#and i must say!! some of the coincidences seem a bit too consistent!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kujiba · 20 days

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★MAY THE LAND CONCEAL YOU, DEAR GRACE

୨୧ — ꒰ gn!reader | they/them prounouns | Sagau | cultish behavior

୨୧ — ꒰ wowee, thanks alot for 100+ likes on part one! Hope you enjoy part two :]

[PART ONE

-YOU DIDNT NEED TO BE A GENIUS to get an idea of what was happening. Your lower body brushed against the soft yet sharp grass, it felt all too real. Your (e/c) eyes narrowed its way to a tree. An ordinary tree with many ripe fruits; one of it being able to take your attention.

Your hand circled on one of the fruits bottom and plucked it carefully, it matched exactly as your expectation. A plump fruit that seemed to be full of its juice and taste, an appearance that resembled a beautiful like sunset furthermore having a sweet and gentle aroma that is able to energize an individual.

Your lips slowly made its way near the side of the familiar fruit, the texture and feeling were soft yet hard. The aroma itself made your mouth faintly water, you swallowed your saliva having a high expectation out of this. After all, you always wanted to see what it really tasted like after collecting so many.

"Thank you for the meal." You lastly said and took a bite.

Your eyes widened a bit, this was far more than what you expected. The flavor was sweet but not too much to be like a candy. It was juicy enough to make you feel more hydrated than ever. It didn't take you long to start devouring the whole fruit at once

"Better than i had thought." Your back laid against the tree, all of its fruits gone for it was rapidly consumed by someone (you).

You wiped off the fluid on the side of your face. A small smile looming over your lips "I feel more.. Refreshed than ever." Your tone consisted of slight suprise and satisfaction "Still, i cant seem to get my head wrapped around whats happening.." You mumbled quietly to yourself, having your fair share of the internet you were well aware on the many fanfictions and AU the game GENSHIN IMPACT had, but it having to actually become a real life situation is something too impossible to even happen.

Your feelings felt too mixed and unorganized. Half of what you felt was being thankful, because out of all the things you were gonna reincarnate in. The gods or whoever did it brought you into a more PG game; sure it had killing.. And some questionable things but as long as you live like an NPC things will go in the right track!.

With a goal set in mind you dusted off your hands following with walking down the dirt path that led to the gates of the iconic town MONDSTADT. you could remember it like it was just yesterday when you first played genshin. A feeling crept up to you, something similar - that you've walked down this path for millions of times and that muscle memory just took in. Deja vu didn't leave your mind until you were met with two guards infront of you.

"Halt. Who are you and what is your business here in mondstat" One of the guards spoke up, eyeing you up and down incase you were bringing any dangerous or threatening items to the city.

The guards other companion putted his hand on top of his friends shoulder "Wait, ___. They look familiar dont they?" His tone filled with suspicion, he couldn't shake it off as just a normal coincidence.

"What? What are you even saying ____. I believe you're making a far stretch in this one, i clearly remember that they have (opposite color) hair." The guards companion replied back with confidence in his answer. And it soon didn't take long for it to turn to a long and repeating argument on what was the appearance of the person they were arguing about.

"Jeez, who even is the person their saying. They must seem complicated" You thought to yourself while at the same time, was rubbing the back of your head - all you wanted was to slip into the city of Mondstadt but it seems to be much harder than you had thought in mind.

During the time the two guards were still rambling about the appearance of a certain someone. a silhouette of a girl with long silky brown hair, complimenting her appearance with a bright crimson bow that anybody could see from a mile away.

"Huh? I wonder whats going on over there.. Better go check it out!" The mysterious girl exclaimed, swiftly jumping down the soaring cliff. The moment her feet left the ground, wing like designs appeared behind her back which helped her safely land on the ground yet again.

"Whats going on here?" The mysterious girl walked between the two guards to stop their argument. Both her hands placed on her waist as she looked at the two with confusion.

"Oh- Outrider amber. Good to see you today" The guard greeted the named girl, AMBER. Amber exchanged the guards greeting with a smile "Good to see you today too. Now, will anyone care to explain what's going on?" She questioned, her hazel eyes glancing at the three people infront of her; You noticed how her gaze seemed too be longer on yours - as if she had something on her mind.

"I'll explain"

"Let me explain"

"So basically.."

You and the other two guards were caught off guard by the sudden synchronization. "Uhm, I can explain the situation" You spoke up while (e/c) eyes looked at the two.

"No, I've got a more grip and understanding standing on the situation, allow me" One of the guards replied back, his other companion raised a brow on what the other had just said.

"Please. I remember the details on the situation more clearly, I'll be telling you what happened Outrider Amber." His companion argued back to the other

"I'm doing you a favor so allow me."

"You're gonna leave out some parts so just let me do it"

"I'll do it"

"No, I'll do it"

"Guys.."

"So.. What you're all saying is that this person just wanted to get inside mondstadt?" Amber questioned;it took a long while till you just decided to explain to amber what really happened. Still, you couldn't shake off the feeling how intensely she was staring at you for - it creeped you out badly but you tried not to make it too obvious.

"Thats basically what happened" You confirmed giving her a small nod. Amber's expression seemed to be in deep thought for some moments till she gave you a smile in return.

"Seems like theres no problem then! You don't seem to pose as a threat, uhm.." Amber trailed off not really having to get your name yet. "Oh! It's (Name), pleasure to meet you" You kindly greeted her

You expected a positive greeting back but instead, your body jolted slightly. Seeing her shocked expression staring at you deeply for a moment and soon returned to normal.

Amber's expression calmed down and she gave you a apologetic smile "Oh sorry bout that... Just go right ahead" She offered, her fingertips gently wrapping around the back of her neck as her gaze were on the floor. You questioned her abnormal behavior earlier but the thought of going inside THE city of Mondstadt that you've dreamed ever since you first played made you ecstatic. Not to mention that you just met with one of the main side characters (amber) made you forget her strange activity just a few seconds ago.

You gave her a nod "Alright. Thank you!" And without hesitating you quickly walked inside the city of Mondstadt. The aroma of dandelions waved through the surroundings as people were joyful and free; something that you've craved since your 'previous' life.

Today is a brand new page in a book, where you're the one holding the pen and get to be able to write whatever you desire! WELCOME TO MONDSTADT

Two pairs of hazel colored eyes followed your body whilst you gleefully strolled from shop to shop. Her gaze not leaving you for even a second, for fear shrouded over her. Fear that you again would leave her sight.

".. They can't be..."

"You've felt it too huh?"

"... Get the others.

"We can't let them get away"

[A/N: HOPE YALL ENJOY PART 2. SORRY IT SEEMED SHORT, I'LL TRY TO MAKE PART 3 LONGER. ANYWAYS PROLOUGE IS DONE, MONDSTADT ARC WILL START NOW

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact sagau #gender neutral reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin sagau #genshin cult au #X reader #gender neutral y/n #y/n #amber genshin impact #mondstadt #genshin fanfic #reader insert #god reader #yandere genshin impact #gn reader #x reader #genshin x reader

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kitashousewife · 2 years

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low priority

an: to celebrate both of our last years of school, i have wrote this for echo's the best years of our lives collab!!! it is going to be three parts. this is based on my own personal experiences! i hope you all like it :)

pairings: timeskip!tsukishima x fem!reader

warnings: swearing, fluff, tsukki's bad attitude, lowercase intentional

one thing about tsukishima is that he loves a schedule. the consistency of it all made him feel secure and made him feel at ease. thankfully, this morning was going exactly according to plan.

his 9:00 lecture ended exactly at 10:00, which meant he had exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes to grab something to eat and get a little bit of work done before he had to walk to his 12:00 class. if he's lucky, his professor will wrap up at 1:30, allowing him to catch the bus at 1:45 to head home, so that he can enjoy his friday evening doing homework with yamaguchi like usual.

of course, it wouldn't be a friday morning without seeing you.

ever since his first year of university, tsukishima has seen you pretty regularly around campus. passing each other on the way to class, sitting near each other in the library, he even saw you at the grocery store a few times. at first, he thought it was just a coincidence in schedules, but after four years now, he isn't sure what to make of this.

he has never talked to you, and you have never spoken to him. hell, you have never acknowledged him. part of him wishes you would, though.

sitting down in the dining hall, tsukishima begins his homework playlist and starts to work. the time seems to be flying by until he hears a voice behind him, distracting his workflow. lowering his headphones, he turns over his shoulder and nearly chokes when he realizes who's talking.

you're sitting directly behind him laughing into the phone that fits perfectly between your ear and shoulder, typing on your laptop while you do so. normally, tsukishima would be incredibly annoyed by this, but he isn't. the sound of your laugh and soft voice actually made him smile.

rolling his eyes at his behavior, he turns his music up and tries to get back to work.

the rest of the day was fine. his class ended right on time, he got to his apartment quickly, and he was able to get to yamaguchi's without any problems. but, now he regrets coming over.

"aww, tsukki's campus crush!" yamaguchi cheers from the kitchen, grabbing chopsticks for their takeout. tsukishima groans into a pillow from the couch. "shut up, yamaguchi. i shouldn't have said anything," he gripes, snatching the chopsticks out of his best friend's hands. "it's not even a crush."

yamaguchi laughs. "is she pretty?"

tsukishima feels his cheeks heating up. looking at his food, he sighs. "yeah, very."

yamaguchi smirks. "right."

monday morning came a lot quicker than you had hoped. the weekend is never long enough, especially this semester. as you walked through campus, bleary-eyed and exhausted, you looked up to see him.

headphone guy.

the first time you saw him was in the library four years ago. ever since then, you have seen him everywhere. you don't know anything about him, besides the fact that for four years now, he has worn large white headphones.

and, that he is extremely good-looking.

you pass by each other, like every other monday morning, without a word.

after class, you can't seem to get him out of your head. he looked so handsome, with his rimmed glasses and blonde hair, and he seems so serious. you've seen him study some pretty impressive science textbooks, too. he must be intelligent.

walking into the bookstore on campus isn't helping your thoughts. as you shuffle through the isles for a specific book you need for class, there he is.

standing directly in front of your section, he flips through a book mindlessly. his headphones are draped around his neck, the very faint sound of music whispers through them.

"excuse me," you squeak, cringing at your attempt. tsukishima looks down at you at you and doesn't say a word.

okay asshole.

"i-i'm looking for a book,"

"obviously," he interjects, still staring at you. you cock an eyebrow at him. what is this guy's problem?

giving him the benefit of the doubt to save the image of him you made in your mind, you start again. "it's for my psychology class this semester. i didn't know i needed it, it wasn't required," mumbling the last part, you step forward to scan through the book spines.

tsukishima watches intently, suppressing a chuckle as you grab the book you need and mutter a finally under your breath.

"is that for psych 325?" you nod. "it was required actually. it's in the first section of the syllabus,"

your eyebrows shoot up, only to lower back down into a low glare. "no it wasn't, i checked."

he smirks down at you, pushing his glasses back up his nose with the back of his knuckle. you are about to disintegrate on the spot.

"well," he sighs, looking for his own book. "i'm the TA for that class this semester,"

you blink. twice. three times.

"what section?"

he turns on his heel and begins to walk out of the isle, book in hand. he looks over his shoulder at you. "section 8."

no fucking way.

you walk after him as he heads to the checkout counter. shaking your head in disbelief, you finally catch up to him. "you're tsukishima?"

he nods, grabbing his wallet to pay for his book.

"but you aren't in my class."

placing his receipt in the book cover, he turns to you and adjusts his headphones. "i don't need to be there, i just help grade and upload assignments from time to time."

paying for your own, apparently required book, you start to feel a little sheepish.

"after all these years," you mumble to yourself.

stopping midway from putting on his headphones, it's his turn to cock an eyebrow.

and he wouldn't admit it, but he really hopes he heard you correctly.

"what did you say?" you pause, then adjust your backpack.

"nothing, i was just talking to myself," you look away, fixing your eyes on anything but his brown ones.

walking towards the door, you both want and don't want him to follow you.

he does.

"do you know me?" he asks, holding the door open for you. walking out, you wait for him to join you outside.

"no, but i've seen you around campus a few times," you aren't technically lying. but you aren't going to admit that you've been staring at him for the past four years. he hums back.

tsukishima's just as stubborn as you, if not more so. the last thing he's going to do is tell you that he has been thinking about you for the past eight semesters, even telling his best friend about you.

standing in silence, the two of you stare at your feet as the autumn breeze kicks up around you. clearing your throat, you look up at him once more.

the midday sun dances across his cheeks and hair, the strands looking almost white in the rays. he looks down at you before you have time to look away.

"you know, just because we spoke, please don't expect any special treatment in the class," he sighs and pulls his headphones over his ears. rolling your eyes, shake your head at him.

"obviously."

he chuckles at your imitation of him earlier. feeling his heartbeat quicken once more, he turns to you before he walks to the bus stop.

"the class is challenging, so don't be afraid to reach out. my phone number is on the syllabus, along with my email," he says, grabbing his phone to press play on his playlist. looking at you again, he bites tongue as you are staring back at him with wide eyes and blushing cheeks.

"for academic purposes, of course."

tsukishima walks away, hoping you don't catch how nervous he actually is. he can't believe he said that. yamaguchi is gonna love this.

your thoughts are racing, far too quickly for this monday afternoon. beginning the walk to your apartment, you shake the thoughts that sneak their way into your head.

where was that syllabus again?

#tsukishima kei x reader #tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #haikyuu x reader #hq fluff #hq x you #hq x reader #tsukki x reader #tsukishima kei x reader fluff #tsukishima fluff #tsukishima imagine

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raspberry-gloaming · 3 months

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I'm currently at a point where because I've got into Gallifrey, I follow or have at least browsed people's blogs who love other dweu stuff. And I thought it might be fun to say what I currently think and know about eu characters/companions so when I have in the future delved deeper into the eu I can look back and compare and laugh and see how much is accurate! There's gonna be a "read more" here because this gonna get Long.

Also please let me know what I've got right and not and also tell me more about these characters if you are fans of them!

Benny: starting off strong i know some stuff about her! she's an archeologist from the future (wonder if she ever met River) and she travelled with... one of the doctor(s)? Possibly Seven? She is besties with Brax and sometimes works for him and his collection. Probably must be able to put up with bullshit because of those last two points. Has a husband called Jason and at least one kid, which, iconic, female adventure and action protagonists should get to be mums more often its always the childfree so big up Benny for that. made a cameo at the end of Gallifrey IV.

Evelyn: I have heard her. A little. I basically skipped through the apocalypse element because I wanted to understand some of the reasons that Romana is the way she is in Gallifrey, but didn't listen properly because I got bored. Is an old lady, which is great - its great to see ages mixing it up a bit, instead of the 19-25 year old girl primary companions we consistently get in nu-who. Travelled with Six and is/was a professor at a university. Not sure for which subject though.

Fitz: Canonically bisexual and wears a leather jacket. I've seen A Lot of shipping him and Eight, and these shippers seem to have a similar vibe to Two/Jamie shippers. I don't know much else, except that his time with the doctor is probably fucked up because from what I have gleaned, Eight's companions Go Through It like big time.

Compassion: Faction Paradox which I believe is in an alternate universe (also the faction paradox timelines seem to have have a different vibe of names to the main universe ones, every time I'm on the "Individual Time Lords" category on the wiki and see a name that seems out of place it turns out to be a character from Faction Paradox.) Is a person (human i think?) but is also a TARDIS? Like you can go into her and travel? Where tf is the door this is very cursed. Also used as a breeding machine to make more TARDISes as well? By Romana? Idk but this seems pretty fucked up in an icky way. And fucked up in a non-icky way too. I'm just confused tbh. Not sure which doctor is involved in this one.

C'rizz - Possibly people can't say his name right? Is that him? Alien boy, travelled with Eight and Charley. That's about all I know.

Chris Cwej: I know even less about him, hes the other possibility for people mixing up his name or something. Think he travelled with Seven. Idk why but he gives me dick vibes.

Hex Schofield: Travelled with Ace and Seven. Is from 2021 or something and says "sus." Which yh that was a thing but he was made before among us existed that's a cool coincidence that it turned out like that.

Liv and Helen: They exist. That's it I know nothing more.

Molly O'Sullivan: Also exists. Travelled with eight?

Charley Pollard: Has a Nazi for a sister - Blind Eye my beloved. Calls herself Edwardian even though she's from the 1930s, idk if its like a character point or an accidental fuck up by the writers. Has a romance with the doctor in some form. And also a pretty messed up relationship with him i think. Actually just a pretty messed up time. Especially because I think she was in Scherzo which I hear Wild Blue Yonder was inspired by. So good luck girl you're gonna need it.

#doctor who audios #big finish #dw #doctor who #dweu #charley pollard #liv chenka #Molly O'Sullivan #Hex Schofield #bernice summerfield #c'rizz #chris cwej #doctor who compassion #evelyn smythe #fitz kreiner

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porridgefeast · 6 months

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ofts finale thoughts

I haven’t felt the need to post about Only Friends much so far; I’ve enjoyed the show but I didn’t have many takes burning a hole in my pocket. But now that it’s over I have at least a bit to say.

I guess it would have been too frustrating otherwise, but I was relieved somebody actually bothered to compare notes about Boeing. Boeing can do what he wants, I just find the lack of communication so annoying.

I get why Ray has to have his front hair bits. He’s the perfect person for a slut bang (not my term but I do find it entertaining). But I hope the next thing Khaotung is in will give him different hair because I feel like it’s always thiiiiis close to poking his eyeball and giving me the heebie-jeebies.

I hope Sand gets a little peace once the events of this show end. He’s just as much of a mess as the others, especially when he says he’s not going to perform in bars anymore (listen to yourself, honey), but I feel so tired for him.

Ray says he can tell Sand is still in love with Boeing and that he can tell he’s “second string” seeing them kiss. I... do not believe him. He’s definitely not happy, but he can’t tell squat. Either the subtitle translation isn’t great, the writing could be clearer on this point (and needs to follow up later, which it doesn’t IMO), or Ray is full of it and possibly projecting after his Mew stuff.

Later Sand says he wouldn’t feel like he actually had unresolved feelings for Boeing if Ray hadn’t insisted they kiss. I believe him. Sometimes the (fake) threesome gambit isn’t the right choice, Ray.

Mew & Top seem, as usual, like they have no idea what relationship they’re actually in. I don’t see good things for them, but maybe they’ll continue to be on the same page even if it’s a weird page I don’t understand. I am encouraged they bothered to talk about their relationship needs, I guess? I find it difficult to care about them. Though I will say it feels correct that Mew would wear what I consider dad pajamas.

I guess Mew’s just gonna keep his new personal style indefinitely?

Mew: “I just can’t throw things away.” We know, buddy. Except for Boston, I guess.

The awkward effort at conversation between Ray & Top works for me. I thought it would be annoying but it’s kinda cute.

What was Boeing doing before we “met” him, I wonder (taking occasional calls from Top, but that can't be all). He must have been bored.

I’ll get into the Nick & Boston stuff more, but for now I can’t think it’s a coincidence that the song playing when Nick gets an eyefull of Boeing & Boston consists of repeating the English line “chase your tail.”

Nick: “You’re trying to be my boyfriend.” Boston: “I’ll let you decide what you want to do about it.” One of these people is prepared to back up what they’re saying more than the other. Okay, I'll just say it—Boston thinks he's happy to let Nick decide for himself, and he will accept what Nick chooses. But I think he's comfortable with that partly because he thinks he knows what Nick will choose, only he's wrong.

Cheum: “Sand, thanks for adopting Ray. He’s been wanting a caretaker.” Ouch!

Mew invited Boston to be polite but doesn’t feel they’re friends. That seems pretty okay to me. Boston is moving away anyway. I’m not convinced Boston cares about being friends with these people, just that he wants to have friends generally, at least some of the time.

Wish I felt like Cheum and April were full characters, or at least Cheum, but that ship has sailed. I guess Cheum displayed a consistent trait in inviting Boston to their little party, much the same way she asked Top to the Halloween party.

Okay, Nick/Boston and Boston generally. I’m not seeing the Boston-shaming that seems clear to some others on here, or a strong message from the show that Boston deserves some terrible fate. Nick is pretty lovely to Boston as far as I’m concerned. He says he thinks Boston should stop trying to “please” him and just be his usual self. Why is that bad? Boston has been trying to have his cake and eat it too and I get that, he’s young and I’m sure it seems like it’s good to give Nick what he wants while keeping the things Boston wants for himself. But Nick sees that trying to do both makes him feel awful, so he no longer wants that closeness.

Boston’s former friends aren’t great to him. I feel like Mew has an excuse but the others don’t. Like many other situations in this show, they’re being shitty and they may never understand that. I don’t feel the show is endorsing their position.

Boston says he’s sorry to Mew at the party, but his apology is based on a totally false narrative based on what we saw in the show. It wasn’t his “desire” that made him pursue Top. He was acting out, trying to prove his superiority—we know this because every time he hit on Top he explicitly said stuff along the lines of why would you want Mew & not me, why would I envy somebody like Mew?

I admit I have a bit of a personal stake in a narrative like this. I had a friend who would act out sexually to hurt their friends, including me. I don’t really want to get into detail partly because describing their behavior gets uncomfortably close, to me, to shaming and I don’t need to do that. But suffice it to say this person sometimes chose sex partners in a way that was driven by contempt for people they supposedly cared for deeply. They didn’t explain their motives, but their actions left very little room for doubt. They were also very self-sabotaging, so they kinda killed way more than two birds with that particular stone. It was pretty unfortunate all the way around. Even if not everyone has an experience like that, I think contempt is a very real part of life. We should avoid letting things get to that point, but really deep and close relationships always have some space for contempt. You just have to expose that area to sunlight when you can and address other feelings before they can feed it.

These characters don’t have healthy friendships. Some of them have grown a bit in their friendship over the course of the show, but they’re very young and they’re all a bit blind to the world outside themselves. Boston was a shitty friend, so are the rest of them. I don’t see this as a repudiation of Boston but as a realistic portrayal of flawed relationships.

I didn’t think I would find the finale satisfying, and I didn’t. That makes sense to me given the complicated way everything has gone on. I’m kinda happy for Nick, though. He seems to have figured some stuff out. And even though I don't really give a fig about Top I hope he got over some of his fire fear. Maybe he can make relationship choices out of something other than insomnia now.

#only friends the series #ofts

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critterfloozy · 2 years

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What the Fuck is Up with That - Air Ashari Edition

One of the major things that I had to figure out for On the Shores of Ithaca, Years Later (about 6k, Vilya POV, mind the tags) was what the fuck was up with the Air Ashari’s political structure, especially how Vilya would have approached it.

The Tal’dorei books aren’t too much help with this - as far as they’re concerned, Keyleth is the leader, Keyleth is going to be the leader for quite a while, so there’s not much to figure out in terms of succession.

But - what about before that? How long did they go without having a Voice of the Tempest before? What happened with the last Voice of the Tempest? What would Vilya have expected from her Aramente?

(Yes, I realize the answer is that Marisha made this up for a home game, nobody is required to come up with a coherent political structure for their D&D character, but I like trying to make things make sense)

This is what we (or at least I) know:

Once a generation, a new leader is chosen to go on their Aramente.

The Aramente consists of going to the other three tribes and completing their tasks, then returning to their tribe.

It is expected that this trip will take years. It is not expected that the Aramente will be deadly, but it would be dangerous.

Once the Aramente is complete, the person who went through the Aramente is now the leader of that specific Ashari tribe. The Air Ashari call them a Voice. The leader will now age very, very slowly.

While the leader is going on the Aramente, someone else leads the tribe. They’re called the headmaster. Headmaster also appears to be the way that they refer to any Ashari tribe leader.

Elders are mentioned, but only kind of vaguely?

Okay - it’s something, but there’s a lot of questions still to be answered.

First off - How long is a generation? Whose generation? We’re talking about some potential Ashari races living thirty years and some others living centuries; there’s a bit of a stretch. But, if everyone who goes on an Aramente is a leader, then maybe it’s once in a Voice’s generation. It would help to explain why Vilya didn’t start her Aramente until Dwala, the previous voice, was already dead - there seems to be more tolerance for no official Voice in power than having two Voices at once (which, yeah, that tracks, especially if they seem especially cool with interim leaders and someone else chooses the successor).

This is coming from something Korrin says when Keyleth finishes her Aramente:

With the passing of our elder voice, Dwala, it was my wife Vilya who was selected to "take the Aramente.

Which, I want to point out: there is no reason to believe that Headmaster or Voice is in any way hereditary. It’s probably not exactly a coincidence that both of Keyleth's parents were in power, and then she’s chosen, but who the hell is doing the choosing? That passive voice in ‘was selected’ is doing a lot of work. The mysterious elders? If so, they must either love Keyleth’s family or hate them. Imagine being Korrin - you’re put in power in your wife’s stead while she goes on a years-long quest, leaving you alone to raise your young daughter. Your wife, who you probably were getting used to the idea outliving you by centuries, is then presumed dead. Next up - your daughter, who will have to go on the exact same trip, for the honor of doing the same job you’ve been doing on a temporary basis. You're stuck doing this temporary job for twenty years.

And who chooses the acting headmaster? The same Elders? Choosing someone who would be inclined to give up power when the new leader returns from their Aramente would be wise, sure. Would it be the person heading out onto their Aramente choose who would lead in their absence?

The original campaign 1 intro seemed to imply that Korrin chose Keyleth to be the next to go on an Aramente:

“Anyways, it wasn't long before the headmaster of the tribe, her father, Korrin, realized her true prodigious abilities and she was inveterated to succeed him as the next headmaster. Just like that, her jovial childhood was stripped and replaced with endless spell memorization, teachings from ancient traditions, and exceedingly high expectations. “

Which, what the hell, Korrin? Especially as it’s made clear multiple times that Keyleth would have been chosen and started her training as a child. Was the fact that she was some sort of druidic magic prodigy the reason? Is there only one druid prodigy born per generation, or was there only one in Keyleth’s generation.

It also sounds like, in the first statement I quoted, that Vilya wasn’t even officially chosen until Dwala had already died. I mostly ignored that for the fic - having no idea of succession seems like a really bad plan, and I wanted to give Vilya at least some time to prepare for the quest and the idea that she’s going to be a leader. But I don’t think we should take what Keyleth says - that leaders leave for their Aramente when they come of age at twenty - at face value. For one thing, Keyleth was five or six when Vilya left - and while it’s possible that Vilya was a teen mom, it would impact her characterization for the fic I was doing (and how, for example, she might feel about Keyleth being asked to grow up too soon, and maybe her relationship with Korrin), so I didn’t want to go down that route without a lot of consideration. It’s also possible that Dwala died when Vilya, not quite twenty, was pregnant with Keyleth, and Vilya was on a five to six year-long maternity leave (and hopefully spent some of that time preparing). But, while I’m glad the Ashari have strong anti-discrimination sentiments against anyone who is pregnant, I like the idea that choosing a leader based on what they are like as a child is unusual, and typically Vilya, like most of the other Voices, was an adult when she was chosen.

And, how often does the leader not return from their Aramente? We know that the Kraken was a relatively new development - but, uh, it had been there for fifteen years by the time Keyleth had encountered it. It seems statistically unlikely that the water and earth tribes would have had to send someone to complete an Aramente during that time. But if one of the reasons why the Aramente happens in the first place is to help establish connections between the tribes, and one of the tribes suddenly has their tests become super deadly (depriving the other tribes of their leader), is there any concern about a diplomatic incident? But there’s also non-lethal reasons why someone might not return - see Vilya, or someone might simply choose not to return to Zephrah.

Is it possible to fail the Aramente outside of death? Did Vilya fail hers? She’s certainly not expected to take the mantle of leadership upon her return. I find it interesting that the new leaders don’t have to actually succeed at their trials - at least not on the first try. We know that Keyleth at least partially failed her first trial (source) - though she might have had more than one try at it, or partially succeeded.

So, does Keyleth have any idea of what her succession will be? Will that just be handled by the elders after her death? Does she have any idea? Aramentes are cool and all, but on the job leadership training might be more useful.

I don't think there's really one true answer to anything - but it's fun to think about!

#Critical Role #Campaign 1 #Air Ashari #Keyleth of the Air Ashari #Vilya of the Air Ashari #trying to figure out answers to these sorts of questions is my jam #I totally could have missed something feel free to point it out #Zephrah world building

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wingsyliveblogs · 2 years

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Hooty being in a trance during the Moonlight conjuring isn't anything new. He spends most of his life in a space trance. At least this one was intertwined with the true power of friendship.

Whoa. I hope you don't mind me answering a bunch of these at once - this is a lot!

1. Hmm, that’s true! Hooty did seem to be conscious during the conjuring, seeing as he was able to remember what happened afterwards. It looks as if the only difference was that he wasn’t able to move on his own. Being part of the Moonlight Friendship Conjuring wasn’t really a problem for him - it was overall a positive experience.

2. You make a good point - regardless of whether or not the house itself existed before Eda came along, it’s probably called the Owl House because of her. Since I don’t know much about the circumstances surrounding her curse yet, I don’t want to rule out other possibilities, but that definitely seems the most likely.

3. I agree! I did briefly touch on that in this post. Since Episode 5, Amity’s come off as less smug and more... abrasive? Standoffish? She’s not exactly acting friendly yet (as she acknowledges at the end of Episode 7), not even with Luz, but she seems doesn’t seem quite so pleased with herself or as keen to show off for the most part... instead, she gives off the impression that she’d really prefer it if everyone just left her alone for a bit. Of course, she hasn’t had much luck with that in either episode!

4. You’re right; Luz did miss out on Eda and Lilith’s duel, which means that although she knows Eda is powerful, she doesn’t have much info on Lilith’s abilities. Meanwhile, she’s seen how strong Willow is firsthand.

I would like to disagree on one point here, though: from what we’ve seen of Willow’s abilities so far, I wouldn’t exactly say that her powers are inherently destructive or completely unsuited for delicate tasks? Going by what was shown in Episode 3, Willow is able to control how much damage her vines deal to both stationary structures and moving beings on a pretty large scale. Not only that, she used her magic on a much smaller scale (to heal the flower) and to perform complicated tasks (blocking off Amity’s abomination while also transporting Luz safely outside the school at the same time).

At the moment, I think that Willow’s greatest weakness is actually that her powers are subject to her emotions; she wilted the flower after initially healing it just because she felt upset over Amity showing up, and tends to sprout vines involuntarily when she’s upset. When she’s focused, she has a lot of control over her plants, but her powers can get away from her if she’s not careful. That said, I haven’t seen her powers in action too many times yet, so I could be wrong - it’s always possible that a later episode will explore the limitations of her magic in greater detail!

5. Yeah! One of my early theories for how things might go down in Episode 6 was that Luz and friends would run into Eda by coincidence at some point during the episode and help her out with some dangerous predicament she’d found herself in, and that would get Luz off the hook as far as being in trouble over the Moonlight Conjuring went. That first part did end up happening, but because Luz had no idea about Eda messing up, Eda was free to play the Strict Mentor Who Must Punish Her Student For Her Misdeeds (for all of about 3 seconds) without having to worry about Luz bringing up Eda’s own mistakes.

(And, keeping things consistent with his reaction to Eda’s crisis in Episode 3, King drops the whole issue once it’s resolved, so Eda probably won’t have to worry about him spilling the beans about this either.)

6. Oooh, that’s a take that I hadn’t considered! There was a lot of emphasis on magical ability in this episode, from the comments the other girls made about Willow lacking talent, to Luz’s reassurance that Willow demonstrated her true abilities by helping to bring a house to life - not to mention what Eda said at the end about it taking powerful magic to animate the house - so I kind of assumed that the Moonlight Conjuring was a direct reflection of the conjurers’ magical talent, rather than their bonds with one another. But this is definitely an interesting way to look at it!

#wingsy liveblogs #ask #wingsy watches owl house #owls ep 6 #whew! now for the other 6 #for future reference if you send in a lot of asks at once it may take me a little bit longer to respond #but please don't stop! these are a lot of fun #I can't seem to add a cut to this post so I apologise in advance to everyone's dashboards #thanks for the ask!

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princessozera · 2 years

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A Gentle Reminder

Summary: Human bodies need a lot of care and maintenance- MC doesn't mean to forget but sometimes things just slip through the cracks. Thankfully, they have a lot of friends to help them with the little details.

GN!MC (they/them, 3rd ppov)

Word count: 1.1k

Lucifer notices immediately that MC sleeps even less than him. They're always up and about whenever he's still doing paperwork, and although they seem irritable and out of it in the morning, they are none the less awake. He asks them about it, and no it's not insomnia or necessarily a sleep disorder, sometimes it's just really hard to get to sleep or you lose track of time with a task. He tries to convince them into putting a bit more effort into getting a good amount of sleep, but it's useless when they remind him that he also gets only 4 hours of sleep a night. They bicker and give underhanded comments for a week before settling on a compromise- if one of them goes to bed, the other must too. Lucifer thought he'd outsmarted MC, thinking there was no way they could stay up as long as he could, but he was sorely mistaken. So now he had to fix his sleeping schedule too, and MC was with him almost every night so they could keep each other honest about their sleeping. If MC was particularly worn out, he'd let them sleep in his room- it's totally a coincidence that they have the same sleep preferences (room temperature/ number of pillows and blankets/etc). There's no way the avatar of pride would change his room for just an exchange student, right?

Mammon knows that studying can be a bit daunting, and extremely boring in a lot of cases, but he also knows that sometimes you've just got to strap in and do some work (not that he'll ever say that in front of Lucifer). Despite the teasing, he helps MC study instead of letting them go to Satan, knowing how unyielding his brother could be about getting work done in a way that borders on asshole-ish. If he knows that leaving the workspace will make MC lose their focus, he makes sure to pick out a room with few entrances, an attached bathroom, and goes to get snacks and drinks by himself. He'll play around with a few ideas at first to try to find the best way to study for MC, he's had to study with all of his brothers at one point or another and knew how to pick up on the signs. Did they work better with another person also working near them, but not on the same homework? Music or no music, and does it have to be soft or does dance music work just as well? The biggest thing he looks out for, is MC starting to get burnt out. Especially when an assignment is due soon and it's easy to ignore your own condition for just getting the work over with, Mammon pays extra attention to MC and gently pulls them away from their work for a breather when he thinks they need it. He wants the best for his human and he knows that pushing too far right now would just make them more reluctant to work later- it's all about balance. Mammon's own grades suffer a little bit because of the attention he's putting on MC, but once they find a rhythm, both of their school work drastically improves.

As Levi is reminded a few times a month, he isn't the best at consistently brushing his teeth. With his constant snacking during midnight anime binges and his sleep schedule essentially being "whenever I pass out", sometimes he won't notice that he hasn't brushed his teeth until one of his brothers complain or the taste in his mouth becomes unbearable. Levi hates when his brothers call him out on it, so he won't mention MC's brushing habits unless they express concern over it first. If it's some mental barrier, he'll offer to talk to them and keep them preoccupied while they brushed their teeth and they can do the same for him. Sometimes, you need a more childish solution. Levi is not above going to the human realm and picking out kid's toothpaste because they have a better flavor if he thinks it'll help MC. He also happens to find out about tooth brushes that played music into your head, and after some tweaking got it to play the intro to Ruri-chan's anime- 2 minutes, the perfect amount of time to brush teeth. Of course he got MC a matching toothbrush and offered to change the song to whatever they wanted.

Satan and MC have always had a lot in common, to the surprise of many. The one thing that surprised Satan was how MC seemed to lose track of time with seemingly any random task- just as he did when reading a really good book. While he can appreciate being lost in your own little world, he knows that staying locked indoors for up to weeks at a time has him feeling irritable and frustrated so he worries when he doesn't see MC even come out of their room, or take half of their classes online with Levi. The frustration of being locked in- even if it's willing- comes in a few parts; the isolation, the cramped quarters, but also the lack of fresh air and exercise- something he learned after a particularly nasty outburst after locking himself in his room for an entire month. So when Satan notices that MC hasn't been around as much, he'll coax them to come take a stroll with him. No hard workouts, and the pace isn't even fast enough to break a sweat, just a calm walk through the forest, maybe even to feed the cats at their favorite hideout.

Asmo will always ask to hold MC's hand, so he notices pretty early on how dry they can get. Knowing that prolonged dry skin can hurt, causing their hands to bleed and crack, Asmo was prepared with a hundred little solutions to this. If he knows MC's been working a lot, he'll offer to massage their hands to relax, letting them vent to him about their day while he rubs the lotion into their knuckles. He also just so happens to buy a new lotion every other week and absolutely NEEDS MC to see how perfect it is for the season or his new perfume- oh no! He squirted out a bit too much, MC might as well take some, but if they don't like the scent they can go slap Mammon with it or something.

#obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me Lucifer #obey me asmo #obey me satan #obey me leviathan

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shirubae · 2 years

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Lingering Memories: The Sonic Generations Analysis

Silver and Blaze have only a handful of appearances in Sonic Generations. However, they have potentially world-changing implications... potentially.

Blaze in White Space

Blaze attends Sonic's birthday party, spending time with her friend Cream. Crossing dimensions for Sonic's birthday shows how much she values him. When the Time Eater attacks, she ends up in White Space, frozen at the entrance to Sonic 06's Crisis City.

It’s pretty significant that Blaze represents Sonic 06. In fact, it’s significant that 06 is in this game at all. Back then, it was a popular misbelief (at least in the western fandom) that 06's ending rendered the entire game non-canon. Lots of fans chose to ignore Blaze’s journey with Silver, focusing only on her appearances in the Rush games. But this game made it clear that Blaze did indeed spend that time with Silver, even if those events were reset.

Once Sonic restores Crisis City and frees Blaze, she is embarrassed by her rescue and asks him to keep it a secret. However, she also has no issue relying on his help (consistent character growth!)

Blaze has a mission clearing flames from Sonic’s path. The music used is a remix of Sonic 3D Blast's "You're My Hero", which originally has vocals expressing gratitude for a friend showing them the light. This could be a wink to Sonic helping Blaze come out of her shell in the Rush games, but the same song also plays in missions with Knuckles, Cream, and Rouge, so it may be a coincidence.

Silver in White Space

Silver appears as a rival boss. He wasn’t at Sonic’s party, so he must have been pulled to White Space separately, from his own time. When Sonic approaches, he assumes he's an impostor (classic headstrong Silver).

Sonic fights Silver in Crisis City too, rather than in Soleanna where their battle in 06 originally took place (the other rivals, Metal Sonic and Shadow, are fought in their respective iconic arenas). This is likely because it’s better-suited to Sonic’s speed and Silver’s psychokinesis, but it nevertheless strengthens Silver’s connection to Blaze by being in the same location.

Silver pulls some impressive psychokinetic tricks; he’s grown a lot since his previous scuffles with Sonic. I like how Sonic defeats him by knocking him into his own ball of scrap, showing Silver’s still a bit self-destructive and jumps into situations without considering the consequences.

Speculation: Memories of 06

An especially interesting detail is how Blaze seems to remember Crisis City. The entire cast was supposed to have forgotten Sonic 06 thanks to that game’s ending, and yet she says: “I never thought I’d find myself in Crisis City again.”

If we're to take this line seriously, and not as a cheeky 4th wall break, it appears that Blaze is remembering Sonic 06! She is the only character to interact with their respective stage entrance, posing atop the debris once Sonic frees her. Maybe seeing Crisis City jogged her memory? Or maybe she only remembers Crisis City, and is yet to recall the rest.

Conversely, we don’t know if Crisis City jogs Silver’s memory at all. The Japanese version of Team Sonic Racing suggests it didn’t, but we'll get to that in a later post.

A Reunion?

Blaze and Silver cheer on the Sonics in the final battle, and once the Eggmans and the Time Eater are defeated, they return to Sonic's party. They nod at each other upon realizing they made it out, and Blaze watches Silver celebrate.

Speculation: I’m probably reaching, but that look Blaze gives him strikes me as adoring. Upon returning from White Space, her first instinct is to look at him. While Silver pops off, Blaze just smiles at him. Interesting... Does she act differently around him now, remembering their old relationship?

And in the following group shot, they're shown to still be talking (on the left). Is Blaze trying to get close to him again? Just speculation.

They're last seen waving goodbye to Classic Sonic with the others.

Conclusion

It’s nice to see Silver and Blaze a little closer than we last saw them in Colors.

So Blaze might remember her and Silver’s journey from Sonic 06, or at least part of it. However, it's likely that Silver doesn't remember. What a fascinating dilemma: should Blaze tell Silver about their time together and his ultimate failure, or should she leave him in the dark and simply start anew?

Will this ever be explored? I doubt it LOL. As a milestone game that’s not too concerned with sorting out canon, plots, or characters (not to mention a Pontac-Graff production), I wouldn’t be surprised if these implications are never brought up again and it’s treated as a throwaway line. Blaze will probably go back to never bringing up 06 again after this. It’s possible they’ll follow through, but who knows...?

#sonic #sonic generations #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #silvaze #analysis

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the-ghost-king · 3 years

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Schizophrenic Nico, here's why I think it's possible:

I want to start off by saying these are just my thoughts, there is no one way to be schizophrenic or to have schizophrenia. It's also important to note that many of the schizophrenic symptoms overlap with other mental illnesses/nuerodivergences like ADHD, Autism, Depression, and OCD which I know many people who head canon Nico as having. I'm not arguing schizophrenic Nico is more correct, more canon, or more right, but to explain some thoughts on why I think it's possible/very likely he does so I can use this for future reference in various thing.

I am using the term schizophrenia as a catchall for all "types" of schizophrenia, but not for schizoaffective disorder which I would say Nico probably doesn't have.

Children born in the winter/those who were "sickly" as babies are more likely to develop schizophrenia. It may also be possible if your mother was sick while pregnant with you, or having a father who was significantly older when he had you.

A stressful life, especially trauma, are more likely to develop schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. It likely has something to do with excessive dopamine production, but it may also have something to do with the same genes that control the sleep-wake cycle. Schizophrenia is more common with other mental illnesses or with other nuerodivergences or developmental delays.

Common symptoms include:

Hallucinations

Delusions

Disorganized thinking

lack of motivation

slow movement

change in sleep patterns

poor grooming or hygiene

changes in body language and emotions

less interest in social activities

Now what does this mean for Nico, and why do I think it's likely he has Schizophrenia?

Let's start with Nico's childhood, "children born in the winter/those who were "sickly" as babies are more likely to develop schizophrenia". Although Rick proposed two birthdays for Nico, the fandom generally accepted the January date more fully. We also know that Nico is described as small when he was younger, smallness is common in children who grow up sickly, but it is also common in children who's mother was ill while pregnant with them. We obviously don't know if Nico was sick as a kid, or if Maria was sick while pregnant with him, but again being born in the winter makes these things more likely, as well as consideration for the time period Nico grew up in and the larger variety of illnesses going around at the time. (He is vaccinated against some things though).

Trauma and Nico... do I really have to go into super detail on this one? He spent his childhood growing up in a fascist country that was extremely racist/anti-Semitic/homophobic/etc, his mom died when he was a child- in front of him, his father intentionally gave him amnesia, his sister died when he was a child, he then proceeded to become homeless living/spending lots of time with Minos who verbally (and possibly physically) abused him, becoming aware of his past memories, becoming aware of the fact that many people hated him because of his father and because they thought he was joining the other side (therefore, he was "bad"), he fought in many battles as a child, fought monsters alone, was often faced with life or death situations, went to Tartarus alone (where the goddess of misery told him he was "perfect"), was trapped in a hostage situation with little/no air for a long time while people debated whether or not to save him, was outed against his will, was freed only to travel again fighting monsters and then win a battle, was eventually made to quest with Apollo despite still having lots of healing to do in ToN. So stressful life? Fuck yeah, that doesn't being to cover it.

Genetic factors, obviously nothing here is confirmed so I'm speculating a little bit again, but the common idea in regards to Hades children through the series is that they are "bad". Mental illnesses have been stigmatized for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and often mentally ill people were made out to be weird/bad/etc. It's more than possible there is some sort of genetic factor taking place, also "having a father who was significantly older when he had you". Although I doubt godly genes work the same as mortal ones (trust me I have lots of thoughts on how god genetics/DNA work, but that's not the point right now), I think Hades being the oldest out of all his brothers and having a reputation for having "questionable" children says something... We have no information on Maria's family history at all.

As for schizophrenia often occurring with other mental illnesses and/or neurodivergences: Nico canonically is implied to have either ADHD and/or Autism, and is canonically stated to have PTSD. I think most people would agree that saying Nico has or has had depression isn't a stretch in the slightest.

So canonically we can all agree Nico has severe trauma and coinciding mental health issues/neurodivergences, so out of 4 possible issues I’ve first presented we guaranteeably have two. If I wanted to stretch this a little I would give myself a half point for him being born in the winter and a half point for the aspect of Hades genetics but I won’t do that.

On top of that schizophrenia usually appears during teenage and young adult years in people who receive diagnosis; most people live with mental illness for a few months or a few years in some cases before they're able to receive a diagnosis. Nico being 15 (16 by the end of ToN/shortly following the end of ToN) is about the age that schizophrenia would start to make an appearance. It's also more likely to be found in men, with men also noticing the appearance of schizophrenia appearing early in their lives, and experiencing more negative symptoms in comparison to the higher commonality of affective symptoms in women. That's a really complicated explanation to basically say there's 3 more things that would make Nico having schizophrenia make more sense.

Alright, let’s go back to the list of symptoms I provided:

Hallucinations

Delusions

Disorganized thinking

lack of motivation

slow movement

change in sleep patterns

poor grooming or hygiene

changes in body language and emotions/behavior

less interest in social activities

Once again, some of these are not solely related to schizophrenia and can be the result of other mental health issues, I’m just going to go down the list and add in some moments from the books in which Nico shows some of these traits/behaviors.

Delusions/Hallucinations (more later)

Our best chances for understanding Nico's thought process is in Blood of Olympus where he has a P.O.V... Sometimes Nico's thoughts do derail, or sometimes they get a little confusing, but not always, and when talking to others he is consistent and aware of what he's saying, as well as blunt. Anything "off" about his thought patterns to me just seems like ADHD..

Dietary changes (whether or not you think he has an eating disorder) are behavioral changes (I personally think Nico has AFRID)

Within House of Hades Nico's poor sleep patterns are constantly referenced, and I'll give him a pass on poor hygiene because he's in the middle of a quest but still..

I have extremely complicated feelings on what Will says here, it's possible Nico is an extremely unreliable narrator (unlikely, it seems many people are bothered by him and only maybe a handful aren't), I've also thought at many points this was Rick trying to backtrack some stuff with Nico because he realized he'd made his story a little too harsh for a kids book, it could also be Will's trauma kicking in and that happening... I'm not counting it as full proof about Nico disliking social interactions, but Nico does try to leave even after this conversation and isn't convinced to stay until the last chapter, so maybe there's something to be said about people's dislike of him for being a Hades kid- but I think it's fair to say Nico also dislikes people at least some because he doesn't have interest in trying to befriend anyone either, and is quick to assume all people dislike him (paranoia/low self esteem/and some other possible stuff). There's lots of discussions to be had about this quote and other similar ones, and I don't think a broad brush approach of "Nico good everyone else bad" is accurate it's more, "Nico is good but he fails to try and you have to work on your own mental health everyone won just go to you, and also people dislike Nico for silly reasons and need to get over themselves and make an effort too". (I'm extremely oversimplifying my thoughts and feelings to keep it brief.)

More on delusions and hallucinations:

Now I want to state that lots of schizophrenia symptoms share a lot of commonalities with ADHD and with depression, so although I might include some moments you think are just ADHD/depression I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you but they could also be schizophrenia or coexisting mental health issues/divergences. I also went through the DSM-5 for schizophrenia (the DSM-5 is just this big book with lists and it’s how doctors diagnose any mental health issue/divergence), I also looked through the DSM-IV (an older book from before DSM-5 which is no longer really used) and the differences between the diagnosis was fairly minimal but they quit categorizing types of schizophrenia and instead rely more on a couple of word descriptions that seem more in line with a spectrum rather than a checkable box.

In order to receive a schizophrenia diagnosis, two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated), and at least one of these symptoms must be (1), (2), or (3):

Delusions

Hallucinations

Disorganized speech (frequent derailment or incoherence)

Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior

Negative symptoms (i.e., diminished emotional expression or avolition).

It’s important to note that only one of these need to be checked off/true if the patient has voices which narrate their actions/behaviors/thoughts or if the person has more than one voice conversing with each other.

Nico deals with auditory hallucinations (2), he believes the voice belongs to Bob, his titan friend he left in Tartarus:

However this isn’t and immediate diagnosis because Bob’s voice doesn’t talk to another voice(s) in Nico’s head, and we don’t know if Nico has voices running commentary on his behaviors/thoughts.

The reason I state we are unaware if Nico has commentary isn’t because Nico hasn’t said anything, but because many people with schizophrenia before their diagnosis believe the narrative voices are just their thoughts and are a normal internal monologue- usually patients don’t realize anything is wrong until the voices start providing commentary on their actions so instead of “washing the dishes now” the voice(s) might say “wash the dishes now, you’re so lazy you can’t do anything, idiot” during a period of psychosis which may help them acknowledge that the voice(s) isn’t the way most people experience internal voice(s). It is very possible Nico is unaware he is experiencing narrative thoughts and simply assumes that his experience is something most people have, but I won’t use this to argue my point because it’s not confirmation of anything.

Returning now to Bob, Nico knows he is hearing Bob’s voice but he believes Bob is calling to him from Tartarus. Now, Nico says the voices are calling to him from Tartarus but there’s no confirmation of this anywhere… What I think is happening is Nico has a guilty conscience. He feels bad for “using” Bob to get out of Tartarus and various other things, so he feels bad that he is still down there. However, we don’t really know if Bob is calling to him or if Bob is able to do that- what I personally think is happening here is Nico’s brain is convincing Nico that Bob needs him because Nico is upset with himself for not helping Bob more, but also because Nico has never “sat still” before without a quest. Nico has also always felt the want to be needed/important...

It very well could be a delusion.

Schizophrenic patients often experience delusions which make them think they are destined for greatness, or that they have some divine/high force calling out to them for help that only they can provide. It’s an extremely common thing in individuals who experience delusions, and is in fact one of the most common delusions experienced. So although Bob could really be calling out to Nico, I don’t think he is, it doesn’t entirely make sense and there’s lots of little things which point to it being not entirely real- like the fact that nobody else knows about it? Or how absolutely sure Nico is that he need to return to Tartarus? It seems like a mixture of PTSD, delusions, and trauma response (returning to the trauma), working against him. I’ll say delusion is very likely (1).

Using these two factors alone there’s sufficient evidence for diagnosis, but let’s keep going just to see.

For disorganized speech (3) this isn’t something Nico seems to struggle with, and even if he did “derailing” could be ADHD or Autism, so I don’t think this symptom pertains to him.

Changes in behavior (4), seem to all be explainable via depression and/or PTSD- he has begun to express emotion again in Tower of Nero upon learning of Jason’s death he is said to be upset by Will and he walks off to be alone, seems like depression to me. Emotional/Behavior changes from schizophrenia tend to relate more to bipolar disorder rather than a depressive disorder, so I would say if Nico has schizophrenia he probably doesn’t have emotional or behavioral changes from it. If he did he might have some catatonic behavior, but this seems to be clearing up some in Tower of Nero so I’m not super sure on that, maybe during bad periods of psychosis behavioral changes occur, but I would lean more towards this isn’t a symptom Nico personally deals with. Negative symptoms (5) tie into this same idea, it’s possible it’s schizophrenia, but it’s more likely PTSD or depression at work.

So why do I care so much about the possibility of Nico being schizophrenic?

I feel like canonically/fanonically making Nico schizophrenic does a few things, firstly schizophrenic rep in media is extremely extremely awful- can you think off the top of your head of a schizophrenic character who isn't from a horror film/a murder/a villain in their own story? Maybe, but personally I can only think of one which is Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower- and even then? That's not canon, it's only implied- and it might not even be true

Schizophrenic media representation always paints schizophrenic people as bad, scary, and evil, and although the horror genre is extremely well known for being super ableist, transphobic, racist, homophobic, and misogynistic (just the final cherry on top) having one of the first- if not the first openly confirmed schizophrenic characters in children's media not only be someone who has lots of character development, and isn't a stereotype, but also be someone people have grown up with, cared for, and sympathized with- would be extremely monumental.

People with schizophrenia and other related disorders aren't something to be scared of or to think of as bad, and often times they're more bothered by whatever they're experiencing than you are.

I don't have schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder or anything like that, but I have various undiagnosed mental health issues which often lead to me questioning reality, or having to set aside time to convince myself that no there isn't a man living in my wall... Having a character have to question those things, work through those feelings, and learn to trust themselves and care for themselves even with those difficulties would be really great to see in media, not just for people with schizophrenia but also for people with similar/related disorders who might share symptoms see parts of their own struggles in a good, educative way.

I have to finish this in two parts because tumblr keeps breaking because there's too many words in my post lmao (2nd part here)

#nico di angelo #pjo #hoo #toa #percy jackson #will solace #solangelo

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nobodycallsmerae · 3 years

Text

Hello, Hello!

Soo, a few days back, I had shared a post asking for some BBRae AU fanfiction recommendations, so, let's put the fact aside that it didn't really help... but now, I'm here to share some stories that I've read, and I recommend reading!

So, this list only consists of AU (Alternate Universe) stories where they aren't superheroes, so you can skip it if you want ^^

So... I won't rank them, because I think every story is amazing, (and I'm pretty easy to please,) so, I'm just assorting them as I keep collecting the links :) Also, I'll try my best to review the stories without giving away any spoilers...

Firstly, there are too many good fics to count, but here I am mentioning the ones which stood up in my mental folder. (Also, it only includes completed stories.)

This list includes all types of stories, high school, co-workers, roommates and all... the ratings are between T-M.

(Links lead to stories on Fanfiction.net.)

The Butterfly Effect -by Light NS | Rated M for semi-sexually explicit material and topics of depression and suicide.

This story definitely comes in my top-5 list blindly, and it deserves so much more! The story is about Gar and Raven, who are adults now... and let's just say there are far too many coincidences in this one! It's a lovely story with also a healthy amount of tension... because, I personally believe it can't be BBRae without some arguments *shruggs*. You should definitely check it out if you haven't already!!

Broken -by LightNS | Rated T

Oofff... okay, so this story is actually one of the first BBRae stories I've read and it's really close to my heart...

First of all, I want to say that the characters in this story are freakishly accurate. I mean, the personalities are on-point. In this story, the Titans are high schoolers, but this isn't exactly a high school romance kinda book. To be honest, this isn't exactly a romance book..(?) It's more like an action/thriller... And... it isn't heavily a BBRae book... I mean, yeah, it is based on those two characters, and Gar spends most of his time crushing on her... but, y'know, it's a book that shows both of them growing... and learning about each other -and themselves.

The writer does an amazing job to portray the character's feelings and personalities, and I'm sure her writing won't disappoint you.

The only drawback this story has is... well, it has a discontinued sequel named "Glass", so, it's kinda sad that, I mean, I've fallen in love with those characters... but, they don't really have a happy ending soo…

This writer is also on Tumblr, @lightns881 , so you can also visit her blog and support her!

By the way, there're also really great BBRae communities to be found on Fanfiction.net and you can check them out for more fun stuff to read. The ones I thoroughly recommend are:

"Best Of BBRae" which basically has all the goodness, IU and AU (but, it's a bit old so... you might not see newer fics there.); and

"Best Of BBRae AU's" which is a collection of one of the best AU stories.

Moving on...

Everything Has Changed -by Chibi 1309 | Rated M for Mature themes and language.

This story also comes in my beloved top-5 list!!

I don't really know what to say about this story without ruining it, but if you're on the lookout for an adult Titans BBRae fic, this is definitely your stop. Well, let me just say that, Gar and Rachel are best friends, a troupe I personally adore, and they live together in an apartment in Jump City.

This story has a lot... I mean, A LOT of feels, and the writer... *chef kiss* She really knows what she's doing. May it be the setting, the characters, the emotions... the author could deliver it wonderfully.

It also has a lot of other Titan members, so I like the fact that it also gives us an insight on what's going on in their lives too, rather than just Gar and Rachel.

Hands up in surrender, I won't say anything else, because I don't trust my mouth (or fingers), but this work is definitely a must read.

"Spy vs Spy" by Caitastrophe8499 | Rated M for mature themes, violence, and adult situations.

This... is a masterpiece people. You should definitely read it... like RIGHT NOW!

In this story, Gar and Rae are from rival agencies, Doom Patrol and Titans, and as fate has it, they're forced to work together. Neither of them are happy about it, because of each other's cocky and standoffish attitude and as both of them work best solo... and also... both of them hate each other... at first. This book, it includes lots of action, and if you knew me, you'll know that I am a sucker for crime and thriller. I mean, this story in itself is so great, it could be adapted into an ACTION MOVIE!! Or maybe a graphic novel to start with. :)

And what's best about it is, it doesn't only show two people romance each other, it shows a group of people working together to catch a deadly villain. I won't say much more to build suspense, but all I'll say is, it's entertaining, spicy, and the character dynamic fit perfectly with their relationship and situation, and if you haven't read it, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! CHECK IT OUT NOW!! This will probably be one of the best recommendations of your life.

Assuming -by magisterquinn | Rated T

This is a feel good, light-hearted BBRae story that I very much enjoyed. So, basically, it's about Raven (or is it Rachel, I forget), and how the (dashingly handsome and) annoying employee won't leave her alone. She also gets a series of mail that sparks her interest, and I don't trust myself to say more without spoiling it.

Magisterquinn, the author, has an amazing collection of the BBRae (AU) stories they've written, "Chivalry Isn't Dead", "Making Mr.Right" (a must read) and "In Paris" to name a few, so, I definitely recommend checking out their profile for amazing and clever reads.

The Malchior Widow -by beautifulpurpleflame | Rated M

...this story...all I wanna say is... if you haven't read it, you're missing out on something wonderful in your fangirl(/boy) life.

This story is based on my favorite troupe, which is where all Gar wants is for Raven to open up to him. It's like, Raven is a reserved, "untouchable" person, and Gar, being Gar... feels an urge to talk to her. After many, many attempts, when Gar finally talks to her, his friends are like, "How'd you get her to talk?" or "How's she open up to you?" and the response is, "No one's ever even tried before."

"The Malchior Widow" goes at a satisfying, feel-good pace... and it's one hell of a journey. I mean, as the title suggests, Raven's a widow, and she isn't exactly open to the possibility of loving... or trusting someone else yet. It shows not only both of them falling in love... but also understanding, knowing, and learning to trust each other.

Another good AU story by Beautifulpurpleflame is "The Beach House", so you can also read that.

Honorary mention::

"How To Save Her Life" (Rated T) by "Beautifulpurpleflame"

If you're looking for a wholesome, toe-curling good, filled with feels, amazing, awesome, family Titans BBRae story... this book will give you everything... or any of Beautifulpurpleflame's stories really...

I mean, that girl... is a legend... Her stories are so great.. just... I'm speechless

Don't forget to check 'em out.

You can also follow this amazing writer on Tumblr, @beautifulpurpleflame , and show her some love and support.

Okay, another story... Now this may be considered cheating, as I'm only including completed stories... but I couldn't stop myself from not mentioning this story...

Nevermore Records -by LilyTimbers | Rated T

According to the author, only one chapter and an epilogue is left... so, I guess we could wave it off with a yellow flag?

I, myself, can't go on a single day without music. And the idea of my favorite team of superheroes... being a Rock Band..? Boy, ya' don't gotta tell me twice!

This is a slow burn story, which includes Gar in his mid-twenties, along with the other Titans (except Raven), being a part of a Rock Band, which plays gigs at different places just as a side hobby. But, as they have real talent, they get a once in a life-time chance to be an officially labeled band, they're ought to be super hit. Here, we also see some other Titans, which is a real sight for sore eyes sometimes... But, just being good doesn't mean that everything's out for them in a gold platter. The team itself faces lots of challenges which is, truth be told, really entertaining. And the fact that Gar's love interest is his own manager? Oooh... you're up for a real good ride...

I'll keep the rest of the reading to you... and believe me, the story is waaay better than my small review.

The author is also an amazing artist, and has many beautiful BBRae fanarts on her Tumblr profile @lilytimbers , so you can follow her for updates! (though tbh I think you already do... but I felt like saying it, soo...)

If you're also a sucker for musical band based BBRae story, don't forget to check out

Harmony -by Kid Walker | Rated M

Here, Raven joins a singing group which does covers, and quite willingly, she can't seem to keep her eyes off of their leader/director, Gar Logan... and looks like he can't either. It's an amazing story, and I believe you'll really enjoy reading it!

(The story itself is complete, just some extra bonus chapters that the Author posts are yet to be updated, so I guess this story qualifies.)

There is also a huge collection of amazing BBRae AU stories on Wattpad, too many to count, but here are two stories that I remember... and had a good time reading...

(On Wattpad only: (and only completed ones.))

High School -by anssoftball94

Soo... as you might've guessed from the title, here Gar and Rae are high schoolers. They live together with Rick (Dick/Robin), Kory and Vic in the Tower. I guess we could call it a slow burn, and what I enjoy is it also has the other Titans in a satisfying amount.

What I love about this story is that Gar and Rae don't just jump into a romantic relationship (like most teens do, I'm just sayin'!) and start a romance, no. In this story, first, they understand each other... and in a subtle manner, fall for each other. It's a really sweet and practical story, and I really enjoyed it... (even though I had to wait for the ending for decades!!)

Just one thing that makes this story a bit weird is that instead of "Gar" or "Garfield", Beast Boy is mentioned as "Logan" throughout the whole story... so... it was a bit... y'know? *shruggs*. But otherwise it's a must read.

A+ -by NikolaDabrowska

This story, to be honest, will definitely qualify as a cliché high school romance, "popular basketball kid falls for introverted bookworm nerd", but I really enjoyed reading it.

I mean like, you know what they say about Disney Classics, right? Even though we've read Beauty and The Beast or Snow White, we still like to watch the movies..? This story's like that.

Even though the troupe is kinda cliché, the story itself is executed in a very engaging manner, with interesting character dynamics and some original plots, so, I would definitely recommend reading it. (I, myself, have read it more than five times...)

So, that was a list of the BBRae AU stories that I highly recommend! There are more amazing (and incomplete) stories out there to read, but these are just the ones I've thoroughly enjoyed (and remembered.)

Also, feel free to share your BBRae story, if you have written any, and I'll happily read and support your story!!

Happy Reading!

Quick endnote, if you've read this post till here, do me a favor and check out my stories too! ;)

On Fanfiction.net and Wattpad.

All of my stories are complete, instead of "Tease Is Just The Cover" on FF.net (which I don't think I'm gonna work on any time soon), so feel free to check 'em out!

Sorry for the advertising, but I also want an audience y'know?

THANK YOU! And I hope you have a good day/evening/night ahead!

#bbrae #garchel #garrae #teen titans #fanfiction #au #alternate universe #recommendations #fanfic recommendation #titans #raven #rachel roth #raven roth #beast boy #changeling #gar logan #garfield logan

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clairecrive · 4 years

Text

“Small thing” - Alfie Solomons x reader

A/n: So, I failed to post this on saturday but here it is! Thanks again for requesting @fifty-shadesof-tommyshelby! I changed a few things however I hope you’ll like this!

Summary: Alfie can’t help but step in when he sees that the man you were talking to was about to hit you. Then, one thing leads to another and eventually it’s your shared love for animals that’s what brings you together.

Word count: 2.2K (roughly)

TW: violence on animal, abusive behavior but fluff overall

Tag list: @mollybegger-blog, @evelynshelby, @br0ck-eddie, @of-love-and-of-the-sea, @shadow-of-wonder, @fandom--0verdose, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @sopxhiea, @fuseburner, @ashesbelle (let me know if you wanna be added or removed)

(this beautiful piece of art was made by @fortunetellingnonesense. she has other amazing art so go check her out!)

“Hey, stop! What the hell are you doing?!" Your voice resounded in the streets, its echo jumping through the buildings amplified. You weren't one to shout, nor did you get into fights easily. But if there was one thing you hated, it was bullying. Especially when those pieces of shit always picked on people half their size or age. It wasn't fair and showed how insignificant they were. However true that might be, the cuts and bruises that their kicks and fists would leave on them weren't insignificant. Especially compared to a smaller body such as the one of this little kitty that piece of shit on the other side of the road had decided to kick.

Unfortunately, it had taken the small kitten cries for you to notice what was happening. But now that you had, you couldn't turn a blind eye to it. Not even if you weren't a strong muscular person and there was no one in the streets could give you a hand. Given the hour, the street was deserted.

"This little shit has decided to pee all over my doorstep. That’ll show him." Not happy with the kick that had probably broken the kitten's ribs, the bloke spat on its trembling body and was about to keep going.

"Don't you see that it's a little kitten? They don't even know what a doorstep is." You pointed out incredulously but wasn't it obvious?

"You almost killed him", you added to show that it was totally unnecessary and simply a dick move.

"I don't fucking care. He peed on my doorstep and I taught him a lesson." His voice became even harsher as he bragged what he thought was a grand gesture. But really, he only proved your point further.

"You're a piece of shit." Simply put.

"Oi, lady, I don't know who the hell you think you are but ain't no one gonna talk to me like that." You could see that he trying to make himself look bigger and threatening but you didn’t expect anything less from him and were set on not let him win.

"If only you cared about yourself just half as much as you cared for others than I wouldn't have to point out the obvious." Dismissing him, you turned towards the poor kitten that was pathetically laying on the floor. Their breath was uneven and you could tell they were having trouble doing so.

Your words must have confused the man, who apparently wasn't accustomed to a more complex way of speaking. You hadn't apologized but he wasn't sure that you had offended him either. By your tone though, he figured out that it must have been the second. And of course, his ego was bruised.

"Right, you sl*t, it seems that you need to be taught a lesson too." Too busy cooing over the small thing, his words didn't even register. It was probably going to be too late once they did but luckily for you, a guardian angel interceded for you.

"It ain't very manly to hit a woman, mate, right." A loud husky voice spoke behind you and you looked up, cradling the kitten to your chest, ready to make a run for it if it came to it. A tall figure of a man leaning on his cane with a big hat that cast a shadow over his face was the newcomer. You had never seen this man before but one look at him was all it took to understand that you did not mess with him. If you didn't want to end up bloodied and broken, that is.

The bully was about to shoot a retort but the burly man spoke again before he could, "Just like hitting small animals. What fucking beast would do that, hm." And then he spoke no more, only stared at the guy. You found amusing how big and mighty the guy was trying to be just a moment early when it had been only you, and how scared and spineless he was being now, under the stranger's unwavering stare.

It only took a minute, maybe even less, for him to lower his head and retreat.

"That's right, no more lesson teaching for you, bastard." You snickered, mocking him. When the man in question turned to send a death stare your way, you shivered and moved behind the stranger's back, just to be sure.

"Keep on going, mate." The stranger said fully ridding you of that menace finally.

"Asshole", you muttered under your breath as the man disappeared into his house. You must have been louder than you thought because that prompted the stranger to look at you.

"What are you doing, lass, getting head to head with a guy bigger than you, eh. Got a death wish?" As you were standing close to him now, you were able to see his face clearly since he was looking down at you for the height difference. What a lovely face. A guardian angel had sent him for sure because there was no way that such a handsome and kind man would stumble into your life by coincidence.

"Look, he almost killed this kitten and was definitely going to if I hadn't stopped him." You didn’t move to put some space between you. His eyes were too mesmerizing to look anywhere but at them and the way his lips trembled before forming a small smirk, was too endearing to miss.

The stranger’s name turned out to be Alfie, but that wasn't the only thing you ended up knowing about him. He was a fellow animal lover and the human of a sweet bullmastiff. He had a trusted vet and offered to take you to him. On the way, you got to know each other. Albeit, he did all the talking, only stopping to let you answer the many questions he asked you, it wasn't annoying as it may sound. His rumbling was… comforting, in a way. It gave your mind no room to think back about what happened or worry about what could have happened if Alfie hadn't shown up. It only allowed you to lightly caress the kitten's fur and hum now and then to what he was saying.

———————————————————————————

And after months of knowing him, you could vouch that it was.

He was an interesting fellow, this Alfie. Such a scaring looking guy, all burly and dishevelled. His cane angrily stomped the ground, his boisterous voice and confident stride successful kept away any wandering eye and unwanted attention despite how difficult it was to not notice them walking down the street. Of course, since you had just met him, you couldn't know that this happened mainly because of his reputation. And you would have never guessed either because despite his rough exterior, there was an underlying tenderness in the way Alfie looked at the small thing in your arms and how quickly and unprompted he had offered to help. It was the recipe for a sweetheart, wasn't it?

"Right, I reckon we should get him some help, don't we?" Alfie couldn’t help but find you amusing and was more than willing to spend a little more of his time with you. His day had been uneventful up until now. Besides, the small thing in your arms did need help.

After the kitten was entrusted to the vet's care and eventually saved, Alfie, moved by your love for animals, had asked you to take care of his boy, Cyril. Of course, you happily took the job. Yes, the money was good and certainly helped but you mainly agreed because of him. As naive as it sounds, Alfie had made a really good impression on you that day and always had been the portrait of the perfect gentleman around you.

He would welcome you in and offer a cup of tea when you’d get to his home in the morning and another one when he'd come home in the afternoon before you'd leave. And whenever he needed to stay at the bakery until late at night, he'd phone and tell you either offering to have someone walk you home or when you'd refused to leave Cyril alone - that was your job after all- he had given you one of the spare rooms for you to crash in and get some sleep, always with the promise of a raise for the inconvenience.

You were titubant at first, yes Alfie had always been nice to you but was it enough to trust him? Eventually, you caved and stayed the night. The door of your room locked and a route for a quick escape already in mind. You'd soon find out that you wouldn't need it though. Alfie had come home a little past midnight and despite the late hour, he didn't go to bed straight away. Instead, you heard some noises coming from the living room.

Curiosity got the best of you and you ventured downstairs. You had cooked a small dinner and left some for him in the oven. Alfie however, hadn't even noticed. The concept of a cooked meal was new and far away from him, his nightly routine mainly consisted of whiskey and the papers he'd brought from the office.

Coming home to someone was also something out of the ordinary for Alfie, so when your silhouette appeared in the doorway he thought he was hallucinating. The whiskey made him a little slow but his mind still worked quickly enough that you didn't notice his moment of disorientation.

That night turned out to be an interesting one for both of you. Looking back to it, it was also a kind of turning point in your relationship. Whiskey proved to be something that made Alfie even more prone to speaking and since the night is young, you two talked a lot, and you inevitably ended up feeling closer to him.

After that night, Alfie made sure to come home a bit earlier so that you could talk a bit before you had to head home. And you ended up spending more nights at Alfie's too.

Today was one of those days when Alfie said he would come home in time for tea. So, as usual, you had got everything ready, the cookies you had just taken out of the oven were nicely arranged on a plate beside the two steaming cups of tea.

———————————————————————————

"We are restless today, aren't we? But we just came back from our afternoon walk, so what can I do for you, eh?" You were sure you sounded utterly ridiculous, using a baby voice with him but you loved doing so whenever you talked to him. And you’d swear that he could understand you.

"A-ha, these are not for you sweet boy," you tutted at Cyril when he tried to help himself to the food.

It felt like a crescendo, your relationship getting out of the acquaintances’ stage and entering something blurry that you still couldn't figure out. All you knew was that it was warm and it felt a lot like home.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you some cuddles." Yeah, maybe you were a little soft on him but how could anyone be anything but when he looked so cute laying on his back with his little paws in the air?

Exactly.

The sound of the door closing caught your attention and you got up from the ground and walked in the hallway to meet Alfie who was taking his hat off.

"Welcome back, Alfie. How was your day?" Walking to him, you helped him take his coat off. After hanging it on the coat rack, you turn back around to listen to his answer. You expected him to have moved away instead you found your faces extremely close after you had turned around.

A gasp left your lips when your noses brushed whereas Alfie appeared unaffected. His eyes flickered between yours, his moustache tickled your upper lip as he spoke, "it's about to get a lot better, it seems pet. What do ya think?" He whispered on your mouth, referring to your previous question.

The kiss was slow at first, your lips were cautious of each other, tentative and shy. Then Alfie’s hand reached the back of your head and it was like a flip had been switched. Only a brief pause to get some air, your forehead touching, before your lips reconnected. This time with far more hunger, like you had been waiting for this moment. And in fact, you had been.

"Look who's decided to join, cheeky bastard", Alfie commented, amused at his dog who was now panting on his leg. Cyril barked as if he had understood his human and you couldn't help but laugh. This dog was something else.

Your hands trailed on his shoulders up to his neck while the kiss grew more desperate and Alfie pushed you to the wall behind the coat hanger. His hands began wandering trailing down on your body and his mouth was about to follow when something humid and wet interrupted them.

Your eyes bore into his then flickered to his mouth, so close to yours, before you answered him. "I wholeheartedly agree." And that was all he needed to hear before his mouth was on yours. A shot of electricity ran through you when he did.

"I'm sorry mate, but this is a dance for two," Alfie gave him a loving pat on his head, "now where were we?" he turned back to you before connecting your mouths again.

#alfie solomons #tom hardy #tom hardy imagines #tom hardy x reader #tom hardy imagine #alfie solomons fic #alfie solomons imagine #alfie solomons imagines #alfie solomons x reader #alfie solomons one shot #alfie x reader #alfie solomons fluff #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinder imagine

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laurieteddy · 4 years

Text

alone together | laurie laurence

Description: March!reader is upset about life’s rather quick changes, Laurie is there to comfort but also it turns into him proposing (don’t ask me how, it just happened)

Request: anon requested Laurie comforting the reader

Warnings: describes experiencing some anxiety about feeling left behind

Word count: a brief ~3.5k

A/N: this took me 5 rewrites and forever to finish because I ended up self reflecting a lot and just couldn’t get it how I wanted at first.

Requests are open!

“I’ll only be a moment,” you called out to Marmee as you quickly made your way up to the attic.

You had “misplaced” your book and were on a wild search for it. Really, you left it in the attic earlier that day and planned on using it as an excuse to be alone for just a minute longer. No one would’ve minded had you wanted to be alone for a bit but you couldn’t help but feel judged for it.

You didn’t want to make anyone worry about why you wanted so much time alone. There was so much going through your mind lately and you just needed time to think it through, Marmee could tell and so she didn’t press you to talk about it. Your two older sisters, Meg and Jo, also knew you needed time and kept Amy from pressing further, Beth was no trouble.

The book was sat on the old three legged couch, right in plain sight. You picked it up, taking a seat on the couch and looking out the window taking in the evening sun. The attic was a safe and quiet place for your mind to wander.

Life was picking up, or at least the people around you live’s were. Meg was soon to marry, Jo wanted nothing more than to escape to the city, Amy was soon to leave with Aunt March for Europe. Beth was still young, unsure of where exactly she was heading which was completely fine being so young. Even Laurie was leaving for college soon.

You hadn’t a clue what you’d be doing. Life away from the March home didn’t even seem to exist as a possibility. You’d be separated from Marmee, from your sisters, from Hannah and Laurie. Nothing would be quite the same.

But, everyone was growing up. And it was near time for you to be as well, Jo only being a year older than you. Tears seemed to prickle your eyes every time you thought of the occasion of your childhood ending and adult lives beginning.

“Y/n’s right up the stairs, looking for her book.” You heard Marmee’s voice.

You assumed it was Jo she was talking to, as she had left to go to the butcher earlier. You quickly wiped the tears that were forming from your concealed thoughts and stood from the couch. Tucking loose hair behind your ear, you made your way towards the stairs.

“I found it, no need to help Jo.”

“It’s me, actually.” The voice was a bit startling, definitely not Jo’s or anyone that lived in your house.

You froze, waiting to see who would come up. Dark curls peaked from the stairs, allowing your shoulders to relax and you found it was Laurie. He had a smile on his face and parcel in his hand.

“Sorry to disappoint,” he joked at your lack of enthusiasm to see him.

“No, no. Sorry,” you smiled, “I just wasn’t expecting you.”

You hadn’t seen Laurie in a few weeks, he was gone with his grandfather visiting someone. It was great to see him, you were awfully close and could use a good talk with him. You were hiding your thoughts, though, not wanting anyone to see. The problem was, Laurie would notice right away as he always had. You knew each other far too well.

“I got this for you,” he held the package out to you.

You smiled, taking it from his grasp, “Oh, Laurie, thank you.”

You gently untied the dark green ribbon, curious to see what was inside. To your surprise it was a new copy of Pride and Prejudice, a novel you had read time and time again. Laurie knew how much you enjoyed it, noticing how the spine of your copy was wearing.

“Pride and Prejudice,” you smiled softly.

He nodded with a grin, “As a much needed replacement. Pages are practically falling out of your old one.”

You chuckled, picking up the old copy. He was right, it had been through a lot for a book. Well read, pages torn thanks to Amy, and even dropped in the mud before, once again thanks to Amy. Still, you kept it and continued to read it. The mud hadn’t ruined much and what was ruined you had memorized anyway.

“Thank you, again. I don’t know how much longer this one would’ve lasted.” You held up your old book, looking at it with tender eyes.

It was just a simple book but the idea that he remembered how much you loved it was too heart warming.

“Let’s catch up!” He clapped his hands together, “You have to update me on everything I’ve missed.”

“Oh, you were only gone for a few weeks,” your eyes followed him as he took a seat on the couch. “Nothing really happened.”

He let out a little laugh, “You want me to believe that nothing happened in the March family over weeks?”

He was making a point, your family was always up to something. Lately you hadn’t been paying much attention though, doing your best to avoid the reality of things. Everyday consisted of simply going through the motions, doing your best to make it to the next day without crumbling into tears. You couldn’t say that to him though.

“Well, nothing too important. Just the usual. Amy’s tantrums, Jo’s rambling, Meg’s pining, Beth’s music.” You wiped your hands on your legs, sweat forming on them.

Laurie leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He watched you carefully, a soft smile on his lips. He could tell something was off, and you knew he that could.

You hadn’t hugged him when you saw him, which you would do whether it was a day or month since seeing him. You’d typically immediately be going on and on about everything he missed out on. He wouldn’t have even gotten to give you his gift until a good hour into talking, and when you opened it he’d earn another hug from you.

At the moment you seemed shut off, hardly even processing the conversation you were having with Laurie. He knew you had countless thoughts running wild in your mind, you always had. Typically you’d let out all your thoughts and he would very happily listen, but you seemed to be desperate to hide them which was far from normal.

“What’s on your mind?” He decided to be straightforward, it was usually the best way to go with you.

Your breath hitched and you looked to the floor. You wished deeply he hadn’t asked, there was no way you could not answer. You and Laurie told me another everything. If knew something was wrong he would eventually get you to talk about it, it was just how your friendship was. Part of you was relieved that he did ask though, desperately wanting to share with anyone willing to listen.

“Shouldn’t you be going home? It’s nearly time for dinner.” You glanced at him, looking away when you saw his eyes were still on you.

“Marmee invited me over for dinner, we have time to talk.” He gestured to the empty cushion beside him, “That is if you want to?”

Taking the spot next to him was risky, even staying upstairs with him was. You knew you’d spill if you stayed a second more. Maybe that’s why you were taking a step closer. You knew you could talk to him, that he even wanted to listen.

“No,” you shook your head. “I mean—“ you froze in place, “no thank you. Like I said, there isn’t much to catch up on.”

“I get the feeling there is plenty to,” his voice was gentle, even warm in a way.

He knew you’d deny that anything was wrong for the rest of your life, he wasn’t asking you to admit anything though. He just wanted to talk. To help ease your mind of whatever was weighing it down, and he had a good guess of what it was.

“I hear Meg is to marry.” He leaned back again, making the atmosphere more relaxed.

You should be relieved at the change of subject but this was one of the issues in your mind. If you were to open up to anyone about it Laurie would be the perfect person. He was the most wonderful listener and always offered such great advice.

“She is, John Brooke as you know.”

“What do you think of it?” He asked.

You were puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“What do you think of it?” He repeated. “She is your sister, the first to marry and to leave.”

It wasn’t an odd question to ask and it was a conversation you already had with your sisters, though in a different manner. With them it was all excitement, giggling as you all teased Meg of her engagement. This version of the conversation would be filled with less teasing and laughter and more about how you were dreading the idea.

“I will be happy for Meg, so long as she is happy.” Which was the truth, you would be happy for her.

“Hmm,” he smiled weakly. “But would you be happy yourself?”

Your heart swelled and you nearly lost your balance. The question was so unexpected. “What?”

“I only ask because I imagine her going would be a big change,” he explained. “You’re all so close and none of you have ever left before, it must be scary in a way.”

Maybe it was more than a coincidence. You knew Laurie understood you but you forgot how he could practically read your mind at times. To hear him say the words you were thinking for weeks was a huge weight off of your shoulders, a weight you were forgetting was even there as you became numb to it.

“Laurie, I—“ you were wringing your fingers. “It isn’t just about Meg. It’s,” you shook your head, “everyone.”

His brows furrowed and he leaned closer again, doing his best to show you his interest. He knew that Meg leaving would weigh heavy in all of your minds, it would be a tremendous change with her gone. But when you said that it was about everyone he was a bit taken back, unsure of what you meant.

He was more than willing to listen, even hoping you would explain. “Everyone? Is someone else planning to leave soon?”

“Don’t be daft, Laurie.” You let a breath through your nose, “You’re going to college, Jo talks of moving to the city, Amy is going on a trip to Europe. All of that with Beth being so poor in health anymore.”

Laurie relaxed his face, taking in your words carefully. You were getting frantic, but doing your best to stay calm through it. Having not spoken about it to anyone you knew there wasn’t a possibility that you could remain calm, everything was going to leak out at once.

“You were gone for three weeks and look at me,” you gestured to yourself. “I’ve fallen into shambles at the mere thought of you all being gone. All of you mean the world to me and I just,” you paused for a moment as if to gather your thoughts. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do without you.”

His mouth opened and closed as he felt apprehensive about what to say. He didn’t want to say anything until he had the perfect words but he knew that would never happen. He was now realizing that the issue was bigger than he had first thought, he had to reanalyze the situation.

“We’ll all be back, y/n.” He rested his hand over yours, which were still fidgety. “Meg may be going to marry but Jo, Amy, and I... that’s all temporary.”

“You don’t know that,” you spoke softly.

You were right, and he knew that you were. His own heart was aching as he saw how much pain you were truly in. You didn’t often open your heart to many people, hiding your feelings away in hopes to protect yourself. Laurie understood this and wanted to do his best to reassure you that you didn’t have to do that. He could tell you were shutting down again as you refused to make eye contact.

“I should help with dinner,” you wiped your eyes and turned to leave.

“Y/n, wait, please,” he stopped you with his hand on your shoulder. “Please, let’s talk?”

“No, it’s alright, Laurie. You wouldn’t want to hear all of this anyway, it’s so silly.”

“I’m scared too,” he blurted.

Confusion was arising again. What was Laurie afraid of? His future seemed so bright, having endless opportunities ahead of him. He didn’t seem thrilled to be going to college but it wasn’t something that he seemed to fear either.

He removed his hand from your shoulder, running it through his own hair. “I’m terrified to leave.”

You slowly turned to face him, seeing a true anxiety in his eyes. You wondered how long he was afraid and said nothing. How long he had gone getting lost in his thoughts, digging himself deeper just as you had been doing. Part of you scolded yourself for not realizing but another part was simply glad you knew now.

“You’re terrified?” You asked.

Laurie nodded, finding himself now unable to make eye contact with you. “I’m not ready to leave you guys, especially not for something I don’t even want to do.”

You were all close for so long but you hadn’t expected Laurie to mind that much. You hoped he had, and you truly knew he had, but you also couldn’t help but second guess yourself.

“Y/n, I...” he began, “I don’t want to leave alone. Meg is leaving with John, Jo dreams for some alone time, Amy is traveling to meet all sorts of new people and I,” he chuckled, thinking to himself how foolish he sounded. “I am leaving to be somewhere I don’t wish to go, surrounded by people I have little desire to meet.”

It was shocking to hear. Laurie has opened up to you before but never about such things. Typically you would hear about how Jo had gotten on his nerves one day, just a typical annoyance everyone experienced. And to hear that he was fearing the same thing you were was dispelling your fears.

“I know what you are going through because I’m going through it too,” he stepped closer. “So please, talk to me so I may understand how you are feeling.”

You couldn’t help but hug him, tears already brimming from your eyes once again. No one had even noticed how severe your pain was, but Laurie, who was previously gone for three weeks, recognized it immediately. To even hear someone say that they saw your pain was so emotionally relieving, it meant you weren’t as enclosed as you felt.

“I’m going to miss Meg’s mothering dearly,” you wept. “And Jo’s endless scribbling and mumbling. Oh, and even Amy’s rants about such small things.”

He hugged you tighter, nuzzling his nose into your hair. “Days will never be the same without her telling us of her “dreadful” nose,” he joked.

You laughed, closing your eyes tightly with your cheek to his chest. “And Laurie, how will I ever do without you?” You sniffled, “You are the best friend I’ve ever known. I can’t go without our walks or conversations. Even imagining never hearing your ridiculous impressions you do during stories makes me heartbroken.”

He grinned, a new thought wandering into his mind. He laid a kiss atop your head before slipping out of the hug. His own heart was breaking simply at the thought, just as your’s. The idea of of living without all of these things, and them so abruptly stopping as well, made Laurie quite upset. He didn’t want to leave it all behind, nor was he ready to.

“What if,” he smiled, “we don’t have to let one another go?”

Unsure of what he meant you said nothing, a cue for him to continue.

“Leaving Meg and Jo and Amy is all a horrendous thought, so what if you we at least don’t leave each other?” He could see how confused you were, “Think about it. I don’t want to go to college anyway, you always say you don’t want to be stuck here especially with your sisters gone.”

“Laurie, I—

“I know how foolish it sounds,” he took your hands in his own. “Y/n, I... I can’t stand the thought of living without you. Without your daily hugs, your horrendous yet beautiful singing, your absolutely horrid jokes. I hate to go a week without seeing you, let alone months at a time. I have never let someone know me as well as you, nor have I ever been so infatuated to learn more about a single person everyday.”

It was like hearing your own thoughts being spoken. You could tell his words were true and that these were things Laurie wished he had said long ago. You both seemed to be good at holding back your thoughts until there were so many they all came pouring out.

“Infatuated? Truly?” You asked.

His smile widened, “Completely.”

A blush creeped on your cheeks which you were quick to hide. He let go of one of your hands, gently brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. He cupped your cheek and ran his thumb over your cheekbone, a twinkle in his eye as he thought more of you.

“I say all this because I love you, y/n. I should’ve said it sooner, I know, and maybe now is not the best time, I’m sorry if that’s the case.” His eyes stayed locked on yours, “I just can’t hold it in any longer.”

Hearing him say those words in that moment was not just craved but needed. You had loved Laurie since the day you met him, he was too sweet to not love at least as a friend from the start. As love does, it grew and developed into something more. Something you believed you could never share with him, until now that is.

To hear him say that he loved you was heartening, it showed you even further that you weren’t alone. He wanted to stay with you, to keep at least some of your normal lives in place. But it wasn’t just about the normality, because if you were to stay together things would definitely take a big turn. It was the idea of being together, of never having to leave one or the other behind.

“To go through life with you would be a dream,” you smiled to him. “But, Laurie, how realistic are dreams?”

“Dreams come true everyday. We could stay together, I’ll get down on one knee and ask you to stay with me. All you have to do is say yes an—

“Laurie,” you cut him off. “Your grandfather expects you to go to college.”

“And I will, but that doesn’t mean we can’t marry after, even before if I wanted.” He ran his hand down your arm, “It’s only four years and I can promise you now that I’ll be returning after, and any chance I get in between. We would still be promised each other.”

It all seemed fake, it was coming from practically nothing and yet it seemed so natural and right. Four years could blow by like nothing, and it would give you the perfect opportunity to prepare for a life you would start with Laurie. You could say your goodbyes to your family, slowly taking time to ease yourself out. It wouldn’t be abrupt, it would spawn from no where. You would expect this change, be ready for it even.

You took Laurie’s hand in your own, “I adore the idea of being promised to you. It would bring comfort to me, too, to know that I would have you to look forward to in my future.”

Excitement filled Laurie, he was trying his best not to jump up and down right then. Instead, he did as he said he would and got down on one knee.

“Well then, y/n l/n... would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

You laughed a bit as Laurie put in a bit of drama into his words. You quickly nodded, accepting his proposal and filling with your own excitement.

“I haven’t a ring,” he looked around before grabbing the ribbon off the book he had given you. “For now... wear this around your wrist?”

“Of course,” you offered your hand.

He gently tied the ribbon on your wrist and gave the back of your hand a kiss before standing. Soon enough he was pulling you into another hug, both of your excitement washing over you. It all seemed like it was something that was meant to happen sooner, though you were both so young. There was something about your relationship from the start that stood out much more than a friendship.

#teddy laurence x reader #laurie #laurie laurence imagine #laurie laurence x reader #laurie x reader #laurie laurence #little women #little women fic #little women imagine #little women oneshot #laurie oneshot #laurie fluff #laurie laurence oneshot #laurie laurence fluff #march!reader x laurie

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purple-dahlias · 3 years

Text

Birthdays

🎈 six

She remembers that one, clearly, even now. The last one her father was there for.

At six Sarah is considerably a lot more perceptive than other children her age. She notices her mother’s pinched expression, the fraught looks that pass between her parents. The way her father walks about in a silent rage and her mother purses her lips, as though trying to stop herself from saying something.

That’s how she ends up sitting quietly, trying her best to pretend she isn’t there, a new copy of The Secret Garden open in her lap, legs carefully crossed at the ankles. She’s trying to lose herself in the words. She imagines herself taken away to somewhere strange, somewhere new, just like Mary was.

It seems to be working for her, that is, until she hears Aunt Louise from across the room.

“Poor soul,” she remarks lowly, but loud enough that Sarah hears, and knows she means her. Looking up, curls half obscuring her face, Sarah is just in time to see Aunt Louise lean across and whisper something to Uncle Henry. Something that she knows is about her parents, who, she is sure are both somewhere at opposite ends of the house being mad at each other. That was always the way now.

And then It’s a few weeks later and suddenly, well, not so, if you thought about it like Sarah did, her father is gone. Not coming back, according to her mother. And maybe, Sarah thinks, maybe if she had been better, he would have stayed and things could have changed.

🎈 thirteen

A birthday’s not about things. It’s not about presents or decorations or balloons. At least, that’s supposed to be the sentiment. But for Sarah’s mother, it’s a different story.

Sarah comes home to banners and giant helium balloons, a huge expense, but empty. She knows her mother had no personal hand in the matter. It had just been a call to her assistant and an exchange of money. Empty Gestures, like it always was with her mother.

A store bought cake, perfectly piped with lettering ‘happy thirteenth Sarah’. It is anything but. Maybe it’s selfish but she wishes for a homemade cake, one like she’d heard her classmates talk about. Complain about, even. What she would give for something like that, something that’s not just empty. That would take time and effort and care. Not just a phone call. Because these are all just things. Not the stuff that makes treasured memories.

There aren’t even people to share it all with. That would require friends. And middle school was lonely.

So it’s just Sarah, alone at home, her mother didn’t even have it in her to take the time off work for her only daughter. Instead she sits there, at the table in the spotless kitchen, reading and rereading the typed card left for her, hoping somewhere to discern something more from it. Some hidden feelings in the black and white. But there aren’t.

Maybe one day, she thinks, though it’s probably wishful thinking. She’s not six anymore, holding onto hope for change.

🎈 fifteen

High school is a little different, a little brighter. She’s changed schools, there are girls who it seems actually like her. Ones she can count as friends. And that’s how she finds herself in the cinema with Harriett and Grace and Marya the evening of her fifteenth birthday.

She’s sat on the end of the row, beside Grace, sharing her popcorn with her and a fizzy drink that’s just a little too sweet for her liking. But Sarah doesn’t care because Grace holds her hand practically throughout the whole of the film. Sarah doesn’t really think the film is that scary but she’s willing to pretend as Grace holds her hand tightly, leaning close to her in her seat so that Sarah can smell the floral scent of the perfume she’s started wearing, the one that smells of jasmine and bergamot, coincidently two of Sarah’s favourite scents, though she can’t quite remember if she ever told Grace that.

Grace laughs quietly at something on screen beside her, and Sarah thinks it’s a wonderful sound, like music. She loves knowing when she makes her laugh like that. Wouldn’t mind being able to do that more often.

But it’s all a little bittersweet, because Grace will be gone by September, by the time the new school term starts. She’s moving with her family to Seattle, so if something ever could have come of them, neither will ever know.

🎈 nineteen

Sarah feels freer now. She’s in college, out in the world, never mind that her world mainly consists of campus, her dorm, the little cafe down on Elm and the library.

People are still hard, and her circle of people is ridiculously small, but not for lack of trying. There isn’t much time for friends, anyhow she tells herself. Her goal here is to do well. She has to do well. She is, and that’s her consolation.

But it’s her birthday and she’s tired and her heart is heavy and she just wants to not feel so alone. So it’s probably a poor decision but it’s summer and she’s alone in her dorm, most other people having left for the holidays; she just can’t stomach going back, and in any case doesn’t think her mum would even miss her presence. There are no calls or messages from the few friends she’d had in high school. Nothing. Which hurts, because she always remembers their birthdays. But maybe they didn’t feel the same way. They’d moved on, probably; she should too.

It’s just her in her dorm, alone that Monday night.

It’s impulsive, and she’ll regret it later, she knows, but the bottle is right there in her cupboard and even if it’s for a little bit, she just wants to forget, to not think, to lose focus. Even if it’s only temporary.

The one and only time she allows herself to do this, truly let go of herself like this. And it’s not one of those wild stories to be told later and made light of, it’s not a party or surrounded by friends. It’s just her, alone with the bottle, trying to rid herself of her thoughts.

🎈 twenty-six

Sarah is exhausted. Her rotation in the ED is taking its toll on her. The shifts, the long days and nights. But this is everything she had been working towards. What practically everything she had done since she was sixteen had been for.

So that evening, all she wants to do is to go home, order some takeout from the ramen place she likes and maybe watch a movie. Just something quiet with herself.

She’s just home and showered, hair still damp and hanging loose when her phone rings. Unusual. Hardly anyone ever called her. What’s even more unusual is that it’s Natalie from Med calling her, and Sarah wonders what on earth she could want at this time of the evening, especially when neither of them have a night shift that day.

She picks up, to hear Natalie asking if she could come round and watch Owen because she needed to run out to the grocery store and there was no one else to.

Sarah sighs inwardly. So much for her quiet night. But she goes. It’s not like she had any real plans tonight. If anything, watching Owen might be a help. She knows sitting in front of the TV, especially tonight, would lead her mind to wander. To places and thoughts she didn’t want it to go. It was probably for the best. So she pulls on jeans and a sweater and goes.

Natalie answers the door, pulling Sarah inside. “Thank you so much for coming, honestly I don’t know what else I would have done,” she gushes.

“Don’t mention it—“ Sarah begins, but the words die on her lips as Natalie leads her into the kitchen.

April is there, holding Owen, and Maggie is beside her with Noah and Ethan and Connor and Will and a few of the others.

“Happy Birthday!” They all call out in unison, smiles on their faces and Owen waving his small fists, not quite understanding, but knowing something good is happening.

Sarah is completely taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting anything, let alone this. She didn’t even think they all knew when her birthday was.

“You didn’t think we were gonna leave you all on your one, did you?” Maggie asks, pulling her into a tight embrace.

This, Sarah thinks, is what a family must feel like.

🎈 twenty-seven

So much has changed. For one thing, Sarah’s a psych resident now. Something she never thought she would be, but she’s enjoying it. For another, and this is the biggest one, there’s Ava. And that is amazing and terrifying in equal parts all at the same time.

Ava wouldn’t tell her where they were going. Only that it required Sarah to dress up. It turned out to be a fancy Italian restaurant, one that apparently Ava had had her eyes on for months for this very occasion. Sarah had never really been one for grand gestures, considering her mother’s track record with them; they’d always felt empty. But with Ava, it is completely, entirely different. The way Ava is excited about it probably more than Sarah, because she loves surprising her, seeing her happy. And that, for Sarah, makes the day. Because it is so genuine and heartfelt.

Sarah can’t think of a time where she’s felt lighter than she does now.

But that’s not even everything. They get home, and Ava leads Sarah to the couch, telling her to sit, and disappears off into the kitchen. She’s only gone for a short time, and when she returns, she’s bearing a decadent chocolate cake on a platter, iced with ‘happy birthday Sarah,’ in Ava’s familiar, looping script, candles flickering in the dim light. Ava made this. For her.

It’s perfect, and she tells her so as Ava sets the platter down on the coffee table in front of her.

“Blow out the candles,” Ava says softly, and Sarah does, as her girlfriend snaps a photo of her, smiles etched on both their faces.

“Thank you,” Sarah tells her quietly as Ava comes to sit beside her, placing a kiss to her lips.

“Happy birthday, my love,” whispers Ava when they break apart. And it is. Completely.

#sarah reese #my writing #reesker #chicago med #the title is really not creative i know #i wrote this at like 11 last night because i was being sad and its completely unedited but posting it anyway

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peoplecallmelucifer · 3 years

Text

Every story ever written

“Attention passengers“ A pleasant voice echoed trough the hallways “We will be arriving to Nithra 5 in half an hour. Please prepare to disembark“ John Was excited and nervous. He was a part of the group representing Earth at the art festival of the Galactic Assembly. Considering it was Earths first Time sending representatives and hew as the one giving the speech his nervousness was justified. AS they disembarked the cruise ship they were greeted by a tall and slender “It’s my pleasure to extend the greetings in behalf of the Galactic assembly. I am Nithra Suenn and was assigned as your guide during your stay“

John stood on his toes so he would be able to look Suenn in the eyes. “ Oh, thank you. I’m Jonathan grace, you can call me John, This here is Antonio Morena..” “Toni for short” the man replied “...And this is Maria Petova“ “I’m Just short” Maria replied baiting a chuckle out of their Guide May I ask something before we start though“ Sam said “Of course“ Suenn replied “Could you tell us where the envoys of the other two newcomer are.“ “Of course. If you wish I could notify their guides and see if they would be willing to arrange a meeting later today“ “That’d be lovely“ “Now If you would follow me to your quarters. I presume you would want some rest before we start the tour“ “Lead the way miss Nithra“ Sam said with a smile AS the trio followed their guide they took in the sights of the Spacedock, during the 10 minutes shuttle ride to the planet surface Toni and John were debating their upcoming speech while Maria quietly hummed a lullaby as she stared out of the window. “Miss Maria“ Suen said as she noticed the humming “oh, yes Suenn?“ “May I inquire about the melody you were... singing“ “Oh that, I was humming a lullaby I usually sing for my daughter. This is the longest I’ve been separated from her so I’m a bit Melancholic“ “Oh, quite understandable. We Tlii also have a strong bond with our family ... I’m nearly 40 and I still call my parents daily.“ The rest of the ride was marked by present small talk. When they landed The Group was given an hour to rest before they head out towards the “Palace of Art” The most famous gallery in the Explored part of the galaxy. “So folks“ John said “First impressions“ “Bit too formal for my taste but not bad. The Guide is cute too“ Maria replied “I’m hungry“ Toni replied “Well go grab something from the hotels restaurant. Suenn Said all the costs will be covered“ John said as Tonis eyes widened “So ... Free all you can eat buffet?“ “Yes“ “And we are staying here for a week“ “Yes“ “...Good bye my summer body“

“You’re a pig“ Maria said as Toni was closing the doors A few minutes later Suenn knocked on the doors “hello again. I have contacted the guides of the other two newcomers and their envoys said they would gladly meet you but they also requested we arrive fifteen minutes early so that you can have a proper meeting“ “Thank you very much Suenn. Tell them we agree“ Maria said Suenn nodded and left “Why do you wanna meet them anyway“ Maria asked John “Well they are new here, we are new here, none of us actually knows what’s going on. It might be easier for all of us if we feel confused together“ “Fair point“ The human delegacy arrived 10 minutes earlier than agreed, mostly because of Johns insistence. “Why were you so adamant on arriving early Mister John “ “Well... I was too anxious for waiting in the hotel“ “And waiting here is... not causing anxiety?“ “No, because here I’m sure I won’t miss anything important“ “I can not say I fully comprehend that logic but if it lessens your anxiety I see no problem with waiting here.“ “Can I ask you something Suenn?“ “Of course?“ “I noticed your First name was the identical to the name of the planet. Is that Just a coincidence or something else?“ “It’s actually Tradition. Tlii name their children after their Birthplace and a name chosen by their parents. I was born on this planet so My Birth Name is Nithra while my Given name is Suenn.“ “Huh. Interesting.“ After a few more minutes of casual discussions the two delegations arrived. The D’Dret Delegacy consisted of twelve members all sporting their environment suits. “Greeting fellow children“ the leader of the delegation said as he reached out his hand

“Children?” Antonio asked quietly“ “The D’Dret word for artist is the same as their word for child“ Suenn replied “Kinda fits right“ John shook the delegates hand “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m JonathanGrace, leader of our delegation. You can call me John “ “I am afraid my name is quite impossible for the translator to handle so feel free to call me Otra, considering that’s the Star system I hail from“ From the other vehicle disembarked a delegation of twenty Beings of Yellow christening appearance. a leader of the group stepped forth and greeted the gathered “In behalf of Veq Hive I speak the words of greeting” the translator read “In be half of Humanity I accept the gritting and send my own“ John said and bowed, Otra mimicking his actions saying “ I do the same on behalf of D’Dret autonomy“ The Veq leader let out a low pitch pleasant click returning the bow “This one is called Ruea“ “My name Is Jonathan Grace“ “Call me Otra, shall we head inside“ “Certainly“ Ruea and John replied While there were no delegates yet there was a descent amount of visitors to the Gallery and the three delegations as well as their guides drew a number of looks. This seemed to make Johnnervous again, but also even more excited than ever. His companions seemed to share this attitude along with the D’Dret delegates. The Veq did not experience emotions, or at lest not in the way Humans did. They didn’t know fear,Happiness or anger, but could be inquisitive,curious and mistrusting or frustrated. Although the latter was extremely rare and fairly mild. “How come Humans only sent 3 creators“ Ruea asked “Well Humanity is aware of its reputation. Lots of people in the assembly consider us borderline insane due to our contradictory nature. SO our Academy decided that the best course of action here would be to send a small delegation and not draw much attention on ourselves.“ “A reasonable approach Otra said“ “Yeah, but us three decided we have something else in plan for our speech“ “You would... defy your superior?“ Rue said in intrigued Disbelief “to a Veq that causes great pain.“ “Well If i am not wrong, you are biochemically connected, so acts of defiance are extremely rare since your communication is almost instant and complete” John said impressing Ruea “In our case that is not so. We are very Individual even though we are social beings, and sometimes people in authority refuse to listen to suggestions because they see themselves above others. In that case we become defiant“ “You are a weird people“ Said Otra with a little pause “but than again I’m the one in the EV suit“ The lengthy conversation about differences in cultures and approaches to art between all the members of the 3 delegations attracted a crowd of intrigued listeners even Suenn and the other guides were intrigued and occasionally asked a question or two.

After A an hour Suenn spoke up “Excuse me delegates, but the Ceremony is about to start. Would you please follow your respective guide to your seat“ “Oh certainly.“ John said “Ladi Ruea, Otra It has been a pleasure. Hopefully we can continue this discussion sometimes soon“

Suenn Lead her delegation to a circular room with many levels. filled to the brim with delegations from thousand of species. Humans were somewhere around the middle,Maria Noticed the Veq being almost at the bottom and one of their delegates apparently noticed her waving and looked curiously at her. she than put her opened palms on her troth imitating a traditional greeting they taught her. John noticed Otras suit about two levels above them sat juxtaposed to them and covered one eye with his hand greeting his new friend with their greeting to which Otra replied with a peace sign. “hello and welcome everyone to the annually art festival of the Galactic Assembly.” said a small alien “He looks like a plushy” Toni whispered and baited another chuckle out of Suenn. ” This year the assembly welcomed three new species The Pedantic Veq hive, The crafty D’Dret autonomy and ... Diverse Alliance of human worlds. As is tradition the newcomers will hold their speeches first. Starting with the Humans.“ John stood up “I think you for this opportunity but before I hold my speech I must ask, on behalf of our new friends of the Authonomy and the Hive. would you allow them to speak before us, as they asked me if I would be willing to swap places with them“ “Well... no one ever turned down the offer of being first to speak before, A kind gesture indeed. I don’t see why not. Verry well. Who of you wants to speak first“ “The Authonomy children will gladly hear out our comrades of the Hive before we speak ourselves“ ”I thank our new friends for granting this request of mine.” Lady Ruea replied as she slowly walked to the podium. Suenn turned to John “What you just did was unprecedented. May I inquire why have you done this“ “As we were about to go our separate ways lady Ruea noticed that her translator was running out of battery and her spare was left in their hotel. considering she didn’t want to miss any of our speeches so she asked if I would let her talk first so she can switch her power cell after her speech. and considering I’m nervous as hell right now I decided to give myself a bit more time to relax and see other speeches before I step down there“ “Coward“ Maria teased him “and proud of it“ he replied

The speech of Ruea was simple it briefly described the way her people think and the way they approach art, or as they call it creation. How they prefer writing in strict form but are also constantly looking for new forms to write. how their statues are trying to be symmetrical in every way and yet innovative. After her Otra came down doing the same talking about how Their culture sees artists as people who never lost their child imagination how every new creation is a new unexplored wonder, just like every next step is a new experience for a toddler. Than came John’s turn. He was still a bit nervous but he kept his cool. “As you know. lady Ruea asked me if I would do her a favour and let her speak first. I let my new friend Otra speak second because I was too nervous to do it myself“ a few chuckles were heard among the crowd “AS you know Humans have a reputation and I was given a ready speech by the people who sent me here to read and stay out of trouble so that I can alleviate that reputation. But than again That’d be to deny human nature.“ Nick said as he ripped a sheet of paper with a written speech “Oh boy here we go“ Toni commented “What is he doing“ Suenn asked “Being true to himself ... and being a jackass“ maria replied “Our leaders only allowed us artists one speech, and a small delegation. I can live with that. But if they want me to speak I will speak however I see fit. And yes I will get in trouble for this if you were wondering“ A few more chuckles and murmurs started among the crowd “I am know that whatever stylistic figures, whatever topic I can think of, someone else in this room will think of as well. The Ka’ran are called the masters of Romance and yet some of their poets wrote works of horror I find exquisite. The Hevar are proud of their odes and marching songs and yet I find their lullabies to be incredibly soothing. So I don’t see a point in pretending that you are going to find something new in our works.“

This statement caused shock, intrigue and utter confusion. Are humans really so self destructive they would sabotage their own nation for an act of defiance? But the whispers and murmurs didn’t bother John

“In our statues, in our poetry, in our novels or paining ... all the motives we use I have seen with one quick stroll trough this gallery. So on this day I claim every story ever told has already been told. we just mixed up the words a bit differently.

A silence fell upon the room

I am looking forward, my fellow delegates, to read how you layed out the words we use.“

*Tink* a sound of two crystals hitting each other was heard from the lower levels *tink* as John walked off the podium and the Veq delegacy tried to imitate human clapping with their christaline limbs. *tink,tink,tink* Soon the D’Dred joined in, followed by the Ka’ran and Hevra that John Mentioned. after a few seconds most of the delegates gave a hearty applause.

“Well...“ the alien small alien from before stepped back on the podium. “... I guess that a lot of rumours about the humans are true. They certainly are unpredictable and reckless... But If more of them are like their delegation I can only imagine how their artwork looks like. I suggest we take a half hour break before we continue“ The rest of the festival passed in a breeze. with the human delegation being followed by numerous new fans wherever they went. after a week and the conclusion of the festival several species decided to take the “scenic rout home“ as Humans said. and stopped on Cyrenca prime, Nueva Galizza, Earth and other human worlds, buying novels, visiting art museums and observing statues... Jonathan Grace was financially penalized for his “insubordination”, but considering he refused to return to earth, proffering to travel the Worlds of the assembly in search of new ideas to write about, that debt was never prayed. _ _

If you managed to get this far congrats, and thanks for reading.

I wrote this because I’ve noticed a lot of stories under these tags ... even the 2 I wrote are always going towards military and conflict situations. SO I turned it around to something I like much more

#humasn are space orcs #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities

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kaialone · 3 years

Text

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Meta Knightmare Returns

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover all the cutscenes that appear in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode.

You can also watch these cutscenes for yourself in English (1, 2, 3) and Japanese (1, 2, 3).

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

Encountering Star Dream:

Star Dream:

……R…E…A…… ……D…Y……………・＞

...R...E...A... ...D...Y... ->

L...O...A...D...I...N...G...

Star Dream:

……………………。

...

.........

Star Dream:

アナタが…新しい… ゴシュジン様…デスネ。

YOU must BE... the new... MASter.

You must be... the new admin.

Star Dream:

……ナルホド、とてもツヨイパワーをお持ちのヨウデ…。

...UNDERSTOOD, it APPEARS that you possess quite TREMENDOUS POWER...

Yes. You possess incredible power...

Star Dream:

……………… OK＞

...OK >

...OK.

Star Dream:

…デハ、ソンナゴシュジン様ガノゾム…

...THEN, AS SUCH A MASter WOULD DESIRE...

As a new admin, you must supply your credentials...

Star Dream:

コノ星でも… カナリの強サを持つ…

YOU SHALL be given... THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLASH with a "sword USER"...

to the strongest warriors of this planet.

Star Dream:

「剣のツカイテ」と、タタカワセテ…さしあげマショウ。

WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH... even for THIS planet.

Executing Sword_Master.EXE.

Before Battling Sectonia Clone:

Star Dream:

……おみごとデ、ゴザイマス。

...MasterFULLY DONE.

...Impressive.

Star Dream:

ゴシュジン様にはショウショウモノたりナカッタかもしれマセンネ。

Perhaps THIS was A LITTLE UNsatisfactory for you, MASter.

That may have been a bit too easy for the admin...

Star Dream:

ソレでは次に、美シクまうようニ剣をアヤツる…

SO then, for THE next one, the most powerful queen...

Next up is one whose swordplay resembles a beautiful dance...

Star Dream:

最強の女王を、ヨミガエらせマショウ。

WHO HANDles her blades liKE A beautiFUL dance, shall BE RESURRECTED.

Let us bring back the most powerful queen from the void.

Star Dream:

ソノたぐいまれな戦いのセンスと王たるオーラ…

HER exceptional APTITUDE for battle, and her majestic AURA...

Experience her royal presence and unparalleled fighting skills.

Star Dream:

ドウゾゴたんのうクダサイませ。

PLEASE, ENjoy them thoroUGHLY.

She will be a fitting test for you.

Before Battling Galacta Knight:

Star Dream:

サスガ、ゴシュジン様デス。ではサイゴに…

WELL DONE AS ALWAYS, MASter. Now, FOR THE LAST one...

You are mighty indeed. Now for the final test...

Star Dream:

かつてのゴシュジン様にハキンジられてイタ…

THE "Spacetime Transfer Programm", WHICH the previous MASter had FORBIDDEN...

This was prohibited by the previous admin...

Star Dream:

「時空テンイプログラム」をアンロックシ、

SHALL BE UNLOCKED,

Preparing to boot the Space-Time Transport program...

Star Dream:

イニシエの時代ノ剣士ヲ、ヨビダシマショウ。

TO CALL FORTH A swordfighter from ANCIENT TIMES.

Let us bring back a legendary swordsman from a forgotten time.

Star Dream:

…カレにコノあたりノ星ハホロボされてシマウと思イマスガ…

...IT STANDS TO reason that HE is LIKELY TO DESTroy the SURrounding planets, BUT...

He may end up destroying a nearby planet or two, but such is life.

Star Dream:

キット、サイゴノタタカイを楽シンデイタダケルことデショウ。

You will MOST CERTAINLY find THIS LAST BATTLE to be enjoyABLE.

The benefits of this final battle outweigh the collateral damage.

Star Dream:

ソレでは………！

NOW then...!

Prepare yourself...

Star Dream:

時空テンイプログラム… アンロック… 異空間ロード… リブート…

UNLOCKING... Space Time Transfer Program... REBOOTING... Another Dimension Road... (1)

Executing Space-Time Transport... Extra-dimensional road... Booting...

Star Dream:

…………３

3...

Star Dream:

…………２

2...

Star Dream:

…………１

1...

Star Dream:

…………………GO!!

...GO!!

...BEGIN!

Translation Note:

I’ll go over it in more detail in the section below, but the term I translated as “Another Dimension Road” is called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese. This term previously appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

Since the cutscenes of Meta Knightmare Returns all occur towards the end and are pretty short, I decided to cover all of them in one post like this.

Still, just because they’re short doesn’t mean there is nothing to talk about.

It’s only mentioned briefly in these cutscenes, but I want to go over the term I adapted as “Another Dimension Road” in slightly more detail.

In the original Japanese version, the term is 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, which first appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

To start off, 異空間/Ikūkan by itself could be translated as something like “different dimension", “different space”, “different realm”, or anything along those lines, 異/i meaning “different”, and 空間/kūkan meaning “space” or “dimension”, and the like.

This term has come up a few times in the Kirby series since Return to Dream Land, and the Japanese version of Star Allies actually gives it the English reading “Another Dimension”, which is why I also like to adapt it as that.

The term 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, adding the English word “road” to it, also comes up a few times in Return to Dream Land.

Given what I explained above, I like to adapt it as “Another Dimension Road”.

Magolor mentions this term when he talks about his home, saying that it’s far away, but that it’s connected to Pop Star via 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo.

The English localization of the game adapted this as “interdimensional tunnel” in this instance.

Also, the cutscene that is called “Final Battle” in the English version is simply called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese.

Going by that, it seems safe to assume that this term can refer to the “road(s)” that connects different dimensions, realms, or the like.

Now, there is a lot more I could potentially talk about with these two terms and how they come up in the Kirby series, but it would be too long for this section here.

I might make a dedicated post just for that at some point, if that would interest people.

So, most relevant to Planet Robobot, is the fact that “Another Dimension Road” is a term we had seen before in Return to Dream Land.

The English version might be trying to keep the connection to Return to Dream Land by adapting the term as “Extra-dimensional road“ here, possibly referring to the Extra Mode of that game.

Back to Planet Robobot, here’s something potentially interesting about Star Dream in these cutscenes.

You’ll find that in both Japanese and English it uses about the same speaking style as it did during its appearance in the main story.

And the English version actually adapts it in the same way as it did back then, so I appreciate the consistency there.

Like before, the English version has it use some more computer-like sounding phrases here, like saying “admin” instead of “master”.

Most notable as a change is probably the phrase “Sword_Master.EXE”, which would imply that Star Dream might have a dedicated program just for either cloning Dark Matter Blade, or sword users in general.

But what’s really interesting to me is something else.

Now, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence, but Star Dream does not refer to itself in first person at any point in these cutscenes

With the way the Japanese language works, this isn’t all too uncommon, but it still stands out a bit, because Star Dream referring to itself in first person during the main story was a notable trait it had.

A machine wouldn’t normally refer to itself like that, so Star Dream doing that seemed like a result of it gaining a sense of self during those events.

And keep in mind that those events, namely Star Dream fusing with Hatlmann’s spirit, don’t actually occur during the story of Meta Knightmare, meaning Star Dream actually should not have a sense of self in this scenario.

So, Star Dream not referring to itself in first person during these cutscenes could be meant to reflect that? But that’s just my guess.

In any case, because of the above, I decided to adapt its dialogue in these cutscenes without using any first person either.

And from what I can tell, it looks like the English localization may have thought the same thing, since they also don’t use any (singular) first person for Star Dream here.

I realize this means there isn’t any difference between versions when it comes to this aspect, but I still wanted to mention it, because it’s easy to miss.

In the Japanese version, Star Dream’s dialogue here contains more direct references to Milky Way Wishes, with it using several of the same phrases that Galactic Nova used.

Most notably, this includes it counting down from 3 and finishing the counter with the words “Go!!”, which is also referenced during its boss battles.

In the English version, these phrases are slightly rewritten and don’t match Galactic Nova’s dialogue from either English version of Milky Way Wishes, with the countdown in particular ending with “Begin!” instead.

As a result, that final line also no longer matches the visuals of Star Dream’s final boss battle.

If you only look at the text in this game right here, it does make sense to rewrite these phrases slightly, “Begin!” certainly sounds more appropriate than “Go!!” out of context.

But this, combined with the fact that any other subtle reference to Milky Way Wishes in the text so far has been glossed over in English makes me think that the English localizers either didn’t realize that these were references, or ended up ignoring them for some reason.

Whatever said reason may be, I still think it’s a shame, because when you add all of them up, there is a great deal of connections to Milky Way Wishes in this game’s text that are lost in the English version, leaving it only with the visual and musical references.

And those are still nice, don’t get me wrong, but it still feels like you’re missing out just a little.

Somewhat related to the above, Star Dream’s reasoning for its actions in these cutscenes is quite different between versions, changing a lot about the context of what is happening.

In the Japanese version, Star Dream seemingly comes to the conclusion that Meta Knight wishes to fight strong opponents. So, the reason why it proceeds to summon several powerful warriors is specifically because it is attempting to comply with that desire.

And that really seems to be all there is to it in the Japanese version, no apparent additional motivation other than to satisfy its new master Meta Knight.

At most you can speculate whether or not Meta Knight really was actively wishing for this to happen, or if Star Dream was misinterpreting him, but...

Considering this is a direct parallel to Meta Knightmare Ultra, and Meta Knight did wish for something exactly like that over there, I’d wager it’s safe to bet Star Dream’s assessment of him was at least partially accurate.

And of course, this also gives Star Dream another direct parallel to Galactic Nova.

In the English version, Star Dream instead states that Meta Knight has to supply his credentials, and thus all the battles that follow are portrayed as “tests” for Meta Knight.

This also implies that Star Dream would probably test any potential new admin in such a manner, in contrast to the Japanese version, where Star Dream seems to accept Meta Knight right away without question.

I know that this particular change has caused English-speaking fans to speculate what sort of test Haltmann may have had to pass, which can be interesting of course.

But for the reference, no such tests seem to exist in the Japanese version.

And still related to the above, in the English version, Star Dream states that Meta Knight must supply his credentials “to the strongest warriors of this planet”, which might even be a small translation error?

Because in the Japanese version, Star Dream only states that Meta Knight will have the opportunity to “CLASH with a sword USER… WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH… even for THIS planet”, so that latter part is only referring to the clone of Dark Matter Blade.

There is no clear plural in Japanese, so one could interpret the Japanese line as referring to all three warriors that Star Dream ends up summoning, but since it gives a little introduction for Sectonia Clone and Galacta Knight, I think it’s more likely this line right here was just its introduction for Dark Matter Clone.

The English phrasing also makes you wonder why Star Dream would even summon Galacta Knight, who’s not taken from this planet, or even this era for that matter.

It just kinda doesn’t add up when you think about it more.

And that’s about it for these cutscenes.

The most notable change is the completely different reasoning behind Star Dream’s action here.

I personally feel it gives this entire ending scenario a different vibe, and potentially the implication of what Meta Knight’s role in it is, considering the parallels to Meta Knightmare Ultra.

With that, we have covered all of the cutscenes of Kirby: Planet Robobot, but we are not done quite yet.

There is still more story to this game, so for the next part, we will start tackling the pause screen descriptions of the boss fights!

Feel free to check it out!

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

#kirby #kirby of the stars #kirby planet robobot #planet robobot #kirby translations #my translations #planet robobot translation comparisons #kirby planet robobot spoilers #planet robobot spoilers #robobot spoilers

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