#(yes that’s a reference to the novel of which I have major beef with)

[oldschool-analog]

Just realized I never drew Jared before so take thjs

[cobalt-penguin]

y’know what i’m still feeling annoyed and petty, plus i’m stuck inside and it’s storming out so why not type out a checklist of what everyone in TOW did to me.

since i am mean and manipulative, petty and pathetic, and so much more? why not bring up some old beef and give ya’ll something to eat. 

Gansey: tried repeatedly to instigate drama -- if not actively break up -- my OC ships by encouraging -- through IC shenanigans -- cheating and lying. One of these happened while I was on vacation with my family and i still remember crying about it in a hotel bathroom because i thought one of my few ships in the RP was over and I hadn’t even been asked about it. This also included trying to get his OC Tomas to make IC/OOC (hey you can feign innocence when it’s in that dubiously OOC space, until its receptive in which case you can say it was IC the whole time!) at one of my ship partner’s OCs. Made repeated fat jokes at one of my fat characters (the same one they were clearly trying to get away from their partner...hmm...). Claimed I was always running to vague on my personal. Fair enough, I did, but they did the same thing. In poem form. Never answered my message about leaving the RP group because they felt ‘disrespected” by it. Repeatedly including untagged dubcon/noncon elements on the dashboard and triggering me. Lying to Ivy and me about having a full Overwatch party then trying to say “oh it just emptied you can join now”. hid this “FAR” idea from the rest of the RP community and then played coy when they got found out and asked about it by another anon (not me). Made fun of other RP groups in Tumblr tags then, when I asked them and their friends not to, was told “we’re a step above them.” Saying I was excluding them from things when I asked to play OW with them AND invited them to my horror RP group AND, only months beforehand, were inviting them to my Marvel RP??Trying to emotionally manipulate me through threatening to kill characters they had obviously grown tired of playing (probably because their major connections were to me and not their other friends) -- “haha i’m probably going to kill (my oc) idk but doesn’t that make you upset?? what will (your character) even do??” Engaging in nasty “”IC”” interactions with my character, basically telling me, through them, off, and being supported by the entire community in doing so. All of this really hurt me because I considered Gansey a friend and a major inspiration at one point in my life. Someone I non-jokingly looked up to and trusted. I feel like Gansey left TAR, our first RP group, because of how controlling, self-interested, petty, and mean-spirited the admins there were. That they were limiting other people’s creativity while building up their own narrative -- everyone else just there to be their audience. But you and Roman literally became Usa and Jen. Congrats. You lived long enough to become everything you’d rebelled against. And yes Gansey -- I saw all of your messages to everyone. Emotionally manipulating others -- telling them how terrible you are you don’t deserve their friendship, but would like to -- isn’t an apology. Its a tactic. Do better in the future. And despite me “blocking” you? There were a hundred ways to still reach out to me if that was what you really wanted. But let’s be real. It wasn’t. That was part of your gambit to. Goodbye. 

Rosie: asked literally EVERYONE about what had happened with the ““TOW explosion”” except me. never even asked my side of the story. Rosie I don’t even get because the other admins treated her like shit -- making her do all the coding and technical components for the entire RP -- but she was still defending them to the end. Okay. And then to treat Shelly like utter SHIT even though Reyne was running her passive-aggressive mouth off about people who couldn't even defend themselves? Amazing. Yeah, she’s the bully. Your perspective was so twitested by your biases that you were ready to victim blame Shelly just because Reyne had to run at the sight of someone actually throwing their bulltshit back at them. 

Reyne: Like Gansey, frequently indulged in cheating/cucking scnearios for fun -- again, including my own characters without asking or telling me. Don’t think Reyne ever apologized for this, IC or OOC. Dropped ships with me repeatedly -- leaving the group even -- without a word. Passive-aggressive to the max. Made a ship with Gansey just to play out her Teen Wolf OTP -- something that will never not be funny to me, when she called Gansey’s “character” Stiles. Smooth. 

Frankii: Repeatedly dropped me and my characters from plots. Gave me one of the most hurtful comments of my RP community by essentially being like “maybe if your plots and characters weren’t so confusing than more people would want to RP with you.” Invited to join my horror RP group and never made a character. also told me this after Gansey wrote that enormous callout about me, that Roman piggybacked on while the getting was good: “also I'm not here to advocate on behalf of my friend but I really don't think Gansey was trying to be rude last night, they can come off a certain way when they're stressed.” COOL. The rest of Frankii’s message I really appreciated, at the time, but, surprise surprise, then despite us being “cool” they never spoke to me again. 

Laura: I actually really liked Laura tbh but I guess she didn’t feel the same. Some of our interactions back in TAR were actually some of my favorites. I invited her to join my horror RP group and she never made a character. When I asked about this -- and if she needed any help making someone or wanted to leave -- she said she was working on it. Basically stonewalled me over time. Honestly though? Not a lot to say I actually think Laura is a good writer and pretty cool. Its just obvious who her friends were and I, stupidly, thought I was included in that. 

Anna: Actually I really liked Anna too tbh but I guess I vastly overestimated our friendship? It happens. Dropped me from one of her plots -- after talking to me about including me in one of hers because she felt “obligated” basically, from being featured in my own -- without mentioning why or talking to me about it. Invited to join new RP -- refused (not mad about this, just making note of it). Refused to follow my new account when I lost my old one because “lol they’re such a furry”. 

Roman: lmao where to even start. Roman was condescending and elitist literally from the beginning of TAR. barely acknowledged my existence until he had to.I started a plot with an open invitation to the entire RP group, with a deadline so I could start writing. Roman waits until its over and complains that they were left out. I include him anyway. Roman mocks the fact that I ask to tag or outright remove aphrodisiac dust -- because I don’t like seeing untagged dubcon/noncon on my dashboard, it upsets me a lot -- and then goes on a whole thread about it after I go to bed and can’t even defend myself. Apparently told his friends not to invite me to things because he doesn’t like me??? And then he has the nerve to be like communication is key and you can come talk anytime??? While having me on their public “friends” list with a description about me on his blog??? omfg...I literally can’t. To this day. Actually let this image speak for itself.

Everything Else: The repeated, childish treatment of strippers as immoral (””your character is stripping?? my character is so upset and is going to protect them!!”). The implication that characters who were stripping were also automatically sex workers. The continued references to my character, who owned this establishment, as being sleazy and manipulative. Also, honestly, what was with ya’ll adopting some random teenager into your OW groups? That was weird af. And then bringing some random person into TOW without asking anyone and trying to pull rank like “we’re the admin team and we can do whatever we want”. and shit-talking Meg and me in your “open forum” when all we wanted to do was get on with out lives. Like? Who cares? Ya’ll didn’t want me, at least, there anyway, clearly. You don’t get to exclude me then talk about how disrespectful and “wrong” the way I left was..........

Me: I didn’t do everything perfectly either. I know I could be passive-aggressive. I could be self-interested. I could make bitter comments. I dealt with feeling angry and upset by making memes -- which, I’m gonna be honest, I get why ya’ll were upset but I don’t regret either. I had spent so long in TAR/TOW with nobody interested in my characters and plots -- originally because I didn’t vid and played furries but, later, well.........see above -- that I did focus on my own narrative. I wasn’t invited to plots. I didn’t have sexy vampires and boy band werewolves. I played weird characters that didn’t fit the common niche of the cast of an angst and hookup filled supernatural YA novel. Maybe my plots were confusing but, honestly? It was because they were always going to be in the background. I wasn’t disinterested in anyone’s stories. I had just been left out of them for so long -- having to beg to even be a mention in a single mention -- that I had to make my own. I wasn’t there to just be an audience member to be aghast by Roman’s newest quirky boy or Gansey’s newest possessed twink. I was a writer. A member of the community. And, at the time? I thought a friend. Someone who deserved appreciation and respect. 

I know who my true friends are now. We did, ironically, exactly what you did -- we have out own group, our own setting, our own community. 

And I still live with the mean and manipulative things YALL said everyday. Even as an adult -- even with everything I’ve accomplished and am so proud of -- I’m still traumatized by being treated so poorly -- for years -- and not even realizing it. Something I’m still working on -- one of the many reasons I still have trust issues to this day. Congrats. That’s your legacy on me. aNYWAY

byeeeeeee

[fan-nessie-tucking-fastic]

My Beef With Episode Ignis

GIANT DISCLAIMER: I love Ignis. I think he deserved better. I love him and his sass and class. But boy, do I have a problem with Episode Ignis!

Okay, so Episode Ignis gave me feels. Good feels, bad feels (Yes, I got the ending where you die and boy did I have to go lie down in the foetal position to process that) and...WTF feels. I didn’t cry as much as I expected to, which is good because Episode Prompto left me a sobbing emotional mess with that GODDAMN FLASHBACK SCENE AND THE INTERNAL FIGHT AGAINST NOCTIS!!! I’m not bitter, Square.

BUT!!! Let’s get into the meat of why I have a problem. This whole thing felt like a giant case of “We need to make people happy.” The canon ending is great. Yeah, it hurts and it made me cry because the canon ending always makes me cry but it fits. There’s no plotholes (Well, no major ones), it’s poignant, tragic and a whole lot of other painful tear-jerker fancy words you find on the back of romantic tragedy paperback novels.

Why do I have a problem? THAT NON-CANON ENDING IS A GIANT MOUNTAIN OF BULLSHIT!!! WHY?! Because way to throw out a whole game, two DLCs and a whole anime’s worth of character development and lore out the window in favour of making Ignis the perfect character. Don’t agree? Let’s look at the different things I’m referring to.

1) FIRST OF ALL! The Brotherhood anime. It clearly shows that every single bro was a part of Noct’s life from a very early stage. Gladiolus, as his trainer, has been with him from a very early age and very early on, showed a clear and deep camaraderie with Noctis after they got their issues out of the way. Prompto, while only plucking up the guts to talk to Noctis later, has always cared about the prince and Noctis was aware of it even if they never did anything until high school. And going from this, it looks as if proper camaraderie and understanding between Ignis and Noctis wasn’t properly achieved until Noctis was in his teens. Remember that massive argument that had Ignis face-palming the steering wheel? Yeah, that one. Not so easy a relationship and it took Gladio pointing out why Noctis was being difficult for Ignis to GET WHY THE PRINCE WAS BEING SO PISSY!!! So why would you make it out as if Ignis cared the most about Noctis when it’s clear that all the bros have a very powerful bond with him and each other?!

2) SECOND! Episode Prompto. That non-canon ending completely negates his entire DLC! If Ignis goes straight to Zegnautus Keep after Altissia, that means no train trip happened, no Ardyn screwing with Noctis, no Prompto getting thrown off the train and NO FRIGGIN EPISODE PROMPTO!!! You just completely threw out a whole episode of plot and character development.

3) THIRD! Episode Gladio. Okay, I’m a serious Gladio lover but this is a legitimate gripe here. Wouldn’t it have made more sense and been a lot more tragic if, as the King’s Sworn Shield, Gladio had had the vision of Noctis giving up his life to vanquish Ardyn? The King’s Sworn Shield unable to fulfil his duty and protect the king because you can’t change fate? Imagine Gladio, already dealing with the fact that his father died protecting Regis, knowing that one day he’ll have to let Noctis go to his death in order for the light to come back? AND WHAT WAS THE POINT IN HIM TRYING TO BECOME STRONGER IF IGGY’S JUST GONNA WALTZ INTO ZEGNAUTUS KEEP AND STEAL THE SHOW?! That’s another DLC worth of character development completely thrown under the bus!

4) FOURTH!!! THE LORE AROUND THE FRIGGIN RING OF THE LUCII, DAMNIT!!! So here’s my biggest beef. The whole thing about using the Ring Of The Lucii is that it requires a sacrifice to be used IF (And this is a big IF), the former kings deem you worthy of using their power. HI, HELLO, IT BURNED THE SHIT OUT OF RAVUS’ ARM FOR JUST A FEW SECONDS WORTH OF WEAR AND NYX HAD TO OFFER UP HIS LIFE TO USE IT!!! So, hello, how the frig did Ignis get through that without either A) Dying or B) Staying blind. Because that Non-Canon ending sure as shit showed that he wasn’t blind anymore. Only the Lucis Bloodline can use the ring without dying right off the bat and even then it drains you slow like a parasite. So what? Ignis gets off scott-free and we just disregard the fact that Nyx gave up his life and Ravus lost an arm and HELLO, IT ACTUALLY OUTRIGHT KILLED A TRAITOR WHEN HE TOOK IT OFF LUNA?!?!?! ARE WE SUPPOSED TO JUST THROW ALL OF THAT DOWN THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL?!?!?! Yeah, that’s not how this works.

Summing up because I think my caps-lock key is having issues (are you surprised), Episode Ignis , or more specifically the non-canon ending, is just a whole mountain worth of bullshit that throws out so much character development and story and just creates a plot-hole so deep you could fall all the way to China if you jumped inside. As much as the Canon ending hurts me, I still love it. It hurts but it’s fitting and that non-canon ending is just a steaming pile of OH, HELL NO!

[jbk405]

Why Discovery feels like Star Trek

It’s very difficult to describe the indescribable aspects of a TV series that make it “feel” like itself.  That’s part of the reason that we use such a vague term as “feel” in the first place.  But I’m going to give it my best effort.

First, I have to admit that on most of its bulletpoints, Star Trek: Discovery doesn’t match what a Star Trek series is “supposed” to be.

It’s the first story that doesn’t revolve around the commander of their mission.  Even the ‘09 film focused its plot around getting Kirk into the role of Captain, even though it made no sense (Don’t even get me started on him being promoted to Captain at the end of the film).

Its lead character is a pariah who’s been forced out of Starfleet and is reviled by the rest of the crew for acts that we see.  Even VOY had its convict as only a supporting character and had him “redeemed” in the pilot, and it infamously dropped the inter-personal conflicts that were supposed to arise from Starfleet/Maquis tension.

Lastly, it’s the first Star Trek series to revolve directly around the Federation at War.  Even DS9 -- which spent it’s final two seasons featuring a five-sided conflict which spanned the Quadrant -- spent five seasons building that up, and used the conflict to explore the social and political climate and events which permeated the galaxy before it ever got to the explosions.

However, despite all of these divergences from past productions, it still feels like Star Trek.  Whatever “it” is, Discovery has it.  Because...

It has the Roddenberry Optimism that people try to say it’s missing, despite being more actionized than what came before.  This was best encapsulated in the scene where Michael is exploring the Unidentified Object before everything goes to shit: She is in awe.  She stares at the space around her, and the mysterious object before her, and all she wants to do is learn what it is.  She wants to understand.  She’s not hoping to get a reward or promotion or prize for being The First, her desire is knowledge for the sake of knowledge.  That one scene held the very concept of Star Trek in a nutshell: She is, quite literally, boldly going to seek out a new civilization.

Beyond that one scene, there was the introduction where she and Captain Georgiou were saving the aliens from extinction.  They discussed the Prime Directive, the need to not contaminate the culture of the aliens they were helping, but their resulting decision wasn’t to just let them all die.  They made the decision to help without being discovered so that the aliens could continue to develop on their own.  As Kirk and Co. so often did in TOS, they remembered the point of the Prime Directive: To protect less-advanced species from us, not from natural phenomena beyond their control.

Outside of any one specific scene, the show has also shown that it is not scared of the continuity and history of Star Trek.  Throughout the first three episodes they include enough references to past continuity that you know the writers/directors/production designers/etc. have watched every bit of Trek media there is, and read the books, and played the games as well.  And I don’t mean that they’ve proved that they’re “real” fans or anything shallow like that, I mean that they’re not ashamed to be a fan.

For example, they reference the Black Fleet in the very first episode, a concept of the Klingon afterlife introduced in a TOS novel published in 1984 but which never made it on-screen.  The context of the speech is self-explanatory enough that you don’t miss out on understanding this series if you haven’t read that novel -- heck, I haven't read that novel -- but it helps enmesh the show into the greater community for those who do know all those tiny details.  Like when Picard gushes over meeting Sarek and Spock, or when Sisko breaks the Temporal Prime Directive to shake Kirk’s hand, it says that the producers get it.  They’re not defensively trying to say that they’re not like the nerd Trek that losers watch, they’re saying that they love the established universe just as much as the TNG-era loved TOS.

And yes, Michael is scarred by the death’s of her parents and has a very un-Federation hate for the Klingons, but that’s no different than Worf’s grudge against the Romulans (Speaking of, there are huge parallels between Michael and Worf.  Enough for a whole other post).  Or even Lieutenant Stiles from “Balance of Terror” and his grudge against the Romulans.  Or even James Kirk himself, whose beef with the Klingons over the death of his son was a major theme of The Undiscovered Country.

Yes, Starfleet is engaging in a front-line war instead of resolving the situation diplomatically, but that’s no different than “Errand of Mercy”, the very first introduction of the Klingons, where war also broke out between the two powers.  It’s no different than the ongoing border conflict the Federation had with the Cardassians, which ran for years and wasn’t completely resolved even with a treaty.

And yes, with the close of episode three we’re getting very strong “Captain Lorca is eeeeeeeviiiiiiillllllll” hints by the show, but Starfleet officials running unethical experiments has been a worn out concept from the very beginning.

All of the story developments that people decry as being unlike Star Trek have been there all along, from the original series to the TNG era.  The idea of a Starfleet that always manages to avoid violence is an idealized Starrfleet that has never actually existed.  And it’s not just a fan idealization, it’s an idealization in-universe as well.  Seasons one and two of TNG had Picard constantly talking about how advanced they were, how they were ready to handle whatever was out there, but then when they came face-to-face with the Borg they were completely unprepared and had to fall back on violence when they had no viable means of communication or negotiation.  Afterwards they began a fleet-wide armament and combat preparation as well when they saw that they weren’t as advanced as they thought they were.

Everything that we’re getting in this show is exactly what we’ve been getting all along: People who don’t want to fight, and who aren’t violent or bad people, but who are nonetheless human and carry the experiences of their lives with them, and who will use violence in their defense and the defense of their loved ones.  Just like Captains James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Kathryn Janeway, and god-help-me even Jonathan Archer.

Star Trek: Discovery is Star Trek.

[never-relaxed]

On the Persona 5 translation

I’ve read a lot of extremely hot takes on the Persona 5 translation today. So many, in fact, that it’s difficult to address everything wholesale. To the their credits, the critics are both thorough & well-articulated, and their arguments are strong enough to get me thinking - strong enough, even, to kickstart me pushing out this writing blog I’ve been wanting to get off the ground.

I want to respond to the myriad of issues listed on the website being currently used as a sort of rallying-cry, http://www.personaproblems.com/ . It’s well-designed, and organizes the issues well. I’ll start at the top, then:

- “Yet no other form of media would ever get away with the number of errors found in Persona 5's English script.”

This is a very minor nitpick, but actually, yes. Other forms of media would, indeed, get away with any number of similar errors; viewers of foreign films, for instance, can tell you all about how perfect-world this sentiment is. Additionally, classic books aren’t retranslated for no reason; direct translation is not actually a Thing, and any translated work is going to display the biases, quirks, and language tendencies of its writer(s). This is why people learn dead or archaic languages just to read Cicero or Plato in the original text. It’s a bizarre claim, to say grammar issues are not a problem throughout other media. (Also, try reading a novel translated from a Slavic language, if you don’t like stiff dialog. Have fun.)

- “The baseline for any translation is this: readers of the translation should receive the same experience as readers of the original, as if the original creators had written it natively in both languages.“

If this is the writer’s goal when they go about their own work, it’s admirable. It’s also completely impossible. What does a “native” English speaker sound like? Are they American? British? Australian? Here’s the short of it: by translating a work in your own native tongue, you are co-authoring the piece. It is never, ever, going to be a 1:1 situation when facing down the realities of character limits, cultural differences, & even personal backgrounds. Some works get closer, some works get further, and it’s down to the writers to decide whether a strict or a loose translation better fits the text.

To a certain degree, the way we think - the actual way we formulate & process our thoughts - is influenced by language itself. If you ever communicate with folks who speak English as a second, third, fourth, or so on language - you’ll notice that, even when extremely proficient, they don’t just totally entirely lose the speech quirks that come with their parent language. Eliminating those quirks of speech already changes the context of the work. Is this a bad thing? No, not necessarily; but it’s presumptuous at best to believe yourself capable of understanding how another person would write “if only they were native” in your language.

- “Translation can be a murky concept, so first I'll define a standard to measure against: imagine if translation weren't necessary at all.”

I absolutely despise this. The assumption made is that any story could be told completely, and just as enjoyably, in any language, in any culture, without any change to structure. It is simply not how language works.

- “Translators do not convert words from one language to another: they convert ideas.”

Okay. Let’s keep this in mind.

- The entire “Why aren’t more people complaining?” section

This is one of the most bizarre, difficult-to-follow explanations I have ever seen. It makes totally weird assertions, such as the idea that people hold early, loose translations against current-day translators. That’s a really strange idea, considering the popularity of things like NA Kefka, or bounty-hunter-Samus. The truth is that if the translation was good back in the 90s, no one cared if it was inaccurate. Outside of Usenet, none of us really had a point of reference. The writer seems to have some sort of personal beef with Working Designs leaving Bill Clinton jokes in their work, or something. I am especially confused by the TV Tropes links here, and what they have to do with the point.

Cutting down on this section, we could just apply Occam’s razor: most people have no issue with the translation. 

- I’m not going to go through all the examples. There are some I think are silly, some that I haven’t seen yet, some that are definitely awkward.

One thing that does frustrate me about these examples - it’s noted by the writer that the script does a fine job of getting _the idea_ across. There are few, if really any, examples of the game actually failing to convey meaning. By the author’s own definition of what a translator does, the script succeeds. No, it doesn’t flow the way it would if it were written by an American. Translate dialog this way, and it sounds weird for English speakers elsewhere in the world. It’s a give and take - we don’t all speak the same English. “But these are factual errors!” is a really silly argument here; if they are, why isn’t this an issue for everybody?

- “Unfortunately, while it's possible for a translation to be stiff but understandable, stiff but accurate translations are pretty much a myth.”

I hate this idea, too. “If it doesn’t sound right in American English, it’s incorrect, & doesn’t get the idea across.” The other thing I really don’t like about this is the vast majority of dialog in Persona 5 flows very smoothly for native English speakers! The writer even seems to be aware of that fact, as I’ll address later.

- “It's definitely great to get to experience the cultural aspect of a piece of foreign writing. However, that foreign nature should be expressed by the text's content, not by the text's awkwardness. This goes back to creator intent. If the original creator were perfectly fluent in English, would they have made their writing intentionally awkward just so readers could feel how “foreign” it is?”

I really fucking hate this! How are you ‘expressing’ the cultural aspect of a text by eliminating the speech quirks of the parent language - is the implication that you intentionally add lines to express the character’s nationality? It really feels like ‘thing that detracts from my experience by taking me out of my personal cultural & linguistic comfort zone should be removed and replaced with, y’know, something.’ And that final claim! People who write in two languages - or speak fluently two languages - will very, very often include quirks, stiffness, or other eccentricities in their own personal English. If the author means “fluent in the brand of English I speak and write,” that’s extremely irritating!

- “Consider—how would readers react if George R. R. Martin released his next book and every third sentence was awkward, with every fifth sentence containing an objective error? Writing is hard, and his novels are long, after all.“

I wish this author had simply not written this blurb, I was so much warmer on the criticism beforehand. George R. R. Martin works in an entirely different medium, in one language, with years and years between each published work. The criticisms even this writer has with Persona 5 do not extend to “every third sentence,” “with every fifth sentence” containing some sort of grand, inexcusable error. People would be far, far more upset if this were actually the case. This comparison fails in every conceivable way, & is just outright ignorant.

- “One reason someone might use this defense is that they genuinely don't see a problem, because to them those flaws aren't flaws. And that's valid, so long as they accept other people's right to believe otherwise.”

I like this. I wish the author didn’t hide this at the end, behind all of the assertions of objective “failure” and “outright errors.”

- “I haven't listed every mistake in Persona 5, or even a substantial fraction of them. I've also been forced to focus on the translation aspect of localization, which means I haven't properly addressed other failings such as bad typography, untranslated images and video, and voiced lines that are unsubbed even when Japanese audio is enabled.1 Nor have I dedicated time to the sometimes strange handling of honorifics.“

The typography complaint is valid, though one of the pettiest things I’ve seen in awhile now, and the untranslated images are a series staple, but the honorifics thing HAS bothered me since P3. Just commit or don’t, guys.. Anyway, not much to say about this chunk. I just wanted to say, man that honorifics stuff can be weird (& has been for years).

Listen: If you take nothing else from this write up, understand that I have no issue with people disliking the P5 translation. That’s totally fine. My problem is with the concept of there existing a ‘correct’ English, or a ‘correct’ translation. My problem is with the repeated emphasis this writer, and others expanding on them, place on their definition of “objective” errors. The vast majority of the moments picked out by this writer are not selections of terrible grammatical errors - and I’d argue that it’s /completely fine/ for a couple of those to exist in a fucking video game - but of what the author calls stiff language. That is to say: Neither meaning nor soul are impaired by the P5 translation.

The reverence with which this author refers to the text - referencing how the translation has ruined one of the ‘greatest RPGs of the last ten years’ for them, and so on, so forth - speaks to a kind of pedestal-hoisting that does no good for anyone. For example, in the Sae moment detailed on the site from the start of the game, with the “psychic detective”; what makes the original so good? In Japanese, the detective says “There’s been a call for you” right before she receives a call on her cell phone. Is this not silly as all fuck? Why is it so much better? Why did Sae’s boss call the detective first, why didn’t he just call her cell phone if he had it the whole time? The English script changes the moment to make the detective seem aware that she’s about to receive the call - emphasizing that the detective and Sae’s boss are working together no one in the scene can be trusted, while also positing Sae as an outsider. Watch the scene again and see if you get what I’m saying. https://youtu.be/f3bVM2mxh4k?t=876

It’s super frustrating that a changes like this get flak from this writer, while the worldview being pushed is one of ‘capturing the spirit, not the words.’ It’s also frustrating that many of the game’s legitimate, real problems (that aren’t fucking, the font used to spell out ‘hello’ on a calculator, god damn guys it’s okay most people have done that before) are ignored - such as the constant battle chatter every time you hit a weakpoint in a game centered on repeatedly exploiting weaknesses, or the intensity of the writing game’s first chapter. The writing is held in extremely high regard, & the translation is being used to try to assert the truth of controversial axioms without actually needing to discuss said assumed “truths.”

I just want to leave with one assertion: There is no “correct” English. It’s okay for a text to sound awkward (especially in visual media) _with the caveat_ that it must get the spirit of the original work across. It’s all right, for sure, for a foreign text to challenge or disrupt the expectations of a native English speaker in its translation. In some ways (and not even all), Persona 5′s translation does this. Is it a perfect translation? No, no translation is. Do you have to like it? No. Should you respect the opinion of players who do (as well as ESL players & those abroad!) enough to avoid making sweeping, generalized statements about the failure of the script to appeal to your individual sensibilities, complete with long, detailed theories as to why other people don’t seem to mind? Please. _Please_. Honestly, y’all make this game sound like it’s Chaos Wars, or Arc Rise Fantasia. The hyperbole is unreal, and it simply needs to stop.

[thebibliophagist]

Way back in 2015, I did Perpetual Page Turner’s end-of-year book survey.  I could have sworn I also did it last year, but I guess I didn’t!  Here are this year’s answers.  I’d love to know your thoughts as well.  Feel free to shoot me a message!

Number of books you read: 140! Number of re-reads: 1 Genre you read the most from: romance

1. Best book you read in 2017?  Hands down, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t? The Fortunate Ones by R.S. Grey. 3. Most surprising (in a good or bad way) book you read? Maybe Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman?  I thought it was going to be a cutesy book about a romance between neighbors but it really just ends up being about a guy cheating on his girlfriend. 4. Book you pushed the most people to read? I don’t think I’ve really pushed a lot of books this year, but I do incessantly recommend anything by Krista & Becca Ritchie. 5. Best series you started in 2017? I mostly read standalones this year, but I could definitely go with Krista & Becca Ritchie’s new Like Us series. 6. Best sequel of 2017? Again with the Ritchies... Infini for sure. 7. Best series ender of 2017? Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. 8. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? R.S. Grey. 9. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read? Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. 10. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? I don’t read a lot of books that fit that description, but I did have a hard time putting S.D. Grimm’s Summoner down, so we’ll go with that. 11. Book you read in 2017 that you’re most likely to re-read next year? I don’t do re-reads unless required. 12. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? A Million Junes by Emily Henry. 13. Most memorable character of 2017? Farrow Keene from the Like Us series. 14. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? I know it’s a really polarizing book, but I loved E. Lockhart’s writing in We Were Liars. 15. Most thought-provoking or life-changing book of 2017? Hmm, what a question. Maybe We Should All Be Feminists? 16. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2017 to finally read? I read a lot of 2017 and 2018 releases and not a lot of older books, but I could probably go with either Brown Girl Dreaming or Everything, Everything. 17. Favorite passage or quote from a book you read in 2017? This is not a deep or thought-provoking passage, but I loved this line in My Lady Jane since it was such a funny Monty Python reference: “Who are you calling beef-witted?” she laughed at him. “Your mother was a hamster, and your father stank of elderberries!” 18. Shortest and longest books of 2017? According to Goodreads, my shorted was To Cast a Cliche by Aubrey Wynne (15 pages) and my longest was Second Chance Seal by BB Hamel (712 pages).  There’s no way that book was 712 pages, though, so I’m going with A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (624 pages). 19. Book that shocked you the most (plot twist, character death, etc)? All the Bright Places.  See below. 20. OTP OF THE YEAR -- I will go down with this ship: Luka Kotova and Baylee Wright in Infini. Give me all of the pining from afar. 21. Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year? The Hale/Meadows/Cobalt siblings in the Like Us series! 22. Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read previously? I’m so sorry but I have to do Infini again. 23. Best book you read in 2017 that you chose solely based on a recommendation from someone else or peer pressure? The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. 24. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? Davis Price from Arm Candy or Julian Lefray from The Allure of Julian Lefray. 25. Best 2017 debut? The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It’s the best book I’ve read in years. 26. Best worldbuilding or most vivid setting you read this year? Maybe 27 Hours by Tristina Wright?  I didn’t read a lot of books this year that really needed a lot of worldbuilding. 27. Book that put a smile on your face or was the most fun to read? My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. 28. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2017? So I actually very rarely cry while reading, but a ton of books just decimated my heart this year.  The Fortunate Ones by R.S. Grey, A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab, and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven immediately come to mind. 29. Hidden gem of the year? I’ll call this hidden because I haven’t brought it up a lot -- Operation Prom Date by Cindi Madsen. 30. Book that crushed your soul? Ugh, definitely A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. I’m still not over Holland and it’s been months! 31. Most unique book you read in 2017? Probably The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry. It’s not often that you find a YA novel set in Inquisition-era France that focuses on a young woman who hears the voice of God. 32. Book that made you the most mad? All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.  I think the author had good intentions, but the book was really irresponsible. I wrote a really detailed review if you’re interested.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? I’ve been following the same handful of book blogs for years, but I did recently start following girlxoxo, which has been a lot of fun. 2. Favorite review you wrote in 2017? I’ve written 140 book reviews this year (possibly more, because I was a little delayed at reviewing book from the end of 2016) so this is a really hard question! I think my spoiler-filled, semi-ranty, essay-length review of A Conjuring of Light is probably my favorite. I got so emotional about that book. The thought of Holland still breaks my heart.  Here we go again... 3. Best discussion or non-review post that you had on your blog? According to my blog stats, it’s my top ten anticipated releases for the second half of 2017. 4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes)? I don’t do a lot of events because of social anxiety, but I’m trying! I joined Krista & Becca Ritchie’s Fizzle Force and try to participate in the events there.  I would love to go to a signing but I feel like I’d probably just clam up and forget how to speak. 5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017? Alright, there are two. First was getting an ARC of Renegades by Marissa Meyer, which was totally unexpected and totally awesome. Second was that publishes and authors started reaching out and offering me ARCs this year, which was also totally unexpected and totally awesome. 6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? Definitely moving! It took up so much time and so much effort! I don’t think I read anything for at least a month. 7. Most popular post this year on your blog? My review of Renegades by Marissa Meyer! 8. Post you wish got a little more love? Probably Top Ten Tuesdays in general. I love doing these lists and I usually end up putting a lot of time and effort into them.  Sometimes they’re hits and sometimes they get literally zero attention. 9. Best bookish discovery (sites, stores, etc)? Probably booko, which compares prices between major retailers, and bookoutlet, which has huge discounts on popular titles. 10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? Yes! I completed my goal of reading 125 books, the 2017 Debut Author Challenge, and both Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenges. I keep track of my challenges here if you’re interested.

1. One book you didn’t get to in 2017 that will be your #1 priority in 2018? Probably Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, which I got in 2016 and planned to read in 2017. Hopefully, 2018 will be its year. 2. Book you’re most anticipating for 2018 (non-debut)? That’s a really hard question because I’m anticipating so many books, but probably My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. 3. 2018 debut you’re most anticipating? So far, You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon. 4. Series ending/sequel you’re most anticipating in 2018? The Lady’s Guide to Piracy & Petticoats by Mackenzi Lee. 5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2018? There are a few things I can say here.  First, I obviously want to meet my reading goals and finish my reading challenges.  Second, I want to maintain relationships with the publishers and publicists who have been so great about providing me with ARCs!  (I’d also like to hopefully build relationships with more publishers.)  Finally, I hope to be a bit more active in the bookish world outside of my blog.  I’ve had this blog for almost five years now and I think it’s well beyond the time that I should be getting out there and spreading the word. 6. A 2018 release you’ve already read and recommend to everyone? Unfortunately, I haven’t loved any of the 2018 releases I’ve read so far.  At least not enough to recommend to everyone. But there are a ton of them I’m looking forward to!