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1-50thofabuck · 4 months

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Review of "Hamlet of Volage," Adventure Module V1 from BRW Games for Adventures Dark and Deep.

I love printed gaming materials. I adore published modules that have a distinct old-school look. If I see such modules being offered, I generally purchase them, for my own collection and to support small publishers. They usually don't cost too much.

Modules with witches, fae, conspiracies and/or cults are another selling point for me.

Case in point: I purchased each of the V series modules by BRW games before they were published in print, so I got each as a PDF with the printed book to be sent later when completed. The stories revolve around different covens of witches, existing in secret(naturally) and warring among themselves.

Take the incredibly small hamlet of Volage. At least one coven exists here, most of them living normal, public lives, while members of other covens either live within, or visit frequently, to keep tabs, act as spies and everything you'd expect of such a scenario.

As I'm running this module for a system that we're play testing for publication by Penny Thought Exchange, and this happens to be an anthro based system based loosely on our Steal This Game! public domain engine, I ran the module as "The Hamlet of Vole Lodge: The Haunting of Pell House." None of these kinds of changes affected the module's play too much. Since characters are animal based, they do have access to abilities that run of the mill PCs in other games might not, but we try to balance these abilities as a part of character creation. Also, the NPCs, including the baddies, get these also, so it levels out. Otherwise, it's largely cosmetic, as NPCs are assigned an animal type and fitting description.

Because the module has so many NPCs and information on the town, I printed these out and affixed them to standard paper sized cardboard for quick reference. It also made it easier to track my own additions, such as what animal types the various NPCs are.

All that said to prepare for the review proper, I have to give one last bit of insight. I was running for a very small group, and certain among them are known to get frustrated quickly if leads and clues aren't given to them easily or frequently enough. Thus, I'm not sure in certain places where the problem may lay with the module or with the sensibilities of certain individuals, though in at least one case the problem is certainly the module's, as I will describe as we continue.

Within a day or so in the hamlet, there was already grumbling that nothing was turning up of any real interest. Most of the supernatural occurences, as the PCs felt, were rather mundane, unprovable, or non sequitur to their investigations. Blankets getting bedbugs and such seemed normal enough. Sheep being attacked by wolves and then vanishing is a bit odd, but not enough to jump to suspicions of witchcraft, and seemingly not enough to investigate at any rate. The module itself didn't suggest or describe any methods of doing so or anything learned if PCs did, but it wasn't relevant since they were disinterested in doing so. Every cat being found dead was more mystifying but another case of "what are we supposed to do about it?" People getting sick, people falling off ladders, all seemed like a typical string of unfortunate but not distinctly magical occurances.

They decided to spend the night in the cemetery, where only one random event took place, a weird fog or mist which I tried to play up as much as I could. When all was said and done, however, it was more of the same: "Weird, but nothing we can learn anything from and seemingly unrelated."

The group decided that after another day or so if they didn't come across something of more interest they were going to bail. I still had two more modules and they were ready to quit before getting more than a day into the first. I ended up throwing in a clue not in the module to keep them in, though I regretted throwing bones like that simply because the PCs became disinterested. Still, I really wanted to continue the module, so I did so. To some degree, two of them, but the details of those aren't very important.

They decided to keep an eye on some of the young ones of the hamlet who had been rumored to run off into the woods some nights, and follow them.

Around this time, I decided to look into the next module. It shouldn't be necessary. Each were published at different times, and are supposed to be playable independently. Yet the second module gives details of great importance: the way the Pell family is butchered. V1 simply says they were killed violently. The second reveals that the attack has the hallmarks of an animal attack, yet they got into the house at night, somehow, and left without being seen. Now that gives some serious indication of some supernatural going's on. Too bad V1 decided we didn't need to know!

After telling the players about this new info, they became much more convinced of supernatural tomfoolery, but still felt about the same as they did - follow the young ones next time they run off, if that doesn't lead to anything, we leave.

I don't believe the module tells you what night the young witches go to their esbat, but an NPC suggested the night of the new moon, so the PCs kept special notice that night. One of the bones I threw in to keep the adventure going.

In the end, they got noticed while trailing the girls, but the witches pretended not to notice. They completed their esbat, getting new familiars and other boons before revealing their awareness of the PCs.

The battle didn't last long. The PCs got destroyed. However, it was a small group, and my suggestions of getting retainers and mercenaries to boost their numbers fell on deaf ears. I do not fault the module for their loss whatsoever.

At the moment, I'm running my own revision of an old adventure I wrote(I shared a little taster of it a bit ago), but afterwards, I hope to jump to V2 and see how that one goes. If it works out well, on to V3, or perhaps my sequel idea to the module I'm rewriting now, and then V3. If V2 goes poorly, I suspect I will abandon the series and leave them to look pretty on my shelf.

If you like OSR adventure modules, despite my less than stellar success, you can't go too wrong for a $4 PDF. https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/373537/Adventure-Module-V1--The-Hamlet-of-Volage

Addendum: While looking for a quick cover image to put at the beginning of the review, I came across tenfootpole's review. I often agree, sometimes strongly disagree, but generally find their reviews entertaining either way. Looking to see if they hailed it as a masterpiece and realize I'm a big dummy, oh boy did they not find it impressive. Strong language warning for those sensitive to that kinda thing. Their agreement does not make me right, but I'm gratified that at least it wasn't just me who was kind of bewildered by a lot of the adventure.

#osr #D&D #AD&D #adventures dark and deep #adventure module #adventure module v1 #the hamlet of volage #osr module #adventure review #module review #osr module review #brw games #rpg #rpgs

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docholligay · 9 months

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Our Wives Under the Sea

The pitch: Gaslight, gatekeep me, and with dueling narrators baby! weird, gothic underwater horror story, as an exploration of the depths of love and grief at the heart of a marriage. (with much, is this happening, or is this HAPPENING??) -

"The deep sea is a haunted house: a place in which things that ought not to exist move about in the darkness. 'Unstill' is the word Leah uses..." Leah is changed.

Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp. --

made me say "ouch" and "oof" at different parts of the book wrt to the hit to the feels. also no spoilers but apparently the different zones of the ocean depths are named in the most dramatic way possible and I live for it

Nonspoilery: I could see at least three different lines of thinking about what this book is “about” and I fucking live for that.It’s a good book that makes you close in on the inevitable, without letting you emotionally back away from it.

spoilery: This is a story about someone going away. I think that’s the most straightforward way of talking about it, and I could see someone reading this as the story of a breakdown of a marriage, it absolutely could be that. I read it as being about grief and letting go, which I think it also reads very very easily as. There’s actually two ways to read that, as well, which I’ll get into below.

From the time Leah comes back, she is going away. The journey under the sea, where something SAW her,

Now, I read this as what it is to watch someone die, to know that every day they get further and further away from you, and at the end all you can do is help them let go, release them, but ALSO the frustration of someone who can do less and less, someone you barely even recognize as they retreat into themselves. Knowing that you can’t go out, that you should be grateful they are still with you, but ARE they?

This is so interesting read against Miri’s experience of her mother’s death by what I am 98% sure is meant to be Huntington’s. The way she talked about how she sent her regards and visited less than was kind and let her go before she was ever dead. (at this moment in the book, I was like, “Oh yeah exactly this is what I’ve written Lena as being so afraid of because this is geuniely a thing that happens all the time”) But Leah she isn’t ready to let go, though of course she must. She has to return to that same place she was when she let go of her mother, with someone else who understands, to let Leah drift away.

NOW, onto another, competing but equal thought to me: Is Leah already dead, and is this about Miri working through her grief and admitting Leah is gone? Things I like about this are the strange fantasy of what happened to Leah under the sea, how Leah slowly disappears into water (though that goes with my first take too), the way the book is titled to reflect the Husbands in Space, the way Miri talks about reading a board for people who have gone missing and that it writes that the worst thing is when someone is just missing, you realize YOU ARE THE ONE THAT HAS TO KILL THEM. You have to MAKE them dead. I screamed. Amazing. Painful.

And that’s honestly this whole book, it’s so hard to write this shit without my computer and this has already taken me hours, but this whole book is about the unique pain of letting go of someone you love, whatever the means. Absolutely up my fucking alley.

Great pick @moonlight-frittata

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weenwrites · 1 year

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Hey I’d like to request a romantic match up from Transformers prime. I’m an Infp straight female, I like art, music, figure skating, Halloween, science, and love riding in the car but I never get tired of flying. My love languages are physical touch and acts of service. A little bit words of affirmation but it’s a hit or miss if I want to or can think of anything to say anything sweet like that. I also like to paint my nails and dye my hair ombre blue to white.

I match you with Ratchet and Knockout!

Ratchet

He's not a very talkative person, no, but he'd make for a very dedicated, loyal, and caring partner. Even if he doesn't say aloud how much he cares about you, it'll always show through his actions.

From time to time, Ratchet will do little things for you like leaving you snacks or bottles of water to remind you to eat and drink properly, or he'll drape a little blanket over you if he finds you napping on the couch. It isn't much, and unfortunately he can't do much, but if he knows that he can do something that you'll appreciate, he'll do it.

If you ever showed any interest in his work, he wouldn't mind explaining what he's doing so long as his work doesn't call his complete and total concentration at the moment. If you asked him anything about cybertronian anatomy, he'd be happy to teach you (and it would go to show because he'd be ecstatic whenever you learned whatever he taught you.)

He doesn't go outside too often, so it'd be good for him if you convinced him to take drives outside of the base more. It's a really good way to help him de-stress and decompress. Whenever he's super frustrated or angry he'll just go out and just start driving with absolutely no end-point in mind. He just keeps driving and driving and stops once he feels better.

Whenever you go out to figure skate he does remind you to be careful and to stretch after you skate. He'd never join you, no, because he doesn't like being on the ice, but he'd definitely sit on the sidelines and watch you do your thing.

Knockout

He's a very lively, talkative, and caring bot who loves to share gossip with you, yes, but there are times where he hushes down and has more relaxing and slow-going conversations with you, typically whenever work happens to be slow that day, or when he manages to catch a break.

His love language also happens to be words of affirmation, so from time to time he's giving you sweet compliments. If he happens to fluster you, he'll never let you live it down and he'd tease the heck out of you (unless you don't like being teased, then he'd try his best not to.)

And whenever he actually has free time, he'd definitely take you out for nice, peaceful drives down empty desert roads or perhaps beautiful cities at night (or wherever else you'd like to go.) He likes to play music while he goes out on drives, but he never plays it obnoxiously loud.

Speaking of going out, he loves going to drive-in theaters, so you should definitely expect that he'll bring you out with him to go watch some horror movies when Halloween comes rolling around. Unless movies aren't your thing, then he's down to checking out Halloween attractions or "haunted houses" with you.

He'd love to help you with your hair or your nails if you'd let him. He has a really good sense of what colors match with whatever outfit you're wearing, so he'd definitely give you a couple suggestions here and there.

He finds figure skating such a beautiful and elegant sport, so you bet he'd love to watch you figure skate. He likes to imagine himself figure skating with you on the ice in a graceful manner, but the reality is that he'd most definitely have a real hard time on the ice at first.

Knockout's extroverted by nature and while it'd be ideal (to him) to spend as much time as possible around you, he'd of course give you your own time to just chill (so long as you aren't gone for too long.)

#match ups #[ hope you enjoy it! ]#weenwrites

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reanima-hsuan · 2 years

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Research Presentation in Small group

17/10/22

Today we had a presentation in small group with Mary, Issac, Doreen, Ajibola, Naintara and Mona.

I think talking in a small group does help us with our own projects. However, the time is not enough for each of us to freely discuss.

Wish we could have this kind of discussion more during the semester because I am very curious about everyone's work, and it's nice to hear from others' perspectives. Since we often get lost when exploring by ourselves.

Quick Note For myself about the things I find interesting in others' projects:

Mary- Procrastination

It can be interesting because it happens to most of people. For me it's the fear of failures which makes me procrastinate. It could be a deep topic if digs deeper.

Issac- ads, females and handicapped people in creative industry

I can see Issac is a person care about the groups differing from him. Also, knowing other people from different backgrounds is the main goal of the program. When Mona said about how handicapped people comprehend the world in a different way (ex. from listening, touching etc), I can feel how distinctive their world will be. Or maybe each of us is exactly unique.

I have a friend make her film for blind people actually. I think she also has the gentle heart that trying to understand others.

Doreen- Empathic

I like this topic actually. Sometimes I felt myself easily relate to emotions. It reminds me that I almost cried when Virgilio had the speech in the first week. I can feel the emotions(or maybe it's because I was straightly facing him??) ,and the energy of sadness, rage and frustration just directly went through me. Probably because of my tragic experience in NL also played a part in it lol.

Mona - memories of Granny and sometimes grandpa

I can see this animation in my head! I can say it must be a poetic and beautiful one. I like how she describe the story. It's a sad story but I can really see some contraction already in the plot. The secret of grandma is released only after she could not mentally hind anything in her anymore. So how big the sadness could be when she is still conscious? Visually, I am very moved by the part when Mona said her grandma was too ill and was not able to open her eyes but still walking around in the house. All the family members was wishing her death, while the sadness was so real to her when it truly arrived.

I think, in my opinion, the reason is wanting to be received in years but knowing unable to fulfill it anymore. The love beneath the hate is too deep and haunting.

Naintara - Pain

I love when Naintara read the poem and also when she talked about her culture. I can feel the pain.

I know the feeling that some topics are always coming back. In the midnight or when you waiting for something to distract you, it always finds the crack to sneak in your brain. I love when she says pain is an organ. That explains well why we are not able to leave from pain. It lives within us. How beautiful and sad. Pain regarding to women has totally different meaning from men. While it can relate to so many things and I really look forward to what the research will bring in the process.

It's sad that we do not have time to know more about Ajibola's project but we will eventually.

I have to thank Steven for doing the records for us, it's very nice and kind that we have no need to busy writing, and be able to pay fully attention to what others are talking about. Thanks Steven!!

#research

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todomitoukei · 3 years

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Japanese vs. English Dabi - A 292 Comparison

As other people have already pointed it, the official translation is sometimes a little biased to the point of adding things into the text that aren’t in the original Japanese version or changing phrases to the point where the villains come off colder than they actually are.

The current chapters are highly important to Dabi’s and Shouto’s characters and so the official translation, unfortunately, can lead to people getting the wrong image of Dabi. This is not to say that Dabi is actually a super friendly guy - however, I don’t think you can get a full picture of all the layers to his character without taking the original text in mind.

Since there are a few panels I’m going to talk about from this chapter - comparing the Japanese version with the official translation and also dissecting and explaining the original Japanese phrases - I’m going to put the rest of this post under the cut because it’s a bit lengthy otherwise.

Let’s start with these panels. Though these aren’t mistranslated per se, just like with the “dance with your son in hell” line from the previous chapter, the furigana next to the kanji have a different meaning here. As discussed before, whenever this is the case, the furigana are what the character says, and the kanji represent what the character actually means.

The line in the second panel is: 「轟家の過去が消えるわけじゃねえだろ。」

轟家「とどろきいえ ; todoroki ie 」-> the Todoroki household

の　「 no 」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

過去「か�� ; kako 」 -> the past; a past (i.e. a personal history one would prefer remained secret); one’s past

が「 ga 」 -> particle to mark the subject of the sentence

消える「きえる ; kieru 」 -> to vanish; to disappear

わけじゃねえ「 wakejanee 」 -> It doesn’t mean that

だろ「 daro 」 -> right ? (used to ask the person you’re talking to for confirmation)

The two words that have a different furigana reading than they should have, are Todoroki household and past. According to the furigana, Dabi says:

「うち」-> house; one’s own home

「じじつ」-> truth; reality

So going by the kanji reading you get:

“This doesn’t mean that the past of the Todoroki household just disappears, right?”

Whereas what he actually says is:

“This doesn’t mean the truth of our home just disappears, right?”

In comparison to the “dance with your son in hell” line, these two versions don’t differ as much from another. Caleb actually addresses this in his twitter threat and sort of mixed the two versions into one: “This doesn’t change the hard truths about my family’s past!”

Personally, considering he is directly talking to Shouto here, I find the choice of translating the Todoroki household/home part into “my family” a bit weird. Since he seeks Shouto’s confirmation here, it would make more sense to translate it as “our family” in my opinion. The “my” makes it feel a lot more self-centered, even though there is no indication for him to only be referring to himself here.

Switching the word to vanish with “change” also slightly changes the meaning here. Though both are accurate, I feel like their past disappearing holds more weight. The line is, after all, referring to the fact that Best Jeanist has appeared, despite Dabi earlier announcing that the hero had been killed. So even though Dabi was wrong about that part, it doesn’t make his other facts go away. It’s not just about changing his words, but making it like they were never spoken in the first place. It’s a small difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Finally, the “hard truths” part instead of reality/past. It’s interesting to think about why Dabi says “truth” when he means “past”. But I think one way to look at it is that to Dabi, he has accepted the past. He has lived with it and carried it with him in silence for so long, but was always aware of it. Despite him not having told anyone else about it, he didn’t deny that past to himself. He shows his scars and he fights back. That is who Dabi is as the person that rose from Touya’s ashes. Meanwhile, he says “truth” while talking to Shouto. While we, the readers, and those around Shouto know of his hatred towards Endeavor, Dabi doesn’t know about this. To him, Shouto really is just Endeavor’s little doll. And so in Dabi’s eyes, Shouto has yet to see the truth. To acknowledge their past and the pain they all went through. And though Dabi might not be completely right about Shouto, he isn’t entirely wrong, either. Because even when Shouto hates Endeavor, even when he says he is just going to use him for his own gain, at the end of the day, regardless of his reasons, his actions are still what Endeavor wants him to do - to train hard and want to become the Number One Hero.

I included one the alternative meanings “a personal past one might prefer remained secret” because it also fits well with that interpretation. That the true meaning behind him saying “truth” is not just the mere past, but the part of the past they don’t want to share. Whether that’s because it’s an ugly one that could haunt them for the rest of their lives, or because it’s just difficult to talk about. Either way, it’s more than just memories from when their family was still young. In that, I think “hard truth” is actually a fitting translation, even when it doesn’t have the exact same nuance as the Japanese version.

While Shouto and Dabi are in many ways similar to another, they have slightly different goals: While Dabi wants to kill Endeavor, Shouto wants to save his mom. To both of them that is liberty, just with a different approach.

And the ending of the sentence, where he seeks confirmation from Shouto, sort of indicates just that. He wants Shouto to admit it. Pushing him into a corner and asking a question that only has one right answer. This is also similar to a few chapters ago when Toga confronted Uraraka with the question “Was Jin not a person?” It’s asking something with an obvious answer, yet the people being asked seem to not yet be able to give the right answer, even when they might already know it.

Next of, Shouto confronts Dabi about the villain he sent to their house, who could have killed Natsuo. As you can see in the panel above, the English translation has Dabi say: “Almost killed? What a shame. That would’ve really hurt Endeavor.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese version says: 「それならそれで。エンデヴァーが苦しむ。」

「それならそれで ; sorenara sorede 」 -> even so (expression frustration); still

「エンデヴァー ; Endebā 」 -> Endeavor

「が ; ga 」 -> particle to mark the subject of the sentence

「苦しむ ; kurushimu 」 -> to suffer

As you can see, “Almost killed? What a shame” is kind of very far off from the actual meaning. While the official translation makes it almost sound like Dabi is disappointed and wants Natsuo to be killed, the fan translation has him say: “Then that would mean Endeavor would suffer.” This is a lot closer to the Japanese version and focuses on the more important part: the goal is for Endeavor to suffer. Dabi’s intention isn’t to get anyone else in the family hurt/killed in the process, however, he does have this tunnel vision where everything is about Endeavor and doing whatever to hurt him.

“What a shame” sounds like he is upset Natsuo didn’t actually die. While, as stated above, the first part can show frustration, that frustration more likely refers to the disappointment that Endeavor doesn’t suffer as much as he could.

While both versions translate the second part as Endeavor “would” suffer/be hurt by this, the Japanese uses the present tense for suffering. In a way, Dabi is saying “Well, though he could’ve been more hurt, he suffers.” Maybe he hasn’t been as damaged as could be, but it doesn’t matter, because the fact remains that he does suffer from this, present tense. So Dabi doesn’t recognize this as a loss or “a shame” that Natsuo didn’t die. Instead, he recognizes that Endeavor suffers, even when he isn’t met with the worst-case scenario.

In response to the last panel, Shouto asks whether Dabi is insane (please don’t ask people that) and Dabi’s response in the original translation is “Sure am, Shouto. See, your brother’s not so big on “feelings” anymore.”

A couple of thoughts on this. First, this is a downgrade in comparison to the fan translation of “You got it, Shouto! Your big brother has completely lost any feeling for anything!”

Something the phrasing coupled with Dabi’s wide eyes and big smile make me laugh and this panel now lives rent free in my head.

Anyway, the Japanese line goes: 「そうだよ焦凍兄ちゃん何も感じなくなっちまった。」

「そうだよ ; soudayo 」 -> that is right

「焦凍 ; Shouto 」 -> Shouto

「兄ちゃん ; Nii-Chan 」 -> big bro (in a very endearing way, but can also be used to be demeaning)

「何も ; nanimo 」 -> nothing

「感じ ; kanji 」 -> feeling

「なく ; naku 」 -> adverbial form of nai; attaches to a verb to mean “without”

「なっちまった ; nacchimatta 」 -> to have become (unintentionally; regretfully)

The fan translation, in my opinion, is far more accurate, but there is still something missing.

First of all, I don’t know why the official translation put feelings in quotes as if Dabi didn’t actually say it? mean it? It just feels like an odd choice that I can’t find a good enough justification for.

Second of all, “not so big on ‘feelings’ anymore” and “has completely lost any feeling for anything” is a big difference, and would make sense if the fan translation was inaccurate. But it isn’t. The official translation makes it sound like Dabi more or less chose not to feel anymore or pay attention to his feelings. He could, but he doesn’t want to. You could argue that both sentences still carry the same meaning: Dabi doesn’t feel anymore. "To be big on something” usually refers to having a strong interest in something and prioritizing said interest, which implies that one chooses to prioritize it. While I’m not arguing that some people do choose to ignore their feelings instead of confronting them, in this case, it’s actually the opposite of what he says.

Looking at the actual Japanese sentence, it begins with Dabi confirming Shouto’s words. Yes, I am crazy. There is no denying, nor shame in this. There is almost a bit of pride in that - so little bro actually recognizes that I have gone crazy from this.

Nii-Chan is an interesting choice of words here. The Japanese language is very much based on hierarchy. There are different levels of formality (shown through words, expressions, and verb forms) depending on whom you are speaking to. To summarize: When you are talking to someone who is of higher status (based on job position, age, experience). This also applies to siblings. Since those of higher status can be more direct/less formal with those of lower status, older siblings can address their younger siblings by their given name alone.

Meanwhile, the younger siblings would use some kind of honorific/suffix. In this case, the “Nii” means older brother. “San” is the standard suffix you would use to address your older siblings (and other people in general). “Chan” is a suffix that you usually use for kids/girls, - where it has a cute, endearing connotation - wherefore it becomes kind of rude when used for older people (as in people who aren’t children anymore). But it can also show endearment - a close bond between the siblings.

So why does Dabi call himself “Nii-Chan”? While you can interpret this as a sarcastic remark to mock their non-existent relationship, I think here Dabi uses it here to humanize himself to Shouto. Kind of like an “I know you see me as a villain right now, but I also am your bro, remember?” He isn’t just this “evil criminal” - rather cute lil Touya is still inside of him. Dabi isn’t just Dabi. He still is Touya, too. So if you fight Dabi and if you call Dabi insane, you also do those things to Touya. Dabi might be the stage of “having completely lost it” but that doesn’t just suddenly happen. It’s a process. While we can say Dabi became Touya on the day Touya “died” yet it’s important to recognize that there was a gradual transition where both Touya and Dabi existed.

Now that we have that part aside, let’s focus on the actual point of that phrase. The part about his feelings.

何も感じなくなっちまった。 Nanimo kanjinaku nacchimatta.

“Nanimo” means nothing and comes with negative verbs that it refers to.

As mentioned before, “kanji” means feeling and is paired with the adverbial form of “nai” - “naku” which negates “kanji” to turn it into not feeling. Pair that with “nanimo” and you get a meaning of “feeling nothing”

Now for the actually interesting part of this phrase (apologies that it took so long) - “nacchimatta”. This word consists of two seperate words: “naru” and “chimatta”. “Naru” means to become and is here merged with “chimatta” which is the colloquial past tense version of “teshimau”. The verb “shimau” expresses that an action (the verb it attaches to) has happened either unintentionally or has yielded regrettable results. So in this case, it is unintentional/regrettable that he has become something.

Putting this together, Dabi says that he has turned into someone who doesn’t feel anything anymore and this was not his intention, nor is it a good thing. To be fair, “shimau” can also mean something happens completely, however this meaning is rarer and while we can say that this is the meaning here, it’s more likely and more interesting to consider the more common meaning.

With that in mind, I want to quickly address the panel next to it, where Shouto asks him whether he has gone insane

In Japanese Shouto says:「イカれてんのかてめェ！」

「イカれて ; ikarete 」 -> (*ika is written in katakana here to emphasize the word since you can’t use italics in Japanese) to be beaten; to be crazy

「ん ; n 」 -> ender is used when explaining something; often with emotion*

「の ; no 」 -> explanatory particle; used at the end of a sentence like a question marker, but you want the listener to answer and give you the reasons why

「か ; ka 」 -> ender indicating doubt or uncertainty

「てめェ！; temee! 」 -> you (derogatory) *meme not intended

The reason why these nuances are important to take into account is that when Dabi, in his reply confirms that “Yes, you’re right, unfortunately, I have become unable to feel anything” he is not just confirming the statement, but emphasizing just how tragic this all is.

*[edit because someone pointed this out to me: the ん here is actually more likely to be the casual form of いる (iru) that attaches to the て (te) form of a verb to turn it into the current/ongoing state (= In this case "are you being crazy).]

The official translation simply made Shouto say: “Are you freaking insane?!” which isn’t exactly wrong but misses the nuance of the “nnoka” in the middle of the sentence. While the official translation sounds rather cold and dismissive, the original shows that Shouto cares. There is emotion, and more importantly: there is a desire to hear his reasons. “Why do you think it was okay to put Natsuo in danger?” By the way, the “n” ender that shows emotion when explaining something is also used by Shouto earlier when he says “Remember him? The brother you cried to every day?!” - It’s no surprise that he is emotional right now, still, it’s important to note that he isn’t just showing his emotions through his tone or his expression, but also through his words in order to make it as clear as possible to Dabi how much Dabi’s actions affect the rest of them and hopefully be able to get through to it.

It’s an emotional and tragic conversation that takes place between them, yet the official translation turned it into a much colder, less-caring one.

I know this was a lengthy post with a lot of information, so congrats and thank you if you’ve made it this far. The reason why I decided to make this post was that initially, the “Nii-Chan can’t feel anything anymore” part stuck with me so much and even more so when I dissected it.

Again, other people have pointed out that the official translation is very biased at times, which is not just sad for those of us who care about the villains, but it’s also just not professional. A lot of the panels I talked about in this post aren’t inherently incorrect, they are simply missing nuances that the English language doesn’t provide. Still, I wished that a professional translator would figure out a way to at least slightly incorporate these anyhow (which btw is literally part of the job). Aside from those, it’s just frustrating when the emotions get almost entirely removed from phrases. I get it - Dabi is apathetic, as he says himself. And yet, Dabi is also constantly shown to put extreme care into which words he chooses; this chapter being no exception. So why does such an important conversation between two brothers get changed in ways that make people who don’t bother checking other translations/the Japanese version unable to get the right image of them?

I understand that it’s important to support the official translation and I do. But it’s also very much important to read other versions, too. While the fan translation might have errors and mistranslations in it here and there, it tends to be a bit more literal and thus includes the nuances more than the official translation does. So please don’t just read the official translation and treat it like the only valid one, when it also comes with its flaws and just isn’t a good sole source for when you want to understand the characters.

#dabi #meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #shouto #todoroki #292 #my hero academia #mha #mine #bnha 292 #lov #also this took a while pls show this some love sgnskgns #translation

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aphrostarot · 3 years

Text

Future Relationship Pick a Pile

What is the present and future state of things with the person you are thinking about?

*you do not have to be in a relationship with them currently*

Please remember that this is a general reading and some things may not apply to you. Don't force it to fit. I offer paid readings on my page if you would like a personal reading. Prices are listed there. Please message me or email me if you are interested!

Pile One (Rose Quartz):

Where are you presently?

Seven of Wands:

Right now, someone in your life is causing you drama. Recently, you have been arguing and fighting more than usual with this person. This might be a romantic partner or an old friend. This person doesn't respect you or your ideas, and it has been showing more and more lately, which makes you retaliate and step up to defend yourself.

Where is your person presently?

Seven of Cups:

Right now, this person feels pretty lost in their life. After spending so long on one path, they are stuck, unsure of how to proceed, faced with multiple options on how to move forward in life. Right now, they must decide whether to continue on the path they have been on or take a different route.

The Hanged Man:

They will have to make sacrifices on this journey, and it appears that they are currently stuck due to a lack of desire to make those sacrifices. To move forward, they must give up something in their life, but this is a very difficult decision. Currently, they are at a standstill.

What obstacles stand in your way currently?

King of Pentacles:

One or both of you are a very materialistic person, viewing people as what they can bring to you rather than through an emotional lens. Based on the energy I feel that this may be the person you are thinking of rather than you. This person needs to let go of this mindset so they can choose the right path, the one that leads to you.

What do/will you provide for your partner?

Page of Cups:

When it comes to this person, you are very empathic. Your more sensitive side shows when you are with them, and you really want to help them through their troubles. You tend to be quite needy when it comes to them, feeling as though if they do not constantly show their love to you or express their love for you that they are losing these feelings. When it comes to them, you need constant reassurance. Despite that, you still show this person a more loving and gentle type of love, something they might not be accustomed to.

What do/will they provide to you?

Queen of Wands:

When it comes to you, this person is quite bossy. They are quite dictatorial. Most of what they care about is themselves and their pursuit of what they want, rather than your emotional needs and wants. However, they have no ill intentions or feelings for you. Love from this person makes you feel more insecure. This person brings out your abandonment wounds. As of now, your relationship is like this.

What are your future intentions with them?

The Emperor:

Since this person currently has a lot of control over you, it seems to me you want to be in charge in the future. You want to reclaim your throne and be the bossy dictator instead. For a change, you'd like to be the boss.

What are their future intentions with you?

Nine of Cups:

They want to fulfill all of your future wishes as well as their own. They want your relationship to be everything that both of you have ever dreamed of having.

Queen of Swords:

This may not reflect their future intentions, but rather only a possible outcome. There will be a woman who causes trouble in your relationship. Usually, it is a female relative, a mom, or a sister. In the case that you are currently having problems with this woman, this person's intention may be to handle your current problem.

What are some obstacles you will face in the future if the present obstacle isn’t dealt with?

Eight of Cups:

In the future, if you do not resolve the present obstacles, one of you may walk away and start a new life. According to the energy I am receiving from this pile, you might be the one to walk away from this person if they do not change their materialistic mindset.

Where do they stand with you in the future?

Knight of Cups:

It seems as if they will finally start to see you from an emotional point of view in the future. Eventually, they will start to be more romantic towards you and act like a prince charming. They want to be everything that you have always wanted them to be.

Where do you stand with them in the future?

The Devil:

I think that this person finally acknowledging their feelings for you and becoming less bossy and more romantic towards you is too little, too late. Ultimately, it will be you who walks away. Having had enough of the psychological trauma that this person brings up in you and causes in you, you leave them.

Channeled Messages:

“Dominate me”

“I wish you were lying next to me my love…”

“You are home”

“You are the one I want to be with”

“How can you miss someone you’ve never met?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, you are always in my dreams.”

“I think you are amazing”

Frustration

Have faith

Please stay

Channeled Letters:

Channeled Songs:

Pile Two (Amazonite):

Where are you presently?

The Magician:

My sense is that you may be single and manifesting this person into your life. If that is not the case, then it is possible that your significant other isn't who you thought they were, so you are trying to manifest a better version of them through them or through someone else.

Where is your person presently?

King of Wands:

Currently, this person feels extremely passionate about the things they are pursuing in life. They work extremely hard to achieve their dreams and they are pretty successful. At this point in their lives, they are feeling pretty confident and feel as if they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.

What obstacles stand in your way currently?

The Hanged Man:

If you want to move closer to each other, you may need to make some sacrifices in one or both of your lives. For some, I’m hearing that the Universe is bringing you your manifestations but it may not look exactly like what you want. If that is the case then you will need to let go of some of your ideas of what you want in a person.

What do/will you provide for your partner?

The Fool:

There may be an age difference between you and this person, that or a different level of maturity between the both of you. The person you are thinking of seems to be the more mature and serious one out of the both of you. This person will see life in a more fun-loving, carefree way when you are around. You show them a more youthful approach to love and life.

What do/will they provide to you?

Death:

The Fool is all beginnings and Death is all about endings, so, this is another symbol of the two of you and your levels of maturity. You benefit from this person's maturity. Their guidance will help you to become a more beautiful version of yourself. They will help you let go of your past and grow into a better version of yourself.

What are your future intentions with them?

Five of Cups:

Despite the hurt you've suffered in the past and the sadness that has filled your life, you're still a positive person. Life still seems hopeful to you and you do not let hurt consume you. That hurt still resides deep inside of you, and sometimes it overcomes you if you are not careful.

I am receiving strong Aries energy from this pile, both Sun and Moon.

The Tower:

During the Tower moment in Tarot, everything you have accumulated over the course of your life comes crashing down around you. The Fool's journey describes them sleeping under the Tower when it comes crumbling down around them. It was a traumatic experience but they emerged from it more optimistic thanks to the fact that they lost most of what held them back and they are ready for a fresh start. I find this interesting because you bring the Fool's energy to this person, which shows me that you do embody the Fool. You know that this person will allow you to let go of your past and move forward. Therefore, your future intention with this person is to help you overcome your sadness and become a better version of yourself.

What are their future intentions with you?

Ace of Pentacles:

This person wants to build a foundation with you in the future. In order to make sure that you're happy and comfortable in life, they are willing to do whatever it takes. They want to make sure you can count on them for support whenever you need it. Their intentions are to build a happy and healthy home life with you. Possibly even building a house for you. They could also want to buy you an engagement ring.

What are some obstacles you will face in the future if the present obstacle isn’t dealt with?

Five of Wands:

In the absence of solutions to the present obstacles, some competition may be on the horizon. There may be people who try to steal this person's attention from you.

Page of Cups:

Your emotional immaturity may be another obstacle in this current situation. You need to start to mature a bit more and recognize that some of your desires are not what is best for you. You are being blinded by your optimism in this current moment and this may come back to haunt you in the future.

Where do they stand with you in the future?

Nine of Cups:

With you, their future is filled with wish fulfillment. You will fulfill all of their wishes in the future. Their dreams of building a foundation with you, of making you comfortable and happy with them are coming true in the future. As long as the obstacles are overcome.

Where do you stand with them in the future?

Judgment:

As for you, the future looks bright as well. You will see results in your current problems. By overcoming your current obstacles, you will then be able to be in a healthy relationship with this person.

Channeled Messages:

“Emotionally distant”

“Too self-conscious"

“Dominate me”

“I’ve heard that you’ve been a bad…”

“Can I know every part of you?”

“Playing hard to get”

“I think you are amazing”

Divine Masculine

Eternal Love

Forever

Channeled Letters:

Channeled Songs:

Pile Three (Amethyst):

Where are you presently?

Nine of Pentacles:

In recent months, you have been enjoying the fruits of your labor more than you did before. It is possible that you have been treating yourself more rather than saving money. It seems that you have struggled with money in the past, which is why you usually save money, but lately, you have been spending more than you used to.

Where is your person presently?

The Hermit:

For the past few months, the person you are thinking of has been living in hermit mode. Instead of spending time with friends, they have been spending time with themselves. This has left them feeling pretty lonely.

Three of Wands:

Recently, this person started a new job or has changed the way they work. They have had to work in a team more, and being in a hermit mode makes this difficult. They would much rather be alone right now, but their job requires them to work with others.

What obstacles stand in your way currently?

Three of Pentacles:

This is the card of putting your skills to good use. The process of becoming a master. Currently, your person is not doing this. Recently, they have experienced something that has caused them to withdraw into themselves, despite the Universe telling them they need to work with others to improve their abilities. This is preventing both of you from progressing towards each other if they continue to do so.

What do/will you provide for your partner?

Two of Cups:

It is possible that this person has never experienced true love. They do not know what it's like to be truly loved for who you are and everything you do. No one has ever brought them sweet, innocent, fairytale-like love. As a result, they may feel that they are unworthy. You will bring this to them. This person will experience what it is like to be truly loved by you.

What do/will they provide to you?

Eight of Cups:

Your tendency is to hold onto the past, fearing that the negative things that happened to you in the past will happen again. You will be able to let go and move on from the past when you are with this person. A brighter future awaits you with their guidance.

The Sun:

With them, you will experience true happiness. Your life will be better than it has ever been before because of them.

What are your future intentions with them?

Two of Pentacles:

You want to bring balance not only in your own life but also in their life. Your goal is to be the person that makes them feel complete and whole, the one that makes them feel at home.

Queen of Cups:

Also, you want to show this person what true loyalty is. You want this person to trust you and feel at ease with your relationship. Your way of doing this is by being an extremely kind, caring, and loyal partner. The last thing you want is to become the kind of person who has hurt them before.

What are their future intentions with you?

Strength:

They want you to see how strong they are. They want to be the person who you go to for protection, the one who is going to hold down the fort when you need it. They want you to truly be yourself and let your guard down around them and the only way they feel they can do this is by being strong for you.

What are some obstacles you will face in the future if the present obstacle isn’t dealt with?

Page of Wands:

If the present obstacles are not addressed, it appears that this relationship won't last. Maintaining a long-term relationship will be challenging for you both.

Where do they stand with you in the future?

Four of Pentacles:

It seems that this person will be very possessive of you. This can be a negative thing for some but, based on the energy I am getting from you, I think that you may enjoy this at least in the beginning you do.

Where do you stand with them in the future?

Death:

As a result of this relationship, you will undergo a transformation. At the beginning of the relationship, you may enjoy their more possessive and jealous side, but as the relationship progresses, you no longer enjoy this side. In the end, you will want to end this relationship.

King of Wands (reversed):

As the relationship progresses, this person turns out to be quite arrogant and domineering. When you realize they were hiding their true colors from you at first, you begin to lose feelings for them. You no longer enjoy their bossy attitude and actually despise it.

Channeled Messages:

“Just tell me how you feel”

“I tried to replace you but then I realized you’re irreplaceable. Now you’re gone.”

“Can I know every part of you?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you. You are always in my dreams.”

“I want to see you naked”

“Let me show you how much I love you”

“I see you in my dreams”

“I wished for someone like you”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”

Forever

Channeled Letters:

Blank - whatever you feel fits

Channeled Songs:

Pile Four (Fuchsite):

Where are you presently?

Queen of Pentacles:

Recently, you have been treating yourself to some luxury. As of late, you have become more self-loving, and this includes treating yourself to things you normally wouldn't.

Three of Swords:

After being heartbroken, you may have realized that you cannot rely on others to love you and that you must love yourself. Because of this, you have been treating yourself much better than you have in the past.

Where is your person presently?

Four of Pentacles:

Currently, this person feels very possessive over the things in their life. Perhaps they fear letting go of things or are sentimentally attached to pretty much everything they own. This leads to hoarding behavior, which they have always had but recently has gotten worse. This person gives me strong Cancer energy.

Eight of Swords:

In addition, they seem to be trapped in their own minds. Insecurities that they have lived with all their lives have resurfaced and are causing them a lot of trouble. This may explain why they are hoarding things. I also feel that they may be moving right now and this is what is causing the insecurities and hoarding behavior because they may fear change.

What obstacles stand in your way currently?

The Devil:

You have been unable to come together because of this person's hoarding addiction. The reasons why they hoard stem from their anxieties and insecurities, which are a result of their fear of change and abandonment. In order for the two of you to come together, this person needs to get these behaviors under control.

What do/will you provide for your partner?

Queen of Cups:

You will be an extremely kind, caring, and loyal partner. Providing them with an outlet for expressing their emotions. This person will be more willing to open up with you in their life. As a result, they will be more willing to get out of their own heads.

What do/will they provide to you?

Ten of Pentacles:

This person will bring you abundance. Everything you have ever wanted in life will be provided by them. You will both have a very comfortable life together.

What are your future intentions with them?

The Emperor

You want to be the dominant one in the relationship, wanting to control how the relationship goes. When it comes to them, you want to make the decisions and be the one they can count on to let go of their control issues and let you handle things.

What are their future intentions with you?

Nine of Cups:

It is this person's dream to fulfill every one of your dreams. Their goal is to make your life full of joy and abundance. My impression is that they are willing to give you control so long as they can be the person that you have always dreamed of being, and as long as they can fulfill all your wishes.

What are some obstacles you will face in the future if the present obstacle isn’t dealt with?

Two of Cups:

If the present issues are not addressed, it seems that the two of you will struggle to maintain a balanced relationship filled with love. Together, you will butt heads and have a hard time finding happiness.

Where do they stand with you in the future?

The Lovers:

The future looks bright on their end. They seem to have gotten control over their unhealthy behaviors and want to give you love. If you are currently in a relationship with this person, they will likely realize in the future that if they do not control their negative behaviors, you will not be able to remain together. This is what drives them to change.

Ace of Cups:

If you are not currently with this person then this is a sign that they too will realize that the only way for them to be with you is by them getting their negative behaviors under control. They will soon do this and come towards you with an offer of love.

Where do you stand with them in the future?

King of Wands:

In the future, you will be ready to commit to this person. You will be the provider for them, taking care of them and their needs, giving them a chance to settle down and let their guard down. The future looks bright for both of you and this relationship.

Channeled Messages:

“Don’t let me go”

“Not open right now”

“I want to taste you”

“My twin flame, my love”

“Want to make you scream”

“I’m testing your limits”

“I’m working on myself right now.”

“I am trying to protect you”

Fight for it

Time Apart

Channeled Letters:

Channeled Songs:

Though tips are not required, they are very much appreciated. Thank you!

Venmo: @ aphrostarot

Paypal: paypal/aphrostarot

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xplrvibes · 2 years

Text

I was randomly scrolling through YouTube last night, and I stumbled across these two psychic mediums who watch and react to paranormal content. Apparently, these mediums can see and feel the spirits or energy or what have you, even through the screen, so they give their thoughts and insights into what's really happening in these videos.

They seemed to have reacted to a wide array of paranormal content so far, but they've covered quite a few clips of Sam and Colby. I only watched the first Conjuring clips so far, but I found their perspective interesting. (*disclaimer: interesting does not mean I believe, nor does it mean I disbelieve. It means I found it interesting*)

So first, the one lady admitted up front that she knows a lot about the Conjuring House, so it's always important to note when someone has prior knowledge of a place.

Also, both of the ladies are very nice. Very nice. They seem genuinely concerned that snc are going to get themselves into trouble with their inexperience (at one point, the one lady said, "I wouldnt be surprised if these boys dont take something home with them" and they referred to them as "these kids" the entire time- in a grandmotherly way)

They didn't have too much to say about Amanda, but they did a reaction to Lizzie Borden, so I'm interested to watch that and see what they picked up on her

They also don't put a lot of stock in the spirit box/Estes Method sessions in general, which is interesting because a lot of what was being said, lined up with what they were saying.

According to these mediums, there are multiple spirits with multiple motives haunting that place. Most are trapped there and being tortued by the entity in the basement (more to come on that). Some are what they call "shattered souls" (their terminology for residuals), some were begging the boys for help the entire time, and some were trying to scare the boys out of the house because they were either scared for their safety, or hated their guts.

Interestingly enough, they kind of pegged the soldier spirits as more "shattered" or not fully aware of what was happening around them.

There is a lot of darkness in the basement. According to them, there is a portal, and an evil entity that can go back and forth through that portal that is basically holding all the spirits hostage in this house.

This evil entity was out running errands while the boys were there. 🤷‍♀️

Beezelbub is not really real, according to them. It's an ancient biblical (read: human) general or blanket term for an evil entity, and ghosts use it to try and make living humans understand the scope of what they are dealing with.

The entities in the basement were trying to convey to snc that they needed help closing the portal door and getting away from this evil entity or whatever and snc were very close to understanding- and then they went like 10 miles over the mark lol. The mediums are very, very nice about it, but you could see their almost frustration. At one point, Colby starts to piece it all together ("what if they're saying they're trapped here and need help?" And the ladies were like, "YES" lol), and then they go off on their Beezelbub thing and the ladies were like "ehhhh" lol

They also noted that the bad energies could feed off fears and were doing things to scare snc so they could feed off them.

So, this entity or portal (not really sure) left some kind of evil goo all over the basement? And these ladies were cringing while the boys were walking through the basement, at one point saying the goo was climbing up their legs. 😬😬😬

When Sam felt the spider on him, they both burst out laughing and said that was what the goo would feel like.

They also said the boys would need to do a serious cleanse after that (which, you know...they did not lol).

They also kind of rolled their eyes at the "witching hour" thing, which- valid lol.

Also, after the video they said it was interesting and good, but also asked if anyone counted how many "f-bombs were thrown," lol.

All in all, it was interesting to find a fresh perspective on the whole thing, and I'll probably watch a few more (definitely Lizzie Borden- I want to know what they think of Amanda)! Their name is TCS Everyday Psychics on youtube, if you are interested.

#sam and colby #colby brock #sam golbach #snc video review #psychics react to snc

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mari-lair · 4 years

Photo

Norray halloween week Day 1: Ghosts!

If curious, below are some random info about this Teacher/ghost AU

Ray got a gun and he can use it. The ghost gun isn’t able to touch, much less physically hurt anyone, but it replicate the sound of a real gun, which contributed a lot to how low priced his haunted house rent has become. It nearly gave Norman a heart attack the first time he heard it.

After being dead for a while, Ray learned how to turn visible and invisible at will and play around small objects such as paper, shoes and butcher knives. He can control up to 4 small objects at a time or something relativaly heavy like a chair if he really concentrate. The more he got the hang of controling and moving small objects the lower his house rent become, rarely getting aggressive but still able to physically hurt people. On All Hallows Eve he can posses people’s bodies and get out of the house he haunts, but he always ends up back to his empty ‘home’ when the night is over.

Ray is an incredibly fast learner. Just by observing the people that visits his house, he learned a decent amount of modern english and understand the basics of how tecnology is a thing now -he wished this advanced tecnology was invented when he was alive. It would make the of lack of food and nutrients less of a deadly nightmare in open sea.

As a pirate, Ray used to be the one in charge of doing most of the bloody work and take the night watch, protecting his captain’s back from both outside and inside forces. He was constantly alert, borderline paranoic. But as the years in death passed, he grew more calm, very patient. He usually don’t mind new people in his house, happy to learn more modern english and befriend the guests willing to tolerate him. If a new guest cross a line however, Ray will do his best to scare them away. Hurt them or kill them by manipulating knives if he sees fit.

It’s very rare for adults to see Ray as anything other than a nonsense they have no energy to deal with or a warning sign for their crumbling lives, so he usually hang around kids. The childish company mellows him with time.

Ray is from a time where death was common and getting hurt was inevitable so what people consider pretty serious is something Ray considers mild “Why are you being so dramatic about seeing some bone? Be grateful your hand is still attached to your wrist after you slaped your daughter. If it wasn’t for her wishes you wouldn’t have legs to run away.”

Norman is considered a genius and have countless prizes under his belt. He wanted to go to the moon when he was a kid but because of his weak health, he knew he would not be acepted in the space program. He decided teaching was the next best thing later on, accepted as a teacher in a prestigious school while still young. He enjoys and understand all subjects but love history the most, unable to deny it was hard and frustrating to teach a whole class of teens at times but still liking his job. Having one student that was genuinaly interested in his class was more than enough to make his day.

When Norman first started teaching, he felt more responsable than he had his whole life. It wasn’t a bad feeling per see, but it made him anxious so he called his little sister Cherry once a week to ask her questions about her teachers and make sure he was doing a good job.

Norman may not be the funniest of teacher but he’s still a favorite for his palpable cares for his students. He does not make the subject easier than is requested but he put a lot of effort into making people enjoy their world history, teaching with passion and seriously answering any questions, no matter how silly or joking it sounds. He’s understanding and try his best to help those with dificulty with the subject, always giving people second chances, having lost countless nights of sleep correcting re-writen essays after deadlines and turning his test questions into podcasts for students with adhd, aware the big historical excerpts are fundamental for answering the test but too hard to focus, specially with limited time.

The lambda crew are problem children. Norman went the extra mile to save Barbara and Zazie from failing classes even outside history and left Vincent startruck with his wide knowladge about not only world history but a ton of subjects he could be teaching too if he wasn’t overworking himself. Norman is both happy to inspire the squad to study hard and also very awkward by their blind admiration.

The teacher had a firm “ghost don’t exist” mentality, which is one of the reasons he brought the haunted house in the first place. He had chalked Ray up as an halucination from his sleep deprived brain, having the rotten luck of buying the house right after a bad guest owned. The ghost got more annoyed than usual from things as insignificant as Norman keeping the lights on for too long, putting music Ray doesn’t vibe with, or just acting unfairly cute, to more personal matters such as Norman studying about Ray and his family lives. They used to have a distant and bad relationship but once Ray noticed Norman had only admiration for history, being genuinaly kind when trying to talk instead of mocking his existence, Ray apologised. Norman was still wary at first but they quickly hit off, enjoying to learn what the other had to offer and matching in wits.

When Norman catch a fever or a bad cold Ray gets wary. He know, on some level, that medicine have evolved a lot, but he remenbers way too clearly how serious even the weakest of diseases could get if not imediatly treated. He always stick by Norman’s side when the teacher sneezes, not taking his eyes off him. Usually Norman keep working when he catch a cold, so Ray learned to float Norman’s grading papers out of his reach when coughing joined his sneezes. Floating a paper is enough to get Norman to take a break most of the time, but if the get stubborn Ray will stop playing nice. Just lower his voice to comander mode and order “Rest. Now. Or I’ll make your life a living hell.” and Norman does what he’s told, it’s very unconfortable to have a gun in the face and he does feel very tired.

When Norman is seriously sick, not just coughing but stuck to his bed. Ray freak out and fear for his life. When it reached this level, most of his crewmates died or had to be thrown in the sea to not infect other. Yes Ray know it’s not as bad anymore, but even when he observed guests, they rarely got sick, and when it got bad they where taken to a doctor. Norman lives alone so he got no one to feed him and bring him blankets or take him to the doctor if he lies for hours in bed. Ray was all the help he would get and he is fucking dead, he can’t measure his temperature or take care of him properly. Ray does tries his best though. He concentrated a lot to float heavy blankets and pillows towards Norman. Imediatly fetching any pills asked of him and doing his best to make him tea. It isn’t tasty, but Norman still appreciates his care.

Ray is the first to fall in love, he think “If only I could kiss this fool and hug him, I would do it on the daily. I wish he was alive back then... He would love meeting Emma...” at least once a week but a big part of him is just “Forget scurvy! Norman would die of cold or malnutricion before he reached 10. Thank god the helpless bastard took his sweet time to be born.”

Ray cannot touch any eletronics, he can’t even come close without phones, computers, and tvs turning to statics, so Norman buys an illustrated book about the Red Mane Pirates for Ray to see his crew again. He know is not perfect but is the best he can offer whenever Ray expresses missing his family.

They read together. Norman occasionally teaching a new word to his ghost and Ray correcting any historical inacuracy. It’s fun.

Norman finds an illustration of an alive Ray sleeping in the mast waaay too beautiful. Ray snort at the romantized draw, disolving into laughter by how Norman failed to hide his blush.

It became a habit to read history books together and tease each other. More often then not, it lead to a history class and way to much sass on both ends.

“Wait, so there really was a world war? I heard about it from old guests but I thought they were exagerating when they called world war! And what do you mean 2? There was a second one??”

“How did miss the second one? It was HUGE, quite horribl-”

“You were not even alive when it happened.”

“Tecnically, you weren’t either Ray-”

Ray is a bit scared of how attached he got to Norman, knowing eventually the man would die. He hopes it will take a long time, and that once he had a painless death, he will become a ghost too, but he doesn’t really believe Norman will ever turn into a ghost. Ray knows not everyone that dies became a ghost. Since someone as compassionable as Emma -even if she was forced to have blood and dirty choises on her hand to survive the merciless seas- was not cursed to became a ghost, he was confident someone as kind as Norman would dissapear from Ray’s afterlife once he died too.

More of this AU here

And since you reached the end of this text wall. You can have this bonus Norman being awkward/excited about their growing friendship.

#norray #the promised neverland #tpn norman #tpn ray #norray week #norrayweek #i still can't draw adult BUT THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT #i don't know much about history so guyhiluojikço #NORMAN SLEEPING POSE WAS SO HARD TO DRAW HOLY SHI-#but i love this au #yiouhoji freaking ship week anxiety tho

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

A weird defence I've seen of RWBY's conflicts has been that it's good writing simply by the virtue that people can disagree on what's the right thing to do in said conflict. Which doesn't work when one decision is being presented as the only valid choice while every other option is either not addressed or demonized. This isn't a story leaving a nuanced set of stances to explore, it's a guy on stage signalling the crowd to boo whenever someone goes against the Protag's decision.

Real quick, I want to talk about RWBY by not talking about RWBY. I’ve seen this argument a lot too and the tl;dr is that just because your audience debates the right action in a conflict — something that is inevitable given how subjective media is — doesn’t mean the story encouraged that reflection in any way. As you say, RWBY pretends that those disagreements don’t exist and that This Is The One (1) Right Answer... which entirely defeats the purpose of a morally nuanced situation in the first place. That lack is bad writing because it demonstrates the author’s inability to provide an accurate picture of the conflict while still ensuring we come out of it liking the parties involved. The conflict was too complex for them to manage alongside equally complex characterization, so they just pretended it was far simpler than it actually was. That’s not something to praise.

But to get to the not RWBY part. I’ve mentioned this a couple times before, but one of the scenes that I think manages these sorts of conflicts really well is the funeral fight in The Haunting of Hill House, episodes 6, “Two Storms.” So warning from here on out for spoilers. Sometimes, the best way to see what’s not working well in one show is to look at another show that does (basically) the same thing successfully and compare the two.

Normally I’d include screenshots, but Netflix doesn’t allow that :/ So I’m forced to rely on bullet points.

The basic premise is that the Crain family has assembled in daughter Shirley’s funeral home, the night before they bury their sister, Nell. A lot of secrets are about to come to light.

The scene kicks off when their father, Hugh, relays the call he got from the housekeeper the night of Nell’s death. She had committed suicide in the family’s childhood home.

Though everyone knew how she’d died, son Steven is distraught at hearing the details and reveals that a few weeks prior Nell crashed a book signing of his. This shocks the others given that this was very unusual behavior for Nell.

Shirley likewise reveals that she got a call from Nell who’d been worried about their brother, Luke, but hadn’t spoken to her the night of her death. The implication is that no one did. They’ll never know what was going through her head the night she died.

Hugh reveals that she did call him. “I talked to her.”

Stunned by this news, his children demand to know what was discussed and Hugh is clearly reluctant to continue. However, he eventually says that Nell wasn’t just worried about Luke, but also the “Bent Neck Lady,” a specter from her childhood.

The viewer knows that ghosts are real in this show. The kids don’t. Or rather, they all experienced supernatural occurrences in their childhood, are still experiencing them now, but only some of them are willing to admit they’re real. Steven is the diehard skeptic of the bunch and starts yelling at his father, accusing him of aiding Nell’s delusions and ignoring a family history of mental illness. In particular, he declares that this “makes you culpable [in her death].”

Steven continues to accuse Hugh of “holding back information” about Nell and Hugh shoots back that “If I held back anything it was to protect you kids.” The viewer understands Hugh’s dilemma: the only reason he keeps things to himself is because Steven and the others refuse to believe the truth, with an added dose of this supernatural stuff being very dangerous. Steven asks, “Why do I need protection from the truth?”

Before their fight can go any further, Shirley tells Steven, “You might want to check yourself before you start talking about the truth.” He published an autobiographical book about their childhood trauma and notably capitalized on a supernatural angle he doesn’t believe in. Shirley calls it “blood money.”

As the argument about the ethics of his book rages, Shirley defends herself primarily with how everyone else thinks this is “blood money” too. No one took a cut when Steven offered one, proving how despicable they all think it is.

Meanwhile, sister Theo has been getting heat for being drunk (a coping mechanism for her own supernatural troubles) and Shirley eventually pushes her far enough that she admits she did take Steven’s money and used it to get her degree. “It’s good, fucking money.” Suddenly, Steven has someone in his corner and Shirley’s main defense has crumbled.

Shirley is furious that Theo had this secret income but was still living with her and her husband. Theo reminds her that she offered to pay rent, but Shirley isn’t interested in hearing that. She demands that Theo move out immediately and uses this betrayal as the new way to protect herself. She’s the victim here.

Steven, sensing another secret in the works, cautions Shirley to “get off your high horse before you fall off.”

Shirley maintains her position until her husband blurts that they also took Steven’s money. Shirley hasn’t been running the funeral home well and they would have sunk without it.

Despite being the punching bag for the second half of this fight, Shirley is offered both reassurance and dignity. Her husband emphasizes that the only reason they’re struggling is because Shirley is a good person. She does too much work pro bono. Shirley also delivers the line, “Do you have any idea how much you’ve humiliated me?” calling into question the husband’s choice to admit this now, purely as a way to prove her wrong.

Shirley leaves to get some distance and discovers that someone — something — has put buttons over Nell’s eyes. The shock of this keeps the fight from continuing and, as plot intervenes, gives the characters the space needed to eventually start healing and forgiving one another, notably by sitting with the various truths they all now have to grapple with.

Phew! A long summary, but I’ve put this much detail in to highlight the nuance of the scene. Obviously RWBY would differ in many ways — less cursing, for one — but the core elements of any morally complex scene should be the same. The important takeaways here are that no one in the Crain family are “pure” or “evil” and everyone gets their chance to be both right and wrong. Hugh is right that Steven won’t listen to him and wrong in that he didn’t do enough to help his kids. We get Steven and Hugh’s frustration, their understanding of the world at odds with one another. Steven is wrong to put everything on his father and justified in starting his writing career with their story. We watch the scene move from “Steven is Wrong and everyone agrees” to “Oh shit nm, more and more of the family are revealing that they benefited from his money, complicating how “wrong” he actually is.” Shirley is right to point out that Theo is getting drunk during their sister’s funeral and Theo is right to point out that being drunk doesn’t erase having a good point. Theo is allowed to scream at the group and then immediately be offered help when she falls. Shirley pretends she’s better than all of them and is slowly, horrifyingly proven wrong, but is then still extended compassion and is allowed to point out how horribly they’ve just treated her. The husband is right about the money, wrong about keeping it a secret/revealing it the way he did, right in how he tries to diffuse the other fights, and VERY wrong by getting caught kissing Theo down in the storeroom!

The scene twists and turns in a way that highlights everyone’s points and their flaws, the moments when their perspective should be upheld and questioned. The end result is a scene that has space for the audience to debate everyone’s choices without imposing the single view of This Person Is Obviously Wrong/Right and If You Think Otherwise You’re Not Watching The Show Correctly. The show itself acknowledges the complexity and nuance of these problems. It asks, “Hugh should have tried harder, but what more can he do when his kids literally don’t believe this stuff exists? Was Steven really justified in writing a book about their collective experiences? What does it mean that something his family sees as capitalizing on their trauma also helped them keep businesses and schooling afloat? Was it okay for Shirley’s husband to keep that money a secret, even if it helped them? How might he have told her in a less cruel manner? What about Shirley’s life has led to her intense need to be on that ‘high horse’?”

And of course: “Who is really responsible for Nell’s death?” By this point the viewer already knows that there is no “really” here. This is too complicated a tragedy to lay the blame at any one person’s feet. Everyone in this room has moments of justified accusations and moments of chastisement because they’re well written, well rounded characters who are neither saints nor devils. The length of the scene (done in a single shot!) emphasizes that if you just wait long enough, even the most perfect looking person will eventually have a skeleton pulled from their closet. No one is above mistakes.

RWBY has NONE of that. Zip. Nada. Nothing. RWBY gave us a scenario with many of the same, core themes — secret keeping, secrets unwillingly revealed, blaming others for your mistakes, hurtful actions with helpful consequences, questioning who is responsible for a tragic death — and instead of even attempting to give us some of the above nuance, RWBY said only that Ruby was right, Ozpin was wrong, and demanding that the audience ignore the nuance they could already see in order to accept the canon.

RWBY’s scene asks the audience to play dumb and look at the world as a Black and White place, despite the show simultaneously insisting that “the world isn’t a fairy tale” and is, in fact, filled with shades of gray.

Just not any shades of gray that mess with that dichotomy that now drives the story.

That’s not good writing. It’s oblivious and contradictory writing that makes the audience frustrated. Not satisfied, surprised, contemplative, or curious. Just frustrated.

#rwby #the haunting of hill house #mymetas #Anonymous

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love-we-write · 3 years

Text

Eccedentesiast

Character: RichyxMC (ambiguous platonic or romantic) Genre: Hurt/Comfort? Friendship/Romance? Unbeta-ed mess is for certain Words: 4,188 Summary: Richy is used to being known to be able to bring a little bit of comical sunshine to everybody’s gloom. He’s just not used to letting anyone know that he’s burning behind that light. But then, you appeared in his life. Potential T/W: mentions of panic attacks A/N: Done in conjunction with the Duskwood Secret Santa event~! Dear @anatomical-myocardium, Merry Christmas to you~! Sorry this took so long to post, I swear my laptop crashes on me at the most inconvenient time sometimes. I hope I did this justice as a gift to you, and I hope you like it, just as I absolutely love your gift to me~! Have a safe and happy Christmas~! ❤️ ❤️

And with a renewed vow to write anything and everything that I want to write without minding if it’s a game, or an anime, or an anime game, or Kpop, here we go~! ❤️ ❤️

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Richy is most known by his friends and all the Duskwood residents for his carefree nature, and he is very much aware of this.

With his small group of friends, he has been the joker of the group longer than memory can serve, always light-hearted with that small touch of dry humor to help liven up the mood. From their weekly battle of Doodle Friends to their catch up session at Aurora’s, all seven of them look to Richy to brighten their days with his quick-witted comebacks and his lame jokes that gets even Lily - ever the serious one - to chuckle.

At his job, his bright personality makes him one of the select few who could talk to Alfie without unnerving the boy, and from greeting old ladies who pass by his shop to chatting away with his customers while he repairs their cars, everyone does not have qualms to admit that Richy’s easy-going nature is his most admirable trait, a warm relaxing ray of sunshine that comes out and give others a bit of cheer on their gloomy days.

Richy knows that his ability to not take things too seriously gives comfort to his friends.

Richy knows this, knows it in the way Jessy thanks him for being there for her when she is frustrated with how Dan is treating her affections, knows it in the way Thomas looks at him silently yet gratefully when he brought them to Aurora’s and filled them with a copious amount of beers and stupid jokes for a self-proclaimed “pity party” after Thomas’ fight with Hannah.

He knows it during the wake of Hannah’s absence when Thomas is on the verge of breaking down, and when Jessy fought with Cleo over how to handle the investigation, Lilly had reached out to him in the middle of the night, quiet words of “I feel like you’re the only one keeping this group together,” mumbled into the phone in between sniffles.

Richy knows he is most known for his easy-going personality, and he is used to it.

He is also used to that horrible feeling of uselessness constantly haunting him in the deep dark solace of his mind. That sinking in his stomach, the heaviness settling in his core as he contemplates whether he has anything worthwhile at all anything good to offer to this world, the constant feeling that he doesn’t have anything at all. It is a dark void spanning the crevasse of his mind that comes up in his solitude, whispering that he is not good enough, that he does not deserve grief and his fear is only going to burden his loved ones.

Because who is he to voice out his sadness and anguish when everybody else has so much on their plate already? Who is he to want to cry at Jessy to look at him, just LOOK AT HIM WHO HAS BEEN THERE FOR YOU when she is heartbroken herself. What right does he have to voice out his grief, his guilt at being the first one to come to Hannah’s house but still unable to save her anyway? What right does he have to say these things, when he only had lost a friend while Thomas lost a girlfriend and Lilly a sister?

What right does he have?

So, Richy does what he does best. He smiles. He jokes. And he hides. He stopped trying to figure out the line inside him where his smile ends and his fear starts. To him, they all bleed together.

Richy is used to being known to be able to bring a little bit of comical sunshine to everybody’s gloom. He’s just not used to letting anyone know that he’s burning behind the light.

------------------------------------

But then, you appeared in his life. You with your contagious kindness, you who are the one person who does not have any personal stakes with Hannah in this investigation but still decided to help out of the sheer good in your heart.

Richy sometimes thought that you were highly naive when you said that them getting your number and bringing you in this group must have meant that there is something that you could do instead of just seeing it as it is; an ominous invitation from an unknown hacker. However, that thought of your naivete is blown out of the water when he witnessed your bright-eyed curiosity and your sharp perception.

‘You like Jessy, don’t you?’ you had texted him out of the blue during one of your conversations when during the first few days after you appeared in their lives.

Richy swore he almost dropped his phone in his coffee when he read your text. No one has ever picked up on his one-sided affections towards Jessy, not even their group, not even Jessy herself who has been his close friend.

He has always been wary of you when Thomas first invited you in. A stranger whose number was given to them by another stranger seemed to Richy like a well-timed disaster waiting to explode in their faces. Richy liked to think of himself as neutral when it comes to matters of your involvement; skeptical enough to not be desperate as Thomas but to the point of hostility that Lilly has shown.

But with your eagle-eyed intuition, Richy realized he had to be extra careful with himself around you.

‘Uh, gotta go. Coffee’s about ready and I need that caffeine injection for my sanity, in case some more shit happens around here, haha,’ he had typed quickly, adding in several emojis in succession for some good measure. He puts the phone face down almost immediately, as if that would help distract him from your reply, and busies himself with work.

‘That’s okay. Coffee sounds like a great idea. The next time you want to subtly avoid having uncomfortable conversations about yourself, I have a list of ideas :D,’ was your reply to him when he checked his phone during his break.

Mirth bubbles up in Richy, a feeling of familiarity and comfort fizzing up in him like downing cold soda on a hot summer day. Richy chuckles towards his phone, seeing as you really did provide him with a list of excuses to make to get out of conversation, each item sillier than the previous one.

Your entrance into his and the way Richy felt you seeing through to him feels like a breath of fresh air.

------------------------------------

‘Richy, hi.’

Richy smiles, looking at his phone vibrated on the countertop as he is pouring his third cup of coffee for the day. Seems like the weekend is as good as any for him to gather his thoughts to himself, to compartmentalize his feelings away from the crowd, but the texts from you over the days is a welcome distraction.

From asking him about Jennifer Manson, to asking him about the phone call he made on the day of Hannah’s disappearance, to random conversation about your favorite movies or music, messages from you have become something he looks forward to daily. He found himself slowly thinking more and more of you; whether you are okay, what you have been doing among other things

‘Now, what more information does my lady seek from me?’ he types quickly, anticipating as the three dots beside your name blinks back at him.

‘Good sir, is it such a crime if I just want to inquire about your day? :(’

Richy would be lying if he said that his heart did not skip a few beats over those words.

‘Our previous conversations would indicate that you always would have things to ask me after you know about how my day went, so out you go. :D’

It feels nice to see you playing along with his jokes.

‘Cleo told me you fought with your dad?’

Ah.

Not information about Hannah’s disappearance then. Which, to him, is much much easier to divulge.

‘That girl is going to get into trouble one day over how much she’s eavesdropping.’

‘I know. But more importantly, are you okay?’

Are you okay? Wow, Richy thinks as he stares at his idle phone. A simple question, but look at how he is struggling to answer. So he quickly typed in.

‘I’m okay, don’t worry, haha. Listen, the cat outside my apartment is literally meowing my window panes down, I better go check up on it before it eats itself,’ Richy began typing his response, as if him staring down the digitized letters will give him some form of epiphany over what the best course of action is.

Excuse #12 from that ridiculous list that you gave him from weeks ago. From feeding non-existent stray cats outside his house to a car needing their tires changed, it quickly became an inside understanding between the two of you that this is a signal that he does not want to talk about it.

But, inside, he wants to talk about it. Wants to talk to you about how this fight is a series of continuous disagreements between him and his father over how to run the family’s garage. Wants to talk about how this garage is not what he envisioned doing in his adult year, that he has no interest whatsoever in running the family’s business. How he had wanted to be a photographer, but was forced to run the garage by his dad to continue the family business.

And how each time his father berates him over the losses their garage suffered due to the new competing garage in town, he feels a slight vendetta to bring up that he is never interested in what happens in this garage but is only doing it for his father.

He has long perfected the art of hiding anything of him that isn’t polished and brightened, so when you picked it up immediately, he felt flustered. Flustered because he doesn’t know what to do when faced with the idea of someone perceptive as you catching his vulnerabilities that he is ashamed of. But, also flustered with the fact that he feels a small sense of comfort that someone took time to notice the small things about him, and that deep inside, he feels some small part of him wanting to reach back out.

For now, he just added a bunch of cheerful emojis for good measure and hits send.

He wants to talk about it. He wants to.

‘You know, I don’t expect you to exhaust that list so quickly. I would have thought it’d be good for at least 2-3 months.’ came your reply.

‘I worry about you, Richy.’

------------------------------------

And it is true, you are worried for him. It has been close to three weeks since you first got added into this strange group, and if truth be told, you would never have thought that you’d be as invested as you are now. You could not deny that Jessy and Richy were two of the friends you never thought that you would care for as much as you did. You know that Jake had warned you over the group, and you ARE a bit more wary of some more than others, but you did not expect your trust to go wholeheartedly to this small trio that you have formed with Jessy and Richy.

Jessy is the sweetest girl you have ever met in the world, always kind. She has this effect around people that made them feel cared for, and you are thankful how she had welcomed you and helped you out when everyone else seems to think you are the kidnapper.She wears her heart on a sleeve, and she trusts easily, but she means well. And Richy…

Richy is an enigma. On surface level, it seems that he is a bright ray of sunshine, all lighthearted jokes and wit, a perfect comedic complement to Jessy’s more emotional tendencies, but you notice the things that made Richy much more complex than he lets on.

You see his calm and composed nature when he is the one to suggest the group to think more critically in the case of your appearance and Hannah’s disappearance, how he calmed everyone down and brought their spirits up. But you also see his aversion to talking about how he himself feels.

Even though he does not show it, you know the incident with Hannah affected him just as much as it had affected everybody else. You see the sprinkle of emotions he has shown, from Jessy who told you how quiet he had been on the day his garage was spray painted with the sign of the raven, to his deprecating jokes about himself when you asked about the phone call he had made to Hannah on the day of her disappearance.

You see that sliver of fear, that glimpse of guilt over those short moments, but come any closer and you could miss it with how subtly and skillfully he averts to more cheerful topics.

But that’s the thing. You worry for him. Jessy goes to the both of you for comfort while Dan goes to Jessy. Lilly has her family, Cleo goes to Thomas and Thomas’s grief is acknowledged and heard by all of them.

But who listens to Richy? Who gives Richy their shoulder for him to grief? Who lift up his spirits the way he does to you? For now, all you can do is put your phone close to your ear, Richy’s number dialing in the background.

‘I worry about you, Richy.’

‘It gets better, I promise you. You don’t have to be alone. I’m here for you,’ you added under your previous text. It goes unanswered and your calls only gets redirected to voicemail. So all you can do is hold your phone close to you, placing your lips on its receiver, only able to hope that it goes to him, that his cheeks or his forehead feels the warmth as a sign that you are here for him.

Miles away, in Duskwood, Richy only stares in his phone longingly, wanting to call you.

‘I’m here for you.’ your text that had him feeling hopeful, comforted and flustered him all the same.

It has been a long time since someone sees through him so transparently, heck, the void in him has bled together with his façade so much that even he himself cannot see through the layers of sunshine to where his dark insecurities start. He has crafted so many walls, perfected so many smiles that it even fooled Jessy, the person most close to him here in Duskwood. Perhaps at some point, maybe he even fooled himself.

And yet, here you are. Effortlessly breaking through those walls like it’s paper, unblinded by the fake shine he puts on, and sees the darkness in him for what it is. He has to laugh at that as he leaned his forehead on his phone, somehow feeling a sense of comfort just in doing that. What have you done to him?

Perhaps one day he can begin to talk about it.

------------------------------------

That day came sooner that he thought it would be. That night in December, it snowed heavily in Duskwood. Angry snow fell down in a furious blizzard, gusts of wind wailing outside in anguish, doors and window panes shaking almost in fear. Sometimes, the wailing picks up speed and bangs on the window with a scream.

Inside, Richy is just as furious, just as anguished as the blizzard outside. The man without a face seems hell-bent in getting them to stop finding Hannah and to obtain your location. Richy would bend over backwards and go to hell twice before letting your location fall in its hands. And with the search not showing any signs of stopping, so did the threats to them.

Today, it took the threat to another level when it involved their families as well. Richy had woken up with a call from his father. He had expected the call to be his father picking up another fight with him, but the urgency in his father’s voice and the manic sobbing of his mother in the background struck a cold chord in him.

It turned out that his family house has been vandalized with the signs of the raven, only this time it is worse than the one did in the garage. The windows were splashed with red paint, with papers jammed in their mailbox full of threatening letters of ‘give me her’ and ‘Richy, you’re next’. It took him a good two hours to scrub the windows clean, and then another hour to comfort his mother that this is just a prank pulled by some reckless vandals, to clean up the papers from the mailbox and throw them in the trash.

But, deep inside he knows it. This is not a prank. This is a threat to him. To them.

Duskwood is a small town. People will talk and come tomorrow, his friends will find out. He needs time. He needs time to sort out his thoughts. Time to properly compartmentalize.

He needs time to sort out through his guilt of not being able to protect his family from being terrorized from the man without a face. There is the fury with the fact that it has been established that the man without a face is someone within their circle, given how much they know about your presence.

He needs time.

There is the fear that you, being the lynch pin to all that the man without a face wanted from them, will be burdened more. He needs time to sort through the fear that he could not protect you, and even though it is for the best interest of your safety that none of them knows where you are, you are still all alone having to pick up after these seven dysfunctional people and no one to protect you.

Then, there is the confusion, the stress, the angry sadness that this is a game that he has to continue to play with his friends. The betrayal that one of them, one of his close friends is responsible for this, that they could have the balls to laugh with him, smile with him and turn around and do this to him.

He needs time to sort through this anger and he doesn’t have the courage to face them and continue playing this game tomorrow, not when all he wanted to do is lash out at each one of them and threaten them and ohgodheneedstimeheneedstime--

In the solace of his room in his family home, Richy feels his thoughts become as white as the blizzard of snow outside. He hears his breath quickens, a voiceless wail stuck in his throat and he feels the shivers in his spine like the doors trembling in front of the wind.

Heneedstimeohgodpleasegivehimabitoftime----

And like a lifeline, his phone besides him rang and vibrated and he clutched it to him like a lifeline. Like a miracle in December, he sees that it’s your name. Somewhere in his blank white thoughts, he hears a small chuckle and how impeccable your timing is.

He answers and your voice in his ears sounded like a buoy thrown to him that is flailing about.

“Richy, I had a bad feeling about something. Is everyone okay?” and Richy hears himself laugh at that, a horrible mixture of a broken laugh and a hiccup and a helpless wail, all mixed up to become a horrible wounded noise.

Over on your side of the phone, your heart picked up pace when you heard that choked laughter from Richy. It is horrible and it is scary and you would never want to hear it from anyone again, least of all not Richy. He is having a panic attack.

“Richy, are you okay?! Richy, listen to me. Breathe with me, sweetheart. Breathe in, breathe out,” deep inside you tried to stay calm because that is what he needs, but even you feel like being on the verge of tears listening to this man - who has cheered you up so much - break down in front of you.

After he seemed to have calmed down, you tried again.

“Richy, what’s wrong? Please talk to me. You deserve to not be alone in this Richy. I see you. I see you smiling to get everyone to smile. You listened to me and you lifted up my mood when Jessy was attacked, and when I received threats over Lilly’s video. Let me do the same to you, yeah? Tell me what’s wrong?”

And to Richy, who has clutched onto your voice like a lifeline, who wants to share everything with you, just burst like a dam. Everything that he has kept secret from his friends, the sadness behind his smile, everything that he has even kept from himself and just swept under the rug and pushed into a closet at the back of his mind. Everything burst right there in front of you, from his guilt to not being able to stop Hannah’s kidnapping and Jessy’s attack, to him feeling unworthy of being sad compared to others, to his fear when he saw the sign of the raven in his garage and now on his home, his fury at knowing one of his friends are doing this, to his fear for Jessy, his fear for you.

He hated everything. He hated himself.

You told him that he is strong, that you admired him so much, but he needs to see that he deserves to be comforted just as much as he has comforted everyone else.

In that snowstorm-clad night, the winds wept and wept, but beneath its howl, you can hear the intermittent wail of a broken man as Richy cried, and cried, and cried.

As he lets out everything, the blank white fog of his mind begins to clear and gain color. It started from the reds of fury, to the blacks of fear and the blues of guilt, but then your voice came in, and slowly the pinks of comfort, the yellows of hope and the purples of peace began melting through.

------------------------------------

[EPILOGUE]

Both you and Richy sat over the phone for over 3 hours just talking about nothing and everything after his outburst.

He seems to have gained his color back, his cheerful self almost back as he cracked his lame stories about gangster seagulls eating his sandwich once in his travels. Richy feels like this time, his color - albeit still a little faded - is much more genuine than the blacks filtered from a rose-colored glass that he has shown before. Your laughter as you listen to his story and object to its credibility, slowly made those faded colors in his mind more vibrant.

“Thank you for listening to me, for um… taking care of me,” he begins a bit meekly after he finishes his story. He’s not so used to being listened to, not at this vulnerable a level and definitely he is not used to being taken care of.

“You did the same to me when Jessy was attacked. And you would have done the same for me again, I’m sure of it,” your voice sounded like a smile would, and God, would he give up everything to see that smile in person. He laughs to himself internally. How has this person made him so whipped for her in such a manner?

“I’m planning on going to Duskwood soon,” you had said out of the blue, bringing him back from his reverie.

“Absolutely not. In case you forgot my magnificent show of tears just now, the man without a face is threatening us to get to you. You coming here is the absolute worst thing to do,” Richy snorted, a mock indignant and wounded tone from him that made you chuckle.

“Well, how bad can it be? If we keep my arrival a secret from the rest of them, and spend the days, just you, me and Jessy, it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Someone needs to go there and give you a hug and take care of you,” you had replied back shortly, almost giving no thought to what you had said.

“Oh my, my lady, are you flirting with me?” Richy’s exaggerated gasp brought you back to reality, and his implication had your heart skipping beats.

“Well I mean… um…” you stuttered, and Richy swore your hesitance and stuttering made his heart soar just a little bit more in hope. But pursuing it is for another time.

“W-Well, someone needs to stop you from being such an eccedentesiast!” you had blurted out, extremely grateful that the distance makes it unable for him to see your bright red hot face.

His laughter after that sounds like the most genuine you have heard from him so far, and he might have said something along the lines of “nooo use small words, your idiot here doesn’t understand what that means,” but you couldn’t remember clearly. All you remembered was you thinking that you would give almost anything to protect that genuine tinkling laughter of his.

#duskwood #duskwood game #duskwood richy #duskwood mc

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tay-is-writing · 4 years

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Trick or Treat! — Tsukishima Kei x Reader

This is a part of the Leaves in the Wind collab being run by @smol-enby Word Count: 1.6k Synopsis: You find out Tsukki has never been trick-or-treating before and are set on changing that. Warnings: None Below Cut

“Alright, that movie was awful. Can we please watch an actual horror movie now. Or at least something remotely scary?”

“Halloweentown is scary! You’re just mean!” You let out a huff and pushed Tsukishima away from you. The two of you had been snuggled up on the couch watching Halloween movies since you finished your classes. Although now Tsukki was currently in the process of sliding off the couch after being pushed by you. Before tumbling down, he grabbed your waist, taking you with him. You let out a soft yelp as you fell onto him before bursting out into laughter.

You stared down at him as you caught your breath. The two of you were in a very suggestive position as you straddled him while he was lying on the floor. Tsukishima propped himself up, bringing his hand to the back of your head, pulling you further down towards him. As your lips slowly connected, you heard your boyfriend let out a soft hum of satisfaction. You took a deep breath in. Everything was him. He started getting more handsy, and you felt his long fingers caress under your shirt. But before it could escalate any further, the doorbell rang.

Tsukki let out a loud groan at the interruption. It had been a while since you and Tsukishima had been alone together. With school, work, and your conflicting schedules, you and your boyfriend had zero alone time together despite living in the same apartment. Even when you were home together, your two other roommates were typically there as well. As much as you loved them, it just got frustrating never being able to simply be alone with your boyfriend. You two savored every bit of time you spent together, even if it consisted of just sitting in the same room as you both worked on your individual tasks. Luckily tonight, your roommates were out at a party, leaving the two of you alone.

You pushed yourself off of your boyfriend and swung the apartment door open, a bowl of miscellaneous candy in your hand. It was a bit early for trick-or-treaters, but it wasn’t surprising to have a few young kids stop by at this time. You opened the door to reveal a little boy with fuzzy ears, a tail, and fangs. The wolf boy let out a small growl before smiling and yelling, “Trick-or-treat!” You feigned being frightened by the kid, calling for Tsukki to come save you.

“Don’t worry! I’m a nice wolf! If you give me candy, I promise not to eat you!” Seeing kids act cute like this gave you instant baby fever, and you were tempted to dump the entire bowl into his bag. Luckily, Tsukishima had gotten there in time to “save” you and gave the kid a handful of candy. He gave a quick thank you before dragging his parents to the next door over.

“I miss trick-or-treating,” you admitted as you slumped back down onto the couch. “Not even the candy aspect. I just liked getting dressed up and going to different houses and seeing all the decorations.”

Tsukki was standing behind the couch with the remote in his hand, flipping through different movies in the horror category instead of the “children’s spooky films.” “Is it really that much fun? It seems like a hassle to do all that.” You whipped your head around to face him after processing what he said.

“Kei, you’ve never been trick-or-treating before? Not even when you a baby?” You were in shock, to say the least. Everyone’s gone trick-or-treating, right? Sure, some people outgrow it earlier than others, but never?

“Not that I’m aware of. It just never interested me as a kid. Everyone in school would go in groups with each other, and I didn’t really have any friends.” Despite him sounding indifferent about it, you could feel your heart break at that statement. You knew Kei wasn’t a very social child; he still wasn’t all that outgoing now, but hearing those words come out of his mouth just felt awful. You quickly jumped off the couch.

“That’s it! We’ll go trick-or-treating now!” You turned to see his reaction and was greeted with a stone-cold glare that was saying no. “Come on, Tsukki! We can collect candy and donate it to a children’s hospital!”

“You’re just trying to get out of watching an actual horror movie.” Okay, so he was partially right, but you also really wanted to do this. You could help him fulfill his empty childhood and help others at the same time. It was like a triple win. You couldn’t just let this idea go.

“Pretty please? I just want to make special memories with you, and this will be super fun.” You had him hook, line and sinker with that. Despite how nonchalant he wishes to come off, Tsukishima Kei was a sucker for you and anything that would make you happy. “And I already know what we can dress up as!”

You still don’t really know how you did it. But somehow, you had Tsukishima dressed up in his dinosaur onesie you had gotten him for his birthday standing in the hallway of your apartment complex. His cheeks were flushed red in embarrassment You, on the other hand, were dressed up as Owen Grady from Jurassic Park, completed with a vest you borrowed from your roommate’s closet. It was safe to say that the two of you were the cutest couple ever.

Your first stop was your neighbor’s apartment. She was a sweet elderly lady and you figured Tsukishima would feel more comfortable there than with a complete stranger. Her door was decorated with cobwebs and there were lights lining it. When you knocked, you were greeted instantly by your neighbor dressed as a witch, even holding a broomstick in her free hand. You explained Tsukki’s situation to her, and told her about your plan to donate the candy you guys were collecting. Her face lit up instantly and she scooped a large handful of candy into the bag Tsukishima was awkwardly holding. After stopping by a few more apartments to let your boyfriend get comfortable, you made your way out of the complex and to the neighborhood that bordered it.

Some houses had a few cheesy decorations like light-up pumpkins or caution tape, while others were completely decked out. You came across a house that was entirely decorated like a pirate ship and the owner wouldn’t give Tsukki any candy until he asked in a pirate accent, much to your amusement. Another street down you saw that the entire street had gotten together to have a small block party. There was a popcorn machine and they were handing out cans of soda to trick-or-treaters. Although the two of you couldn’t donate any of that stuff, you still stopped by for some popcorn of your own. You took a few pics together in front of various houses, your favorite being the one of you kissing his cheek in the miniature haunted house.

It wasn’t until you stopped at a small home in a cul-de-sac that everything went wrong. They were all decorated and the porch light was on so you were good to go. You gave the door a small knock. The door opened and before you could give your speech about collecting candy for a donation you were interrupted by screaming.

“Why do you damned people have to ruin this holiday for everyone? This is supposed to be for children and you’re trying to take it from them and corrupt it! Get the fuck off of my property right now before I call the cops for trespassing.”

You couldn’t even get a good look at the woman as your eyes started watering right away. When you had started this you were expecting pushback from a few homes but nothing like this. You said a quick thank you before walking away, trying to keep tears down. Your grip on Tsukishima’s arm was tight, partially for comfort, partially to stop him from going back to yell at her. He knew right now it would be worse to turn around and fight with them so he let you pull him away.

When you got to the next street over you absolutely lost it. You let the hot tears run down your face. No sound came out of you, just silent tears in the middle of the road. Tsukishima quickly pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you as he patiently stroked your back until you calmed down.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why she got to me like that. I was more surprised that no one had said anything earlier. I just really wanted you to have fun tonight.” He cupped your face with his hands so you were looking into his eyes.

“I had so much fun tonight. You could make even the dullest tasks seem exciting. That’s just how you are. I love you so much, and I want you to remember that.” He placed a soft kiss on your temple and you melted into him. “Let’s head home, okay?”

The two of you walked hand-in-hand with a permanent smile stuck on your face. His thumb rested on top of yours caressing it slowly as you leaned against him.

“So,” he started as you neared the apartment, “are you ready to watch some real horror movies?”

“Kei!”

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei #tsukishima #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #kei x reader #tsukishima x gn reader #tsukishima kei x reader #sfw #fluff #tsukishima fluff #self insert #hq #hq x reader #fics #tays fics

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avengerscompound · 3 years

Text

It’s You and Me - Chapter 9

It’s You and Me: A Hawkeye Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Clint Barton x F!Reader

Word Count: 1556

Rating: E

Warnings: Mentions of past abuse

Synopsis: You and Clint Barton go way back. Since you joined the circus as a child, he took it upon himself to keep you away from the people who really wanted to hurt you. For years the two of you danced a line between dark and light.

When he chooses light the two of you go your separate ways.

Fifteen years later he tracks you down. Those feelings the two of you shared never went away, but now he is not only an Avengers but a single father. Can the two of you make it work after all this time when your lives have gone in such different directions?

A series told in flashbacks and current day.

Chapter 10: Now

You had fallen into a slightly uneasy truce with yourself. The part of you that had been adamant that you not fuck up any kids’ lives had been soothed down by the part that was really enjoying being back with Clint again. Some things made it easier to compartmentalize. Children weren't by default terrible and the problem you had was never hating kids. It was hating your childhood. Besides, if there were any kids you were going to love instantly it would be Clint’s. Maybe it was never going to be in a motherly way, but they were his and you loved him.

Clint seemed to be making sure you never got put into the parenting role. You were never the babysitter or decision-maker when it came to things they should or shouldn’t be doing. If they wanted to go out for ice cream he’d decide if they could on his own and then ask if you wanted to as well, instead of asking you what you thought about the idea. That made things easier too. It meant you could avoid the step-mother role even if it did occasionally haunt you.

Cooper, Lila, and Nate seemed to take to you dating their father pretty well. They were good kids generally speaking, but the concern that they might see you as a step-mother worried you. The two older two definitely seemed to treat you as an entity in the house that they needed to be aware of. They didn’t come to you to ask for things, but they didn’t straight up ignore you. They’d say good morning when they saw you first thing and goodnight when they went to bed. If they were getting themselves a snack they might ask if you wanted some and they’d make general conversation about music or tv shows with you. However, it wasn't the same level of excitement as when they were with Natasha Romanoff, who they were very close with, or the same level of deference when Ebony was in the room. You hoped that didn’t mean they resented you, or they thought you didn’t like them.

Nate, however, seemed to be completely different. He’d seek you out more and want to share things with you, like what his favorite toys were or the pictures he’d drawn. He’d come and sit on the couch with you and flop himself against you. It was a little scary considering how you felt about everything.

Clint kept pushing for you to join the Avengers, taking you to the Tower and ‘randomly’ having you bump into people who would then lecture you about using your abilities for good. It had the opposite effect than desired. The longer the lecture went the less you wanted to be subjected to further lectures about anything ever again. You still kept going in - partially because it was funny to see how frustrated Clint was when you’d say no, but mostly because now you were burned, you were very interested to see where this data you’d helped steal went. Not that they’d tell you anything. You weren’t an Avenger, so you weren’t privy to that kind of information. It seemed to have something to do with the circus people, and you were curious to know why none of them had approached you about their underground dealings.

That was all for weekdays though - unless it was the end of the world, Clint was home on weekends. That didn’t mean you were free from him trying to recruit you.

“So you’re just not gonna get a job?” He asked. He was sitting beside you on the couch with Lila sitting in front of him while he put her hair in a halo braid. There were some half-formed plans about going out in the afternoon, but everyone was just taking their time. You were eating cereal despite it being 11.30, Cooper was still in his pajamas, and Nate was hanging upside off the side of the couch with only his underwear, a t-shirt, and one sock on.

“Maybe I already have a job,” you teased and he looked at you with his eyes narrowed.

“You don’t, do you?” he asked.

“No. I don’t,” you agreed.

“The Avengers have really good medical, and a great 401K,” he said.

“Yeah because no one ever lasts long enough to cash out,” you snarked.

“She doesn’t have to be an Avenger if she doesn’t want to dad,” Lila said.

“Yeah, Clint,” you agreed. “Listen to your daughter.”

“Gee, thanks for your help, Li,” he teased. “You should see her though, she can shoot an arrow while doing a handstand while riding a horse.”

“You can do that,” Lila said, sounding bored.

“Wow,” you deadpanned. “Ruined the only cool thing I can do with your over achievement. Thanks, Clint.”

He pulled a face at you and was just about to say something when his phone rang. He stuck a bobby pin in Lila’s hair to hold it in place as he answered. “Yeah? - No, but I can’t… Fuck! … Are you shitting me right now? Ebony is off today. I think she went… no, I get it. Yeah. Okay.”

He hung up the phone and got up. “Gotta go in. Can you watch them? It’s an emergency.”

“What? But Clint…” You argued.

“Dad, you haven’t finished my hair!” Lila yelped.

“You can finish it, right?” Clint said to you as he grabbed his keys and tried to evade Lucky who was now dancing around his feet.

“Clint!” You yelped.

“You know I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t have to,” he said and kissed Lila on the top of the head and then you, before blowing a raspberry on Nate’s tummy. The little boy squealed and fell off the chair in a heap. “Thanks, sugar. I’ll owe you one.”

“The biggest one ever!” You shouted as he ducked out the door.

Lila sighed and started to unwind her hair.

“I can do it,” you said.

She rolled her eyes. “You sounded really excited about the idea.”

You flinched. “I’m sorry… it’s not… I’m not… I can do your hair.”

She looked at you like she was trying to get a read on you. “We don’t want you to be our mom either you know?”

“Lila!” Cooper scolded.

You ran your hand down your face. “I know. I know… that’s… that’s part of the reason I’ve been the way I’ve been. I don’t not like you guys. If anything it’s because I like you a lot and I hate that you lost your mom. But I don’t want you to think I’m trying to be your mom or take her place.”

“Well, good,” Lila said. “We don’t want that either.”

“You want me to do your hair and I’ll be real with you?” You asked.

She nodded and moved into position. “So here’s the thing,” you said, as you started taking up where Clint had left off. “Me and your dad… we had pretty crappy childhoods. The people who were supposed to care for us - they hurt us instead. And I guess… your dad decided that when he grew up he’d have a family and make sure they never got hurt the way he was. But I decided that I didn’t want to risk ruining any kids' lives. We ended up breaking up and going our own separate paths and they went just like that. I never had a family and he got married and got you guys. But now we’re back in each other's lives and I care about your dad. I always have. And I am really scared that that’s gonna mean you guys get hurt and I’ve been trying really hard to just… let you be so it won’t be me that hurts you.”

“You really never wanted kids?” Cooper asked.

You shook your head. “Not because I don’t like them though. I think you guys are awesome.”

“You can be our friend if you like? We have a mom. She might have died but she was still our mom. But we also have an Auntie Nat and an Auntie Wanda and an Auntie Kate and an Ebony. You can just be whoever you are,” Cooper suggested.

You smiled and laughed softly. “You’re pretty smart, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Cooper joked.

“Friends then?” You asked.

“Yeah, friends,” he said.

Lila nodded.

“Okay, but here’s the thing,” you said. “There’s a thing that friends have that adults in charge don’t. You’re allowed to tell me off. Okay? If I overstep, or I do something that upsets you, you can tell me. I won’t be mad and because friends can’t punish each other the way your dad can. Right?”

Lila turned her head and looked at you. “Right. Okay.”

“I’m sorry I’m dating your dad,” you said lamely.

She laughed. “No, you aren’t. But that’s okay. He… it’s been a while since he’s not just been faking being happy.”

You smiled and went back to fixing her hair.

“You should tell us about the criminal stuff you’ve been doing if we’re friends,” Cooper said.

You started laughing. “I’m sure your dad would love it if I told you about that.”

“Come on,” Cooper begged. “You said we have to tell each other stuff.”

You laughed harder and shook your head. “Okay… where should I start?”

// NEXT

#clint barton #clint barton x reader #hawkeye #hawkeye fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #it's you and me

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