Been trying to crack how j3 and Ellie start hooking up in teacher timeline & I do think there are plenty of ways they could just start casually hooking up but it still feels weird when Ellie so up front abt not wanting to lead j3 on bc she’s ironically still hung up on J3. Anyway I think the way that feels the most fun & satisfying to me is if there is some sort of combat related death scare for j3 bc I think that would finally push Ellie to act on her feelings. The entire time she’s trying not to get too attached to J3 bc first off, everyone she’s ever loved she’s lost in one way or another, and she really does like him, but what if he’s not the guy? And even despite this, what he really likes about Ellie is that even when she’s trying to be distant and unattached, she can’t help but treat him with all this honesty and respect and sincerity he doesn’t usually get, for once he feels treated like a person & not a spectacle. Anyway, that’s why I think the death scare would motivate Ellie to finally act, bc she really does care about him, she regrets treating him like he’s a thorn in her side, she’s done denying herself as some sort of self flagellation, whether j3 is the guy or not she needs to kiss him NOW bc she’s done pretending she doesn’t care, she’s so glad that he’s ok, and she needs to let him know how she feels bc she couldn’t bear the idea of something happening to him and him never knowing how much she really cares about him. (She can’t bring herself to say she loves him, but she does, she’s gonna love him some day. She’s loved him this whole time)
