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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨 + 𝐘/𝐍 𝐇𝐂𝐬

Hello, hello! I have returned. And with my first requested realistic HC collection! Y'all have been too sweet; I'm so happy you've been liking them. Just saying, I've been screenshotting all of the comments and rb comments because they're just so nice. Thank you.

This time around, the collection is for Tōshirō!

Oh my god. Did you guys watch the Jump Festa 2022 show? I was up until 5 in the morning to see Bleach's and I was in tears. This was my first animanga I ever saw!! It means so much that we're finally getting the last season animated and then all of this other content? I'm losing my mind.

Anyway! I feel like this one is a little long, but I have no regrets. He's such a cutie.

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @aztecbrujeria 🥰

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: contains some manga-only information; just softy/hardass 'Shirō.

𝐇𝐂 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐇𝐀, 𝐉𝐉𝐊, 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 + 𝐂𝐒𝐌 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦…)

When you found out Tōshirō had grown up in one of the safer, richer districts of Rukongai, it suddenly all made sense. And it's not that you're calling him spoiled! Yet, you are...

It's a little easy to tell, from the way he carries himself, that he'd been as comfortable and well-off as his era of growth permitted him to be. Even Momo could confirm things for you.

But he's not spoiled in the materialistic sense. No, he's very modest like that; he's probably as far left from materialistic as possible, the complete opposite of his Lieutenant. It's only showed in his perfectionism, his great attention to detail, and the desire to please authority.

It was more mellowed out and less obvious when he was younger, when he'd first joined the Gōtei. He'd been a prodigy, too, after all, so it's expected. It consistently shines in his work and in his mannerisms in the present, the pride he has for his position and his home.

No -- he's spoiled in the sense that he's literally almost perfect? Intelligent, generous, powerful, handsome -- as the World of the Living call it, he's the "total package".

And when you tell him this, he only snorts, avoiding using any words to respond for the risk of him blurting something out embarrassing. From your place on the couch, chin propped up in your hand, you revel in the pink spreading across his cheeks and into his ears, his bottom lip bitten down on so hard you fear he might tear it off.

Tōshirō is so easy to tease, but it's not his fault. It's so easy to blame his childhood friend and Rangiku, innocently antagonizing him his whole life, but when you do it, it's so much different.

He'll stiffen, letting the words you spouted at him slowly sink in. Some days, it's so distracting that he'll banish you from his office so he can finish the day's work, and you oblige, laughing on the way out because you love his reactions. Hands folded against his face, he'll sigh into them, taking steady breaths to try and clear his complexion and his mind.

Tōshirō always does his work in his office now, having learnt better from the attempts he'd made on bringing them back to his quarters to find you inside already, waiting for his arrival. It doesn't matter where you and your presence takes you, whether it be in his office, his quarters, or even a Captain's meeting. It becomes difficult to focus on much else if you decide to take centre stage.

He would be a big believer in the phrase "it's the little things that count". Whether being the giver or receiver, there's nothing more in a relationship that Tōshirō would appreciate more than small gestures. Minding his sometimes-short temper and his quick-to-be-embarrassed nature, larger and more extravagant gestures will make him short-circuit on you. Please take it easy on him; he's a busy man. While he appreciates the thought, it's just another distraction that he can't handle with his already massive schedule.

As I think most Soul Reapers would be, Tōshirō is fond of nostalgia. He thinks as far back as he can remember, back to when he lived in Junrinan with his grandmother and Momo and back to when he'd met Rangiku; back when he'd first joined the Shinōreijutsuin to become a Soul Reaper and when he'd soon been recruited into the Tenth Division; back when he had to deal with Isshin Shiba being his Captain, and when he'd later replaced him as the Captain when he'd disappeared from the Soul Society.

Back when he'd met you.

You'd never been afraid to stick your neck out, not even as a new division member, in order to make your name known; you held no ego nor malice in your efforts for which Tōshirō quickly noticed. Your strength you held and your confidence to match was something he was in awe of, something you used solely to help others and not use to flaunt or taunt your peers and comrades.

His interactions with you were rare and few, as in only when he was called into active duty within the Soul Society did the two of you meet; you, one of the team leaders of the Tenth Division who would report directly to him as you handled a portion of his division members through the crisis. Business was first, as always, easily taken care of despite his emotional curiosities. He had time for that after, especially when you remained at his side while your capable men began wrapping up the situation.

Never was he able to strike up a casual conversation with you. You understood his limitations and made it easy on him to begin one first, something he appreciated so immensely, because that simply made it easy for him to realize that it hadn't been only awe that he felt of you.

Because of his emotional shortcomings, Tōshirō becomes a very "blushy" person when he has to address them. It's not something he's used to nor wanted to get used to; it's all so inconvenient and overwhelming to think about, yet he won't want to just brush it aside -- it seems almost too cruel to do so.

He looks forward to meetings, updates and assignments that he's able to personally attend to because it means that you'll be there.

He won't go out of his way to make things too obvious; with any luck, the hope he has that you'll possibly make the first move is a strong one. He'd abhor anything less than professionalism between you, but god, just say something. The stress will eat at him forever.

But when you finally do address how increasingly different his behaviour has been whenever you're around him, his entire face pinks up and his hands will do this little twitchy thing when he tries speaking.

"B-Breathe, sir," you tell him, feigning amusement by offering a small pat to his shoulder.

But that literally just makes it worse. It stuns him into a dizzy silence. He just stands there, eyes trained at his feet in his struggle to come up with something to respond with. He's not usually so uncouth and it's concerning to him.

In the meantime, you've made him a cup of his favourite tea and got him to take a seat on his couch, telling him not to rush or panic. Your patience is appreciated by him, too; giving him time to collect the parts of him that tried floating off without him was just what he needed. But doing so only makes his face pink again, and it finally hits you.

"Oh. R-Really?"

Your presence is reassuring, as are the words that follow his nod of confirmation. You're happy to navigate things together, you essentially tell him, because you liked him, too. Is that what it's called now? he wonders. Just liking someone?

It definitely sounds a lot nicer than him asking to court you. Maybe you'd like his old-fashioned proposal, or maybe you'd laugh a little at him like you do when he says something "his age" -- with his young appearance, it just doesn't seem like it fits.

You'd been grateful that he'd "said something". You weren't desiring to cross any boundaries as a subordinate, not when you'd already come so far with your position within the division. You'd had a feeling, though... that something was on your Captain's mind. He'd made it increasingly obvious when you'd heard from his Lieutenant that he'd been inquiring about you more and more. And him being the kind of reserved you'd known him to be over the years, well, you knew it wouldn't be easy for him to come up with the words.

Tōshirō would not be a fan of public displays of affection. Used to being seen and treated as a child because of his form, others thinking him undeserving of the position because of that and his young age (by Soul Society standards, of course) -- he'd think it adding fuel to the annoyingly persistent fire, and he hates the heat.

This, you wholeheartedly respect. It took a long time for you to gain the same respect he'd desired because of your decision to be so outspoken on your strength. It took years to prove your worthiness. Tōshirō is no different. So, while you are always seen together, either working on reports together, meeting for a lunch break or for a quick cup of tea, or walking around the Soul Society together, you won't be seen holding hands.

With this, he can be quite the hoverer. If both of your times off align, you can bet he'll be at your side.

In private, there are many tender moments and exchanges the two of you have. What he won't do in public, he makes up for when you join each other in the others' quarters. His hands will always be near you in some way, whether it be holding hands and enjoying the peace and quiet, or an arm over your shoulder where you sit side-by-side. You were typically the one to engage in more intimate moments, but Tōshirō's a fast learner; that's why he'd graduated so quickly. Chaste kisses and the occasional, more feverish romanticism... He is enamoured with you.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya, being the man he is, won't realize that the purpose of you speaking about his bedding was to get him to nap. You weren't tired in the slightest, but you'd taken notice of the darkening circles beneath his eyes and recalled how he'd yet to sleep after the massive pile of documents awaiting him since his Lieutenant bailed on her duties once more.

"Your salary must be amazing, Captain," you blurt, eyeing his bedroom with slight disdain. "Your futon is so thick..."

"Give it a try, if you'd like," he says, gesturing you toward it.

"Only if you'll join me?"

The act embarrasses him, despite its innocence. It seems like such a forward thing to engage in so soon in your relationship, but the idea tempted him. Changed into his night robe and you having borrowed a spare, you both lay between the futon and the covers, a respectable distance between each other. But when you both wake up, he finds your arms wrapped loosely around him, your head tucked onto his chest. Seeing you like this, he won't wake you. Even if he has to return to work. The sight is just too domestically pleasing to him.

If it is the winter time, he would have his windows wide open. Owning an elemental Zanpakutō like Hyōrinmaru encourages his weathering disposition. The summer time is hell for him; he'll have a block of non-melting ice sat before a fan whenever he sleeps.

You know how much he doesn't like his mature form, but, he also knows how flustered you get around him if he ever pulls it out. Even if it's in battle, you'll still lose composure -- he's just too pretty to look at.

That flusters him, too. And so, he'll banish you from his presence since you've made things more complicated.

Whoops.

Just try teasing him now that you're together. He's not afraid to toss it and then some back at you. Also, he's still your Captain. Go too far and he's gonna punish you with paperwork and chores. Don't risk it.

I'd like to say that because Tōshirō is one of the more younger Soul Reapers, he'd be more "hip" with early 2000s technology, but no -- he's about as useful as a seventy-year-old man would be. Since you have World of the Living privileges, when you go there, you've purchased a polaroid camera to show him the pictures you've taken when you'd been completing your assignment. The stack of them sit on top of his dresser for him to peruse through when you're gone -- the one of yourself that you'd managed to take with his favourite sunset behind you? It goes where he goes -- on his desk, into his breast pocket, or on display next to the other photos.

He's glad that you had to leave immediately after you brought the photos back to him, as one of them had been of his World of the Living grandmother. The fact that you'd gone to look for her without him asking? He's very touched and needs a moment.

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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Fateful rainy night

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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giyuu and fellow hashira!reader get caught up in a snowstorm on a mountain during a mission—forces cuddles for warmth? :3

pairing: tomioka giyu x reader warnings: none genre: fluff wc: 1,277 note: i fucking love cuddling for warmth idc if the uniform keeps slayers warm these bitches better cuddle or freeze

The beginning of winter had been especially bitter, temperatures dropping dramatically at night, forcing you to adjust your outfit to accommodate the frigid air. In the height of combat it wasn’t so bad—activity kept your blood hot and your heart pumping. During the rare occasions when you slept in a bed, it was enjoyable, even, having the cool air against your face while being tucked into a cocoon of warmth.

This, however, was not one of those nights.

You could feel the frigid wind and air crawl beneath your uniform, freezing your throat as you breathe. The only benefit is the numbing effect of the cold, preventing you from feeling the full extent of your injuries from fighting with the demon. Beside you, Giyu looks only marginally better, breath forming translucent clouds.

The air is thin on this mountain—you can smell in the wind that a storm is on the way. In fact, if you look closely in the distance, you can see snow on the horizon, beginning to drape over the already snow-coated earth.

After backtracking down the mountain path, you’d found an empty little house with boarded up windows and a patched roof. It didn’t provide complete coverage from the winter storm howling outside the walls and rattling the old, dry wood, but it was enough that you weren’t in immediate danger of freezing.

It had taken some effort to light the irori at the center of the room, and the fire was not so big, but it was better than nothing, and you huddled as close to it as you dared, palms pointing out towards the weak flame.

“This storm could last all night,” you tell Giyu. “It’ll be safer if we stay here for the time being, at least until it weakens.”

Giyu had taken the spot adjacent to you, deep blue eyes reflecting the fire, sitting close to the edge like you. You wondered how cold he was; the uniforms did a fine job during the regular winter season, but as the wind screams across the windows, rattling the wooden frames, you know it would only be a matter of time before anyone succumbed to the cold.

Exhausted and chilly, you curl up in a little ball, pulling your haori tight across your shoulders. If you napped, you could wait out the worst of this weather. Giyu seemed to have a similar idea, getting himself comfortable on the floor, facing the fire to warm himself.

No demon would think to travel in this weather—nearly immortal or not. The cold would be painful to move through, and coupled with the wind it was a miracle the two of you had found a place to take shelter.

You drift into an uneasy sleep.

There’s a low hum in your ear, exhaustion clinging to every inch of your body as you shake, a firm pressure on your shoulder. Someone is saying your name, a low, urgent tone reaching past your consciousness to draw you out of sleep.

When your brain catches up, a violent shiver wracks your body. Your face, which had been warmer pressed in the crook of your elbow, feels numb. You shake your head. “Don’t... cold...”

“You’re shivering. Wake up,” the familiar rumble of Giyu’s voice makes your eyes blink open, heavy with sleep.

“Can’t,” you murmur, pressing your face deeper into your arm. “Fire...”

“It’s still going, but if you fall asleep again it’ll be dangerous.”

“’s fine.”

Rustling, and your brain is pulled into wakefulness even though your body is slow, almost unresponsive. Bit by bit the reality of your situation fires off in your brain. You’re in a house with Giyu. It’s storming. You’re freezing, but the longer you think about it, you’ve gone beyond that point, now—it’s hard to feel your limbs. You try to curl your fingers.

Pressure on your arms, and you feel yourself begin to come up off the floor. You squirm, losing what little heat you’ve managed to save, but then Giyu is talking in your ear, a quiet: “I’m going to help you warm up”, and you relax because it’s Giyu, because you’d like nothing more than to forget the chill of winter and relax in the sun between assignments.

You hear the crackle of fire, the scent of burning wood and smoke reaching your nose. There’s wood beneath you as you feel gravity shift sideways. Warmth touches your back, seeps into your haori and uniform beneath the fabric and when you shift, you feel something firm and solid before you.

A light weight is draped across your waist, and you feel your face get pressed into something soft. You smell dirt, the faint salt of sweat, the light fragrance of tea that has you sighing, scooting closer. You’re delirious with sleep and cold, drifting in and out before you finally doze off again, this time surrounded by warmth.

———

When your eyes flutter open, a few thoughts occur within seconds of regaining your consciousness. The first is that you no longer hear wind. The second is that you are no longer shivering, instead hovering between being cozy and chilly. The third is that Tomioka Giyu is mere centimeters in front of you, and is still asleep.

From your position on the floor, you can see a corner of the window. The sun has just begun to set, streaming light into the hut. It appears the storm didn’t last as long as you feared.

The weight across your waist that you barely remember feeling during the height of your delirium is his arm, not quite hugging you to him but keeping you against him. The fire at your back has long since died, but a new heat blossoms on your skin, lighting a fire to your face from the base of your neck to the top of your head.

Your fingers are tingling, curling and uncurling after remembering the numbness that’d taken over.

You got close to shutting down because of the cold, and Tomioka Giyu chose to cuddle up beside you for warmth.

The floor has made your limbs stiff, but for some reason, you don’t want to move. You are not so much of a fool to imagine a life beyond demons, nor to plan so far ahead as to believe you could live long enough to get married, but when you extricate yourself from him, seeing the telltale signs of wakefulness stirring in his body, you smile to yourself, daring to be hopeful for a brighter future.

To spare either of you the awkward tension of waking up beside one another, you busy yourself with pulling down some of the boards nailed into the window frame, breaking them with your hands to get the fire going once more.

“Mitsuri gave me some tea before I left,” you tell him, “we can heat up some water to drink it before we get moving. I think there are some old cups left in the cabinets.”

He looks a bit dazed, blank from having just woken up from sleep.

“You’re better now?” He asks, voice low and throaty.

You duck your head. “Yes, thanks to you.”

The side of his hair that’d been laying against the floor is messier than usual. The sight makes you bite back a smile, and the fire you get going is stronger than last night’s. It is a welcome change from the nightmare of last night’s storm, and though the air that filters through the cracks in the walls is just as frozen, you know the tea will not be the only thing to keep you warm on the way back to the Butterfly Estate.

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 (megumi fushiguro x reader)

inspired from this list of prompts | wc: 1k

To those on the outside of things, Megumi doesn’t seem like much of a talker.

He’s decently quiet on most days, never one to assert his presence with a loud greeting or abrupt share of opinion. Deemed as more of a listener, he often sits passively rather than taking the reigns of the conversation.

But when Megumi is with you, in the shared warmth of your olive bedsheets as his achey limbs intertwine with yours, Megumi talks. A lot.

He talks about his day, most of the time. He’s come to learn that a nice way to decompress after a long day of exorcizing curses, training with his peers, and dealing with his guardian of a teacher, was simply by talking about it—specifically with you.

“Gojo almost set the school on fire this afternoon” was today’s starting point.

Keep reading

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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sparkles of envy

pairing: felix fraldarius x gn!reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

w.c: 1.7k

synopsis: felix can’t shake off the sour feeling he gets when he sees you dancing with dimitri at the ball. afterwards, he’s met with more certainty for the future when the two of you find yourselves at the goddess tower.

a/n: first time writing for fire emblem let’s gooooo ;D

–

“well would you look at that,” sylvain crosses his arms behind his head, glancing at you and dimitri dancing in the middle of the ballroom. all eyes were naturally on the two of you, having long-awaited the crown prince of faerghus to take the floor. all except for felix, who scoffed in advance of sylvain getting his words out. “he’s a lucky man for sure.”

the blue-haired boy put his hands on his hips. “of course you would fall for the boar’s act. this was one of the many reasons i didn’t want to attend this damn ball in the first place.”

felix wasn’t lying. if it weren’t for the professor’s pleas, he would’ve spent the night training as usual, in complete solitude. especially after seeing that you surely weren’t alone, evident from how you leaned in closer to dimitri to whisper in his ear and laughed in unison with him.

“hey c’mon. you have to admit that they do look pretty good together.”

“you’re just projecting. i’m sure you’d be trying to woo the boar’s partner right now if they hadn’t already gotten swept up.”

sylvain ignores the opportunity for banter when he suddenly goes off on a tangent about how byleth ‘irrevocably changed [his] life’ and how they might actually be soulmates. he then spots her from across the hall and leaves felix alone to ask for a dance. although he felt bad for their professor, he’d settle for his childhood best friend bothering someone else over embarrassing him any day.

the goddess tower seemed like a much better place to be than this suffocating lovesickness. cold, empty, and away from the crowd. even if the training grounds were locked, he could still take the time to reflect on his next steps for the future. there were plenty of people he still had to surpass, and that included you. while you were busy swaying away with dimitri, he’d be getting stronger, the mental preparation making him all the more agile to sweep you off your feet by surprise.

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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espers and their auras 💜💙💖💛

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nao-hime · 3 years ago

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Hi Mao! This has been bouncing around in my head for months now but I've never gotten myself to sit down and finally ask: what aspects of the EN localization contribute to the character assassination of Xiao? I play with CN VO and EN text, and can understand CN enough to tell that there are mismatches in the delivery of the EN VO as well as the tone of both the TLs and VO. However, I feel as though there must be other things as well, and I trust you as a source, so what are your thoughts?

Hello!! My biggest gripes with the English characterization/performance of Xiao do mostly have to do with the translation choices, as well as the voice actors' performances, although they are influenced by cultural context as well. I suspect you've noticed a lot of this, but I can give some details on how I think they specifically alter Xiao's characterization:

The translation discrepancy for the Favourite Food voice line was probably my least favourite, at least of the ones that I can remember. I believe in Chinese, he said 「杏仁豆腐的味道，和美梦非常相似呢.」 / "The taste of almond tofu is very similar to that of beautiful dreams." which then got translated into "The one thing I can manage to stomach is the taste of almond tofu." I simply cannot understand why they would alter a voice line to the extent that it removes such depth from his character, especially when it's a straightforward translation and not limited by cultural context.

The same voice line is also a really good example of the differences in the CN vs. EN voice acting. Whereas his voice sounds very soft in Chinese, in English he simply sounds kind of curt (or even just pointlessly rude) when delivering this line. This tonal difference in the performance, in addition to the tonal difference of the script itself, results in a distortion of his character.

If you broadly compare the performance of his voice lines in CN vs. EN, you'll notice that his English VA makes him sound very rude and abrasive overall, which I think leads to his Emo Edgelord Asshole characterization in the English fandom. Now, he doesn't sound nice in Chinese most of the time, but Kinsen's delivery of his voice lines makes him sound more dignified relative to the English. His tone is closer to what you'd actually expect of an adeptus (or 仙人, I should say - a concept that unfortunately doesn't carry over cross-culturally).

Personally, this difference in performances was the most egregious for me when coupled with the cultural differences that go into his characterization. In his initial story quest, he had a line that went something like, "All things are impermanent, and to exist is to suffer" in reference to his experiences and rejection of Paimon's pity. I actually remember jokes around this line in the EN fandom because he sounded very much like an emo kid, but he didn't read that way at all in CN. His Chinese VA's delivery of the line sounded calmer and more contemplative, which made perfect sense as the dialogue is actually heavily Buddhist in nature.

Finally, some complaints about creative direction from MHY's localization team when it comes to Xiao's character and Liyue overall:

This is NOT the fault of Xiao's English VA per se, but with what I assume are the limitations of her voice, she makes Xiao sound like an angry 14 y/o kid (a comment that my English Only friends have made in isolation from hearing the Chinese version). On the other hand, in the Chinese version, Xiao sounds... well, like a young man as you would expect hahaha. I simply do not understand why MHY would decide to give him a 14 year old's voice in English, when he doesn't have this in the Chinese!

(Unrelated, but Kinsen's voice acting is generally pretty remarkable, because he also voices Chongyun who sounds very much like a teenager! He's even done bits where Xiao and Chongyun 'talk to each other' and you can really hear the difference in his performances between the two characters.)

YMMV on this, but I wish they'd have "foreignized" a lot of the cultural details in Liyue rather than "localizing" them during translation. The reason for this is that Xiao's character is highly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism; a lot of the Liyue content is, but I'd argue this religious/spiritual context impacts his character more than others. Foreignizing the writing of Liyue might have retained some of this depth/influence rather than totally removing it. For instance, they could have retained the source terminology rather than creating bizarre English equivalents: saying "xian" instead of "adeptus", "Yanwang Dijun" rather than "Rex Lapis", or even just directly translating "Three Eyes and Five Manifestations" rather than using "Mighty and Illuminated". (Though I actually don't mind "Illuminated" as much as these other examples.) Perhaps these seem like strange choices at first glance, but in Inazuma they simply retained the romaji for terms like "Guuji" rather than "Chief Priest", "Kitsune" rather than "Fox Spirit", "Raiden Shogun" rather than something like "General-God of Thunder and Lightning" (this is my quick stab at localization of the title, but the alternative route that MHY would take would probably be to render this in Latin similar to "Rex Lapis"). These were presumably choices they made to retain the obvious Shinto and historical influences on Inazuma, which I really like! But, like... if they could do that for Inazuma, then why not Liyue? Just a weird double standard and something to consider.

Sorry if this was just a re-hash of what you already knew haha, but hopefully it provides more explanation as to why I consider the English treatment of Xiao to be 'character assassination', as well as general thoughts about how cultural context affects interpretation of Xiao's character.

Thanks for the ask!

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