Then looks at Holos of Elizabeth and Tilda, then to Seyka who's minding her own business, man spreading on a bench next to Erand while reading through data, making notes and occasionally helping him when he's stuck on something, barely looking away from her own work.
Aloy: "I don't see it."
Then her eyes travel to Beta who's doing a terrible job at not staring at Alva and Talanah, who are sharing focus tips and combat moves respectively.
Petra coming out of nowhere, gently nudging the girl and saying something that makes her turn as red as her short hair, spluttering in speech which just makes Petra chuckle and wink before walking away.
I feel like VR would make Celine in particular incredibly motion sick. Like she can handle stuff like roller coasters fine, regular video games don't cause her any problems, but something about VR just does horrible things to her. She'd try to cover it up though-- she keeps taking off the headset and walking away for a minute because she "heard the cat doing something" when she's really going to throw up. The chat knows because she looks violently ill, is going crazy, and by the time the girls actually stop and read it Celine has gone away to stealth-vomit like 3 times. They feel SO BAD about being too locked in to notice that Celine was low key dying.
Celine has always had motion sickness issues.
The first time she did a mission where she had to fight on a moving train, she got violently ill and basically projectile vomited after they got off.
It was one of the harder things she had to get used to while training. She learned to take meds for the nausea regularly when they would tour with the amount of times they had to deal with demons on tour buses, trains and planes.
After a while she managed to become almost alright to the point of not needing any meds and she had a few tricks on how to not get dizzy when hunting in these situations.
Unfortunately it's been a while since she's done anything remotely similar to those things in quite some time and thus her body has changed and basically factory reset that progress.
It's why she prefers to drive rather than use the trains or planes when visiting the girls.
She should have known what would have happened when Zoey suggested they all play 'Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted VR'.
She probably should have did a bit more research before putting on the headset and maybe read through the disclaimers more closely.
It didn't help that she was also on her period.
Double whammy.
Not five minutes into the game intro and she was already feeling the vertigo. It was a weird experience and she was very confused for a long time.
Taking the helmet off just to check her orientation and that she wasn't about to walk into a wall or knock over something expensive.
Playing a horror game on top of that, that is heavily reliant on the player looking around a lot plus the flashing lights and motion blur...
Yeah Celine is not having a good time.
First time she had to retreat to hug the toilet bowl she called for a break to do some research while getting some water.
Chat and Huntrix believed her.
The second time Celine very nearly face planted with how dizzy she got. She almost dropped the headset as she basically ripped it off her head, sweat visible on her forehead as she mumbled about stopping Derpy from getting into something.
Chat is sceptical this time but Huntrix is now concerned. Rumi in particular.
The third time Celine was on all fours, doing breathing exercises, she is visibly shaking.
Chat is spamming Huntrix to check on her and once she's able to take off the headset and hobble out the room, not even giving an explanation this time.
Chat worries and it's not five minutes later that Mira walks into frame. She explains that Celine is not doing so good so she and Zoey were going to take over for a while as Rumi helps Celine.
Celine returns after some time but she does not put headset on. She apologizes to Chat who share their own experiences. Most being women with really bad motion sickness and like, catastrophic period cramps and nausea that make playing on VR a special kind of hell.
After stream Celine is trapped in a cuddle pile under the girls, with Rumi purring on her stomach, in apology.
Celine, the girls, and Bobby all playing among us together!!! I don't think people write enough of Bobby and Celine being friends and it's sad
Celine and Bobby would be the most devastating and diabolical Imposter duo on the planet.
People would think Bobby can't lie or play devious for shit (which, fair) but most also forget Bobby was also in the Idol Industry(in this hc he was) for a bit so bro knows ball like you wouldn't believe.
More importantly, Bobby and Celine were bro's long before Huntrix were a thing. They're best friends. Dumb and Dumber even.
He's her rock, she's his feral cat he can't really tame but she doesn't scratch or bite him when he gets close to her.
During an Among Us stream, Bobby is absolutely sweating bullets when he gets Imposter. He hates it.
While he is a decent imposter and very good at navigating through the others suspicions, he is more or less almost immediately called out by Celine who can read him like an open book.
She knows what Bobby looks and sounds like when he lies or tries to divert the conversation, having seen him have to do that for YEARS even before Huntrix.
Same with Celine.
While she is an absolute beast of an imposter, and no one can tell if she's lying or not, she is also almost immediately clocked as Imposter simply because the others don't know if she is and almost always just take the gamble.
And when she's a crew mate, because she knows EVERYONE'S tells...it's very rare that anyone can play her or that anything gets by her when she's paying attention. She's a Demon Hunter, ex Idol and a CEO in one of the most brutal media industries in the world.
She's a threat both as an imposter and a crew mate.
She's getting kicked out the airlock and tossed into the lava pit no matter what side she's on.
"God fucking damnit! Let me play the game!"
"Sorry Cece, we just can't risk it."
Now....when Bobby and Celine are Imposters together...
It's carnage.
Celine calls the shots and Bobby is her hit man.
No one suspects him until Celine come and tea bags over their body after sweet baby Bobby stuck a knife in their back.
It helps that when people suspect Bobby he has an alibi that can talk circles around people and even if Celine gets taken out, Ghost Cece is a mastermind helping lock people in rooms with Bobby, distracting them with lights, reactors etc, long enough for Bobby to clutch the win.
Huntrix tried to ban their team ups.
But you can't stop the dream duo.
Because Celine will absolutely throw the game if she knows Bobby is imposter for the lols.
And Bobby is too scared to kill Celine because he's afraid she'll retaliate irl somehow.
Did you just legitimately tell me that a person who draws wolf ass is more competent than a dude who spent 8+ years in a university to give you your lung transplant?
doctors are bullshit and furry artists perform an infinitely more valuable service to society compared to them
It took doctor’s like 10 years to diagnose what was wrong with me, some insisting I was faking for attention while a furry artist I knew just went “that sounds like crohn’s” after hearing me complain once and ended up being right
Also I can’t go to a doctor and ask them to draw Rouge the Bat wider than she is tall with tits to match, now can I
[ID: a comic illustrating the above thread as if it was happening in a theater. The users are mostly shaped like their icons, pukicho is a pikachu and hokuto-ju-no-ken is a gengar. The last panel is gengar looks back where a speech bubble comes out of the crowd to say, “you could if you weren’t a fucking coward.” /end]
Aloy and Beta discover a pool table while ruin diving and decide to build one in the base for the gang.
With the help of Gaia, the rules for the different versions of the game are explained and the Gaia Gang actually find it pretty relaxing and fun. Of course the competitiveness comes out very quickly and soon they're playing to best each other.
They very early agreed that you're not allowed to use your focus.
Unsurprisingly Aloy is annoyingly good at it but what's hilarious is how Beta is as well and the two of them are forever going toe to toe.
Most of the time it's Aloy who wins but that's mostly because Beta likes to try new and extravagant tricks that tend to cost her the game, not that it bothers her.
Everyone else kinda makes it their goal to best Aloy to end her streak but alas, all have been unsuccessful.
All except one.
One particularly tough match between Aloy and Seyka, who holds the highest score besides the twins, has them both on the 8 ball, playing double on black. (The black ball or white ball must hit at least one side cushion before the black ball sinks)
Aloy is confident she's winning this as her girlfriend gets increasingly frustrated.
That is until Seyka hits one of these:
And Aloy, who was standing right behind her, loses all brain function and can't hit shit when it's her turn.
Seyka breaks her winning streak with a brilliant shot and a stupid smiley smirk, completely unaware, and thinks her girlfriend's red cheeks are because she kicked her ass.
Celine's superpower is being able to function on no sleep. Rumi keeps trying to make her go to bed whenever she does though.
Well see Rumi has seen the crash that comes after and knows that the damage is still happening. Celine’s power isn’t “doesn’t need sleep” it’s “can avoid feeling the effects of sleep deprivation until she can’t”
Celine keeping tabs on Mira, trying to figure out how to recruit her, then one day celine spots her in a supermarket or smth and falls to the floor going "owww owww someone help someone with medical knowledge please help oh my goddd" and Mira rushes over like "oh shit, what's going on??? I'm just a student right now but I can look at-" and then Celine grabs her arm and pulls her down and whispers ominously into her ear "QUIT YOUR SCHOOL, JOIN MY GIRL GROUP"
Imagine: Seyka goes missing just before Nemesis arrives and Aloy is losing her fucking shit.
Seyka and her half of the Quen Fleet had made it to Landfall some time ago and were busy getting ready to sail back home.
Those that were staying behind were working with the Gaia Gang and the other tribes prepare for the looming threat.
Aloy, most of all, was being pulled everywhere for everything and she barely had a chance to meet up with Seyka before being whisked away.
Seyka understood of course and reassured her that it was fine, that they would have their moment when they're both free.
Unfortunately that moment never comes.
Seyka gets reported M.I.A after a particularly rough and unpredictable ambush by new dangerous machines.
The squad she was helping barely made it out alive, all severely injured and barely breathing.
She was the only one not accounted for.
Aloy only hears about it a few days later when Alva reports back, frantic and fearful, as all search parties come back empty. Not even those with focuses can pick up anything.
It's like she vanished into the air.
Aloy crashes through the settlement, interrogating the survivors, checking every focus that was in the area or had any line of sight of the battle area at the time of the attack.
She traces tracks already swept away, chases every lead and kills every machine that dares cross her path.
Days, weeks pass.
Nothing.
Nemesis is at their door.
Aloy screams into the water of ocean the night before they have to face it, heart torn in agony for having not found a single trace of the marine and now maybe not ever going to see her stupid smiley smirk and big sad Bambi eyes again either way.
Doom Day comes and Aloy channels all her pain, all her anger into the fight. Standing by her side her friends and sister fight with her. Armies from all tribes and clans at their back.
Nemesis barely flinches.
Not at first.
Then Beta happens.
She with the help of Gaia, Sylens and a newly captured Heph manage to cook up an effective plan that knocks Nemesis wonky for a moment, giving the bodies of warriors a chance to breathe.
That moment is all Aloy needs to go for the kill.
Except she's intercepted.
Tossed like a rag doll, she grunts as she turns to face the idiot that dares stand in her way.
Her blood runs cold as her heart stops.
There...standing between her and saving the world...is her world.
Aloy stares at the figure, the figure who stares at her with a blank face. Body a sentry, poised and ready for a fight.
Gone is the familiar ropes and shells, now a sleek black steel like full body suit, not unlike those of the Zeniths.
Gone is the familiar sword made of machine parts, now a shiny very sharp looking black blade that morphs from the suit.
Gone is the relaxed and confident swagger of a seasoned soldier, now tense, promising lethal force if engaged.
Aloy's eyes travel up and her heart shatters, knees almost giving in.
Those pretty brown eyes...they're gone too.
Now glowing an empty red as they stare at her with no recognition.
No amusement, no fondness, no love...not even the sad understanding that she saw the last time she gazed into them.
She can't even find comfort in the familiar ponytail that trails behind that beautiful face because it's overshadowed by the black and red lines of wires that flow over her head.
Seeming to weave under her hair and into the base of her skull...all from a familiar focus attached to her temple, that seems infused into her skin, not unlike the machine wires of the Banuk...
...not unlike Heph's infections on the Hunter Killer machines.
A demon disguises themself as Celine to try and fool Huntrix but real Celine arrives and the interaction is as follows:
Mira: "Two Celines!?"
Zoey: "Is this heaven? I read a fic that was like this once."
Rumi: "Ew, Zoey. Why. Clearly one's a demon."
Mira: "Yeah but which one?"
Demon Imposter: "She is! Kill it! Obviously I'm the real Celine!"
Celine: "Oh really? Wonderful. Here."
*grabs a heavy folder out her bag and smacks the Demon in their face*
Celine: "These are the latest talents. Be sure to read through them carefully before signing anything. Oh and the PR reports because Zoey's last internet rant caused quite a stir. They're losing their shit. Even Bobby started crying. Have fun!"
*walks pass everyone and throws herself on Huntrix's couch, grabs Zoey's plush turtle, puts it on her face and immediately passes out.*
Tae-hee and Celine being forced to reconcile through streaming co-op games is hilarious. It would be even funnier if they eventually became a couple and chat(and Zoey) go wild saying that their fanfics were right!
