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mynnthia · 5 months

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compiling my headcanons for what video games dungeon meshi characters would like, if they were gamers in modern day

some taken from this post and my reblog additions there. added more characters, with some suggestions by friends/mutuals (marked by *asterisk ).

this can also be a games recommendation list based on your fav/most relatable characters too, if you want

characters that are not are included are bc i dont have ideas for them. if i only list the genre name but not any specific titles, its bc im not familiar enough with the character/genre to pick a specific game.

this list is, of course, biased towards games im more familiar with. feel free to ask me to elaborate on my choices or make suggestions in the comments

Laios' party:

Laios: plays lots of Monster Hunter. loves Spore but he doesnt often play past the tribal stage. likes Pokemon but he's more focused on catching the pokemon than following the story. played WolfQuest and DragonFable back in the day. enjoyed the concept of Bugsnax but wasn't interested in dealing with the NPCs

Marcille: mainly Dwarf Fortress, RTS games, some colony sims. but also sometimes The Sims, and dollmaker dress-up games. i could see her also enjoying Rollercoaster Tycoon and making elaborately-themed parks. might also occasionally indulge in some visual novels if she's in the mood for narrative she has Stardew Valley so she can have something to play co-op with falin, but its not a game she plays a lot of otherwise. when playing with falin, marcille micromanages the farm to maximize productivity, and does the decorations

Chilchuck: puzzle games and hidden object/escape room games as a video game-equivalent to finding/dismantling traps and lockpicking. i think he'd also enjoy Bejeweled.

Senshi: mainly Wii games and Cooking Mama. occasionally plays Snake on his 15-year-old nokia phone. i dont think he would enjoy games like Overcooked or restaurant manager games, because he likes to take his time making food, not stressing about customer service

Falin: some *Legend of Zelda games – she likes the exploration aspect in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, maybe also some of the toon zelda games like Minish Cap or Wind Waker she also plays Pokemon (*Pokemon Go when she's traveling), and i think she would enjoy some indie games, like Penko Park or Chicory: A Colorful Tale. plays Stardew Valley co-op with marcille – falin mainly takes care of the animals, mining, and picking the crops. occasionally makes improvement suggestions that marcille didnt think of

Izutsumi: i could see her enjoying games with parkour mechanics, like *Assassin's Creed, or Mirror's Edge. or maybe something simple but requiring cat-like swipes, like Fruit Ninja. despite her impatience, i think she could also enjoy action games with interesting longer narratives, as evidenced by [this omake] (relevant portion pictured below), so maybe *Final Fantasy 7 – my friend who's familiar with the game said "she’d find Cloud and Vincent relatable"

[ID: a dungeon meshi omake, where laios' party watches a nightmare monster manifest marcille's dream. there are snippets of dramatic soap opera-like dialogue. the rest of the party are initially enthusiastic but get bored over time, meanwhile izutsumi remains enthralled]

Kabru's party

Kabru: definitely Crusader Kings. maybe also some rpgs with relationship/faction mechanics, such as *Fire Emblem (one of the older ones or FE:3H) or Fallout: New Vegas (hes maxing out the speech stat asap) i think he would also enjoy mystery games like Pentiment and Return of the Obra Dinn – he would love the process of getting familiar with the many characters and deducing "who did what" in both games.

Rin: she takes pride in being an indie gamer (translating her disdain for upper class magic academy mages -> disdain for AAA games). given her chain-lightning magic in canon, i think she'd enjoy games with AOE-type magic, so maybe games such as Vampire Survivors. my mutual also suggested she might enjoy indie mystery visual novels like *Paranormasight, and that her AAA guilty-pleasure would be *Final Fantasy 14 – that rin is "a hardcore ff14 raider. would join PUGs and shot-call every week. #holm and diya might also play ff14 casually with rin but holm would be fishing mainly"

Mickbell: mainly Bethesda games like Fallout and Skyrim– enjoys the bootstrapper power fantasy in them. the type to go out of his way to pick up all the loot he can, to later sell

Kuro: enjoys the same games as Mickbell, but for the open-world exploration and investigation factors

Toshiro and Tansu's party:

Namari: her interest in fighting and weapons could translate to brawler/fighting games and action games with a focus on weapon stats – so maybe *Street Fighter, *God of War, and/or *Dark Souls. might play *Monster Hunter with laios but for the weapons. i could also see her occasionally enjoying truck simulators

Toshiro (Shuro): has the perseverance for soulslikes and other high-difficulty action and/or metroidvania games, but would take his time overthinking item/weapon synergies sometimes. given [his fondness for bugs], i could also see him enjoying Hollow Knight

Tade: would enjoy the cute aesthetics and lighthearted gameplay of Animal Crossing and Katamari. would also like idol anime rhythm games

Kiki: i think she would enjoy horror games such as Resident Evil, but would play it while super chill. i dont have much reasoning for this aside from vibes

Canaries:

Mithrun: plays Doom. got into Hollow Knight but still hasn't finished it because he keeps getting lost. senshi introduces him to Cooking Mama later on, which he finds surprisingly therapeutic

Cithis: plays Hitman and enjoys staging elaborate accident kills. i think she'd also enjoy The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, with her background as a devious fortune-teller

Fleki: surreal indie games like Hylics. also plays Team Fortress 2, and is a scout main. occasionally joins lycion in Animal Jam

Lycion: active WolfQuest and Animal Jam player. occasionally joins fleki in tf2

Pattadol: plays Stardew Valley – shes comparatively a normie, but on the meticulous side. she would enjoy perfecting her in-game farm

Otta: plays Genshin Impact. the serious reasoning is because of her (earth) elemental magic and how genshin has an elemental magic system (from my understanding. ive never played it). the joke reasoning is how some genshin players play to collect "waifus", and how otta goes through a lot of women in her dating life

Other:

Leed: runs her own guild in World of Warcraft

Winged Lion: god-games like WorldBox or Simmiland. and Darkest Dungeon (this ones mostly a joke)

Thistle: plays the original Plants VS. Zombies. also plays Minecraft and is very serious about it, but hasn't updated his game in years (translating the fact hes a 1000-year-old kid frozen in time -> playing "slightly old" games popular in the early 2010s)

[ID: tweet reply by twitter user ranchuppi – "thistle calls it lord delgal's server but he is the only mod. whole royal family is locked in spectator mode. Hell. living hell on earth."]

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #its not that spoilery but just in case anyone needs it #ive never owned any game consoles except a laptop so i watch a lot of lets plays/game showcases. and a fair amount of those are indie games #so this is probably a somewhat biased selection. i wanted to give several indie shout outs tho esp if they matched the character well #dungeon meshi spoilers #delicious in dungeon spoilers #mynn.txt #dm meta #yes this goes in my dunmeshi meta tag. this is character analysis to me

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vigilskeep · 4 months

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Any guesses on the Veilguard companions?

some suggestions i think are worth placing bets on

an antivan crow (the concept art and short story presence PLUS what’s been said about each companion representing “iconic factions”, i think this is a dead certainty). natural choice for a rogue, but the concept of crow mages has been being set up in the novels for a while

again judging by concept art presence, a nevarran mortalitasi necromancer OR a nevarran possessed skeleton type as our friendly spirit companion

a grey warden, probably from the anderfels/weisshaupt itself. always has been one and there is no faction more iconic, right? i believe there’s ancient voice acting snippets suggesting it’s some guy called davrin

considering the collective way that concept art captions, absolution, and apparently three separate stories from tevinter nights were like “hey did you know the LORDS OF FORTUNE are a thing? the lords of fortune from RIVAIN”, one of these. my guess is that they thought about going felicisima armada for a rivaini companion but didn’t want to just rehash isabela’s pirate gimmick so they made something up and they’ve been trying to set it up really hard

i’ve seen people suggest scout harding is being pushed forward for the role and i guess the inquisition is an iconic faction now?

otherwise, couldn’t really say for a dwarven companion. iconic factions might include the legion of the dead, the carta... the tevinter ambassadoria is a bit more niche but would make sense for a northern companion. i could also see them simply making one of the other suggestions a dwarf, the grey warden is definitely a strong contender since it’s always been a human man and it’d be nice to mix it up

speculatively, i’d like to see a templar. you can’t deny it’s an iconic faction. either a southern templar trying to take up a new cause after everything crashed and burned or a vint templar with a completely new perspective to what we’re used to would be a lot of fun. i would actually love to play this character if it’s not a companion lmao

another obvious faction is the dalish. it’s been a while since we had one, we’ve never had a non-mage dalish companion so there’s a lot of room for a fresh approach, they’re so plot relevant right now. someone’s got to give us that good good exposition! and i am so sick of it not being the dalish themselves 😭

i would be very surprised if there’s no qunari or tal-vashoth. i don’t have many strong ideas, i would just expect it to be a rogue or a mage, since warriors are all we’ve had

all that obviously tallies up to more than seven so we have to pick and choose—and i’m sure there’s plenty of surprises i haven’t thought of—but those would be my instincts! i’ve been thinking about this for a while haha. i’d be excited for any of these, just please, please hand over the romanceable dwarf. i know you’ve got them bioware

#how are we tagging this game.#dav

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ohcorny · 6 months

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hey corny. so i always see people recommending to outline their story before starting it, but could you talk a little bit more about what that means? what is an outline and how do you structure one? how long are the ones you write, depending on the project? do you focus on plot beats or feelings? how specific do you get? can u recommend any readings for learning more?

up front i don't have any resources for this, only experience. and outlines feel like one of those things where it's like... there are a million ways to do it and the way that works for me might not work for you. i have a friend who writes out all his ideas on index cards and that, for me, is insane. but he's also a better writer than me so who can say what is right or wrong.

anyway an outline is essentially a sketch but for a story. you go through the whole thing, start to finish, and figure out what goes where and what happens when. the idea is that this is the stage where you work out all the big picture stuff and make sure it all fits together, now, and not after you've drawn twenty pages and suddenly go "wait shit that doesn't work" and have to do it over. it is much easier to delete and rewrite a paragraph than to redraw several pages.

doing anything more, ie including dialogue or feelings, depends entirely on how useful that information is to you at that point in the process and whether the purpose of the outline is for your own guidance, or so somebody else can tell what you're trying to achieve.

this got really long with multiple examples

here is an excerpt from the original outline i used to pitch Hunger's Bite to publishers. this one had to be polished to a professional standard, because somebody else was going to read it and decide whether they wanted to give me thousands of dollars to tell this story. (also several of the details are no longer accurate. for instance it now takes place 9 years earlier lmao)

this paragraph represents the first eight pages of the book. the final book is 264 pages long, and the outline was 12 pages of paragraphs as dense as this one.

it establishes where we are, who's there, and what they're doing. i describe their conversation, but i don't commit to the dialogue. i will occasionally include snippets of literal dialogue, but usually only if it's Important Dialogue, or i just don't want to forget a good idea i had while outlining. it's not expected at this step.

an outline written as part of a pitch to a publisher should tell the whole story, with all the important details, and leave nothing ambiguous. they need to know the tone, shape, and the arcs. no secrets! all the spoilers. outlines for yourself should do this too, but outlines for others need to be as clear about your vision as possible. again, an outline like this exists for the purpose of getting you paid thousands of dollars. you should write it like that.

in comparison, here's an excerpt from the outline i wrote for revisions to my WIP prose novel, so i could show it to my agent (who already read the draft) to be like "do these changes sound good?" i'm not selling it to anyone yet, just making a guide so i can have a conversation about it. so it doesn't need to be neat, it just needs to be functional and clear. the first chapter was entirely new stuff. the second bit was just writing down what was already in the chapter that existed.

i have historically been very bad at outlining things when i don't think i "need" to, and only wrote this one after having written like 60k words of the book without any overall plan. i gave what i had to my agent for feedback and then sat down and figured out how i could apply it. it's made the whole revisions process significantly less daunting. now i have a checklist for things i need to do! this one was a paragraph or two for each chapter, with the ones that needed a lot of rewriting given a bit more detail.

lastly, here's a bit of the outline for the first roger crenshaw book. i was the only person who had to see this, and since the story was planned to be very short i didn't have to worry about a whole lot. as long as i knew what was supposed to go where, it would work. honestly it's not a whole lot different from the previous example.

this one was like five paragraphs and it did the job, and this story was like 15k words. you only need as much or as little as will actually help you on the page.

basically if you take nothing else from this, it's that there are multiple ways to write an outline, that it does not need to be perfect if you're doing it for yourself, and that it only needs what you think is important (unless it is for other people. then it should have everything). and also it's a good idea to do it earlier in the project than after you've written 60k words or drawn--jesus christ i got up to 12 chapters in never satisfied? it's amazing i didn't quit sooner

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catt-nuevenor · 8 months

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The Future

Time to establish what's going to happen from this point forwards.

The vast majority of you have been exceptionally patient this last year, and for that you have my deepest thanks. You've given me the time to not only write a book, but edit it, and send it off to literary agents, something I would have long given up on doing without the continued support of those who enjoy my writing.

Now that the book is off doing the rounds independently, it's time I got back to Myrk Mire.

Originally Myrk Mire was built in ChoiceScript, a scripting language created by the Choice of Games company. Choice of Games control what is done with their script, understandably, they own it. This does pose some restrictions. I can't, for example, release any paid material built using ChoiceScript unless it is directly through their publishing label. If I do publish under their label, I maintain IP or Intellectual Property Rights, however I also grant them the exclusive rights under perpetual license to publish the multiple choice game 'electronically'.

Source: Choice of Games.com

As you can see from the outline above, they do make exceptions for stories published in non-competing formats, and for sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. However, traditional publishing houses might require stricter control over IP, distribution, and exclusivity. It will only become more and more complicated as things progress, and being locked into a perpetual license agreement of any nature is not a decision to make lightly.

As some of you may be sensing from the tone of all this so far, I'm going to be moving Myrk Mire away from Choice of Games and ChoiceScript, and into a new medium/format.

After tinkering, and trialling with a few alternatives, I've decided to go with Renpy. Renpy, while largely used for visual novel style games and stories, provides a very workable framework for interactive fiction, and is an Open Source script, it isn't beholden to publishing contracts, licence cost, or exclusivity.

I'm not going to be diving into transferring Myrk Mire right away, it's a huge piece of writing, in an entirely different scripting language, and as previously stated, there are a lot of changes I want to implement with the cast. Instead, I'm creating a trial story: One Háḟest Day. My Patrons have been aware of all this for about a month or so, and have already seen some previews.

One Háḟest Day takes place in Aldmirham before the events of Myrk Mire, around the time the Main Character and the Wanderers first arrived in town. The reader will have the choice to follow one of the romanceable characters through a single day, with opportunities to explore their lives and relationships before the Main Character and Child come along. I hope it will provide a proving ground for the changes that previously caused debate, and an opportunity for people to try out the new format and interface.

My plan is to distribute One Háḟest Day through Itch.io, working with their early access framework and voluntary payments for such as soon as one of the character routes is ready to play from beginning to end, updating regularly with the other characters as they too are completed, and with additional features as required. Once the full game is complete, I will release a separate full build with a set minimum price that can be discussed with the community as we move forwards.

At the second, I'm aiming for a web hosted format and a desktop/laptop downloadable format, with phone compatibility to come later down the line once things are stable.

I will post production updates and info when I can to tumblr, though a lot of what I'm doing now is very python coding heavy, so perhaps not that interesting?

I've included some screenshots below of very early development, featuring a Character Log and Word Log that I hope will allow readers to more easily navigate the story. I'm toying with the idea of having a Mysteries Log as well that will keep track of snippets of information gleaned from each character's route, but that can be a tinkering feature for now.

Let me know your thoughts, concerns, or excitement, though do keep all messages objective and polite.

#MyrkMire #Myrk Mire #writing update #Moving forwards #Future Plans #The Future of the story

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hi-sierra · 6 months

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Biologics, chapter 0.5

Hello, hello! I finally have added a significant amount to my story, Biologics, resulting in a total of ~4400 words. Not a whole ton, I know, but unfortunately life gets to ya. It isn't quite where I want it to be to consider a proper chapter one, but I feel like there's enough written for me to post. General warning that this is intended to heavily lean into the theme of "eroticism of the machine", so if that doesn't appeal to you, you've been warned. It does, however, have many general sci fi worldbuilding elements, so I hope it has a somewhat broad appeal!

So yes, if you already read the first snippet, that's going to be mostly a one to one repeat with some grammatical adjustments. Feel free to scroll down until you get to the new stuff. Flow-wise, there just wasn't a good place to break between the two sections.

Look at me rambling. And I wonder why I can't get any of this stuff done. Anyways, here it is!

Biologics

Pappy always said that manufacturing biological transportation was nothing knew. I mean, shit, humanity's been breeding horses for how long? To him, not much was novel about what was going on in the shipyards way out by Neptune when I was a kid.

But Pappy didn't know a lot of things. And he certainly didn't meet Roseanna.

The Federation Navy had experimented with Biologics for decades. The idea was to create self regenerating ships- organic matter that interfaced with the hull, moving new titanium plates and patches into place down to microscopic precision. If you had a living, growing mass interfacing with steel, a ship didn't have to head all the way back to the yards to patch up after every dogfight.

The first generation... worked. With a full time crew, that is. Full time people on deck jabbin the rigid, chitonous matrix full of growth hormones to get them to set just right. Full time onboard bioengineers to compute what signaling cocktail ya need to hit 'em with to get it to grow back right. Skilled onboard technicians to shave back the chitin when it tried to overgrow the titanium, and slap some new cells in to seed the process in heavily damaged areas. Less input material, less time in the yards, but far more manpower. Great for a Federation cruiser on deep space peacekeeping missions. Far too complex for small craft. Right?

Until some bastard put brains in 'em.

Well. A lotta suits would say that they weren't brains. They were a diffuse network of sensory neurons and ganglia, living inside the body of the ship, integrating signals from a skin of alloyed metal and fibrous protein, calculating power draw too and from various components, integrated with the mechanical and electrical components of the ship to precisely manage the "wound healing" process of the vessel. And of course, it just so happened that one of those ganglia was larger and more complex than the rest of them, and it just so happened that the computer interfaces with this ganglia exhibit complex, thinking behaviors on the level of human cognition, and it just so happens that most pilots and navigators reported them developing their own personalities.....

But of course, the Navy didn't want anyone to have some kind of pesky empathy in the way of their operations. And they certainly didn't want anyone side eyeing the rate at which they disposed of the damn things, just to let them suffer and rot. So as far as the official record was concerned, they weren't brains. But I knew different.

Like most people in the belt, I found Rosie on an... unsponsored field trip to the Neptune scrap yards. She wasn't a ship then. She wasn't much of anything. Not much more than a vat with the central ganglia and just barely enough of the stem cells needed to regrow a network. But I took her all the same. Brains were valuable. Few pilots outside the Navy had them back then. Nowadays, a black market for "brain seeds", a cocktail of neuronal stem cells and enough structural stem cells to grow your own into the chassis of your ship, was thriving. The Navy was pumpin' em out, and leaving them to die. It was cruel. Sometimes, being scavenged and resold was a kinder fate. But more often, some nasty piece of work would pick them up eventually, and treat them like just another goddamn ship. They may be vehicles, but they're a livin' being too.

I digress. I'd never do that to Roseanna. I make sure she gets proper care. And for a good, proper, working ship? That includes some good, proper work.

The asteroid we were docked in was one of my usuals- good bars, nice temp quarters, nice views of the rock's orbiting twin, and a spacious hanger for Rosie to rest in. The chassis I had imprinted Roseanna to was a 40-meter light skipper, with some adjustments for handling deep space trips, as well as some... personal touches. It was pretty much the smallest thing you could actually use to live in and work for long periods of time, but it got the job done. The angular design made the entire ship look like a wedge, or the blade of a bulky dagger. It didn't hurt that each bottom edge was fortified with a sharpened titanium blade, turning the entire sides of the ship into axe-like rams.

Those would probably come in handy today.

I approached Roseanna on the catwalk above her, marveling her alloyed scales. I could almost see her shudder in anticipation as my footsteps vibrated through the air above her. I took the steps down, and hit the trigger to open her top hatch.

When the news got out of the Navy scuffling with a rebelling mining station, an electric air raced across the station. Some went about their day as normal. Some resigned themselves to picking at the leftovers after the dust had settled. And some, like me, knew that they could get the finest pickings.

I slipped into the pilot's seat like it was an old boot.

"Welcome, Captain Victoria."

Rosie could talk, but more often than not, she chose not to. But she understood me just fine. Most of our communication took place using her three prerecorded lines- her welcome statement, affirmative, and negative- as well as a tiny screen showing a small, emoticon face. Many pilots chose to give their ships an elaborate render, but Rosie preferred it this way. It was the first face I gave her, from somewhere out of the scrap heaps, and she refused any offer I made to upgrade. Hell, she even had a hi-res screen for external cameras and comms, but she refused to interface directly with it. Secretly, I was overjoyed. To me, the little pixelated screen was her face. That was her voice. And it was beautiful to see her true self through them.

I brushed my hands across her paneling. Across the switches, the hydraulic controls for the plasma fuel, the steering, the boosts, the comms channels. The thing with Biologics was that you were still the pilot. For whatever reason, they hadn't quite gotten to the point where the brains could take over their own piloting. My personal opinion was just that their personalities lacked the ambition to. Cuz they certainly could take over some ships functions directly, and had the skill to do complex mechanical and electrical tasks. The Navy never let 'em drive, though, and most pilots didn't even know they could give them the ability to control any of the ships functions directly. But with a little help, a little bit of solid engineering, and a pilot that knew their ship... well, you could do a lot. And me and Rosie? We knew each other well. Over the years, I'd added some nice things for her, and she loved using them to help me out.

As my fingers touched the brushed aluminum controls, rimmed with chitinous layers affixing them to the ship, I could feel the walls around me holding their invisible breath. "Do you know what we're doing today, Rosie?"

Her tiny panel flickered on.

[...?]

"We got a scrap run."

[ ^_^]

[ :) ]

[ ^_^ ]

Her panel flicked between various expressions of excitement. My finger quivered on the main power, holding for a moment before flicking it on. The primary electronics of the ship hummed to life, and the parts Rosie controlled pulsed with it. My hands moved across the main functional panels- main hydraulic plasma valve, exhaust ports open, and finally, flicking the switch the start the plasma burner.

My hands gripped the steering. The hanger's airlock doors opened in front of me. My neck length hair started to float as the station's gravity shut off. I hit the switch to unlatch from the supports above. For a moment, we hang there. The dull crackle of the idling plasma burner is the only sound that resonates through Rosie's hull.

Go time. I punch the boost.

The station shakes. Rosie was never a subtle one.

The mechanics are deafened.

The crowd of spectators are deafened.

The other pilots in the hanger are deafened.

But me? The vibrations of Rosie's hull shuddering under me was the sweetest symphony my ears ever had the pleasure of hearing. As we shot out of that hanger, I found myself involuntarily humming a high note, harmonizing with the sweet rumble of my baby's acceleration as we shoot out into the inky, black expanse of space. The twin asteroids shot by us as we disappeared, leaving only the faint blue plasma trail from our engines.

My hand is firm on the boost, weathered hands tightly gripping the bar of the accelerator. I remember installing this thing in her- it was an aftermarket adjustment, not included in the usual light skipper chassis. Gently stripping away the back of her chassis, caressing her insides as I rooted the paneling, firmly attaching the tanks and burners on her insides... these hands had taken great pleasure in that. Bested only, of course, by the first time I had felt the thing roar to life.

And what a feeling it was. Rosie's entire chassis, biological and mechanical, shuddering under my grasp. The grip of my calloused hands on the boost controls, tight and sweaty around the ridged grip of the horizontal bar. The noises she made, as if to shout in glee and wild abandon at being unchained and let loose into the eternal field of space, as she was made to do. The gentle touch of her skin on my back, my body pressed in contact with the small fraction of hers that was my seat. I glanced down at her face panel.

[ :| ]

[ :D ]

[ :| ]

[ :D ]

[ :| ]

[ :D ]

[ :| ]

[ :D ]

My humming gave way to a chuckle, and then a wholehearted, exhilarated laugh. Someone was enjoying herself. The flickering faces on her panel reminded me of the happily panting station dogs back on Mars.

But as much as I would like this to just be a joyride, I had promised Rosie a scrap run. And the pickings were looking good. I glanced down at the nav. I was intentionally headed at a slightly indirect angle- Rosie's boost was her main attractive feature (both as a ship, and as a working partner), and the extra leeway I had in travel time let me strategize a bit more. I doubted we would be the first people there, but I figured we could get in before the main rush. The only trouble was darting in and grabbing something right from under the noses of the first locusts. The scrap field in question included a disabled heavy mining freighter, a goliath of the ship larger than some of the asteroids it made supply runs between. I assumed that most other scavengers would be approaching directly from our station, and the other stations in its proximity. With Rosie's boost, we could overshoot, hook around, and put the freighter in between us and the guns of the more violent craft. Rosie has no long range weapons of any kind- not only would they slow down her miraculous speed, but she didn't like them. I tried installing a small plasma cannon once, and she expressed immense distaste. Maybe they were too brutish for her, or maybe she didn't like the way they felt inside her, burdening her with pressure from the inside that didn't befit the delicate touches I usually graced her with. Rosie loved speed, precision, elegance, and stealth above all else. It's just the kind of ship she was.

That's not to say she was a pacifist, or defenseless. Quite the contrary. She just prefers a more... personal touch.

The navicom beeped at me. We'd reached the point where we needed to make that hook. My bare feet gently swept across the titanium flooring to the steering pedals. My right hand delicately gripped the steering joystick, while my left eased its grip on the boost accelerator.

"Ready for this, darling?"

[ >:) ]

I slammed the steering to the left, and Rosie gleefully complied. The wide bank of the turn as we rotated and soared through the sea of stars twisted my body in its inertia, compressing me further into her. As the angle straightened out to the proper heading, I punched the boost again, and Rosie roared forward.

Slowly, our target came into sight. Damn. This thing had taken some serious damage. Mining freighters typically weren't heavily armored- their only job was to get material from point A to B- but this one had clearly been through some serious modifications. Modifications that now lay in ruin. Titanium plating was scattered in a field around the core of the freighter. I couldn't quite tell what was stuff left behind by the battle, and what was the result of shoddy craftmanship- but it didn't matter. What did matter was that the entire thing had been split almost in half, and the scattered cargo that was leaking out. Cargo that most likely included half the weapon supplies of this little rebel faction. Would fetch a pretty penny, to the right buyer. And hell, if it was just gonna sit here unclaimed...

Ah shit. It wasn't gonna sit here unclaimed. Despite my best efforts, it looks like we weren't the first ones here. A larger scavenger gang had already arrived, and it looks like it was one of the ones I knew- Augustus and his lot. Most likely, they'd be after the weapons intact, one more thing to use to shakedown the scattered independent stations I always flitted between. He would not be happy to see me n Rosie here. What he called his "fleet" was a single, mid-sized carrier ship, about half the size of the freighter we were looting, and the dozen or so scout fighters and strip mining crafts he had looted from the Navy and various corps, and one Biologic that he called his. I respect that part, to be honest. What I don't respect is him immediately turning around and using that charge every goddamn station his ever-increasing "protection fees". Not to mention my personal disdain for the way he treated his ship. Didn't even give her a damn name. I digress. But any chance to loot something from under that slimebag's nose was a win in my book. I knew he wasn't gonna make it easy, though.

Welp. That's what our positioning was for. The side facing us was the main starboard face, and like the rest of the ship, it was peppered in small holes and gashes. Seems like the main damage had happened from the other side, and a few cables and scaffolds on the starboard just barely kept the two rear cargo compartments clinging to the front.

"Alright Rosie, time to creep it in slow. Be quiet, now, don't want them picking up a plasma surge"

[ :| ]

Ha. That was her "my lips are sealed" face. She's having fun with this already.

I cut the booster, coasting closer and closer to the bust open vessel. I eased the reverse thrusters ever so slightly, my fingers gently stroking the dual brake levers, lightly teasing at them to wait until we were as close as I thought we could be without attracted attention.......... before slamming both sides back towards me. For just one, crucial moment.

The goal here was to approximately match the speed and trajectory of a floating piece of titanium plating. Rosie's frontal blades were essentially that, anyways, so all they would see is a somewhat more angular piece of rubble. Hopefully they hadn't seen that same piece of rubble screaming out of travel speed, but I was cautious enough with my distances that I didn't think that was a problem. And they hadn't seen me yet. Once we were close enough to the freighter itself, we were blocked from their raw sightline, and Rosie was running quiet enough to not tip off any of their energy sensors.

But there was still no guarantee. Rosie, however, had no shortage of tricks. Something that she and I had developed together was a nice little bit of snooping. Well cared for and well trained, a Biologic brain had the problem solving of a human, and the computational power of a machine. But them together, and you've got a perfect decoder. And I happened to know that Augustus used an encrypted local frequency to keep his

"Alright Rosie, thinkin you can eavesdrop a little?"

Affirmative.

[...]

[..!]

My comms crackled to life. "...7 heavy cannons in center-front portside bay, 3 replacement fighter hatchs...."

The comms crackled back and forth, with each pilot giving updates to what they were finding in their own little segment that they were slicing apart. Occasionally, I saw Augustus or the fighters flick between the slicing ships, overseeing their progress on the port bays. Good. Let them focus on the other side for now. Slowly, the fleet was overshadowed by the freighter. We made it. I released my breath- shit, didn't realize I was holding it- and took a better look at what we were dealing with. It looked as if the scattered debris field had mostly been the remnants of the hull, as well as light weapons for small craft and even infantry. They would fetch some small change, sure, but Rosie's cargo capacity was small. Packing efficiency was the name of the game. I saw the gash that it had all been flooding out of on this side- the entire freighter was covered in them- and peered inside. And ho boy, did my heart flutter.

Heavy cannons.

Jump-graded travel boosters.

Raw, precious metals.

And, hidden in the back corner, seemingly bolted into the wall.... a brain.

We'd hit jackpot, and potentially rescued a poor ship from abandonment, or worse.

"Alright Rosie. Time to get to work."

Affirmative.

And here was another lil something that made Rosie special- her manipulation arms . She always preferred that delicate touch, and wanted to interact with the world in a tactile, real way. So we worked on it. Together. I was tired of taking spacewalks to grab small pieces of scrap, or using the entire goddamn cargo bay on a piece that only had a tiny core, or scraps of precious metals inside. So we needed something that could pluck apart our finds. Do some light disassembly in the field, extract what was valuable, and load it in with the most packing efficiency possible. So I gave her arms- snake like appendages, coiled up in her cargo bay, with thousands of points of articulation. At first, I tried to make some kind of control system that I could use from the cockpit. But Rosie had a different idea. At her urged, I jacked them directly into the same sensory and motor systems that let her grip onto, position, and repair her hull. And by god, it worked.

When I showed her off the first time, no one had ever seen anything like it. Because there was nothing like it. A ship taking real mechanical control, over something so precise and delicate, was something that only a deeply intelligent, deeply skilled ship, with complex decision making and tactile movement could do.

And I was goddamn proud of her.

Every time she deployed them, I watched awe. Rosie gave a face of determination, and sinuous, metallic, tentacle-like appendages slid out in a bundle from the cargo bay opening on her underside. Each one was headed off by a different attachment- a precision laser cutter, a simple three-pointed grabbing claw, a drill, a tiny buzzsaw, camera that let me see what was going on, and more. Each one could be swapped out, depending on the task at hand. With eight of them slithering out from her cargo bay, though, there was usually something for everything. They extended out as a single bouquet, down through the hole of the cargo compartment, and split apart once inside. Each arm got to work.

Her observation monitor flickered on, giving me a view from the camera arm. I would've liked to get the brain out first, but two heavy cannons and a booster blocking the way anyways. We'd cut through that, picking off the energy cores and precious metals in the circuits as we go, and work our way towards the back. Rosie seemed to like the plan as well. My only job was to watch the comms, and watch the sensors.

I watched the camera as the petite tools of the arms excised and picked apart the titanium shell of the first heavy cannon. Her tools- the delicate 'fingers' of her arms- picked, pulled, tugged, and gently gripped every necessary notch, every joined titanium plate that needed to be undone, ever scrap of precious material. Firm, yet precise. Strong, yet never breaking or mishandling a single piece of cargo. As Rosie worked, my eyes darted across the energy sensors. I could see blips firing off as the ships on the other side of the freighter as the slicing ships worked and flitted between their stations from the other side. The comms crackled with their reports to Augustus- they seemed to be moving back and forth to the main carrier to drop off their hauls. It seemed like they had a lot to go through- we'd have plenty of time.

On the camera view, I could see a grabbing claw retracting back through the cargo bay. The first cannon had the back section cleanly excised from the massive barrel and chassis, leaving a path for the tools to get to the booster. The precious energy cell was sliding its way back into Rosie's cargo bay. God damn. She was quick with that. The laser cutter and saw were already making short work of the booster, too. We'd get to the brain in no time.

The chatter on the other line continued. We were still safe, but Augustus' crew had made more progress than I had hoped. Once the slicers had picked apart the port, they'd loop around to the starboard. We had to grab what we could as fast as we can- but I knew neither me or Rosie was gonna leave without that brain. Rosie gracefully sliced the fuel cell and ignition from the plasma burner, leaving the bracketing and vents behind. The second heavy cannon was soon to follow. Each cut through each piece had left a winding path towards the back of the chamber, allowing a physical path to what I had seen just barely poking through: a container for a genuine ship's brain. Rosie slid her camera arm in for a closer look.

The brain was bolted into the chassis of the ship, as well as some containers of growth factor. Seemed like the intent was to grow her in to this freighter. That was certainly an ambitious task, but if they knew what they were doing, it would be well worth it. A self-repairing, intelligent hauler as large as this one would be the heart and soul of resistance movements everywhere, supplying every backwater mining station or moon that longed to be free. Unfortunately, the brave and principled can still be stupid, and these chucklefucks had no idea what they were doing. Slapped in a random cargo bay, desperately trying to get growth out from there with no proper imprinting guidance... shame. If they'd've found me before running into the Navy, I might've helped them out. But at least now, we could give her a better life. I knew a lot of good, caring pilots that would take loving care of a fine ship like her.

From what I could tell, we were still safe from Augustus. Based on what I was hearing on the comms, each slicer was working on its last cargo hold subsection, and after that, they'd be poking around this side. We had to get this brain and get out.

Tenderly, her claw arm gripped the top of the brain's chamber, as her other fingers started working on the rivets. A saw would bust through part of the titanium bracket holding the chamber down, and when it got too close to the container itself, laser cutters took over, delicately slicing off each affixation point one by one. Rosie worked in a clockwise direction, first working down the three riveting points on the right, sawing off the bottom bracket, and then working up the rivets on the left.

C'mon Rosie. You got this. Just need the top plate....

"Finishing up there, slicer 5T?"

Shit. That was Augustus on the comms.

"Sure thing boss. Just gotta get this load to central. Mind if someone takes a peek on the other side for parasites before I get there?"

Shit.

"Sure thing. Fighter 3A, get your ass in gear and make a full pass of the ship."

An energy spike pinged on my sensor panels as the fighter revved up a booster.

"Gotcha boss. Starting at aft segment."

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit

We still had a sliver of time before we were seen. They'd wanna get a good pass everywhere- there were ships far stealthier than us out there. But it was minutes at most. We had to finish up.

"Rosie, how're we doing there? You done?"

Negative.

[ ;( ]

"Fuck. Rosie, we gotta get outta here."

Affirmative. Affirmative. Affirmative. Affirmative.

Rosie-speak for "I know, I know, I know"

My eyes were fixed to the scanner and my cockpit windows for a visual, but I spared one moment to check Rosie's cam. She was finishing sawing through the top bracket. Just a little more....

"Aft clear, moving to starboard cargo bays."

The brain snapped off of the hull, and Rosie's claws were zipping it back to her cargo bay. I revved the engines into standby. The arms tenderly guided it through the path we had cleared, and out through the hole in the hull. We might be able to barely slip away without them knowing.....

I looked up through the cockpit, just as the dinged-up, formerly Navy fighter showed itself from behind a piece of debris. It froze for a moment, and then lined its nose to face me. Cannon ports shifted open, and slowly took aim.

"Well shit, Augustus, you're gonna wanna see this. Get your ass over here, I'm switching to public comms."

I heard slight fuzz as he switched his channel.

"Alright, leech, I'll keep this simple. You have thirty seconds to relinquish your haul before you join the debris."

For a single, cold moment, I swear I made eye contact with him through our cockpits.

#writing #sierra writes #biologics #robotfucker #eroticism of the machine #story #sci fi story #scifi #scifi story

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spockandawe · 7 months

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Another set! I might have tripped over my own feet with this one. What we have here are the four Doom novelizations from the nineties. I've never played doom (only chex quest), I've never read the books. However, I do have a lot of affection for the first one, based on the I Dont Even Own A Television review from back in the day. The 'I'm a born lever-puller' bit lives in my head rent free. HOWEVER, I was under the impression that these were some of those out of print books that are basically impossible to buy normally, and when collecting info for my front matter, I... learned that I may be mistaken! So I need to work on sourcing those through legit channels, but in the meantime, my maybe-unnecessary preservation efforts!

They're so cute and tiny and I love them 🥺 I was binding these blind, so I have no idea where this is going, but I caught snippets in later books about story focus on... a mormon guy wrestling with the idea of sex before marriage? I don't know if that's bad, but not what I thought I was getting into, hahaha. We'll see how this goes! I'm very pleased to have it, and delighted with how cute it turned out, and I'm stoked to have it on my shelves

#crafts #bookbinding #doom #binderary

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nadianova · 7 days

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im sorry if anyones asked this before but! what's your process for planning out your vns? it might be too open-ended a question but playing malmaid its clear that you have a lot of skill and really have the medium nailed, so like... what does your workflow look like? how do you piece together whatever beginning idea fragments you have into something so coherent and well put together as this? what kinds of things do you prioritize? have you written about your process before?

i should tag my shit better i had to scroll forever to find these

but uhhhhhh i think. i seriously think the biggest misconception is that i somehow know what I'm doing like consistently the moments that people like in my games are moments i wsnt even thinking about and instead i put my effort into some entirely dismissed location.

i dont know what im doing but if i am to point at a skill my skill is the fact that i can in fact complete games and that gives people an opportunity to enjoy them

if you go read my first vns you'll notice they are not malmaid but after having made so many its just helped me build a repertoire of scripting abilities and knowledge on how to express myself in a visual novel format.. ultimately i am kinda writing the same thing over and over again in my vns cause that's just what i like to do

so its just trial and error really while having fun with the process

but yeah theres two other links wheere itry to go in the details but everything is so vague and shifting i might be doing something entirely different for my next game I'm already learning that i HATE planning so much as I've done for NAOMIDA and i have way more fun just winging it like i did with hopeless junction and dddeviance

my notes are actually insane like

lmao

look at these are my current notes and starting baseline for my lina side story in my game

like srly i just throw shit in be it memes or tweets or snippets of my own thoughts i wrote half asleep at 4 am and then figure out the details later and when i feel like my story is clear enough in my brain from shit like this i just start writing it hopping from scene to scene usually writing the fun scenes first and then suffering when i gotta string everything together

#asked

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novella-november · 16 days

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So uh, how are you planning to enforce the "no AI" rule? What do you plan to do if a participant is accused of using unacceptable software?

There's no submissions and no enforcement.

If someone is posting the in #Novella November & #NovellaNovember tags:

clearly-AI generated content (such as AI-generated book covers)

bragging about using AI

Talking about how they used x AI program to make X part of the book

etc

Then I can guarantee you they're going to simply be blocked by a few thousand writers en masse.

Probably they will get at least a few people trying to talk to them about the harm that AI does, and better alternatives that don't mass-steal from a few million unconsenting people--

alternatives like:

finding someone to partner with to discuss your ideas for brainstorming instead of asking an AI chatbot

Joining a "secret gift" group where everyone digitally "pulls a name out of a hat" or is randomly selected to make a cover for someone else's book idea

commissioning an actual artist for a cover

youtube tutorials on how to use GIMP as a free Photoshop alternative to make your own cover, with links to sites such as Pexels that have free stockphotos for anyone to use

Choosing a lower, more manageable daily word count goal if 1k or 500 is too out of line with your work schedule/ability to write on your own instead of resorting to AI generation to try to make up the difference out of anxiety

finding alternative medias to 'write' with, such as using an app on your phone or the in-built accessibility features on Windows that let you use your voice to type, so if you can't physically type or write with your hands or other limbs, you can instead dictate your novel outloud, which would also work if you are often away from home or can't actively use your phone but *can* record your voice passively as you work with your hands on another task :)

so...... yeah.

Literally the only things that would happen if someone tries to use AI in the #Novella November and #NovellaNovember tags would be the writing community collectively:

attempting some outreach; education is key to realizing the harm being done, after all! Maybe the person just doesn't know any better, and felt like that was their only option to reach their goal.

blocking the person, and if they're actively malicious in their AI use (such as fully knowing how much it harms writers/artists, how much of it is based on plagarism, or actively going out of their way to steal other people's work) people will probably start warning others about them as well so they can be blocked in advance, the same as other people who are harmful to communities.

This is a community initiative, spearheaded by this blog purely because I came up with the idea first and want to make sure that, at least to start out and as long as I can manage it, the community is the key part of being supporting and caring of each other, because billion dollar tech companies and those who are swayed by their money sure as heck aren't going to stand with us.

If someone is ""accused of using unacceptable software"" ..... they're just gonna get blocked if they're posting AI generated content, like everyone else who posts AI generated content get blocked by the community at large as they're encountered.

I'll repeat again: this is a community initiative, not an organization. There's no submissions people are sending anywhere to "confirm" word counts; --

Only:

people posting their celebrations and woes in the tag,

posting their frustrations and questions,

receiving answers and advice from the community,

sharing art and snippets, making covers, making decorative goal cards,

No AI is allowed in Novella November -- if people are posting or bragging about using AI generated content, they're simply going to be announcing themselves to thousands of writers (plus everyone who follows those writers) that they're a good person to block and never interact with 🤷

#replies #anti ai #novella november #novellanovember

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nanowrimo · 1 year

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Writing Tips for Every Age and Mental State

Not every piece of writing advice will apply to you — and that’s okay! Sometimes, your writing strategies will change as you go through life or learn more about yourself. NaNo Participant Clara Ward shares writing advice that they've learned over time.

There’s no right way to write. Writing—like life—is about finding your best fit. What follows are tricks that worked for me. Please borrow what works best for you right now. (Then save a few ideas for future you!)

I wrote my first novel four decades ago, when I was thirteen. I’ve written while juggling three jobs or zero. I’ve written as a kid, a parent, and an empty-nester. I’ve learned from my own neurodiversity and mental health challenges along the way.

Each struggle taught me how to customize my writing practice. Here’s a list of what worked for me at different stages. Adapt as you see fit.

Stage 1: Meet Yourself Where You’re At

Outline - For my first novel, I sketched furtive notes on the back pages of a school notebook. I created headings for each page that became section or chapter titles later. Numbers helped me order the scenes and letters delineated details.

Note: Leave extra space for fun facts or snippets of overheard dialog. Years later, I heard a NaNoWriMo buddy joke, “Careful, or you’ll end up in my novel.” My apologies to my high school geometry teacher, who received no such warning.

Avoid Distractions - I needed a closed door to write at first. I couldn’t read other fiction during the week or two when I frantically converted my outline into a rough draft. Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of meals back then!

Stage 2: Find Your People

Give Yourself Permission - I first heard about NaNoWriMo in 2004, when I was parenting, working, and volunteering as if there were two extra days in each week. I hadn’t written a story, an outline, or notes in over a year, but I knew exactly what I wanted to write. I signed up for NaNoWriMo and opened a family meeting by showing the webpage to my spouse and kids. I explained how I’d budget four hours a week for writing in November.

Note: I didn’t complete 50,000 words that first November. But the next year, my kids enthusiastically joined the Young Writers Program!

Enlist Support - Eventually, my kids and I designated one hour each day for writing. There were many distractions, but it felt great! We attended NaNoWriMo write-ins at a donut shop to build community, and my kids each persuaded a friend to join. (Yes, donuts are a sometimes food, but at least they weren’t asking for coffee!). With support and determination—and for me, a bit of sleep debt—we all met our writing goals most years!

Stage 3: Embrace Your True Strengths

Emotion Mapping - In the last couple decades, as attitudes and terminology evolved, I’ve learned a lot about my own neurodivergence and mental health. Oddly enough, the self-knowledge I gained by masking and compensating before I knew those words, informed both my writing and the tips given above. As I became more honest with myself, I brought more emotion to my writing.

Note: Sometimes it helps to skip scenes I’m not in a good headspace to write. I jot down key plot and character points inside curly brackets and skip to a scene that suits my current feelings. Since I don’t used curly brackets anywhere else in my writing, they’re easy to search for when I’m ready to go back.

Fascinations - After years of being warned about “info dumps,” I realized that my own fascinations (neurodivergent or otherwise) were assets that could serve my writing. At the beginning of 2020 I did a deep dive into researching sea creatures and ways to protect our oceans. At the back of my research notebook, I gradually outlined my 2020 NaNoWriMo Novel, Be the Sea. Parts of that outline cross-referenced pages of ocean research or articles I’d saved online.

Note: The system above worked well enough for me that I now have a book deal for Be the Sea, which will be published by Atthis Arts in early 2024!

Seriously though, this isn’t a post about how to get published on a 40-year plan. By matching your writing practices to your ever-changing self, you give all your stories the chance to be told. I wish you and your stories that success!

Clara Ward lives in Silicon Valley on the border between reality and speculative fiction. When not using words to teach or tell stories, Clara uses wood, fiber, and glass to make practical or completely impractical objects. Their short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Decoded Pride, The Arcanist, and as a postcard from Thinking Ink Press. Clara’s 2020 NaNoWriMo novel, Be the Sea, will be available from Atthis Arts in early 2024. For updates on this and other projects, follow Clara on their website. Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels

#nanowrimo #writing #writing advice #writer's life #neurodivergent writers #for parents #inspiration #by nano guest #clara ward

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melancholitas · 8 months

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Reading the Law novel in these dire times was probably not one of my best ideas.

What I definitely know is, I'd go haywire if the novel would be animated. I would even take the tiniest snippets, beggars can't be choosers.

Or even in general the backstory of the Hearts...Their past has so much potential, even if Oda decides to come up with a different approach.

Yes, it's only semi-canon, but still, excuse me while I sob into my pillows for a moment.

As not to spoil the novel or recent story events, I'll continue under the cut.

First of all, Wolf.

I don't know how he does it, but Law seems to have a knack for mellowing old mens hearts atp. Their growing friendship was endearing. Especially them actually verbalizing they consider each other dear friends is something healing for both of them.

The junker basically adopting all 4 of them because Law just said "deal with it! (please, can we keep them?)"..... He really missed being a dad it seems. Training them, together with Law.. Especially after standing up against the abusive relatives Penguin and Shachi were hiding from.

Gifting them the submarine, even painting it for them, so they can carry a part of his own dream with them broke me a little. Especially since he didn't want them drowning in the little wooden boat they bought on their own. So of course he had to gift him the "super endurable, nearly uncuttable" vessel.

Yeah, that cut through me instead.

*massive side eye to you, there, Blackbeard*

Don't even get me started on the 4 youngsters. I adore them to pieces. To smithereens. So I'll probably process that in my current fic series wip as I can't shut up about them.

Getting to see Laws inner growth albeit never losing his anxiety was also a precious pov. He didn't lose himself, despite all. And I'm glad he had at least a tatse of normalcy for 3 years, warming his shattered, naive little heart.

I can absolutely not stand to watch this if this turns worst case.

So I'm all the more heartbroken about what will happen. The freedom he promised Cora-san to seek is so tightly knit to these events and the Hearts (thinking of his crew also part Cora's). If Law lost ALL of these dear connections and convictions in that single happening, it would absolutely obliterate him (and me).

Wolf would probably get a heart attack if he reads about his little gremlins in the coo.

#novel law #one piece #trafalgar law #op wolf #heart pirates #backstory

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four-loose-screws · 4 months

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Full Henry (Fire Emblem Awakening) Personality & Support Conversation Analysis Post - English Localization vs. Original Japanese

So a while back I stated I wouldn't be doing full character support convo analyses any more because they are very time consuming, but... well, I can't help myself. They're just too much fun. And Henry himself is just too much fun, too.

The Olivia / Henry's support chain got several translations and conversations about it in the early years of Awakening's release, but I don't think I have ever heard much about any of Henry's other support convo chains. So how do their localized versions stack up to the original Japanese? Let's walk through his entire support convo list and find out!

This post will be a discussion of select snippets of Henry's support conversations - whatever I want to point out. For balance, sometimes, that will be sections changed from the Japanese, and other times, sections translated pretty closely.

Since I will only be covering bits and pieces here, if there's any support chains you would like to see translated in full, please send a request to my inbox! Support convo translations are usually pretty easy for me, and a great way to add more activity to my blog between novel translations uploads, so I love getting them.

Henry / Robin

Henry / Robin just has minor changes. "Minor localization changes," as I define them, are when the localization team adds or takes away small bits of dialogue, in a way that does not change the overall theme, tone, chain of events, etc. of the conversation.

Discussing minor changes doesn't make for much conversation, but it's fascinating to see how localization teams "spice up" video game dialogues to make them more fun to read in English, and analyze how well the succeeded in fulfilling that goal.

(Also, when talking about Robin as a general character and not the female / male incarnation specifically, I use "they/them" pronouns.)

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Robin: Ugh! D-don't wave that thing in my face! I don't want it anywhere near me.

Original Japanese:

[ルフレ]いいよ！(Robin: That's fine!) 僕は遠慮しておくよ！▼ (I'll pass!)

In this example, the localization added to what Robin says. There's no indication in the Japanese that Henry waves the Risen arm in their face. But the same basic flow of events is present in the conversation: Henry is experimenting with Risen -> propositions Robin to join in his experiments -> Robin flatly refuses. This is a great example of a minor change. It follows the events and tone of the Japanese support, while further showcasing the morbid humor Henry is displaying here.

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: If I get it to work, we can have them all fight on our behalf! Then we can sip tea for the rest of the war and collect the accolades once it's over. Robin: Well I understand the idea in theory. It could reduce casualties on our side... But there is one slight problem... Have you given any thought to how you'll control these soulless warriors?

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]これを使えば戦いを屍兵に任せて、(Henry: If we use this, then we'll leave the battle to the Risen,) 僕たちはお茶でも飲んでいられるよ～。▼(and we can even drink tea~.) そしたら戦死者も出なくなるし、(Then, we will have no casualties, and) いろいろと便利だよね～。▼ (they'll be convenient in many ways~.) [ルフレ]うーん…いくら戦死者が出ないといっても、(Robin: Umm... even if we won't have any casualties,) 屍兵の力を借りるのは…▼ (Borrowing the Risen's powers is...) それに、召喚した屍兵を (And the summoned Risen,) 操ることができるとは限らないよね？▼ (we won't necessarily be able to control them, right?)

Here's a change that's even smaller than the previous one, really. Robin doesn't say directly that the Risen are soulless in the Japanese, just summoned.

Henry / Lissa

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Hey-o! Need your human pillow again?

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]あ、リズ。こんにちは～。(Henry: Ah, Lissa! Hello~.) 今日も枕が必要？▼ (Do you need a pillow again today?)

As you will continue to see going forward, sometimes what surprises me about localization Henry is how little he was changed! What I mean is, I thought something as goofy as Henry calling himself a pillow would have been some silly fluff the localization added, but nope! He does indeed refer to himself as a pillow in the Japanese too.

Henry / Frederick

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Okay, fine! Geez, careful not to twist your smallclothes there...

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]は～い。ごめんなさ～い。▼(Henry: Understooood. I'm sorrrry.)

The English changed the Japanese line here, but I think it was necessary - without the nuance of the Japanese tilde (~), I think it's not as obvious that Henry is being sarcastic. So the localization added a sarcastic joke to bridge that gap. (Also, get ready to see the tilde A LOT going forward in Henry's Japanese text!!)

that Also, this is a bit off topic, but fun to point out anyway. If you ever hear anyone say Japanese has no sarcasm, you have some good proof of the contrary now. Japanese Henry can be quite sarcastic too! It's a common claim that Japanese has no sarcasm, because they don't use it anywhere near as much as English speakers use. But in actuality, Japanese speakers just don't utilize it in the exact same ways English speakers do!!

Now back on topic! :)

B Support

Snippet No. 1:

Eng. NA Localization:

Frederick: Because I know that anything can happen on the battlefield. I do not want my dying thought to be "if only I had trained a little harder." Henry: I want my dying thought to be about blood! ...Or maybe ichor.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ふ～ん。▼ (Oh, really~?)

Snippet No. 2:

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Whoa, easy there, Frederick! You're bruising my arm! ...Oooo, look at the colors!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ちょ、ちょっと～…▼(H-Hey~...)

We see the tilde again! I'll explain it in proper detail this time.

In short, Japanese video game dialogue uses the tilde A LOT to convey the tone of a character's speech.

I find that it can be used very broadly, and in a number of situations. Humor is the number 1 situation though, I think. It is used when characters are joking or sarcastic; or when characters are speaking in a lighthearted, happy, or whimsical tone. You'll also see it when a character is speaking in a sing-song voice, or just actually singing (See: a character like Engage's Timerra!).

In the case of Henry, we can understand in the Japanese thanks to the tilde that he is always joking around, being sarcastic, having fun with everything, lighthearted and never serious, etc. etc..

However... there's no singular symbol that can cover all of that tone in English! I mean, I do think dialogue could use the ~ and some people would get it, but I certainly don't think it is standardized enough to rely on in a video game released to a mass audience.

So what was the English localization to do? Well, a lot of the time, word choice and laughter alone can get Henry's meaning across just as well on its own. ...But it can't always be that straightforward. This is where I think it was obsoletely necessary for the localization to add jokes to Henry's dialogue to maintain the same meaning and tone as the Japanese. The above two samples I pulled from the Henry / Frederick supports are great examples of that. They help get the point across about just how much Henry jokes around, and how sarcastic he is.

That's all I have to say about the tilde for now, as I'm sure it won't be the last time I point one out in Henry's conversations. :)

Henry / Sully

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: That's 'cause you WERE! ...You totally still had five or six solid minutes left, though.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]そうだね～。あと数刻もすれば (Henry: It was, wasn't it? After a bit longer,) 死んじゃってたと思うよ～。▼ (you would have died, I think~.)

Again, wow, it really surprises me what lines are very direct from the Japanese sometimes! Henry really just is that morbid, and candid about death!

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: I can't remember BEING upset. Folks here are so nice, and even bad guys are pretty great when they splatter. When life gives ya lemons, use 'em to ward off scurvy. That's what I say!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]僕は怒らないよ～。▼ (I don't get mad~.) 怒るほど嫌なことを (And something so bad it makes me mad) 人にされることも滅多に無いし～。▼ (people hardly ever do to me~.) 大抵のことは笑って済ませられるよ～。▼ (I end most things with a laugh~.)

Even in a case like this, where the localization was a bit more liberal, Henry's tone still didn't change much. "When life gives you lemons" and "I end most things with a laugh~" can boil down to a same sort of connotation. Again, the localization is playing up Henry's humor and morbid optimism to fully get it across, in the absence of the Japanese tilde.

Henry / Miriel

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: You always have to know exactly how things work, huh? Want a demonstration? I could turn Robin into a toad or something. Miriel: No. The experiment is not of such import that our comrades need be imperiled. Henry: But it wouldn't be forever! Just a few days at the most. Miriel: If we were suddenly called to battle, a toad tactician would be most disadvantageous. Henry: Oh yeah. I hadn't thought about that. Well, maybe I could cast a different kind of hex. Miriel: So long as the risk is within acceptable parameters.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]仕組み？　あはは、(Henry: How they work? Ah ha ha, 勉強熱心だな～、ミリエルは。▼ (you're so passionate about your studies, Miriel~!) じゃあちょっと見本を見せるから (In that case, I'll show you a small example, so) そのへんの誰かを呪ってみるね～？▼ (I'll try cursing someone around here, alright~?) [ミリエル]その辺の誰か･･･？ (Miriel: Someone around here...?) 味方を呪い殺すおつもりですか？▼ (Do you intend to cast a deadly curse on an ally?) [ヘンリー]あ、ダメだった～？▼ (Henry: Oh, would you not like that~?) [ミリエル]えぇ･･･。戦力が減るのは (Miriel: Um... A decrease in our forces) 軍にとって良くないことですから･･･。▼ (would not be good for our army...) [ヘンリー]そっか～。じゃあ死なない呪いにするよ。(Henry: I see~. Then I'll pick a curse that won't kill them!) それならいいでしょ～？▼ (That will be okay, right~?) [ミリエル]はい、そういうことなら･･･ (Miriel: Yes. If that is the case,) じっくりと観察させていただきます。▼ (then allow me to observe carefully.)

Henry decides to target poor Robin specifically in the localization, but otherwise, the support chain has no significant changes.

Henry / Sumia

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Nya ha ha! Looked at all the smashed crockery! That's hilarious!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ほんとだ、すご～い。全部粉々だね～。▼ (Henry: You're right, woooow! They're all in pieces, aren't they?)

Another example of how the English made up for the lack of the tilde's Japanese connotation - Henry just outright says he finds the current situation hilarious.

Henry / Ricken

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Oh! And Campari used to make little birdhouses for homeless—

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]あと、ポモドーロ様はね…▼ (Henry: After them there was Campari...)

In another one of Henry's stand-out support conversations, in the Japanese, he stops before sharing what made Campari such a great guy, but otherwise the conversation is overwhelmingly the same as in JP.

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Judging by your expression, I'd say it's a serious one. Nya ha ha!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]うん、いいよ～。(Henry: Yeah, that's fine~.) そんなに真剣な顔してどうしたの～？▼ (Why are you making such a serious face?)

Another great little example of how the localization made up for the lack of tilde - in place of the tilde, to convey that he is joking around, the localization has Henry laugh out loud.

Henry / Maribelle

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: I'm not feigning anything. I'm just really in touch with the natural world. I can talk to any living thing you want. Trees. Flowers. Maggots. Ooooooh... Maaaggots... Maribelle: That is a remarkable talent, if a shade disturbing.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]合わせてなんかないよ～。▼ (I'm not feigning, or anything of the sort~.) 僕はねぇ、自然に満ちているあらゆるものと会話できるんだよ～。▼ (You see, I can talk to all things filled with nature~.) [マリアベル]そ、そうですの…。(Maribelle: C-Can you...) 本当なら、すごいことですわね…。▼ (If that's true, then it is remarkable, indeed...)

The localization added in Henry's little pause on the word "maggots," (and added in the word "maggot" to begin with) but otherwise, this is another rather directly translated support chain.

Henry / Panne

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Panne: THAT was your reason?!

Original Japanese:

[ベルベット]…呆れたわ。(Panne: ...I'm astounded.) そんな理由なの…？▼ (Your reason was one such as that...?) 人間は理解しがたいけど、(Humans are difficult to understand, but) あなたは中でも極めつけよ。▼ (you are especially so.)

This exchange from Panne at the end of the C Support was actually longer in the Japanese. I don't see any particular stand-out reason why this is. Perhaps it was even an error, and the localization accidentally left out some of the text.

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Panne: We're too alike, you and I. We both lost our families and lived alone too long. But no more. I accept your ring. From now on, we are each other's family.

Original Japanese:

[ベルベット]あなたは似てるの。(Panne: You are like him.) 人間に殺された、私の弟に…▼ (My younger brother, who was killed by humans.) いいわ、受け取らせてもらう。(I will accept your ring.) あなたのそばにいてあげる、ヘンリー。▼ (I will be by your side, Henry.) これからは、私たちは家族よ。▼ (From now on, we are family.)

In the Japanese, Panne does not compare Henry to herself, but to her brother. Her brother is removed entirely in the localization, which at first seems like a pretty big deal. Perhaps it is because he is never mentioned again? It is odd that her sibling (who would seem important to her) is such a throwaway character in this one line of her supports with Henry.

Henry / Cordelia

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh. Say, what if the wife was dead? Could you give it to him then?

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ふーん…よくわかんないなあ。(Henry: Huh... I don't really get it.) 奥様がいると襟巻きが渡せないんだ。▼ (He has a wife, so you can't give him the scarf.) じゃあ、奥様が死んじゃったら (So, if his wife was dead,) 渡せるようになるの？▼ (would you be able to give it to him then?)

Here's another example I included not because it's changed from the Japanese - but because I was surprised to see this confirmation that Henry really is this morbid in the Japanese as well!

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: I asked Lissa for advice, and she told me to take you on a big shopping trip. She said a few hours trying on dresses and armor would fix that broken heart, pronto! (skip a few lines) Henry: Then how about some comfort food? Fruit pies and cream? Candy apples? Macaroni and cheese with fried boar crisps and crumbled horse—

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]リズから聞いたんだ～。(Henry: I asked Lissa~.) 女の子の胸が苦しい時は、▼ (When a girl's heart hurts,) 買い物したりやけ食いしたりすると (things like shopping, or eating a lot) 治るんだって～。▼ (will cure it!) (skip a few lines) [ヘンリー]そうなんだ～。(Henry: I understand~.) じゃあ、やけ食いの方が好き？▼ (So you like overeating more?)

In the Japanese, Lissa's advice to Henry includes not only retail therapy, but also... overeating / binge eating. That's an understandably sensitive topic for the localization team to dodge.

It's true the localization does have Henry propose some comfort food food at the end of the convo... but I think Henry asking if Cordelia wants to eat a treat or two is different than proposing she full-on binge eats.

Henry / Nowi

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Nowi: No! I'm an adult woman who's more than a thousand years older than you! Henry: Oh, right! Nya ha ha! Sorry, short stuff!

Original Japanese:

[ノノ]ノノは子どもじゃないもん。(Nowi: Nowi's not a child!) 千年以上生きてる大人の女なんだから！▼ (Because Nowi is an adult woman who's lived for over 1,000 years!) [ヘンリー]あ、そうだったね。(Henry: Oh, that's right!) あはは、ごめんなさい、お姉さん。▼ (Ah ha ha, sorry, big sister!)

Ah, the 1,000 year old child-looking adult dragon. An FE classic.

But actually, the Japanese line was the same in this case! A young-looking character reiterating that they are totally an adult, isn't always an addition of the localization. (I say this because it was so in the main Fates script with Elise).

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Yep! They're probably quivering in fear under their beds and crying like babies. But no worries! There'll be more victim—er, that is, village kids—at our next camp. (skip a few lines) Henry: If they exchanged fire breath with you, they'd end up as little clumps of charcoal.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]うん、たぶん無理だと思うよ～。▼(Henry: Yeah, I think it's probably no use~!) でも、いいじゃない。ほかの土地にも (But that's okay, isn't it? Because in other areas) 子どもはたくさんいるんだから。▼ (there's also lots of children.) (skip a few lines) [ヘンリー]うーん…僕には空を飛んだり (Henry: Hmm... I can't fly in the sky) ブレスを吹いたりできないしなぁ。▼ (or blow fire breath, or anything like that.)

Here, the localization added a bit to Henry's morbidity. In the Japanese, he didn't joke around and start to call the children he and Nowi played with victims, or go so far as to describe that her fire breath would turn them to charcoal.

While Henry is morbid and sarcastic in the Japanese, this is further proof that the localization did add in some extra. Which again, makes up for some of the gap left without the tilde ~ in English.

Henry / Tharja

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Sure! You want me to cast a death curse on someone? Tharja: Someone in camp? Mmm... No. That could be problematic. Henry: Hee hee! Yeah, I guess. Too bad, though. See, 'cause I've got one that makes blood come out your—

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]そうなんだ～。(Henry: Did you now~?) じゃ、ちょっと呪いあってみる～？▼ (Then shall I try casting a teensy-weensy curse on them?) [サーリャ]結構よ…。仲間同士で (Tharja: You don't have to...) 潰し合っても、不毛なだけだから…。▼ (For allies to kill each other, would be meaningless...) [ヘンリー]あはは、それは残念だな～。▼ (Henry: Ah ha ha, that's too bad~.)

The morbid joke about exactly what kind of curse Henry wants to try out - one that involves making blood come out from... somewhere - was a small add-on in the localization. This chunk of the exchange otherwise follows the Japanese.

Eng. NA Localization:

Tharja: Ugh... Hale? Hearty? Have you no respect for our ancient profession? We're supposed to be harbingers of pestilence and famine and doom! Henry: Mm... I love doom.

Original Japanese:

[サーリャ]健全で純真ですって…？(Tharja: Healthy...? Pure...?) …呪いを使う者が、よく言う…。▼(...Well said for a spellcaster of curses...) …まぁいいわ…くれぐれも (...Whatever... don't keep) おかしな真似はしないことね。▼ (acting weird, alright?) [ヘンリー]は～い。▼ (Henry: Okaaaaaay.)

The exact ending of the C Support is ever so slightly different. In both, Tharja basically says to Henry to act more like a dark mage, but the little joke about "doom" was added.

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Hello, Tharja! Tharja: *Mumble, mumble* *hiss* Henry: Heey! Did you just put a curse on me? Tharja: Yes, Now, if you do not speak the truth, you will DIE! Answer me clearly and without hesitation. Are you a foreign spy? Henry: Nope! Not me! Although I do own a cloak and a couple daggers. Tharja: Who do you serve? Ylisse or Plegia? Henry: Aw, I don't get into politics. I just want to toss fireballs at bad guys.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]…あれ？　これって…。▼ (Henry: ...Huh? This is...) [サーリャ]…思ったよりあっさりかかったわね。▼ (Tharja: ...That was much easier than I thought it would be.) [ヘンリー]あ、やっぱりサーリャだ。(Henry: Ah, I knew it, it's you Tharja!) 僕に呪いをかけたね～？▼ (You cast a curse on me, didn't you?) [サーリャ]えぇ…これで私の前では (Tharja: Yes... Now, before me) 嘘や隠しごとはできないわよ…。▼ (you cannot lie or hide anything...) 正直に答えなさい… (Answer me honestly...) 貴方、誰かのスパイじゃないでしょうね…？▼ (You aren't anyone's spy, are you?) [ヘンリー]うん、スパイじゃないよ～。▼ (Henry: Nope, I'm not a spy~!) [サーリャ]じゃあ、貴方は…ペレジアと (Tharja: So you... between Plegia) イーリスと、どっちの味方…？▼ (And Ylisse, which are you an ally of...) [ヘンリー]ん～…味方とか、よくわかんないな～。(Henry: Hm~... I don't really know who's ally I am~.) 悪いと思った奴と戦うだけじゃダメなの？▼ (Is it wrong to just fight whoever I think is bad?)

A few little tweaks here. Tharja is in the middle of casting her curse in her first line in the localization, whereas in the Japanese, it was already over, and she was making a comment as to how easy it was to do. And then, Henry's quips were added onto a bit in localization.

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Hecka-necka, jimma-jamma, woozle-wazzle! Aaand presto! Curse dispelled! Actually not dispelled. I tossed it back at the original sender. Hee hee!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]あ、それなら大丈夫だよ～。(Henry: Ah, if it's that, that's fine~.) 僕がもうはね返しておいたから～。▼ (Because I already bounced it back~.)

Henry's "chant" was added in localization. In the Japanese, by the time Henry says his line, he's already sent the curse back to its caster.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Well, usually I disarm foes by removing their arms. But your way sounds impressive, too!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]あはは、だから最初に言ったじゃない～。(Henry: Ah ha ha, that's what I said in the beginning, isn't it~?) 僕は健全で純真な心の持ち主だって。▼ (I have a healthy and pure heart.) でも、嬉しいなぁ～、(But I'm happy~.) サーリャに褒めてもらえて～。▼ (I was complemented by you~.)

And the localization was just taking advantage of an opportunity to make a disarming pun here, it was not already in the Japanese.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Wizard fight! Wizard fight! Yaaaaaay!

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]わぁ～。サーリャ、こわ～い。▼(Henry: Eeeeek~! Tharja is scaaaary~!)

In the Japanese, Henry doesn't get excited to have a wizard fight with Tharja, but he still does act pretty goofy by pretending to be scared of her.

S Support

Somehow, I don't have anything to add to this one! Henry really does run off to have an engagement ring made after Tharja says she will accept his proposal if he agrees to protect Robin.

Henry / Cherche

C Support

The C Support adds a number of little bits to Henry's dialogue, again just to play up his goofiness more, because English lacks a symbol like the Japanese tilde ~.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Sure have! She's as cute as a button, that one. ...Well, if buttons were cute. We had wyverns in Plegia, you know, and also the occasional fell beast. But we didn't have a single wyvern that was as pretty as Minerva.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]うん！(Henry: Yeah!) かわいいよね～、ミネルヴァ！▼ (Minerva sure is cute~!) ペレジアにも (In Plegia too,) ドラゴンナイトはいたけど、▼ (there were wyvern knights, but) この子くらいかわいい飛竜はいなかったよ～！！▼ (There weren't any as cute as this wyvern~!)

There was no mention of buttons in the Japanese version, Henry just says Minerva is cute.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Yep! I make four-legged friends wherever I go! And even some two-legged ones. I'm also pals with a three-legged bear, but that's a story for another time.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]僕は自然と友達だから (Henry: I'm friends with nature, so) みんなと仲良しなんだよ～。▼ (I get along with all of them~.)

No mention of a three-legged bear friend in Japanese. Not that Japanese Henry wouldn't be excited to befriend a three-legged bear.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Yowza! Sh-she tried to bite me! Look, I'm bleeding! Mmm, blood...

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ひゃあっ！　噛まないで～！▼ (Henry: Hyaaah! Don't bite me~!)

And the localization added in the fact that Henry was bleeding, and excited to see it.

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Aw, it's fine. I bet I just give off some kind of animal aura. Or maybe she thought I was a big ham? I do smell kind of ham-like.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]あはは、僕って (Henry: Ah ha ha, I) 獣っぽい気配がするみたい～。▼ (it seems I have an animal-like aura~.) だから獲物だと勘違いしたのかもしれないね～。▼ (So maybe she mistook me for prey~.)

Henry doesn't propose that maybe he smells like ham, rather, in the Japanese, he thought that maybe Minerva mistook him for prey.

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Well, when I was young, my best friend in the entire world was a giant wolf. My parents ignored me most of the time, so that wolf became my whole family. Then one day she came to visit me, and some hunters in the village... They shot her full of arrows. Killed her on the spot.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]うん！　実は、昔仲良しの狼がいたんだ。(Henry: Yeah! Actually, long ago, there was a wolf I was friends with.) 僕、親に放ったらかしにされてたから、▼ (I was neglected by my parents, so) 小さい頃の親友と言うか、(You could call them a friend I had when I was young,) ほとんど家族みたいなものだったんだけど～▼ (or something like family, but~) ある日その狼が僕に会いに来たとき、(One day, when they came to see me,) 周りにいた大人たちに殺されちゃって…。▼ (they were killed by the adults around us...)

In the Japanese, Henry doesn't refer to the wolf's killers as "hunters," but "adults."

Also, the Japanese doesn't hint at whether the wolf was male or female, so I went with neutral pronouns.

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Cherche: I'm very happy that you like Minerva and you two get along so well. But I think you need to spend more time with human friends—namely, me. So I'm going to carry out my patrol on foot, and you're coming with me.

Original Japanese:

[セルジュ]ミネルヴァちゃんと仲良くなってくれるのは (Cherche:) とっても嬉しいんだけど、▼ (I'm very happy that you've become friends with Minerva-chan, but) あなたは本当の意味で人と接することをもっと重ねるべきだと思う。▼ (I think you should have more experiences getting truly close to people.) 偵察は私たちふたりで行きましょう。(Let's go on patrol together.) 私、あなたともっと仲良くなりたいわ。▼ (I want to become better friends with you.)

The localization of the A support was a pretty straightforward translation of the Japanese for the most part, but this bit of Cherche's dialogue from near the end is subtly different.

I think the localization subtracts a little from the real meaning of what Cherche is trying to get across to Henry - it's not that he doesn't spend time with people, its that when he does, he doesn't form meaningful relationships with them. The exact nuance is different.

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: I figured the old dogs would be barking, so I brought a homemade bunion salve. Cherche: Why, thank you, Henry! But how did you know? Henry: We've been on so many patrols together, I've memorized your whole routine. After this, you'll put a cold towel on your head and drink a cup of hot elderberry tea.

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]はい、これ。(Henry: This is for you.) 薬に漬けた湿布だよ～。▼ (A wet compress soaked in medicine~.) [セルジュ]あら、ありがとう。(Cherche: Oh my, thank you.) 脚が張っていたの、気づいてたの？▼ (You noticed that my legs are swollen?) [ヘンリー]うん。だって、あれから毎日 (Henry: Yup! After all, since then, every day) 二人で偵察に行ってたんだもん。▼ (we've gone on patrol together!) もうセルジュのことなら (If it's about you) なんでもわかるようにな��ちゃったよ～。▼ (then I already know everything there is to know~.)

Henry's treatments for Cherche after their patrol together were a bit different in Japanese.

The localization even added in elderberry tea when no mention of drinks was made before. Who on the team was such a fan of elderberry tea that it's the only tea anyone on the Awakening cast drinks? I'll always wonder.

Eng. NA Localization:

Cherche: Goodness, Henry, but this is sudden. However, I have found myself...thinking about you a lot lately. Ever since we met, I've wanted to know the real man behind that jolly facade. And this would be a chance to do just that. Very well, Henry, I accept your proposal!

Original Japanese:

[セルジュ]ふふ…やっとその笑顔を (Cherche: Tee hee...) 私にも向けてくれるようになったのね。▼ (You're finally in a place where you make that smile at me!) …私も、あなたが好きよ。(...I love you too.) 友達になりたいっていうのは嘘。▼ (It was a lie when I said that I wanted to be friends with you.) 本当はずっと、あなたの心が知りたい、(To be honest, I've always wanted to know your heart,) 誰よりも近くにいたいって思ってた。▼ (and to become closer to you than anyone else.) 毎日変わっていくあなたを… (You've been changing bit by bit every day...) これからも一番傍で見ていたいわ。▼ (I want to continue to see you at my side more than anyone else is.)

The localization left out the full extent of what Cherche was saying - that she's had romantic feelings for Henry for quite a long time before this conversation.

Henry / Olivia

So I saved Henry / Olivia for last and went a little out of recruitment order, because I remembered this conversation being pretty different in localization vs the Japanese. So I wanted to save "the big one" for last.

First, I want to point out that I did a full translation of this support chain several years ago now (*Checks post history* Wait... EIGHT years ago?! Dang!), so I don't really need to talk about specific lines. You can read and compare for yourself! I also posted the localized version below the Japanese in each post, so you you can save yourself an internet search.

C Support - B Support - A Support - S Support

Instead of discussing specifics, I'll just wrote some of my general thoughts in a few paragraphs.

In the C support, I think it's unfortunate that the localization downplayed Henry's original intentions for choosing to kill the dog. He does not try to fight the dog's death, if it is the only way to relieve its pain. If death is its fate, he accepts it. It's great nuance for his character, that I think was the highlight of the convo.

In the B support, I remembered thinking that the localization really changed this one, but that's not as true as I thought it was. In summary, Olivia thinks that Henry's sense of humor is a coping mechanism and his smiles aren't genuine. But Henry rejects that interpretation and says he just is who he is. That's same in both versions. The biggest change is to Henry's backstory at the "wizarding" school. Now that I look back on it, I actually see a good possibility as to why the localization chose to make this change. Saying that Henry experienced brutal pain and injuries because of "experiments gone wrong" still conveys that his teachers were terribly abusive - because healthy teachers would not be assigning magic training that could be so easily dangerous - but it isn't as graphic as "bad children were beaten senseless!" Child abuse is a pretty common trigger, so I get why the localization team would want to tweak this part of the convo a bit.

For the A and S supports, I don't have anything major to mention.

Also, throughout the entire support chain, Henry calls Olivia "crazy lady." I don't know exactly how I feel about this, because it feels a little out of place with the rest of his sense of morbid humor. But he does get a little sarcastic and sassy with people when they get on his nerves in any way - which Olivia very much is doing, by trying to say his outward personality is trauma coping and not genuine. So the more I think about it, the more I think it fits his personality fine.

So as my final conclusion, I can say that Henry / Olivia is the most changed of all Henry's supports in localization, but even then, that's only saying so much.

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And so, that's that! Generally speaking, Henry's conversations were pretty faithfully translated; with minor changes here and there, mostly to convey his sense of humor due to English's lack of the ~ tilde symbol used in dialogue. I only found a couple of more major changes, none of them particularly conversation-altering.

Henry's such a fun character to begin with that the localization team only had to make some subtle changes here and there to get his exact sense of humor and personality across, wherever it might have otherwise been lost in translation. And they did a pretty good job with that! Only a small selection of changes made me scratch my head a bit. Overall, good work all around.

Thanks for reading! :)

#fire emblem #fire emblem 13 #fe13 #awakening #fire emblem awakening #fe awakening #japan #japanese #support conversation #henry #henry fire emblem #support conversation analysis #translation #localization

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white-poppie · 1 year

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𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐋♡𝐕𝐄 — H.Shuji x reader

Synopsis: You are a small novelist, struggling for inspiration and ideas until you come across a charming gangster, called Hanma Shuji, who turns out to be your muse. Months later when your novel is published with him as the ML, the obsession only grows.

Pairing: Hanma Shuji x gn!author!reader Genre: YANDERE!, MAFIA! AU TW: crying, drinking, smoking, reader and Hanma both being twisted in the head, gore, Hanma being the sadist he is, hanma calls reader 'pretty' and 'doe', WC: 1.7K +

NOTE: I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PROMOTE THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOUR. It is impractical scary and even gross. Violation of someone’s personal space/ life is not being romanticized in this post. Rather it is JUST A FICTIONAL TROUPE WITH FICTIONAL CHARACTERS.

A/N: Don't worry, its SFW!

Your grip is shaky, and tender as you gulp the bitter liquid down, it burns your throat in an ambrosial haze. It's as if your brain is barren with not a seed of creativity getting planted to fertilize into a bigger idea. You breathe a sob-sigh and sniffle, downing yourself in the liquid confidence.

You bury your face in your palms, and your elbows shake as you lean on the wooden counter. The music is loud and chaotic; it isn't a place for someone like you who spends most of her time, copped up in her mind, creating realms of her own as she writes.

You can't write. You can't write. You can't write. There have been no ideas, no inspirations, no random snippets of intense plotting and character-building...what will you do?

The neon lights dance on the yellowish-coloured tonic in your glass.

You hear the seat beside you being dragged. Your eyes fall towards the source of the sound, eyes meeting slender veiny hands, bejewelled with tattoos on their backs. A thick vein runs down his right hand to his elbow.

Your eyes gently trail upwards. His black long-sleeved turtleneck is rolled up to his elbows, his highlighted hair is neatly combed to one side, and then you look up at his long, chiselled face, sharp nose and dragon eyes...you realise he is already gazing at you with his lips turned into a soft smirk. You feel a sudden heat suffusing your cheeks. You try to avert your gaze, but his eyes have already captured yours and neither of you seem willing to let go. He continues to look into your eyes, and you feel yourself slipping away. You can savour the intensity of the moment, and it's almost electric. He tilts his head and asks, "What's a pretty angel like you doing crying in a place like this ?"

You breathe sharply and look away, averting your gaze from the handsome stranger, "just...going through things." You say.

He looks at you and nods, but he clearly isn't used to taking no for an answer. "Why spend your youth wallowing on the side, when you..." He raises his glass and points at the group of people huddled on the dance floor, "could be enjoying it on the stage instead."

You look at him in wonder...stage. William Shakespeare used it before: "The world is a stage and all men and women are players."

You blink and answer, "Why be the player when you can be the narrator?" You say softly, steering your eyes from the dance floor, back to him.

His eyebrows raised in delight at your words. He was used to people being scared of his appearance, his stature, his voice and tattoos. He just screamed 'danger' wherever he was. People talked to him for only a few reasons: for money, for partnership, for mercy or for him to warm their bed in such a way that he would ruin any other partners for them.

"Why be the player when you can be the narrator?" he says excitedly, "--when you can control the play from the sidelines." He says, adding his own twisted ideology to your personality-introducing a statement to him. It wasn't what you meant, but you didn't correct him. "You are an interesting one, you know?" he says and fetches a cigarette from his pocket and lights it, "you are one of the only people I've met who can keep a conversation dynamic." He grins with a wicked smirk, and you swear your heart hammers for him in a way that it has for no one.

"I didn't catch your name," you say softly.

"Hanma Shuji," he says with a proud smirk, "what's your name, pretty?" He asks.

"Y/N L/N," you say and ask again, curious about the man in front of you. You are never one for small talk, but there is just something so magnetic about him that you have to ask, "What do you do for a living, Hanma-san?"

"Just Hanma is okay," he corrects and sighs, a mischievous grin on his face, "I am a mob boss, have a big gang wrapped around my finger like fools." He studies your expression, "Did I scare ya? It's okay if you wanna leave, not gonna hold it against you or send my 'scary men' after you." He says exaggeratedly.

You blink blankly at him, studying his face. “I had my suspicions…got that vibe from you.” You say and pause, “But for some reason I am not scared.”

Hanma dissects your reply, drawing closer to you as he says quietly, his words heavy and menacing but like a siren's song, “You should be.”

“I should be,” you nod your head softly, “but I am not…"

Hanma studies your face with an unmoving stare. His breath trickles down your face, a gentle blend of cigarettes and mint. He looks at you as if he is remembering the exact proportions of your face.

"You intrigue me," he says and chuckles, "you still haven't told me why you were crying in a bar." He says and softly wipes the remaining tears from the corners of your eyes. For some reason, you don't feel revolted by this stranger's touch.

You shake your head and reply, "A writer loses all sense of the world when their mind is barren of inspiration. I was just looking for a push, I guess. But I was only met with a bottle of whiskey and more questions than answers. I can't help but feel like I'm in a never-ending cycle, blindly searching for an answer that I may never find. I'm stuck in my own head, unable to break free. I can't seem to find my way out. "

As Hanma hums, "So you're a writer, huh? Should have known by how eloquent you are." He's silent for a minute and then says, "Never was a book guy, sitting in one place just reading... it's too monotonous for an adrenaline junkie like me. In my teen years, I loved those twisted romances and thriller mangas." He chuckles in a way that makes you shiver.

You raise your eyebrow at him, "Dark romances, huh? Did they inspire you into becoming a mob boss?"

Hanma hisses with a faint smile on his face. "Not so loud, sweetheart." You chuckle and apologize.

"What do mob bosses do?" you ask curiously.

He crosses his arms and leans back. "What don't we do?" he replies. "Money laundering, smuggling, extortion, you know, the usual." He smiles, and you can see a hint of mischief in his eyes.

You can't help but smile at how nonchalant he is about it. You sense a darkish longing from both ends, like two poles of the magnet so close, just waiting for the right distance to be pulled close. It's like a course of warm ideas is injected into your brain. You can't help but feel drawn to him like he's the natural ending to your story.

It is interrupted by Hanma receiving a call. He picks up the phone and his expression immediately darkens. "I'll be there." He says and cuts the call and looks at you with longing and apology. He stands up, takes a deep breath and says, "I'm sorry, but I have to leave. I'll keep an eye on you." He takes one last look at you before turning to leave.

"I found my muse..." you mutter to yourself as you see him leave.

[1 year later]

And he meant that. He meant when he said 'I'll keep an eye on you.' He was a mob boss, so it was easy for him to find your whereabouts and know everything about you. It almost seemed like he didn't want to hide his presence from you. However, you for some odd reason didn't mind this man spying on your life; it made you excited.

By this time you had completely researched his life, persona, crimes, and remembered them like a textbook. Multiple articles of his gang's works were pasted on your apartment walls along with letters in front of your apartment. These letters had no sender or address, but the cologne smell was him. You pinned the letters to your walls, sighing and reading them multiple times a day, knowing he was watching you all the time.

You smiled softly, signing your book 'Ghastly Love' in the author convention. Having been acclaimed as one of the bestselling dark romances on booktok and bookstagram, you were elated to have met Hanma Shuji that night...the man who inspired you to write a book. You had never met him for a year. However, you felt his presence, his gaze and the imaginary version of him you created in your head.

Another happy fan comes and you sign the book for them. Multiple people praise your writing, but it feels so empty. The convention ends and everyone leaves. Everyone is wrapping up when one last fan comes.

I'm sorry I can't do anything. My train got late." He says, drawing your attention as the security guards push him away and all the other writers stare at him.

"Come on I just want Y/N L/N's sign. I've travelled far for this, I'll leave in 5 minutes." He says and you chuckle.

"Let him in," you say and smile, impressed by this fan's dedication. He walks confidently towards you

You look up and smile at another person, he is taller than the rest, your hands are ready to sign the book when you spot the familiar tattoo on his hand...Hanma.

A shocked gasp escapes your throat as you look up at him, your eyes watering. He lowers his mask and smirks. "Hey doe." He says, calling you the name your ML called your FL in the novel. "You've become quite famous over the past few months, yeah? But let me tell you, the guy you wrote about in your novel is nothing. This right here, in front of you is the real deal." He smirks.

You sob and hug him tightly. You had him now...and you wouldn't let him go. He was your muse, after all. Suddenly, he pulls away and looks deeply into your eyes. He whispers, "So freaking proud of ya'." He says and kisses you.

'Dedicated to the handsome stranger I found in the bar that night. Thank you for being my muse; I highly anticipate meeting you again, and this time I won't let you go."

DID YALL KNOW IVE WRITTEN A BOOK LIKE Y/N TOO?!?! Of Vengeance and Ashes” -> BUY NOW!!!! I am a 15-year-old author who needs support, I assure you it won't disappoint! It's okay if you don't buy, it would be enough to share the link with someone else who might be interested! I humbly request you support my career as a child author by purchasing my book. This would help me to write more books in future.

Also Check out: L'appel du vide (✔️) (Synopsis: Your husband, Hanma Shuji is dead! With no memories of what transpired two days before his death, you team up with Tachibana Naoto, Chifuyu Matsuno, Ryuguji Ken and Mitsuya Takashi, you go on a journey full of betrayals and twists. Can you find out what really happened to your husband? )

— TOKYO REVENGERS - Fanfictions

TAGS: @akumicchi, @denkis111, @jazzylove, @lordmypantsaresocool, @futuristicallykawaiiturtle, @kristaline2dmensimp, @rintaroubby @nanaseishiro @cleaningfairylevi, @buttercupspotify

PPL WHO ASKED TO BE TAGGED IN THIS FIC (temp tags, lemme know if you wanna be added to my permanent taglist): @shujivenus, @soulhasshattered

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cb-writes-stuff · 2 months

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〜＊ New Blog Intro! ＊〜

Howdy! I’m CB, short for C. Brookes. Feel free to call me any derivation of those. I am 18, going into college for a degree in English. (Even though I’m an adult, don’t be weird.) He/him, please.

My blog (and brain) is currently dominated by:

[??? I don’t know]