "I Won't Say I'm In Love" fills the room.

Huh? 

Talon! You wanna talk about Sheik with me and Thalia? 

Talon's eyes light up, and he nods ecstatically. He rolls onto his front, his legs kicking in the air, still chewing. 

Sheik! Sheik! Sheik! S-survivor of the Sheikah. He is a warrior. And plays the harp. And he only appears in Or... Or... Oricorio of Time. 

Huh? Ori...corio? 

I look from Talon to Rouge. They just shrug and go back to Injustice 2 on the Xbox. Red Hood (Rouge) is beating the snot out of Michelangelo and the rest of the TMNTs (Domino). 

It's Ocarina of Time, Silly. Oricorio is a Pokémon. You're so Silly. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Her echolalia stim: The arpeggio giggle of the Celestial Toymaker)

S-sorry. LAA.

Talon rolls back onto his back and curls into a ball, nuzzling the butterfly cushion and soaking in the sunlight. He purrs, and his feet and hands quiver with joy.

Kitty, are you going to tell the story? 

What story? 

The egg story.

What egg story? 

Ivy's egg story. 

Which one? 

THE one. 

Oh. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Yay! I forgot to tell the story! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Tell the story! Tell the story! LAA! Ha! LA! Ha! LA! 

Okay, okay, okay. So Ivy... Ivy…Ivy… Ivy grew up as DSE, you know, before DSE became one of us. She was always called a girl and mocked for her ef-fem-in-itiy. Because she liked make-up and clothes and dressed like a cheerleader. In massive pink (*punk rock) white heels. 

LA! That Wildcat cheerleader outfit. 

Yah! And on days where this happened—which was most days—she would come home, have a cry into her textbook and watch Mulan on YouTube. Watch Reflection. And Reflection. And Reflection. And... you get the idea. She would watch Mulan. And all her fears and in-sec-uri-ties—HA I said big word— would go a-way. She felt scene. And that she didn't have to hide. Because she could never be the perfect son, but could be the daughter she was inside - at least by herself for a while. And with that, she could look in the mirror and deal with the boy staring straight back at she. That started cracking egg... and then we fast forward to today, where she see reflection show who she is inside. 

LAA! And and and then there is the love story too. Between Ping and Shen!

Li Shang.

Yay, him! Yay! Because... because… it was when Mulan was Ping that Shang fell in love. It has to be. It makes the most na—nara—narrative sense.. 

A victory to us BI-GUYS! 

Jack beamed over his copy of Paris Lee's What It Feels Like For A Girl. He hasn't put it down since he bought it from Waterstones for £10.99. Best eleven quid he ever spent. 

I played as a BI-GUY once. He was green—Delirium chimed in— Was when I played Mario Kart DS multiplayer with my brother. Which was only once, and he said never again because he got Blue Shelled four times in one race.

That's SHY GUY, silly!