AHEM AHEM SO i have been provoked. oh my god this got long. like. loooong. oh man i am SUCH a yapper. so like 60% of it is under the cut. oh also @robotgutzz you asked to be tagged in this so here ya go buddy
first things first my hatchling is named Elbaite. the best way to introduce them to people, in my opinion, is just: they're a slightly taller (and gabbs would say prettier if you managed to get it out of them somehow) feldspar with added geologist and linguist interests. basic info, ellie is a linguist first, geologist second, an an astronaut... well, for about seven hours (how long the loops last in their universe).
they're reckless. they put themself between danger and other people, which has gotten them plenty of scars and plenty of fun stories to tell hatchlings. (tephra is their favorite, the little troublemaker, but you didn't hear that from me!) they legit got a chunk of their ear taken off by an animal attacking their group on a camping trip. they fought it off while the others ran.
basically they're a mini feldspar, except they're a nerd as well as a hero. the people around them think of them as a hero, anyway. they,,,, uhm.. dont really have much respect for themself.. and they cope by having no self-preservation instincts and joking a lot and being a people pleaser..... yaaaayy (a sad little poof of confetti appears out of nowhere)
so, now, gabbro! putting the rest under the cut because i wanna explain how i characterize gabbro before i explain how they work together so. teehee this gonna get longggg
*ahem ahem* just saying this right now so it's blatantly clear: gabbro is autistic when i'm the one writing them. i autism-beamed them and now they're an artistic, autistic, astronaut. AAA if you will.
with that outta the way, gabbro is first and foremost an artist. in every sense of the word. they write more than they draw and they sculpt or carve more than they write but they Make Things. lots of things. that's why they were so excited about the statues- proof the nomai were the same as them, in a way. oh boy when they find the quantum trials they freak tf out because "OH MY STARS??? IM NOT CRAZY LETS GO"
and WHY do they think they're crazy. well. that's because everyone made them think that way! because their autism makes them Weird. they like to be alone, they enjoy their own company just as much as the company of others. and in a tight-knit communal society that values togetherness immensely, that just won't do! so as much as the others care about gabbro, they don't really understand what they need, and that leads to some interesting issues (that i plan to touch on eventually).
(AND. they're one of the only members of OWV that doesn't officially have a profession. gossan trains astronauts, slate is an engineer, hornfels is an educator and curator. riebeck has archaeology, chert has astronomy, even elbaite has linguistics and geology!)
they found it hard to make friends when they were younger. they tried, and failed, because they simply didn't get it. so they instead made friends with trees, bugs, rocks.
aaand this is where elbaite comes in. this is there the time buddies become buddies.
so, elbaite has a very strong sense of justice. everyone should be included, everyone's needs matter (except their own, in their opinion...) no matter what, and there should always be compromise. this leads tiny little hatchling elbaite to feel bad that hatchling gabbro is never included. so, a little eight-year-old hatchling with bandages all over their body from their escapades, approaches a twelve-year-old in an oversized sweater holding a bug in their hand, and says, "let's be friends."
gabbro is confused. "uh... why?" they say, because no one has ever asked to be their friend before. and they're like a lot younger than them. elbaite says, "because! i wanna!" thinking this plan will go perfectly, like half of their plans don't end in them getting hurt somehow. and somehow it does. and now gabbro's got a little buddy that drags them into games and activities, and they don't know what to do with that because half the time the social interaction ends up stressing them out (though they appreciate the effort ellie puts in. they appreciate that they try.)
gabbro does make other friends eventually. spinel and chert. and by association, halite, though hal has opinions on gabbro that they simply keep to themself. wahoo.
anyway, yeah, long story short they're buddies before they're time buddies. when people say things about gabbro behind their back, ellie is there to give them a death glare or flick them in the ear or however they decide to defend their buddy that day.
on with The Big Thing. this refers to gabbro's launch day. they graduated the program a lot later than most as previously mentioned. their disability paired with how others treated them made the last bit of training a lot harder for them, and they had to take a break from it.
long story short, a lot of STUFF happened right before they launched, so they left without any goodbyes. and then a year later, at 20 (they got their sapwine ceremony done early because they wanted to get it over with(and launch slightly early lmao)), elbaite launches.
(THIS IS WHERE I ACTUALLY GET TO THE POINT SMHHH WHY DID I DUMP SO HARD)
so then the loops start. and this is where my ramble actually gets to the point stars above this is wayyy too long--
ahem. ahem. so the loops start. and at first, elbaite is like, okay, this is something new i can do. i have a goal, a mystery to solve, so i'll be okay. i can figure this out, and i can get us out of it, and i'll be fine. we'll be fine! everything is fine. i am fine. (ellie is not, in fact, fine!!)
gabbro is kind of, well, stuck, so. they just chill. the wind threw a rock straight into their skull and knocked them out for a loop, once, but other than that they just chill on their island. they don't even know what's happening, just that chert says something about the sun over the radio every loop and hornfels doesn't remember that they lost their ship.
their mindset? eh, guess i'll die.
the first twenty-two loops ellie aboids giant's deel like the plague. eventually they get over themselves and the find gabbro. they talk, establish that yes we are still friends, have a couple insane revelations because holy shit i'm not alone in this? and decide to start traveling together.
here's the gist of it: elbaite always takes the brunt of the most brutal deaths. they keep shielding gabbro from space debris with their body and getting hit, or pushing them out of the hatch of the ship when the reactor explodes, or.. a lot of other things. elbaite is naturally inclined to put themself between gabbro and whatever danger is hurtling towards them. they cant handle when someone else suffers, if they could have helped it, or suffered in their place.
meanwhile, gabbro is just along for the ride. they adapt pretty quickly to the whole "death doesn't matter" thing and they often have to remind ellie that it's not the end of the world (figuratively, i feel like i should specify) if they run out of time. gabbro notices how hard ellie is overworking themself, and they know if they say "ellie you gotta take a break" they'll just brush it off, so... they use things like "ugh can we have a break loop? im starting to get a headache" or "ugh im soooo tired, i need a nap, buddy." as excuses and stuff. and of course because ellie cares about them they comply. teehee.
while gabbro naps (they do actually sleep a lot, true to their word, but if they didn't want ellie to take breaks gabbro would try to stay awake for them), ellie studies nomai text, and starts to teach themself how to write in nomaian. (which becomes very helpful in the au idea i have where they are able to travel with solanum due to funky quantum time business.)
they keep each other sane, unintentionally, and in the process they become ride-or-die besties. and they begin to appreciate each other more. and more. and become closer. and closer. until they start making flirty "jokes". and eventually neither of them know if they're joking anymore.
and then ellie has an "...oh... oh no" realization moment when they discover their feelings have, indeed, become romantic. and gabbro is like "...huh... hmm..." like they're just letting their emotions do their own thing. long story short they're both inexperienced but gabbro's mindset is "woahhh... feelings are weird..." and ellie's is "i CANNOT let this distract me from The Goal."
...im gonna end this here, probably make another whole post if i feel like it and people want it. if i do it'll mainly focus on the romantic parts of their relationship.
so.... toodles!!! time buddies for life!!! sorry for yapping so much lmfao i cannot believe how long this is and its so terribly organized.... i promise i'll flesh these dynamics out in fics soon enough!! pinky swear!!!!! i shall offer more snippets and yaps if provoked!
PART THREE (finally) OF ME YAPPING ABOUT TIME BUDDIES BECAUSE PH STARS SOMEONE STOP ME
cough cough ahem so where were we
ah yes. so. their romantic dynamics. once again below the cut because i'm a yapper chatterer squawker. here's the first part of my time buds yap session series if you want more context or just more time buds!!
ahem ahem ahem! without further ado,
in a post-loop time buddies au i dont think they officially say theyre Dating™️ until after the loops. because during the loops they dont really see a point in labelling it, and most hearthians dont give a label to things like that anyway. they're time buddies, that's what they'd tell you if you asked them in the loops. what with time being meaningless their labels feel a bit meaningless, too. (this of course confuses solanum because i hc the nomai's mindset would be "b-but there MUST be a label for this, and for every relationship dynamic!")
but after the loops. things get more complicated. because now their actions have consequences that last, and it actually matters what they are to other people. they have a couple options here:
1) talk to their friends and loved ones about what theyve been through and why theyre so different
2) procrastinate communication by spending insanely weird amounts of time together alone either in space or in gabb's grove
and guess what they choose at first!! aha! rhat's right' number two! because surprise surprise ptsd has negative effects on people.
ahem. anyway. they spend a lot of time with each other and with solanum (remember how they're The Time Trio and stuff? yeah), which ultimately inly deepens their connection, because they're relearning how to live again together. of course, they spend some time apart, because they both have duties both on and off planet. and they have to talk to their respective friends eventually. but oh boy they cuddle a LOT when they get back on the same world. like oh my gosh you could not pry them apart with industrial level machinery.
so, here, we finally areive at my headcannons for their romantic dynamics. because. oh boyo.
you see, i adore all the "yea whatever" chill guy gabbro everyone writes. i ADORE it. but what if, and hear me oht here. they were secretly a LOSER. like "ohmygosh they looked at me i'm gonna explode" kind of loser. like they deflect when confronted with any compliments and get all internally flustered when they're cared for. they're just a really good actor, like, really good, so not many people know this side of them (even after two and a half years in the loops, and even longer being friends, elbaite has only recently begun to crack this shell). but it's there. i mostly like this idea because it's fun to write and because there's not enough of it lmao. #LetGabbroBeALoser2025!!!
and compared to elbaite? the possibly most selfless hearthian to ever live other than feldspar? it's like two pieces from drastically different puzzles somehow fitting together perfectly.
elbiate dotes on and cares for gabbro like it's their job. they're the "you're sick, i made you breakfast in bed," "i know you said you werent hungry but i made some food anyway in case you want some later", "do you need anything else? more pillows? a different blanket, maybe?" partner. they run errands for friends, stay by an ill loved one's bedside helping them until they get better, they babysit hatchlings (they LOVE hatchlings) and they lug around stuff from workshop to workshop for people. t's who they are, a person of showing in blatant ways rather than telling. elbaite is a helper, a person of action through and through. whatever they're doing has to be for someone else or they don't feel justified doing it. they give out acts of service to everyone they care about like it's breathing.
gabbro's so not used to being catered to. they're autistic, and a lot of their needs are different to others in a lot of ways, so they just learned to take care of themself. so this little thing of ellie's utterly melts them, inside and out. elbaite is attentive to their every need and they don't know how to handle that, so naturally, they try to act chill. when theyre really like. "what. what. what. what. wh"
meanwhile, gabbro's a gifts and words person. they would ramble for hours about how much they appreciate elbaite, and they've definitely made little wood carvings or paintings for them and other loved ones. after the loops when everything they do lasts, gabbro paints and carves and writes SO. MUCH. STUFF. for people. they used ellie's ship log to store any ideas they had and afyer the loops they intend to make a l l. o f. i t. and like its genuinely impressive how much stuff they do. and as a bonus, a third of it is in elbaite's cabin teehee.
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and this folks is where i hit post and then. realize a much more interesting au would be throwing solanum into a polycule WITH gabbro and elbaite. so.... if y'all want yaps about that...... just go ahead and lemme know.... :>
also sorry this took months to post i kindnof fell off kf the OW interest and now i'm back knee-deep so i had to post whatever drafts i had on the shelf lmfao.....
(edit: oh and to that one anon that wrote to me abiut this whole yap series THANK YOU GRAH the motivation i gained from revisiting that ask was Crucial in finishing this post)
Do you mind trimming your posts a bit? It's getting annoying to scroll own past all of those replies to get to the new ones
Yeah, sorry about that. I'll message Kaite and come up with something because they are getting WAY too long. (Plus tagging them takes half an hour, the post freezes for some reason.)
