I love how "Sinners" didn't villify the sinners in the movie. Sammie's father told him that playing music for "drunkards and philanderers who abandon their family responbilities to sweat all over each other" was a sin. And he was right about the kind of people going to the juke joint: Delta Slim is an alcoholic, and Pearline a cheater. It would have been easy to villify them, but the movie tells us that despite their flaws, they are humans worthy of love, respect and freedom.
Delta Slim drinks because he's traumatized by the horrors Black people of his time face. And he's kind and compassionate, encouraging and reassuring Sammie, and sacrificing himself to save everyone else.
Pearline literally saved Sammie's life and sacrificed herself to protect him, a boy she had only known for a day. It shows her kindness because she could have easily stayed back when Remmick tried to bite Sammy and not endangered her life more than necessary.
The movie shows us that preachers blindly condemning those sinners are wrong: Sammie is only alive because drunkards, philanderers and gangsters (Smoke) gave their lives to protect him. They are people, with flaws and qualities.
I love how nuanced the movie is: Sammie's father is not wrong about the kind of people Sammie wants to associate with and their potential bad influence, but he's wrong about them being evil and not deserving of respect.
i neeeeed more fics with the girls doing the most insane shit ever. physically, i mean. like. idk how to phrase this but im actually sick to death of girls being cute i need them to go camping & for rumi to dig a hole for six hours & come back covered in dirt & for mira & zoey to be like how was it babe & rumis like. thumbs up. gonna cut down a huuuuuge tree tomorrow do u wanna watch
also like. the whats the word for a face without makeup. bare faced? that was HUGE. & how they belch & shove food in their mouths. i need them to have a belching competition. i need them to stare into an empty fridge & be like. we're gonna PERISH. do u think i can eat this...........cucumber? (half melted from age). from another room: OMG DO IT. from ten hours later: livestreaming from the hospital hey hunterssss we are totally fine but just a psa if u see a cucumber that looks like THIS (photo) DONT EAT IT
fans throw a funeral for #koreas ass & miras like SHES ALSO HALF AMERICAN DONT FORGET & all the tweets get edited like. immediately. sad face. her korean-american ass exploded
the screenshot has her listed as celine (eomma) which. privately causes a HUGE tail spin & whatever. but the fans are like aw thats cute. do u have another celine in ur phone? so rumi tweets a screenshot of her celine contacts n its just like. every time celine changes her phonenumber rumi doesnt bother to delete it she just renames it smth wild so its like:
celine (abducted by aliens)
celine (abducted by ghosts)
celine (bad haircut)
celine (bungee jumping in cancun)
celine (cat whisperer)
celine (hair stylist ACTUAL HAIR STYLIST CELINE)
celine (dogs ate her sadface.emoji)
celine (wrong number)
celine (wrong number 2)
maybe like three years later theyre in an interview & the host is like girls what is ur greatest fear & zoey lunges for the mic & they have to wrestle it off her but she gets it & shes like OKAY SO YEARS AGO - DONT YOU DARE TACKLE ME RUMI - YEARS AGO I ATE THIS NASTY CUCUMBER - MIRA STAY WHERE YOU ARE IM SERIOUS I'LL PUT MILK IN YOUR FAKE MILK - I ATE THIS NAAAASTY CUCUMBER AND WENT TO THE HOSPITAL & MY GREATEST FEAR IS THAT THE CUCUMBER IS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE & IT'S GONNA COME BACK FOR ME. n the girls stop trying to steal the mic back bc like. it IS what they thought she would talk about but its NOT what they thought she would say n rumi is like
what do you mEAN its out there?
& zoeys like. its a demon cucumber. it was unholy what it did to me. you were there, you remember
rumi: i quite literally will never forget
zoey: it wasnt natural. its out there. alive. waiting. waiting for me to lower my guard
mira: i actually hate that im never gonna be able to eat cucumber again. because you're right
mira, pacing in their bedroom: what does this MEAN though. not just for our ancient classifications of demons but like. the hospitalisation. she DID eat it. can you . eat demons? are they poisonous? is she ACTUALLY okay? what the fuck?
rumi, on the edge of the bed. elbows on knees, fingers steepled. ten thousand yard stare: i.....i dont know.
i just feel like the thing i would do immediately after finding out i still had magic honmoon powers but didnt need to fight demons anymore is that i would probably try to figure out what is the biggest dog i can hold in my arms & carry like a baby.
i want rumi to decline the invitation to throw the first pitch at a baseball game like 6 years in a row & then shes like fuck it. im normal (uncertain looks from her girls) & then shes like in the practice & her throws are BAD & miras like. remember when u were like. maybe i will use the shin kal & then the honmoon immediately gave u a sword instead. & rumis like ok so my aim isnt amazing. zoey u do it instead & zoey nervous laughs shes like OH I DONT KNOW ABOUT THAT & miras like no thats fantastic. ive always wanted to see zoey make someone cry on live tv & goes a little dreamy eyed about it & zoeys like ok haha im ALSO normal
anyway shes a terrifying pitcher & then rumi bats her eyes n shes like could i take a swing & then zoey pitches for her & rumis like. haha this is what breaking the sound barrier sounds like yall & hits it so hard that it breaks a window in the closest building (not very close)
@kchzndrvh i love all of this but also u put orienteering in mind when u mentioned the scavenger hunt n i am obsessed with the idea of them going on their weird hikes in the wilderness & just like. parkouring off shit & naruto running jumping from branch to branch & zoey pausing mournfully on a cliffside & the girls are like. zoey? you okay? & shes like. bawling silently & shes like . i just thinki would be so good at being raised by wolves, you know? & theyre like. im gonna push u off this cliff actually
anyway back to my main point which was @ myself. please feel free to make them grosser in your fics. make them burp, make them dirty, make them sweat, grunt, sneeze, make them have weird annoying habits. the storytellers & animators knew it was so important to make them barefaced sometimes & hungry burping imperfect girls n i love that so much . let them be annoying. let them suck. let them fall apart. push it a little further than is comfortable. make them really angry. make them really sad. make them really annoying & let them love each other anyway. how wonderful. THREE girls!!!!!!! our main characters!!!!! all of them!!!!! (turns into a dreamy eyed little ghost & floats into the sky to never be seen again)
rumi going radio silent on all social media abt a month or so after the IDOL awards & the fans arent sure how to feel about it bc on the one hand, rumi isnt replying even with her cursory like. purple love hearts on a few messages or liking sweet tweets after concerts. but they arent DOING concerts while theyre on hiatus so maybe shes just really taking the rest period seriously!!! & mira & zoey are still posting stuff & talking about rumi so everythings fine, right?
& then one day randomly she just starts using social media again & everyoen is like. so glad that u are back, did u have a fun break, why did u stop using social media did u just need a break?
& rumis like oh i got banned
& fans are like YOU GOT BANNED? BY FAKETWITTER?
& rumis like lol no zoey & mira banned me from using my phone
& some fans are like whoa controlling much
& rumis like. perish? they were right
& zoeys like we had to take her electronics off her bc she kept taking them apart. rumi started watching self repair videos to relax on our hiatus & then took it way too seriously & now all of the stuff in our house has been pulled apart
rumi: AND PUT BACK TOGETHER. BETTER.
n the whole world thinks that rumi just. broke everything but then miras like. maybe a year later posting a video about rumi at some private graduation ceremony & she looks so chuffed w herself & its like. rumi graduating her mechanical engineering degree w honours & everyeone is like WHAT IS HAPPENING & miras like lol turns out rumi cant take a break anyway she decided to get her phd isnt that sick
lazy live stream with mira as shes going through her make up or smth w fans just chill & then zoey appears in the doorway & miras like hey babe whats up
& zoeys like. how many backflips do u think i can do in a row
& miras like. hm. 12?
& zoeys like. surely its more than that
& mira shrugs shes like idk lets go see
& chat is SCREAMING at them bc they dont go to the studio or anything where theres mats or anything they just go into the living room & start doing backflips both of them & rumi teleports into her bedroom & comes out & shuts down the livestream & shes like. are u guys for real & miras like. i bet we can do more than u & rumis like. fuck u. ten billion backflips jutsu & zoey sneaks miras phone back out & starts filming again & theyre just standing next to rumi & chanting as she does a billion backflips
every time rumi does a backflip they yell the number & then zoey looks straight into the camera & shakes her head so the chat knows she doesnt approve of anyone doing this kind of thing without appropraite safety measures
videos of them in their private pool which. already. awooga. but one of them isnt in the video & chat is like. wheres zoey? & mira doesnt look up from her magazine & just . Points. at the pool & theres this little blur of colour where zoey is underwater & chat is getting more & more nervous n theyre like RUMI. RUMI SHES DROWNING. & rumis like. this isnt about zoey. & keeps rambling about some train engine shes been studying & then zoey is totally fine & puts her head up & shes like. MIRA . HOW LONG WAS THAT? & mira clicks her timer & shes like. twenty three minutes. good job. & zoeys like AW MAN. the world record is twenty nine & mira shrugs shes like. ok. down u go & zoey waggles her eyebrows & then sinks under the water & blows bubbles out of her nose when rumi leans over to film her
ok this is a dumb question maybe but ive never seen a kpop concert. is it like a western concert still in the way that sometimes the performeres will like. stop. & just chat to the audience? tell a little story as instruments get set up or whatever?
IF SO. rumi popping a squat as the stage hands bring her piano on stage & shes like. hey hunters how are we doing tonight & they HOWL at her & stomp their feet & scream & shes just. grinning up at them & shes like. im gonna teach u a song ok & she teaches them a call & reply song its super simple but its based on like the ancient hunter song or whatever & they can feeeeeel the honmoon bursting with energy & rumi winks at the audience & is like. just keep going , just like that, you're doing perfect. & then she parkours up onto the safety rail & grabs the dangling ring that she uses for golden & effortlessly hauls herself up onto it & half the audience is like ooooo her arms & the other half are like aaaaaa her abs & mira & zoey are like aw no fair theres no room so zoey climbs onto miras shoulders & grabs rumis ankles & theyre essentially standing on each others shoulders & bobby has to come out on stage & heatedly whisper at them THIS IS NOT SAFE. NOT SAFE AT ALL. & miras lets go of zoeys ankles & claps her hands & shes like hey everyone this is bobby say hi to bobby & he goes pink & waves at the audience but is like i am SERIOUS girls get down NOW & rumi sighs but shes like okay whatever u say bobby & its like a circus act she like spins on the rail like its a trapeze bar & flips & flips & flips & lands & they basically turn a huge section of the honmoon gold bc theyre being stupid. & because mira puts her hand on zoeys ass to keep her balanced & for No Other Reason according to official huntrx press
theres this element of performance that comes free with womanhood. this expectation that follows you wherever you go & the degree to which these girls would be Performing in their lives as literal idols & singers & performers & also HIDING STUFF from a lot of people. its the perfect interrogation of this aspect, dont you think? when you can lean into it & exaggerate it to a hyperbolic state so you can explore well, it IS a little silly, dont you think? to never have faults or fears. to always look & act & sound perfect. that if you are perfect enough, that if your songs are good enough & you sell enough to fans & they LOVE you, that will save the world. of course its a vvery hopeful message, that songs & art can save the world, which is the intention. but when you think about rumi & how hard shes trying & hiding, its important, dont you think, to consider the expectations & the reality of what failure means. its not just that her best friends will likely kill her, its that if she makes a mistake, if anyone sees her as less than this perfect ideal, perfect idol, she dooms the world. so. keep on a full face of makeup. keep on a smile. keep your tone pleasant even when someone is being rude to you. be polite and charming and pretty.
We human beings have discovered patterns of light and/or sound that kill some people and we should probably not have hissy fits about your right to fire a weapon at my mom. Like if you could put some text onscreen explaining the upcoming seizure-inducing patterns so that people can scroll away. That’s super fucking easy. i AM sorry that something as mindless as a tiktok edit could kill someone but hey, so could driving to work every morning, we all treat THAT accordingly (long, pointed stare. because yes we had better be treating that accordingly too)
The casual abundance of Thing That Kills People doesn’t mean you shouldn’t avoid killing people
Alex, it’s hard to even know where to begin to explain how utterly insane this piece is and how blown away I am by it.
(feel free to ignore the rest of this because i am about to YAP)
Actually though first of all fuck you for dropping it on me right as I had to go to work in the morning, lmao, truly I was futilely trying to sneak peeks literally all day long, lol
Anyway, I’ll start with thoughts on individual shards first, I think:
Rumi and Zoey at the aquarium has me so so soft; one, your choice to include this scene in the first place when it was only alluded to (like another scene I noticed, haha, which I’ll get to) is such a like - it makes me feel so honored and excited because now I get to see something brought to life in a new way that I hadn’t considered. Rumi’s and Zoey’s expressions here are everything; Zoey just a little embarrassed and nervous because she’s just figured out her feelings, and Rumi with the small blush and holding Zoey tight because Rumi already knows just how much she loves her and is so so happy just to be there with her. Alex I need you to know I love their faces so much here I was genuinely torn on if I wanted to make it my pfp
AGH THE FENCE! Okay half of this response is just going to be me gushing about how you do character expressions, because I love how you can just feel the intense focus in Rumi’s eyes, along with the slight widening and realization of “oh. i’m stuck” Also it’s so dynamic, you can feel that this is mid-action and that kinda stuff always blows my mind
The pool! YOU DREW THE PATTERN PEEKING OUT. What a crazy small detail to slip in there, and additionally the fact that, in the moment you chose to draw, it’s not visible to Zoey yet (perhaps it is to Mira but Mira’s not seeing anything without her glasses, haha). I love Zoey’s fond expression, I love that I don’t even need to see Mira’s to know she’s wearing a matching one (lovergirl energy unmatched), and I like that, very specifically, Rumi is not looking at them. There’s something almost wistful, like she’s looking ahead to this future she’s been dreaming about for so long rather than really paying attention to her present and the two girls that have already given her their hearts
The shower scene is devastating. I love that you don’t show her face here, she’s hiding away in her hands; the way she’s clutching her wrist and hunched over and just - she’s so deeply sad, and this is one of the few places she can actually allow herself to truly feel that, and even then she ducks her face.
Another alluded scene you brought to life!! A big lmao at you drawing the scene of Mira and Rumi with the sriracha, but also wow, yikes, ow. Mira is looking at Rumi with such fond warmth, this expression of “wow you’re a loser and I love you so much” and Rumi, in turn, has this blush but also it feels like a sense of confusion; confusion about why Mira’s tilting her chin up, but also I think that underlying confusion at how Mira can look at her like this in the first place (and wouldn’t if she knew)
God the kitchen scene. Rumi looks so utterly exhausted here, pale and worn and tired, but also still up and about and making breakfast like that’s something she’s capable of doing in this moment. I like that you choose not to show Mira’s face in this scene, just this resigned and stubborn fatigue on Rumi (and of course you put the jacket on her again, haha, I love that, your design of it is soooo good)
Rumi and Mira pulling each other in close as they break from writing “Takedown” - the hand placements are killing me in this one, Rumi pulling Mira deeper into a kiss and Mira pulling Rumi flush against her; they love each other so much and want to be with each other so much and it’s just. not that simple.
Rumi being a lying liar who lies - wow wow wow at the way you chose to draw this scene. You’ve mentioned before about why you chose to have her with hair down, and it’s such a clever reasoning; Rumi’s entire goal here is to disarm Mira and Zoey, even though they have no idea that that’s what she’s doing. She’s committed so fully to proving to them that she’s not a demon even though the thought has never once crossed their minds, and her hair being down just adds this extra layer of deceit and guile, because it implies openness and honesty. Even her hands being spread out - everything about Rumi looks so open here, except her expression itself, which gives away just how closed off she’s truly being.
The three of them cuddled together watching things on the bed is just 😭 So so soft, and I love how often you draw Rumi with a little blush, because she’s still so stunned at this relationship even being a possibility in the first place; Rumi thinks she’s unfathomably lucky, and it shows.
Ugh, this one hurts to see; Rumi clutching her shoulder, and again I love when you use framing to cut off specific expressions, let us as viewers imagine the rest. We don’t need to see how pained Rumi looks, we can feel it with the grasping of her shoulder and the opened pill bottle and even the disheveled strands of hair falling into frame from her face
Rumi lying on the ground :(((( Her bloodied chest, the way she’s sprawled out, her limbs askew; she looks like she’s just passed out after a hard fight. Even without the blood, her position so immediately screams “hey wait something’s wrong” and it hurts :(
UGH you choosing to draw Zoey lingering outside the room with the ramyeon cup in hand is KILLING me, this is such a small moment to linger in and I looove that you chose to adapt it. Zoey’s expression carries so much reluctance and guilt and uncertainty and longing; she wants to go in and see Rumi but how does she face her, especially after everything. I also love you adding in Celine here, but keeping her back turned and using the distance to keep Rumi’s face expressionless and blank, because one, Zoey can’t see her from this angle, and two, Rumi’s been defaulting to this careful neutrality anyway.
Zoey bandaging Mira’s hand - there’s such a sense of solemnity and weight to this particular shard that gets me. The grief is so quiet and tender here. The whole scene feels heavy but in a way that’s this odd sort of muffled acceptance. They’re both in this “okay. things are bad. let me help you. let’s deal with this together” phase, and you capture it in a way that just stabs straight through my heart.
MIRA AND THE BLOOD. God her expressions here are so GOOD, I don’t know how you do it. There’s this stunned disbelief as she stares at her hands in the first part of this segment, the shock keeping her from processing truly, and then a desperation in her eyes and her movements afterwards as she frantically tries to scrub the blood off. It’s a visceral and damning image of Mira completely stricken with guilt.
And lastly, the big segment that ties it all together: Rumi in the mirror. I love how much this feels like a horror piece, in particular with the way you chose to have two separate hands, demon hands, reach out and wrap themselves around her face, deliberately covering her human eye along with her mouth. There’s a sense of terror as Rumi reaches, both towards the mirror and towards the hands covering her face, and its just. such a stark and unsettling visual to anchor the whole piece around, and I’m absolutely in love with how you adapted this scene.
And then, on top of everything, the fact that you framed this whole piece through a shattered mirror just has me floored. One, props to you for making me realize “oh hey mirrors ARE a prominent motif in this fic aren’t they lmao”, and two, I’m still feral for how well you utilized it to capture the sense of unease and tension within the entire fic. The way you deliberately use the cracks, even in happy scenes, to convey the idea that everything is still a lie beneath the surface is just. it’s so GOOD. (A crack through Rumi’s face at the aquarium, a crack dividing Rumi and Mira right down the middle, a crack across Rumi’s legs at the pool, etc)
Alex I’m never going to be over this piece, I do hope you know that, haha, and I really really can’t thank you enough for such an absolute masterpiece. Will be blown away by this forever.
Polytrix au where Rumi is still raised and trained by Celine, but Mira and Zoey get found earlier by the Unnamed Third Sunlight Sister
Eventually, failing to complete the trio, both fragments debut separately—Rumi as a solo act, Zoey and Mira as a duo. It’s immediately clear what they’re supposed to be and they’re all obsessed with each other
But Third doesn’t hesitate to tell Mira and Zoey what Rumi is and that the feeling is a trick, and Rumi knows exactly what they’ll have been told, with Celine right over her shoulder begging her to be afraid enough to survive
And yet
The pull is still there
Like, Zoey pretends she only listens to all of Rumi’s songs as “knowing your enemy,” but Mira knows better. Still, she’s aware of how Zoey hates when people are angry with her, so she tries to swallow her initial response. (The conversation still doesn’t go well)
Mira can swear she’s angry that she was too slow the first time they run into Rumi at the same tear in the Honmoon—a tear she might well have caused—but it’s obvious to Zoey that she’s more shaken than she’s letting herself feel. (That conversation just doesn’t happen)
Rumi can know that they’re only being civil because of the multitude of eyes on them, but that doesn’t keep her from thinking about maybes, getting distracted as the morning wears on a little and Mira cracks a joke and Zoey looks at her like she’s saying ‘she’s hilarious, right?’ and everything feels like it should be—
@crypticparableprowler What would this be if they didn’t?
Celine did her damnedest to find Rumi, if not her partners, then someone. Pretty much every trainee at Sunlight within five years of her age on either side has spent a while with her. They’ll tell you different things—sweet, awkward, cocky (with the begrudging admission it was well-earned)—but. None of them clicked.
Rumi was always too scared, in the end. Of how unsafe being that close to demons would be for them. Of how unsafe being that close to her would be for them.
And now she’s fighting both sides of the war, alone. Celine does her best, but—that’s only so much, anymore. Maybe Mira and Zoey only come after her when the opportunity is shoved in their faces, consumed by bigger and badder and more immediate threats, but they still do.
The first time, they’re too slow to land a hit. The second—
It’s hard, fighting each other. The Honmoon hates it, Rumi hates it. But this is all just a trick, and it’s likely that only once Rumi’s gone will they be able to find their third.
Sometimes, it’s almost fun. Almost easy to forget. And others…
Mira sees the blood on the street every time she closes her eyes for days. Her hands shake at the thought of forming into fists. It was Rumi’s eyes, you know? They’d looked so… human. Maybe Mira’s the monster they always said she was
Zoey, though—Zoey saw the claws and the heard the way Mira cried out. She’s got a demon to take down.
(And, speaking of: Rumi doesn’t really know why they let her hide what she is. Why there hasn’t been a mutter to a reporter about a skin condition, at least, or—god forbid—tattoos. A quick way to fuck her career up, not having an industry-perfect body, even if the world wouldn’t understand the ugliness the patterns really are)
(Rumi asks, eventually, hisses it out sick and panicked and angry, and Zoey recoils with a feeling like she’s been hit because what the actual fuck)
I cant imagine rumi Not stepping in to help if something went wrong and one of the others got hurt. So we can have zoey or mira go down with an injury, rumi jumping in and killing the demon who was still attacking her, and then rumi getting wounded by the one who WASNT already hurt. That would fuck with all three of their heads once it sank in what happened (after a bleeding rumi fled and the other two couldnt follow because one of them is hurt too)
Rumi doesn’t even really process what happened. All she knows is the sounds of one of hers crying out in pain, the half-harmony of their songs weaving together cutting off. She doesn’t think, she just moves
(Mira doesn’t even really process what happened—just Zoey, bleeding, and Rumi standing right there.)
Rumi doesn’t go home. Well, ‘home’ is complicated these days. Technically, she’s trying to live by herself for the first time, and that’s where she means, the little apartment where her neighbors are that girl group Celine had debuted right before her, the ones who had always been nice and call Rumi their honorary maknae
She doesn’t go there.
Instead, she blinks and she’s pasting on a smile through the lobby of Celine’s building, trying not to be too obvious about how she holds her side. She calls Celine from the elevator, blankly tells her that she’s pretty sure the wound cauterized itself. She thinks she might be in shock, and she really, really wants her mom
(They go home.
The words are gone.
They can’t say it out loud.
It’s a trick, it has to be. It has to be or else they—
But they both know it’s real. They both know they did.
They sleep face-to-face, in the same bed. The question, the space where maybe Rumi is supposed to be, lies in the air between them. Zoey pulls herself tight into Mira until they’re skin to skin. It still doesn’t leave.)
She did not dissappear in smoke like all demons do when they die.
Pink smoke DID come from the wound when the blade sank in.
The Honmoon DID shake at Rumi's pained scream.
Zoey and Mira cannot tell if this is worse, or if it had been worse if she HAD turned to ash and smoke.
The next time they saw her at a public function, she flinches away from them.
She manages to disguise it as anything else in case someone is watching them, but Zoey and Mira can tell. And she's subtly trying to stay on the other side of the room and keep as many people as possible in between them.
She'd never done that before.
They try to approach anyways, not really sure what they're going to say to her, when they get intercepted by someone they werent expecting and had never met before.
Celine.
When she heard about the social event, she knew Rumi and the other two would all have to attend. She found her own way to get invited and told Rumi to pretend she wasnt expecting to see her there.
She stays subtly between them and Rumi the whole night, without making it look like she was chaperoning Rumi (who already had to deal with nepo baby accusations). She made sure to go talk to Rumi whenever the other two split up. She kept up a subtle but sharp glare the whole time.
Zoey never expected to be glared by one of her childhood idols with such anger.
Mira cant help but realize the Third Sister never acted as protective or as warm towards them as Celine is acting towards Rumi.
Someone in the crowd DOES call Rumi a nepo baby in zoey and mira's earshot, and it suddenly strikes her that there were THREE sunlight sisters.
One hates Rumi and wants her dead.
One raised her and showed up to protect her.
One, they have been told, was her own mother. She is dead. She cannot be asked what she would have wanted or who she would have sided with. She cannot be asked to explain herself.
But Third. They can certainly go and question Third.
She doesn’t have much more to say. Her voice falters, distressed. She gets angry, switches from fumbling rationalizations to asking them why exactly they want to know, if they’re having doubts
And it’s… it’s a nasty argument. It’s hard, because Third might never have loved them but she’s been their mentor for years. She’s always been steady and practical and objective and willing to change when she realized something needed changing. This side, rigid and fearful and mean? It’s not something they ever thought they’d see
Rumi doesn’t show up quite as often, especially when the tear is close to Mira and Zoey’s home. They listen, keep their distance, try to manage the guilt sinking deep into their bones
(They’ve struck glancing blows before, always gotten a return in kind or a retreat. But this—this was enough that it could’ve killed her. Most demons, it would’ve. It was never a game, but it’s definitely over now.)
(It’s harder, without even the not-quite-trio they had before. But they knew it would be.)
(And—they can’t help themselves. They hesitate. It’s impossible not to wonder, once you’ve met one exception. But these demons never seem to want anything but human souls, just the way they’d been taught.)
The rumors spread, of course, blind items and social media stories and a photo of them looking at each other the wrong way at an awards show. No one knows what happened, and it’s not like they worked together too much before but—the rumors spread. That something did. No one likes that idea—their idols having a problem with one another
Rumi knows Celine would immediately throw out the idea of her working with Zoey and Mira again if she heard. So she doesn’t bother checking in, just nods
Is there a problem? Bobby asks, like he can see something he’s didn’t mean him to. Quiet, caring. He’d have a restraining order for her before she could blink if she let on a hint of them having hurt her
Rumi rolls her eyes and shakes her head, promises him it’s all just baseless gossip, and she has no idea what he could possibly be talking about
(They just want her dead, and it’s entirely understandable. They know she’s a demon. She’s trying to fix the world and fix herself but she’s not sure if she’s doing more harm than good some days.)
(…Most days.)
Rumi thinks about that photo of them again, the way it almost looked like all of them were cringing in pain, not just her.
It’s easy for the camera to lie, and easy for it to catch things it shouldn’t.
So where last time, she’d run and let Celine hide her, this time, she’s on her best behavior. Perfect show smile, no hesitation, bouncing on her heels as Mira awkwardly explains the dance they’re doing. All she has to do is her job—if only they’d play along
(Zoey and Mira are absolutely fucking floundering in the face of this level of whiplash and do not know what Rumi’s up to. Like, if they could just get her alone then maybe they could apologize start some kind of dialogue? But she’s acting like it never happened—hell, she’s acting like she has no idea what a Hunter is in the first place.)
(Honestly, if this is what Mira deals with when it comes to Zoey’s emotional avoidance, she kind of gets why it makes her so frustrated now. She’s about ready to pull a Mira and just blow this whole thing open right here, right now, collateral damage or no.)
(Rumi can’t be their third. She can’t be. Because Zoey is all the family Mira has and if Rumi is supposed to be Like That and Mira has—
She can’t be. Not someone who looks at her with nothing behind the eyes because Mira already fucked it up.)
(It has to be recoverable. If this is what’s supposed to be theirs it has to be recoverable.)
When you really think about it, Huntrix is a trio of fucking MENACES.
So first of all, their weapons insta kill all demons. You never see them do more than one hit if they use their weapons, most of the fight is just them trying to hit the demons once.
With that in mind, WHY WAS THIS NECESSARY?
OR THIS?
SHE BEAT A DEMON'S FACE IN WITH A FUCKING HOT ASS KETTLE. NO FUCKING REASON TO DO THIS SHE COULD'VE ENDED THEM RIGHT THERE
AND THIS ONE'S GLIDING ON THAT MF. NOT NECESSARY WHATSOEVER!!!!
Like they were really just in it for the love of the game. They have a passion for whooping ass. They wake up excited as hell to jump some demons. If black air force energy was a kpop group it's them. They're on demon time quite a lot for a group of demon hunters. Shit the demons probably talk about them like dudes from Chicago talk about King Von, like they're probably genuinely terrified!
Like they're probably down there telling stories like:
"I look away for two seconds cuz the purple one swung a whole uncooked octopus at me and when I turn around the other two are using my boy Lenny as a jump rope"
"Gwi-ma you don't understand, I can't go back out there. THEY BEAT ME. WITH A PACK. OF RAMYEON. AND THEN THEY PROCEEDED TO SEASON ME."
"They folded up my cousin and used him as a couch for them to play fortnite on... I've never been the same since..."
Honestly, I don't think Rumi was scared ENOUGH of the others finding out about her patterns. Imagine you're half demon and you just watched your best friends whack-a-mole with your brethren as the moles. Like how did watching them write Takedown make you nervous but not the looney tunes ass torture methods they were pulling out every fight???
Thank god they discovered the power of friendship (or lesbianism if you are a partaker in polytrix) because before they were channeling the power of pure hatred.
artstyle change so jarring i had to switch brushes to prevent myself from taking psychic damage from while creating this image. now she's in Keep Reading jail so she doesn't jumpscare me if i see this post again. deeeeeply alarmed with her having an actual nose instead of just a dot.
If you want to find the private
I know where he is
I know where he is
I know where he is
If you want to find the private
I know where he is
He's hanging on the old barbed wire
I saw him, I saw him
Hanging on the old barbed wire
Hanging on the old barbed wire.
Mira buys a “how to relate to your autistic significant other” in order to get closer to Zoey but after every chapter she has to put the book down and staaaaaare at Rumi
