#3: i have no idea what happens post catalyst | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vasito-de-leche · 2 months

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Hi! I read about your super cool Self Aware R1999 AU and it got me thinking about what Sonetto would be like, since I have a 100% bond with her in the suitcase.

Would she try to keep normalcy? Have a brand new idle line? Perhaps pull a Monika DDLC and start writing poetry where she tries to grapple with the fact that there’s an eldritch being puppeteering her best friend?

;R1999 SONETTO - Self-Aware AU

Headcanons about how Sonetto would act upon becoming self-aware. Related to this Self-Aware AU post.

glad you like the AU! this was a nice chance to explore Sonetto's character more <3

To organize my thoughts better, I gotta talk about Sonetto first for a bit.

I definitely talked about this with a few friends, but Sonetto is a wonderful character to me because I both dislike and feel for her a lot - especially in the new 1.4 Main Story update. The emphasis the game puts into her role as a military dog (raised to follow orders and die for a cause she doesn't truly understand) and a lost puppy (a curious and dependant child believing her caretakers have the best of intentions) really lives up to the way she portrays these same traits. Yes, it's awful to see her continue to perpetuate the harmful ideas the Foundation taught her, but it makes sense. Yes, it's lovely to see her slowly break away from everything she's ever known, and yet revert back to her habits because change is difficult. The way she works perfectly as a foil to Vertin, it's so good!

To me, Sonetto is a character that resists change, while yearning for it at the same time. That's why her Medium is curiosity, after all. It's so lovely and ironic to see THE perfect example of a Foundation martyr being set up for failure in something that they couldn't have even foreseen, her own Medium, her own innate curiosity.

So with this in mind, I think that within the Self-Aware AU ... I think she would be able to deal with this sudden awareness of everything being fake, because her first reaction would be to assume there's something wrong with herself for thinking something so outlandish, so beyond what she was taught. Sonetto would still resist this change - if this is a game, then she's not meant to be aware of it, therefore she's the one at fault and perhaps, broken in a way.

Maybe "broken" is too heavy of a word, I imagine it's more like she believes she broke the rules by gaining this level of sentience. That it' wasn't supposed to happen in the first place.

How would she act overall?

I feel like Sonetto would be relatively fine upon becoming sentient because of this, she'd be shaken but would continue to do as expected and follow the script like a proper little chess piece, one of the many cogs needed in the machine - her reasoning is simple: if everyone who is self-aware began to act out, there wouldn't be a game to play. And what would happen to her friends, then? If this stability that the plot and script brings is suddenly gone?

There would be times where she might slip up, but they'd be very subtle changes in the her dialogue - perhaps the inflection of her voice, rather than the words - she might pause for longer to think, to consider whether to do anything outside of what she's expected to. But that's about it.

The problem begins when she finds out (or is told) that the Foundation had known this truth about the world they live in for longer than she's been alive. Sonetto remains docile entirely to keep that order and harmony she's been raised to maintain, but to find out that the very people who taught her that have known and done nothing but lie to everyone - that would be the catalyst for her.

Personally, I like to think that this is something she figures out on her own, rather than being told. A truth she must face on her own instead of just accepting someone else's words.

Her behaviour would still largely remain the same whenever she knows she has a part to play, but in those moments when she knows there's no "camera" looking at her, Sonetto would... sit there. WIth the way I've interpreted Sonetto, she's a character that struggles to actually have an identity outside of the Foundation's training, so now that this is something she can't rely on, she's at a loss as to what to do with this newfound freedom.

I imagine this is when other arcanists who were self-aware before her would start reaching out to Sonetto and slowly give her that stability she needs.

On the subject of Sonetto's relationship with Vertin.

The way I interpreted Sonetto and Vertin's dynamic, I don't see them as best friends!

From reading back some scenes and transcribing most of CH 03 of the Main Story, it feels like both Sonetto and Vertin have always found themselves in a one-sided relationship: when they were kids, Sonetto rejected Vertin's attempts at becoming friends because of their differences, even if they were both curious about each other. They never striked me as close. Now that years have passed, Vertin treats Sonetto similar to how she treats everyone else, while Sonetto explicitly wants to be closer to Vertin due to what happened when they were kids.

To me, Vertin has shown more emotion to Schneider and Madam Z than to Sonetto. There's this one-sided dynamic again.

In the context of the AU, I think Sonetto finding out about what Vertin goes through with this entity and this role that the game forced upon her, she would double down on her feelings to protect Vertin. There's a lot of guilt involved, since - once again - that's what the Foundation teaches to all orphan arcanists, to repent for their unruly and destructive existence.

I think Sonetto would feel guilty for not gaining sentience sooner, while Vertin has been struggling with this heavy weight for God knows how long. She would recontextualize everything about Vertin, her actions and the differences that constantly got her into trouble as a child, her desire to escape - attributing all of it to this entity that follows her. Because I do think that Sonetto idolizes Vertin to a degree that fuels this one-sided dynamic between them, not out of malice of course, just like a puppy.

So in the end, Sonetto would resent the Player and worry even more for Vertin, now using this as a justification for acting out of line and out of script, as Vertin's self-imposed protector.

It would take Sonetto a looooooong time to do anything with her sentience and freedom, beyond continuing to support Vertin. Her poems and her art would reflect this progress slowly, but yeah, not a lot of noticeable changes.

Reaching 100% Bond with Sonetto.

This is a very conflicting event for Sonetto, I'd say.

The more attention you pay to her, the more aware she becomes of your influence - and now she has to come to terms with the fact that there is no way of separating you from Vertin. She can't free Vertin from this fate, and it doesn't look like she wants that to happen either, but it eats Sonetto from inside out. Because she doesn't understand, and she wants to know why this is the way things are meant to be.

When it comes to reaching 100% Bond with her, or levelling her up and so on, I don't think she'd pay much attention to the mechanical aspect of it all. She's a skilled arcanist, she's the first important character the game gives to you during the tutorial stages, she knows just how important her Disarm ability can be to win a battle - of course you would want her on your team.

But as she slowly spends more time with Vertin and the Player, I think Sonetto would start to wonder about the outside world. They're small, little and impulsive thoughts in the back of her mind, like wondering if you too have someone in this fictional little world that you care about enough to see the story through the end. Are you capable of loving someone that can't reach out to you nor acknowledge your presence? Isn't it cruel, for those who remain blind to the truth, to be so loved and cherished by you?

Do you read the newspaper the same way Vertin does? Do you care about her? About her goals and dreams and thoughts?

This is the only way Sonetto can reconcile this resentment she has for you: through Vertin. I think Vertin would eventually notice all these subtle changes, the way Sonetto never looks truly happy whenever she looks at Vertin, looking above as if she could catch a glimpse of the Player. And Vertin would help through the whole process, easing up to sentience as a whole, to accepting the Player's existence as just something that is there, neither good or bad.

While she's one of the very few who has no trouble differentiating your actions and influence from Vertin's own free will, she would eventually come to respect your choices. Doing her best and beyond whenever you choose her to battle, because now the stakes are higher - now, she's choosing to fight for something she fully understands and cares about.

I like to think that Sonetto can't hear you, but she might be able to see you. Little glimpses here and there, when she happens to look up at the sky, and she sees you cheering after beating that one level that's been giving you a headache. I like to think that she would share these details about you with Vertin, if only to ease her own mind about the complex dynamic you have with THE Timekeeper.

But at the end of the day, this is progress and these are many changes that happen out of your field of vision. Perhaps, one day, Sonetto will gather the courage to thank you for taking care of Vertin when no one else would.

#reverse 1999 #reverse: 1999 #reverse 1999 x reader #self aware au #reverse 1999 sonetto #sonetto

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assignedmale · 1 year

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As a trans creator whose work went viral an awful lot of times and who was targeted by so many hate campaigns that I lost count of them (I started publishing Assigned Male Comics 9 years ago, to give you an idea), I think it would have been very easy for me to go down a bitter path. Our communities are merciless. Our movement is obsessed with ideological purity. It's a fact. Our siblings will devore us for the smallest misstep. It's very easy to become jaded, when you give your entire being to a cause that will treat you as disposable as soon as it's done draining all your energy. When I started getting invited to different countries to speak about my work, I viewed it as some kind of "reward" - I create work that spoke to people, so it got me speaking engagements. I realized that it was in fact the opposite : it's seeing the impact art can have on communities that became the real catalyst of it. With all the hate I've attracted, from transphobes, far-right extremists and other trans people alike, I often wonder why I keep doing it. What is it that makes it that I'm still there after a whole decade, when it would have been easier to let resent and bitterness become my fuel. I always come to the same conclusion. It's meeting all of you, meeting so many communities from all around the planet, that keeps reminding me of the healing and transformative powers of belonging and empowerment. It's only with that in mind that the incredible amount of responsibilities and pressure that comes with a platform such as mine can make sense. Because why do we do this? Why do we burn ourselves out for a cause that we know will throw us away the minute doubt is cast on our ideological purity? It's so that "thriving" may be something more to trans people everywhere than a distant dream. Your activism should be to work towards that. And that starts at home. As a trans person, when you're given a voice and an audience, feeling attacked suddenly becomes a thing of every instant, from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed. It's not something volunteer social media moderators can help you with. I will always have compassion to anyone who goes through that, willingly or not. We ask a lot from trans public figures, who literally put their lives at risk for doing so. It shouldn't be that dangerous to do the work they do. Let's all recognize that. That being said, bullying, high-school-level drama and feuds should never be tolerated. Resist the urge to dogpile and raid. You might be filled with righteousness right now, but I can assure you that you will not feel better afterward. The world won't be a better place for it. When the world becomes too much, I retreat in a corner and write comics. Sometimes, after a long creative process of multiple hours of drawing, rewriting and rewording, I post one of them on the internet. Most of them, I keep to myself. Thousands of Assigned Male Comics strips none of you will ever get to see. I believe that our minds aren't made for the instantaneity of social media. I want my readers to sit back and get thinking, which is why you will rarely see me post more than 3 or 4 times a week, and only a very curated selection of posts. I basically hit the "post" button and run back offline. One day, I'll retire entirely from social media. When that happens, I'll keep posting on Webtoon. Go read the comics there, it's under the title "Serious Trans Vibes". "She's done it," you can then think. "She's thriving."

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corvuschronicles · 7 months

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finally gonna make a post better explaining my real fake psychic shawn spencer au so this might be a long one bc in the past it was mostly rambles as i came up with ideas and trying to make them fit together

i am in the process of actually writing a fic for this and it’s looking like it may be the first part of a 3 part series, below the cut are a lot more details to give context to my au

okay! couple of important things for the overarching universe:

the supernatural exists! though the population is not as prominent as it once was, so the supernatural world learned to adapt and stay hidden, basically for every 20 claims of something supernatural only one is real, and obviously some cities have higher populations compared to others

because of the dwindling population of the supernatural and the growing population of the mundane, it is expected that both would intermingle, so it is actually a lot more common than you’d expect for people to have supernatural bloodlines, though it is often insignificant enough that it doesn’t matter. sometimes that is not the case. sometimes people are born into still active bloodlines so they grow up in that world and sometimes people never know that they even had supernatural blood, let alone that the supernatural exists. sometimes, even though someone’s bloodline may be dormant (and they are or are not aware of the supernatural) unforeseen circumstances can sort of jumpstart said bloodline

with or without knowing it, people with supernatural abilities or bloodlines tend to gravitate to each other

there are few rules that the supernatural community follows, the most important being to not expose themselves to the mundane

within the supernatural community there are different categories; creatures/those with creature blood (vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters), those with abilities (psychics, druids, witches), sentries (those tasked with keeping the supernatural hidden, and hunters (mundanes who became aware and choose to fight it)

explaining the name, real fake psychic:

when he first started working for the SBPD shawn faked being a psychic to avoid arrest

after season 4, shawn has an encounter with the supernatural that essentially gives him real psychic abilities

he keeps up his fake psychic charade because he can’t really say ‘hey guys i was faking it before but guess what? it’s real now!’

now i will go a little into some of the changes/headcanon/general facts of some characters in my au, starting with the main man

shawn:

he’s mexican! this is not central to the story really but it’s my headcanon so i will work it in because i can

somewhere down the line there is maybe some kind of long forgotten supernatural family member, meaning shawn has supernatural blood

the combination of his childhood and eidetic memory and genius is all him but it definitely gets a small push from his possible bloodline, especially in how he visualizes

after The Incident™️ shawn gets real psychic abilities, at first it’s vague and he doesn’t know what’s happening, but then things get too weird and even he can’t ignore it

true psychics are rare, a lot of people only have some aspects (like divination, clairaudience, etc) but of course, shawn ends up with more than the usual

his abilities, especially at the beginning and when they develop more, are rather painful because he is receiving so much more input now, leading to headaches at least

shawn getting real powers is the catalyst to those around him awakening as well, and now that he and the others are aware of the supernatural, it seems to be more present than they realized

gus:

he’s an amplifier

his ability is kind of a paradox, on its own it doesn’t do much because it is mostly dormant outside giving him the supersniffer, but once shawn awakens it causes a ripple effect, they are now in the supernatural world and as a result gus in turn awakens as well

he can amplify his and other’s abilities; this helps shawn because gus can help him focus on certain visions or to make sense of some things he sees, this makes shawn claim that his is now literally magic head

it is a paradox because without shawn’s powers gus’ wouldn’t have come through and gotten stronger, but he also helps shawn’s get stronger, it’s a loop

gus gets the dormant bloodline from both his parents

shawn is not the only one gus helps

juliet:

she is an empath

she is naturally an empathetic person but once she awakens it gives her more of an understanding that she never had before

juliet gets her bloodline from her mother’s side

once they all figure it out, juliet can also help shawn in a different way, as she can now feel the emotions coming through his visions

gus is able to help juliet develop her abilities more, and she develops a type of danger sense, which comes in handy in their job

her bloodline is weaker so she’s not the strongest empath, and her prolonged exposure to a shield made it harder for her abilities to develop as well

carlton

he is a nullifier

lassie’s ability is that he is essentially immune to the supernatural to a point, things like curses, jinxes, telepathy, etc do not work at all or barely affect him, most physical attacks would still work because he is still human (like poisons or tactile telepathy)

however, this also affects positive things such as blessings or good luck charms

his ability is like an aura around him, meaning that those close around him may be affected as well, such as o’hara who, as his partner, is often exposed and it put a hamper on her own abilities

shawn is also affected, but in a good way; the constant bombarding of psychic readings stop when he touches lassiter, and even just being around him can ease the headaches

this is eventual shassie

unlike the others, lassie is an anomaly, he has no actual supernatural bloodline, he is the first in his (recent) line

henry

he is a non-believing, non-aware, mundane person

he notices shawn acting stranger than usual, he also avoids coming to the house more than usual

he has his own Incident™️ in which he witnesses something that shows shawn is now telling the truth when he says he’s psychic

madeleine

is a whitexican; not exactly relevant other than the fact if goes with my mexican shawn headcanon

it is her side that had the supernatural bloodline

just like her son, if she were to awaken she would probably develop some minor abilities, most likely clairaudience

SBPD

for the most part, unaware of the supernatural

anyone born into or active in the supernatural community stays away from the police as they tend to live outside mundane laws and prefer to police their own

few key players in charge of or above the police may be aware or are a part of the community

the fact that a psychic and friends with abilities work for the police becomes controversial

chief vick is unaware but someone close to her is not

if anyone wants to add anything or simply ask questions or talk about feel free to do so! i love talking about real psychic shawn <3

#psych #psych usa #psych tv #real fake psychic au #fake real psychic au #real psychic shawn spencer au #real psychic shawn spencer #shawn spencer #burton guster #carlton lassiter #juliet o'hara #shassie #henry spencer #madeleine spencer #supernatural au #psych fanfiction #shassie fanfiction #my writing #crow talks

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jgetawaycar · 2 months

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hello! love you page sm!

I wanted to ask if you also see the eerie similarity + juxtaposition between nanami and geto?? starting with haibara?

hello honey, thank you<3

coming to your question, I think I might have some idea of where you're trying to get at

so we know when haibara died, so did a part of nanami

and this scene especially

has so much potential?

he didn't take the cloth off because he didn't want to see haibara's body in that state, he couldn't, to him, it was unbearable to come to terms with, he seemed defeated and by god do we need to talk about nanami going through all that more BUT

what did he do in canon? he left

who else left again? that's right, our dear old suguru

in ways more than one, suguru and nanami had similar plights, and looking back it gives meaning to nanami saying he respects geto more than gojo because he realises firsthand where geto's thought process stems from

metaphorically, haibara was their last straw, the one that broke the camel's back and made them flash the jujutsu society a figurative middle finger in their own ways

both lost a loved one, one metaphorically and one literally, moreover, both were propelled to leave following what happened with haibara albeit not necessarily due to similar feelings

while to geto, haibara was the embodiment of why people were worth saving (might post more on this later), to nanami, he was his counterpart, his person and if staying back in the jujutsu society meant that he could and would lose people he cared about, then why bother saving others when you can't save your own?

we know that geto was already spiraling down a self-destructive hole of moral decay, and i'm not saying that haibara was only a motif, they'd been closer than that, but with the state he was in, haibara's death acted as a catalyst

for nanami, someone with a firm sense of protection towards all he cared about, his death seemed like a foreign concept until it materialised, forcing kento to rethink where his priorities lied

#i'm not sure if this is what you meant but #i tried #thanks for the ask<3 #nanami has my heart #as does suguru #suguru geto #nanami kento #haibara yu #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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inspector-montoya-fox · 28 days

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let me hop onto this kinda underrated but definitely outdated post for a minute and ask: did Dr Michael PhD know about Clockwerk? it's not like i want the owl to be the ultimate catalyst in Sly's life - he was the end-all be-all for two games, it was time to move on for sure - but at the same time murdering an entire lineage of raccoons isn't um something you stumble upon everyday ?

i know how enticing it can be to want to connect all the dots when writing sequels and i'm so happy SP didn't pull a Roman Bridger told Billy Loomis to become Ghostface with Clockwerk and Dr Michael. actually, when you think about it, Sly 3 resists the urge to bring up Clockwerk in any way, which is very respectable. the way the game connects to the other two is through the aftermath of ClockLa (which is hardly mentioned) and returning villains as new gang members. if we removed those from the equation, Sly 3 could be a standalone entry. it's a very refreshing game after, again, two games that centre around Clockwerk and his subsequent resurrection but it's also a bit jarring to think that he is barely (or not at all?) mentioned during a game that involves two characters who worked for him as well as one who used his own tail feathers. at times it feels like the game is deliberately going out of its way to tiptoe around the subject.

personally, Honour Among Thieves left a lot to be desired, especially as the final episode not only of the game but of the series. more specifically, i love Dr Michael's conversation with Bentley so much but i feel like it was too little too late. i get that it acted as a climax for the 'Bentley wants to step out of Sly's shadow' storyline but the conversation gave birth to so many huge implications that it felt like we were just then getting to the juicy bits. why does Dr Michael have such vitriol for ConnEr Cooper? what happened between the gang members? was ConnEr truly a piece of shit or is it all Dr Michael's perspective? did every Cooper have a Bentley and Murray figure in their life?

whereas the player got to know Neyla through her various appearances throughout Sly 2, Dr Michael's character development is put on pause due to the fact that Sly 3's episodes aren't interconnected via the common thread of "a gang of villains". as a result, many questions arise in the final episode and never get answered. one of them being: what's his connection to Clockwerk? as highlighted in the paragraph above, there are other questions that are easily prioritised over this one because they are pointed at during the conversation with Bentley. that being said, it feels a bit bizarre for Dr Michael to not even bring up Clockwerk once. when he first sees Sly he thinks it's ConnEr, which raises the question 'does he even know about Clockwerk murdering ConnEr in the first place?' that's definitely one possibility. the gang dispersed and when ConnEr settled down as a family man, that's when Clockwerk came into the picture. ok! probable scenario...

... but idk i'm not really buying it. i don't want to be the tin foil hat girlie and i'm truly not, like in terms of narrative logic it makes total sense. but from a consistency standpoint, how can you create a character that is actually portrayed as more of an omnipresent, all-powerful entity, the literal embodiment of evil, to then just have him go *poof* ? Clockwerk is the stain on the Cooper legacy, the Cooper killer and Dr Michael, who prides himself on hating ConnEr so much, has no idea who he is? the evil scientist who is infatuated with the Coopers and creates animal hybrids doesn't know about the owl robot that survives on Cooper hate? mama what are the odds. again, i'm against trying to unnecessarily connect all the dots, but even a mention would suffice. cutscene appearance even. like what if Dr Michael acted as this Judas figure who approached Clockwerk post gang breakup and spilled on how to track down ConnEr or some sort of secret? it would also help flesh out Clockwerk's character posthumously, which i find so clever. this is something discussed on the new episode of Safehouse Chats btw (shameless plug-in sis), where we debate whether or not Clockwerk benefits from being shrouded in total mystery. as for my initial question? i think Dr Michael bottomed for Clockwerk. block me

#the Scream reference is the actual bottom behaviour here #sly cooper #what if Le Paradox was actually Dr M's son. that would also help flesh out Miss Decibel's character very nicely #god help me

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princess-of-the-corner · 6 days

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Had a realization on that Civil War AU what could have been timeline.

Its resolved in season 2 if: Adrien s the one to bring Chloe in through the manner I described. THe reason being it brings the tension in brewing out much sooner and ensures that no one's loyalties are gonna be shifting majorly between identities.

Thus once everyone has a bit of a dust up and then have to collaborate to take down Hawk Moth names are revealed, there's some shock and they resolve to work together with Fu admitting he should have done this sooner.

It bleeds over into season 3 as the main focus if: Marinette is the oe to bring Chloe in with the main shifts being:

Adrien doesn't know Chloe has the bee & is too tied to his father to help when Chloe's obviously having a breakdown cos of Audrey.

Marinette however, kind of overwhelmed by 'all that' does end up trying to help and gets Chloe out of there before a reveal.

Chloe resolves to show everyone how exceptional she can be & the same general stuff happens as outlined in the original idea.

Except Marinette does discover Queen Bees identity & she has a talk with Chloe, does get the Miraculous back, but tries to fix things with Audrey.

Malediktator happens excuse Chloe needs to be mean to please her mom, wants Marinette as a friend now. That self destructs & as she can't be Queen Bee she tries to leave, and Marinette chooses her as Queen Bee again.

This is when Chloe actually figures out her identity but keeps it to herself, but because of the combo of Marinette trying to help as a civilian despite all that baggage & Ladybug choosing her, Chloe basically shifts all her dogmatic dedication to her mom to Marinette.

Basically: If she was willing to see passed the last four years of crap I gave her & is giving me a chance to be a hero as I want to be, she can be my new god.

Meanwhile Chat's getting more and more frustrated.

This leads to him revealing himself to Nino who does a 180 on the identity issue now that he knows his buddy is totally in the dark.

& this, along with Alysa's preference for truth causes her to also switch in favor of Chat's side post Catalyst/Hero Day, in part cos the identity thing created some issues with who could get what to who.

Meanwhile Kagami despite her civilian ties to Adrien, would overall default to Ladybug both due to her relationship with Marinette and generally viewing Ladybug as the more responsible hero.

Because the identities are still revealed, but this only compounds the hurt, so the schism remains present into season 3. & leads to strange seating arrangements in their first year at high school with it now being two trios:

Adrien, Nino & Alya,

Marinette, Chloe & Kagami + a confused Sabrina sometimes.

None of them can aptly explain how this happened and as their respective teams grow a bit, it gets more ???? to outsiders.

Funky!

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parkeryangs · 3 months

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OK BUT THIS IS REALLY INTRIGUING ACTUALLY. tell me more about this 'mattkey' ............

YES ABSOLUTELY OH MY GOD

SO in episode 1 participant observation, the main character, mike walters, claims to be "investigating" a secret online game called woe.begone out of curiosity/boredom, via actually playing the game. w.bg is a series of challenges, the first being that mike had to call his ex-boyfriend and tell him the worst thing he ever did to you.

mike does this, explaining that his "lifelong best friend" (matt) had unexpectedly died in a car crash, and his ex wasn't home at the time/didn't realize how serious the situation was, so he left mike to worry alone before matt's death had actually been confirmed. he tells his ex that he doesn't forgive him and has a breakdown, then waking up the next day to realize that matt wasn't dead and there was no trace of the voicemail he left for his ex. (so, at this point, mike continues to play w.bg, with matt as his "prize")

there's several other challenges he completes, along with another old friend of theirs also playing woe.begone, but the next marker of their relationship is in episode 11 this is only temporary, when mike's woe.begone challenge is to kill the prize from his first challenge— which is obviously matt. he explains the situation, a future version of him shows up to "prove" everything to matt, and ultimately matt slides his gun across the table, mike apologizes, and tells matt he loves him. (i talk more about this in another post)

at the end of season 1, woe.begone contacts mike to tell him that he has to relocate to a government job, a place called o.v.e.r./oldbrush valley energy & resources. he does, with season 2/3 following the start of his time in the valley & continued problem-causing due to w.bg lol. then in episode 35 safehouse, he kills another character and flees o.v.e.r., driving 26 hours to matt's house. he doesn't tell him all the details of what happened, but episode 36 respite is mostly dedicated to mike talking about the few days he spent with matt ("we didn’t need to do anything other than be in each other’s company") (i ramble about matt in 35/36 here)

there's a lot of non-mattkey events that occur, lol, but it gets to a point where matt essentially wants to be involved with a time travel org mike creates called base, but mike kind of keeps him at a distance for reasons unknown (coughs. mike does have a boyfriend he meets at o.v.e.r. and not saying it has anything to do with that but i'm also not Not saying that) and in episode 84 panther, matt helps with stalking two "rogue" iterations of mike and his boyfriend edgar (and i believe this is the first episode where matt has a voice actor?) and continues to do so throughout the current point in the podcast/"about a year" in canon time.

at the end of episode 120 true story, a (drunk) mike transports to matt's house as there was a timeline they'd been in (~e104 to 120ish iirc) where matt was dead once again because of mike. mike gives matt a box of his old stuff, and matt, worrying over mike using time travel when he's drunk lol, brings mike to stay in his spare room (that he mentions he's kept open since mike was last there). mike tells matt he loves him, and matt returns the sentiment.

so YEAH. mattkey my absolute beloved. imo their dynamic is very much "knowing one another better than they know themselves" if that gives you a more direct idea jksdhfjksdf. also college-era mattkey has been brainrotting the fandom recently which might be my fault LOL but pre-wbg mattkey is SO compelling even if only mentioned in passing - i talk about college mattkey here, here, here (kind of), and here, and i wrote a short fic about them here. overall, essentially the catalyst for everything in woe.begone is literally just. matt. like... mike literally rewrites time to keep matt safe and while it's true that mike has a deep relationship with most of his friends, matt is so intrinsically tied to him in a way that nobody else is.

#this is so long grack IM SO SORRY #they are just so important to me. forever and ever. u would really like them i think #mattkey #grack tag #i probably missed some things BUT these are at least the high points i hope lol #askbox #woe.begone #finch chirps

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submerged-into-clouds · 7 months

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PLEASE rant about hound mer your art is amazing and i want to hear more about the au <3

Beloved, sweet anon, you have no idea how happy I get when people ask me to talk about things, I'm so sorry for the amount of text you're about to read, lol

I will put my ramblings under "read more". And thank you so much for the compliment :3

So, I don't really have much on characters other than Hound, as I was thinking in terms of a short story; but what you need to know about me: 1) I love fish and marine biology like a LOT, even if I don't study it; 2) I love folklore and fairytales, and The Little Mermaid happens to be one of my favourites.

Now, like @montyuh mentioned on her blog, I made him an Atlantic Goliath Grouper, as they are close enough in colour schemes, and goliath groupers are ambushers, and I thought that assigning Hound a big but stealthy fish would be neat. And him staying in shallower waters makes him closer to human civilization, so I find that fitting.

When colouring, I did make his scales way more saturated than a grouper's would be, though, but that's simply because my eye prefers brighter visuals.

I try to mix the organic fish aspects with general shapes he has in his robot mode. That's why when trying to design his chest, I ended up with this sort of ribbing?

But I think he would be a curious and playful mer, bravely venturing close to the shores, collecting trinkets from the reefs, swimming by and spying on ships, lol. I can easily imagine him daydreaming about being able to walk and learn more and more things about humans, as well as getting to meet one.

As for the story... I tend to like writing angst (much more than reading it), so that's where my thoughts steer.

I was imagining Hound going through similar events that are described in the original Little Mermaid tale, but with deviations where they are warranted.

For example, instead of getting a pair of human legs, I gave him mecha ones — its a fun way to still incorporate robot aesthetics. And instead of an actual sea witch, I thought that there should be a scientist/inventor, nicknamed Sea-Witch. Does that make sense? When Monty and I were chatting, she suggested Scorponok, and I thought about Tarantulas. But Transformers is in no way short on weird scientists, so I'm sure there's a selection larger than that.

But just imagine Hound already being infatuated with the ideas and glimpses of the human world, getting to save a human from drowning, and that becoming a catalyst for him approaching the Sea-Witch. He just wants to experience it for himself so bad!

One aspect of the story I haven't decided on, is what will the Sea-Witch ask for in exchange? I thought of doing something with his voice, but I couldn't find a justification for that. I have considered him having to give up some sort of technological accommodation, a translator, perhaps?

But he will get to spend his days on the shore, attempting to get used to his legs, and I can only imagine that he experiences much discomfort and pain (from things like gravity, the mechanisms attached to him, exposure to sun, etc.), while the sensation from anything else is dull. But he is happy that he gets to explore and spend time with his human. Another reason why I considered a translator to be something he gives up is that it will prevent him from being able to verbally communicate with the human, and thus both will have to learn about each other via other methods. And meanwhile, the human will remain largely unaware that they were saved by him.

And while I like writing angst, I don't have the heart to give characters bad endings, lol. So I think that to stay alive Hound would have to return to the water, and while that will physically separate him from the person he was with, it will allow them to continue communicating and building a relationship, accounting for and accommodating each others different needs.

Here, this is as brief as I can make it without actually writing/posting the story, lol

It is very much just a collection of thoughts, so naturally they are scrambled. I am so open to suggestions!

#you asked me to infodump — you are getting an INFODUMP #in all seriousness #thank you for giving me an excuse to just talk :)#because i love doing it #sonne rambles #i'm cringe but i'm free #maccadams #tf hound #mer!hound

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shostakobitchh · 5 months

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Hi! I I just saw your post about having the worst weekend, and I hope responding this quickly isn't creepy.

I just wanted to reassure you that whatever happened isn't indicative of your worth, nor of how people should and do act. However, I totally get feeling like the world is awful and shitty because it so OFTEN is, and sometimes you just need to scream about it without being told why you're wrong.

I really hope this isn't too much, but I discovered aim & ignite a few weeks ago and have never gotten around to leaving a review/message saying how much I've become obsessed with it -- you've filled a decade-and-a-half long itch for well-written Snape daughter fanfic, and you've crafted it so magnificently. The thoughtfulness that has gone into changes to canon, the gradual development of Snape and Ariel's relationship, the realistic treatment of how children would act and how responsible teachers should act -- it's all so, so, good, and a par example of how fanfiction can transcend its original material to stand on its own. All of this is to say that I wanted to tell you explicitly that you've had a positive impact on someone else's life, as something concrete to hold onto when you're feeling shitty.

Lastly, I have to confess that I love aim & ignite so much that I, uh, made (agonized over) a playlist for it?? Or, for Snape and Ariel's relationship in it, rather. A lot of the songs are originally romantic in context but I hope it's obvious that's not how I chose to view them for this lol. You might have your own already but here's a link to it if you or any other readers would be interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7bUqtJ7XcjmNKQ8ux1pwit?si=8e4b5d5e33af4950

Sorry for this super long ask!! I hope you have a better week!

hi! please know that I have read this message multiple times since I got it in my inbox; I just haven't been in the right headspace to sit down and write back how grateful I am for it. it really was a huge pick-me-up these past few weeks <3

I'm so happy and grateful that the story has been something you've been looking for and has met your expectations; I too have searched far and wide for a Fem!Harry story where Snape is the dad and never really found anything that felt like canon. Fluff is great and all, but the best part of Snape is that he is SO BAD at trying to be good. All I see when he's thrust into the role of parent is a dumpster fire that somehow ends with a mildly-adjusted child he would fucking kill for, and vice versa. it's such a fucked-up mess; snape is the catalyst for the events of canon (he spills the beans about the prophecy) and sets this whole plot into motion. I love the idea that he inadvertently does this to his own child. it's like, just SO GOOD.

I bookmarked your playlist when I read this message and have been making my way through it! music is 98.7828% of what inspired me to write this story, so I LOVE when people send me what music the story evokes for them.

I made a playlist a little while ago on Spotify as well, I'll link it here in case you or anyone else wants to take a listen.

thank you again <3 <3 <3 inboxing is never creepy, btw! reader interaction is all that keeps me going, somedays <3 <3 <3

#sam speaks #aim and ignite #ask #themudbloodprincess

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wishing-stones · 11 months

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how did you come with the plot for r&r? its so nicely written and i constantly struggle with coming up with plots for multichapter fics despite desperately wanting to write one, so im wondering what your process was?

This one got long

Originally, the plot came about from a one-word prompt done for my oneshot collection. The story wound up with more background to it than I intended, and I decided to try and fill it out a little more. I'm kind of old-fashioned, so I used a plot diagram and slapped the important bits in there before thinking about what all else I'd like to put in a story like this.

Picking a villain was pretty easy; who is stupid and/or ballsy enough to pick a serious fight with Nightmare? XGaster, who could be made a main antagonist easily. He also has the added bonus of having a personal investment in fighting Nightmare (Cross) That gave me my conflict, and filling out what needed to happen between that and the resolution got handled too.

I knew I wanted this to be a reverse harem sort of dealio, so everyone needed to have their own arc with the reader. Everyone needed to have character development. To do that with Nightmare meant having to include his brother, and it gave me an avenue to do their resolution and also include the stars. Killer and Cross needed to come to an understanding, but after realizing that would only really come about after they go to blows, they needed a doctor.

Enter Baggs, who I have sort of stuck with the Bad Sanses for a hot minute in my own sort of personal plot space and in general thought mess. Formally including him would also just be a nice little self-indulgent thing since he's a seriously bastardly brainrot. It also gave me an excuse to work with him more, and, unintentionally though it was, introduce more people to him and his AU.

With the cast figured out, I could start placing little scenes I wanted to happen in the appropriate places on the timeline. As I wrote it, some things were off-the-cuff, some things popped up early, some things got nixed, and a whole character who I hadn't originally intended to include got included anyway due to source material being released between plotting and writing (XChara.)

The actual ending got pulled out of my ass because I only had a couple bulletpoints for the post-fight resolutions. There's a couple whump lines there I'm especially proud of.

That being said, there's a couple continuity errors that need fixing and places where things didn't quite go according to plan, so always be prepared to compromise and fix in post. I also never had a beta reader and basically went "FUCK IT WE BALL" with every update. (I did re-read them and fine-tune them after the initial write before posting them, but that's it.)

In short, the process was: 1. Come up with the initial idea 2. Refine the idea (Starting point, rising action, conflict, resolution) 3. Place the idea on a plot diagram 4. Figure out scenes you want and place them accordingly 5. Figure out how characters are (or are not) going to change and place the catalysts for the actions and where/when their arcs will conclude/when they have gone through their development 6. Pad it out-- make scenes connect and plot points make sense 7. Start writing. Keep writing. Pace yourself. You'll finish it eventually and with a roadmap, you'll always know where you're going. Feel free to embellish on the details and don't be afraid to move things up or back in the progression of the plot if it makes more sense while writing it.

And if there's anything I've learned from this, it's that:

a. Your audience is a lot nicer than you think they are. You are absolutely your own worst critic. b. Don't be afraid of mistakes, just go with the flow. You can edit things in post when you re-read it, even if that's after you posted it.

I really hope this helps!

#k answers #fic nonsense #r&r(r&r)#the only part of english class that stuck with me was creative writing and plot diagrams #Can't tell you how the hell to construct a sentence #but I can sure as hell break a story down into its essential parts

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arcplaysgames · 1 year

Text

And the biggest problem I have with P4G...

The main character.

I think the main character of Persona 4 is actively bad. And I think the game paints itself into a corner by making him so fucking boring and non-emotive and non-reactive. He is the opposite of a catalyst in a game that needs forward momentum.

This becomes painfully obvious in the mid-to-late game, around when the entire Namatame thing happens, but it's present for the entire thing. All of the emotional pushes come from other characters. Chie and Yukiko worried about each other, Kanji worried about Naoto, Teddie and Rise driving their arc forward. Because the P4MC can't drive anything everywhere. They are purely reactive in a plot structure that doesn't deal well with reactive protagonists.

(For comparison, see how P3P is structured.)

Yosuke is the real protagonist of P4G. And yes, in universe, I love how this manifests, how you can feel Yosuke taking on more and more responsibility through the game. He takes in Teddie, he leads the team to Namatame, he works with Naoto to solve the case. His anger is one of the primary thrusts of the plot, and if you removed him, the ENTIRE story would fall apart because the MC has nothing.

I am an unabashed stan of FeMC in P3P. I thought she was the perfect balance of a proxy for the player while also having a lot of forward momentum. Also!!! As mentioned in the last post, having the people around her in SEES having their own shit going on frankly alleviates the need for her to carry the whole story!

I appreciate that P4G let me have fun as the MC and gave me some fun chaos options. But the dull void of the MC has bothered me for literally half the game.

Like, compare Yosuke and P4MC with Junpei and FeMC. It's stupid, but I felt real fucking camaraderie with Junpei! I cared about him and I felt like he was my fucking wingman in all things! Which let the game pull that masterful trick when Junpei gets his crisis of self-esteem and turned his back on me for several in-game weeks, I really felt that! But as much as I like Yosuke and P4MC, that exact same plot would not work with Yosuke because P4MC is just not enough of a character to pull it off.

Also, I will be a total asshole for a second. Why the fuck are you only allowed to be a boy in P4? It's actively asinine and if you are gonna make the MC such a blank slate, you can at least give me a blank slate with different fuckign pronouns. Nothing is gained from making P4MC a boy except to reaffirm the idea that Boys Are Default.

In a perfect world, Atlus would make the Persona 6 protagonist gender neutral. Just don't use gendered terms at all! Let the player decide who the fuck they are!

(MAN i am sad thinking about Junpei talking to FeMC like she's One of the Boys. I literally loved that shit so much.)

But yeah, I... did not like the P4MC and as a writer, I can feel the way the story struggles against the void of his existence and presence and how other characters have to compensate for those deficencies. Which becomes even more galling when the game tries to convince me what a cool and excellent guy he is.

SIGHS

Anyway. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with P4G despite all my complaints. Persona 3 Portable Girl Route is just the better game.

#p4 #persona liveblog

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hes-writer · 2 years

Text

Notes on Camp (8)

summary: harry is the head counsellor, y/n is new, the campers are matchmakers, feelings arise and harry regrets his actions

warnings: slight angst

word count: 3269 words

a/n: greetings from your favourite counsellor!

helpful links: notes on camp (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) | harry styles masterlist | matt murdock masterlist | patreon masterlist | buy me a coffee?

___

For the rest of his busy day, Harry was trying to find a small gap in his schedule to check on Y/N and possibly get the chance to talk to her and clear things up. It was gut-wrenching for Harry to try and come up with a means of an apology to make up for what he had assumed and unfortunately, done to Y/N. Who would’ve known that her side of the story was only a gloss over of what really happened--not Harry, that was for sure. He was deeply regretful for it.

However, since Y/N did not have a set timetable, Harry most definitely had a strenuous time looking for her. He did not know if it was the universes’ way of punishing him but Harry thought that it had done an excellent job that the two of them never crossed paths. He practically spent every second of his free time jogging from one end of the camp to another, building to building search for her familiar figure that he had grown used to from their short amount of time together.

Harry even queried Jason, who was guarding the docks, on lifeguard duty, if he had any idea of Y/N’s whereabouts to which unfortunately he shook his head ‘no’. The head counsellor slumped his shoulders at the answer he had received.

“But maybe you can check her cabin?” Jason suggested, calling out after Harry had crossed more than half of the wooden walkway.

How stupid was he to not check there first?

Harry was about to begin jogging towards the direction of their isolated cabins when the watch on his wrist emitted a ‘beep’, indicating that his break was over and he was supposed to be back at his post in the next few minutes. Harry sighed at the realization that he had to wait for God knows how long until he could look for Y/N again, much less speak to her if she gave him the chance.

It wasn’t that Y/N was ignoring Harry--it was just that she was not sure how to approach the situation. Did she have the right to say ‘I told you so’? Was she supposed to accept his apology--if he did --and move on as though nothing happened? To Y/N, it seemed like her reaction to whatever happens next is the catalyst to any sort of relationship that she and Harry might build with each other. If she decides to forgive him, there will be boundaries put into place on what they can and cannot do until they made it official. They were so close to labelling what was going on between them, or at least she thought so, but it all went down the drain when he refused to believe her.

And he had every right to do so. Granted that it wasn’t how Y/N expected him to handle the situation but she should’ve known better than to expect some sort of special treatment from him. It was the last thing that she wanted--to be the gossip of her fellow colleagues that she was being given warnings only and not proper reprimanding because Harry had feelings for her. Nobody really cared about who’s seeing who though, it was a summer camp anyways. But Y/N did not want to be only known for being Harry’s girlfriend during her time here; she wanted to be acknowledged for her skills and the way she interacted with the campers. It was why she was torn on deciding whether to completely ignore the whole fiasco and just be amicable with Harry or have a deep, long talk with him and see where this goes.

Y/N puffed a breath out, hands resting on her hips as she scouted for her outfit for the night. It was summer, meaning that it would be humid. She could just wear her current clothes right now. But then again, it would be at night time when mosquitoes usually lingered in the woods so unless she wanted bites all over her legs, Y/N was better off opting with some pants.

She tried hard not to think about Harry for the rest of the day but now that she was alone with her thoughts, he ran back and forth through her mind multiple times. It was a bit silly to fall for someone in such a short amount of time; was it two months? A few weeks? But she did and Y/N felt foolish. Maybe it was more of a summer love or fling kind of thing. Regardless, Y/N shook her head and tried to think of other activities to do now that she had finished all of her tasks when a knock on the door sounded.

“Coming!” She exclaimed, straightening her crumpled shirt before taking strides to open the wooden barricade. “Harry,” Y/N breathed out after realizing that she had been holding her breath.

“Y/N, can we talk? Please,” He pleaded, resting his palms on the doorframe.

Y/N took a step back from his unanticipated closeness, mind buzzing as a million thoughts rushed through her head though her mouth stayed clamped.

She nodded, taking a few steps back to let him enter her temporary home.

As he passed, Harry gave her a grateful smile to which she hesitantly returned. Y/N really did miss him being so close to her, his scent wafting to her nose and she couldn’t help but want to be smothered in it.

Y/N closed the door shut, turning around to find him in the middle of the room, hands clasped behind his back as he stared at her. The silence was almost unbearable.

“I’m sorry,”

She quirked an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest in self-defence at the anticipated direction that this conversation would go. “Why?”

“I didn’t believe you. And I yelled at you when you were only trying to explain yourself. I’m sorry,” He repeated.

Y/N closed her previously open mouth shut, ready to retaliate and now she was left dumbfounded at his sudden apology.

“I--, it’s fine, Harry,” She rubbed her arm softly, a nervous habit since it was not even chilly in the cabin.

“No, it’s not,”

Y/N snapped her head up when he took a step closer towards her, catching the sincerity in his eyes.

“Look, Daisy told me what happened today during breakfast. She said Belle would watch over her till’ you returned but she left. Tattled on me and blamed you for leaving an injured camper alone.” He sighed, tentatively reaching out to pull Y/N’s hands into his own. She let him.

“I should’ve known better. Belle lies like it’s second nature--it’s mostly white lies, doesn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. She jokes around a lot and the seriousness of this situation just--I believed her right away and I didn’t let you speak.” He stammered, gripping her hand tighter and tighter the longer his monologue went on. “S’my fault. I should’ve believed you,”

On the contrary, Y/N did not exhume as much effort in holding Harry’s hand. She was much too busy processing the new information to act physically. So he apologized, what now?.

“Alright, thank you for apologizing I guess,” Y/N bit her lip. The cabin was silent for moments until a thought popped into her head. Sheepishly, Y/N asked, ‘What else did Daisy tell you?”

“Th-that you were sad because of it,” Harry mumbled, almost ashamed at his forsaken ability to make the people he cared for feel bad about themselves.

The woman sat on her bed, clothes littered on the surface area as she spent the better half of the hour deciding what to wear for tonight. “Look, Harry. I really appreciate that you’re here apologizing to me. From a work standpoint, I’m glad that this is all cleared up. However, what does this mean for us? If there ever was an ‘us’--I know we didn’t make anything official but I have feelings for you and I think you did for me as well,”

Harry watched as Y/N practically chewed on her lip as she rambled on. His chest was warm from the beating of his heart accentuating every pump of blood through his veins. He was endeared yet nervous at the same time because he had given this situation a plethora of thought since this morning. There were a ton of ways that this conversation could go and Harry vowed to put Y/N wants and needs first, regardless of if it meant having to admire her from afar--because she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore.

“I jus--is a relationship something that you’re looking for? Or are you just wanting to hook up?” Y/N almost didn’t want the words to fall off her lips. If he didn’t want anything serious, then Harry’s best option was to be with Belle.

He shook his head instantaneously, hands shaking along as if he could not disagree more.

“This is something I want,” He gestured between them, “I want to be with you, Y/N.” He kneeled in front of her, skin digging into the hardwood. Harry pressed his palms on the soft skin of her knees, gentle enough to not hurt her yet pervasive to show how much he wanted this.

She blinked precisely three times. Butterflies were fluttering in her stomach but Y/N kept a straight face.

“I want to be with you too, Har,” Y/N cupped his cheeks, his peach fuzz straining to scratch her palms. “But I need some time to think about it,”

She didn’t expect to think about it for long--Y/N already knew what she wanted. And if her gut feeling was right, then he wanted the same thing too.

As soon as the clock struck nine-thirty, the counsellors made sure that all their campers were safely tucked in their beds, lights off, and cabin doors shut tightly from the night air. Y/N almost wished she had rejected Jason’s offer in favour of pulling her warm blanket up to her chin, slowly falling asleep for the night.

But here she was, one hand gripping tightly onto Jason’s muscled bicep and the other loosely holding a flashlight pointed in front of her. Despite the aid of another body keeping her steady and the knowledge of where rocks and twigs were splayed on the forest floor, Y/N still stumbled over who knows what, repeatedly, having to apologize profusely for the constant attention on her so she would not fall face-first on the ground.

“Sorry,” Y/N said nervously, securing her hold on Jason.

He only smiled in return, “No worries. Gotta keep your pretty face clean,”

A loud huff echoed from somewhere behind them causing Y/N to tilt her chin up and try to see who it was from her peripheral vision.

“Though, I feel that it’s only right to offer you a ride on my back,” Jason stated, walking a little ways from the trail so as to not disrupt the flow of counsellors hiking up towards the waterfall.

Y/N blushed but did not have the time to reject his words as Jason was already taking a knee in front of her. She carefully draped her body over his back, wondering if she was coming off as needy. Well, he wouldn’t have offered if he didn’t want to, Y/N thought.

Harry had half the mind to listen to Belle’s story as they trekked side-by-side. Instead, his gaze focused on Y/N��s arms wrapped around another man’s neck, Jason’s hands gripping her thighs for extra support. He hated how every time he looked up ahead of him; it was the view that he saw and it irritated him to no end.

“Let’s walk faster,” Harry gruffed, moving his legs quicker without another word to Belle who seemingly chased after him. He kept his head straight as he passed the couple, not wanting either one of them to spot the scowl on his face and the deep crease between his brows.

Harry reminded himself that he deserved this--at least to some degree. He didn’t think that Y/N was doing this on purpose. He kept her words replaying in his mind; how she needed time to think. Harry was no stranger to this. It wasn’t just thinking that she had to do. Y/N also had to weigh out her options. If she did have feelings for Jason or felt as though they were sprouting, it was only plausible for her to test those emotions out through means of physical bonding; if they actually had any chemistry between them. Harry wondered if Y/N felt nervous right now, not because she was close to Jason, but because she would much rather be with him.

“Harry, wait--oh!” Belle quipped, tripping over a branch. Fortunately, she had caught herself in time before her face slid through the dirt. However, a pitiful whimper sounded through the open-air that had Y/N stripping her eyes from Harry’s slouched figure, briefly pausing to see if he heard the cry of pain correctly.

Y/N instructed Jason to turn around and let her feet plant on the ground. “Are you okay?”

Belle furrowed her brows in curiosity at Y/N’s question. Harry had paid Belle a visit, whisper-shouting in the corner of the arts and crafts room as he spilled what he knew about her doings. She was sure that Harry had told Y/N the truth by now, so it was fair that Belle was questioning Y/N’s concern for her.

“Yeah, I think I twisted my ankle,” She answered, ignoring the prickling pain of small pebbles digging into her bum as she sat up, inspecting the quirk of her ankle. Y/N leaned down next to her, shining her flashlight on the sore spot, now turning red.

“Looks like it’s getting swollen,” Y/N mumbled, gently lifting her heel to inspect more of the damage. “You’re gonna need some ice. I can walk you back to camp,” The girl extended her hand out to Belle who took it after staring for a few seconds.

“Okay,”

“I can come with--,” Jason began, only to get interrupted by Belle, wincing when she accidentally put pressure on her left ankle.

“No! I mean, I want Harry to come instead if that’s okay?”

Y/N must have interpreted the question wrong, assuming that Belle wanted Harry all to herself. She sighed, chest aching as Harry carried Belle on his back to prevent further injury. He handed the bag of drinks to Jason who effortlessly added it to his load. Harry started walking away from the group, towards the opposite direction when Belle exclaimed.

“Wait!” She craned her head, “Are you coming or not?”

“Me?”

Belle rolled her eyes, “Yeah, you. Who else would I be talking to?”

“But why?”

“Cause Harry gets queasy and I trust you more,” Belle slapped Harry’s chest when he pinched her, “It’s true!”

“Y’makin’ me look bad,”

“Whatever, let’s go, Y/N. Sorry, Jason,” She offered him a sympathetic smile.

Jason pouted, asking Y/N, “Next time?”

She nodded absentmindedly, trudging off to catch up with Harry and Belle.

For the majority of the walk back to camp, the trio was silent. Belle was trying her best to keep a conversation going, though both Y/N and Harry were only keen on giving short and quick answers, leading them to a discussion dead end. Sure, Harry hummed in the space as to not let the eerieness of the forest scare them but other than that, Belle was left looking back and forth between them. She felt as though she was the reason for their silence. No shit.

For all the times that Belle has seen the two of them interact, she could feel a spike of jealousy arise from within her. Not that she would ever say it out loud. But now, all she wanted to do was magically heal her swollen ankle and yeet out of the awkward tension surrounding them. Despite her previous agenda, Belle wanted to see the Harry and Y/N that jokingly teased each other. The pair where you can actually see the lightness and giddiness of the air surrounding them because they were just so comfortable with each other. The subtle touches of affection made Harry’s smile that little bit brighter and the gentle touch of his hand that inclined Y/N to lean into him. Maybe it was a change of heart, or it was possibly just a greater realization that Harry and Y/N deserved to be happy that Belle decided to scrap her scathing jealousy for a better mindset.

Her conscience was hard at work to ensure that Belle felt every ounce of guilt that she deserved to feel. From the beginning where she conjured up the plan to get Y/N in trouble, she had a first-class seat in watching Harry blank out while doing camp activities. He was usually much more immersed with the kids; it was why he got the lead counsellor position in the first place. His dedication was unmatched and so, it was easy for Belle to spot when he wasn’t engaging like he usually would. And when she watched Y/N working the cafeteria line-up, Belle could see that she was painting a smile on her face for the sake of the campers. Though, her actions proved otherwise with the way a slab of scrambled eggs slapped against the plate, echoing a harsh sound every few seconds.

Belle sighed in relief when the light posts of the camp grew brighter with each step that Harry took. The tension was so thick that all Belle wanted to do was grab whatever bag of frozen food from the freezer (preferably peas) to place on her ankle and call it a day. Hopefully, it would give Y/N and Harry the chance to reconcile.

“What d’ya want? I’ve got corn, peas and veggie medley,” Harry asked, sticking his head in the freezer to inspect the variety of ice packs. “Or y’can jus’ get a regular ice pack,”

Y/N giggled at his words, Belle’s eyes immediately observing the way Harry’s back straightened at the sound. Yeah, she had to apologize.

“An ice pack is fine,” Belle shivered when she touched the cold pack, wrapping it in a clean dish towel before taking a deep breath. “Okay, you guys need to stop being so odd around each other,”

Harry and Y/N exchanged stares; had it been that obvious?

Belle rolled her eyes, “Yes, I can tell that you like each other and I’m sorry that I ruined whatever you two had going on. I was jealous, okay? I’ve had Harry all to myself for years and seeing you come in here and sweep him off his feet. . .it’s an unsettling feeling, to say the least.”

The woman raised a hand up, signalling that she was far from done when Y/N started opening her mouth. “Hush. Y/N, I’m sorry that I got you in trouble. Harry, I’m sorry that I lied to you. I know how much you hate it but I still did it anyway because I was feeling selfish. It’s been eating me up for days. I mean, you guys aren’t acting like yourselves!”

Harry’s brows went up at the new information. He knew that he had been acting strange, mostly because he was nervous about how things would go. He didn’t know that other people were becoming aware of it too.

He smiled at Belle, pinching her cheek, “Awww, you care about me,”

“Shut up, Harry! I care about you both.” She slapped his cold fingertips from her face, “And stop doing that when your girlfriend is right here,”

“I’m--we’re not together,” Y/N blushed, meeting Harry’s green eyes shyly.

“Well, you might as well be with the way he fawns over you,” Belle pushed herself up from the uncomfortable plastic chair, alarming Y/N who was the closest to her and who had her arms out, ready to support if anything happened. “Oh, calm down, Y/N. I can still walk,”

“Just being careful,”

In true Belle fashion, she waved her helping hands-off, insisting that she was fine on her own. “I’m leaving now. You lovebirds better makeup by tomorrow,”

The couple watched as Belle exited the kitchen, limping on one leg. The latch on the door opened and closed a few moments later. It was quiet aside from the humming of the refrigerator and the freezer.

“Do you want to come over to my cabin? To talk?” Y/N added, zipping up her gray jacket.

“Sure, it’s on the way to mine,” Harry joked, shoulders slumping in relief when she released a melodious giggle. He moved around the kitchen, unearthing a reusable bag from one of the drawers. He flipped through the pantry cabinets, filling the bag with various snacks; pudding cups, juice boxes, crackers and chips.

“What are you doing?” Y/N questioned him, eyes widening at the amount of food he had managed to place inside the bag.

“Preparing for a date on such short notice,” He grinned before turning back to the large box of oranges. Shrugging, Harry grabbed a handful of Mandarin oranges, “Why not,”

“Aren’t we gonna get in trouble?”

He shook his head, “Don’t think so. I know a guy,” Harry slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder, walking over to the light switch where he would flick it off a few moments later. “Let’s go?”

And with a nod, Y/N slotted her hand over to his outstretched one.

“Let’s go,”

___

FIN.

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