#its so EMOTIVE its so characterization……………….

[dykedvonte]

I hate the stretch lines in the front of Curly's uniform because that means the devs rushed to make a model in like a month or so and thought "They gotta at least know he has huge knockers, gotta know he's got back pain." Cause like what is the thematic importance of his tits having overhang?

What responsibility is that representing? Breast reduction? It shows an inherent greed in his character due to the excess and heshouldletmeholdone and that he clearly is blinded cause if he tries to look down his damn ladder all he's seeing is his own cleavage.

[catsushinyakajima]

Why Lance is fire and Keith is water

A big mischaracterization of Lance is that he's not a fiery guy, when in fact his personality resembles fire in so many ways. He's hot-headed, far more than Keith, and that's something that's easily missed because Keith is such a reactive guy. Majority of the fights between Keith and Lance are started by Lance. Lance is also quick to always call out bullshit. He's very passionate about what he does and he always has something to say.

Lance has a temper and I think its so crucial to his character and his dynamic with Keith because without it, their relationship becomes a lot more mellow. Most of the time Keith is just standing like an NPC and Lance will get irritated by that and have something to say, hence causing a fight. Lance has the fire, always has, and it simply reflects on Keith.

I'd like to second this point by saying Keith's personality resembles water. Not that he's completely chill and passive, although he can be. But he's extremely turbulent and malleable. If Lance will start a fight he'll match the energy-he'll shape himself into a fighter. Keith has always been moving around from place to place and he's always had to mold himself into what's most suitable for survival, the same way water clings to a glass. He's got a lot of emotional conflicts within him. The fact that Keith's characterization is very similar to water is also alluded to in the fact that Lance is very drawn to both the ocean (water!) and Keith alike. He can't stop pursuing either.

Now I'm not saying that Lance and Keith are opposites when I call them fire and water because I don't think they're opposites at all. Both can grow/spread to great lengths, both carry a storm, and both can also be kind and gentle and necessary to live (ex: a fire provides warmth and water provides sustenance). Water can fuel fire, the same way Keith grows Lance's fire. Fire can also make water steam and boil, the same way Lance makes Keith react. If the water is greater than the fire, the fire will fizzle out; but if the fire is greater than the water, the water will evaporate. They'd have to be on equal levels for this cause-effect relationship to work. And Lance and Keith have always been on equal level (despite any internal insecurities). They always been neck to neck.

Keith and Lance had great characters that could've been explored more. Regardless of if you ship them or not, they had the potential to be very well written foil characters. Unfortunately that didn't happen :(.

[kurishiri]

18.5 . . . “ a meaningless emotion ”

꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ notice ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ this translation may not be 100% accurate or contain creative liberties due to characterization or narrative flow purposes. if you enjoy, please consider reblogging, but don’t repost these or claim these as your own!

— 🤍 his side story, chapter 18. this is one you can purchase on your second play through of his route.

— cw: the very end may be considered suicidal ideation.

Alfons: ...I think I’ve had just about enough of this blasted sob story.

I slipped out of the bed and changed——if I loitered around the castle, running into her would be a pain.

(Today there’ll be some merrymaking happening amongst the eccentric nobility.)

It wasn’t as though I wanted to go out of my way to go there, but it was a perfect way to kill time.

—— Time skip ——

Alfons: Alright then, what shall we bet on next?

Drunken man: I got it! How about this oil painting that my old man said was his most valued one, not that I know anything about it!

Crossdressing woman: Did you steal that? Vincent… huh, who is this? Never heard of him. Isn’t it just a cheap thing?

Alfons: Hehe, I must say it’s quite unlike nobility to worry over the value of the good.

Crossdressing woman: But it’s not so exciting, you know, it’s better to have something that shows its value.

Alfons: Well then… how about I give a dream where “this painting is worth 500 pounds?”

Man smoking a cigar: Oh, that’s a good idea.

Whether it was nobility, drunken people at some street corner of the bar, the orphans at the East End, and what have you, they weren’t so different.

They would find any pleasure they could through gambling, liquor, or sex, so they could live while avoiding their pains and worries.

Drunken nobleman: Hey, Al, is that rumor about you having a recent favorite true?

Noble lady with gloves: Al, you mustn’t become someone’s partner! We need you to stay a star of all single nobles.

Alfons: Yes, yes, such was my intention.

Drunken nobleman: So you say, but your heart’s already taken by that person, isn’t it?

Alfons: Hehe, I digress.

Man smoking a cigar: …Let’s just leave it at that. If we question him any more, he may never come again, and that would sure put us in a bind.

Man smoking a cigar: Even if his heart’s got its sights set on someone, it’s fine as long as he shares some of that pleasure… isn’t that right?

Noble lady with gloves: Well, I suppose. Ahh, I hope my father gives up on matters of my marriage soon…

(‘My heart’s already taken by that person’… huh.)

When I heard those words that seemed to embody the soul of romanticism,

Kate was the one and sole person who came to mind, and for a moment, I felt called out.

——You hurt me so much and leave me in the dust, but now you decide to commit? That’s just cruel…!

At some point, the little robin had made its home within my mind, making an angered face and suddenly turning away.

(Hehe… it’s not as though I’m committing.)

Alfons: Perhaps I do have some guilt left in me… ah, it’s a straight flush.

Drunken man: Al’s win again?!

As I was staring in a daze at the trump cards raining and fluttering down,

just as I had intended, time melted away into idleness.

I ended up drinking through the night until dawn and having a meat pie from a street seller for breakfast, I returned to the castle, and——

Alfons: Oh?

In a stroke of bad luck, I happened upon Roger and Miss Kate walking together.

Kate: Ah... w-welcome back.

Roger: Hey there, Al.

Leaving aside the mentally strong former doctor who, regardless whether he was aware he was being hated on, would initiate a conversation with a light tone and carefree smile,

Miss Kate very obviously looked awkward.

(I can’t even flatter your acting skills.)

She was the complete opposite of me, who had a lot of practice when it came to plastering on a smile.

Alfons: Well I’ll be, are you on your way to a most friendly outing, the two of you?

Kate: Ah, no, we’re...

Roger: What, curiosity got you piqued?

As if to make a point, Roger wrapped his arm around Kate’s shoulder snugly.

Kate: Roger!? What are you doing—

Roger: Alright then, let me fill you in. We’re gonna be spending the whole entire day holed up in a locked room, just the two of us. Let’s get along now, yeah?

(This man needs to get a hobby.)

(I hardly have any intention of hopping on that cheap provocation.)

Alfons: Oh my, is that so? It would appear you’ve found yourself a lovely playmate while I was not around. I’m happy for you, Miss Kate.

Kate: …

I gave a smile to convey I didn’t think anything of it, and Miss Kate, as though hurt, furrowed her brows.

(Aha, you poor soul, you.)

I figured she probably wasn’t clinging to Roger in hopes that he would heal her broken heart.

I knew very well that she was hardly the type to be able to do such things.

Her single-mindedness in facing me no matter how much I refused or hurt her was staunch to be sure.

(And that’s exactly what makes her different from me… I suppose.)

(Well, whether she’ll make it out safely from the basement after being alone with this man is a different story…)

(But it doesn’t have anything to do with me, so.)

The moment I tried to leave, Miss Kate opened her mouth, as though trying to pull me back.

Kate: Alfons..!

Alfons: ? Yes, what is it?

Kate: ...I still very much like you.

Alfons: ...Come again?

Roger: ... (O_O)

It was such a sudden confession of love, I stiffened out of instinct.

(………Has she gone bonkers?)

(You do know I’m the man who played your feelings of love, and to top it all off, told you it was all a ‘nuisance’ and left the bed, right?)

And yet she still insisted on pouring these dazzling words on me; what else could I think her as, if not crazy?

Kate: Even if this all amounts to a nuisance to you... this is the ‘truth’ for me, so.

Alfons: .........

(Ah, now I’ve done it. This should be the part where I laugh it all off.)

I needed to make her think that, no matter how earnestly she threw her feelings at me, they would never get through, so she could give up on me.

(So that these feelings of love she holds for me amounts to nothing but garbage…)

(I need to laugh at her, to deny her——)

My mind knew that, and yet for some reason, my lips couldn’t form a smile.

Kate: Okay, we’re going, Roger.

Miss Kate, seeming as though she wanted to run from my silence, ran down the staircase leading to the basement.

Roger: Pfft, haha... I feel like I haven’t seen you so dumbfounded in forever.

As Kate’s footsteps grew more distant, I heard an unpleasant laughter.

I hated how this man would not seem to pay any mind to the feelings of others like that.

Alfons: ...Oh, believe me, she is far from the first who’s rendered me so positively dumbfounded like this.

Roger: Hmm? So is it safe to say she’s no different than anyone else to you then?

R: Because if so, I may or may not end up stealing her away for real.

While slowly turning for the staircase, those egoistic lips showed a provoking smile.

Roger: After all, it’s not like you’d really care what happens to a toy you don’t need anymore, right?

Alfons: ………

Perhaps the reason I felt displeasure rise up from within me was because the one before me was a man filled with haughty arrogance.

Or was it because she was the one getting stolen?

(Whichever it is, I shouldn’t care for the answer.)

(Because, in any case, I didn’t have such a choice to step even further into her life to find the reason for this temporary displeasure.)

If that was the case, thinking on it was foolish. And yet——

Her lips, which were trembling as she declared how she ‘still liked me,’

the palms of her hands, which were gripped tightly together as though grasping onto courage,

and those eyes that looked so directly at me, as if to say to not misunderstand,

were all engraved into the back of my mind, refusing to let go.

The heavy footsteps going down the staircase grated on my ears, severely so.

For the feeling of a favorite toy being stolen away, it felt extremely bitter.

(Is this… jealousy? Me, of all people? But, how?)

The notion of getting something I said I didn’t need taken away, and then still feeling displeased over it and whatnot, was much like a child’s selfishness.

And besides——

(…The most I was able to do was imitate love, feeling nothing but emotional disconnect.)

Alfons: …I suppose the biggest mystery to one is themself.

Labeling the jealousy I felt that bubbled up from somewhere in me as ‘meaningless,’ I threw it behind me.

Thinking on it more would only make my helplessness more clear than it already was.

Hoping to idle the time away, I walked to my room, when all of a sudden, a certain question came to mind.

(Come to think of it, if they’re not doing anything shady, then what in the world are those two doing in the basement…?)

For a moment, I felt a sense of unease.

Miss Kate, who had said she ‘still liked me,’

was with Roger, the one who spouted off some nonsense about ‘changing fates’ and whatnot,

and they were in the basement, where a lot of documents concerning ‘Cursed ones’ were abundant, which would mean…

Alfons: …Now that just can’t be. She wouldn’t be so much a fool as to not know when to not give up, would she.

I denied it with my voice, but my chest got more and more filled with that uneasy feeling.

(What if, even after I pushed her away this far, it was already too late?)

(What if she poured even more of her feelings into me, continuing to spend more time with me——?)

Alfons: …Should that time ever come,

A: Perhaps I should simply up and disappear, just like that.

← back next →

masterlist🪞 ╱ ko-fi ☕️ ╱ comms 🤍

NOTE: this is the last his side story i will translate, and the last chapter i will translate concerning alfons main story. thank you for accompanying me so long in this translation, to those who have read it all! it really means a lot to me! i enjoy translating for al lots, and i hope that came through as you were reading overall 🥹🙏

to those who will be reading his route in en, i hope you enjoy what this roller coaster of a route has to offer! theres a lot of complexities woven into his route thats sure give you something to think about. i translated this last chapter to close off the project, putting in my best wishes for you 🫶

i have heard from those who have read what i did for elbies main story that reading my tl has helped enhance their reading experience in en, and i hope this can do the same for you! or if you cant afford the premium stories or dont want to grind for these his side stories, i hope i could provide a way for you to access them more freely. again, thank you to everyone who has supported me, read my tls, interacted with these posts, etc.

its largely thanks to you that i can close this project and look back on it with positive memories! 🪞🤍✨

꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ tags🏷️ ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ @drachonia

[highschoolluver]

ALPHA! HQ BOYS x MANAGER! READER

ALPHA! HQ first years and their scents.

Pairings: Tobio Kageyama/reader, Shoyo Hinata/reader, Kai Tsukishima/reader, and Tadashi Yamaguchi/reader.

Warnings: None.

ALPHA! TOBIO KAGEYAMA 

Keynotes: Gunpowder, Rice, Authentic Matcha Powder, and Sea Salt.

Songs: Congratulations by Mac Miller, Infrunami by Steve Lacy, and Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean.

The first thing everyone seemed to notice about Kageyama was the intensity of his scent: especially during his middle school years. Alongside his short temper and inability to socialize, Kageyama’s scent made him all the more unpopular. 

His scent was weirdly engulfing to you which separated him from other alphas who usually had subdued scents with hints of strong notes like musk or sandalwood. Oddly enough, it didn’t turn you away from him.

When you first met him, the first thing you noticed was the sheer smell of gunpowder, which after speaking to Yachi and meeting the team, you figured out that it was coming from Kageyama. He was Beautiful, entirely a sight for your sore eyes. You didn’t hesitate to take up a position as a manager, and of course, didn’t hesitate to get closer to Tobio Kageyama.

In fact, if anything, it added to his allure. What interested you the most was that once you got over the smell of weaponry, the rest of his scent was oddly comforting.

In his calmer moments, the gunpowder's overall potency is replaced by notes like warm white rice and chunky sea salt. 

Despite the common characterization of Kageyama being arrogant and rude, Kageyama, at his heart, is simply a boy with a passion for the sport he’s loved for years. He misses social cues, can’t seem to be able to study properly, can’t seem to pass a math test but can calculate where and how hard he should hit a volleyball to score a point, and can’t easily communicate his emotions without yelling. These moments are when you can really make out the gentle details of the rest of his scent. When it's just you and Kageyama, not the great king of the court or the arrogant setter from Karasuno High School, you can smell the thoughtful picking of the brand of the powder, the careful measurements of hot water, and the brisk whisking needed to make a cup of matcha alongside a warm bowl of arroz con leche. It’s in these moments that Tobio Kageyama can’t deny his feelings for you.

ALPHA! SHŌYŌ HINATA

Keynotes: Carrot, Osmanthus, Waffle Cone, and Gasoline.

Songs: Oye Mi Amor by Maná, Brazil by Delcan Mckenna, You Look So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer.

Miyagi prefecture is known for many things but mainly, it’s known for its festivals. More specifically, It’s the famous Tanabata summer festival. That day in mid july was when you first smelled him: His scent alone had nearly stopped you in your tracks. There, among the sea of alphas who smelled like amber, was a soothing yet very pungent smell. Commonly, flowery, sweet, and vegetable-like scents usually belonged to omegas and some betas. This scent was floral with a strong note of osmanthus and warm sugar, however, the sheer intensity could only have belonged to an Alpha. When you looked in the direction of the aroma, you could only see the crowd and faintly smell the lingering scent of lighter fluid.

You never managed to forget the scent, afterall, it was so unique that it nearly drove you insane the rest of the summer. School started back up and one of your friends, Yachi, managed to get herself a position as one of the managers of the Karasuno volleyball team. Yachi eventually, through the fact that she begged and pleaded with you nearly every day to become a manager, convinced you to become a manager as well. The day that you first went into the gym was the day you met that alpha with the odd scent all those months ago.

The immediate smell of Gasoline filled your nose as you stopped dead in your tracks. There he was; you knew in your soul that it was the man that had fascinated you back in July. His brown eyes landed on your figure as he stood there before you. There was a shift in his scent, the bitter notes of carrot and gasoline were gone as they were replaced by something much sweeter: Instead, honeyed apricots and sugary waffle cones filled the air. 

He had noticed you back then too, back in July when the sun was setting and the only thing he could make out was your love-struck eyes. 

ALPHA! KEI TSUKISHIMA

Keynotes: Oatmilk, Hot Iron, Leather, and Papaya.

Songs: Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex, Playground Love by Air and Gordon Tracks, Religion by Lana Del Rey.

Someone once told you that Papaya was the fruit of love. They said that if someone were to eat the papaya’s fruit and its seeds before they kissed someone, then the two were promised eternal love. That was back before you learned that Papaya seeds were extremely toxic and that the flesh was barely sweet. 

You and Tsukishima had never really talked, even before high school. He always kept to himself and when he didn’t, he was extremely snarky and sassy, which made you want to talk to him even less. Despite his rude character, he never really treated you like that. Ever since Elementary school, Tsukishima had never once insured you. Instead, he either went along with what you said or stayed silent. His eyes always seemed to lock onto yours, even as children, which led Yachi and Kiyoko to speculate about what Tsukishima thought about you.

Yachi always reminds you of what happened that day when she talks about the two of you. Karasuno and Nekoma had a sparring match on a cool September day. After the practice match, the two teams had run out of water bottles which had prompted Coach Ukai to send you out to a nearby grocery for more. Despite it being somewhat light out, Ukai still sent an Alpha to accompany you, and that's how Kei Tsukishima joined you.

His scent, which was extremely intimidating with heavy notes of brown leather and hot metal, lingered in the air as he looked down at you. You had never realized just how tall he was compared to you, how much space he took up despite being so anti-social, and just how attractive he was under the streetlight. Usually, you would just politely ignore him but, under the early stars and cool 7:00 P.M. air, you couldn’t look away. His eyes, once so disinterested and dismissive, were full of passion and animalistic desire. You couldn’t bear to look away as Tsukishima suggested that the two of you deserved something sweet: a “reward” in his words for being such a “good manager” and for working “so hard”. 

In the end, he was the one who cut up the papaya he had bought for the two of you. He brought some of its flesh and seeds to his soft lips. The scent of ripe papaya and sweet oat milk wafted in the clean air as the taste of the fruit and its seeds lingered on your lips and in your mouth.

ALPHA! TADASHI YAMAGUCHI

Keynotes: Seawater, Ironed Laundry, Banana Leaf, and Cotton.

Songs: And I Love Her by Santo & Johnny, Oh My Angel by Bertha Tilman, and Contigo by Los Panchos.

You had always had a bit of a crush on Yamaguchi. Which, embarrassingly enough, was the entire reason why you had become a manager of the team. 

You always looked at him from a distance, never truly crossing the invisible line between the two of you. Because of this, you were able to realize a few things about him: He was extremely awkward around all girls, when he tanned he seemed to get even more freckles, his hair never was too long or too short, he always seemed to follow Kei Tsukishima, and he wasn’t like another alpha you had ever met. 

His scent wasn’t proactive or strong, it was somewhat faint that you initially mistook him for a beta. It was calm and so comforting that you couldn’t help but gravitate towards him. He smelled like the Pacific Ocean and sweet banana leaves, like long days on the sandy beaches of the Miyagi prefecture.  He smelled like some distant home, one where you’ll come back to after a long day in some bustling city, probably Tokyo, and relax in this small comfort. You’d come back to the aroma of warm clothes and cotton and greet your husband, Yamaguchi just doesn't know it yet but the two of you are already married, and he’d kiss you ever so gently. He’d kiss you just to kiss you because that’s exactly the type of man and alpha Tadashi Yamaguchi is.

In his presence, you felt safe. Yamaguchi, by no means, was the strongest, toughest, or scariest alpha you had met. But there was something in those awkward conversations, the vulnerability was intimate and of young love. Things like when he stuttered your name while helping you with something, when his knee would touch yours but neither one of you pulled away, or when he would look at you with such gentleness that it stunned you. There was no lust, no animatic desire, and no malice in those puppy eyes. There was only love, pure love, love that everyone grows up with.

You had spent such a long time yearning for Tadashi Yamaguchi that you had lost sight that he had started to look at you the same way.

AUTHOR NOTES: T’was fun to write ngl but let know if you enjoyed and if you want more!!!! tysmm for reading

[kenonade]

esalen………………………………………………………………………

[alch-emi]

Shoutout to Linked Universe for bringing back my Skyward Sword obsession

[cintipede]

Martin Blackwood's terrible, no good, very bad 19th november (iteration #67)

fanart based on @formiana 's time loop fic! go check it out its incredible

[crossthread]

No jokes here. The Navy’s best pilot and the Navy’s best admiral. Between them, eight air-to-air combat kills and five stars. These were men who commanded respect with or without your approval. This was the picture of ruthless competence.

Debriefing (& Other Stories) • part 2 of Easier Done Than Said by @compacflt

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

TF One D-16

[welcometogrouchland]

Babygirl I can concieve of stephcass dynamics you couldn't even imagine (arospec Cass not understanding why "probably bi but has a job so she doesn't have time to think about that" Steph apparently needs a man (she doesn't, it would just be nice) and doesn't want to platonically settle down with cass in their old age)

[sophistired18]

No one talk to me. I fell in love.

[milkbreadtoast]

my s class hunters does a really good job at gradually raising the stakes without feeling like a pointless power creep and keeping me extremely invested and i keep saying this but I really do think it's bc it's a story grounded in love at every turn... the bond between the han brothers especially is extremely compelling and beautiful and makes me feel like a knife is being stabbed into my heart and twisted all around... i love them so so much 😞💔❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[thewhizzyhead]

does anyone want an analysis on a light or somethin because its been on fuckin repeat since the day I first listened to warriors and now swercy is all I can think about. also I feel obligated to tell you that Julia and Jazzy call it swercy too and I'm not kidding just look at their IG comments they use the hashtag and everything

[sweetandsourcookies]

lying here in bed and thinking abt how alienated out i feel in the cookie run fandom. and then theres a polish sitcom playing in the background from a different room.

[bmpmp3]

and another thing about vocal synth fans: we will always find some adult male voicebank to turn into a funny little clown for our amusement. some guy to communally bully in our talkloids, the miserable straightman to the shenanigans, the sad little freak punchline to our jokes. it happened to kaito. it happened to gakupo. it happened genbu. it even happened a bit to kevin (although he seems to have looped around somehow). and it will happen to you too, frimomen. it will happen to you too.

[justablah56]

can I just say that I *love* elementary .