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sgtpeppers · 3 months ago

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Paul McCartney & Memory Almost Full (2007): A Reconciliation of ‘Him’ and ‘Me’

"When you talk about Paul McCartney, I talk about the guy inside me, but you’re talking about him - the guy who goes onstage and makes records and stuff. And I think it’s just a way of preserving my sanity really, is thinking ‘I’m not really that, I’m just some little kid from Liverpool really. I didn’t do all that stuff. It’s a dream really and it’s gonna stop soon."

Paul McCartney, Flaming Pie Press Kit Interview, 1997

Thematically, Memory Almost Full is probably one of the easiest Paul albums to talk about, because it's not exactly subtle. It's there in the title, in the lyrics, and in the way Paul talks about it, but I think it's still worth pulling it apart a bit.

In short, it's album that looks to the past in an attempt to get to grips with it.

Paul often talks about needing some separation in his head from Paul the celebrity and Paul in private, but this album goes some way to reconciling those separate versions of himself, giving him a moment to step back and look back at his life and the effect on the man he's become, before swinging the camera in the opposite direction and asking what comes after that.

Secondly, there's a thread running through this album which is somewhat contradictory to the idea that he struggles to put all the pieces of himself together, one that describes a man who does know who he is, and in very confident in that and in his ability to make his own decisions.

This is a track by analysis of the album, examining lyrics as well as Paul's comments about the songs.

Background on the album:

Memory Almost Full began life in 2003 and was produced by David Kahne. The first batch of sessions were around the time that Paul and Heather's child was born, so it's easy to see already why Paul may have been in a reflective mood. The medley songs, as well You Tell Me, Only Mama Knows, and The End of The End were recorded then.

Paul then took a break to record Chaos and Creation In The Backyard which was released in 2005. Paul then returned to Memory Almost Full over 2006 and 2007, in the midst of his divorce with Heather. Again, like with the birth of a child, the ending of marriage is the sort of life changing event you'd expect to cause someone to start contemplating their past, present and future.

Track Analysis:

Dance Tonight:

Okay so starting off this track really isn't that deep, but it does have a sweet little story behind it:

At home, I started stomping around the kitchen, playing this little instrument, just enjoying myself. I sang, ‘Everybody gonna dance tonight’ and my little girl came running in and started dancing, so I fell in love with the song. In fact, I liked it so much I ran into the studio to record it, and stuck it on the album. It seemed like a good atmospheric opening.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

The interesting thing to note here is that he is starting off the album with a sense of 'now'. This is him, in the present, with one of his kids loving a song and rushing to the studio to record it. He starts off the album with 'this is where I'm at'.

Ever Present Past:

Which brings us nicely to the first track of the album that really kicks off this exploration of Paul's past and linking it to how things are in the present.

I don't want to do Paul a disservice here but this is one of those tracks where he says he doesn't read too much into it:

There’s no deep meaning in it. I think what happens with me is that I just write something and people read into it. I like that, because often you do things in a subliminal way and don’t realise what you’re doing.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

So I'm gonna do the reading into it for him, because it fits too well with the album to just ignore it. It is a song about this huge, unbelievable life he's lived that is impossible for him escape from, because no matter how much he wants to compartmentalise, his past is his.

Searching for the time that has gone so fast The time that I thought would last My ever present past

Ever Present Past Lyrics

There's a sense of it slipping away, of something being gone, and yet of it being still very present. I often get the sense Paul is someone who is constantly at odds with himself, and I think you get that here; a struggle between wanting to hold onto the past while also feeling that it's an overwhelming thing to accept is his.

And when you also look at the video, where Paul literally comes face to face with another version of himself, we return to that idea that he is most comfortable when he separates the performer 'him' to the private 'me', and playing into that idea of his duality.

In this song we also touch on this idea of Paul being very sure of himself, and this isn't him talking about himself now. This is him saying that he's always been one to walk his own path. We'll come back to this in a bit.

I wouldn't join in with the games that they were playing.

Ever Present Past Lyrics

See Your Sunshine:

That is pretty much an out-and-out love song for Heather. A lot of the album was done before, during and after our separation. I didn’t go back and take out any songs to do with her. That one was written during a good time with Heather. I don’t want to deny those times. When you’re going through a separation it’s always tempting to put all that behind you, but I don’t think that’s right.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Mirror, 2007

I love that Paul included this song rather than scrapping it. By the time the album came out him and Heather were in the midst of their divorce, which wouldn't be settled until the following year. It would have been easy to leave it, or to do the thing he's done with a lot of his love songs and say it's not really for any particular person, but instead he's clear that this was about a good time with Heather and despite everything else that happened, that's still important.

And so while the lyrics themselves don't add much to the theme, I think its inclusion makes it reflective, and it makes it a piece of his history that he is able to say is his and was an important part of his life.

Only Mama Knows:

This is one of Paul's story songs, and there's a few important things here even if again, the lyrics themselves aren't totally on theme.

I like to get into those imaginary stories, then follow them through and become that character. The lead character in this song is someone who was left by his mother, doesn’t know why she left him and doesn’t know if he’ll ever see his father’s face. It’s interesting because it takes you out of yourself. You can become an alter ego. It doesn’t have to be Paul McCartney singing it – it can be this other guy singing.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

Once I start writing about that I obviously come to it from my own perspective. I'm just acknowledging that the kid whose Mother left him has got more problems than the average person in life.

Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021

So first of all, this song is based on a real person, a friend of Paul's who was adopted as a baby after being left by his Mother. So I don't want to take away from that, but art and storytelling doesn't just have to come from one inspiration and as he also says, he comes at this from his own perspective. Therefore, it's hard not to tie in the fact that in a different way, he was 'left' by his Mother when she died and then there's also the fact that John has a remarkably similar story of being left by his parents as what's described in the song. In a round about way, I think this is Paul's nod back to those teenage years and sense of loss and grief which was prevalent in him and the people around him.

The other interesting thing to me is "You can become an alter ego. It doesn’t have to be Paul McCartney singing it – it can be this other guy singing". Again, Paul separating himself into two, taking the chance to stand in someone else's shoes, but specifically on a song that understandably may bring up difficult emotions for him.

You Tell Me:

Carrying on the darker mood of the album, we get to what producer David Kahne described as "maybe the saddest song he’s ever written" (x).

I started off just remembering summers: ‘Were we really there?’ ‘Was it real?’ Sometimes, for a lot of people, memories – particularly childhood memories – seem so golden and you think, ‘Did it really not rain all summer or am I just imagining the sunny bits?’

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

In You Tell Me Paul is repeatedly asking the person he's singing to to confirm that the way he remembers things it right, because it seems like it was too good to be true.

Were we there, was it real? Is it truly how I feel? Maybe You tell me

You Tell Me lyrics

It's melancholic and uncertain, there's so much doubt laced through the song and directly ties back to Ever Present Past and the idea that he's "searching" for his past, and that it went "too fast". Compared to a lot of the tracks on this album, it's stripped back with a huge feeling of vulnerability coming from Paul not even trusting himself that what happened, really happened.

Mr Bellamy:

Am I really gonna tie Mr Bellamy in with this whole thing? Yes I absolutely am because for me this is one of those songs that sums up that second thread I was talking about at the start - confident, knows exactly who he is Paul. "I wouldn't join in with the games that they were playing" Paul from EPP.

I wanted some lyrics that would poke in and out of the riff, so I began with, ‘I’m not coming down, no matter what you say, I like it up here.’ Sometimes I don’t actually know where I’m going, so then I look at just what that verse is, and in this case I got a picture of a guy sitting on top of a skyscraper and all the people in the street – the rescue team, the psychiatrist, the man with the megaphone shouting: ‘Don’t jump’ and the people shouting: ‘Jump’. So I fished around for a name and came up with Bellamy, which sounded like someone who might want to jump. And I just followed the story through. The end is like a pull back with a camera – there he is, little Bellamy sitting on the ledge, enjoying it up in the clouds.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

So Mr Bellamy tells the story of a man sitting up on a roof, with everyone below him panicking and telling him not to jump. The opening lyrics, repeated towards the end are:

I'm not coming down No matter what you do I like it up here Without you

My Bellamy Lyrics

My reading on this song is that it's not about someone who's actually going to jump, I've always felt more like Bellamy just wants to be left the fuck alone, for people to stop interfering so he can enjoy the view. He likes it up there.

This is very Paul to me. His decisions have always been his own, to the point where he has been labelled as 'controlling' by people who have worked with him, but I think the other side of that is that he can say with certainty that everything he's done is his and I think that's really important to him.

What this song does very well (apart from being fun because who doesn't love Paul doing silly voices) is contrast with the previous uncertainty about himself in You Tell Me. He's taken us from a place of needing external validation, to a place where he (or, yeah yeah whatever, 'Mr Bellamy') knows exactly what he wants to do and doesn't need to hear other people opinion's.

Gratitude:

So the mood starts shifting into more upbeat Paul here, but I do think there's a slightly odd contrast between the song and what Paul says about the song.

Before I looked this up I assumed this was a Heather song because it reads as someone looking back on a relationship that has ultimately gone wrong, but still being grateful for the good times (therefore, tying in with See Your Sunshine). Considering it was one of the later songs worked on, so Paul and Heather would have been separated by the time it was recorded, that makes sense to me. Also if we take a look at the lyrics, I think they very much allude to how Paul was feeling after Linda's death:

Well I was lonely I was living with a memory But my cold and lonely nights ended When you sheltered me

Gratitude lyrics

And then the relationship falls apart:

I should stop loving you Think what you put me through But I don't want to lock my heart away

Gratitude lyrics

But then we have what Paul's said about the song:

I’ve always had a couple of voices. Originally you’re just a kid at home, like everyone else, and then you start to dream of being a singer. My heroes then were rock ’n’ rollers, so my ballad voice was based on Elvis and the screamy voice was me trying to be Little Richard. I loved him so much. When I joined the Beatles, John used to like that and it’s stayed with me as something I enjoy doing – that gritty, souly voice. So on this track I was just thinking of how much there is to be grateful for in life, and I wanted to put that into song and use the gritty voice to do it with.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

It's one of his more vague answers, and maybe he just doesn't wanna talk about it which is fair enough. But to me the song seems to be directed at a person rather than life in general. Either way, we have Paul looking back on something and being grateful for it and the positive impact it had on him, rather than trying to separate himself from it.

What's also of note here, is the thing about wanting to do a song using his Little Richard voice, and how in talking about that he links back to The Beatles. We're getting more specific about where in Paul's past we're talking about now which means...

The Medley

There is a medley of 5 songs towards the end and that was purposefully retrospective. I thought this might be because I’m at this point in my life, but then I think about the times I was writing with John and a lot of that was also looking back. It’s like me with ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ – I’m still up to the same tricks!

Paul McCartney, introducing Memory Almost Full, 2007

I hadn’t done that since Abbey Road and I thought it would be quite nice to flirt with that idea again. It just means it’s a slightly longer form. You’ve got to think, ‘What came before?’ ‘What statement are you going to make now?’ ‘How’s this going to lead on?’ It’s not that different from just sequencing an album, but you suddenly think of them as a suite of songs, and it’s interesting to write them in that way.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

So I think the entire album was built around this medley. As mentioned earlier, they were the first songs recorded and it seems he consciously went into it aiming to toy with that Abbey Road idea, another pointed link back The Beatles.

Vintage Clothes:

For me this is about my clothes from the Sixties and the fact that what’s out comes back – fashion going round in circles. I meet quite a few young guys in bands and a question they always ask is, ‘Did you keep the clothes?’ As a matter of fact I did. The Beatles had a tailor, Dougie Millings – he’s in a scene in A Hard Day’s Night. Instead of just going to get a suit as you did before, for a job interview or whatever, suddenly you were going to get epaulettes and fancy buttons, materials and linings. That to me is where the song is coming from. The message is: vintage clothes are great but don’t live in the past.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

So there's a very literal reading of him actually singing about old clothes and wearing them again (which he does!) but he does go a little bit deeper when talking about the song, with the idea of not "living in the past". I wonder if that's how he justifies trying to keep that separation in place sometimes, that it's for his own good because because dwelling on things that have happened won't change them, but I also think this lyric is significant:

A little worn A little torn Check the rack What went out is coming back

Vintage Clothes lyrics

He tells us that "fashion goes round in circles" but I also like a deeper meaning to this, something about your past catching up with you perhaps, which would tie in nicely with the rest of the album. But, even as a song that is literally about his old clothes, it sets the tone for the medley and and the following song, which I kinda think is the entire point of the album.

That Was Me:

Yes, Paul! It was! You really did all that! That Was Me takes us back to Liverpool and through The Beatles, and is the triumphant, proud acceptance that it was 'me', no long talking about Performer Paul in the third person.

All I had to do for this song was to think back. And immediately I go back to Liverpool, where there was a little place we could escape to, beautiful little woods where, come springtime, there would be these carpets of bluebells. It was a magical place. There’s something about me at the bus stop that’s a big part of my memories – going to school, coming home from school, going to the pictures, going to your friend’s house. So all of these things got in there. ‘The cellar’ is the Cavern, ‘Royal Iris’ is a ferry boat they had – they’d call them riverboat shuffles, and some of our earliest gigs were on them. So these are just exciting memories of mine, and I connected them.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

The same me that stands here now And when I think that all this stuff Can make a life, it's pretty hard to take it in That was me

That Was Me lyrics

So we're back to confidant Paul, Paul who knows who he is and is willing to point at The Beatles and say that was me no matter how unbelievable it all was. In classic Paul style though, the song is happy, upbeat, and a collection of what he calls "exciting" memories, rather than dwelling on the hard bits which I think he has much more difficulty doing.

Feet In The Clouds:

But talking of more difficult memories, we get to the song about his school days.

Because of the retrospective mood of this medley, it then goes back to school and teachers. I had a real motley bunch of teachers at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys. Some of them were complete maniacs. Whereas I wrote about golden summers in You Tell Me, school was very dark and gloomy. The building itself wasn’t the lightest of places – it was built in 1825. This seemed to affect the attitude of the teachers. They were a dark bunch of people. So the song is like a therapy session for me.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

I love the concept of this song and the flipping round of the well known phrase "head in the clouds".

I've got my feet in the clouds Got my head on the ground

Feet In The Clouds lyrics

To me it goes back to that idea of Paul always walking his own path, even if it's not the normal one, he's not just subverting a well known saying but the literal imagery speaks of the same thing. His head is on the ground, giving the idea of his thoughts being 'grounded' but his feet are the ones doing their own thing, going where they're not supposed to. Getting him away from school perhaps, but also treading a path other people haven't walked which is exactly what he did. So it serves as a retrospective piece but also tying up that thread Paul does and has always known who he is and what he wants, no matter what other people were telling him.

House of Wax:

My personal favourite on the album, god I love this song and the mood it creates. On the first listen you may think... what's this got to do with this 'retrospective medley' Paul's talking about, but we actually get some surprisingly helpful insight from The Lyrics.

You get on a train of thought, and things just come in without you noticing. The poets are about “To set alight the incomplete / Remainders of the future’. I think that’s just a way of saying ‘to clarify things’.

Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021

I had this little idea that the ‘remainders of the future’ were sort of buried in the yard, just like hidden treasure. Meaning that we don’t know what’s going to happen.

Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021

So we've got these ideas of clarifying things, making them less confusing, combined with the future being unknowable. This is Poet Paul, and whilst I don't think this song needs to anything more than it is, knowing his intention with those lyrics does tie into the themes of trying realign with his past, and also of living a life where another crazy thing can be just around the corner...

The End Of The End:

For example, the fact Paul is going to die one day. I know, I don't want to think about it either. But Paul was certainly thinking about it and wrote a whole about what he hopes will happen, how he hopes he's remembered for the good times, for the songs and the stories and happy memories.

On the day that I die I'd like jokes to be told And stories of old To be rolled out like carpets That children have played on And laid on while listening To stories of old

The End Of The End lyrics

At the end of the end It's the start of a journey To a much better place And this wasn't bad So a much better place Would have to be special No need to be sad

The End Of The End lyrics

It's classic Paul taking a sad song and making it better. After an album of looking back on a life that's hard to grapple with and of relationships that have stopped working, Paul changes to the perspective from looking back to looking forward, and decides that hey, this has all been pretty good. And even when contemplating death, he brings in that classic Paul optimism - if this has been good, imagine how much better the next thing will be.

Nod Your Head:

And then, because it's Paul and he can't just end things there, he needs to bring the mood up again. There's not a huge amount to say for me personally, so I'll end with Paul's own words before I wrap things up:

Well, that End Of The End brought the party down, didn’t it? It was going to be the last track on the album, but we thought we couldn’t leave everyone going, ‘Oh God, I’m not going to listen to that again.’ So we had a little stompy rocker called Nod Your Head and we thought we’d let them off the hook. I think it’s good to talk about difficult subjects and then to get off it and just rock out. So that was the feel of making the album. Get some personal thoughts out (Gratitude, The End Of The End), talk about my childhood, talk about love, about beautiful memories. Try and get everything said, but with a feeling of optimism and enthusiasm. I thought if I could accomplish it all then that would be a good thing to do.

Paul McCartney, interview with The Daily Mail, 2008

The Title

Memory Almost Full is probably one of my favourite album names because it's so perfect. It's that imagery of a life well lived with lots of memories, but it was also a phrase Paul picked up from seeing it on his phone, which is a nice little link to his present day. Although, thankfully eighteen years later he's still cramming those memories in.

One extra little thing:

Some people mentioned that the album’s title, Memory Almost Full, is an anagram of “for my soulmate LLM” (the initials of Linda Louise McCartney). When asked if this was intentional, McCartney replied; “Some things are best left a mystery“. In an interview with Pitchfork Media, McCartney clarified, “I must say, someone told me [there is an anagram], and I think it’s a complete mystery, because it’s so complete. There does appear to be an anagram in the title. And it’s a mystery. It was not intentional.

(x)

Conclusion (yes, I'm stopping soon 😭)

To me, Memory Almost Full is thematically one of Paul's most cohesive albums, and he's being very transparent with what he's doing. I'm not saying he should all feel sorry for Paul because he's Too Famous, but I do think it's understandable that everything he's done is inconceivable in hindsight, and he finds it much easier to put those parts of his life in boxes.

It's a contradictory album in a lot of ways, but Paul has always been a bit contradictory, pulled between who he is and who he thinks other people want him to be, being very aware of the paths people are expected to take and then choosing to take his own. This is an album that speaks to that, that speaks to the kid in Liverpool with big dreams and those dreams being completely mindboggling when he got them, of a man who sometimes looks back and struggles to accept those things happened to him, and is at the same extremely proud of what he's achieved.

I guess my point is, if you haven't listened to the album yet, you should go and do that now.

And if you've made this far thank you and ily <3

#paul mccartney #memory almost full #the beatles #okay i know this looks long but it's mostly because i included a lot of quotes #i just really love this album and i needed to yap about it!!#also praying this isn't full of typos but if it is i've become blind to them and i can only apologise #also !! if anyone has any thoughts to add i would love to hear them <3

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drvscarlett · 1 year ago

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About You Pt1

Pairing: Sebastian Vettel x Webber!Reader

Summary: Everyone knows about the history of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But there's a well kept story within the paddock about Sebastian Vettel and another Webber. This is that story.

A/N: I know I said that its a whole one shot only but I don't think that I can do it. I have to cut it because there is a lot of history. I hope you all enjoy.

About You Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Taglist: @spideybv28 @randomcuboidshape @mehrmonga @casperlikej @cliosunshine

2005, Circuito de Jerez

The earliest memory that Y/N has of Sebastian Vettel was watching him test the Williams-BMW car.

It was her first time accompanying Mark and she was still grasping some of the key concepts of Formula 1 when Sebastian headed to the car. She watched how he drives and how the team were discussing about how he is a potential driver for the seasons to come.

"You know Seb is just a year older than you" Nico Rosberg, who has been keeping you company for the testing that afternoon, stated.

"Then that will make him the youngest driver if he enters Formula 1"Y/N mused.

Y/N didn't know but she was pretty excited to see him on track. She knew that this Sebastian will change a lot of things in F1 and will probably make history. At the same time, she can't help but be a bit worried since its a dangerous sports. One second you can be living the dream and then the next you find yourself recovering in a hospital room.

Sebastian Vettel gets out of the car and lifts his visor. There was a certain spark in his eyes that Y/N didn't miss out. Its the spark that showcase how much he loved to race.

Y/N didn't miss how her heart skipped a beat.

2006, Istanbul Park

The next time that Y/N sees Sebastian Vettel was during the free practice. He was a Friday driver for BMW-Sauber and he is as impressive as the day she first saw him in Spain.

"That kid just set out the fastest lap" her brother, Mark was shocked by the time set by Sebastian.

"That kid has a name" Y/N stated "and its Sebastian"

"Oh how come you are so informed about this missy?" he wondered

"He drove with you in testing season last year remember" Y/N replied.

The replay on the screen showcases the bold moves that were made by Sebastian. It was like he was driving like he is a man on a mission. If Y/N will bet, there is a lot of teams that will be shortlisting his name to their team.

"What do you think about him?"

"A little bit of reckless, I mean 6 seconds in your formula 1 career and you already have a penalty. There must be some kind of record for that" Mark was referring to the speeding penalty that Sebastian received as soon as he left the garage.

Y/N mumbles a small hmm as she continues to watch how Sebastian moves around the track. She was sure that sooner or later, she might see Sebastian more often.

2007, Albert Park

Fridays aren't too crowded as the Sunday races but still there was a bit of pressure in Sebastian Vettel's shoulder as he entered Albert Park.

He walked the paddocks and tried to visualize himself not just a Friday driver but an actual driver for the Sunday races. He pictures the screaming crowd chanting his name, the smell of burning rubber, radio messages from the team, and even being at the podium with the champagne.

In his daydreaming, he didn't realize that he bumped into someone. All he saw was that a girl was down on the ground with papers all over.

"I'm terribly sorry. I was not looking where I was going" he apologized.

"I'm equally at fault too"The woman assured "It was not wise to type and walk especially since this whole place is swarming with people"

Sebastian helped the girl compiling the papers and he noticed how the papers seem to be like contract for sponsorship. He looked at her and tried to identify which team did she belong to but her lack of team merchandise makes it difficult.

"You're new here?"he tries to decode.

"No, I'm not. I've been coming here since 5 years ago" there was an accent in her voice. Australian, if Sebastian was right.

"Huh, you must know your way around this whole place"

She takes a closer look at him, "You're that rookie Sebastian Vettel"

Now Sebastian doesn't have a huge following that he knows of and this is probably the first time that someone outside the family knew about him. Now, he felt even more curious about the girl.

"How did you know my name"

"Hard not to especially when you set a record to having the fastest penalty in their f1 career" she joked.

Normally Sebastian will be annoyed by the reminder of his mistake last year. He choose to forget that small mishap and avoid talking about it. But this time, he felt like the giggling is contagious that he can't help but smile when talking about his mistake.

"I assure you that I'm a much more better driver now" he states, holding up his hand as if saying that he swears he is a better a driver now.

"Hoping to see you deliver Vettel" she grins.

The girl started walking away from Sebastian when it occured to him that he didn't even know her name. He rushed to catch up with her.

"Wait, I didn't get your name"

She looked at him and there seems to be a slight hesitation

"If we meet again in a formula 1 race then I'll tell you my name" then the girl walked out of his sight.

2007, Indianopolis track.

It seems that luck has been on Y/N's side because she managed to avoid Sebastian during the past races. But it seems as if this luck is running out slowly since they are bound to meet up this weekend as Sebastian was bumped from reserve driver to formula 1 driver due to the injury that Kubica sustained in Canada.

She was hanging out at one of the coffee machines when she felt somebody tap her shoulder. She gave him a smile upon recognizing him.

"Sebastian Vettel, shouldn't you be preparing in your f1 car now?"

There was a loopy grin on his face, "Mystery woman, I was beginning to think if you are just a figment of my imagination.

Y/N pressed the hot cup to his hands, "I'm very much real and not just a figment of your mind"

"So will you tell me now your name?" Sebastian wondered. He has to admit that it has been bugging him for weeks on end about who this mystery woman is. He even went to ask around the paddock but his description was very vague and no one could help him.

"Its Y/N, nice to meet you" Purposely leaving out the last name.

In Y/N's mind it was just a safety pre-caution to leave out her last name. It was for her own good as well because people tend to act differently once they hear about your big brother or your connection to the sports. For once in her life, Y/N wants to be seen as just Y/N.

Maybe she just want to prolong this little charade for a little while longer.

"Y/N nice to finally meet you"

2007, Nürburgring

Maybe its the home turf advantage that boosted his confidence but Sebastian managed to ask Y/N if she would like a tour around the place. Thankfully, she agreed. Sebastian was already blabbering about the places that they have to get to and Y/N had to remind him that they're not staying for a vacation.

He will tell you that he is not freaking out but he prepared for the whole afternoon. He even asked his mother what outfit should he wear to make it seem like a casual hangout. In his defense, he never had a lot of friends growing up and he certainly didn't have beautiful australian girls around.

"You know you don't have to bring me flowers, were just touring around"

It was his idea to bring flowers because he often sees it in airports. When someone new is in town, they bring them flowers. He felt like the orange gerberas were a good pick as advised by the florist he knows.

"But the flowers made you smile" Sebastian grinned "I'm more than pleased to have a happy tourist to tour around"

Then two engaged in a conversation about their early life. Sebastian shared stories of the town he grew up in and his stories of motorsports.Y/N, on the other hand, listened and shared some bits of her life in Australia before she traveled around the world.

Eventually the duo ended up in an orange farm, where they picked out oranges and waited for the sunrise to set in the horizon. It was a core memory that they will share with one naother.

"We should do this again sometime"Y/N suggested

"Its a breather for you and I" Sebastian agreed "Away from all the lavishness of F1 and the pressure of the sports"

"Sounds like you wanted to run away with me"

"Who wouldn't want to run away with someone like you?"

2007, Fuji Speedway.

The past few weeks has been stressful for the Webber siblings. The articles published by some news sites seems to be getting on Mark's last nerve. Everyone seems to be taunting him about how he is over a hundred of race starts already but then he still haven't won anything. The pressure is high and Mark was determined to prove them wrong.

"Mark just don't do anything stupid okay?" Y/N begs.

She watches as Mark suit up for the next race. She was already used to her brother racing but she knew this race was a little different since her brother wanted to win.

"I'm not going to be stupid Y/N, I'll drive good today and I'll get that win that they want"Mark grumbled.

Y/N handed the helmet to her brother, "Just stay safe, I don't want to lose you"

"I'll come back safe"

The race went underway and as usual, Y/N watches it in the comforts of the driver's room. She did not want too many attention focused on her and she felt like her heart might actually come out of her rib cage if she watches it on the stands.

Japan's wet races gives Y/N a heavy feeling that something bad might happen. Her heart beats rapidly as she watches cars after cars spin out or crash. She prays that none of them was Mark. or Sebastian.

There was 20 laps to go when her ears started ringing that a Red Bull has been rear-ended by a Toro Rosso.

'Please don't let it be Mark and Seb. Please don't let it be Mark and Seb'

But the voices in the Red Bull pitlanes and the storming voices of Mark confirms her worst nightmare.

"That kid is so stupid, he shouldn't have been allowed to drive" Mark roared "I had that in the bag, I was going to win"

Y/N immediately hugged her brother, "Its alright, the win will be coming soon Mark. What matters is you are safe"

There were frustrated tears from Mark as he cried in the embrace of his sister. Privacy was given to the siblings as the race continues on. She was so focused on her brother that she didn't notice that there were several messages in her phone.

Seb: Where are you? Seb: I messed up my race and Webber. Seb: Call me when you get this. Please?

2007, Shanghai International Circuit

It felt like a heavy weight on Sebastian's shoulder after he messed up. He kept on blaming himself that he did not just mess up his own race but he also messed up Webber's race. It did not help that Y/N was not replying.

The media has also been eating him up with the way that Webber responded to him. He was called a kid that did not have enough experience. It stings a lot but now he has to put up a brave face and just race.

"SEB! SEB!"

Sebastian looked back and he saw Y/N. There was no hesitation in him but he immediately hugged her. It was the only time ever since Japan that people aren't mad at him or hounding him for questions. He felt at ease to be with Y/N.

"Where have you been, I have been messaging you over the weekend"

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Y/N says "And before I forget, I made you this as a token of my apology"

In her hand, she has a paper bag. Sebastian's curiosity is piqued upon looking at the contents inside the bag. There was a tupperware with food and a sticky note in a messy handwriting "for sebastian vettel, you can do it."

"You cook?"

"I don't but hey its the thought that counts. I figure that you might need-"

Y/N doesn't have to explain a lot because Sebastian already appreciated the gesture. He hugged her again and it seems like everything just got a little bit lighter for Sebastian that weekend.

It wasn't Sebastian's weekend at all but remembering the little note, that was tucked inside his helmet, he felt a lot better. He can bounce back next season.

2008, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

This was the internal dilemma of being Sebastian's friend and being Mark's sister. The two of them are in different side of the coins for this season. Two drivers shared the same family with Toro Rosso being the sister family of Red Bull but it seems like that's their only similarity.

Then there was the mixed emotion. Of course, Y/N was proud of Sebastian because he is slowly improving and shining with every grand prix. She was always elated when they see each other post-qualifying or post-race at the hotel rooftop (it has been their common knowledge that they will meet up there so that they can get fresh air together). On the other hand, Y/N knows about the pressure that it is being placed with her brother. Mark has been declining and losing hope for a maiden win. He has been in the sports for some time and he believes his time should have arrived by now but he lost opportunity after opportunity.

Y/N can't fault anyone for this one. Both of them just wanted to achieve their dreams. She wished everything does not have to escalate but here they are in the 2008 Monza Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel was starting on pole while Mark was starting third. Everyone is buzzing about the possibility that Toro Rosso might clinch a first win before Red Bull. It was something that Y/N knew bugged Mark's mind.

It didn't help that it was a rainy start and it sort of brought her back to Japan 2007. She was not an overly religious person but she prayed to any higher being to please don't let Mark and Sebastian crash with each other again.

The race went underway and the rain was not as heavy as Japan. Still there was some crashes and some spin. But Y/N felt the conflict of emotions start again upon seeing how Mark started to drop places while Sebastian pulled away from the rest.

Y/N went out of the driver room when it was nearing the end of the lap. She didn't know whether she should run and congratulate Sebastian or she should stay behind and comfort his brother.

Of course, blood is thicker than water.

Mark looks absolutely defeated as people started to ask him about how he is feeling when their sister group got its first win before them or how did he manage to mess up his 3rd position to eight.

"Just please give him some space, we will be answering the questions later" Y/N stepped up. Right now she was not Mark's sister but rather Mark's assistant.

Y/N helped Mark to go back to his driver's room so he can get a few minutes to himself before he gets questioned by the media again.

"It feels like shit. I feel like I can't do anything right" Mark threw his gloves across the room.

"It wasn't your time yet Mark" Y/N replied. Its like a broken record at this point which frustrates Mark.

"Then when will it be my time? Sebastian has been here for just a year or so and he already have a grand prix victory"

Y/N knew that this was the dam breaking. No words can comfort her brother right now so she just went to give him a hug. She could only wish in silence that Mark gets his win eventually.

On the other side of the paddock, there was cheering. Sebastian Vettel was in cloud 9 as he saw the Toro Rosso mechanics and engineers calls out his name. Everyone was in full party mode that they have even tossed Sebastian up in the air.

Everyone wanted to talk to him. They wanted to ask him about how he is feeling or how he created history today. He was the youngest driver to have a maiden win and the first one to bring victory to Toro Rosso.

But Sebastian eyes seem to search for someone in the crowd. He wouldn't voice it out but there was a certain woman he was hoping to see when he stepped into the podium. It had a slight twinge in his heart but the roaring crowd silenced that feeling.

'Maybe I'll see her later' Sebastian thought.

However, there was no Y/N in sight for the rest of the weekend.

2008, Marina Bay Street Circuit

Sebastian was still experiencing the highs of his Monza win and the Singapore GP has also been a good race for him. He might not have a podium finish but 5th was good enough. However if there was one thing that bothered Sebastian was the lack of Y/N sightings.

He tried messaging her after Monza but there was no reply. He thinks its probably weird that he didn't even get a congratulations because surely Y/N would know about it. There might be a couple of reasons why she didn't see it which is a) she was sick or b) she resigned.

Sebastian was gunning for the first choice because surely Y/N won't just resign without saying goodbye.

So imagine his surprise when he saw the woman that has been bugging his mind at the exit of the pitlane.

"You could have answered my texts you know" that was Sebastian's greeting to her

Y/N seems to be caught off-guard by Sebastian's presence. She was still in her work outfit Sebastian takes note as she was carrying a tote bag.

"I'm sorry. It just got a little busy for me"

Sebastian nods, he understands how having a job here is quite difficult. He could not fault her for that.

"Why not lets celebrate? I won in Monza and I finished fifth here"Sebastian offered "Consider it as your make up dinner for not congratulating me"

There was that hesitant smile gracing her face again and it reminded Sebastian of the first time she didn't tell her name. She seems extremely conflicted.

"Seb I would love to but I still have to do some work and-"

"Y/N, there you are"

Sebastian and Y/N whipped their head to the source of the voice. Mark Webber started walking towards them. It confused Sebastian as to why he knew Y/N but then he remembered that Mark was probably the one that Y/N has been working with.

"I told you to wait for me"Mark says as he picked up the bag of Y/N "I was just fixing some things with Christian"

"I can carry my stuffs myself Mark" Y/N replied

"But you have been walking in your heels the whole day, it's going to make you cranky sooner or later" Mark quipped back.

Now this confused Sebastian. It seems like their dynamics is not just work related but rather something personal. He also felt like he has missed a whole chapter and he feels very invisible at the moment.

"You two know each other?"Sebastian managed to ask.

There was a panic in Y/N eyes as if she wanted to explain but it was Mark that beat her to it.

"Of course, I know her" Mark admitted "Why wouldn't I know my sister?"

And it was that moment that Sebastian pieced out why she haven't been able to message him or why she was MIA as well in Japan. He felt stupid because he never inquired why she didn't give out her last name or why she was booked at the same hotel as the drivers.

Great just fucking great.

2008, Interlagos

It was eating her alive that Sebastian is not in speaking terms with her.

In hindsight, she understands that sooner or later, she has to tell him about who really is. She just didn't know that it will be as early and as unprepared as what happened in Singapore. She also got an earful from Mark who questioned how did she manage to meet Sebastian and why does it seem like the two are close with each other.

Honestly, she can't wait for the season to be over so that she can rest from all the drama but she knows that she has to make amends before winter break starts.

And so she slipped to the Toro Rosso garage, under the disguise that as Mark's assistant, she has to talk to Sebastian. So here she is in Sebastian's driver room, waiting for him to arrive.

"Can't I deal with this after-"Sebastian immediately stopped in his tracks upon seeing Y/N "Oh its you"

Silence enveloped the two of them. Y/N has a practiced script in her head but no words doesn't want to come out.

"I'm giving you five minutes or I'm kicking you out" Sebastian warned.

"I just came here to say that I am sorry. It wasn't really my intention to deceive you. I just wanted to be friends with you without my last name being too intimidating. I know that its terrible but I was going to tell you my name someday but Mark just got into the way and its all shit"

She was word-vomitting, she was sure of it. But hey its better than keeping everything as a burden on the shoulders.

"Say something please?" Y/N wondered with Sebastian's silence.

"You could have told me, don't you trust me?"

"I trust you Sebastian. Its just, its really complicated to be seen as Mark's sister or Mark's assistant. I just want to be just Y/N when I'm with you"Y/N sighs.

Y/N felt bummed as she thought she could fix this before winter break starts but she knows he might need some time.

"I know that its not easy to forgive me. Its selfish of me to do that so I won't force you to forgive me" she says "I'll give you some time to collect your thoughts"

Y/N reached out for the door when she felt a hand tugging her back. She saw Sebastian reaching out.

"Just give me some time"

"I will. Don't worry" she understands "I have to say I'm really proud of you this season. You did well Seb"

There was that silence when Sebastian held her. She knows things are far from okay and there is the upcoming season that has the possibility of Sebastian being upgraded to Red Bull but in this moment, none of that matters. Its just them. Just Y/N and Seb.

#sebastian vettel x reader #sebastian vettel x oc #sebastian vettel imagines #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic

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essmeow · 7 months ago

Text

EVERYTHING I WANT

WITH: satoru gojo x reader

⤷ during his first year at jujutsu tech—satoru gojo makes an impulsive purchase, a polaroid camera. captivated by the fun of instant photography, he sees it as a way to capture fleeting moments in a world. years later he looks back at his favorite photos, the ones of you. . ݁₊ . ˖ .

TAGS: fem! reader, best friends to lovers(?), fluff!!! and angst....sorry, may be ooc, manga spoilers ! , switching povs, language, timelines/years may be wrong, not proofread, roof scene ib fruits basket , header made by me :p, song! word count : 5k

APRIL 2005: ( gojo's pov )

it was almost two am—satoru knew he really shouldn't be sneaking out when he's only been at jujutsu tech for a week and a half, but his old habit from when he was at home picked right back up.

that's why he was standing outside the closest convenience store. he probably looked really starange, his hands tucked into his hoodie pocket, the hood pulled over his head—sunglasses hiding his eyes. the neon light from the sign cast a bright glow, lighting up the street.

back when he was still living at the gojo estate in kyoto, he found himself sneaking out almost every night—it was his escape from his family, servants, training, the pressure, everything really. he was sheltered his whole life, and he really hoped when he got to jujutsu tech things would be different. maybe he could even make friends.

unfortanly, he wasn't sure if his classmates had the same idea.

he had met his three classmates the second day he was on campus. he expected them to fawn over him, the satoru gojo—inheritor of the famous six eyes. though to his surprise, they seemed to not care.

he had met them all in yaga's classroom. the other boy there, suguru geto looked distinctly annoyed at him—maybe it was because he was "late" but he was only twenty minutes late! the next face he met was shoko leiri, a girl that really seemed like she had a smoking addiction—and she seemed really bored, as if she was on the brink of dying from boredom.

lastly, you. you were looking at him like being there for one more minute was going to make you completely lose it—and that him stepping into the room only intenified that feeling.

so that was why he was alone in the back of the dimly lit connivence store, the flickering overhead lights casting a harsh glow against the snack isle he was in. he ran his hand down the shelves, picking up a bag of candy. he approached the checkout, noticing the cluttered impulce-buy section on the counter—though there was something that caught his eye, a discounted polaroid camera.

"is this all for today...?"

the half-awake cashier asked him, glancing at him—her voice barley rising above the hum of the stores lights.

"uh, yeah. i'll take this too."

he replied, grabbing the camera and placing it ontop of his snacks on the counter.

he his card into the reader, paying for his items and taking the plastic bag the cashier gave him. he exited the building, taking in the breeze of toyko at night. the city was still alive with the distant sounds of chatter and traffic.

he went over and sat down on the curb, the pavement cool beneath him. he carefully pulled out his new impulsively bought camera.

he tried to figure out how to work it, playfully pressing random buttons untill a shutter noice came out, followed by the whir of the camera as a photo began to print out. the anticipation hung in the air as he waited for the image to come out, excited to see what he had captured, even if it was an accident.

the photograph wasn't anything good, afterall it was just his shoes and the pavement beneth him. yet the thrill of taking it—taking a memory and capturing it forever sent a rush of excitement through him, and made him wonder what else he would use it for.

AUGEST 2006:

snap!

you quickly turned your head as you heard the faint noice in the distance, with a quick motion—you removed the headphones from your ipod, letting them dangle around your neck as you looked to see where the noise came from.

"yn! come here often?"

satoru emerged from the trees, his tall figure framed by the sunlight as he came up to join you on the hidden bench you sat on.

"how did you find this spot?" you asked, curiosity filling your voice.

"thought nobody on campus knew about it—that's why i come here."

as you spoke, your gaze drifted to what he held in his hand—a polaroid camera. it must have been the source of the noise that had caught your attention.

"was just snapping some pictures and heard someone up here, whatcha listening to?"

you shifted a bit on the bench—creating just enough space for him to settle in beside you. you gave him one of the wired airbuds you had connected to your ipod.

when you first arrived at jujutsu tech last year, your initial impression of satoru gojo was far from flattering. you found him annoying, spoiled, and arrogant which really got on your nerves. but slowly but surley you deicded he wasn't that bad, you saw moments of humor and warmth—and maybe he wasn’t so unbearable after all.

and it seemed suguru and shoko agreed with that aswell. together, the four of you created a fun dynamic, a blend of personalities that complemented one another in different ways.

you stole a sideways glance at the boy sitting next to you, mazzy star playing softly in your headphones. you've always seen him with that camera—a lot this year. he snapped photos of the new first years, shoko, suguru (against his will), and you—a lot of you, he said you were photogenic.

gojo reached his hand down into his pocket, pulling out a few photos he had taken since the school year had started.

he laughed, "look at nanami's face in this one."

he held up the photo, and you couldn't help but laugh. one of the first years—nanami. his brow was furrowed, eyes narrowed, and a look of annoyance was directed at gojo.

that summer, gojo seemed to never stop taking pictues. whether it was making late-night convenience store runs after class—the neon lights reflecting off his carefree grin or weekends spent at the arcade. even on missions, satoru was seen taking seflies on his flip phone or off-guard pictures of his teammates mid-fight.

after that day he found you on the bench, you found yourself getting closer to the white-haired boy. you weren't sure why exactlly, maybe it was the "satoru gojo charm" he often boasted about, a charisma that seemed to weave its way into your thoughts. or maybe, as you spent more time together, you realized you were genuinely liking him more than you thought was possible.

a late night, a few days before he left on the star plasam vessel mission with geto—you found yourself hanging out with him in his dorm.

he was rummaging through his desk drawer while you layed on his bed. you weren't sure what he was trying to find exactly, he haden't really mentioned his mission yet—but you were sure he was confident about it, he always was.

after a moment of digging, he proudly pulled out his camera, now with a playful array of stickers that reflected his personality, bright colors, quirky designs—and little reminders of past memories. he held it up with a smile.

"smile!"

he called out to you, his voice light and teasing, leaving you confused and unprepared for what was coming next. just as you turned your head, the sharp click of the polaroid camera snapped to life, capturing you in a candid moment that took you by surprise—catching you off-guard in a way that made him giggle and you be playfully annyoed.

"gojo, you ass! i wasn't ready!"

"firstly, its satoru—you know that! and secondly, its funny and i'm keeping it in my wallet while me and suguru go on this mission."

he teased, coming over and jumping on the bed beside you, the dim lighting creating a cozy atsmophere in the room. it was defitnly past curfew and you should deftinly be in your own dorm by now—but you didn't care at the moment.

"don't you worry, i'll call you!"

"yeah, yeah, whatever satoru. i wasn't worried."

SEPTEMBER 2007 :

satoru did call you, he called you the night he was in okinawa.

he seemed happy, said the mission was going well and that they were having fun in okinawa—you didn't worry too much, after all it was satoru, what's the worst that could happen?

that was untill they returned though. it seemed...fine at first, though you heard that the mission didn't end well somehow—something about a assassian? satoru didn't want to talk about it, he changed the subject every time it was brought up. and suguru was distant, he was diffrent too.

a year after that mission, everything was diffrent.

one of your underclassmen, haibara had passed away during a mission. everyone was hurt, you had never really lost someone like that before and it stung.

it was autumn when suguru did the unthinkable, he had murdered an entire village of 112 people. you were with satoru when yaga let the two of you know about the situation at hand. he instructed satoru to kill his best friend. you saw the look on his face—you both knew deep down he couldn't do it. shoko had been the one to originally find him, leaving you at the school.

you were never that good at comforting people. you rembered the night haibara died, standing next to nanami outside the school, the cold air biting at your skin. you placed a hand on his stiff shoulder, trying to offer some help as you whispered that it would be okay, even though you both knew the weight of the moment felt anything but.

you, satoru and shoko handled things differently. shoko was distant, you could tell she didn't get enough sleep—dark circles starting to form underneath her eyes. you, on the other hand, threw yourself into work, overloading your schedule with training sessions and missions—trying to distract your mind. and satoru, satoru pretended he was okay, you knew he wasn't though.

a few weeks after everything happened, you found yourself going to satoru's dorm in the middle of the night, well past curfew. you knew he always left it unlocked—a promice he made for you in your first year, in-case you couldn't sleep. though when you stepped in, his bed was empty. you knew there was only one other place he could be, the school roof.

you snuck outside, finding the old rusty ladder near the dorm building. the metal felt cold against your fingers as you climbed. when you finally reached the roof, a quiet stillness enveloped you. there was satoru, layed out on the cool surface, his white hair catching the glow of the stars above that he was watching.

"thought i might find you here."

you murmured softly, your voice barely breaking the quiet of the night as you stood near him. with slow steps, you walked closer, the breeze rustling your hair. each step felt heavy with unsaid words.

"you know me too well, yn."

"that i do."

you replied, sitting next to him. you pulled your knees up to your chest, wrapping your arms around them for comfort.

"satoru, you know—you don't have to pretend with me. you—"

"i found his kid."

he cut you off mid-sentence, turning his head to face you, and the night sky shimmered off his glasses. you tilted your head in confusion, your brow furrowing. who's kid was he talking about?

"the assassian, the one that killed riko. his last words to me were about his kid—megumi."

"wait, slow down. i'm confused."

"he's a zenin, he's got the ten shadows technique—he has lots of potential, yn. but, the zenin's are assholes. so i'm gonna find him, and help him."

he sat up as he spoke, moving so you're faces were closer together then before. you smiled softly.

"that's a good idea, and when he's old enough—he can go here."

"exactly!."

you look into his eyes, blue and dazzling as always. he seemed exicted about this, he seemed happy. if he’s happy—then you can’t help but share in that happiness. thats how it was for the two of you.

AUGEST-DECEMBER 2009 :

"trust me, they'll love you! megumi's just a little reserved, but tsumiki's a friendly kid. they're really both sweet!"

satoru said, the warm toyko heat shooting from the sun. as you walked down the rocky road toward their apartment, the air was thick with the scent of summer.

"i'm not that worried, 'toru. kids are just—hard to talk to sometimes. i mean, remember that mission last month when I didn’t know how to talk to that kid, so I started just talking to him like he was an adult?"

satoru laughed, his glasses sliding slightly down his nose. he pushed them back up with a quick gesture, a grin still lingering on his lips.

"you'll get used to it. afterall, you're gonna be a teacher like me at jujutsu tech! righttttt?"

"satoru! i already told you there's no way, being a sorcer is already enough work."

as the two of you approached the aparemnt building, he playfully elbowed your arm. the light touch sent a spark through you, and you couldn’t help but smile at his antics.

"your gonna give into it one of these days!"

as you both walked up the creaking staircase of the old apartment building, the soft rustle of the takeout bags cradled in your arms accompanied your footsteps.

once you reached the third floor—you follwed satoru through the hallway until he came to a stop in front of a door. he knocked twice, and you heard the rush of footsteps from the other side of the door.

the door swung open with a gentle creak, revealing a small girl standing in the doorway. her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail. she had an enthusistic grin on her face, seemingly very exicted to see the two of you—right before you were about to introduce yourself, she spoke up.

"gojo! is this your friend?"

she asked, pulling satoru by his leg inside, you giggled softly as you follwed suit behind them.

as you stepped into the apartment, your gaze swept across the space, taking in its decent size and inviting atmosphere. the sunlight spewed through the windows, casting a warm glow over the room. and the furniture wasn't that bad (curtesy of satoru, of course).

your sight drifted to the younger boy on the couch—he must be megumi. he looked slightly younger then the girl you met, who was still clinging onto satoru's leg, telling him a story about something.

"tsumiki, megumi, this is yn!"

the girl—tsumiki looked up at you, her expression was a mix of wonder and appreciation. she then brought you into a tight hug, which made your lips turn into a smile.

"are you gojo's girlfriend?"

she asked innocently, her brown eyes sparking with curiosity as she tilted her head slightly to look up at you and satoru. at the same moment, megumi got up from the couch and started walking to the takeout boxes you had on the kitchen counter—peeking inside of them.

you giggled, shaking your head no—trying to hide the small pink hue on your cheeks. you glanced to satoru, his experssion hard to read, as if the question had taken him off guard—something he had never anticipated. and was he blushing? you couldn't really tell, he quickly changed the topic as he spoke up.

"wait a minute megs! i haven't even taken out the food yet!"

he dashed over to the counter, a playful glint in his eye as he gently nudged megumi aside, a joke frown on his face. he began unpacking the takeout—taking it out on the dining table.

the dinner went well of course, tsumiki asked many questions about you, she was a cute kid. megumi on the other hand was more quiet, barley speaking a word expect to humorously insult satoru, who would playfully ruffle up his hair in return. they had a cute dymanic, and you could deftinly see how much satoru cherished those kids—it made you smile.

for the next months after that, you and satoru seemed to develop a routine with the kids. of course, the two of you were busy with missions—so once a week you took megumi and tsumiki out somewhere, the zoo (megumi's favorite), the park, the arcades, the candy store (satoru's favorite), the aquarium (tsumiki's favorite).

as the crisp autumn air set in and the vibrant leaves began to fall from the trees, the four of you took walks in the afternoon. it almost felt like a family sometimes, you wondered if satoru ever thought of it like that. he was hard to read, you never really knew how he was feeling, let alone his thoughts about you.

and as the winter holidays came about, satoru approched you one day. the two of you were third years now, on the brim of graduating. you two and shoko tried to make time to hang out, but it was difficult.

so when he approcahed you, exicted and out of breath from running, his bright smile broke through the chill of the day, it felt like a burst of warmth, and a smile automatically appread on your face.

"christmas!"

"'toru, we still have three weeks 'till christmas."

"no listen, we need to plan!"

you paused, raising an eyebrow at his antics. you were in your dorm, laying down on your bed, he jumped onto it to join you.

"i have a plan, okay! for christmas—just hear me out."

you looked at him, tilting your head slightly to the left as if to show him how much you were listening.

"'megs and tsumiki need a good christmas this year—so i say we give one to 'em! we can get shoko and nanami to come to, it'll be fun!"

"that's actually a pretty cute idea 'toru."

"'actually?!' all my ideas are amazing!"

and so, three weeks later, when christmas eve rolled around, you and satoru pulled an all-nighter—somehow, neither of you exploded from the large amount of coffee you drank and the way-too-many energy drinks satoru chugged.

you had spent the past weeks collecting presents for the two, of course with satoru's credit card there was a lot of things you bought. it made you happy, really happy.

you wished others in jujutsu society could see satoru the way you did, how he was himself with you. he wasn’t just the strongest—he was simply satoru, your satoru.

you loved those cozy evenings spent in your dorm, curled up together, laughing at reality shows while the glow of the screen moved in his eyes. you loved how he had an uncanny ability to sense your sadness, often knowing when to offer a comforting word or a playful distraction. you loved how—camera in hand, he would capture candid moments of you lost in thought or mid-laughter, those photos appearing on his bulletin board as happy memories. and there were those countless nights spent on your guitar, his encouraging cheers coming out as you fumbled through his favorite songs, his proud smile lighting up the dorm each time you finally nailed a chord.

"this is the only time i will willingly wake up at five in the morning for anything."

shoko groaned as she spoke as the four of you stood outside megumi and tsumiki's apartment. nanami nodded in agreemnt, santa hat he wore on his head tipping slightly over his aggrestivly side-parted hair.

"shoko, no being negetive on christmas morning! someone clearly dosen't have the christmas spirit!"

you knocked once, and then twice. you heard the familiar sound of small footsteps approaching the door.

"yn, gojo, you're here, on christmas! we totally didn't think you'd come today!"

"of course i did silly."

satoru replies, bending down to get on the same height as megumi and tsumiki.

"these are my other friends, shoko and nanami."

he pointed to the two figures behind him—shoko with her bag of presents and nanami holding a cup of coffee. the two were both normally more stoic, so it was nice to see them look happy.

the holiday went great, you grew to love the times when you felt like you could forget about jujutsu society as a whole—and just spend time with your friends.

snap!

"gojo, throw that away. i look terrible!"

shoko complains playfully, trying to grab the camera from satoru's arms. with a teasing grin, he lifts it high above her head, using his height to his advantage. sticking his tongue out at her, he watches as the image slowly begins to develop.

NOVEMBER 2016 : ( gojo's pov )

"everyone, this is yn! we went to school together and yes guys this is proof i have friends!"

he paused as you waved to his four first-year students gathered on the sun-drenched grass of the training grounds.

"she didn't want to help me teach, so make sure to give her a warm wel—"

he was quickly silenced by your piercing glare, a look that unmistakably said, "get on with it." and of course, he felt an irresistible pull to agree, fully aware that when it came to you, saying no was not an option.

"anyways, yn—this is maki, panda, inumkai, and yuta! and today, shes going to help all of you with your training!"

the students took that as a cue that they should start their individual training—satoru, seeing a rare opportunity for a break, decided to sit back and relax, confident that you had everything under control! he sat back on a bench, crossing his legs and watching as you went up to inumaki and panda first—who were already sparring.

he watchrd as you spoke to them, showing panda an example on the punches he could do. the way you gestured with your hands, showing the flow of energy from your core to your fists, made the gears turning in panda's mind so he could mirror your demo with his cured technique.

he watched happily as you spoke with maki, your calm demeanor matching hers. he wished he worked with more people like you. hell, he wished there were more people like you.

sometimes, when hes alone in his room in the little hours he gets to sleep—he finds himself thinking about the two of you. he wonders if in another life, you were not sorcerers, and he could finally give you the life you both deserve.

lost in thought, he snaps back to reality and blinks away the daydream. he sees you now sitting on the grass—talking to his new student, yuta. he thought the two of you would get along.

he gets up, about to walk over, before he rembers sometimes he brought. he finds your bag hung over the bleachers, rummaging through it untill he finds his old camera. he had hoped you’d carry it, thinking he might use it during the day—and a wave of nostalgia washes over him as he holds it in his hands.

"smile!"

he said, catching both you and yuta off guard. the katana you were holding in your arms dropped to the ground mid-photo from him startling you.

"satoru, you have to stop doing that! im serious this time i fu—"

"hey, hey, not in front of the kids!"

just then before you could playfully argue back with satoru, maki came over to the area where the three of you were standing.

"yuta, were gonna spar. panda and inumaki are on their hundredth water break and im bored."

she then (without giving him a moment to reply), pulled him by the arm and dragged him to the middle of the training fields.

"so, you like the kids? wanna be a teacher now?"

"whatever you say 'toru. do you even have a teaching license?"

"hey! i'm trying to be nice, you're good with them—the students."

as you looked at him, you looked almost taken aback at his sweet talk. as you processed his compliment.

"yuta's a nice kid, i know how he feels, i mean rember first year me! i was nervous as fuck too—being bullied in middle schools never good for you."

satoru opended his mouth to respond, but you continued.

"and satoru." you hesitated for a moment. "i think its good that you're doing this—teaching. these kids could you someone like you, and you're gonna do a good job."

"aww! that might be the nicest thing you've said to me all year! you're such a sap!"

and even though he joked, deep down—though he would never admit it to you—he felt a genuine happiness. beneath his playful attitude, there was a sincerity that made all the moments with you truly special, a joy that he cherished in silence.

SEPTEMBER 2018 :

"satoru, are you sure your students know how to get here?"

you asked, standing outside the abandoned house where the mission for satoru's new first years was located.

"yes, yes—stop worrying! ijichi is driving them, and they're proably only late because they made him stop at mcdonald's or something."

a moment after he stopped speaking, a black car pulled up in front of the two of you. out stepped three students, two of which you had already met.

"there you guys are, yn here was starting to get worried!"

"i wasn't—"

"anyways, yuji you've already met yn, right?"

the pink-haired boy nodded enthusiastically, his large soda in hand. he took a loud, exaggerated sip, earning him a sharp glare from megumi.

"yep! after nanamin and i got back from our mission."

you nodded, a small smile spreading across your face as you took in his infectious happiness.

"and megumi, you've known yn as long as you've known me! aww, i remember when you were so little and we first met you and—"

"please shut up now."

megumi shot a glare at satoru, his eyes narrowing. in response, satoru put on a playful pout, his lips curling into an exaggerated frown that made it hard to take him seriously.

"wait a minute, so i'm the only one that dosen't know her? guys you know i hate being last to stuff!"

the ginger-haired girl that you had yet to properly meet spoke up, her voice clear and confident. you remembered satoru mentioning her name, nobara kugisaki, before—but this was the first time you were meeting her firsthand.

after you introduced yourself, satoru took the lead and directed the students to follow you as you ventured into the abandoned house for their mission.

the mission went smoothly and quickly—and once the four of you stepped out, you saw satoru waiting for the car outside with something in his hands.

"there you are all, since you guys did well, i brought something to show the three of you!"

satoru spoke up, casually crossing his legs as he addressed the students. you watched him with your arms crossed, a sense of confusion swirling within you. what was he planning this time? yuji and nobara leaned in, eager to see what satoru was gonna show them—and megumi did seem a bit curious.

"look, its my old camera—me and yn as students!"

"oh god."

you groanded, palming your face as satoru smiled widley. nobara and yuji let out quick ooh's and ah's as they waited for him to show them. with a playful grin, satoru directed you and the students towards a restaurant down the block, the lively chatter of the city surrounded you.

"now this ones got to be my favorite."

satoru chuckled as he tossed an old polaroid photo across the table, the picture sliding to a stop in front of you. you glared at him, your annoyance showing as you recognized the image. it was of you in your first year being caught in the rain after a mission—you looked like a drenched cat, furiously glaring at the camera.

yuji and nobara across the table on their side of the bench giggled, megumi even showing a small smile at the antics. there were many, many old photos spread across the table, each containing a memory from you and satoru's teen years. even one of megumi as a kid—which very much embrassed him.

satoru drapped his arm around you, going on to the students about how he was cool when he was their age. you couldn’t help but roll your eyes playfully, caught between amusement and annoyance at his antics, while the students listened intently, their faces lighting up with admiration and laughter—which made you laugh aswell.

DECEMBER 2018 :

"satoru, are you in here?"

you asked, pocking your head around the door that lead to his office at jujutsu tech. he soon would leave to fight the king of curses, to save megumi, to save everyone. you had been trying your best not to think on the impending fight, but the anxiety gnawed at you relentlessly since he announced it.

before he could answer, you saw him standing there. he was standing above his desk, photographs sprawled out across the table. you tried to read his expression, was he worried, scared, confident? you couldn't fully tell. though, knowing him—you suspected it leaned more towards confidence. still, a lingering doubt tugged at your thoughts, adding to the tension in the air.

"everyones waiting for you outside."

you spoke, your voice barley above a whisper as you came to stand next to him. you looked down at the pictures he was looking at, they showed moments shared between the two of you—laughing alongside shoko and suguru, smiling with megumi and tsumiki, and the countless adventures with the students.

"i know they are. i'm just thinking, and collecting good luck."

you smiled faintly at him as he glanced over at you.

"when this is all over, i'm gonna take you out on a date—a real one. we still have time, i want to give you that, everything you want.'"

and then he hugs you, and he hugs you tight. you embrace him back, holding your arms around his neck—you think you could stay like this for a while, but of course, reality kicks in.

as the two of you leave his office, you don't notice it then—and you won't notice it untill weeks after everything was over. yet, beneath the carefully arranged photographs on his desk lies a letter, its presence unnoticed by you. weeks will pass after the dust settles before the significance of that letter becomes cleart—its addressed to you.

A/N : this took FOREVER to write so im so happy im finally done with it! just a reminder its not proofread/edited fully so im sorry if there are any mistakes or anything poorly written :p this is my first full length fic !! thank u for reading !

#jjk #satoru gojo #jjk x reader #satoru gojo x reader #gojo x reader #gojo x you #essposts #shoko ieiri #suguru geto #megumi fushiguro #yuji itadori #yuta okkotsu #maki zenin #inumaki toge #jjk fic #gojo fic #jjk gojo #satoru gojo x you #satoru gojo x y/n

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becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys · 1 month ago

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Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 54

One year later! We move from 2005 to 2006, but accidentally - Eccleston and Rose are back, but they only intended to be gone 12 hours. Instead, it's been 12 months. This means Rose has been missing for a year, with a nationwide manhunt searching for her and poor Mickey her presumed murderer - we find out almost like a horror reveal, as Rose breezily announces she's home, and Jackie embraces her like she's seen a ghost, and over her shoulder Rose sees stacks and stacks of Missing Person posters with her own face.

And I'll be honest! I do not rate Camille Coduri as an actor. I do not think she's really up to the emotional weight of "frantic mother finally reunited with her missing daughter." But nonetheless, she absolutely nails one of those scenes; after the initial tears, and then the initial anger, during all of which Rose can only say that she's been "travelling", they have a more muted, poignant moment in the kitchen.

"What kills me, Rose," she says, tearfully, "is that you still can't say where you were. What happened to you? What could be so bad that you still won't tell me? Where were you, sweetheart?"

It's SO SO good. SO good.

And of course! Rose cannot say. She and the Doctor retreat to the roof.

"I can't tell her I've been to the year Five Billion," says Rose, giving us a treat to look forward to presumably at the end of this project. "I can't do this to her again."

"She's not coming with us," the Doctor says.

(They have great Best Mate vibes by now. Clearly, a lot has happened for them since last episode! Which, of course, we've seen a bit - they fought ghosts in Victorian London.)

And then an alien spaceship crashes into Big Ben.

This kicks off the plot! While Rose is apologising to everyone she knows at Jackie's Aliens Have Landed Watch Party, the Doctor gives her a key to the TARDIS and then goes to check out the possible First Contact. It has been taken to Albion Hospital, which is the hospital from the Empty Child! Hooray! We know this one. It turns out to be a sort-of cute pig whose brain has been hardwired to make it walk a bit like a human. It's dead, but then it wakes up (probably them nanites again) and tries to run away before it gets shot by an army man - the Doctor is furious at this, because it was clearly just scared. Poor pig. Meanwhile, in Tredegar House Downing Street a bunch of politicians assemble because no one can find the Prime Minister, and into this steps Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. She is played to perfection by Penelope Wilton (FUN FACT back in the 80s she was approached to play the Lady in Silver Nemesis), and amongst the alien landings she really wants to get her proposed bill for cottage hospitals read, and can't understand why no one wants to make time for it.

"I know I'm hardly one of the babes," she says at one point, which I think confirms that the Prime Minister is Dead Tony Blair. At another, she manages to talk to the new Acting PM, and starts describing her mother's care home.

"BY THE SAINTS, WOMAN, HAVE SOME PERSPECTIVE" he bellows.

She ends up hiding in a cupboard in hopes of adding her bill, but this means she actually views what's really going on - the politicians are secretly the real aliens! Uh oh! They are killing important people and then wearing their skin suits. Gross. A quirk of this that has aged quite badly is that this means all Secret Aliens have to be fat, because they have bigger skins, so we're unfortunately left to be suspicious of fat people. I think they perhaps should have thought through those implications a little more, especially given that another indicator for the audience is excessive farting.

Anyway, the Doctor returns to Rose, but therefore materialises the TARDIS in front of Mickey and Jackie. Mickey already knew this. Jackie, by contrast, reacts as well as you'd expect and calls an alien hotline to report him. This gets us a super fun segment where the words "the Doctor" and "TARDIS" flag up on the government system (and yet this did not work for Rose's google session last ep smdh), triggering a red alert; many people with guns come and whisk the Doctor and Rose away to Tredegar House Downing Street.

"But why?" Rose asks in their limo.

"Over the years I've made a name for myself," explains the Doctor, "and now, who's the greatest expert on alien life?"

"Patrick Moore?"

"OTHER THAN HIM."

God they're fun.

But, on arrival, only the Doctor is allowed into the war room. Harriet Jones manages to grab Rose, and spills her traumatic afternoon. Meanwhile, the Doctor realises the plot!

"The pig's not a diversion," he says. "It's a trap."

It's a GREAT line. And he's right - if every expert on aliens is in one room, they can all be taken out in one go. This takes us to the final cliffhanger: the Doctor and other experts are being electrocuted by their ID cards as two aliens gloat over them, Harriet and Rose and a staffer find Tony Blair dead in a cupboard and then get menaced by an alien, and a policemen in Jackie's flat starts menacing her in her kitchen.

At this point, I must talk about the aliens.

Reader I was unimpressed by these fuckers back in 2005 when I watched it the first time, and they have of course not aged very amazingly, unfortunately. They are called the Slitheen and they have deeply stupid hands. Each finger has a non-retractable claw about a foot long. There is simply no way they would be capable of the advanced technology we're told they are. It's like if humans tried to do brain surgery using only these bad boys:

Also. I don't judge them for this - RTD was still working out tone, and was throwing things at the wall to see what would stick, and it is a children's show when all's said and done. But the constant "teehee farting" concept Is Not For Me, Bestie.

HOWEVER I applaud the physical costumes and puppet work ANYWAY

Someone graffiti'd the words Bad Wolf on the TARDIS... I wonder what that means?

QUESTIONS:

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (Suspects: River, Missy, Me, Clara)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest. The Thijarian planet was destroyed by some sort of impact). Is this the Flux?

The TARDIS is sort of melting because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again. NOPE, back to not working.

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? He used to be blue, and could apparently go back to it??? He’s some sort of helplessly criminal con-artist??? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)

Why is Amy’s pregnancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?) She’s deffo pregnant and the baby becomes River, but why inconclusive?

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

What happened with the Other Cyber War? Were either of these Cyber wars affected by the Doctor blowing them up with Nemesis?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri (Not anymore, somehow)

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War? Did this destroy the Doctor’s planet and/or family? Did this destroy the Auton world?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf? Gwyneth saw “the Big Bad Wolf” in Rose’s mind, and it was on a 1987 poster as graffiti. NEW INFO: It was graffiti on the TARDIS!

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Is Rory plastic or not? Yeah, must be, he couldn’t possibly remember being plastic otherwise

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras? A psychic midwife says she’s just normal human

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven? Is this because she’s now dead?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch? Is it actually just a pager?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather? This is presumably the star-eyed water faerie

How did Nardole die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name? Missy says it’s “Who”

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

What’s happening with the bees?

What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?

What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?

What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”

If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?

How did the rest of the Time Lords die?

How and why did Amy melt?

What’s the question that will make silence fall?

Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?

How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?

How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?

What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?

Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?

What happened with the space whale?

How does the Doctor survive River? He doesn’t, apparently

How does he erase himself from history

Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?

When did the Doctor send the Daleks into a void to save the universe?

Why do Amy and Rory think the Doctor is dead? Is it because of River as an astronaut?

Is Matt Smith’s Doctor a tree racist?

Why is the beautiful geode woman stealing people into a Passenger form?

River says she’ll die one day when the Doctor doesn’t remember her, let’s hope she doesn’t mean it

Why doesn’t the TARDIS like Clara?

When was the Master Prime Minister?

How do Amy and Rory rejoin the Doctor given that they haven’t died yet in 1950s Manhattan?

Looking forward patiently to the year Five Billion :)

#doctor whom #and yet we are continuing

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project-sekai-facts · 1 year ago

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Only one date is ever mentioned in-game, that being 2021. Considering that the Virtual Singer Fan Festa seems to be a stand-in for Magical Mirai 2021, we can assume that the Scramble Fan FESTA! event takes place in September 2021 (the real-life MM2021 was delayed to November due to covid-19, but the pandemic doesn't exist in-universe and MM Tokyo usually takes place at the beginning of September). There are Leo/need Daily Life social media posts that show them attending Magical Mirai, and do state the year of the event, but these can be considered promotional material for the event itself rather than canon material, especially since the characters address in-game that only one year has passed since the start of the story (despite the fact they have celebrated new year's day 4 times now. Timeloop things).

Based on this date, we can actually place exactly when every main character was born. The cutoff date for Japanese schools is April 1st, making Ena the oldest main character, being a 3rd year with a birthday of April 30th, followed by Tsukasa on May 17th, so on so forth all the way down to Kohane, a 2nd year with a birthday of March 2nd.

Considering when Scramble Fan FESTA is set, Ena, who was a 2nd year at the time, would be 17 years old. That would place her date of birth as April 30th, 2004. Additionally, while Kohane, a first year at the time, should be 15 during the event, the game considers her to be 16 due to using a set age for every grade bracket. Regardless, the event setting places her date of birth as March 2nd, 2006.

Based on this, we can conclude that:

Ena, Tsukasa, Rui, and Shizuku were born in 2004

Mafuyu, Kanade, Airi, Minori, Saki, Toya, Nene, An, Ichika, Mizuki, Emu, Haruka, Honami, and Akito were born in 2005

Shiho and Kohane were born in 2006

This also means that Ena, Tsukasa and Rui are all older than the MEIKO software (released November 5th 2004), and everyone except Kohane is older than the KAITO software (released February 17th 2006). Every main character is older than Miku, the Kagamines, and Luka based on this information.

Using the information around set ages*, we can also work out rough estimates for when the side characters were born. For example, Arata, who was 19 during the first 3 years of the game, is 3 years older than the members of VBS who were all considered to be 16. Since the members of VBS were born in the April 2005 - April 2006 school year range, Arata was likely born in the 2002-2003 school year range.

* based on how characters like Youta and Miu, who are said to be the same age as Leo/need, were both confirmed to be 16 years old before the 3rd anniversary age-up. Also Haruka's age is confirmed as 16 at a point in time when she shouldn't be 16. Timeloop things.

Based on this, the oldest living side character, Kounosuke, who was 55 pre-3rd anniversary and 39 years older than Emu, was probably born between April 1966 and April 1st 1967. On the younger side of things, Hanano, who was 14 pre-3rd anni, was likely born between April of 2007 and 2008. I've put the rest of the estimated side character DOBs under the cut.

assumed age as of 3rd anniversary in brackets (literally just pre-age-up age + 1)

Rakunosuke Otori - April 2nd 1922 ~ April 1st 1923 (98 (at time of death. would be 100 if still alive))

Hinako Arisawa - April 2nd 1956 ~ April 1st 1957 (66)*

Kounosuke Otori - April 2nd 1966 ~ April 1st 1967 (56)

Jean Riley - 1967~1968 (55)

Harumichi Aoyagi - 1968~1969 (54)

Shin'ei Shinonome - 1973~1974 (49)

Mr Yoisaki - 1975~1976 (47)

Mr Asahina - 1976~1977 (46)*

Ken Shiraishi - 1978~1979 (44)

Taiga Kotaki - 1978~1979 (44)

Mrs Asahina - 1980~1981 (42)*

Yoshiki Shindou - 1982~1983 (40)*

Shuichi Hiiragi - 1983~1984 (39)*

Yuuka Kazamatsuri - 1990~1991 (32)

Keisuke Otori - 1991~1992 (31)

Shousuke Otori - 1994~1995 (28)

Daigo Kijima - 1994~1995 (28)*

Tatsuya Okazaki - 1999~2000 (23)

Yuuki Akiyama - 1999~2000 (23)*

Ayaka Saito - 2001~2002 (21)

Hinata Otori - 2001~2002 (21)

Iori - 2002~2003 (20)

Mio - 2002~2003 (20)

Arata Tono - 2002~2003 (20)

Souma Miyata - 2002~2003 (20)

Asahi Genbu - 2003~2004 (19)*

Reki Bakuno - 2003~2004 (19)*

Kotaro Mita - 2004~2005 (18)

Sakurako Seiryuin - 2004~2005 (18)

Nanami "Nanamin" Hayakawa - 2004~2005 (18)

Futaba Natsuno - 2004~2005 (18)

Arisa Higure - 2004~2005 (18)*

Ayumi Tabata - 2004~2005 (18)

Hibiki Miyake - 2004~2005 (18)

Shuuta Hayashi - 2004~2005 (18)

Ibuki Taniyama - 2004~2005 (18)

Yuu Hagiyama - 2004~2005 (18)*

Yuina Uchiyama - 2005~2006 (17)

Shouta Hayashi - 2005~2006 (17)

Miu Takagi - 2005~2006 (17)

Youta Yoshizaki - 2005~2006 (17)

Riho Hasegawa - 2005~2006 (17)

Saku Kousaka - 2005~2006 (17)

Akari Enosaki - 2005~2006 (17)*

Chiharu Tsubaki - 2005~2006 (17)*

Mai - 2006~2007 (16)

Hanano Yoshizaki - 2007~2008 (15)

Additional notes (mod is rambling atp):

Rakunosuke died when he was 98 years old. In the WxS main story, Emu says that he died a year ago. Assuming Emu was 15 at the time, they have an age gap of around 83 years. The year of birth listed here was based on that assumption.

We know that Kanade's mother died aged 30, but we do not know when she died. She is still alive in flashbacks set roughly 10 years prior to the events of game.

Characters marked with an asterisk had their ages officially given as one year less than they are given in this post. The reason for me adding a year on is because of the confirmation in a livestream of Daigo's age being 27. Daigo is meant to be the same age as Shousuke, whose age was given as 27 prior to the 3rd anniversary. Based on this we can assume that NPCs from the Brand New World era have their ages taken from the same time frame as characters from the Journey to Bloom era, i.e, pre-3rd anni (and this also confirms that NPCs inexplicably don't age but we'll ignore that for continuity reasons).

We do not have confirmed ages for Nagi, Sakaki, Ohara, Cedric and Slade, Natsuomi and Shuji, or Suzu yet. Shuji is in university so is likely in his early 20s. Suzu is said to be around the same age as Nene and Emu.

Nagi's age is left blank in the fanbook due to it not being revealed that she was dead at the time of publication. She is younger than Taiga, but we don't know by how much, but nonetheless she was likely born in the early 1980s. It is unlikely we will ever know her exact age.

Ohara is stated to be in his mid-30s, placing his birth year as somewhere in the 1980s, likely around 1986-1989. Sakaki is an old friend of Ohara's, so he is likely a similar age.

No NPCs are given exact birthdays

#this post is an apology for the fact i never made a timeline when i said i would. sorry this is kinda confusing also #in short just know that we can assume that the game takes place in the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 school years #don't use that as an excuse to be weird about the characters bc that's still the in-universe year(s) even if it's not the irl year.#this post is just for fun okay? okay.#project sekai #lore

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poptartcat · 2 months ago

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The Outsiders Modern Day Slang/Brainrot Headcanons

Darry

Would be born January 5th 2005 (as of today to match canon age). He would purposely stay away from the slang. (He’s disgusted by it) Most of the gang would throw it out just to annoy him. He wouldn’t know what it means so they’ll have full conversations in brainrot before he gets fed up and snaps at them to stop. He once said “Skibidi” and promptly washed his mouth out with soap

Two-Bit

Would be born June 20th, 2006 (as of today to match canon age). He would gleefully pick up brain rot for the bit and never let it go. Says “Where’s my hug at” to Ponyboy very specifically. Need to figure out what something means? Two-Bit’s your guy. So a lot of people go to him to tell them what their younger siblings are saying. Some people even pay him in candy or money if they’re desperate enough! So then it becomes a weird business thing I’d rather not elaborate on atm.

Dally

Would be born November 9th, 2007 (as of today to match canon age) Hates it. Hates it so freaking much. Darry snaps at them and then sighs in defeat when they double down. Dally says he’ll never talk to them again (he’s lying) and sometimes outright fights them if he’s already in a bad mood. He prefers “real” slang.

Steve

Would be born April 15th, 2007 (as of today to match canon age. Will be 2008 in 4 days). He’s opposed to it at first but Soda’s so brainrotted he starts picking up on it. He uses a lot of TikTok slang though (not necessarily the same btw!) and those more passive aggressive comments (The call is coming from inside the house, AND THE CROWD IS… looking around in disgust, etc)

Sodapop

Would be born October 8th, 2008 (as of today to match canon age) Soda’s the brainrot kid. He picked up on it like that. He uses it the most but Two-Bit knows the most. He’s often the one initiating conversations with brainrot/the person people speak in brainrot to. So half the time Darry can’t understand what he’s saying because he totally forgot other ways to describe something besides “I rizzed up a girl” or “Pony fanum taxed me!” (Simple ones, but enough)

Johnny

Born March 1st, 2009 (as of today to match his canon age). Pretty much indifferent. Uses a word here and there. Knows what everyone is talking about so it’s kind of funny to him. Likes the TikTok comments and his favorite slang is crashing out.

Ponyboy

Born July 22nd, 2010 (as of today to match his canon age) is very proficient in it. He’s wedged between Steve and Johnny in terms of usage. He and Soda are probably the biggest culprits of using brainrot and slang to annoy Darry when he’s in the right mood. Two-Bit may be the one with a semi-business in translating brain rot but refuses to so Ponyboy does it for Darry in exchange for things (“Pony I’ll give you the first slice of cake if you tell me why is Soda hasn’t said a word all day and why he points to his jaw when I ask” “He’s in a mewing competition with Steve.” “A what?” “He and Steve are trying to make their jaws look sharper by putting their tongues on the roof of their mouths. They’re seein’ who can do it longer.” “...Okay...”)

Who uses brain rot the most:

Soda, Two-Bit, Steve, Ponyboy, Johnny, Darry, Dally

Who knows brainrot the most:

Two-Bit, Soda, Ponyboy, Steve, Johnny, Dally, Darry

#poptart’s general stuff #the outsiders #poptart speaks #se hinton #ponyboy curtis #sodapop curtis #johnny cade #darry curtis #dallas winston #Steve Randle #two bit mathews #brainrot #the outsiders headcanons #Headcanons #so specific but this is exactly what I imagined with them

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brucewaynehater101 · 10 months ago

Note

Tim’s hands are shaking

it’s fine

yep he just apparently time traveled to the future

and Jason and Damian are just hanging around him

it’s fine

he is ok

he is just trying not to have a minor panic attack

(just thinking about how the Dino thing and then the battarang thru the neck happened in like one month)

Fuck, that's some heavy angst. Hmm... I think he should switch during RR (where the BftC happens and Damian becomes Robin). This would maximize the pain.

I can't even imagine Tim, after being hurt and betrayed, hearing that he's happy and content with them. There's also the fact that Bruce is alive in this future, so obviously, Tim is right to be traveling the world.

Also, the angst for Jason and Damian! Just them doing their normal activities with Tim, and suddenly he's closed off, guarded, and suspicious. He's suddenly reverted back to how he was before they worked on their relationship (and Tim was at an all-time low mentally at this point, which makes it worse).

[So, I use some of this post for some of my reasonings. It's a chaotic mess, and feel free to hc whatever you believe is correct. This is just what I feel makes sense.

Here's what I figured out about the timeline:

Tim turns 16 in Robin #116 (publication date Sept of 2003)

Tim gets his throat slashed by Jason in a Batman: Hush, Batman #618 (October of 2003)

Attack on Titan's Tower (no neck slashing) occurs in Teen Titans v3 #29 (2005)

DC does this "One Year Later" thing in May 2006, making Tim 17

Damian is introduced in Batman #655 (September 2006)

Damian pushes Tim off the dinosaur in Batman #657 (definitely not too long after being introduced)

Tim is said to still be 17 in Battle For The Cowl where Jason stabs Tim's chest with a batarang

Therefore, it's all within 1-2 years (and Tim still does all of RR while 17, so probably less than 2 years).

High recommend checking out this post for more about Damian and Tim's beginning relationship, feud, and Dick.]

#tim drake #thank you for the ask!!!!#dc au #i'm trying to keep canon straight but it's a struggle #hopefully you enjoyed the list as much as i did making it ^^#i really did like your au idea!!!! thank you!

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felassan · 4 months ago

Text

youtube

Mark Darrah YouTube video: 'BioWare's 30th Anniversary. What I Remember from 3 Decades'

Video description:

BioWare turned 30 on February 1st. Can i remember something from every year they existed? Can I do it in less then 3 hours?

[source]

Mark Darrah recently released this YouTube video in which he goes through thirty years of BioWare, it's definitely worth a watch.

Some notes and quotes from the video under the cut. In places it goes into the behind-the-scenes of DA4 development.

In 2005 and 2006, Mark Darrah was working on Jade Empire 2, which would ultimately become Revolver. In the early days JE2 was seen as a direct sequel to JE. About halfway through the year there was a pivot to moving it into a modern setting. Originally it was 'Jade Modern', set in a modern world that existed if you had taken the secret ending of JE and agreed with the Emperor. But over time it shifted to be a different setting that had nothing to do with JE

Mark: "I guess if you really wanted to try you could make the argument that because Sonic Chronicles shipped in 2008 and DA:O didn't ship until 2009, that actually DA:O actually shipped using the Sonic Chronicles dialogue system"

Mark: "At the end of 2009, I think it was the last day we were working before the Christmas break, that's the time when the leadership of the DA franchise had the meeting where we decided that we were going to make DA2, that we were going to essentially jump on the grenade that was being placed in front of BioWare and try to fill the revenue gap that was left by SW:TOR [slipping]"

"2010 is also when we are trying to make DA2, in a really fast rush. We started working on it before DA:O - Awakening had even shipped. What's happened is that SW:TOR has slipped again and EA is basically telling BioWare to make up the revenue. So we are trying to create a product in a very restricted timeline in order to do what EA wants, which is to fill a revenue gap [in that fiscal year]"

"2013 is when the PAX presentation for DA:I happened. [...] It carries some controversy because the game definitely shifted from there to the game that shipped 14 months later. There are things that are represented there that imply a more army-controlling, grand military strategy kind of game that ultimately proved to not be the game that DA:I was supposed to be. But at that point in time those elements still existed in nascent form, or were trying to exist at the very list, so they exist in that demo as well"

DA:I was a very tiring project

After DA:I shipped some of the team went onto Anthem, some went onto ME:A, and some stayed on and made DA:I DLC

DA:I DLC was mostly made in 2015. Leadership on it was largely given to more junior leaders to help them grow and potentially move them into more senior positions

The senior leadership of DA:I spent most of 2015 laying very early frameworks and concepts for what would become DA4 Joplin. The idea was to take a technology that they knew and try to fix their processes and tools pipeline to allow development in this pipeline to go more smoothly

In 2016, all of the people who were on DA:I DLC moved onto ME:A or Anthem. 2016 is the point when most of Mark's time was spent fighting for resources to get them onto Joplin

^ "Periodically EA pushes for franchises to be bigger. They want billion dollar franchises, or they only wanna make the best six games or the best twelve games. In 2016 I built a plan to ship Dragon Ages. The idea was to make Joplin on a relatively regular timeline. At this point in time I believe Anthem is still supposed to ship in 2018 so probably Joplin was supposed to ship in 2019, maybe 2020. But the idea was, ship Joplin, and then we would do two fast-follow sequels, each taking 18 months, and then we would retool after that happened. Did it get Dragon Age to be a billion dollar franchise? It required a little bit of creative accounting to make that work, but it got closer than you would think. The idea was to have minimal DLC or even an expansion pack, and then quickly move onto the sequel. So the idea of increasing the revenue stream was simply to have games come out faster, which I think is not a terrible idea, but this is also the height of infatuation with the concept of live service games"

"In 2016 as ME:A is trying to ship, they are looking for more resources including leadership, and this is when I led a bunch of people that are still on Joplin onto ME:A. The Dragon Age Finaling Team is that group of people. And I'll say that if you see an acronym and it includes 'The Dragon Age Team' in any way you can probably assume that acronym was intentional. Dragon Age Finaling Team is 'daft', and yes it was basically us sort've passively aggressively rebelling against this resource draw"

"ME:A ships in 2017 and what's supposed to happen is that most of the people who were working on ME:A from Edmonton are gonna move onto Anthem, and the people who were working on ME:A in Montreal are supposed to form a large part of the team for DA. But that's not what happens. The team in Montreal ends up getting moved over to the actual leadership in Montreal. There's a point in 2017 when I tried to force Joplin through one of the production gates, to basically make the argument that it actually deserves to be much bigger. It doesn't work and it probably wouldn't have worked anyway"

2017 also marks when Joplin pivots to become Morrison

2017 is also when Mark moved from DA leadership to Anthem leadership. "Theoretically DA and Anthem simultaneously, but I think even in the earliest moments it was obvious that's not what was going to happen"

2017 was a very busy year at BioWare, a lot of things happened and a lot of changes occurred within it

In 2018 Mark was 110% focused on shipping Anthem. "The DA team was trying to do what it can with its very restricted resources with its pivot to being a live service. This is also when it releases the Dread Wolf trailer at the VGAs. That trailer exists in large part to just anchor the title in the public consciousness because there isn't really any massive development happening on the franchise at this time"

When Anthem went to PAX, this was right after a security incident with one of EA's sports franchises. As a result, EA was very concerned about security, so the Anthem team at PAX had a security presence provided by the Pinkertons (private security company), protecting the Anthem people at PAX

In 2019 Anthem shipped. Some of its resources remained to support it in live service and the remainder moved over to DA4. Mark went back onto DA after being away for 16 months and found that things had moved on and that it was a very different landscape. "Coming back from Anthem to a very different DA is pretty hard for me because the game has shifted underneath. My natural instinct is to move forward with whatever we currently have, but in this case because the landscape has mutated so heavily, it takes me quite a long time to find my footing again"

In 2020, for DA4, "We are starting to get some traction, the game is starting to look like something", but then "in March of 2020, COVID hit. Everyone goes home, that is definitely highly disruptive to the development of DA."

In December 2020 “I resign from BioWare, but I actually remain on at BioWare until February 2021"

In late 2022 Mark played a build of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. "It's not called that yet but this is when I start to be involved in the franchise again"

“By 2023 in April I am working with BioWare publicly again, helping them finish DA:TV, and I do that through 2023 and 2024"

"So it's 2025 now and things are changing at BioWare. I hope that BioWare still has a lot of strong years ahead of it. I hope that we willcontinue to see great games come out of their doors. I guess we will see what the future brings. I hope that everyone whose job was lost finds a new place to work, and hopefully it's an even better place, hopefully the situation you find yourself in in the future is better than the one that you come from. Some people are moving around within the EA organization. Some people unfortunately have lost their jobs completely. This is going to be a tough time for a bunch of people and I hope that everyone can show empathy and compassion to people whose lives have been disrupted."

[source]

#dragon age 6 #dragon age 5 #(these tags are just to file Mark's references to pitches that he describes making at one point in time during this video under)#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #jade empire #sw:tor #anthem #longpost #long post #covid mention

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