it's so funny being asexual and also obsessed with a character who's canonically a total fucking freak. Just a sexless girl and her emotional support slut.
ladies of interest challenge: sameen shaw â listen.
winged-mammal
#how root accidentally fell in love with tiny grump sameen shaw: exhibit A#it wasnât necessarily about flirting at first#I mean that was part of it sure#because it annoyed shaw and who could resist annoying and flirting with shaw#but the point for root was testing shaw#and it was a test that shaw passed every time#shaw was always a grump but she was a grump who *listened*#a grump who *trusted* root#and for root who lost her only friend in such a terrible way when she was young because nobody listened to her#because nobody trusted her#and who thought for so long that everyone in the world was just bad code#that faith and trust and simple act of listening#it meant everything#and shaw became everything#⊠and itâs not just the listening#itâs the *understanding* what these cryptic clues meant and using them on the fly#shaw listens to root and trusts root and understands root#and this fucking relationship is so perfect Iâm gonna dIE
For the HUNTR/X + Celine streams, what it be like if they ever played Date Everything?
Chaos.
Pure unadulterated chaos.
Rumi finds out she has the same taste in people as Celine.
"Kinks are sometimes hereditary, Rumi."
"CELINE ISN'T MY BIRTH MOTHER, CHAT!"
"No but she might be your birth father."
"Zoey, I will ban you, I swear."
Mira decides she wants to try and make every character's outfit just to see what Zoey and Rumi will do because HOLY FUCKING SHIT-
"Chat, do you think I can pull this off? I think I can pull this off."
"I mean you could but I think I'd rather do the pulling of off things."
"Zoey, get out of chat, you're in time out."
Zoey nearly breaks her set up multiple times, has fallen off her chair and laid flat face down on the ground because she gets overstimulated by how hot the characters are. She's actively looking for fanfiction content. Several people in Chat are already making fan art.
"I can't! Mira's already thinking of cosplaying as some of these. I think she might even pull Rumi into it too. It's bad enough I'm melting over pixels. If my girls do it too I won't survive."
"What if Mira convinces Mommy Celine too."
"CHAT SHUT UP! I'M ALREADY SUFFERING!"
Celine breaks the internet by revealing tidbits of just how freaked out she can be. (Rumi hates it and Bobby wants to cry.)
"I mean, you could sit on my face and I'll eat my way to your heart if you want."
"You know, I can plank for 15 minutes."
Celine also mentions how she wouldn't mind trying out for voice acting if the content will be this fun and now Chat has a new goal.
"I will not use the 'Mommy Voice' Chat. Rumi might actually kill me this time."
Celine, without looking up: Every time you say that sentence, I gain a strand of gray hair.ââââââââââââââââ
Zoey: What? That canât be true.
Celine, sweeping her hair back to reveal a few strands of gray underneath: Then how do you explain these?
Zoey, genuinely puzzled: I donât know⊠maybe because youâre old?
Rumi: Oh my god.
Mira: âŠWow.
Rumi: She did NOT just...
Celine, slowly setting down her clipboard: âŠCome again? Did you just called me old?
Zoey: Iâm just saying, gray hair usually meansâ
Mira: She meant experienced.
Rumi: Very experienced. Ancient levels of wisdom.
Celine: Ancient?
Rumi: Iâ that came out wrong.
Zoey: Wait, why are we pretending sheâs notâ
Rumi, covering Zoeyâs mouth: âTraining was great today, Celine! We learned SO much didn't we?
Mira: Yeah. Today was⊠enlightening.
Celine: Wait. No. How old do you think I am?
Zoey, removing Rumiâs hand from her mouth: UmmâŠIâ youâreâ I know thisâ um...it's fâ...okay your face is doing something scary... You know I canât do math under pressure!
Celine: I'm only 36, Zoey. I shouldnât have this many gray hairs.
Zoey: Thatâs still kindaâ
Rumi, cutting in: And you look INCREDIBLE!
Mira: Seriously, like jaw-droppingly good.
Zoey: Oh yeah, and youâre aging like fine wine.
Rumi, under her breath: Zoey, please stop mentioning age..
Zoey: What? Itâs a compliment. Sheâs a total silver fox.
Celine, clearing her throat and turning slightly pink: âŠIâll let it slide this time.
Celine: However. Zoey go run another 5 laps.
Zoey: What?! Why only ME?!
.
.
.
Rumi: That was close.
Mira: Too close. I was mentally preparing her funeral.
Rumi: âŠIs she fearless or does she just have zero survival instincts?
Mira: âŠBoth, probably. I canât decide if Iâm proud or terrified.
[Beware: shocking amount of fluff AND angst below the cut. The first picture is worth >1500 words.]
Rumi had mixed feelings about bathtime.
She didn't like that bathtime meant it was almost bedtime, which meant no more coloring, or playing with her little zoo of stuffed animals, or scampering around the vegetable garden with a stick in each hand, in search of "demon" bugs to whack away from the cabbages. No more adventures until tomorrow.
She liked that at bathtime, she got to play with her wind-up sea turtle that paddled itself around the tub with a plishplishplashplishplash for ten seconds before she had to twist its tail to wind it up again. She also got to play with her yellow rubber duck, which if she squeezed it above the tub then held it underwater, spat a stream of water from its bill when she squished it again. Sometimes the duck "decided" to be mischievous, and squirted water at Rumi's guardian as she washed her hair. Celine would always GASP in exaggerated shock and poke at Rumi's button nose and cheeks, scolding "Naughty duck, naughty duck!" in a singsongy voice that made Rumi squeal with delight.
Rumi really liked when Celine washed her hair. She liked the fresh, minty smell of the 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner and how it felt soft and pillowy as Celine massaged it into her scalp. Her fingertips moved in spirals all over Rumi's head, so soothing that it always made her yawn (even though she was DEFINITELY not sleepy yet, thank you very much!). She didn't like getting the sudsy lather on her face, so Celine was careful to place a protective hand on her forehead, like the brim of a hat, shielding her from the cups of warm water she poured over her head to rinse out the shampoo.
Rumi hated when she finally had to stand up and leave the safety of the steamy bathwater, because the air always - always - felt freezing cold, like teeny-tiny needles pricking at her exposed skin. She instinctively crossed her arms and tensed up, as if she could shrink away from the chill.
Luckily, she never had to endure it for more than a few seconds before Celine rescued her. Her guardian wrapped warm hands around her back, lifting her from her armpits â"Up up up!" Rumi said, to which Celine replied, "Up she flies!"âand gently set her down on the bath mat. Before she could so much as shiver, the fluffiest towel they owned had been dropped over her head, covering her face.
She screeched at the sudden darkness. "Eeek! Ceee-Ceeee!"
"Where is little Rumi-ya?" Her guardian's voice sounded muffled as she used the towel's corners to wipe off Rumi's feet.
Rumi wiggled her toes to assist. "Can't find me!"
She felt Celine's hands on the outside of the towel, moving rapidly up and down her arms and back to dry her off quickly. "Is that her voice I hear?"
"Not me!" Rumi exclaimed. She tried again, this time disguising her voice by adopting an impossibly high, squeaky pitch. "I'm not Rumi, I'm a mousey!"
Her guardian laughed aloud, the sound so lively and buoyant Rumi couldn't stop herself from giggling too. "I don't know, Mousey, I'm pretty good at finding things," she said, feeling around Rumi's fabric-covered head. "Hmmm...those aren't mouse ears, those are little girl ears! Why does Mousey have little girl ears?"
"I don't knoooow!" she squeaked again.
"And where is your mouse tail?"
"I don't have a tail!"
"I think Rumi-ya is hiding under there with you, Mousey," Celine concluded. "You know, Rumi used to have a tail like a mouse, but it fell off right after she was born."
"WHAT?!" Rumi shifted the towel and stuck her face out. "That's not true! I never had a tail!"
"There's little Rumi-ya!" Her guardian laughed again at Rumi's indignant expression. "No, little girls don't have tails. Let's get you bundled up."
Her pout immediately changed into an eager grin and she hopped in place. "Bundled up!"
Celine nodded and began to wrap the towel more tightly around the little girl's body, almost as tight as when she'd swaddle her as an infant. Rumi loved this part, after bathtime, because she got to feel so cozy and warm and safe.
She also loved it becauseâ
"Bundling the baby, the baby, the baby, bundling the baby so she doesn't get a cold!" Celine sang cheerfully as she scooped Rumi up and cradled her in her arms. "Wee oo, wee-ee, wee deedle-de dum dee-dee..."
Her guardian's voice was clear and steady and bright and warm and the sound transfigured into strands of living light and it wound around them before Rumi's eyes and it wrapped around her heart like a hug and she wanted to hug back with all the strength she had in her pint-sized body.
She chimed in when Celine repeated the tune. "Bundling the baby, the baby, the baby, bundling the baby so she doesn't get a cold!"
The strands of sound-light-song (CeCe called it the "ha-moon?" "hom-noon?") brightened and danced in mid-air and Rumi wasn't sure how but she felt that it was giggling and playing alongside her as she raised her bouncy child-voice.
They had sung all the way back to their bedroom when she looked up at Celine. She was doing something strange with her face while she sang: blinking a lot, looking around like her eyes couldn't decide where to land, not-quite-smiling. But when she looked down and saw Rumi studying her, she smiled again. "Pajama time," she said, setting Rumi down. The song-light threads began to fade from the air.
Rumi successfully put her pajamas on...almost all by herself. That made her remember something.
"CeCe?"
"Yes, Rumi?" She glanced up from fastening the buttons of the girl's nightshirt.
"I'm not a baby," she said.
Her guardian finished with the buttons. The corners of her mouth quirked up a little as she looked up. "Oh? What do you mean?"
"'Cause I'm three now," she said gravely. "I'm not a baby - I'm a kid."
"You are three. Three whole years..." Something odd was happening with her face again. She cleared her throat and smiled. "Three years of little Rumi-ya, not so little anymore."
Rumi nodded, pleased to be understood.
"We don't have to stop singing the song now that you're three. You can still be somebody's baby, even if you're not a little baby." She patted Rumi's tiny mattress, and the girl clambered up. "And I certainly don't want you catching a cold."
"Oh-kaaay," Rumi said, sighing contentedly as she pulled the blankets up to her chin, a stuffed bear clutched under her arm. Celine tucked her in, then sat cross-legged on the floor next to her as she always did at bedtime.
"Am I your baby?" She yawned through the question.
When Rumi opened her eyes, her guardian was making a weird face again. Frowning...but not? Her jaw clenched, her eyes grew wide. Her mouth twitched, opening and closing slightly.
"Well...You're my..." Celine pursed her lips and bowed her head towards the floor. She inhaled deeply. She exhaled slowly. Absently, she twisted a ring on her right hand.
She sounds like that when she gets hurt sometimes. Rumi didn't understand what was wrong. Doesn't she know? If I'm not CeCe's baby, then whose? She looked down at her bear, squeezing it tight to her body as her lip started to quiver.
Do I not belong to anyone?
"Rumi?"
She glanced back up at Celine, sniffling. This time, her guardian wore an expression Rumi knew well: worry. But when Rumi met her eyes - much shinier than normal - the worry lessened, and a sad smile forced its way onto her face. Can a smile be sad?
Why did it make her feel like crying?
"Do I..." Her lip wobbled pitifully. "Am I not anybody's baby?"
Celine's eyes widened. "Oh, no, Rumi-ya, that's notâ" She folded back the covers and pulled the little girl into her arms just as she started to cry. "Shh, I've got you..."
"Whyâ" She hiccupped. "W-why can't I b-be your baby?"
"I'm sorry, Rumi, that's not what I meant," her guardian said. "It's just...complicated."
"But why?"
She felt Celine kiss the crown of her head. "I'm sorry, Rumi," she repeated. "Most kids...they're their mom and dad's babies. You were your mother's baby at first, when you were born."
"Your friend?" Rumi pressed her cheek to Celine's chest. Her shirt was damp with tears. "You said she isn't here anymore."
"Yes, your mother, the person who made you. She...she died, which is why she isn't here anymore to look after you."
"I'm not her baby," Rumi said, still not sure she understood.
"No, you are, it's justâ"
"But she's n-notâ" she hiccupped again, "she's not here!"
"She loved you so much, Rumi. She wanted to take care of you, and it was very..." Celine took a deep, shuddering breath. "It was very sad that she couldn't. But she knew you needed someone, so she asked me to care for you."
Rumi whimpered.
"Rumi-ya, please look at me."
She whimpered again, but sat up to look at her guardian.
"There's my Rumi-ya," she said softly, tracing her thumb along the girl's cheek. It was nice. Soothing.
"Rumi, you areâ" her voice was scratchy, and she cleared her throat. She pressed her forehead to Rumi's, so close that Rumi could see the faint scar under her eye.
Why is she crying? Is she sad, too?
"Rumi-ya," she tried again, but her voice broke on the last syllable. She swallowed. "Rumi-ya, you are my baby."
Oh. Rumi hiccupped. "I am?"
She nodded. "Yes, Rumi-ya. You didn't start out as my baby, but you are my baby now." She wiped a stray tear away from Rumi's cheek. "You are my baby. I love you and I will always take care of you. Always."
Celine's eyes glistened, as dark and deep and certain as the night sky that guarded their sleep, and Rumi felt safe again.
Always.
"Oh," Rumi said, voice trembling. "Okay." She hugged her guardian around the neck. "I'm your baby."
"You are," she whispered back, squeezing Rumi around the middle.
I'm your baby.
"CeCe?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"
She chuckled. "Of course, sweet girl." There was no need to ask - Rumi ended up snuggled against her guardian's side most nights. She picked the girl up, turning around to set her on the grown-up-sized bed only a few feet away. Celine retrieved the stuffed bear as Rumi started to burrow under the covers.
"What lullaby would you like me to sing tonight?" she asked, handing Rumi the bear.
Rumi squeezed it gratefully. "Can you sing 'hunters?'"
"Yes, I can." She finished lighting the little candle she kept on the bedside table, switched off the lamp, then sat down next to Rumi on the bed. She took a shaky breath.
"We are hunters, voices strong..."
The song-light threads pulsed into being again, and Celine's voice wrapped around Rumi's heart like a hug.
Zoey: (holding a bear canister) Alright. Rumi is in demon mode. Mira do you have the kimbap?
Mira: Kimbap acquired (hands it to Zoey)
Zoey: (places the kimbap in the bear canister then shuts the lid) Lock and loaded. Get the tiger.
Mira: (nods) Oh Rumi~
Demon!Rumi: (Walks in tilting her head curiously)
Zoey: Alright Rumi (placing the canister on the ground) Get the kimbap.
Demon!Rumi: (trying to open the bear canister)
Zoey: Holy shit it's working!!
Demon!Rumi: (trying and failing to bite it open)
Mira: (sad noise)
Zoey: Mira. No.
Mira: But I feel bad.
Zoey: Look we need to test them before we buy more. And if they don't keep Rumi out they sure as hell won't keep the kids out. We're doing this to keep our kids from stuffing their faces with junk food.
Mira: You're also still salty about them eating all your shrimp chips.
Zoey: It can be for multiple reasons. The point is we need a lot of them and Rumi is the perfect beta test.
Mira: Look at her face though, She's upset!
Demon!Rumi: (frustrated Moos as she rolls over trying to bunny kick the thing open)
Zoey: (rolls her eyes) She is fine. There's like twenty in the fridge we can give her later-
Demon!Rumi: (stops trying to open the canister)
Zoey: Rumi. Don't.
Demon!Rumi: (teleports to the kitchen)
Zoey: (glaring at Mira as she counts down to three on her fingers)
(crashing noise and the sound of the fridge door being ripped off it's hinges)
Mira:
Zoey:
Mira:
Zoey: I blame you
Mira: Technically you were the one who said thare was kimbap in the fridge.
as we all know, huntrix live together and since iâm pretty sure everything they do is a three person job (even if it really doesnât need to be), theyâve picked up little habits from one another
consider:
zoey
zoey does little dances when she eats food that is particularly good.
at first, mira and rumi were a tad confused, but over time they joined in.
without even realising. it just becomes second nature
i feel itâs common if they get caught by paparazzi at restaurants to see them doing little dances after taking the first bite of food
AND IT IS BECAUSE OF ZOEY
imagine rumi going to dinner with celine and doing the little dances without realising.
celine just looks on in confusion because what is happening
mira
mira, when she gets really focused, sticks her tongue out to the side of her lips.
her parents didnât like that, said it was âunladylike,â so she forced herself to stop the habit
with her girls, though? sheâs comfortable. she doesnât have to think
as time passes, the habit comes back, because sheâs not constantly mentally scolding herself
and so: zoey and rumi pick it up
i can imagine huntrix on some variety show where something requires focus (like a puzzle, or something like that)
and all of huntrix have identical focused expressionsđi just know their universeâs polytrix twitter would go crazy with that one
rumi
rumi tilts her head when sheâs confused about something, or just trying to figure something out
mira and zoey think this is adorable, but after a couple years living with rumi they adopt the mannerism too
picture huntrix at an award show, puzzling over what concept a performer is going for, and theyâre caught on camera doing the head tilt.
all three of them. at the same time.
after zoemira find out rumi is half demon, they liken her head tilting to a cat. this opens a pandoraâs box of rumi half demon / cat comparisons that she can never escape LMAO
Zoey reads polytrix fanfiction. She's always been an avid fandom member for her favorite media, of course that wasn't going to change when she became that for millions of others.
It doesn't help that she's down bad for her band mates, and so what if she dabbles in rpf so she can live her wildest fantasies. Her favorite polytrix fics are all written by this particular author who specializes in fluff. Just the most tooth rotting sweet fluffy stories that always makes Zoey feel ooey gooey inside. She loves these fics so much, she'll reread them often before bed to put her in the best mood to fall asleep to.
She finds out the identity of said author after a series of fics that come out over the span of a week (for a polytrix fandom theme event) where the author notes reveal glimpses into their life that are too specific for Zoey not to connect the dots.
For example, "I meant to post this sooner but my cat knocked over nearly every potted plant on the patio and I had to spend the last 3 hours cleaning up his mess."
Or "my roommates surprised me with a much needed movie night which got me thinking..." followed by a reply to a comment that read "op sounds like you're in love with your roommates" with "if you only knew ;p"
The events in evey author note corresponded to events in their own lives much too perfectly to be a coincidence. So when Zoey puts the pieces together she bursts into Rumi's room "you're ShimmeringSunlight?!"
And that's how Rumi learns her favorite reader who always leaves her the most adorable comments, the ones she rereads often when she needs some writing motivation, is Zoey herself.
Now that Iâm think about it again Iâm not sure which is more funny; Celine and Rumi thinking most of her âweirdnessâ is from being a demon or Celine being autistic herself and thought Rumi was a perfectly normal kid.
Celine; Rumi is playing with her teddy bears by organizing them. I always wanted more things to organize when I was her age, I think I have some buttons that would be perfect.
Or
Rumi; Itâs not weird to have violent reactions to textures, like I do. Celine once set an outfit on fire because they didnât listen to her about which texture to use. ïżŒ
Theyâre like that family where the dad collects trains and insists that autism isnât real or else heâd be autistic
so all three members of huntrix occasionally do different side projects (ie mira does modeling gigs, zoey likes to coach people on certain singing shows (although she never does judging work), etc). rumi i think would love doing acting gigs.
so at one point shes in this huge movie that people have been anticipating for months, and it comes out and is a major success, and rumi has the breakout character even though shes not one of the main leads, so they start making these action figures for the movie that sell really well.
the huntrix account posts photos of each of the girls with the rumi action figure which has her main outfit from the movie on it. the posts are all about how proud they are of rumi and how mira and zoey were really excited to each get their own rumi figure
(some haters call bullshit on this and say its just an ego trip from rumi, but then mira posts a video taken from when they got the figures delivered to them and in it zoey is shaking in excitement before the box is open and fucking screams in joy once it is, before kissing it over and over again. zoey then posts her own video of mira just chilling on the couch with her rumi figure sitting on her lap and in the background you can see the real rumi pouting from halfway across the room)
fast forward a few weeks and zoey is doing a livestream where shes gaming and her facecam is just a box in the top corner of the screen, and shes got her leds on so the room is pretty dim. but some people zoom into it and they realize that over in the bg you can see a rumi action figure. except, its not wearing the standard outfit it comes in. in fact, its wearing an outfit that people are pretty sure theyve never seen on one of these dolls before. its an outfit rumi wore in the movie for about two scenes, in which she is in a very tight, very revealing dress.
and people start freaking out bc holy fuck, how did zoey acquire this outfit for the figure, was it an ultra limited time release or something? and then people start making shit up about it being an ultra rare outfit that you can get in certain boxes and how you can tell which boxes have it by looking at the back and seeing if it has a certain misprint, which leads to people tampering with boxes to make it look like theyâre the right ones.
and of course people start selling in-box action figures claiming to have gotten the outfit at exorbitant upcharges, only for it to either come with some shoddily made garbage or nothing at all. tutorials made by fans come out about how to make the outfit for yourself, but ofc everyone wants the authentic one, why would they want some homemade crap (their words not mine)? people start harassing the company who made the figures and then the production studio and then huntrix themselves
finally zoey cant ignore it anymore in favor of wallowing in her mortification and has to swallow her pride. she comes out and tells people that no, this is not in fact an outfit that has every been in circulation for the action figure, she just paid an insane amount of money to the company who made the figures to have that outfit custom made for her.
and sheâs embarrassed because now everyone knows sheâs a rumi simp including rumi and mira. which is especially hilarious bc girl you make out with them everyday, they already know youre a rumi simp.
Huntrix is at some Kpop interview event and they get the classic "what advice would you give to young fans wanting to get into the industry?" Question.
And it's a question that the girls have successfully dodged for years but theres something about this event, with its front row of absolute superfans that they've spent the past two hours meeting. Something just flips a switch, and Mira willingly takes the question before one of the others can change the topic.
Mira: the advice is don't.
Rumi: Mira!?
Mira: no, no more lying right? Here's the industry. Rumi's mother was the lyricist of the biggest pop group in the last 50 years, I come from the third richest family in Korea, with the biggest meanest lawyers and security with the reputation to match, Even Zoey is from one of the richest neighborhoods in the US. We're personally mentored by the Celine of The Sunlight Sisters, we have the best crew and support system anyone could want and money could buy. We have been afforded every privilege and opportunity possible, and you all mean more to us than you could ever know. But at the beginning? It sucked. It sucked so so much. I have never been more tired, more hurt, or more sick than I was back then. That's just training for the performances, adjusting to this crazy packed schedule. I still have weekly check in with my nutritionist because nothing i eat could ever counter the calories burned at a show. We leave in a separate car than the one we come in because we've had people waiting for us in the back seat. And even when you get the best kindest audience on the planet like we have, the comments never, ever stop.
Zoey: Kay, damn Mira....
Mira: we didn't do this because we thought we could get super successful and make a living. We do this because each of us wouldn't have survived without this outlet, this chance to perform and convey ourselves to our fans. If you can live without it, do so. And if you can't..... the sushi place on 4th has 24 hour delivery.