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#anyone can reblog this!
bucketsquid · 1 year
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Religion in the World of Splatoon - An Analysis
A thought struck me when I was thinking about the Horrorboros and how it’s pretty strongly intended to be an Eastern dragon-- “there really isn’t much discussion on the topic of religion and spirituality in the Splatoon world, even though it’s quite There”. I think that’s really interesting, because while it’s not a detail that’s front-and-center, it’s still pretty present in aspects of the world.
So, I offer you: a quick look and breakdown of religious + spiritual aspects in the funny little squid game. It’s not catch-all, I may miss fine details or this or that, but there’s some stuff that people often miss or are surprised to hear when I bring it up.
The tl;dr is that “yeah, it’s there. Squid Shinto is alive and well and we have, at least, canonization that the Squids (and Octopuses) acknowledge Christianity existing”.
But that’s not nearly enough for me, so read on if you want to see the details!
With the whole game taking place in mollusc-era Japan, there’s a good deal of “leftover” spiritual and religious aspects that remain or have otherwise been adopted by its cephalopod residents. I have a pretty strong case to say that Shinto still very much exists, and is a part of life, for Inklings and Octolings. Shinto at its core isn’t something that people with only a Western experience with religion and spirituality might easily pick out, simply because it’s treated and integrated into society somewhat differently. It’s something you have to approach after discarding your expectations, experiences and baggage involving what you know of religion. But it’s there, and really smoothly woven into Inkopolis.
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(Pic from Splatoonwiki, higher res here.)
Skipper Pavilion is pretty intensely and obviously a center of traditional Japanese celebration and Shinto spirituality. It’s a theater first and foremost, not necessarily a shrine, but it has Shinto aspects present. Its two mudskipper statues are direct parallels to komainu statues, which you’ll often find guarding a shrine; they even have the “one with closed mouth, one with an open mouth” detail found in paired komainu statues. Clever attention to detail!
(Pic from Splatoonwiki, higher res here.)
Note these little areas with the blue curtains, too. The boxes of objects being sold remind me quite strongly of windows at shrines where you obtain omamori! Shinto shrines regularly offer these to people who give a donation, and they provide the shrine’s blessing to those who carry them on their person. (We never say that you buy or sell omamori.)
Finally, while I can’t find visuals of them, Splatoonwiki also says that there’s collections of ema plaques on the Skipper Pavilion stage as well. These are small wooden plaques that one typically writes wishes or desires on, before hanging them up with other ema. Like with the omamori, you can regularly find these at Shinto shrines, both in terms of ones you can obtain, and in space for you to hang them up. (If someone can find a screencap of the ema in this stage, I’d really appreciate it!)
...
Moving on from the Pavilion, there’s some other small details and indications of Shinto or a derived form of it in Inkopolis culture. One familiar sight is the Splatfest fax machine.
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It’s the super-special fax machine that delivers our Splatfest themes! And it’s also implied to have a divine nature: the NA localization names it The Voice on High according to Splatoonwiki, while in Japanese it’s Kami-sama. That’s a very esteemed title for a fax machine: this implies that it’s seen as a divine being, and quite respectfully too.
While kami is often a catchall word for “god”, “deity”, and so on in Japanese, it also refers to the inherently Shinto concept of kami: a spiritual being that may be anything as great as a deity of heavenly power, or something as modest as the soul of an ancient tree. It’s a kind of difficult concept to fully explain in a brief thing like this... but it’s a huge deal. Given the attention to detail with Shinto aspects in Inkopolis, I think it’s no coincidence that the fax machine is called this. And I think that’s incredibly charming that Inklings saw this still-functioning relic from the human age and attributed divinity to it and its abilities.
(More obvious, but note the ofuda (paper charms) attached to it in the photo; ofuda have a ton of different meanings and uses, but we can pretty safely assume it’s of a protective or otherwise spiritually-significant nature here.)
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I’ll also go ahead and mention the message that comes with this Sunken Scroll: "Why are we here? For what purpose do we exist? We must not dwell on these questions. We can merely trust in the will of the universe and spend our days and nights in harmony with the world, celebrating this festival called Life."
Yeah, that feels very “practical Shinto thought” to me, speaking as a Shinto practitioner. While “contemplation of existence and purpose” are still perfectly good subjects, there’s also, often, an emphasis on living practically, focusing on the present day and your community, and being in harmony with the world. This fits in perfectly with that philosophy.
One more detail is that, originally, the Squid Sisters were meant to be shrine maidens of a sort. They were meant to pass on the messages of fax machine Kami-sama to everyone else... or in other words, announcing Splatfest themes. While you can’t see this shrine maiden DNA in their designs anymore, they kept the Splatfest announcement detail through development. In a sense, I guess all of the news announcers and Splatfest hosts have a relationship with the divine.
...
“Alright, that’s all super cool, Marine, but what about the other stuff? They have Squidmas and there’s those Sunken Scrolls too!”
Yup, they sure do. But from what we see in canon and from observations of the cephalopod world, these details feel like a case of “things that Inklings borrowed from humans and played with because they thought they were cool”, rather than “things Inklings kept and adopted because they were a part of the human culture in this region”. There doesn’t seem to be much of a presence of Squid Christianity much at all, at least in Inkopolis: Squidmas exists, but when discussed there’s absolutely no talk or evidence of any religious aspects that may have been lifted from humans. As far as we know, it’s “winter holiday that has some Christmas stage dressing”, which is a very Inkling thing to do with how much they like to borrow from humans. They love to do it so much.
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Secondly, yeah, these two Sunken Scrolls do very much point at evidence of “the cephalopods found some traces of Christianity and made content based on it, or inspired by it”. The Book of Madai scroll is particularly pointed in its name, writing and artwork styles. But while this proves that this exists in some form, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s particularly established in Inkopolis. We don’t have nearly as much evidence for Squid Christianity as we do for Squid Shinto, and it’s pretty safe to say that Squid Shinto is much more of a thing in Inkadia.
So what are we taking away from this? Mostly “yeah, religion and spirituality are very much a thing in the Mollusc Era, and it’s very elegantly woven into the setting”. Pretty cool if you ask me, it makes me really happy to find these thoughtfully-placed details where I then go “oh, I know what that is!”. It really adds to the hopeful post-human setting, that even after humans have long since gone extinct, their legacy still remains, and is celebrated and cared deeply for by the Earth’s new peoples.
I’ll probably add a small reblog to this later with my thoughts on the Inkantation and Salmonids, but this is definitely enough for one post.
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hualianisms · 10 days
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verified ways to donate to gaza directly
Help a Palestinian family directly:
gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical attention, rebuilding homes/businesses or more. Site run by Palestinians, all GFMs verified (full list here). Spotlights 1 stagnant GFM at a time. (*If you can't decide who/where to donate, just go to gazafunds.com & donate to the 1 GFM they show you!)
masterlist of 200+ verified Palestinian families' GFMs: Operation Olive Branch
Help provide tents: (*emergency as Rafah is being bombarded as we speak)
The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents & transport for families in Rafah who urgently need to evacuate to Deir Al Balah. Has a team on the ground in Gaza who have supplied tents to 1% of the displaced population in Rafah. Run by Palestinians. (paypal) (gfm)
@helpgazachildren: Currently helping Palestinians in a refugee camp in Rafah flee the Rafah invasion to Khan Younis. Funds go directly to Hussam, a Palestinian in Rafah who hosts a refugee camp. Funds will cover the cost of tents & transport fuel. Managed by a Palestinian @.fairuzfan. (gfm)
Food, cash & essentials:
Care for Gaza: Palestinian charity on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their Twitter. (paypal) (gfm)
We Feed Gaza: Team of Palestinian volunteers in the heart of Gaza distributing food & water to 344+ families. More details & proof in their gfm. Vetted & promoted by LetsTalkPalestine. (gfm)
Direct Aid for Gaza: A Palestinian activist on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash & other essential supplies to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their twitter. (paypal) (gfm)
Water (*only 2 weeks left to donate!):
Gaza Municipality's water campaign: The official Municipality of Gaza needs help rebuilding the water infrastructure in Gaza City to restore access to clean water & waste management services for the people of Gaza.
eSIMs:
guide to buy & send esims to gaza (highly needed, esim supply very low)
Crips for eSims for Gaza: If you don't know how to buy esims, don't have enough $ for an esim plan, or don't have the capacity to manage them (e.g. topping up regularly), you can donate any amt to this team of volunteers who pool funds to buy & maintain gaza esims regularly (see their financial accountability document).
Medical Aid:
Gaza Wound Care (urgent): Palestinian doctors in central Gaza treating injured/sick children & mothers in neglected displacement camps far from hospitals. Facing a severe shortage of medicines, medical equipment, and supplies. They need funds for their current campaign to battle infectious diseases in refugee camps. (paypal) (gogetfunding) (gfm)
international charities: Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Medical Aid for Palestinians
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Female characters who are the sole voice of reason <<<<<<< Female characters who think of themselves as the sole voice of reason but who are actually just as insane as those around them
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transjudas · 2 months
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Frances Bean Cobain on the 30th anniversary of her father, Kurt’s, death.
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acertainmoshke · 8 months
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I've been having a tough time lately, and when I don't have the energy for everything keeping up with social media is one of the first things I slip on. But I still care about all my writing buddies, so:
Reblog if you're not offended when people take a long time to answer asks, forget to reply to your replies, lag behind in tag games, or skip several weekly ask games.
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gregorovitch-adler · 15 days
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Translation: Junior, I have told you several times that Lily prefers to be single, remember?
Lily is the new aroace icon. That's all.
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gingericywolf · 9 months
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Ehy Birblr ATTENTION pls
DO YOU LIKE BEARDED VULTURES? Even if you don't, Well we need all help possible.
Bearded Vulture Eglazine is Missing
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Eglazine was born at Parco Natura Viva in Italy in 2020 and released in the wild later that year in the French Massiv Central. Since then she flew all around France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.
As of May 2023 her GPS has stopped sending signals and we have no information on her status. Her last know position was in Normandy. Neither her or the tag have been found. This is a call to all vulture lovers, birdwatchers and photographers to keep an eye out for her and help search for Eglazine.
But HOW Do I recognize Eglazine?
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Eglazine is currently in her sub-adult phase, which means she is transitionig her plumage. Black head with some possible white feathers starting to show up, gray-brown body plumage, on her wings she had 3 bleached feathers as of her last sight but more could be present now, she has a PVC ring argent color with the code ET.
If you happen to find a Bearded Vulture that seems to possibly be Eglazine please share informations and photos to the Vulture Conservation Foundation at [email protected]
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Best case scenario she just lost her GPS Tracker while molting her feathers, in the worst case scenario...
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Please reblog and share this so more people can keep an eye out for any trace of her.
Photos and pictures shared are from the instagram page of Parco Natura Viva ( @parconaturaviva )I got permission to share
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izacore · 10 months
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You're in trouble and we're not leaving you on your own. We aren't in danger.
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cryptcatz · 9 months
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i have GOT to get over my obsessive worry about being a burden on others oh my god. it is okay to inconvenience people! people in your life who really care about you won’t mind being inconvenienced!! it’s literally just the human experience!!! communicate your needs for the love of god it’ll be FINE!!!!!
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mental-ch-illness · 9 months
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folks with special interests/hyperfixations NOT related to media (book series, tv shows, movies, etc), what are they and what do you like about it?
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drippyboycunt · 1 year
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bottoms always try to "you're mean" / "that's rude" their way into a mating press
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redysetdare · 3 months
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I'll never understand why people assume that something being a phase is a bad thing, especially when it comes to identity. because the thing is that our lives are made up of phases - they always have and always will. nothing, and i mean nothing, stay's completely the same forever. it's always changing ever so slightly - we are always changing ever so slightly.
We grew up in phases. We would grow up and maybe we liked robots as a kid but then as we grew up we instead decided dinosaurs were cooler - you didn't see people getting up in arms about how a kid liking something was just a phase and why that made their experience with that interest invalid.
We grow up choosing random jobs that we think would be cool as a kid but then as we get older we tend to choose something completely different - no one ever shut down those dream jobs for kids because it's understood that changing your mind isn't a bad thing. It's not bad to say "i want to be an astronaut" and then change that later. No one makes a big deal about "how do you know you actually want to be an astronaut, though?" because that's seen as a silly question to be asking.
it shouldn't be any different for identity. "How do you know you're aromantic?" how do you know you're straight? how do you know you won't change your mind later and realize something about yourself as you grow as a person?
sure, i'm aroace now. That may stay the same it may not. I'm a human being who grows and changes just like you are. Just like we all are. that's the whole point, isn't it? to grow and change?
So what if being aro or ace is a phase. The experience isn't any less valid. it still helped build me as a person. my life was richer because of it, even if it was temporary. I'd rather grow as a person and be happy than feel miserable because I forced myself into stagnation.
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starry-bi-sky · 2 months
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i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.
He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.
And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.
And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.
Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.
Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."
There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.
It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.
Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.
At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.
"Do you like to do anything?"
Nothing. Just silence.
Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.
Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.
Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.
And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.
He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.
Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.
So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.
"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"
"Don't."
He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.
Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"
"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."
It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"
The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."
Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."
And they fall back into silence.
Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."
He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.
(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)
At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.
Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.
("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")
(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)
(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)
It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."
The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."
The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.
When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.
Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.
"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."
When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.
Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.
#dpxdc#dp x dc#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dpxdc crossover#dpdc#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc prompt#man i just really need more dpdc stuff where danny and bruce have a good relationship. like man i NEED it. like i need to see these two#bonding together. and not in a cracky 'oh danny is a distant friend/cousin/etc' stuff but like. active participants in each other's lives#or as active as can be in this case. i neeeeed these two getting along and caring about one another#this idea came to me like last night and hasn't left since nd it was driving me up the wall to think about both positively and negatively b#i neeeded someone to hear about this or i was gonna implode#danny is the first son#tried to just get the general gist of the idea down but i definitely thought of the idea that bruce lowkey suspects vlad for having a hand#Vlad allows Danny to sneak off because he thinks Danny is alone. if he knew Bruce was there he'd be piiisssed and would put a stop to it#Sam and Tucker are alive they just got ghosted for a bit by danny bc he was in Major Grief and didn't wanna socialize. He couldn't go to#them because he didn't wanna put them in danger via Vlad.#oh that thing he handed Bruce? Yeah that's his ghost core. I have a headcanon (that isnt always applied) that ghosts can take their cores#out of their bodies at will and painlessly and without issue. and its common practice actually to do so bc they can be a not insignificant#distance away from said core before problems start to act up. and its common for ghosts to leave their physical cores at their lairs for#safekeeping because as long as the physical core is fine: so is the ghost. they can reform if their body gets destroyed. it also acts as a#fast travel sometimes. where they can reform at their core in an instant. its not inspired in the slightest by SU but i do see the overlap#most cores are pretty small for safety sake: its harder to hit if its small. and they're pr resilient too but its better to be safe than#sorry. so yeah. danny essentially gave bruce the physical embodiment of his soul and indirectly said#'if anything happens to me at least i'll be safe with you'#danny doesn't know he's batman btw#starry rambles.#was gonna go into danny becoming a vigilante beside bruce but im sleeeepy so i'll do that in a reblog. he's gonna go by nightingale if#anyone is interested. stereotypical but to be frank it is a *good* name imo. has a good amount of syllables and consonants to it#and the bird theme. and since its part of an ancestral name it has even more backing for it being bird-y without being meta
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dailybloopy · 3 days
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humanjeff · 2 years
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i am deceased
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fictionallyinparadise · 8 months
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"I'm so normal about him" I say about the fictional man that makes me kick my feet and giggle and blush and feel butterflies
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