| SPOILER WARNING! this article may contain major plot or ending details |
|
|
|
|
|
- Look who we have here? A cute young lady.
- —Sparkle to Robin in "The Only Path To Tomorrow".
Robinabi is the femslash ship between Robin and Sparkle from the Honkai: Star Rail fandom.
Canon[]
Robin and Sparkle are both Penacony characters who were originally introduced as VIP guests invited to The Feast. Despite Robin being a Penacony native, she was nonetheless invited as a VIP Guest to perform at The Charmony Festival, whilst Sparkle is a VIP Guest representing The Masked Fools. However it was later revealed by Black Swan in "Masquerade Duet" that Sparkle was hired by someone to come to Penacony, therefore she may not have actually been invited as a guest.
Robin is a Halovian singer who originates from the planet Penacony, however she left Penacony due to a scandal and became a cosmic superstar. She is shown to be a very kind and gentle person, with deep care for others and very good manners. Robin is a perfectionist with very high expectations for herself who works tirelessly to perform to the best of her abilities. Due to her strong resonance with Harmony she has the ability to share the resonance with her voice to all lifeforms, as well as through her music all across the galaxy.
Sparkle is a member of The Masked Fools who is implied to originate from the planet Edo Star. She puts on a very chaotic and somewhat insane personality, seemingly being a person who will cause all sorts of chaos purely to feel "Elation", and appears to lack respect for others. Her true identity is unknown as she puts on all sorts of different "faces", with it being implied she does not know who she truly is, nor does she feel any emotion.
Whodunit[]
Having disguised herself as Robin, Sparkle approaches Sunday in The Golden Hour and informs him that she has returned. Sunday greets her and asks her how her preparation is going, to which "Robin" remarks that it is going fine. Sunday is suspicious and reminds her to not let unnecessary emotions get in the way. "Robin" then remarks that he seems to be in low spirits and asks what is wrong. Sunday replies that "Death" had murdered two people from The Watchmaker’s guest list, Firefly and Robin. "Robin" expresses shock but Sunday instantly shuts her down, stating he knows she is Sparkle. Sparkle turns back into herself and remarks that Sunday is sharp, calling him "Chicken Wing Boy". Sunday coldly remarks she is dishonest and tells her to leave, to which she tells him to lighten up, and then asks why The Family are still unwilling to fight despite Sunday’s "darling sister" being a goner. Sunday remarks that it is not yet time, to which Sparkle remarks with interest that he has a heart of ice, and states she can stand in for his "dear sister" at events so no one will know. Sunday coldly tells her to stop dishonoring Robin, and Sparkle tells him that she was simply putting it out there that if he was ever in a pinch she could help him, and takes her leave.
Heaven Is A Place On Earth[]
After being apprehended by The Family and given a death sentence, Aventurine approaches Sparkle on the streets, who is disguised as a Pepeshi. Sparkle insults Aventurine, saying he is better off sticking in the sewers instead of snooping around, to which Aventurine laughs and states he should have guessed the "Robin" that appeared on TV was Sparkle. Sparkle comments that she told him to befriend a mute, not become one, and that he really messed up. Aventurine asks what she means, to which she says he knows exactly what she means, as he was the one who watched Robin die. She states that Aventurine will soon end up like "her", unable to speak, which she thinks is a good thing in his case. Aventurine asks her to help him, inquiring if the mute she originally referred to was Robin. Sparkle does not give a direct answer, instead asking him what he would think if she said no. He thanks her and she remarks that she underestimated him, and there are two mutes on Penacony, Robin, who is "dead", and another, namely Firefly, who Aventurine will never find again. Sparkle hands him her "Mutually Assured Destruction Button", telling him he can use it to blow up Penacony if he feels like it. Aventurine asks how she managed to bring it here, to which she states she has her own ways. Aventurine states he will handle it in his own way, and orchestrate a grand finale, leaving Sparkle behind as he takes his leave.
The Only Path To Tomorrow[]
Whilst exploring the Dreamscape together with Sunday, Robin notices Sparkle, who is still disguised as her. As Robin approaches her, Sparkle remarks that Robin is a cute young lady, prompting confusion from Robin as she wonders if that is her. Sparkle sarcastically remarks that it such a surprise to see Sunday, calling him brother, prompting Sunday to irritatedly tell Sparkle to show herself and stop using tricks. Robin remarks that she heard a skilled Masked Fool was invited, asking Sparkle if she enjoyed herself. Sparkle sighs that she hardly enjoyed herself, as everyone in Penacony is gullible and stupid, falling easily for her bait and running away at even the slightest hint of danger, stating that everyone is stupid and cowardly. Robin tells Sparkle that that she has had her fun, she should leave Penacony, as the music of Harmony does not tolerate discord, prompting Sparkle to exaggeratedly proclaim that is is heartbreaking now that Robin is back she is useless given all she did for The Family, telling them they should be thanking her for cleaning up the mess, otherwise Penacony would still be in shambles. Sunday informs Sparkle it was a request from The Iris Family, telling her to stop causing trouble, to which Sparkle laughs and asks Sunday who he is trying to fool, telling him she knows what he is planning for The Charmony Festival.
Sparkle goes on to say she does not care what Sunday is thinking, but it seems certain that cute Robin made up her mind to not appear on stage, stating that they are both aware of what a mess the Dreamscape is, asking if Penacony is truly the paradise the two of them desire, causing Sunday to lose his temper and tell Sparkle to shut up. Sparkle merely laughs in response, asking Sunday what is wrong and if her words got to him, to which Robin tells Sparkle their paradise does not concern her, telling her to leave now. Sparkle laments that she will go, telling Robin she should really consider if all the people living in dreams are truly escaping their pain and finding true happiness. Robin does not respond, so Sparkle states that she has done all she needed and now is simply waiting for the fireworks, handing Robin and Sunday a Mutually Assured Destruction button each and telling them to use them during The Charmony Festival, taking her leave.
Daily Messages[]
Sparkle's first daily message involves her reaching out to the player as an "old friend". She says it must be fate that she gets to talk to them again, and asks if they have heard about The Charmony Festival and how the singer known across the cosmos, Robin, will be performing. Regardless of which option the player picks, Sparkle expresses her surprise that they have tickets before changing the subject, revealing that Robin had two backing performers drop out due to sickness, so she was contacted her to fill in. She then sends over a link and tells the player they need to enter their personal details, and attach a photo of themselves. Regardless of which option they pick, they will then expose Sparkle, who expresses annoyance at being found out before promptly leaving the conversation.
Quotes[]
- “I mean, your darling sister's already a goner, right?.”
- — Sparkle to Sunday about Robin in "Whodunit".
- “How about this? I'll stand in for your dear sister at events- surely you don't want the world to hear the Charmony Festival's been called off?”
- — Sparkle to Sunday about Robin in "Whodunit".
- “Have you heard about the Charmony Festival? There’s going to be a performance by Robin, a singer known across the cosmos!”
- — Sparkle about Robin in one of Sparkle's daily messages.
- “Who watched the little songbird that couldn't sing perish right before their eyes?”
- — Sparkle to Aventurine about Robin in "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".
- “Well, it means you'll soon end up like her, unable to speak ever again.”
- — Sparkle to Aventurine about Robin in "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".
- “But Robin is already dead.”
- — Sparkle to Aventurine about Robin in "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".
- “Look who we have here? A cute young lady.”
- — Sparkle to Robin in "The Only Path To Tomorrow".
- “I've heard that a skilled Masked Fool received an invitation too... That must be you, right? Did you enjoy yourself?”
- — Robin to Sparkle in "The Only Path To Tomorrow".
- “I don't care what you're thinking, chicken wing boy, but I'm pretty sure our cute Robin won't be appearing on stage.”
- — Sparkle to Sunday and Robin in "The Only Path To Tomorrow".
- “Alright, alright. I'll go, but Robin, I suggest you seriously consider this...”
- — Sparkle to Robin in "The Only Path To Tomorrow".
Fanon[]
Robinabi is considered to be somewhat rare pairing in the fandom with not a particularly large amount of shippers. Back when the Penacony cast were first leaked, players instantly took an interest in Acherobin, as Robin's appearance was somewhat similar to Kiana Kaslana's, and players liked to see them as a parallel to Kiamei. As well as Acherobin, players found SparkleSwan to be shippable due to suggestive leaks of Sparkle's interactions with her, and thoughts about her, whilst some people simply shipped them due to being the 2.0 five star duo. Due to this, Robinabi was not very widely acknowledged as a ship, however they still had some very dedicated shippers, and the amount of popularity did begin to increase over time.
Due to a lack of a canon interaction, as well as Robin not knowing who Sparkle was, the two did not gain much new popularity as a ship after the release of Penacony. However, they still have much more popularity than other Penacony pairings such as Sparkfly, SwanRobin, Achenabi and Swanfly. And the small amount of fans they have are very dedicated, therefore they have a decent amount of fanarts and AO3 works. Despite not gaining significant popularity after Penacony's release, they did gain some new fans due to people believing they would get along, despite seemingly having completely opposites personalities. A couple of people even took interest in them due to thinking that Robinabi would be a very funny relationship because of Sparkle's interactions with Sunday. After their first interaction and as the game progressed they continued to gain more fans and became much more ppoular than they originally were, yet still remained a somewhat rare pairing.
After Penacony's release, a couple of Robinabi fans began to theorize that it was quite likely that Robin was the person who hired Sparkle to come to Penacony, said theory only strengthening as the game progressed and it became more apparent how much the two tied into one another. The primary factor behind the beginning of this theory was due to leaks about Robin that surfaced late last year related to her identity, and her reasons for returning to Penacony, as well as her link to The Watchmaker. So far it had appeared that the person who hired Sparkle to come to Penacony instructed her to try and get all the invited parties involved in something, likely The Watchmaker's Legacy, which tied in well to the leaks about Robin. Fans also pointed out how everything Sparkle had done so far had been related to The Family, as well as the fact Black Swan even remarked Sparkle was very focused on The Family. However, this theory was then proven to be false, once it was revealed that Robin had never met Sparkle before, and was in fact not the person who hired her, said hirer being revealed to be Silver Wolf, who hired her to make sure Firefly's three deaths were successful.
Robinabi is a decently popular ship for both Robin and Sparkle, being rivaled by Robin and Sparkle's popular most ships, Robifly and SparkleSwan, as well as Acherobin, SwanRobin and Sparkfly.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Robin/Sparkle tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- On Robin's Character Introduction, Sparkle's Note says "I'll be sure to prepare a surprise present as well at Robin's next performance. Make it double! Would you like that, hmm?"[1]
- The "Meet The Other "Robin"" step description in "The Only Path To Tomorrow", set from Robin's POV, describes Sparkle as an eye-catching woman.
- The "nabi" in their ship name comes from Sparkle's Japanese name, Hanabi (花火).
- Robin and Sparkle having matching poses in their splash arts, with both of them holding their hands out in the exact same way.
- Additionally, the shape of their fingers can also form a heart if put together.
- In an official video made for the S.P.A.R.K.L.E jazz event, Sparkle sings the line "I love you" along with Robin.[2]
- Robin and Sparkle's JP VA's, Nazuka Kaori and Ueda Reina, have worked together a total of 16 times currently.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Robinabi/Gallery
Variations[]
- AcheHanaRobi refers to the ship between the two and Acheron
- Firesparkbin refers to the ship between the two and Firefly
- Robinabistel refers to the ship between the two and Stelle
- Sparkleswanrobin refers to the ship between the two and Black Swan
- Penacony Women refers to the ship between the two, Acheron, Black Swan and Firefly
