7422/Let's go shopping for comics!

Let's go shopping for comics!
Date of Scene:	18 August 2021
Location:	Steve's Comic Books
Synopsis:	takes Clarice comic book hunting. They find a few that should interest her.
Cast of Characters:	Lydia Dietrich, Clarice Ferguson

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Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It's a lazy Tuesday afternoon, and Lydia had a brilliant idea for a way to get Clarice more engaged with reading beyond listening to audiobooks and reading along. Comics! She's never been one for comics herself so she doesn't know what's good or what's not, so she decides to take Clarice to a comic store to see if she can find something that she would like.

"Here we are!" Lydia says, once they get to the comic store. She had Clarice port them down somewhere close by, and then led her to the store as a kind of surprise. "I think this would be a great place for you. I want you to find some things that you think you'd like to read and we'll get them."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    As they approach the store, Clarice shows puzzlement on her features. She went into a book store recently with Mystique and Lydia. This store was //different//. Quite distinctly so. "This is... a comic book store?" she asks with confusion. "How are comic books different from other books?" The shapes is wrong, for one. They're taller. And floppier. And much, much thinner. She picks one up almost at random - momentarily studying the cover with a costumed figure striding towards the 'camera' - before she flips it open and blinks in surprise. "It's- the whole thing's filled with pictures?" she asks curiously, flipping through the pages.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods, as she picks up another one at random. "They're a little bit easier to read, too. I wanted to find something that would keep you engaged while reading. Something that you could read on your own without having to rely on the audiobooks." She flips through it before setting it back. "There's so many though... I don't even know where you would begin."

The sales clerk sees the look of confusion of the two women and walks up to them with a smile on her fact. "Can I help you two?"

"Oh! Yes," Lydia says, turning to face her. "We're new to comic books and I wanted to get her something to read."

The sales clerk nods, getting a serious look on her fact. "I see. What kind of genres do you like?" she asks Clarice.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I... don't know," Clarice replies uncertainly, as she carefully puts back the comic book she'd picked up - right back where it belongs. "Umm. I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland recently. It was a very strange and silly book - I don't read very much, or very well," she admits a touch nervously.
    "....what kinds of books do you like to read?" she asks the clerk curiously. "Are there any that're a bit easier to read than others?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The clerk nods understandingly. "Strange and silly. I think I have a book for you." She turns and starts heading towards the trades, and gives Clarice and Lydia a friendly gesture to follow. "I like all sorts of comic books," she tells Clarice. "Superheroes, horror, scifi, you name it!" She laughs, "I'm sorry that's not very helpful, but the employee discount is why I got this job."

Once they're at the trades, she starts running her fingers along the spines of some of the books. "I suggest starting with the collections, that way you get a complete story from the outset."

"That makes sense," Lydia says, still kind of overwhelmed since there are still a /lot/ of books here.

"Here we go." She pulls out a book titled, 'Lumberjanes Volume 1.' It's got a group of five diverse girls on the cover posing before what looks like a wood cabin. "I highly recommend this one. It's one of my faves. It's got /great/ gay and trans representation as well as having weird strange stories. I think you'd like it!"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Lumberjanes?" Clarice repeats, taking the book as it's handed to her. She flips through it curiously, letting her gaze scan over the pictures. She pauses on one page at random - slowly and carefully reading the dialogue with her lips moving silently as she does. "There's a lot more pictures than words," she remarks. She smiles a bit broader for a moment as she adds, "That's one of the things Alice complained about in the book I read. That she didn't understand how anyone could enjoy a book without pictures or conversations." And this obviously had both.
    She glances towards Lydia for a moment, and then the clerk, before she shrugs her shoulders a bit helplessly. "We'll try it?" she asks. "I mean - how much is it? Can't be that much..." It's just a book.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia shakes her head. "Don't worry about the price. If I buy it it's tax deductible, though..." She blinks. "How am I supposed to explain my salary to the IRS without it looking suspicious?" She shakes her head. "That's a worry for another time. Regardless we'll get it."

The clerk beams and turns back towards the shelves of trades. "If you want something a little more challenging," she says, pulling out another book, "There's Fables. It's about fairy tale characters coming to live on Earth."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Oh, I- ummm. I'm not sure that 'more challenging' is necessary," Clarice remarks - sounding a little embarrassed. "I mean, shouldn't I see how I do with this one, first?" she asks. She looks to Lydia for confirmation of this. Maybe she's looking for an easy way out. After all - reading still intimidated her quite a lot, even with her friends doing their best to support and reassure her.
    "I wouldn't expect a story about fairies to be difficult, though. Isn't that usually... little girl stuff? Fairies and unicorns and the like?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks thoughtful for a moment. "I think you should get at least one challenging book. Not too challenging but something that will push at the edge of your comfort zone," she concludes. "We'll get you this Lumberjanes one, probably another that about your level and a more challenging one."

The store clerk shakes her head at Clarice. "Not that kind of fairies. Fairy tales like Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel. Those kinds of things." She gives Clarice a warm smile, "If that's not your sort of thing, then we can find something else that would suit you."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    //Three// books? Clarice stares at Lydia for a moment. Three is a lot of books! "Oh," she murmurs quietly. She quickly forces a smile back into place, though, as she agrees. "Oh, okay. Yeah, sure. We'll try that."
    Her attention shifts towards the clerk as she looks thoughtful at the stories he rattles off. "Cinderella... I know that. She lost her shoe? And Red Riding Hood... Was eaten by a wolf?" The last one sounds completely unfamiliar to her, it seems.
    "Well. I don't really know what kind of stories I like - because I've never really done much reading. So... if I'm getting three different books, maybe they should all be very different?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods, "They probably should." She turns to the clerk giving her a questioning gaze.

"All right," the clerk says, handing Lydia Fables. She looks at the shelves thoughtfully, trying to think of another book that Clarice might like. "Well..." she says drawing out the word. "If you want something different, you can always try Jem and the Holograms. It's a bit of a slice-of-life story about this teenager who's a musician who gets stage fright really badly, but then her father leaves her a device to turn her into a hologram that allows her to have the confidence to perform. It's good if you want a book that's light on the action, but heavy on relationships."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Oh?" Clarice says uncertainly, as she hears the description of the book. "Well. It certainly sounds very different than anything in my life." She furrows her brow a little before she adds, "If it's about music - even if I don't like it, Cynthia might. She loves moves. She plays piano."
    She's silent for a moment before asking, "What sort of relationships, though? Just, like, friendships? Or...?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Friendships," the clerk says with a nod, "And some romantic, too. It's also very good with representation, having a lot of women love women relationships."

Lydia looks thoughtful. "You might like it," she says. "You don't have to know a lot about something in order to enjoy it. Maybe it's something you and Cynthia can read together?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Maybe," Clarice agrees. "I mean - Cynthia likes girls too. She was, uh..." Her cheeks darken as she remarks, "Well, she told me she thinks Rahne is 'hawt.'" And what could possibly be more unnerving and embarrassing than hearing your new-found sister calling your girlfriend 'hawt'? "We need to find a way for her to meet more girls her age," she remarks with a roll of her eyes.
    Looking towards the Clerk she remarks, "You don't even want to know about the crazy that is my life. Sorry."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"School is the best way for that," Lydia says. "But school is always awkward for everybody. I know it was for me."

The clerk chuckles, "I could tell you a few stories from my life. C'mon. I'll come ring you up," she says cheerfully leading the two up to the front counter. "If you like any of those books, they're continuing series so there's always more."

The cashier rings up the books, and slips them into a paper bag, while Lydia pays for them. She hands the books to Clarice with a happy, "Here you go! I hope to see you again soon!"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Well. Right now she's just taking her classes online," Clarice says uncertainly. "But... we'll see if there are other options."
    She takes the books that're handed to her, smiling to the clerk as she adds, "Thank you very much for your help. I'm sure we would have been lost without it."
    As they turn to make their way out, Clarice adds, "Hey - milkshakes before we go home?" opening a portal in front of them - before she pair step through, and blink out of sight.