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spadesolace · 5 months

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the idea of yoo - 1.4. what even is love? (written)

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“you sure about joining me for this service?” you looked at rei who was also putting her shoes on. nodding in confirmation that she does want to do this.

“i wouldn’t worry much about you being bored. father lee would keep you entertained.”

“why?”

“he says some… out of pocket things.”

rei looks at you confused as you fix her top. the sad smile is still evident in your features but not quite like the weeks before. an entire month, you were busy to say the least; working on backlogs and gaining extra for you and rei - mostly for rei.

the mass was quite the usual, you did have a responsibility for being the pianist to which you have to start looking for a new one.

your gaze travels around the people sitting below, rei is right next to you, looking around the amount of instruments just for you.

there’s jimin… i really messed up.

jimin lost her spark, the same gleam you saw when first meeting had been gone - like a star after a supernova, becoming a black hole. hoping that wasn’t the case for the shining star that is yoo jimin.

yeonjun was late, sitting next to his dad, who had quite the expression for whatever they were talking about. he still looked the same from the day he found out - disappointed, sad, and confused.

deacon yoo became white noise to you, you’ve heard the same message time and time again but you weren’t expecting jeno to stand in front. if rei was bored, this got her attention.

“thank you. love! what is love? love is patient, it is kind. it does not envy nor boast, it is not proud… which is why i love this little lady.”

if the heartbreak from the past month didn’t hurt, what jeno would say next will.

“and why - she’d make me a fantastic wife. Jimin, will you-“

“NO!”

everyone turns around, yeonjun and jimin finally looks at you after a month. you were hoping not in this way, not letting your emotions get the best of you.

“i- uh- i just wanted to add that…” you maintained eye contact with jimin, within the friendship you had developed with yeonjun within the past months you learned one phrase. fuck it, we ball.

“love is-”

“love isn’t pretending.” yeonjun cut you off, taking a deep breath and a quick glance at deacon yoo then to jimin, looking at him so intently. “i know because i’ve been pretending. only for a few months, but it sucks.”

“yeon…” he’s being careful with his wording - not to cause mayhem in the small chapel. one that would make everyone question life and the little town that is kwangya.

“what sucks more is having to pretend to be - not you - your whole life.” that was directed at you, only yeonjun and rei know about it.

“my whole life, i thought there was only one way to love, but there’s more. so many more - and i don’t wanna be the guy that stops someone loving… the way they want to love.” the yeonjun you first met months ago wasn’t like this. you knew him as the tall guy with pink hair and dances every now and then. he’s matured, understood where you were coming from, and he accepted it.

deacon yoo cuts him off, assuming this whole fiasco is done and getting ready to bring the attention back to jeno, the star of the show, the golden boy of the town, the one who everyone believed jimin is destined for. within years of observing, you learned one thing from yeonjun and jeno; fuck it, we ball.

“i also have been pretending…” gasps throughout the chapel, deacon yoo has given up at this point.

“i know where this is going, naoi y/n. i’m flattered, really, but you and i wo-”

“jeno, for once in your life - can it. i’ve been writing your assignments for the entirety of high school so stop acting like the hero in this story.” he shuts up, backs away and sits down next to father lee. taking a deep breath, you look back at jimin who has been looking at you for a while now.

“if you’ll forgive me, i will just rewrite you one last time.” you look at yeonjun who finally looks up at you, a sad smile, teary eyes, and flushed cheeks - nodding to let you continue on.

“love isn’t patient, kind, humble… love is messy, deceiving, selfish, and… bold.” jimin is confused as you walk down the stairs from the balcony. rei recording everything that is happening and you just let it.

“it’s not finding your perfect half. it’s about trying and reaching, and failing - despite the effort you put in with no promise of success. love is being willing to try something new.” a quick glance at yeonjun, he smiles at you, urging you to continue on.

“love is admiring your favorite art, despite it being overrated - but despite everyone looking your way and admitting that you are no different from the rest. yet, you are. the good thing about being different is that no one expects you to be like them.” everything finally clicks to jimin, from the letters, your actions, how different yeonjun is compared to the letters and conversations she had with him.

“love is accepting them for who they are despite the deception - making them fall for the idea of you.”

“you.”

“... yeah.”

you hold your breath, jimin makes her way. assuming she’d go after you - slap you, scream even, but no. she walks towards yeonjun, somewhat apologetic eyes and a loud smack was all you heard as she leaves. everything goes into mayhem. you started this.

“AMEN!” father lee shouted as everyone started screaming, fighting, having some bits and pieces of realization. yeonjun and his father talking, you couldn’t hear it but all you could is them hugging each other then the sudden scream from mr. choi.

“ARE YOU INSANE?!” yeonjun turn his head away from his father smacking him in the head, a smile towards you and a thumbs up. mouthing we good? you nod as you sign him to cover his head for another smack from his father.

“come on, let’s get going. that’s enough of this chaotic mess.” rei pulls you out of the chapel, letting the noise die down as you walk out and head on home.

taglist [CLOSED]:

@1luvkarina @beawolfbealionbeyou @pandafuriosa60 @txtbrainrot @rinapomu @limbforalimb @yoontoonwhs @noascats @thefckghost @petruchiosstuff

#aespa x fem reader #aespa smau #aespa x reader #karina aespa #aespa #aespa karina #karina x reader #karina imagines #karina #yoo jimin x reader #yu jimin #yoo jimin #the idea of yoo smau #SHE SAID THE TITLE WHAT?!?!

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archie-sunshine · 2 months

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How long did it take Pandora to believe Jak he wasn't an Ai? Like I know the world is made by your friend so not sure how well you can answer this one but.

Is true sapient ai not a thing? I know in other posts you said a lot of other bots were running around with other purposes outside fighting (i would guess like, maids, personal assistants, nannies etc) but you also mentioned with Pandora's robot fucking habits the more simple the ai the more she liked it.

Lol I'm just super curious if at first she thought someone *actually* managed to hack her pc, then maybe thought she stumbled upon some illegal level advanced ai (know some sci-fi worlds outlaw sapient ai to avoid the whole issues that usually causes) until she finally believed this conscious on a drive he was a human despite remembering basically nothing about his human life and using media to make references to who he was.

GREAT QUESTION i've thought extensively about this actually

SO! greater worldbuilding questions I may not be the best at answering, however from what I understand, sapient AI is ABSOLUTELY a thing in this world. Androids, and robots sometimes get built with that kind of ai, and(I think, @pinkanonwrites can confirm or deny) it certainly exists in silicon based life forms, and sentient alien robot species that appear in pink's world.

There ARE also body guards and other androids like that from what i've seen, and so hyper complex AI is absolutely around. In the main campaign we've met sapient robot body guards that like. have off time and play magic the gathering and stuff(ingo and eres my loves).

BUT!

Pandora absolutely initially thought she might have been hacked, and she might have thought he was an ai. She initially was just taking a peek under the hood at what was in the processor, and when she found it was mostly a bunch of random files, most of which were corrupted in some way, she was going to just wipe the hard drive.

And it didn't really matter if it was an AI. because she'd never seen a computer virus beg not to die like JAK did.

Was it cheesy? sure. Was it stupid of her to keep him? absolutely.

If this was a prank or a dupe or an attempted hack, they were certainly going for it in terms of production value, considering the drive had footage of a person's entire life from the moment he began to form memories to a hard roadblock of corrupted files.

don't worry, she hasn't seen everything thats in there, just skimming it was a bit much for her.

She honestly didn't start fully believing he wasn't an ai until she put him in her bot and saw how odd his code meshed with a body.

#archie answers #my art #my requests #tw horror #tw psychological horror #freaky stuff right there tbh #oc lore #my ocs #JAK #Pandora #circua prime #circua

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greyias · 11 months

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I really don’t want swtor to shut down it’s the only eu thing that’s active we have left

I knew these asks were going to start coming in.

So for those who haven't heard, it was reported, and then later confirmed by Keith Kanneg on the forums, that EA is "selling" SWTOR to another developer, Broadsword. For those who want to read the article discussing it, you can read here: https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-the-old-republic-development-third-party-bioware

TL;DR -- It's not shutting down. The servers are going to stay active for a while

There's a few points to note here:

If I understand things correctly, EA actually owns Broadsword. So EA is in fact not actually offloading a property, I think what's actually happening is BioWare Austin itself is being divvied out and would not be surprised to see if that branch is shut down

At least half of the SWTOR dev team is part of this move, so the key things to keep an eye on is which members of the dev team are moving. If the narrative staff is kept intact, then we have more story ahead of us beyond what's been written, and they've confirmed we're getting 7.3, 7.3.1, and 7.4. It's important to note that their production timeline is generally a year out from things being written, so story-wise, if they have narrative staff, we'll likely still have some story drops ahead of us

SWTOR is profitable (it hit over $1 billion in profit several years ago), and I will admit I don't have the best understanding of video game finances, but my impresion it was far into the black and maybe not an enromous cash cow, but a decent consistent revenue stream. EA is a publisher that is about profits, so as long as the game is profitable, even if there's not new story drops, the game will stay online

Disney has seemingly taken a recent interest in SWTOR after mostly ignoring it after its acquisition of Star Wars, even going so far as to finally acknowledge the general KOTOR/SWTOR era in their presentations last year at Celebration. Does this ultimately mean anything? I don't know, but SWTOR is one of the longest running current properties with a stable player base. They're just as interested in profit as EA. Probably another indicator that the game will keep running for a while.

Other properties that Broadsword operates, such as Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online, are old games. Ultima Online was released in 1997, and the servers are still active. So like, I think regardless of what happens in regards of the story, we're not losing the ability to log in and play the game

Long term subscriptions - I remember reading, and forgive me, because I've long forgotten the source, that a key indicator if the servers are going offline is to also keep an eye on the six-month subscription option. Basically, if suddenly the only option for subs goes down to one month, that's when to worry about being able to actually play the game.

This is probably not about SWTOR, but BioWare as a whole. It seems there's a leadership issue at the main Alberta office that's causing issues. This is likely an Anthem issue all over again, but Anthem this time happens to be the Mass Effect and Dragon Age properties. Unfortunately, BioWare Austin looks like it's going to suffer the consequences of that, even though they've been running a tight ship overall compared to the rest of the branches. I feel for them. This sucks.

Now I'm not an oracle, I have no idea if this is ultimately a good or bad thing for the game itself. There's a lot of evidence for both sides of the coin, so right now the best thing is to wait and see. We at least have the promise of the next two patches. Let's focus on enjoying that, and celebrating what we love about our silly space game.

If you love the game, keep playing it. Spend money on it, and keep it profitable and it will stay around. Be kind and supportive of the devs, who regardless of how this shakes out, are going through a major transition. But immediately decrying an active game's death and going into doom and gloom is not going to help things.

Will we get more story beyond 7.4? I do not know one way or the other. I hope we do, but it's hard to say for certain on that front. But I do believe we'll still have our toons and be able to replay all of the released content for quite a while to come. Again, for now I'm just going to enjoy my favorite game, and support it as long as I have it. Even if this inevitably means it's going to change.

#i will say #they made a significant investment in regards to the upcoming date night stuff #as its all fully voiced #which involves a LOT of voice actors #so i just don't know guys #i'm just going to focus on loving my game #in all its quirks and quibbles #but will probably be muting or unfollowing anyone being overtly negative about this news #as i just don't have it in me to see a constant stream of negativity about my happy place right now #you do you #we all cope in our own ways #i'm trying to remain cautiously hopeful #forgive me i got about four hours of sleep last night #because insomnia has to insomnia #so i hope this came across well

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beanghostprincess · 4 months

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I don't know why, but I think Usopp, of all people, might smell gorgeous despite the fact of him being a pirate. Maybe it's those long, luscious, beautiful curly hair of his, or maybe it's just an impression given by the fact that he's not canonically that dirty, but my brain only understands simple things, so -- > long hair + not that smelly = smells pretty effing good. And...I don't even think it would be one of those artificial, chemical smells? Like, I don't think he would wear perfume or such [that's more a Sanji thing, which is not bad, but not exactly Usopp].

It's just. His hair products. Natural scented products, that is. Sweet notes of coconut and vanilla, with a little tangy switch given by muted notes of lemon.

Also, a white soap user. I stand by this. 'Cause it makes sense: I think that being a generally very cheap product, he grew up using white soap to clean himself. Simply put, I think the comforting smell of the soap would remind him of his childhood, his village, his mother, and his friends. Also, Kaya is a white soap user, confirmed [she told me].

His clothes are also clean and smell very homey and cozy. And did I mention that probably his skin looks great too? Maybe not, but that's an argument for another day.

This, being a Usopp headcanon, obviously contains lots of Sanuso headcanons.

Because yes, Sanji is enamored of his trèsor's smell. He wouldn't get enough of it in a single day, in a single span of 24 hours. Like, a day it's too little, and I think Sanji would go a bit insane if he didn't get a whiff of his boyfriend's gorgeous smell every once in a while. Because. His boyfriend is his safe place, so his boyfriend's smell would bring him comfort [this considered, WCI would've been absolute hell to him]. Also, I think Sanji is pretty sensitive to scents in general, so Usopp's warm and sweet fragrance makes him feel at home [Zoro being a hater would not have time for this at all].

And don't get me started with Usopp's resident bestest of friends and certified cuddle buddy [Luffy]: you just know that this menace with abandonment issues [affectionate] would claim his Usopp cuddles every now and then. I also think that after the whole Water 7 ordeal, their cuddle session would've been extensive, because Luffy just "missed Usopp and his smell so much". Even Chopper is smitten with his smell! Small, smell-sensitive Chopper!

Nami would love it, too! Hell, even Zoro would appreciate it [more for the fact that it's Usopp we're talking about, and Zoro would not hate a single little thing about him. Except his taste in man, but that's for another day].

So yeah, to sum up this random headcanon, Usopp is gorgeous has a gorgeous smell, and is the crew safe place.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. So much. Usopp looks like somebody who smells so good. Like flowers and wood. No doubt. He takes so much care of his hair and hygiene that it's kind of surprising that he's a pirate, honestly. Although what did you expect from somebody as anxious as him? I'm sure he's worried about this 24/7. And besides, being Sanji's boyfriend he's legally obligated to smell good because I think Sanji would be very sensitive so scents (as you said. Because it's true. I often mention this on my fics, actually).

Kaya and Usopp took care of each other in a ver intimate way!! Showered together. Shared hair products. Did each other's hair. When Usopp joins the crew, he still takes care of his hair and his image but it's mostly out of routine and love for Kaya more than anything. Besies, he loves taking care of his hair because it reminds him of his parents and the way they loved his hair so much too!! Always said it was the best part of him.

And yay!!!!!!!! Sanuso!!!!!!

Sanji absolutely loves Usopp's scent. He smells like flowers and Nami's tangerines and wood and paint and crayons. Idk how to explain it, but he smells like art and home and Sanji can still somehow smell the Merry on him. Poetic little gays. They miss their daughter. Every time Sanji is feeling anxious or just misses his boyfriend, he will go to Usopp and hug him and place his head on the crook of Usopp's neck. And he just kisses his shoulders and skin there and smells his hair for a while. When they go to sleep together and it's Sanji's turn to be the little spoon (happens most of the time, though) he will either turn around to be able to smell Usopp properly or he will just bring Usopp's hands closer to his lips while they sleep. They're the clingiest thing on earth.

Headcanon that after WCI, Sanji's sense of smell is a bit fucked up. The whole place was full of sweets everywhere and everything smelled like chocolate and strong tooth-rooting food. Sanji has a hard time smelling things again that don't remind him of that. He stops baking sweets for a while, too. So he starts reaching out for Usopp more to drown in his scent whenever the memories of WCI are too strong. He spent a long time without being able to be with his precious boyfriend and the only scent that calmed him down. Thinking about Usopp giving Sanji his bandana when they part ways in Dressrosa and keeping it throughout WCI and smelling it whenever he wants to remember how home feels like.

Luffy and Nami also enjoy Usopp's scent but that's because they're the ones who cuddle with him the most when he's free from the hands of his boyfriend. They're,,, So sweet. And Zoro likes being around him also because of that but, you know, it's Zoro and Usopp, they like being together either way.

To sum up the whole thing, Usopp is the most gorgeous man on earth and he smells like a dream.

#love of my life istg #can you tell i absolutely love usopp and everything about him #aghhh thinking about clingy sanuso always makes me soft #and nami and usopp cuddling going insane #one piece #usopp #black leg sanji #sanuso #monkey d. luffy #east blue crew #strawhat pirates

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littlecello · 5 months

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Lazarus Ending

Hello again!

First, I need to say a huge thank you to all of you who interacted with the write-up I did the other day. I honestly was a little worried to air out my negative feelings of that afternoon, especially because the audience as a whole (mostly comprised of middle-aged white men, I have to add) reacted so positively to everything - Fern and I felt so uncomfortable by the end. So to come here afterwards and have both our fears and feelings confirmed by so many people, it was a huge comfort. And also, I kind of feel like the fandom seems to have risen from the ashes (hah) somehow, in solidarity after this? Which is just wonderful to think about. So, again - thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I'm so glad we have this little space here that we've carved out for ourselves. 💕

Now, without further ado! I will do my best to summarise what Ashely Pharoah told us the overall arc, as well as the ending, of Lazarus would have been.

Caveat 1: They didn't tell us much, because apparently they're still trying to make Lazarus happen in some shape or form - the most likely option, according to AP, is going to be a graphic novel (good luck to the artist trying to get John Simm's likeness right lol), but nothing is confirmed. Still, this meant they really didn't want to go into detail on plot points.

Caveat 2: This is going to sound mean, but: Ashley Pharoah is a terrible public speaker. He explained the ending of Lazarus, but it was pretty jumbled and disjointed, so I'm having a hard time recalling it and putting it into one cohesive summary. I will do my best!

First of all, here is an addition to the summary of the pilot, which is relevant for the ending - I didn't think to add it for my first write-up, but have since added it for better understanding of the overall plot:

[In 2024] Sam returns to the crime scene once more, convinced that rapist PC was murdered. There, he is snatched by two men (who turn out to be two of the officers who most vocally turned against Sam) and brought to a carpark somewhere. As he's dragged out of the car, his eyes are blindfolded by bandages, and the script specifically stated "like in the music video for David Bowie's Lazarus" - this is where the Lazarus iconography was the most blatant. Sam also catches glimpses of a black star throughout the episode. It is implied that the officers, including rapist PC, are all part of an organisation that whose insignia is exactly that black star. The officers threaten him not to investigate rapist PC's death any further, but when Sam finally manages to get the blindfold off, the two men are nowhere to be found. This is when Sam decides to drive back to the care home to pick up Gene and take him for a drive, in hopes that it will jog Gene's memory or the car he had an argument with.

Now, with this in mind, please do your best to recall everything you can from both LoM and A2A, because here goes:

It turns out that the Black Star is the uhh logo? Sign? Of all the "bad cops" who have escaped "bad cop hell". Meanwhile, the "Police God" or "God of Police" (I swear Ashley said those words in exactly that order, I am not joking) has decided that Gene has done a good enough job as a guardian angel and is ready to go into The Railway Arms. But Gene doesn't want to? And then Gene, Sam, Alex etc realise that, indeed, the "bad cops" have escaped from "bad cop hell", and need to be caught. Which, I think? Is what they end up doing throughout the planned two series of Lazarus? And then at the end Gene does end up going into the Railway Arms and they all have a happy boozy party, and everyone we know and love is there (Ray and Chris got a name mention). Then, as the party goes on, the camera pans to the side to reveal a boy with two differently coloured eyes and slightly snaggly teeth sitting at the piano (three guesses who that is) and starts playing "Life on Mars?". All the cops fall silent and pause to listen, because "they all know what it means". Oh, and outside of TRA we see a black woman - she is introduced in the pilot as being Sam's Chief Superintendent in 2024, I can't remember her name unfortunately, but we also meet her as a 16 year old in 1977 and I think she was meant to start out as like Gene's informant? Anyway, at the end of the show, she's stood outside of the Railway Arms, and it turns out it is now her turn to be the guardian angel of cops.

Again, apologies if I got anything wrong, I found it REALLY hard to follow what Ashley Pharoah was saying, especially because by that point I was already so mentally worn down from all the shitty stuff and the men around us having a whale of a time, and some fairly awkward "questions" from the audience. But there you go. Anyone else who was there, please feel free to add anything I forgot to mention!

#Lazarus table read #Life on Mars #Ashes to Ashes #cello rambles

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eloeloanna · 4 months

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What did happen between John and Paul in Paris?

I think before of reading this, is better that you have your cup of tea, or coffee, or whatever that makes you feel better 😂.

Doing this reading was still painful, and even If it was meant to be just one question, I needed to ask another one to have confirmation.

Another readings: Did McLennon ever happened here What John thought about Paul here What Paul thought about John - part 1 here | part 2 here What John thought of Paul's appeareance here What Paul thought of John's appeareance here John's feelings + In my life + Paris' tea here Paul's feelings + Paris' tea here Was Paul jealous of Stuart? here Was John jealous of Tara? here Was Paul jealous of Cynthia? here Relationship - questions related to that topic here What happened between John and Paul in Keywest here What happened between John and Paul in India here George's pov here MORE here

So, as I always say, this is for entertainment purposes. Don’t sue me Paul (or Yoko (or Sean).

This is what I got:

At first, it was difficult for them (or one of them) to decide and realise what would they do there. But when they had the tickets, or knew clearly about it, they knew that they would just have a good time. But also, came into question why they would do that. I mean, what it was the actual reason. Would they try to do something for the band? Was it worth it? They (or one of them) convinced themselves that this was mostly for the band, even if they would risk the band doing it (😂). They knew the mess it would provoke doing this trip, but it was like “well, we will fix this later, we’ll take responsibility”. One of them played the “responsible” role, the other one was with faith and full confidence that everything would be okay, and they just decide to keep going. I think they quickly realised that they didn’t need to worry about the band. They just knew it. They were for each other in that area. The real deal was about emotions. What role play this person in my life? I think I want him to be happy. I think I need to be sure about his presence. I want him in the band. All these questions were around their heads for a long time. But the answer was like written in the stars. They needed to be themselves. They needed to feel. They wanted more. I think this part can be open to interpretation, but without being so “mclennony”, I can say that this trip definitely cemented something between them.

Look at this card:

It was so complex that they thought it was wrong. Very wrong. They tried to forget how much happiness this brought them, and even tried to play it cool, but I don’t think that last. They could see what was happening very clearly. I also would say that there was some “planning” about this whole thing. To keep it good. But was difficult to stay in this sensation because one of them thought he was always giving, and the other did nothing. He started to doubt his feelings, but he tried to do something. Reasonable or not. I think the other part wasn’t responding as he expected, so he, reluctantly, let it go. But for a short time. He tried to have the experience/bonding again, but I would say, with someone else.

I decided to ask another question related to this one, because I didn’t want to have those big assumptions without information. So I asked:

Did they kiss in Paris?

The energy in this question was very weird. I felt nervous, I felt that somewhat they were trying to trick me. Kind of a child that knew that did something wrong.

The answer:

I think at least a 80% yes. If not, something messy and “enjoyable” happened there.

The cards start telling about the overall feelings at the beginning: they were almost convinced that they wouldn’t work together. But it was all in their minds. I think eventually one of them took the decision to do something, but knew very well that everything would go to hell. But he stuck with his decision and did it. They were very happy but they (or one of them) knew that this wouldn’t be enough so they decided to leave it there. I can say that one of the parts wasn’t happy at all, so tried to talk to the other part about it, but the other part didn’t know what to do, was very confused. The “decisive” one - I think probably word it wrong or something, I think he wanted to enjoy and experiment, and FEEL. I’m not sure about love though, probably we can ask this in another post. I would say more than once he tried to talk about it or tried to get some clue, but still, the other part ignored it (I’m not saying this part “hated” the situation, It makes me feel more of an avoidant person, kind of a hurt person. Something like that) I didn’t take more cards because the question was answered. Maybe in another one we can have more details.

#mclennon #tarot readings #john and paul #paris

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mllemaenad · 2 months

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The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

While I have nothing but sympathy for the poor tutor who had to mark that essay, I must admit I enjoy the return to stories where a survivor recounts a bizarre supernatural experience.

It's not that I can't take an episode where the monster wins – those can be very effective. But, well, while I enjoyed the overarching plot in the fifth season of The Magnus Archives, I must admit I enjoyed the individual stories significantly less than the ones in the previous seasons. Mostly because they weren't stories so much as descriptions of suffering. Because the victims generally had little sense of a time before or after their torment, you missed out on all the bits about how they got themselves into this mess, how they got themselves out of it, and what they thought the whole thing meant. The personalities, the individual characters who came and went after their one weird thing, were part of the fun. And they were largely absent.

The cases in The Magnus Protocol aren't exactly like that, of course: you can glean a bunch of background, at least, by reading between the lines. But still. There's something immensely cheering about getting a couple of stories where someone essentially rolls in to declare "So that was weird, right?" and then wander off again.

Also, apparently Norris doesn't like the night shift.

It's interesting how similar the last two cases are. Dianne didn't seem like the type to use terms like "liminal spaces", but Hilltop Road has very literally been a threshold between worlds:

Martin/Annabelle Once there was a house, a building that, for all it might have looked like those around it, was not the same. Stop, no. It didn’t start with the house. It was here long before any might have thought of it as a home. Once, there was a patch of land, not quite as firm in this reality as that which surrounded it. Stop, no. It’s not about the land. Mud and soil has no part in what is there. Once, there was a point in space that did not quite obey all those petty rules that decide what can be allowed to happen in a world. Stop, no. It’s not a point in space. The Earth spins and hurtles through the darkness, but it still carries it along. Let us simply say that once there was a place. A place where the universe had… cracked. – The Magnus Archives: This Old House

And if you don't know that, then you do know that Hilltop Centre's status as a charity shop makes it a way station for objects of all kinds. And this place let those almost-human people in, and let them bring their weird objects with them.

The people in Running on Empty put me in mind of the gibbering crowd in Lost in the Crowd, whereas the volunteers in Give and Take reminded me of the students in Anatomy Class, but that's more a question of degree than kind. The latter put on a good enough show that it took weeks to really confirm there was something wrong with them; the former could be spotted almost instantly. Both are stories of the uncanny valley: the thing that is almost but not quite human. And in both cases the victim is very nearly overwhelmed by the crowd: objects crushing, or "people" biting, sure, but both instances of being isolated, outnumbered and then assaulted.

Poor Terrance is a perfect victim, as well: he already has a nervous breakdown on record, which will mark him as an unreliable witness, he is isolated enough that nobody reported him missing after his incident, and his job requires him to spend a great deal of time alone.

Norris is describing the situation in the OIAR perfectly. They are a small number of people working a night shift in an old building clearly intended to contain more staff:

Celia Sure, no worries. I’ll be honest, I thought there’d be more people working here given the size of the building? Sam Yeah, no we’re, uh… Alice Streamlined? – The Magnus Protocol: Introductions

The point of their work is deeply obscure to them:

Sam Where does it go? Alice If I were a betting woman, I'd say some long dead database that no-one will ever look at or care about. Sam So why do it? Alice Because that's what they're paying us to do. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Their odd hours put them out of step with normal social conventions:

Gertrude To what do we owe this early morning… pleasure. Sam Oh yeah, sorry we work nights so… Gertrude So? – The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

And the place has high turnover and burn out rates. Colin is clearly not coping – he is absolutely right about the electronics being weird, but he isn't dealing with that information very well – Sam is struggling with the sleep schedule, Gwen is stressed enough that she's about to commit a murder over an empty kettle and Alice ... unflappable Alice is worried:

Alice Just been a lot of changes round here recently. I don’t love it. Teddy, Sam, Celia, and did you hear Lena put Colin on “mental health leave”? – The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

It's not clear whether the computer voices are aware of each other, so calling it coordinated is probably overstepping the available evidence at this point: but Chester and Norris do seem to have delivered almost exactly the same warning. What might the staff of the OIAR be in danger of letting in?

The story also continues its thread of visual communication, with Gerry's painting. Gerard Keay has always been a painter, of course. But if The Magnus Archives needed to give you a visual, it simply did:

Archivist/Dominic Swain Instead, my attention was fixed on a picture attached to the one small area of wall not covered by bookshelves. It was a painting of an eye. Very detailed, and at first I almost would have said almost photorealistic, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw the patterns and symmetries that formed into a single image, until I was so focused on them that I started to have difficulty seeing the eye itself. Written below it were three lines, in fine green calligraphy: “Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call.” – The Magnus Archives: Pageturner

But here there is:

The video you could not watch

The alert that was not read out by a text-to-speech program

The email you could not read

The painting you could not see

The painting might not be anything, of course. But if you knew something could hear you but not see you, a person might resort to communicating purely through a visual medium. "John" apparently sent Sam Gertrude and Gerry's address. But nobody knew that until they got there, and so they travelled unmolested.

It's hard to say for sure what this universe's Gertrude knows – although I'm going to assume she knows something of significance, or she wouldn't be here – but it makes an interesting contrast to The Magnus Archives. There, the primary concern was being seen, and Gertrude was paranoid enough on that front to cut out the eyes from the illustrations in all her books. So one might expect equally paranoid behaviour if the concern was being heard.

The actual arrival of Gertrude and Gerry is fun: I enjoyed both characters, so I'm happy to see more (although if I get to wish to see an existing character, it's Adelard Dekker; I was always a little sad that we never got to properly meet him). It is suggestive of the way the world works that they're together, though.

I mean – I know this isn't the kind of alternate universe story where the Roman Empire never fell. It's recognisable modern day Britain, so I assume just about everybody still hates Margaret Thatcher and it's customary to drive on the left hand side of the road.

But it's a different world, and the history relevant to the story has not played out the same way. And yet, Gertrude and Gerard Keay are still a duo. Are there some things that are always true, then, no matter the world? I'd be interested to learn how it came about, though. That Sam was personally traumatised by The Magnus Institute isn't exactly surprising: he hardly hid his interest, after all. But Gerard Keay? Signing her kid up for a "gifted" program at The Magnus Institute doesn't sound like Mary Keay's style at all: she valued her independence too much. So what happened there?

And what is Georgie doing? It does make one wonder what life would have been like for her and Melanie – the first ones, I mean – when the world was put back together. Everyone clearly remembered what had happened, or they wouldn't have bothered to murder Simon Fairchild. So they would always be set apart.

My general thoughts on the plan are that it is reasonable to pass the entities along. Sure, it's a trolley problem. Nobody likes a trolley problem. But you are setting a risk of harm to the denizens of other worlds against the certain deaths of everyone in yours. So – sure, have at it.

But if you do that, you have now made yourself responsible for those worlds. You know what these things are, and you know how they operate. The people in other worlds likely do not, and won't know how to defend themselves.

So maybe, now, you have a responsibility to do something about that. Ha. Like make a really good podcast about it.

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #the magnus archives

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sigruned · 1 month

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ALso I babbled about this a little bit when we got confirmation of Oscar's Little Prince allusion but I want to expand a little because Oscar's merge symptoms going wacky in the animatic has me thinking about it again. so

Is Ruby the Little Prince's Rose?

Short answer, no not really.

Long answer is kind of, yes, but that has little to do with her relationship to Oscar and everything to do with the Ever After, which mostly limits it to the context of v9. To make that make sense you have to look at how the writers have handled Ruby's allusions thus far, namely using the For Want Of A Nail approach to guide her character development.

In the Red Trailer we are immediately introduced to a Little Red Riding Hood whose Woodsman is dead before the story begins, showing us Ruby in her red cloak, slowly surrounded by wolves while standing over a grave. Visually, the narrative is presenting a question here. What kind of person would Little Red Riding Hood have to be to survive her own fairytale alone? The trailer answers this pretty quickly via a bunch of anime acrobatics and gunfire, telling us Little Red is going to be killing the wolves this time. By choice or otherwise, she has taken up the Woodsman's responsibility herself (remember this bit).

Later in episode 1 we get more elaboration on this when Ruby actually gets to speak, enthusing about her mom being a huntress and how she wants to do the same. She proceeds to struggle with filling this monumental role over the course of the show, culminating with her character arc and eventual breakdown in v9.

By this point if it wasn't clear who the Woodsman to Ruby's Little Red is, the reveal of Summer's massive axe-rifle should. We're given more Summer in v9 than at any point before, which is necessary to actually cast this mold that Ruby has been desperately trying to fit into. But the Woodsman allusion is secondary, her primary allusion is to The Last Rose of Summer. There is variation from character to character, but a primary allusion will always be more narratively prescient whereas the secondary allusions say more about their influence or relationship with another character or allusory plot element.

With Summer largely absent in the narrative herself they show this early on via her epitaph and shine a spotlight on this when they reveal Ruby's emblem was left to her by her mother. If getting the Rose part of Ruby Rose from her mother's side wasn't enough of a hint. All the rose themes we associate with her came from her mother.

(The outlier here you could argue is the rose petals generated by her semblance, however I think we can safely assume by the time Ruby developed her semblance, she'd enrolled in combat school and was steeping in stories of her mother as a huntress for a while).

Combine this with the fact that Ruby only knows her from stories which mythologize her (Ruby was 3 when Summer left, how much do you remember from being 3? She has nothing else.) and we've got a character whose foundational misbelief is that she must fill the lofty role her mother has left behind. The Woodsman is dead. Who else will kill the wolves, if not her? Identity crisis waiting to happen, as we saw.

Which leads us back to The Little Prince. The plot literally drops Ruby and co. into the extremely alien Ever After, whose skyline is dominated by a giant baobab tree known for swallowing its denizens whole on occasion when they're ready to be someone else. Meanwhile Ruby has been knocked down one too many times and is nearly at rock bottom. We go through the volume with our protagonists trying to figure out what the tree actually does, getting a number of answers they struggle to make sense of outside a context of permadeath, finally followed by Jaune outright telling them he believes the tree is destruction. On the other end of this equation we have the source material, wherein the Prince is beside himself with worry because the baobab trees on his home planet might crowd out and kill his Rose. But we're not following the prince on his interstellar tour right now, we're following a girl who thinks she's a rose trying to navigate a world dominated by a tree.

And this, as I've seen some of the hardcore rg people mention before, is why Oscar's absence in the Ever After feels so salient. Not because he would have been able to make everything better and prevent Ruby's breakdown if he'd been there, but because his absence poses a question (very similar to one the narrative has asked us before): who does the Rose have to become to survive her side of the story alone?

I don't think I need to harp on the answer too much, v9 was Not Subtle. ("Then maybe, that girl is enough.")

The person Ruby is trying to live up to, this mythologized Summer, is not real. It's not achievable. Summer, as herself, has always held the primary Rose allusion. Ruby never was the Rose, and never had to be.

'but sigruned what does this have to do with the merge' well now that Ruby isn't trying to be the Rose anymore, she can properly take up her role as the snake. I can't take credit for this idea, but I do think it makes the most sense given Everything going on symbolically with SEWs re: death (but that could probably be its own post). The snake, if you recall, was the only one who could send the prince home by way of their poisonous bite.

tl;dr silver eyes are going to be key to getting Oscar an appointment with the tree and curing the merge, but Ruby cannot/could not use them this way before self-actualizing outside her image of Summer.

#rwby

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avatarmerida · 2 years

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Status Update

This is kind of two different fic ideas that I rolled into one? Because I’m trash and love this ship? Set like literally right after Labyrinth Runners. I just really love the idea of Willow and Hunter texting. I’m on mobile so pls forgive any errors or whatever k thanks ~Huntlow~

———

“Hey Hunter,” Willow said skipping over to where the Golden Guard sat as a student on the healing track finished liking him over. When she entered his view, a small smile graced his face and his tired eyes softened. “Ed had some extra clothes in his locker that should fit you, why don’t you go change and freshen up before filling us in on... everything?”

He nodded. “Excellent idea Captain,” he said taking the folded clothes from her. “Thank you.”

“It’s my outfit from the play last semester, don’t you think he’d prefer something more modern?” Ed whispered to her as as Hunter went to change.

“No, I think it’ll be just his style,” said Willow. “It’s very similar to the outfit his favorite character in his favorite book wears, so I think he’ll be thrilled.”

“Well, if you need any styling tips feel free to reach out,” replied Ed with a shrug.

Willow watched fondly as Hunter navigated his way down the hall, looking back at her for reassurance he was going the right way. She sent him a thumbs up to confirm and Gus couldn’t help but notice the sigh of content his friend let out in response to merely giving directions.

“Hmm, suspicious,” Gus murmured to himself a she ran beside his friend, nearly catching her off guard. “How did you know that?”

“Know what? That the clothes would fit?” Willow asked. “Just a hunch, I mean Ed and Hunter are about the same height so he should be comfortable-.”

“No, no I meant about the book,” said Gus.

“Oh, he told me,” said Willow plainly. “One night he asked what I was up to, and I told him I was reading and so we started talking about books which of course lead to our favorites, and that’s how-.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been messaging with Hunter this whole time?” asked Gus, his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Willow couldn’t help but giggle as he looked so much like his dad when he did that.

“Well, I guess because you never asked and it’s none of your business?” she responded with a sassy smile as she adjusted her braid which has started to come undone.

“Yeah, well...” she had a point, Gus was at a rare loss for words. “You don’t usually keep secrets.”

“It wasn’t a secret Gus, it just wasn’t something I shared, that’s all,” said Willow with a shrug. “You can read our messages if you want, but it’s not like he was trying to recruit me to the Emperor’s Coven again. It’s mostly cute pictures of our palismans.”

“No, that’s okay. Sorry, you’re right; you’re entitled to privacy. It’s just that... if there was something going on you’d tell me right?”

“Something like what?”

“Something like... is Hunter okay?”

“Woah, that’s a pretty loaded question Gus,”

“I mean... when I found him he was literally living in the trash,” explained Gus. “And from what I gathered about his life in the castle based on context clues alone, the dude seems kinda messed up.”

“Well, yeah but who isn’t?” asked Willow. “He’s still getting used to opening up to people and he’s a little rough around the edges but he’s sweet. We mostly talked about flyer derby practices and he’d ask me about the plants I like.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s also a very slow typer so I did most of the talking to be honest,” chuckled Willow. “But, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about him too. I’d ask him what he’d had for lunch and he’d change the subject, I’m worried he’s not eating.”

“I can safely assume he hasn’t been eating well,” said Gus, recalling the state Hunter was in when he found him. “I think he really needs our help but I think he might not wanna ask for it.”

“I think you’re right,” sighed Willow. “Wait, did you say he was living in the trash?”

“Did he... not mention that?”

———

Seeing his reflection in the mirror, Hunter has to steady his breathing again. He was still adjusting to... everything. What it meant to be him, who he really was, who he was supposed to be. The eyes that looked back at him were scared and tired and he wondered whose they really were. But he knew all of this would have to wait; he had people waiting for him, people who needed his help. People he could really help, not how the Golden Guard “helped”people. But would just Hunter be enough? Was he ever meant to be enough? Was he-?

“Hunter! Hunter! Hunter!” Gus exclaimed frantically running through the door.

“What’s wrong?” asked Hunter, concerned.

“I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad!”

“Hey, what? W-why would I be mad? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? You look scared.”

“No but...” his eyes darted to the door and Hunter stepped in front of his, furrowing his brow in determination.

“Stand behind me Gus, whatever is it I won’t let it hurt you,” said Hunter, taking a deep breath as he neared the door. “Whatever it is, we’ll defeat it together. There’s nothing stronger than-.”

He pulled the door open quickly and stood ready to attack, his staff at the ready to take down-

“-the Captain?” Finished a confused Hunter, stopping himself dead in his tracks as Willow stood unwatered, her arms crossed and her face wearing a stern look that sent a shiver down Hunter’s spine. She slowly walked up to him, her face mere inches from his own, commanding attention and Hunter felt frozen and on fire simultaneously.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were living in the trash?” She said simply, her voice serious and haunting.

“Huh?” Said Hunter, obviously not expecting her to say this.

“I’m sorryyyyyy,” whispered Gus, hiding further behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were living in the trash?” Willow repeated, not backing down.

“It, uh, never came up?” He tried, offering her a nervous laugh.

“We talk every day and you didn’t think it was worth mentioning?” She said, refusing to lose his eye contact which made him feel petrified. “You let me talk for hours about different kinds of mulch but you couldn’t take five minutes to give me a very important life update?”

“I just didn’t...”

“Didn’t what?”

“Didn’t want to worry you...” he said quietly, looking at her sheepishly. Her face softened and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Well, whether you want me to or not I’m going to worry about you,” said Willow sternly. “What if something happened to you and you needed help? It’s okay to ask for help, ya know.”

“I-I do know... now, kind of...” started Hunter. “I’m just... still figuring a lot of stuff out and I-.”

“-don’t have to do it alone,” finished Willow. “I know how hard it can be to let other people help sometimes but it doesn’t mean you’re weak or a bother. If I asked you for help, would you think less of me or think I was weak?”

“What? Never, Captain!” Hunter responded without hesitation. “You’re fearless and confident and-.”

“-and even I need help sometimes,” finished Willow. Hunter thought he saw her blush, but he assumed it was just a trick of the light. He was secretly grateful she cut him off when she did because he knew the list was fairly long. “Being friends means working together and recognizing that you don’t have to do everything yourself. You need to realize that people have strengths that you don’t.”

“That’s absurd Captain, you have all the strengths!”

Willow laughed and took his hand. “Then let me help you,” she smiled. “The way you helped Gus. You don’t think less of Gus for needing help, do you?”

He looked back at Gus, still hiding from the wrath of a Willow and shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Great,” beamed Willow. “So after you fill everyone in on whatever is happening with the Emperor, we’re gonna make sure last night was your last night sleeping in the garbage. Sound good?”

Hunter fought back tears. “Sounds great,”

———

Hunter held Willow’s hand the entire time he was explaining everything to the Hexside crowd. Gus noticed when the subject became particularly painful or triggering, Willow would squeeze his hand and he’d take a deep breath and find a way to continue.

It was a lot to take in, but Hunter did his best to answer any questions the crowd had. There was still a lot he didn’t know (and a lot he wasn’t ready to share) but getting it all out in the open made the burden easier to bare. Having Willow by his side didn’t hurt either.

“Psst,” Amity whispered to Gus as Hunter spoke to Principal Bump.

“What’s up?” asked Gus.

“How long has that been going on?” She gestured over to where the pair stood.

“Hm? Oh, uh remember we told you he was on our flyer derby team and then he kind of got us kidnapped and then-,”

“No, no I mean Willow and the Golden Guard,” said Amity. “How long have they been together? Can’t say I’m totally thrilled, but they do look cute together. Guess Willow and I have more to catch up on than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Gus, confused.

“Oh, I guess it must still be early,” continued Amity, with a small smile. “But it’s pretty obvious, look at the way he gets sweaty and nervous the closer she stands to him.”

“I think Hunter’s just a sweaty and nervous guy,” said Gus.

“It doesn’t remind you of anyone? Not a certain human perhaps?”

Gus looked closer, focusing on the blush that made its home on Hunter’s face each time Willow spoke and couldn’t help but think it seemed familiar.

Just like Luz and Amity.

“Woah,” he said, finally seeing it.

“So I’m guessing it’s very early then,” she sighed. “Well, he is her type. Or was? Wow, heh, we do have a lot to catch up on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me,” assured Amity with a chuckle. “I have firsthand experiences with this and I can tell by how red his face is right now that he most likely hasn’t figured it out himself yet.”

“Awh, that’s kind of sweet,” gushed Gus.

“Yeah,” agreed Amity fondly before her tone turned more sinister. “But if he hurts her...”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” assured Gus. “He’s kind of terrified of her?”

“Hmm, we’ll then he’s definitely her type.”

———

Now that Amity had pointed it out, Gus couldn’t unsee it. The way Hunter’s eyes darted to Willow, the way they softened when she went to speak, the way he almost forgot to speak because he was so lost in listening to her.

He couldn’t wait to tease him about it.

“So, how are you feeling?” Gus heard Willow ask Hunter as he ran up to his friends, the crowd slowly dissolving as everyone made their way home. “I know it was a lot.”

“It was,” said Hunter timidly. “But it’s good to know I’m on the right side now. I think I’ll sleep easier tonight.”

“Speaking of that,” sang Willow. “I already called my dads and they said you could totally stay at our house!”

“At y-your house?” Mumbled Hunter. “With you? Where you live? Captain, I-I couldn’t impose-.”

“It’s not an imposition, it’s an invitation!” She said. “I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

“Well that’s... I mean I can’t... it’s just that-.”

“-just that Hunter is already staying with me!” Interrupted Gus, much to Hunter’s relief.

“Huh?”

“Yes!” Continued Gus. “He’s staying with me!”

“When did you two decide this?”

“When I found him in the garbage,” answered Gus. “I said ‘wow you smell awful, I don’t think 100 showers could help you smell better but my dad has this strong aftershave that could help hide the smell you should come over and try it!’”

Hunter wasn’t thrilled about Gus reminding the Captain he had been living in garbage or pointing out how poorly he smelled, but he was thankful for the rescue. He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to turn down the captain’s hospitality, but from Gus’ quick leap to his assistance he had a feeling his friend did.

“Yes,” added Hunter nervously. “That was what he said to me verbatim, I remember it well!”

“Okay...” said Willow not totally buying it but grateful to know Hunter would have a safe place to sleep. “Sound like a plan. You boys have fun okay? Text me updates? Even if they’re not good, I still wanna know what’s going on. Got it?”

“Affirmative, Captain,” said Hunter, suddenly less tense. “I’ll send you an honest status report.”

She smiled. “Good,” she as she made her way down the hall to start her own walk home. “And don’t stay up too late playing stupid games!”

———

“I win!” Announced Gus proudly, jumping from the spot where he and Hunter sat on his bed in victory.

“I don’t understand this game,” complained Hunter. “If it’s a thumb war, shouldn’t they have other resources and allies to call upon? How is this fun? Because it’s stupid?”

“Yeah, basically,” laughed Gus. “I heard it’s like a major sporting event in the human realm.”

“Whatever, let me inform the Captain of your victory,” said Hunter, typing on his scroll. Willow was right, he was a slow typer. Painfully slow.

“Ya know, you don’t have to tell Willow everything we do,” said Gus.

“But I promised her that I would,” said Hunter before his tone became nervous. “You don’t think I’m annoying her am I? Of course I’d misunderstand such a simple order, she’s probably busy and I’m eating her time! I’m so stupid to-.”

“Woah! No!” Gus cut him off. “Hey dude, you’re not stupid! That’s not what I meant at all! I meant if you wanna summarize everything in one text later on it might be easier for you. But if this is more your style, go for it.”

Hunter sighed. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I guess... I’m still getting used to this,” he said, motioning to the scroll. “I’m just not used to people wanting to know things about me or how I am. Before the Captain, no one had really asked me about the things I liked or disliked. No one really cared. It’s... nice.”

“So... speaking of things you like,” began Gus, smooth only in his own opinion. “Is there anything or maybe anyone you like that you didn’t tell Willow about?”

“Like what?”

“Well I know you guys message everyday but is there maybe something you wanted to tell her you like that she maybe didn’t ask you so you maybe didn’t think you could tell her but you wanted to?”

“I mean... yeah? That’s why she yelled at me in the bathroom earlier?”

Gus smacked his forehead. “I mean is there anything you wanted to tell her about how you feel? Maybe about her?”

Hunter looked frozen. “So you’ve noticed?” He asked faintly, his face fallen. Gus reacted to his word and not his appearance.

“Yes! Amity told me!” He squealed.

“Blight,” growled Hunter to himself. “I should’ve known she’d be behind it.”

“Behind... what, exactly?”

“This curse!” Said Hunter as if it was obvious. “It adds up, the Captain told me about their history. Of course she pull something like this!”

“What curse?”

“She’s testing me!” Continued Hunter. “Trying to test my loyalty or something deranged, I don’t know I can’t read her mind! But all I know is every time I’m near the Captain or talk about the Captain or even think about her I feel like my heart is going to explode! Like right now! Can you hear it right now? This is all Blight’s doing!”

Gus smiled. “Oh man, you’ve got it bad.”

“I know! That’s what I just said!”

“Hunter when would Amity have time to curse you? Or plan to curse you? She didn’t even know you knew Willow that well before today. And if you’ve had these feelings for awhile, well, the timeline doesn’t add up.”

“Then why do I feel this way?!” He demanded suddenly grabbing Gus’ shoulders. He quickly released him, not wanting to scare him. “Sorry! But I just... when I’m around the Captain... I feel afraid? But it’s not a fear I’ve felt before because it also feels... good? Trust me, I’ve been afraid most of my life, I know what I’m talking about. But I want to be close to her but far from her at the same time? And no matter which it is, I feel nauseous and dizzy and light and sweaty and-.”

“-happy?”

“I don’t have a lot of experience being happy but I’m assuming maybe, briefly, yes.”

“Dude, it’s okay,” laughed Gus. “You just have a crush.”

“I knew it! Someone is trying to crush me!” Said Hunter. “But if it wasn’t Blight, then who? Is this something the Captain did?”

“No dude, well yes, kind of? It’s...” how did he explain this to him? Was it better to know or not to know in this case? Would Gus explaining what a crush was help him or just embarrass him? “It’s not a curse, I’ll tell ya that.”

“A potion maybe? It’ll wear off soon?”

“Something like that,” laughed Gus. “It’s not a bad thing; it just means you like Willow.”

“Duh, of course I like the Captain,” scoffed Hunter. “She’s loyal and determined and tough and beautiful. Her only fault is wasting her time on lower beings that don’t deserve her, but overcoming that has made her stronger. But what does me respecting her have to do with these curse like symptoms?”

“Okay... let me try and explain this... the way you feel about Willow is the same way Amity feels about Luz.”

Hunter looked at him as if he had grown a second head. “I don’t want to try and get her dissected by your principal, why would you say that?” Hunter said with a concerned gaze. “You’re not making sense. Are you dehydrated? Let me get you a glass of water.”

Hunter hopped off the bed, mumbling something about never mistaking the Captain for an abomination.

“Here, you’re a faster typer than I am, let her know what we’re up to,” he tossed his scroll to Gus as he stood I the doorway. “I’ll trust you to edit the important parts. I don’t want her to worry.” At the idea of her his face turned red and she closed the door before Gus could make a comment.

Gus opened Hunter’s texts to Willow and saw there were... quite a lot.

He knew it was an invasion of privacy, so he collected all his inner strength and prevented himself from reading their precious conversations. Even though Willow had said they were mundane, knowing now what he knew about Hunter he was sure he could find some compelling subtext.

He did read the last few messages he sent to to see what he needed to cover. He quickly noticed he had started all the recent messages the same way.

STATUS UPDATE: have arrived at Gus civialin residency. Safe. The walls r yello

STATUS UPDATE: sum of the walls r blue

STATUS UPDATE: have showered.

STATUS UPDATE: his father is making sOUP. It Is WaRM.

STATUS UPDATE: there is an oRANGE roudn obJect in the soup. Do NOT CARe for it. Gus like s it??? HE can have Mine

The messages went on and on, with Willow responding to each one with a thumbs up or word of encouragement. As he stated to compose a message to Willow, an incoming text from her interrupted his typing. She had sent a picture of Clover curled up in a pile of clean laundry. She was right; they did send a lot of Palisman pictures.

Gus went to the drafts to retrieve the message he had started, and was greeted by a sea of unsent messages. Without thinking, he went ahead and sent them, knowing Hunter was serious about keeping his promise to Willow and was still new to using the scroll and probably didn’t realize they hadn’t sent.

“Wasn’t sure what temperature you preferred so I have three options of varying coldness,” said Hunter re-entering the room holding three glasses of water. “What did you end up saying to the Captain?”

“I told her I’m the all time champ at thumb wars and I sent her some messages that didn’t send earlier,” said Gus casually.

Hunter dropped the glasses to the floor (they did not break, they merely spilled) “You sent the Captain my drafts?!” He asked, mortified. Gus was surprised he knew what they were called. “All of them?!” He shouted, taking his scroll from the younger boy.

“Yeah?” Gus replied, confused.

“Some of those were from weeks ago!” Spat Hunter, as he starting pacing. “There’s a reason I never sent them! She was never supposed to see them!”

“Then why didn’t you delete them?!” Shouted Gus.

“I don’t know how to do that!” Shouted Hunter back. “I don’t even know how to send the colorful little pictures!”

“Okay, okay calm down,” said Gus, taking a deep breath. “It’s probably not that bad. This stuff happens all the time, Willow will understand. I’m sure it nothing bad!”

“No! It is! It is bad!” Said Hunter reading the messages Gus had sent. “Oh, see for yourself.”

Gus took the phone back and scrolled through to see what the damage was

I think my fAVOrite coloR is still gold? but NOT like being the Golden.Guard but like yOUR glasses, they look nice with yOUr eyes

wHAT if I sent u flowers?? Is that OK on The pLannt tra ck?? Or may be jUst dirt?.

Darius called u little Princess to day.Be cuz he calls me “Little pRINCE” but in mY opinion u wud be a queen

Coven head meetings r sooooo bORinG.wish I was with u instead

U look nice in that piCture wIth CLover.lovely

I Miss u

“Aw, Hunter,” Gus couldn’t help but smile. “These aren’t bad, they’re really sweet. Why didn’t you send them before?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking to the ground. “I was embarrassed? But I don’t know why! They’re not lies. I just didn’t want the Captain to know them, but also I did? Does that make them lies then? I was just... scared of how she would respond. That she wouldn’t... that she’d think...” he sighed and allowed himself to collapse on the floor, raring his head in his hands. “I do feel crushed.”

“Hey man, it’s okay,” said Gus, sitting beside him. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“I know it’s not the end of the world because that I know how to deal with,” groaned Hunter. “This is even more complicated. What if she realizes how weird I am and then she never wants to talk to me again? Or even worse, she wants me to explain the messages further? What would I say?! Wait! What if we say I left my scroll out and Flapjack typed all that and accidentally sent all that? Or what if you tell her I died? Or-.”

“Hey! Snap out of it!” said Gus, this time taking Hunter’s shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay! Willow is your friend! She likes you!”

Hunter felt as though he was going to pass out. “Ugh, er how do you know?”

“She told me, she says she thinks you’re sweet.”

The blush was back. “S-she said that? About me? Did, uh, she say anything else? Maybe-?”

“Wait! She’s typing back!” Gus said and Hunter held his breath in anticipation and held the scroll straight to his face. The dots graced the screen for what felt like ages before finally her message appeared:

💚

“What is that? What does that mean?” asked Hunter shoving the scroll in Gus’ face.

“It’s a heart.”

“That’s not a heart, thats not anatomically correct at all,” said Hunter, rolling his eyes. “There’s no bile sac or veins and they’re not that color. Even it was, why does it mean?”

“You don’t know what a heart means?”

“I know what it does, pumping blood through the body and keeping you alive,” said Hunter before adding timidly. “Does this mean s-she’s glad I’m alive?”

“Actually-,” began Gus before stopping himself as Hunter rooked at the screen like it was a precious jewel. “Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”

“Wow,” said Hunter breathlessly. “W-what should I say back?”

“Whatever you feel dude, no pressure,” said Gus. “We should probably turn in though. I dunno about you, but I am super tired.”

“Huh? Yes, of course,” said Hunter, crawling into his sleeping bag but not taking his eyes off the screen for a second. . “Ya know, I’ve never gotten to stay up this late before. What time do morning chores start? 4am? Or 5am because it’s the weekend?”

Gus simply yawned in response, too tired to compose a proper answer and Hunter followed suit. He laid in his makeshift bed brainstorming the perfect responds for the Captain, hating to make her wait but unable to stop staring at her heart.

———

The next morning, Gus had awoken to Hunter’s snoring. He was relieved to see the former Golden Guard had managed to sleep in, getting some well deserved rest. He looked further and saw his scroll was till in his hand, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Hunter falling asleep texting Willow. Looking further, he saw that in response Hunter had drafted a full page of golden hearts but had fallen asleep before pressing send.

Gus figured this was a draft he wouldn’t mind sending.

Message Sent

#huntlow #winter toh #toh #the owl house #willow park #hunter wittebane #huntlow fanfiction

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fullfledgedghost · 4 months

Text

happy holiday star season and happy hatoful fandom secret santa exchange day everybirdie =) no other holidays today (lying)

my recipient was @iwritenarrativesandstuff ! i wrote a short fic about mirror hiyoko roping ryouta and nageki into some shenanigans, its mostly character interactions and one bit where i paraphrase instructions on how to set up a classic prank. i hope u enjoy! happy holidays ^_^

synopsis: hiyoko tries to play a practical joke on her teacher and gets nageki and ryouta to help. it... doesn’t go exactly as planned, but they still have fun!

“Hey Ryouta? Have you ever heard of April Fool’s Day?”

Ryouta and Hiyoko are hanging out after school at Torimi Café, doing their homework together. When Hiyoko asks him this question, Ryouta looks up from his work.

“Huh? April Fools Day?” He repeats, for clarification’s sake.

“Yeah! It’s an old human holiday,” Hiyoko excitedly tells him. “I don’t think it was ever that popular in Japan, but they celebrated it in other places. You play pranks on all your friends, but not mean pranks, just the funny ones.”

Ryouta hums. “I’ve never heard of that. It sounds kind of fun, but I don’t know how to pull pranks..”

Hiyoko nods. “Me neither! But learning about it inspired me to try playing pranks on people anyway.”

Ryouta suddenly looks nervous. “Are you gonna pull a prank on me?” He asks Hiyoko.

She laughs. “Of course not! I want you to help me pull a prank...” Hiyoko pauses for dramatic effect. “On our teacher!”

Ryouta seems relieved. “Oh, good. Wait, no, Hiyoko, what do you mean? Play a prank on our teacher??”

She grins. “Mhm! We both have class with Nanaki-Sensei, right? It would be the perfect setting for an ambush!”

Ryouta seems unconvinced. “I don’t know.. that seems like it could be dangerous. What if we get in trouble?”

“How could it be dangerous? It’s not like I’m suggesting we play a prank on, say, Doctor Iwamine.” Hiyoko replies.

Ryouta shivers. “Now that would be really dangerous. Just imagining what would happen to us is making me nervous!”

Hiyoko pats Ryouta on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we won’t play any pranks on him this time. Maybe in a future story, though.”

“A what?” Ryouta looks confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hiyoko tells him. “So, are you in?”

Ryouta hums, thinking it over. “...sure, why not.”

“Yaay!!” Hiyoko claps. “Thank you, Ryouta!” She gives him a quick hug.

He smiles and returns the gesture. “No problem, Hiyoko.”

She pulls away and starts piling her homework up to put away in her bag. She then pulls out a blank piece of paper, and writes PRANK PLANS at the top. She shows it to Ryouta with an evil smile.

“So..” Hiyoko gestures to the page. “Any ideas?”

Nageki is sitting in his room reading when his phone rings. He sighs, putting in his bookmark before picking up the phone. It’s probably Hiyoko and Ryouta asking for help with their homework again.

When he picks up the phone, his suspicions are confirmed by the ‘Tosaka, Hiyoko’ caller ID that pops up. He takes the call.

“Hello?”

Hiyoko’s cheery voice answers from the other end. “Hey Nageki!”

Nageki smiles despite himself. “Did you need help with a homework problem, Tosaka?”

“What? No! Gosh, do you think so low of me, Nageki?” Hiyoko responds with exaggerated offense.

“...” Nageki stays quiet.

“Don’t just say nothing!! You’re so mean!” Hiyoko laughs. “Anyway, I actually wanted your help with something else!”

Ah, so he wasn’t entirely wrong. “Alright. What do you want help with?”

“Me and Ryouta are planning to play a prank on Nanaki-Sensei! Wanna join? We could really use your help.” Hiyoko asks.

That isn’t at all what Nageki was expecting. “You’re... planing a prank? Why?”

Hiyoko laughs nervously. “Well, there’s this whole story about an old human holiday, but I don’t wanna tell it again. Just for fun, I guess!”

Nageki shakes his head in disbelief. Those two can be so ridiculous. Still.. it did sound kind of fun. As long as Hitori doesn’t ground him or something because of it.

“Pleaaaase?” Hiyoko pleads with Nageki. “It’ll be fun, I promise! At least I hope it will!”

Nageki sighs. “..sure.”

“Great! Thank you, Nageki!” He could practically hear Hiyoko’s smile through the phone. “We can discuss plans tomorrow at school. Should we meet in the library?”

“That sounds good to me.” Nageki replies.

“Alright! See you later, Nageki!”

“Bye, Tosaka.”

After a day of planning, and a few days getting materials together, Hiyoko and her birdie backup are ready to go!

They sneak into school early, climbing through a broken window that the custodial staff hadn’t gotten around to fixing yet. Thank you, Anghel!

Trying to be quiet, even though they assumed the building would be empty, the trio makes their way over to Hiyoko and Ryouta’s homeroom classroom, class 2-3.

Nageki almost drops the plastic bucket they had brought, and refuses to accept Ryouta’s help when he offers to help carry it. Ryouta just sighs.

Once they reach the classroom, Hiyoko starts assigning jobs.

“Okay, Ryouta!” She whispers assertively while pointing at him.

“Yes?” He jumps as she turns and points at him so quickly.

“You’ll be filling the bucket with water!” She waits as Nageki hands Ryouta the bucket. “There’s a water fountain in the next hallway over, it should be the quickest way to fill it.”

“Aye aye, Hiyoko!” Ryouta salutes her before rushing off to fill the bucket.

“And you, Nageki,” she whirls around to point at him now, “will be holding the door steady while I balance the bucket on top of it!”

Nageki nods, seeming to take his job seriously. He likes getting to feel helpful, even if its for something silly like this.

Ryouta comes back with the bucket, trying to keep water from splashing out as he runs. Hiyoko laughs evilly.

“Perfect! Now, Nageki, the stepstool?” She turns to Nageki, who rushes over to the nearest janitor’s closet and grabs a stepstool from inside. He drags it back over to the door and gives Hiyoko a nod. She nods back, then mounts the stool and accepts the bucket from Ryouta.

With Nageki holding the door steady and Ryouta keeping lookout, Hiyoko takes a few moments to balance the bucket. She fumbles it a few times, but luckily doesn’t drop it, and in a minute or so the bucket is successfully balanced! Ryouta claps softly as Hiyoko gets off the stepstool and Nageki returns it to Mr. One’s closet.

Hiyoko high fives both of her friends. She giggles.

“Okay, now let’s get out of here! We can wait in the library until class is about to start, so we don’t seem suspicious.” Hiyoko tells the others. Both birdie boys give her a nod, and the trio dissolves into laughter as they race each other to the library.

After a little while of waiting and chatting in the library, the bell rings to signify that class is about to start. The trio leaves the library and make their way over to class 2-3, hoping they’ll be able to see their prank come to fruition before Nageki’s class started, since his homeroom was in a completely different classroom.

And it seems like it will! Right as they turn the corner of the hallway, all three teens can see a bird about to open the door to class 2-3! But...

“Sakuya, look out!” Ryouta shouts, trying to get the fantail’s attention. They were about to prank the wrong bird! Their classmate Sakuya was entering the classroom early, even before Nanaki-Sensei!

Sakuya turns around to look at Ryouta as he pushes the door open.

“Kawara? What are you-“ he is cut off by a wave of water, as the plastic bucket falls on him and soaks him!

Ryouta cringes. Nageki tries not to laugh. Hiyoko does laugh, but covers her mouth.

“Ashslkj!” Sakuya sputters, fuming with anger. “What mockery was that??? Do classrooms in Japan typically dump water on their students?? This is nonsense!”

“Sakuya, I’m sorry, this was a mistake. The bucket was for Nanaki-Sensei.” Ryouta tells him sheepishly.

“What are you talking about? Explain yourself, Kawara!” Sakuya points a soggy feather at the other bird.

Hiyoko steps over to them. “Sakuya, don’t get mad at Ryouta! This was my idea, I just asked for his help. Plus, he tried to warn you!”

Sakuya doesn’t look appropriately chastised. “Then I should be mad at both of you! Explain yourselves, now! I won’t be asking again!”

As Hiyoko and Ryouta try to explain the situation to a grumbling Sakuya, Nageki is approached by a rather worried Nanaki-Sensei.

“Wh-what’s going on here? Did somebody pour water on Shirogane??” Nanaki asks, concerned.

Nageki shrugged, trying not to get his friends or himself in trouble.

“There was a bucket on the door. I think Shirogane was going to find you, so it was probably supposed to fall on you.” Nageki tells him.

“Eep!” Nanaki seems scared just at the thought of such a thing. “M-maybe it’s a good thing I was late today, then...”

Sakuya notices Nanaki-Sensei’s arrival and storms over to him. Nanaki looks like he wants to hide.

“Nanaki-Sensei!” Sakuya barks. “Why weren’t you in your classroom! Class was about to start, and Doctor Iwamine sent me to fetch you for him!”

Nanaki laughs nervously. “Ehe, I may have.. forgotten to set my alarm for this morning. B-but at least I got here before class actually started!” He cowers under Sakuya’s angry gaze.

Nageki walks over to his friends as Sakuya begins lecturing Nanaki-Sensei about respecting himself and his responsibilities. Ryouta and Hiyoko both seem exhausted from trying to subdue Sakuya.

“Well... it seems like our plan failed.” Hiyoko sighs. “Sorry for roping you two into this. I thought it would be fun.”

“...I had fun.” Nageki admits. “Even though we hit the wrong bird.”

Ryouta chuckles. “Yeah, me too. We probably shouldn’t do this again, though. And we should hope and pray that Sakuya doesn’t sell us out to Nanaki-Sensei...”

“Or Hitori..” Nageki murmurs.

Hiyoko laughs. “As long as we don’t get suspended or killed, maybe it worked out okay!”

“Someone is getting killed? When and where? I may be interested in attending.” A deeper voice from behind makes all three teens flinch and spin around, where they find Doctor Iwamine standing menacingly in the hallway.

“Doctor Iwamine?!” Ryouta sputters. “What are you doing here?”

“And nobody is getting killed!!” Hiyoko adds.

The doctor shrugs, looking slightly disappointed by Hiyoko’s addition. “I was wondering why it was taking Shirogane so long to fetch his teacher for me. Now I see why. What manner of mischief has been conducted here?”

As Ryouta is about to start explaining everything again, the bell to begin class rings. Nageki looks towards his friends, waves, and then runs down the hallway towards his classroom. Doctor Iwamine seems annoyed by the interruption, while Nanaki-Sensei seems relieved.

“A-alright, everybirdie inside! Class has started!” Nanaki declares, nudging the bucket into a corner and holding the door for his students, who had gathered in the hallway as the chaos continued.

Doctor Iwamine sighs. “Oh well. I suppose I’ll have to get the story later. Farewell.”

Ryouta and Hiyoko sigh in relief as he leaves.

“We really dodged a bullet there,” Ryouta breathes.

“Kawara! Tosaka!” Both teens jump as their teacher singles them out. “Please go and get your classmate Shirogane a towel from Mr. One!”

Hiyoko elbows Ryouta lightly. “You jinxed us.” She tells him. He pretends to be offended.

“Quickly, if possible!” Nanaki-Sensei encourages.

Ryouta and Hiyoko both bow to him, flustered, before walking together to Mr. One’s room. They may not have escaped trouble for now, but they figured it was better not to test their luck.

Maybe next time they’d stick to a smaller scale prank. Or one with less water.

#this was really fun to write i hope its as fun to read #i tried to stick to canon as much as possible and also put in at least one subtle reference #i hope everyone’s in character #hbfss2023 #hatoful boyfriend #hatoful kareshi #writing #not tagging individual characters cause there are a few in this

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ashoppingtrolleyintheliffey · 8 months

Text

Touch

summary: soulmate au where whenever your soulmate touches you it leaves a temporary imprint on your skin. (aka the soulmate au nobody asked for)

janine/ava/melissa. (platonic work wives mentioned)

ps: this is a part 1. there is more planned. also all mistakes are mine.

Janine is a very touchy person which has always brought trouble to herself. Most people prefer to think she was just a stupid girl trying to find her soulmate. Janine had learned to stop her instincts of touching people very young. At work it takes a long time for her to touch anyone. First time it happens with Jacob, him being her best friend and also gay and having a soulmate already, there was no worries surrounding physical touches. And so there was no awkwardness between them.

Second time she touches someone though, it’s Ava.

It's an accident, obviously. Ava is sitting in Jacob’s place in the teacher’s lounge. Well, it’s not actually Jacob’s place, but it is the place Jacob sits everyday. By Janine’s side. And when Janine sits down, Ava doesn’t get up to leave. She just stays. It is not the first time it has happened. They’re talking. Actually mostly Janine is talking, but then Ava says something funny in return and Janine touches her arm while laughing without even thinking about it. Janine takes her hand off Ava’s arm fast, thinking she fucked up. Then she sees it. Right on Ava’s arm, where she touched it, the mark of her hand. And Janine finds herself speechless (really it’s a first for her, not having words).

Ava takes a few seconds to understand what’s going on. She’s not the kind of person who believes in soulmates. That’s just a cute thing that happens to some people. Certainly not to her. Certainly not with Janine of all people. And yet, she finds herself shocked by the image of Janine’s hand imprinted on her arm. So shocked she just stands up and leaves. Hoping nobody has been paying attention to them.

From the other table, Melissa had been observing the whole exchange. She wasn’t the one to keep probing into other people’s life but she had been keeping tabs on Janine. Maybe she had been turning soft, really. Because she found herself caring for those younger teachers more than she did the ones that came before. Maybe it was that they stayed, and Melissa had to admit she actually respected them for it. Melissa tries to ask, confirm it somehow, but Janine looks like she's about to cry if anyone says anything.

“Come on, let's take a walk.” Melissa says, standing up. Her voice doesn’t leave room open for Janine to do anything other than follow. So Janine follows, quietly. Melissa makes a mental note to go to Ava next, because she can't really believe Ava just left. (She can, if she's honest to herself, but she looks at Janine and gets sort of angry again). Melissa guides them to her classroom, Melissa knows the younger teacher needs some privacy.

“Come on.” Janine enters, Melissa closes the door softly. Janine sits down, Melissa can see she’s holding the tears. “Hey,” Melissa says, “I think she’s just scared.” This makes the tears fall down on Janine’s face.

Melissa pulls Janine into a hug, softly soothing the younger woman. “Everything is going to be fine.” Melissa whispered, softly. Over and over again, until the young woman in her arms calmed down.

“You don't know that.” Janine said, her voice broken. Melissa had let go of the hug, but she was still close, her hand was holding Janine’s.

“I know it mig…” Melissa started saying, but then, something caught her eye. Where her hand was touching Janine, there was an imprint. “Oh, fuck” Melissa said as soon as she realized it. Janine looked at Melissa confused, then followed her eyes to where Melissa’s hand was still holding her. The imprint was starting to fade. It’s a second that seems like they are both frozen in time.

“Is that possible?” Janine asked. Of course, she knew about it. People with more than one soulmate. It was more common with people who had already lost a soulmate. Janine has seen documentaries, not many. But to someone who grew up hearing that she probably had no soulmate, that she was too annoying to have a soulmate, Janine had never engaged the idea of multiple soulmates. She was happy with Tariq, they had been friends, she thought it was the best she would’ve managed to get in her life. And now she was watching as an imprint of Melissa’s hand was fading from her skin.

Melissa. And Ava. Both of them.

“I’ve never seen it happen either…” Melissa let her hand touch Janine again, leaving it for a moment just to see the imprint again. Janine felt like Melissa wanted to say something but was stopping herself. She didn’t try to make her. Instead, she looked at the red haired teacher, her cheeks flushing a bit

“I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do.” Janine admits it, “Have no experience with having soulmates.” the s in the end sounded so foreign to her ears. It didn’t feel real.

“We could talk after school? My place? I’ll make dinner, we’ll have time to think about it…” Melissa offered. Considering her experiences, she wanted to take this slow.

“And Ava?” Janine asked, unsure.

“I can ask her to come to my house. We should probably discuss this all of us anyway” Melissa said, but Janine still looked unsure. “It’s going to be fine, hon, I promise.” Melissa reassured her, and pushed her close to kiss the top of her head. Janine left Melissa’s classroom then. The kids were starting to arrive and they had to do their jobs.

And so they did. Janine went through her day as if nothing had changed. But she felt so different. It felt like a dream, really. Janine considered going to Jacob to talk about it, but gave up on it. She decided she was better off eating lunch by herself, to put her thoughts in place.What she didn’t expect was Ms Barbara Howard going to check up on her.

“Janine, I’m sure everything's going to be fine.” Barbara said, when she saw the younger teacher eating at her classroom, alone. Janine gave a small smile to Barbara.

“Barbara, have you ever seen someone have two soulmates? At the same time?” Janine asked. Maybe she hoped Barbara would tell her that it was common.

“Two?” Barbara asked, confusion clear on her face. “I’ve heard it, yes.” And it seems like maybe Barbara isn’t as comfortable talking about it than Janine thought she would be, because she doesn’t add more than that.

“ When Melissa touched me…” Janine doesn’t finish her sentence. She thinks that maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe Melissa wants to tell Barbara herself.

“Melissa?” Barbara seemed more confused than Janine herself, but her face soon turned happy. “Well, that’s a good thing. She’s good, and you can be good for her. She might be able to make Ava settle too” Barbara said. “Listen Janine, I do hope everything turns out well with them. Don’t worry too much.” And then she was gone.

Melissa, on the other hand, knew exactly where she was headed to during lunchtime. She made the way to Ava’s office fast. But the principal was nowhere to be found. Not that Melissa expected Ava would be doing her job anyway. She walked to the basement. Ava’s bathroom was the next place Melissa had on her list. If she was honest it was the last place too. She kept thinking of the imprint of her hand on Janine’s arm. She thought back of the first time she saw her hand imprinted on someone else.

They had been friends for a few months, Melissa and Barbara. They had started hating each other, at first. Melissa knew the hatred was not real, at least not from her part, but she knew she felt this necessity of having Barb’s attention. They had eventually become friends. When it happened, they were thankfully by themselves. Just them. Melissa had forgotten herself and had held Barbara’s arm, as they laughed about something she couldn’t even remember. Her hand on Barbara’s arm was an image that had haunted Melissa for many years. Sometimes it still did.

Barbara didn’t want to have another soulmate. She had Gerald, and she was ready to have kids. But they could still be friends. And so they stayed as such. Melissa didn’t resent her, she really didn’t. At that point she knew Barb too well. But, sometimes, during a lonely night, Melissa would cry about it. The rejection of her soulmate was a wound that she didn’t think would ever heal.

And then Janine happened. And Melissa didn’t exactly know what to think about it. How to feel about it. She certainly didn’t let herself think about Ava. Well, not until she actually found the principal. Which she did. In Ava’s secret bathroom.

Ava was… She did not look well.

“Ava?” Melissa asked. She had no idea how to approach this conversation. She knew Ava, though. Melissa knew how much of her she saw on Ava. Melissa knew that, when no snarky comment came as Ava looked at her, it was serious. That unlike what she did with work, Ava wasn’t taking this lightly. Melissa approached her. She sat on the floor, by Ava’s side. At least the principal didn’t look like she had been crying. Melissa wasn’t sure she could deal with that. “Listen Ava, I don’t know how you feel about that whole thing, but, hm… You should touch me. Just to test it out.” Melissa blurted out. How do you explain to someone that their soulmate is also your soulmate? Melissa had to test it, she had to know if Ava was also her soulmate.

“What?” Ava asked, confused.

“I went after Janine, after all of that happened at the lounge. I’m also her soulmate?” Melissa explained. Ava looked like she was about to say something; but no comment followed through. Melissa continued, “We’re having dinner tonight, at my place. I would want you to go, even if we’re not soulmates.” Melissa didn’t dare hope that Ava was. She could understand Janine, pushing through life always with a smile, having more than one soulmate. It even made sense that it would be Ava. Ava who’s tough and pretends to not care when she does care a lot. They’d balanced each other out. Ava’s practicality and Janine’s dreamy ways. But Melissa? She was too old, too battered by life. She had already been rejected by one soulmate, what good would come from having another one? She certainly didn’t think she would have a third one.

“Why would you want that?” Ava asked, which made Melissa freeze a bit. She knew she would have to tell them about Barb eventually. But she wasn’t really ready to let anyone else know about it yet.

“Because you’re her soulmate too. I’m not going to make her choose between us. Even if we’re not, we’re still linked by her. And even though you’re a pain in the ass at work, I really like you Ava.” Melissa was honest. Well, as honest as she was willing to be at the moment.

“What if I don’t want to know?” Ava asked.

“I don’t mind if you don’t want to know, but it might be difficult to keep it up for a long time” Melissa said, she didn’t want to force it on Ava. She understood the Principal's behavior in a way. “I mean, Janine is not the only one who’s a bit touch-y” Melissa offered up this little secret about herself freely. Ava laughed a little. It was easy, between them. Melissa felt her cheeks flush. If she had looked at Ava, she would’ve seen the principal was also flushed. A comfortable silence settled between them. For a moment Melissa considered saying something, but couldn’t think of what to say. She looked at Ava though, their eyes met. Ava did not look away.

“Your place tonight, huh?” Ava asked, eventually breaking the silence. It was unsaid that Ava was still not ready to know. Melissa knew it would happen eventually. And even though it made her insecure to think about it, she thought it was important to respect Ava’s own time.

“I’m going to cook.” Melissa confirmed, with a smile.

“So at least I know the food will be worth going.” Ava said.

“Ava, don’t overthink it. I’m sure everything is going to be fine.” Melissa tried to sound like she was sure of it. Truth was, she didn’t know. But she hoped.

Melissa’s phone rang, announcing it was the end of recess and she had work to go back to. She left for her classroom, feeling a little more hopeful for the night than she was before.

#janine x ava x melissa #janine/ava/melissa #abbott elementary fanfic #abbott elementary fic #janine/ava #janine x ava #ava x melissa #ava/melissa #janine/melissa #janine x melissa #the poli ship soulmate au nobody asked for but i'll deliver anyway.#mine #touch fic

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