#but there are subtle differences between the english and the japanese so it makes sense

[nordic-language-love]

english has a perfectly good word for shinkansen (bullet train) and yet no english speakers here seem to use it they literally all just say shinkansen

[bestboyignis]

"A king must never stand still. He must keep moving forward, whatever the cost. However, even a king can feel worried and lost. When that time comes, I want you to be by Noctis' side, as his friend—and as his older brother."

I first played FFXV in English, and so missed this very subtle detail when I was an early fan. I'm not kidding when I say that the first time I played in Japanese and heard this speech, my eyes went 👀 because suddenly everything that Ignis did in Episode Ignis made so much more sense.

The difference is this: In the EN version, Regis asks Ignis to stay by Noctis' side, "as his friend—and as his brother." In the JP version, Regis asks Ignis to be Noctis' 兄 / "ani" / "older brother".

For me, this is a big difference. A "brother" is an equal, a companion, someone you can trust and share good times and bad times with. An older brother is many of these things, too, except an older brother is not an equal.

FFXV is still culturally a Japanese/Asian game. Many Asian languages have a specific name for an older—especially the eldest—sibling. To be the eldest is to be responsible for the younger ones. It's not uncommon for the eldest to shoulder more of the chores, be responsible for the actions of the younger siblings (yes, to the point of getting in trouble for them as well), to be expected to discipline them, and generally be accountable for whatever happens to one's younger siblings. This does usually provide the eldest sibling more authority, but it also comes with expectations of sacrifice. The eldest is expected to be more patient, to give things away they want for themselves, and generally make sure the younger siblings are provided for before considering one's self.

For me, who culturally also has this concept albeit not being Japanese, that Ignis was tasked to be Noct's "ani" makes their relationship make so much more sense. Ignis' strictness with Noct, the exasperation, the perseverance, the nagging, and conversely Noct's cheekiness, stubbornness, whining and complaining, laziness (no I swear this is typical youngest son behaviour!) and just the general banter that goes on between them is very much older brother/younger brother dynamic. I don't know why I didn't make this connection in the EN version, but that's language for you. 🥲

Ignis' actions in Episode Ignis were not extreme. I have known eldest children who give up more of themselves and for longer. This is not to belittle Ignis' sacrifice, only to say that his actions made sense given his role in Noctis' life.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Hi,

would you make meta stuff about Mayuri's way of speaking? I mean guy speaks strange way compared to other characters and me with friend don't speak japanese and would like to know more about it.

Thank you! 💜

So, i do want to remind anyone reading my blog but please remember i'm not at all fluent in Japanese. I understand the grammar on a textbook level, and with enough dictionary resources I can poke around and sus out nuances of some word choices (particularly stuff like fictional names of people and swords and attacks and stuff, as those kinds of creative choices are very overt*), especially in irregular usage, but when it comes down to things like dialect, slangs, vernacular or phraseology, or more subtle tone indicators I'm pretty blind.

*(sorry to further clarify: when it's stuff like fantasy jargon it's stuff no one would ever actually say, and so the choices made in crafting those words or names from scratch are all reliably very deliberate. But when looking at more casual speech a lot of character voice just kind of defaults to what "sounds" right, and so the distinction between choosing one common word over another isn't always meaningful or readily apparent, both in general and to someone not fully fluent like me.)

Like if someone talks in a stilted overly technical or dry way I might be able to tell that much, but I'd totally miss more structural things like whether it makes them sound more like a mad scientist -vs- a tryhard edgelord fake intellectual -vs- a man out of time -vs- a stuffy rich person --or what the differences i'd even be looking for between all those would be-- I really can't tell outside of what i might be able to glean from things like narrative context more than the dialog itself.

With the exception of some very tropey, and thus easier to identify things like, movie-esque yakuza slang, or melodramatic historical feudal drama formal titles --and even then those are things i might more readily catch when actually spoken than when written on the page-- i'm just as lost as the next person.

That all being said, there are still a few little things i can sort of pick at without feeling totally out of my depth...

I think it's been brought up on some random post of mine before that Mayuri does notably use a "more feminine" 1st person pronoun, watashi[私] which is a pretty common pronoun, although its usage feels weird to explain in English?

Like... it is considered "gender neutral" in that there are other pronouns that are more specifically feminine or masculine and it's not one of them. But then in practice, you'd basically expect men to opt for one of the more overtly masculine pronouns, which just sort of leaves women with watashi as a default?

So it's not that it explicitly makes him sound ""feminine"" so much as it makes him sound less masculine; which suits his intellectual, non physical inclined, and at times cowardly or at least scheming demeanor. But like, it's also considered a little stuffy and sort of overly formal, or technical which is also appropriate to him.

Oh right and it's a formal pronoun as opposed to informal, but there's also a level of very formal pronouns, and it's not one of those, so that doesn't so much triangulate a position as it just leave in vaguely in the middle of the road...

Does that all make sense? it feels like super overexplaining for what is an extremely commonly used pronoun with mostly very neutral implications.

He occasionally ends sentences with a single katakana syllable rather than hiragana, indicating... not quite an "accent".. but like a sort of emphasis. Like a punctuating lilt in tone. Actually Nakao Ryuusei does this really noticeably in the anime and I don't know for sure if I heard it that way in my head and he just nailed it, or if i heard him first and it's just always colored my reading since.

A lot of the rhetorical NE[ネ] which begs confirmation, often translated into English as "...right?" (It's part of that desu ne[ですね] that you hear a lot in anime, where the desu[です] is just the verb to be, so together they tend to translate as "isn't it?")

YO[ヨ] which is again a sort of rhetorical thing that usually gets translated as something like, "...you know?"

and E?[エ?] which isn't even a word or part of speech so much as it's just like, an interrogative noise? Quite literally just "eh?"

But see this is one of those things were like... I can tell it's different from a sort of default neutral mode of speech, but I don't know what that indicates as, like, a point of characterization... Is it specifically condescending? Is it there to sound mechanical or stilted? Is it somehow old fashioned or polite/formal? I have no clue as to these sorts of specifics.

[edit]: I want to reiterate this is a rhetorical device, he's not literally asking a question and waiting for a response. If anything it's functionally the exact opposite, he's saying it to emphasize that he's stating things meant to be taken as facts, it actively closes the dialog off from further questioning.

He also says HOU[ホウ] a lot, which also isn't really a word so much as a sound, but given the pattern in speech above I feel like it's kind of inquisitive, or at least contemplative, which is (i think) how I remember Nakao delivering those lines too. Like a sort of, "Oh?" or "Huh..." or "Hmm..."

And given how close the camera gets to his face most times he says it, it gives an impression of being, not "quiet" exactly, but like you had to be close to hear it, so like, almost under his breath? Like it's clearly a noise he makes to himself, it's not like a thing or expression he's making to the other people int he scene.

FUU[フウ] or alternatively HUU, and I think once or twice FUN'/HUN'[フン] as a sort of grunt? not quite as guttural as that, but not quite a sigh? Like a "hmpf."

He also does your classic YARE YARE[ヤレヤレ] which definitely isn't unusual or unique to him but it has this kind "tut tut" or "tch"/"tsk" tone to it and tends to translated very loosely like, "oh my" or "good grief", but I think of it more like a "well, well, well..." but like kind of implicitly more exasperated than that sounds in english?

I don't know where to start trying to qualify, like... what kind of character says yare yare a lot, but it's definitely something that suits some characters more than others, and Mayuri it definitely fits.

He tends to laugh like ...KU KU...[...クク...] which is a kind of sharp snigger, sneer, or scoff. He really doesn't guffaw or cackle or have much of a more typical dramatic villain laugh, it's very understated.

Although in his fight with Pernida he does let out a full on maniacal FUHAHAHA[フハハハ] laugh for the first time in the whole series

I do love the fonts Kubo uses for a lot of Mayuri's dialog. At a certain point he starts to lean intothe same basic font as everyone else, but particualrly at the beginning he switches between a few unusual ones that are specific to Mayuri.

One's got that rough kind of pseudo handwritten quality to it. It reads to me as kind of scratchy, like a sharp pen nib on thick matte paper, with a kind of clotty ink flow that starts thick and wet but sorta tapers out too fast, leaving the lines spotty and rough.

But he also alternated with a thicker rounder font that has these subtle curls to them that I don't see other character use often.

and then he's got a second font choice that basically has all the same tones as the first one, except maybe a bit, like, louder(?) implicitly just based on context? It tends to be used in creepy action scenes where as the thinner one is more for creepy conversation?

In his very first appearance he chastises Gin, and he changes font between sentences, giving a very distinct sense that it's a change in tone. It reads to me like a low heavy hiss, almost like his voice is normally shallow or throaty, but when the font changes he suddenly drops his voice into a chestier range and speaks almost more smoothly?

Then there's just the perfectly regular fonts he uses sometimes, basically any/every other character uses these same fonts at some point or another.

and he has a neat thin wispy font that he only uses the one time when he liquefies himself. Along with the voice bubbles used, it gives a super distinct impression of his voice barely being audible.

He also one time speaks enthusiastically in an italic version of the more standard font when he arrives in Hueco Mundo.

And then in the Hell Jaw one shot he just has a completely different standard font because Kubo probably didn't keep track of what fonts he'd been using from like 8 years ago

There's also a subtly funky sort of font he uses briefly in the tbtp sidestory? I dunno what to say about this honestly. It gives me these vague 60s-70s vibes that I can't quite place? (I feel like I know i've seen it before but on what? A bowling alley sign? A little back alley cafe? a jazz album cover??)

I have no idea that the take away from that is supposed to be though.

And I guess that's it. I dunno how I thought I was gonna end this. It didn't really reveal any new facets to his character that weren't pretty apparent from the rest of his whole design and demeanor. Plus Nakao's performance in the anime basically nails all of this and i think makes it pretty apparent in tone even if you don't know much about Japanese.

[shihalyfie]

I really hate how the Tamers dub gets rid of the subplot of Jian’s family being discriminated against. Can you go into more depth about that?

It's something that's mostly very subtle and isn't spotlighted in detail, but during the early episodes when Yamaki's being a jerk to just about everyone in the vicinity, one of the things he does is maliciously misread Jian and his dad's Chinese names using their Japanese readings. At first it can be passed off as him just struggling to figure out how it's read (it's already difficult to figure out how to read names even in native Japanese unless you ask the person themself), but the above exchange in episode 13 occurs that makes it clear that Yamaki's attitude is that he can't be bothered to care about how to read it correctly. "That's not how we read it in Japan" is basically him going "that's your fault for being in our country and not doing things the way we do here."

As you said, this isn't reflected in the American English dub, but there are some considerations here:

First of all, the original Japanese version is also still somewhat guilty. While it was uncommon for Japanese anime to take into consideration the idea of representing the actual Chinese student population (and still is now), Tamers is still a bit sloppy about it; its own names are taken from Chinese actor names without any regard for whether the readings are Mandarin or Cantonese ("Jianliang" itself is Mandarin). Pot, meet kettle.

This is not an issue that's easy to recognize unless you're familiar with Japanese-Chinese social dynamics and the concept of "names that can be read differently" across said languages. Naturally, it's probably clear when I explain it the way I did above, but when something's going through a translator and then editor without this kind of explanation, it may not immediately jump out to someone unfamiliar and they may not realize it's supposed to be a thing. Even if they did recognize it, it's definitely something unlikely to make sense to the average American kid who's not familiar with how either language works. An anime dub doesn't have the luxury of being able to write multiple-paragraph asides to explain things like this, so sometimes you really do have no choice but to skip it.

And finally, if they did reflect it...that would call attention to the fact said American English dub is doing this exact same nonsense. In a series dub where most of the names are either left as-is in Japanese, changed to other Japanese names, or barely modified, "Henry" and "Suzie" are the most blatantly overhauled names for the obvious reason that their names are Chinese and thus were probably considered "more difficult". This is why I have to remind people that dub name changes being as aggressive as they are float a very dangerous line between "accessibility" and being straight-up racist -- remember that for some reason 02's dub was putting out "Yolei" as a name that's somehow supposed to be more internationally accessible than "Miyako" and yet is so uncommon and obscure that it's constantly misspelled and mispronounced all the time. I do think that there is a certain degree changes are warranted for accessibility (when names are likely to accidentally sound like exising words in the target language, when they really are that phonetically incompatible, or when wordplay is involved), but "Asian names are Weird and Bad" is still a huge motive behind these things, and this is the kind of sentiment that gets propagated further if you're too aggressive about forcing name changes down people's throats.

[zaphiyy207]

Rambling

You know, I would like to try and get out of my comfort. I have been rambling a lot to my friend (bless her for dealing with me) so here's me making blog, rambling about Kirby just to deal with me brain rotting about this pink puff game and its characters (mostly the RTDL Squad). I have a lot of headcanons and ideas that perhaps sharing with the community for shits and giggles is somewhat of a decent idea I suppose. Maybe it could be your entertainment who knows.

I'm focusing on speech pattern, because there's a lot of possibility on how they talk and speak, and I like trying to differentiate them in writing or just daydreaming them to pass the time

[Note: I am focusing on the main four. The others will be added soon once I've played more Kirby games.]

I'm also comparing them with the anime as it's the only media that they talked in full sentences (aside from Kirby and Bandana).

— King Dedede

(before FL) would have talk a lot and have a gruffier voice. Somewhat a little rough as it's coming from the base of the throat type of rough.

(After FL) He would have a slightly raspy voice due to him yelling and roaring a lot forcefully which strained his voice. Compared to the anime, I would see him speaking a little quieter and don't talk as much as his counterpart (to heal his voice).

He uses informal words where the g is silent despite being royalty, and have interesting combination of words that sounded strange to an outsider and yet make sense in Dreamland. (Native slangs in Dreamland, I haven't think much of an example) Despite the impolite or somewhat a little rude manner speech, his tone is upbeat which made him more friendly than menacing (despite his large figure)

He would have a slight hint of southern/texan accent and talks fast paced. I do hc that Dreamlanders have Japanese accent rather than English, not sure how to word it out.

— Bandana Waddle Dee

His voice would sounds somewhat a young teen (considering both Kirby and BWD are youngsters) so he'll sound like 13 - 15 at most? Since waddle dees have high pitch voices in FL and RTDL DX, his sentence sometimes ended up in a higher note. Bandana would stutter in his speech sometimes due to anxiety spikes or due to his tongue just stumbled (twisted?) which confused him on what he was about to say. Otherwise, he speaks fairly well. He's also silent and wouldn't say much during serious situations as he always zoned out and focused very much in battles or some serious situations that needed him to strategise.

Considering he spent a lot of time with Kirby, he adopted some of Kirby's speech mannerism with occasional hum in between to think of specific words or just occasional one liners like a joke (You know, like quoting a vine or something but it's an inside joke between the friends).

He also adopted some of Dedede's and Meta Knight's speech mannerism and accents during serious moments. It is quite subtle between the three, but if he's around the waddle dees, it's fairly obvious how different his accent and speech mannerism compared to the other waddle dees.

Bandana has slight bit of southern/texan and spanish. Though it's mostly Japanese (native accent of Dreamland)

— Kirby

Now this is mostly centering around hc of mine of both Kirby and Meta Knight

He has a bubbly voice, following the game voice clips of Kirby. which made him sounds younger than his supposed age range. Compared to his anime counterpart, he has a little deeper voice and accented.

Due to him being energetic, he tends to cut people off which he knows it's bad but he just can't help it. He tried to curb that habit from his friends reminding him or forcing himself to stop and apologized.

Kirby's speech mannerism is a little funny imo. He misused complicated words with meanings he thinks it meant even though it's actually very far off. Meta Knight and Bandana always corrected him afterwards. (He's very embarrassed). He's actually quite nice and polite. It's just that he's very blunt which made him sounded rude and kind of a 'kind' insult even though it's supposed to be a compliment.

Kirby sometimes has a stroke and just said the most confusing abomination of a stroke sentence due to his brain mouth speaking faster than his brain could process, which the others looked at him after a few moments of silence like "what".

Kirby has Halcandra accent when he first came to Popstar and from influenced by Dream Friends, he now has mixed accents (like someone who learned English as their second language and has both UK and US accent). His accents also changed according to Dream Friends, like if he's with Taranza, he has more Florarian accent, if he's with the animal friends, he has more Japanese accent. His original accent comes out around Magolor and Meta Knight. Though his original accent also is slowly disappearing after living in Popstar for so long.

— Meta Knight

Compared to his anime counterpart (JP and ENG), he has deeper voice and slight spanish and Halcandra accent but more Japanese as he was on Popstar longer than Kirby. He also has change of speech mannerism between work mode and relax mode which isn't too noticeable.

Work mode has him talk in short and straight to the point. His tone is more apathetic and curt kind of way? Not with the intention of being rude but it's a way to get others to focus on their work and responsibilities. He has a lot of complicated and bigger words because all this time he reads the dictionary (/j). When he's under pressure, Halcandrian words slipped out and he just speak in full Halcandra which others just nodded along watching him rage for just a moment. This includes curse words. Meta Knight is also silent like BWD as he's also focusing on the fight which he zoned out sometimes.

Relax mode however has him talk more than usual which his tone is a little light, his body language is a little slack as well as his expression not narrowed or angry looking (Of course, it's not obvious because of the mask but the three noticed the difference right away). He still has the habit of brooding because he's workaholic.

He's also very blunt, a trait share with Kirby because of their origins (HC!!). Meta Knight served as Kirby's translator when the little Astral had a hard time explaining what words he wanted to say. He understood the struggle of learning a new language.

Meta Knight also has a stroke like Kirby which happened very rarely nowadays but it always happened when he woke up without a caffeine (hot choco) to kick start his brain or if he has little sleep due to overwork. It also includes Halcandrian slangs which Magolor cackled like a psychopath and Kirby just nodded along as he understood half of what he said.

And that's it, if you come this far consider me being very surprised because this is a way for me to just let out my brainrot moments. Will this turn into a series? Maybe, we'll see how it goes

What do you guys think? What is your view on how the four would speak?

[kohakhearts]

hey that pokemon 2000 gifset + your jn dub analysis made me think about the pokemon 2000 dub - I've only seen it subbed once (compared to the hundred times I watched it dubbed as a child) so I could be misremembering, but didn't the dub completely change the themes of the movie with the chosen one ash thing?

i actually haven’t watched the sub nearly as many as times as the dub either :p but i have read extensively about this topic bc it’s personally my favourite pokemon movie and yes! the first and second pokemon movies are both victim to this (like mewtwo’s epic speech we all love so much at the end of the first movie…being a complete fabrication by the dub team :p you gotta give those writers credit - they were VERY good at what they did), largely i’m guessing due to cultural values and expectations. since they were trying to sell the anime to an american audience, not a japanese one.

tangentially, i will say i also think that’s the root of this like…subtle distinction some people have between the characters “ash” and “satoshi.” i don’t differentiate them in any big way myself because fundamentally they still are very much the same, but it is true that in japanese, ash has somewhat different mannerisms and responds differently to events at times, especially in the early anime when it was so much easier to get away with making big changes for…a big assortment of reasons haha.

in THIS movie in particular, some of those things are like…well. the prophecy is probably the most obvious change. the dub team rewrote it to include the chosen one reference, which works great because of the word play on ash’s name. in japanese, it just says “an exceptional trainer will appear to help calm the wrath of the gods.” ash’s response to this is more mild trepidation than outright fear. he doesn’t hesitate like he does in the dub. and tbh? both reactions make perfect sense for his character in my opinion.

in japanese, his concern is more "do you really think i can fit that role?" this...tracks pretty well with his character development by this point. like yeah he said he could win the indigo league, but he's also thinking about dropping out after gary loses; it's that little grain of insecurity he has, which he's normally good at covering up with arrogance (a lot of which is also very genuine, don't get me wrong). but he sees the opportunity to help and he takes it. that's just...what ash does.

in english, though, the prophecy is pretty clearly about him. there's no one else it could be. it has to be him. and he...doesn't like that? that scares him. which, fair. anyone would be terrified by being singled out like that. it's also so much...not ash's thing, even at this point in the series. his character development is about embracing having to work hard to do well. to keep trying until you get it right, no matter how many times you get it wrong. the idea of being a "chosen one" completely robs him of his ability to be so single-minded about what he wants his destiny to be that it manifests as pre-determined; it just...pre-determines it for him, if that makes sense. lol.

the thesis of the japanese version of the film is that no one person or pokemon can stand on their own. everyone needs help. it's about harmonizing with each other and with nature. about letting others help you, and helping them in turn. the english version rewrites that into a story about power and destiny. the title alone says it all, right? it's called "the power of one" - no reference to lugia, no reference to the birds. in japan, the title is about the revelation (or "birth") of lugia.

westerners love a good chosen one story, so this was a really good choice by the dub team in that respect. i mean, it's a narrative that's stuck really well. fandom loves chosen one ash! in general, western fanbases are really into this narrative. it's everywhere. and there's a lot that goes into that, culturally, and especially religiously, historically, etc. so at the end of the day, i don't think the change is so much about conflicting ideas about collectivism and individualism. it's more about goals and ideals, on a personal level.

let me say again for the 273456784th time, i love that they resolved ash's story by having him realize that the goal he's really been striving for all this time is to meet and befriend pokemon. to learn from them. to earn their trust. it's like...he did the thing that everyone else thought represented his goal, maybe even himself included, only to realize that his dream was never about the end of it anyway. it was about everything he learnt and everyone he met along the way. (i also suspect nobody writing in 1997 knew that that would be the ultimate resolution, either. but it makes sense in the entire context. it's kind of a nice irony, even. to only figure it out after writing the story :p)

and i think this little distinction is important to that goal! it's his whole character! which is why even though i too love chosen one characters, i don't necessarily think of ash as one. because even if he is, his whole Thing is that he wants to try. a lot of the chosen one narrative is about characters being reluctant to be used for a "greater good," or about them collapsing under that pressure. ash doesn't really have that. he does what he thinks is right because he...thinks it's right. sometimes, sure, others have to push him into it a bit, but usually they're actually pushing the other way - it's too dangerous, you're going to get hurt, etc. and to me, i don't know - thinking of times he's died, or nearly died, and some legendary or mythical pokemon has saved him at the last minute...i don't think that has to mean he's special in a cosmic sort of way. i think it just means he's special to them. that he did something for them, or for someone else they had come to care for (thinking manaphy responding to may's emotions, not just to the fact that ash was drowning, or in mpm ash convincing latios to trust him because of their mutual desire to save latias, etc.), and so they want to help him. which is completely opposite to the typical chosen one narrative, i think? because he doesn't do those things out of obligation...he does them because he thinks he can become a better trainer by doing them, and he wants to do that. and well. he did do that.

anyway my tl;dr here is YES they changed the theme a lot haha, but i find it fun that they also changed the characters’ responses to that theme. funnily that’s…kind of also what fanfiction writers do all the time, lmao, but that’s a whole other conversation.

[thyandrawrites]

Hello! Hope you are having an amazing day!

I just wanted to ask since flowers have different meanings based on culture what do rei's flowers she had in the hospital represent?

Hi! I’m doing okay, thank you.

I can’t really answer about the cultural aspect because I’m not japanese and I’d never heard about this flower before bnha. I’m also no expert on plants or flower language, but I didn’t want to answer this with a simple “I don’t know” so I did a quick google search. 

take all of what follows with a grain of salt because I’m basing it off a single (if thorough) article in japanese, which I inputted in a machine translator (DeepL, which is at least a much better tool than google). Sorry about that too btw but I didn’t have the spoons to approach such a huge text with my current skill level. I double-checked the relevant bits with a dictionary, at least! 

So, here are some highlights: 

-it’s apparently called Gentian in English. Also known as Autumn Bellflower. It blooms between September and November and as such it’s associated with the arrival of fall. It also seems to grow wild,

which aligns with what we’ve seen in the flashbacks. Rei comes across a bush of wild rindou and stops to watch them, and Enji notices 

-It seems to me that Hori chose this flower in particular for fairly straightforward reasons. Quoting from the abovementioned source:  “Although it is tolerant of cold, it does not fare well in hot weather.” Which is almost word by word canon text from this scene: 

This feeling is further emphasized by the fact that when Enji narrates his first meeting with Rei, the flowers appear again exactly when he’s saying this about her temperament: 

The thematic point here is less the flowers themselves imho, and more the dichotomy between ice and fire as metaphors of opposite dispositions. Throughout the story, fire is repeatedly associated with hotheadedness, with passion, with strong and overflowing, irrational feelings. Think of Shouto summoning his flames for the first time in years when he’s in emotional turmoil during the sports festival. Think of Touya going out in a blazing tornado when he can’t stop crying. And then compare it to Shouto’s aloof, ice-prince persona, to his emotional repression back when he only used his ice side. Fire is thematically attached to impulsiveness, to the strong pull of emotions. Ice, instead, is typically associated with self-restraint, willpower and cool-headed principles.

Enji compares Rei to ice because she’s able to go along with the arranged marriage despite knowing it was a contract to bear Enji’s children. In other words, she’s ice because she’s able to remove her emotions from her choice, and thus face it with her head held high. She’s rational, calm and collected about it. 

But, and here’s where the flowers come in, ice is strong in winter but brittle in the heat. Rei’s disposition makes her strong, yes, but also all the more susceptible to her husband’s opposite nature. 

I think that’s all there is to it, really. Horikoshi doesn’t strike me as the kind of author who goes above and beyond to add complex and cryptic symbolism to his writing. His style is generally pretty transparent, when he adds any symbolism at all. See the gripping hands as a metaphor for abuse, the hands reaching out as a metaphor for help, and the eating around a dinner table together as a way to hint towards an eventual family reconnection. Hori isn’t particularly subtle imho, so that’s why I never really bothered delving deep into hanakotoba. 

However, if you wanted to give it a shot anyway, here’s what the same article says about it: 

“The language of gentian flowers includes "victory," "sense of justice," "stand by you in your sorrow," and "lonely love. “Victory" and "a sense of justice" are derived from the fact that gentian has been used as a medicinal herb since ancient times and is associated with the image of "overcoming illness”. The words "to be close to your sorrow" and "lonely love" seem to be derived from the fact that it grows wild by itself without growing in clusters. In addition, the words "full confidence" and "chastity" are given to the purple and white gentian, respectively.” [Source]  

I personally consider this part a bit more of a stretch, but if we wanted to take the hanakotoba approach, maybe Horikoshi also chose this flower to show Rei’s progress towards recovery. After all, she is holding it while she faces Enji in that hospital room:

She’s no longer dwelling on her sadness, on her sorrows, but overcoming it. At this point, she's no longer an inpatient in a mental hospital, but she's facing her fears head on. There's a determined glint in her eyes now, and she's no longer afraid of saying what she always wanted to say. "Our children are suffering, and our pain comes second to soothing theirs because we are their parents." And now she's no longer melting away (like ice) or wilting (like flowers) when facing that heat.

I hope that makes sense!

[lulu2992]

I read your thoughts with interest. It's very interesting because it includes sources and explanations, and I'm glad that most of it agrees with my opinion. Well, I played "Far Cry New Dawn" in Japanese (because I'm Japanese. I'm translating the English, so I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense) In particular, there are facts and characters' behavior that are different from 5, especially Nick's character, so isn't "New Dawn" a parallel world to "Far Cry 5"? I think. What do you think about that?

Thank you for your message! And don’t worry about your English; what you wrote makes sense and I’m not a native speaker either, so I certainly won’t judge you :)

As far as I know, although there are discrepancies between Far Cry 5 and New Dawn and the games’ writers weren’t exactly the same, it’s never been officially said that they took place in parallel universes. It didn’t seem to me that Nick’s behavior had significantly changed in the French and English versions, but if you noticed a difference in Japanese, I suppose it’s possible that his Japanese voice actor played him a little differently in the sequel. It’s just a hypothesis, but I’ve seen that happen several times and noticed that the way characters sounded could completely change my perception of them!

For example, in the French version of Far Cry 3, Jason sounds angry and aggressive most of the time, so I was surprised when I played the game in English and realized his “true” self wasn’t like that at all. Similarly, in my opinion, something in Faith Seed’s French voice makes her sound childish and disingenuous, but I think she’s a more subtle (and likable) character in the original English version.

In any case, even though Far Cry New Dawn doesn’t officially take place in a different world, I agree with you that it feels like it does. The story has qualities, the new characters aren’t bad, and the game is pretty, but because of the inconsistencies, I personally don’t consider it canon...

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 2: Arrival at Rokkenjima

Sat, Oct 4 1986 - 10:30AM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

I want to quickly take some time at the start of each new chapter to go over any tidbits that arise from the tips/character information.

Getting a proper look at both of them, it’s funny to see how much of Rudolf’s design just feels like an inverted Battler. We have black shoes versus white shoes, a white suit versus a dark one, Battler’s red to Rudolf’s blue… It’s also neat to note that they wear the One Winged Eagle on different sides. While we’ve already established the two are alike and a reflection of Kinzo, it’s neat to see how much Battler tries to go against his father (even if, in the end, they’re very much the same - colours aside, they basically wear the same getup).

I also think there’s a tangible parallel to be made between Battler disowning his parents, and Yasu’s rejection of Kinzo. I don’t think it’s particularly tight at this point in the story, but it’s a similarity between them which I think helps the bond.

It’s very funny how Hideyoshi’s entry makes reference to the Ushiromiya family having “spiteful” genes. Yasu to a T there.

Also, I kind of noticed it in Chapter 1, but what is up with Kyrie’s cheese cutter pattern on her shirt? I think I just thought it was a decorative pattern when I first read this, but it’s absolutely just a ton of diamond holes showing off her side. I’ve seen Jojo characters with more realistic outfits than this.

Anyway, onto the actual story - first thing of note is how much they’re pushing George as being “good with kids”, when it’s Battler who actually gets Maria and is able to play around with her. George seems good with kids in a traditional sense, but Battler is the one that Maria’s actually having fun with. It paints a pretty fascinating picture of Yasu’s mental state when this is framed through her authorship.

I already got into it in Chapter 1, but Rosa is definitely being framed quite positively this early on. No further points to make, just acknowledging it.

There’s a discussion of being a womaniser on a genetic level which, as always, is a fun little nod to Kinzo and his past antics. Honestly at this point it’s a fair assumption that any reference to genetic or family traits is directly referencing something from Kinzo’s past.

Ah, the wilting rose scene. I was definitely of the mindset of “who cares what the child thinks about a stupid rose” during my initial read, but this time around… I kind of can’t help but wonder if Maria is implanting herself on the rose? The feelings of being abnormal - or worse than others - in a blooming sea of conformity. If that’s the case, there’s no wonder that she ends up caring so much about it, and wanting to see it prosper - as a proxy of herself.

This ties back into the “narrative keeps saying George is good with kids”, but there’s an awful lot of writing here where a character will do something and then other characters (and the narrative itself) spends some time commending them for it. Through the lens of Yasu’s writing and reflecting the beliefs that societal normativity have implanted in her, that these things are good not because she admires these traits but because she’s expected to - it’s interesting. Without that perspective, which you won’t have without already knowing the story back to front? It’s really suffocating.

Fun little thing in the english translation - when Kanon appears, there’s a small pause in the dialogue before referring to him as “...a slender boy”. That doesn’t seem to be there in the Japanese, so it’s not intentional, but I’m glad to see subtle gender commentary by sheer coincidence.

Ah, first reference to furniture. Can’t wait for the narrative to rip my heart out with this as we go through with the understanding of what seeing themselves as “less than human” really entails.

You can honestly read this both ways as Yasu being taken aback by her crush’s forwardness, or just the general surprise of being helped after a life that has done nothing but beat her down. I think I’m leaning slightly towards the latter here purely on personal preference, since adding that bittersweet element to this scene makes it hurt in all the right ways.

You know, I’m torn between deciding whether the constant pauses are Yasu trying to keep up a “cool, mysterious boy” facade as Kanon, or whether her brain is just going “oh… hot boy…” constantly and causing her to stutter.

Oh, Battler just helped pick up some heavy bags and got physically close? Okay, yeah, absolutely the latter. Yasu’s “HOT BOY” thoughts are going haywire right now.

Yeah, I’m sure you did keep going over “big and strong” Battler in your mind.

This scene is really just oozing with the feel of a self-indulgent self-insert fanfic. I’m not even kidding, you could have this scene almost 1 for 1 with an author as Kanon and a celebrity crush of their choice as Battler. No dialogue changes necessary. Again, one of those things that you could never catch the first time round, but seems blatantly obvious on a re-read.

Very funny to see Jessica deflecting on the matter of Kinzo and then laughing at “I hope he doesn’t come out of the study again”. You don’t really think about it the first time round, but man is she bad at lying. I like seeing her make humour out of it as a coping mechanism, that’s quite endearing.

I’d forgotten how merciless Eva was from the beginning. I don’t necessarily think that she’s getting particularly good characterisation out of it, but she’s probably the adult making the biggest impression on the reader at this point. I can’t help but wonder how Eva would be portrayed in a Forgery penned by Ange.

Shannon is really being pushed as meek at this point. We’ve gone from self-indulgent fanfic to effectively vent art. I wonder how Yasu felt writing herself as flawed and having other characters chastise her for it.

Oh neat, we have our first scene of Yasu talking to themselves. It’s interesting how we go for misdirection from the get-go by having Genji appear as well in the scene - I’m sure plenty of other writers attempting to do something like this would have started out by just showing Kanon and Shannon by themselves the first few times, and working up to showing them with other unreliable sources. Ryukishi really went for the kill here.

That said, it’s interesting how Genji doesn’t actually talk to Kanon in this scene - you can quite easily read this as Yasu arguing in her own head while Genji talks to her, oblivious of what her internal dialogue is actually saying. I wonder if this will stay consistent throughout - I think I remember scenes where the servants address both Shannon and Kanon, but it’ll be interesting to see which ones are necessarily fantasy and which ones could actually play out in reality.

He sure does, Kumasawa.

End of Chapter.

[koppiki]

Chapter 18 Released!

I'm in a bit of a weird state with all of this because I'm so far ahead (I just pretty much finished chapter 20 the other day)... it's almost like I've forgotten about these chapters. Like, "wow wasn't this plot point a really long time ago???" but it just hadn't been typeset yet.

Anyways, chapter 18. There's a lot of fun stuff in there! For one, I think my two friendos on the cleaning/redrawing went absolutely HAM on everything here. The sfx are great! I don't know if it's immediately obvious, but we've also started using a ton of new fonts. Hopefully the variety is nice.

Page 48 is a really good example of this-

Wow! How nice! Both in the font variety and in the typesetting.

Speaking of, I think the new font we found for Fuka (as he is a different font in Japanese in much the way Grey is) is really good. It conveys how loud he is without being harder to read/too out of place.

Another side note- I think the typesetting on this panel looks REALLY good. Like, it's so subtle but...

That sort of... y'know, variation? It looks SO NICE! I love making some words bigger (I specifically asked for it here, you see).

Also, if you think the word "humane" is a weird choice... it's all I had! Plus it's a 1:1 translation from Japanese (far as I can tell, there's no differing context between English/Japanese there), so... it's fine. It's supposed to be weird (I believe the strangeness/ill-defined nature of it is mentioned in ch 19?).

Gosh, looking back on it... this chapter has some really nice landscape-ish spreads. Like, just that sense of cluttered-ness is so great.

Shinozaki sure is cute, isn't he?

Look at my beautiful boy here (side note, just learned that you can panel images on Tumblr, as shown above). Yuuyake's so cute, too. What a big dork she is. I love her earnestness too. Gosh, I can't wait to get to volume 6... there's so much GOOD STUFF THERE! SO many good faces, so much good paneling... but I must hold off a bit. Have to revise 19+20 still (I'm sure I made a bunch of mistakes).

Eh, whatever! I'll worry about that when we come to it. Speaking of worrying about things, we've been thinking of redoing a lot of the earlier chapters. Not to be too harsh, but... they kinda suck. Like, not badly, just... they're okay. Not to mention how I'm sure I mistranslated a bunch of stuff. It's okay since it was a learning experience. Getting through all that was necessary!

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve what we did. Might do that after finals.

I've said a good amount here, not that it means much of anything in the end... I just need this outlet so I don't endlessly gush about Shinozaki-kun to literally everyone I know. What a little creature I am, huh?

[kaialone]

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Facing Mecha Knight

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover the cutscene where Kirby encounters Susie for the second time, and ends up battling Mecha Knight.

You can also watch this cutscene for yourself in English and Japanese.

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

--

Meeting Susie Again:

Secretary Susie:

おーお〜 いーだいな ハールトマン〜

Oh, great Haltmann~  (1)

Noble Haltmann, we adore him

Secretary Susie:

おーお〜 いーだいな ハールトマン〜

Oh, great Haltmann~

Noble Haltmann, we adore him!

Secretary Susie:

永遠にー 果てなくー 栄えよ〜

May you prosper, unending, for all eternity~

Every day we wish him glory!

Secretary Susie:

……おっと、 たいへん しつれい いたしました。

...Oh dear, how terribly rude of me.

Oh! Pardon me.

Secretary Susie:

われらが カンパニーの すばらしい社歌、

「銀河に名立たるハルトマン」。

That was our company's marvelous theme song,

"Haltmann, Famed Across the Galaxy".

That was our company's wonderful theme song, "The Noble Haltmann."

Secretary Susie:

ついつい 口ずさんで しまいましたわ。

I was just overcome with the urge to sing it to myself.

Sometimes I just find myself singing it out loud. It's so catchy!

Secretary Susie:

さて… また、お会いしましたね。

Now then... It appears we meet again.

At any rate, I must say, how nice to see you again.

Secretary Susie:

秘書スージーでございます。

It is I, Secretary Susie.

I'm Susie, but I'm sure you remember me.

Secretary Susie:

そうそう、 ワタクシ 最近…

Oh yes, just recently...

Let me tell you a story.

Secretary Susie:

とーっても ステキな 方に お会いしましたわ。

I met with the most wonderful person.

Not long ago, I met someone who impressed me very much.

Secretary Susie:

いさましくて クールで、 ハイレベルな剣士様…

Valiant and cool, a truly high-class swordfighter...

He was strong and full of confidence... A knight of the highest order.

Secretary Susie:

で、せっかく お会いできたの ですから、

And, since I was fortunate enough to meet him,

I was so impressed...

Secretary Susie:

ちょっぴり全身カイゾウして…

I have subjected him to just a tiny full-body reconstruction...

I gave him a complete remodel!

Secretary Susie:

わが社の セキュリティマシンと させて いただきました。

And given him the privilege of being a security machine for our company.

And I hired him as a company security guard.

Secretary Susie:

ウフフ…

Uhuhu...

Heehee! I wonder what you'll make of him?

Secretary Susie:

お気に めして いただける かしら？

I wonder if he will be to your liking?

Please allow me to present...

Secretary Susie:

プロダクトNo. M-７１１０、 「メタナイトボーグ」よ…

Now, Product #M-7110,  (2) "Meta Knight Borg"...

Model #M-7110. Mecha Knight...

Secretary Susie:

おゆきなさい！

Get to it, please!

ENGAGE!

Translation Notes:

I translated the lyrics that Susie is singing here directly, so they don’t go exactly with the melody in my translation, but they do in the original Japanese.

There’s actually a Japanese pun in Mecha Knight’s product number. The number “7″ can be read as “na”, the number “1″ can be read as “i”, and the number “10″ can be read as “to”. When put together, this spells out “naito”, which is a Japanese transliteration of the English word “knight”.

--

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This cutscene is another one without many differences.

If you were to really pick it apart it’s arguably a bit looser than the previous cutscene, like having Susie add a few extra comments, but nothing big.

We do get the first mention of the Haltmann Work Company’s theme song, and there is a lot to say about that.

-

Now, the company’s theme song is hard to talk about without directly addressing details that will come up later in the game, so keep that in mind.

First of all, in English, the song is simply titled “The Noble Haltmann”, whereas in Japanese it’s called 銀河に名立たるハルトマン/Ginga ni Nadataru Harutoman.

I choose to translate the Japanese title as “Haltmann, Famed Across the Galaxy”, but it could also be translated as “The Galaxy-Famous Haltmann” or the like.

So, there’s a bit of a difference between the titles here, with the English version feeling a bit more grounded and reserved in its worship of Haltmann, but that’s not all there is to it.

The Japanese title of this song is a subtle reference to the Japanese title of the “Milky Way Wishes” mode from Kirby Super Star, where it’s known as 銀河に願いを/Ginga ni Negai o, which roughly translates to ”A Wish Upon the Galaxy”.

The reference is definitely intentional, considering how Planet Robobot features several important callbacks to Milky Way Wishes.

The English version lacks such a reference, but it might have been difficult to come up with one, even if the localizers noticed this detail.

Next up, there’s the song’s actual lyrics, and that’s where things get a bit muddy in English.

Basically, in the Japanese version of this cutscene here, Susie is singing the first line of the song. In the next cutscene, she will sing the second line.

Then, the pause screen during Haltmann’s battle will show the full lyrics of the entire first strophe. And lastly, the final unlock of the game is the music video that features a previously unseen second strophe.

Because of that, in the Japanese version, the player ends up slowly being shown more and more of the song as they play through the game, culminating with the music video.

It’s clearly supposed to be an important build up, considering it’s also the main theme of the game that was specifically written to represent it and its story.

The English version is a lot less consistent with the song and its lyrics.

Here in this scene, Susie is singing “Noble Haltmann, we adore him! Every day we wish him glory!”.

This doesn’t match with Haltmann’s pause screen and the music video later on, where the first line is given as “Noble Haltmann, we adore him, kingly lord of time and space!“, instead.

To make matters more confusing, the former actually goes better with the melody of the song, it seems.

The English version of Haltmann’s pause screen description also only features part of the first strophe, rather than all of the first, and the lyrics that Susie will sing in the next cutscene are taken from the second strophe, which isn’t supposed to come up until the music video.

It’s kinda messy, honestly.

I can only assume this is a result of how game translations usually work.

Things like the text from in-game dialogue, the text from in-game menu screens, and the text from additional extras like the music video are normally internally stored in different places, and often you end up with different people having to translate them, with very little context.

Note that I wouldn’t blame the translator(s) and localizer(s) involved here, because they can’t really help their working conditions.

But whatever the case may be, as a result the English version lacks the neat progression of slowly getting to know the song, the way it’s presented in the Japanese version.

-

With all that general stuff out of the way, let’s have a closer look at the lines Susie sings in this specific cutscene.

In Japanese, she sings “Oh, great Haltmann~ May you prosper, unending, for all eternity~”, while in English she sings “Noble Haltmann, we adore him! Every day we wish him glory!”.

Just like with the song’s title, the English version of this line is a bit more reserved when it comes to practically worshipping Haltmann.

It’s not even like it’s not revering him, it’s just that the Japanese version goes even further with it.

But translating lyrics like this is also something that’s especially difficult, since you need to match the melody of the song, so more differences are to be expected with those.

-

Really a minor thing, but I want to point out this section:

And, since I was fortunate enough to meet him,

I was so impressed…

I have subjected him to just a tiny full-body reconstruction…

I gave him a complete remodel!

And given him the privilege of being a security machine for our company.

And I hired him as a company security guard.

In the Japanese version, the way Susie says that she gave Meta Knight a “tiny full-body reconstruction” is of course a bit of a joke, talking about something so drastic like it’s just a small little thing.

The English version doesn’t retain this directly, but it gives Susie’s dialogue a similar energy here, having her declare that she gave him a complete remodel like it’s something to be excited about.

A bit of a stronger difference is the fact that Susie says she made Meta Knight a “security machine” in Japanese, rather than a “security guard” like in English.

In the Japanese version, there is a stronger impression of Meta Knight being literally turned into an object or product as far as Susie is concerned, and that that’s a good thing in her eyes too.

In English it’s more like she makes him an employee against his will.

-

Finally, Mecha Knight’s product number “#M-7110” is a pun in Japanese, as I explained in the translation notes above.

I think it makes sense that the English version didn’t try to adapt it and just kept it the same, because in English you just have a lot less to work with as far as number puns go.

I can’t help but wonder what might’ve worked though, perhaps something like “#M-98”?

-

And that’s it for this cutscene.

Not a whole lot of differences here again, but more subtle differences are starting to crop up and will continue to add up over time, and we will get to that later.

I want to say that I do really like the localization in this one though, particularly the way Susie’s “swooning” over Meta Knight is written.

It stays close to the original without sounding awkward in English, and captures the basic mood the original version was getting at.

All in all, pretty good.

And with that, feel free to check out the next part!

--

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

--

[cutegirlmayra]

Hiiiiii, I rly like your writing X3 I was wondering if you’d answer this question: What is your interpretation of what SEGA is doing with SonAmy as of right now? Seems like it’s becoming more and more canon. I know you’ve done similar question before, but could you maybe just answer this for 2021? Thanks!💖💙

No problem! And thank you, lovely Anon~<3 I love writing for the feels~ But also for the accuracy to be as close as possible if I can manage it! First of all, they’ve always been canon? Maybe not ‘in-world dating’ canon but canon in the sense that they are a official SEGA advertised couple since the get-go.

Amy was created to literally be in the slot of ‘Sonic’s Girlfriend’ where she had feelings for Sonic and always a fun mystery as to decipher Sonic’s subtle ‘returned caring’ for her.

As for 2021 we are so FREAKIN’ HAPPY to hear that SEGA is FINALLY marketing the two and VISUALLY SEEING the sales of their ‘couple shirts’ and the like make some profit. Furthermore, we have long-time fans and professionals in the careers within SEGA also vocalizing that they don’t mind the couple and even support it. With less emphasis on the ‘fandom fanatics’ of the raging past and more so on the fantastic marketability and popularity the couple brings to SEGA’s exposing their main IP, it’s become almost common ground to expect more and more people liking romantic and suggested romantic couples in all ranging medias.

We need also mention the alarming rate of the worrisome numbers in Japan recently. Conducted studies have shown that most of Japan’s population is elderly, and in the very near future (About 5 years or so) a good chuck of Japan’s population will die. This means the Japanese Government is promoting more and more companies within both entertainment, advertising, etc. to be more ‘promoting family’ in their media. Japan needs more babies! And guess what?

Mario Odyssey comes out with a completely ‘Wedding themed’ video game.

Dramatic romantic underlying's in Zelda’s new game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s focus on romantic underlying’s along with Cloud willingly saying (English version) “Do I have any say in this?” As though to fight the idea that romance can’t happen and-

Kingdom Hearts 3′s romantic underlying that literally has a song (Japanese) talking about rings and getting married called “Chikai” or also ‘Oath’ that in English is rewritten to a romantic song about going deeper into love called “Don’t Think Twice” but literally has the two ‘making their fates intertwined’ in a symbol of ‘romantic intentions’ such as marriage or even just fidelity in a relationship.

So? How does all this influence the latest Sonamy supersonic boom we’ve seen in the media recently?

Although Sonic is his own character, he’s also only 15 (But as many of you have seen in Anime, Japanese ages of appropriateness are different then our own cultures and societies) we see faint glimpses. In the mostly American-made Sonic Boom t.v series, the comedic moments of Sonic and Amy are very much to a genre of American audiences and how we view ‘funny love’ should normally be marketed as. (I don’t always agree with what they say, but that’s how they’re trained and believe the ‘trends’ go... so ... can’t argue with professionals? Eh? -I personally think they’re outdated *cough cough*)

Sonic is not one to express feelings in overly dramatic ways which is common place in American television and media, but he’s also got a ‘boy’s heart’ which means we won’t see a lot of things from him BESIDES ‘romantic underlyings’ that are probably going to be initiated and themed mostly and primarily in Amy Rose’s character (If at all shown or expressed.)

For these reasons, I believe SEGA is just hopping on the bandwagon and doing what they’re told, while also following the latest trends that the other big fellow companies are making a significant profit on. I know we wish and want SEGA to be ‘special’ in how they think, but they really are just a company that is trying to survive and outlast the competition.

It’s sad to think that way, especially when SEGA used to be so creative and always influencing the next best thing but that was YEARS ago and they’ve learned to tread water since then...

(Goku being a grandfather emphasizes family in this particular scene where they take his granddaughter before a big tournament fight to a fair/festival. We see Goku with his family too, or at least, a successful son with his wife and daughter, spending time with his Father-In-Law, and the like.)

We see it in Dragon Ball emphasizing family, we see it in more romance-themed animes (and those that have only recently done romance, when they--for the longest part--never indulged in such things before or previously) and we now see more japanese games and media centralized around that.

What does that mean for Sonamy? Hopefully good things! Because if you buy the merch, they’ll produce more content. It’s a basic ‘supply and demand’ formula. If the demand (meaning how much you spend and want Sonic and Amy couple merch) goes up, then they have to supply to keep their business afloat. If they don’t they sink, but that DOES NOT MEAN TO BE AGRESSIVE. It means just support when they do something you like, and positively, kindly mention what you liked and wish to see more of if the future allows. No one reads aggressive writing unless, they too--wish to be aggressive back.

SEGA’s had issues with aggressiveness before, please let them see that couples in the sonic world won’t have a negative impact on their branding with irrational and bad-media frenzies. (Now, after saying this, I know people will start to do just that, don’t feed fire with fire, just let the fire burn till it has nothing left to consume, and carry on happily posting fanart or fanstories of what you love. Ignore to extinguish, which is what SEGA will do to Sonic shipping fans if we don’t act somewhat reasonably, okay?)

My predictions are such: 1. Amy’s crush will sadly lessen in impact and become more of a novelty, something that is treasured when moments arise to reveal her crush on Sonic, which in my opinion, is not her personality, but due to the heavy influence of women’s portrayal (Especially in America) being overemphasized and not done well, this is how they will try and combat it... (No one does this right and you shouldn’t base a characters solely on political reasonings...) 2. Sonic will have moments of caring for Amy or doing something sweet that can and probably will be interpreted as ‘a couple moment’ but he’ll remain mostly about other things, and the ‘underlying romance’ will have to come through Amy Rose’s character. 3. SEGA will loosen some rules after seeing more and more of the productivity and trend associated with marketing romance, and to keep up with demand and growing times, will finally let small moments emerge between the two, but the fandom will not be satisficed since we will now be desensitized to overly avert demure and oblivious stereotropes that will date their characters. and won’t allow them to proceed smoothly into the new area of customers and audiences.

Children are becoming extremely observant and aware. They are clever, and they always have been. It’s time to market to Children and Young Adults, not babies.

My ways to avoid this, predictions 1: New employees will surface that will start to get a name and reputation in the Sonic Fandom, along with youtube and internet stars who will influence certain marketing schemes (as is starting to appear now, and I feel will be just like ‘star marketing’ or ‘influencers’ that will be popularized in fandoms that companies will slightly make use of.) that will encourage new ideas and bring about a sudden ‘boom’ not expected. (Especially after the lull of the pandemic, I feel there will be an abundance of things happening in the upcoming years... but nothing right now, unfortunately, but at least they’re forced to focus on working on things instead of just releasing to keep up with other companies.)--In other words, they will incorporate new blood with the old, and they will lead Sonic’s IP into a ton of nostalgia and new beginnings that will actually stick and become Sonic’s new brand identity. (This will resonate with fans old and new, but still be a fresh leap into the future for the franchise and fandom.) 2. Sonic’s negative popularity will start to decrease, leading and paving the way for fame and possible adjustments such as more romantic themes to keep up with trends and Japanese Government demands (especially when the population starts to wither and it becomes an emergency situation to start encouraging family ties). Other than sonamy or romantic things, I believe new characters will pop up to ‘test the waters’ and see if we like romance intertwined adventures. 3. Villains will become more sentimental and caring, less comedically, they will be redeemable entities so that the company can market them more. This can also lead into funny romances that help other romances develop and have more meaning. (In other words, they’ll dig into their vault of familiar and new faces, go off the trend of ‘redeeming the villain’ and have more heart-to-heart moments that may inspire more canonical couples... especially if a newer villain were to have a crush that ended up helping two canon characters get together and leave the audience sympathizing more with the villain. This is an actual trend starting where Villains have more character and roles other than just being evil and staying that way till death. I suspect this will be popularized in American and possibly foreign media as time goes on.)

(I actually have a lot of the sonamy shirts lol But here’s an example of the villain actually helping the canon couple have more ‘romantic underlying’ moments together <3)

Those are my current predictions, though I admit that some don’t sound all that hopeful. But hey! All my hopeful and positive predictions have already come true XD Sonamy is being marketed, the new media (Sonic Boom at the time) had subtle but more forward comedic hinting (that I don’t feel went all that well? But eh, that’s just me!), and SEGA continues to try and reface Sonic which his brand doesn’t need. I believe they will still try and rebrand Sonic continually until something sticks for them that they like. Sonamy may go through many iterations, as they are still hesitant with it, and we see that by only marketing their ‘younger selves’ as in Classic Sonamy, and are too ‘shy and uncertain’ if backlash would happen if they advertised a more mature-looking Sonic and Amy marketing. Again, I don’t know if they’ll fully grow out of this, so I predict they won’t.

(I have this one but in black <3 <3 <3)

That’s it for now! My positive last comments would be the more we buy/purchase Sonamy merch, the more we’ll start seeing it in their media and entertainment products. Until then, do your best and write, draw, and review -kindly- to keep those articles of enchantment alive with the sweet sound of--”When will Sonic and Amy finally have a love song AMV moment for us?” lol

[glitterytidalwavedragon]

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

~~

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.  

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

 ^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here? 

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise.  When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji.  So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

[yournameyn]

Feeling Deeply

Genre: Fluff so much fluff. Arranged Marriage fic.

Pairing: Namjoon x OC

A/N: Aaaaaa this is the first fic I'm posting ever ever. It's basically a way to follow the red thread of my desires. OC is named Brishti. She's Indian. She's Bengali & curvy & an introvert. This whole fic is 90% going to be a slow burn fluff fic about two introvert nerds getting to know each other. Seriously there's like hardly any real angst, maybe slight angst about okay when are these two going to bang - if you look very carefully but basically its just slooooow fluuuufff. Hopefully you all like it. Please let me know what you think. Current Chapter: This one is loooong. Remember this is all happening in the 1960s. OC & Namjoon are both really well off first gen immigrants. In this chapter we have our couple coming closer together - talking about some issues they've both had in their lives. Also this is the chapter where you'll get to know one of my favourite Namjoon songs and like why the OC is named what she's named. Also just a reminder because im a bit paranoid - Rim Jhim (referred to as Rim) is our OC Brishti. Its a pet name that's introduced in this chapter. And Namjoon being the wordsmith that he is makes it shorter, with the korean meaning of the word.

Previously in Feeling Deeply: Preface-ish Chapter 1

Chapter 2

And so it went for the next few days, the two of them quietly discovering each other. They were finding out the normal, casual, small things - how he didn’t like mint chocolate, how she loved bitter black coffee. Since both of them worked, they decided to split the chores at home. It worked out great because Namjoon liked to sweep & Brishti loved to do the dishes. They both struggled to cook but they decided to learn how to cook each other’s cuisines. So she was learning how to make kimchi (the green onion one) & he was learning how to prepare daal (the yellow one). They split the rent & decided to create a separate bank account for their savings. Talking about money increased warmth because they discovered that neither valued it excessively.

Slowly, they began talking about things a little more intimate. Meanings of names were revealed. She was impressed that his name meant genius. And he loved that hers meant rain. Pet names were introduced. He called her Rim - an even shorter version of her daak naam Rim Jhim. He told her to call him Joon. She looked away, smiling, then - silently telling him they’re not there yet. What he didn’t tell her was that he was already making up a fairytale about Joon, the genius & Rim, the brilliant jade that makes him so.

They spoke about books the most. Between them, they had half the globe's literature covered. She had read Indian authors & Russian & Spanish ones. He loved Korean authors, Japanese literature & all the Greek Classics. He geeked out about philosophy & poetry while she nerded over nature writing & music. They spoke about how they might take a look at other European writers & musicians together. To that end, Namjoon brought home a book of love poems by Rilke.

He hadn’t told her that he wrote poetry too. He hadn’t mentioned anything because it seemed like an indulgence of the past, poetry. But that night everything changed. After a late dinner, Brishti had asked to read aloud from the book he’d brought. As she read ‘To Music’, Namjoon saw tears float in her eyes. Secretly, something inside him had wept too. And just like that, he knew he would begin writing soon.

Each week the two watched late shows of classic hollywood musicals in a nearby theatre because they’d decided against a tv in their home - opting, instead, for a record player. Meeting for a movie each of the two Fridays they’d spent together so far was an experience both looked forward to - not only for the movie. In the darkness of the movie theatre, they experienced the first glimpses of intimacy. Soft smiles, whispering, silent glances, hands caressing each other. He loved how she laughed with abandon. She loved that he would tear up during the emotional scenes.

Her smile was getting wider, warmer toward him, Namjoon noted everyday. He’d been sleeping separately since their wedding night because he wanted her to feel safe. He was mostly okay with that except if he thought about it… If he thought about a time when he would get to touch her - Namjoon almost felt dizzy with feelings.

This happened the most when he saw her read by the window, he ached to touch her. That was her - Brishti - that was who she was at her core. Reading, running her fingers through her short hair, staring out the window, thinking, looking at clouds & then going back to reading. She was still quiet, but less so. She spoke about the rain and the trees and when she was happiest, he learned, when she really trusted that no one was going to judge her, she spoke about the moon. It had happened twice in the last few days.

He couldn’t stop looking at her. As though that needed reasoning, he thought about it at the office too. It wasn’t the only answer he could come up with but Namjoon had never seen a body like hers. She didn’t seem brittle or delicate, the way most women looked - or were “supposed to look”. She didn’t care what a body is supposed to look like, at least, it seemed that way to him. Brishti’s curves were not subtle. She was short and while almost everyone was shorter than him, Brishti was just… sexily so. She’d do these things… seemingly normal, everyday things but they would quickly, embarrassingly, inspire an arousal in him. Like, that thing she did, when she stretched after waking up or even if she stretched her arms or her neck… for some reason that turned him on so much, he’d have to hide… or excuse himself. His breath hitched, everytime he thought about how he hadn’t still actually seen her body.

Brishti, too, enjoyed looking at him from afar. Sharing, creating a living space with a man was never something she thought she would enjoy. They had exchanged the basic stories of how they had reached each other.

Namjoon had said, “I’d met a couple of women… girls… but they just seemed either plastic or porcelain… you know? I mean, not all of them could have been that but that's how they… presented themselves? You… I saw your photos in a pile that the matchmaker labelled ‘rubbish’”

“What?!”

“Yeah… I’m sorry but it’s actually a compliment to be labelled ‘bad’ by a matchmaker. That’s why I was looking in that pile in the first place… when I heard you wanted to keep working… Honestly I was so relieved...”

She smiled, “At least you got a look at me… I didn’t even know what you looked like till we met. I had no choice at all. A boy had agreed to marry me - despite… me… so that was the end of it. That was the bargain with my brother… otherwise I wouldn’t have been allowed to work either.”

“Wow… I’m so sorry, Rim. That’s really… really unfair.”

“Hmm yeah… I just figured if I can keep earning & the man turns out to be wrong, at least I can leave.”

“That’s… thanks for not leaving...”

Brishti smiled, “I got lucky...”

Namjoon understood, then, that Brishti might be an introvert but that did not mean she was shy. She made him blush & laugh. She made him speak without inhibition. The more time he spent with her, his feelings poured out.

“Thanks… It’s been really nice to share this home with you. Just to have you to talk to… My life was not going that great...” he said.

Brishti nodded, even though she already knew this. Whatever he said, strangely, she could see a deeper melancholy behind it. They spoke about being strangers in a strange country. She told him how she had to fight at the library for Tagore to be considered classic literature. How she was slowly but surely, being accepted in the oddball group that ran the library. She was not the only non-english person there, so things were easier for her. Besides, true readers had always been more accepting of the different.

Something made her regret sharing her happiness about this because his struggle in this foreign land was far more intense… she could sense pain behind the words he used. Namjoon did not enjoy his job the way she did. He worked overtime most days and came home bone-tired. Kim Namjoon was in many ratraces at the same time - races Brishti felt he didn’t want to participate at all. Being a lawyer, being an asian - the ‘model minority’, being a slightly well-off Korean in a sea of white men, in a sea of less fortunate asians who were being treated much worse than him. Trying to create a name, an identity of his own was wearing him out... chipping away at his soul.

Brishti sometimes saw him and saw a great banyan cutting itself down, trying to be a shrub just to fit in. When she asked him how his day was, he always smiled. It was real, the smile and yet it couldn’t hide the sadness in his eyes. Something that was beginning to bother Brishti more and more, these days. He... had begun to matter more and more these days.

Now, about two weeks into their marriage, she was experiencing butterflies about the smallest things; Things like watching him sleep on the fold out, bringing him coffee in the morning. She felt a pull deep inside her take over when he would come out of the shower in the bathrobe, skin glistening from the shower & musky man-scents launching her body in a fantastical arousal & her mind in overdrive. Somedays, Brishti even went for a shower after he’d been, just so she could soak in his essence & bathe in a trance she had never felt before.

On their third weekend together, Namjoon didn’t have to go to work the whole weekend. He’d spoken to his superior at the firm to let him have weekends free - after all, he was married now. Post lunch that Saturday, Brishti and he kept unpacking, organising while talking (well, later on, it was just coffee & talking) into the early hours of Sunday. They spoke about things they loved, people they had loved. About fictional crushes and real ones. Both of them spoke about their past relationships. Something Brishti was delighted about - especially since Namjoon told her he was not the type to hold someone’s past against them.

Brishti couldn’t believe it when Namjoon had correctly guessed, “It was the photographer, right?”

“What-?! How- Where- How did you…?” Brishti couldn’t even form a question.

“Your photos, at the matchmakers… something was different. All the other pictures women give out for arranged matches seem... fake. Yours were… real… private. You looked comfortable… looked like you were being teased...” What he didn’t say was how much it seemed in those pictures like she was with someone she truly liked… maybe even loved.

Sat on the ground opposite Namjoon, Brishti kept her gaze on him. It unnerved Namjoon that she could really see him. She unnerved him further when she said, “You should say what you aren’t saying… or… asking?”

“Did you love him?”

“Not really… it was just... a different kind of friendship… ended almost as soon as it began. But I- I don’t regret it. It wasn’t the kind of love-” she trailed off. She looked away, smiling but trying to hide it. The same way she had in the photograph.

He pressed further just to tease her “Kind of love...?” Namjoon was intrigued because she was blushing now & he wanted to plant a thousand pecks on her. Instead he said, “So you can just… stop what you were saying? Mmm. Okay. I see.”

She looked at him then, “I’m feeling… a lot… of… different things these days. Especially because of a couple of dimples...”

Just like that, she turned the tables & his dimples appeared. He blushed, “Yeah… same. I mean… you don’t have dimples but I’ve-”

She nodded to let him know she understood. And then asked, “Uhm... Have you… had sex?”

Namjoon bit his lip, “Yeah… yes. I... had a girlfriend in law school. It… uh… wasn’t serious… for her.”

Brishti looked away nodding, as if stopping herself from saying something.

He looked at her… knowing what she probably wanted to say. He wanted to hug her but he only said, “It doesn’t matter, does it? For me it doesn’t. Doesn’t matter if you’ve had sex too… I know how people can be about virginity… I- honestly… it's just another way to control people.”

She looked at him with a mixture of emotions. She took a minute to compose herself & then said, “I’ve never met a man like you… and it's a little confusing and annoying… Not that you are annoying… not at all. It’s just the world is annoying because this is how low the standard is for a man. A man accepting that the woman has a past makes him… forward…? But of course the woman has to… because, well, he’s a man and he has needs. We’re all told that… Shirley... who works with me… she knows it too. Women just aren’t supposed to talk about their pasts. All women.”

She paused & got flustered further because of how dedicatedly Namjoon had been listening. It really seemed as if he was taking notes. The serious expression on his face, it made Brishti's ears feel hot. Almost as a distraction, she went on -

“It's crazy but that seems to be the only thing THE WHOLE WORLD has agreed on - they can’t agree on one way to make bread but they all agreed that women are inferior. It’s such a basic thing to just let me work… because I want to… but it's annoying that it makes me feel lucky. My best friend had to go through hell because she thought she could trust her husband with the truth about her past… so it makes me feel lucky that… you won’t…”

Namjoon could see the pain in her words. Maybe that’s how she could always sense the pain in his words, he thought.

After a calming silence passed over them, he spoke - “I won’t. I don’t really know what it’s like for a woman. And… maybe you won’t like to hear this, but… I was the same, Rim... I was the man my society had trained me to be. Everything changed when I came here. When, for the first time in my life, I understood what it’s like to be treated inferior. Since then, I just… I cannot be the cause of a feeling like that within anyone... So… you’re right. I’m not doing anything everyone shouldn’t already do. All of this should be normal. Expected. Hopefully the world learns a bit faster…”

Brishti smiled at Namjoon. She chuckled when tears pooled up in her eyes. He instinctively reached out for her & placed a hand on her leg, just below her knee. A jolt went through Brishti and she looked surprised. He did too. Namjoon retracted his hand immediately & looked away, blushing. That’s when Brishti laughed out loud. She stood up. And asked him to stand up, silently.

He did. It always made Brishti’s heart flutter just how gorgeous and tall he was. Someday, she would tell him. Someday, she would show him. For now, she couldn’t help feeling bashful as she asked, “Can I get a hug, Joon?”

This was the first time she’d used the pet name that he’d asked her to call him by. This was what his family called him. And her using this name assured Namjoon of just that - she was becoming family. Her question had made his heart flip. He moved without really thinking, because this is what his body had wanted since the day he saw her. He pulled her up in his arms. He felt like he was melting. She was soft. Warm. Beautiful. And in his arms.

Brishti gasped a little when Namjoon had scooped her up in his arms. She was on her toes, literally & figuratively. She held onto him, less as a hug & more as support… at first. Then, she felt his arms… the strong arms that she had been ogling at, around her. It was as if a knot came undone, within her, suddenly. And in its place, the softest silk suddenly flowed through her body.

She closed her eyes and breathed him in. The same essence that she’d been soaking in after he had showered, that she had been breathing in whenever he would pass by or reach past her. The essence that she had now become so hungry for that she had been secretly sleeping with the shirt he’d worn from the laundry basket. That essence was now all over her. Her chin turned up, resting on his shoulders, her cheeks touching his, her hands - on their own - reached the nape of his neck and began to play with his hair.

When she did that, Namjoon held her tighter, pressed her on to him. He felt her body react to his. One hand reaching her shoulder around her back, he moved the other closer to her waist, so his hands could fold over her curves. He could feel her breath hitch when he did that.

Brishti was revelling in the feeling of his hands, his fingers, feeling his fingertips press into her - that was a feeling she could never have imagined making her so... so... drunk. She was drunk. She ran her hands up and down his vast back, all the way up to his hair. All of a sudden she could feel herself overcome with emotion. Tears began pooling in her eyes again. And she said, before it was too late, she said, “Thank you, Joon, for everything… thank you.”

When he heard the tremble in her voice, Namjoon pulled away, just so he could see her. Brishti quickly retracted too - to wipe off her tears, trying to laugh off the silliness, apologising. Namjoon replied, “It’s okay… I understand… I… Thank you, Rim. I hope you… you know what I mean...” What he wanted to say, what he hoped she understood was that she was what was helping him come alive. But being unable to, Namjoon knew someday he would. Someday soon.

Brishti nodded to say she understood. Namjoon tried to lighten the atmosphere, saying, “You’re not… just anyone, you know? So… maybe you should tell me something I could do which is… not just basic decency, but something that can be considered truly feminist, you know. I’d love to do that for you.”

Brishti smiled and nodded. She suddenly felt tired & almost of its own accord, her body stretched into a yawn. She said, “I’ll think of something. We- I should go now… Do you want- anything?...” Brishti was delighted about how drunk she had gotten from one hug. It was exciting that she knew she’d be sleeping with the sweater he had tossed in the laundry basket tonight. She decided to take a bit more time to enjoy being intoxicated without a substance, together and alone.

Later that night, as Namjoon laid on his fold out sofa, alone, he thought of how great it had felt to have Brishti in his arms. To have someone who wanted to know about his day. To feel her heartbeat, like raindrops, knocking on his chest like it was a window pane, almost as if asking to be let in…

Thoughts like these, they made Namjoon reach for the notepad & pen that he always kept close by. He wrote. He wrote of being world weary and suddenly having a friend. Suddenly feeling like the world wasn't rushing him, that he didn’t need to run, that he could take time, be slow, be a poet. His heart tugged at his pen as it wrote lines about what it felt like to have someone cry for him. To have someone be full of feelings for him, to have someone to embrace his weary body. He wrote about how he missed that embrace and yet it was okay… as long as she was still here, maybe not just next to him, yet. Maybe someday. It was okay because she asked how he was every day and Brishti was here, forever. Namjoon felt tears run down his own face, as he titled the first poem he’d written in almost five years - Forever Rain.

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Oooooh god you read it?! Thank you so much! Please please let me know what you thought! Get into my messages about it! I would love nothing more than to hear what you felt about this!

[bootlegsymphony]

How localization altered the nuances in several Komaeda/Hinata lines: an incomplete list.

Or alternatively, the thread could be read as “how Komaeda/Hinata’s relationship was presumably intended to be more narratively significant in the Japanese original than the English version made you believe”.

I’ll have to be honest my Japanese is pretty shit and I never experienced a playthrough in Japanese text, but whenever I cared enough to inspect some scenarios from a Japanese LP, I often noticed how certain tones/emotions/subtexts were insinuated differently than the English version with some Koma/Hina lines. It didn’t feel like a mere coincidence. The Japanese lines were in general...rather subtle and rich in nature, while the official translation sometimes tends to obscure or diminish those nuances.

It’s nowhere near a comprehensive write-up by any means but I’ll list whatever I’ve gathered.

Oh, and I’m not covering the aborted love confession in his last FTE since it was too explicit.

Starting with some wordplay. Some people might have the impression that Komaeda says “friends” a lot, and were baffled when Komaeda made such a huge deal out of becoming friends with Hinata in Island Mode. But truth is, he scarcely ever used the proper word for friend, which is “友達”(Tomodachi) . During Prologue, Ch.1 and his earlier FTEs, the word he actually used was “仲間”(Nakama), which should be more accurately translated into “ally, comrade”. Nakama can be casually said among any group of people who share a similar objective or same preference of certain things, but no interpersonal affinity is implied; yet Tomodachi is more cordial and intimate. Komaeda made a very clear distinction between Nakama and Tomodachi as he only used the latter twice iirc: one was during the Island Mode ending, one was in UTDP; both with Hinata. He views true friendship dearly, and Hinata in both endings was the only person he could call a friend.

In Komaeda’s third FTE where he was demonstrating an imaginary situation regarding how his luck works, he said sth like “at the hospital you met a lovely nurse and became a lovey dovey couple”. Many would have thought he was alluding to meeting Mikan. That’s most likely not the case, since Mikan’s title in the original was “保健委員”, which should be more faithfully translated into “health committee member”. In this scenario Komaeda used “看護士”, which is a gender neutral term of “nurse”. Once again the translation reduced the differences.

A rather infamous and anecdotal one: during Komaeda’s first FTE where he managed to share some pure-hearted exchanged with Hinata, instead of “Ultimate Spiky Hair”, he actually teased him with “Ultimate Tsun Tsun Hair”. Ya know, having both Komaeda and Monokuma mentioning Hinata as a tsundere is arguably important.

During the Ch.1 trial when Komaeda had a breakdown and revealed his motive and methods, Hinata was in disbelief. In original he asked himself, “本当に…あの狛枝あのか？” Which could be translated into, “Is he really...that Komaeda (that I knew)?” The emphasis on “that Komaeda” might imply that Hinata couldn’t quite associate this maniac person in front of him with that dependable buddy he spent time with. He was in slight denial and wasn’t ready to move on from his perception of “that Komaeda” just yet. However, in English it was “is he...is he the * real * Nagito?” as if he was able to acknowledge that the person in trial is real, yet he was somewhat ready to ditch the image of pre-trial Komaeda he once had. The change was subtle but noteworthy.

Similarly, just before Komaeda’s reveal, when Hinata was forced to implicate Komaeda, in English he reminisced Komaeda’s company, “We investigated together, you were so kind...” Meanwhile in Japanese it went “一緒に捜査したお前が...あんなに優しいお前が...” which could be roughly translated into “You that investigated together with me, you that were so kind...”. While both conveys Hinata’s emotion that he was conflicted and heartbroken, the extra emphasis on “you” in the original implied it’s not just the memory of Komaeda’s company, but Komaeda himself that Hinata somewhat treasured dearly before the trial. (Prior to the trial, Komaeda’s presence was important to Hinata, and it’s implied he might have never let that go. )

Before every trial Hinata had a monologue commemorating the victim. In Komaeda’s, he remembered the scene Komaeda woke him up on the beach. The matched English text was, “When we first met, I thought he was a nice guy.” which was rather casual and nonchalant. However in Japanese it was considerably more serious and verbose, it went “最初に会った時は、人当たりがいい好青年だと思ってたけど” which could be translated into “When we first met, I thought he was a fine young man who left a good impression”. Note that the “fine young man” phrase, “好青年” is rather formal and doesn’t make a common appearance in colloquial usage. In addition, Hinata had to double the emphasis that Komaeda both left a favorable first impression and generally felt like a good-hearted person, which just, further supported the hypothesis that pre-trial Komaeda truly left a strong impression on him, or how much he was still conflicted.

Upon Komaeda’s body discovery, Hinata went on with another long-ass monologue. In English version, at some point he said “Deep down I believed...that when the killings finally ended, I’d never see this guy again”, as if he never wished to cross path with Komaeda outside the killing game. Yet in original it was “こいつがいなくなるのわ、このふざけたコロシアイに終止符が打たれる時だと” which translates into something like “Deep down I believed, when he’s no more, it’d be the moment these foolish killings coming to an end”. Notice that the reversed causality considerably changes the mood. The Japanese line is up to interpretations but to me it has a notable sense of “his departure would mark the end of the world as we know it”.

Hinata also referred to Komaeda as “あの狛枝(that Komaeda)” repeatedly regarding his first reactions to Komaeda’s body discovery. Which was debatably a deliberate choice of word to echo #4’s situation in trial one. It could be argued that he’s reluctant to let go of memories of Bad Komaeda similarly as he was reluctant to let go of pre-trial Good Komaeda in Trial 1. Now that both were gone.

I was unsure of some certain expressions thus I consulted a friend who’s not in the DR fandom. I might have omitted some other instances and would add to the post later on.

[pocket-luv101]

Summary: Mahiru moves to London to become a tutor but he feels homesick. Kuro comforts him. (KuroMahi, Historical Romance AU)

Mahiru couldn’t sleep and he passed the night by staring at the moon and searching for familiar sounds. He never thought something as simple as the subtle sounds of the night would be different between Japan and England. Earlier that week, he moved to London to become a tutor for the royal family. He thought a new job in a different country would be a good change of pace after his uncle passed away. Unfortunately, the weight of his grief only became heavier when it was mixed with feeling homesick.

He planned to go to the kitchen to make himself a warm drink to comfort himself. Mahiru didn’t know the castle’s layout well and he worried that he would become lost. He settled for reading a book in the small classroom built into the castle. On the ledge of the open window, Mahiru breathed in the cool air and he could smell the salty ocean.

“Uncle, I’ve made it to London safe and I was chosen for the position.” He wasn’t an overly religious person but he hoped his uncle was in the stars and watching over him. He also needed to speak his thoughts aloud to make sense of his mixed emotions. “The kids are energetic but they would rather spend that energy on games than their study. I will have to find a way to make lessons fun for them. Perhaps I can ask the king if I can take them on a field trip. The king… He’s not what I expected. Warm.”

He thought about how he met Kuro while he was lost within the sunflower maze. At the time, he didn’t realize that he was the king until they left the maze. Mahiru had taught other noble families and he could sense that Kuro was different from the others. The man didn’t have a haughty personality nor did he look down on others. “His siblings like him. They are a close family. When I watched them play together, I thought of us— Mama, you and I. I miss you both so much. Oyasumi.”

Since he would be living in England for the next few years, he often spoke in English to practise the language. He couldn’t help but slip back to using Japanese to say goodnight to his departed uncle though. The sun would rise in a few hours and he decided that it was best for him to retire to his room. He would need his strength to tutor five young children.

He stepped down from the window sill. A knock on the opened door surprised him and he almost lost his footing. He quickly grabbed the window and he stopped himself from falling onto the ground. He turned towards the door where Kuro stood. Kuro took a few steps towards him and he reached out to help him. Mahiru held up his hand and he reassured him. “I’m fine, Kuro. I didn’t hear you come.”

“Some people say I’m like a black cat, quiet and bad luck.” Kuro gave him an apologetic smile. “Lily is having trouble falling asleep and he needs his stuffed bunny. He said the last place he played with it was your classroom. Have you seen it?”

“Oh, I found his toy while I was cleaning the classroom and I put it on the shelf. Let me get it for you.” Mahiru told him. He took down the stuffed animal from the shelf and he handed it to Kuro. Then, he walked to the window to close the shutters. “It’s sweet of you to come all the way down here for Lily. We can also go to the kitchen to make him warm milk. That should help him fall asleep as well.”

“The corncrakes are louder than usual and they scared Lily. Usually, Illdio’s snoring will drown out the birds.” He shrugged. While Mahiru knew that it was rude to laugh, the dry drawl he had as he joked made him chuckle. He quickly covered his mouth but Kuro didn’t appear offended by his laughter. “Let’s go make that drink for Lily. Are you having trouble sleeping too?”

“Yes, but it’s nothing you have to worry about, my lord. My body simply needs to adjust to London.” Mahiru was only partially lying about the reason he was awake at such a late hour. He walked into the hall and he gestured for Kuro to lead the way to the kitchen. “So, that bird I heard was a corncrake? I thought it sounded unique. In Japan, I would listen to this uguisu at night. It would sing from dusk to dawn. Oh, in London, you would call the bird a nightingale.”

“Does the nightingale in Japan have a different song than the ones here?” In answer to his question, Mahiru whistled softly. Kuro shrugged and he whistled a song of his own. They walked side by side down the hall and mimicked different bird songs. Mahiru found himself relaxing in his presence and he watched Kuro in the corner of his eyes.

“If we don’t stop making bird calls, the castle will be swarmed with nightingales and Lily will never be able to sleep tonight.” Mahiru shook his head but Kuro knew that he wasn’t being serious after he heard his warm laughter. He was glad that he was more relaxed like when they spoke in the sunflower maze. He could sense that he was stiffer after he learned that he was a king.

The main reason he decided to hire Mahiru was because he wasn’t intimidated by his younger siblings’ reputation. During his conversation with Lily, he told him that Mahiru was kind to them and treated them as regular students. He wondered if there was a reason that he was stiffer around him than his siblings. Why did he care? He was a tutor and the only thing that should matter is how well he could teach.

They entered the kitchen and Mahiru searched the large room for the pantry. He looked to Kuro for help but he could see that he was as lost as he was. He must’ve noticed his gaze because he said, “I only know where the chefs hide the cookies and potato chips. Sorry.”

“Well, one of these doors must lead to the milk jars.” Mahiru said as he opened another cupboard. Kuro stood next to him and he reached for the same handle as him. Their fingers brushed together. He couldn’t take his hand back after he looked up at Kuro and he caught his gaze. As attractive as Kuro was, it was improper for them to be so close. Even as he had the thought, he was drawn to him.

Kuro opened the cupboard and he pulled out a jar of milk. “Here.”

“Thanks, Kuro.” He took the jar from him. Mahiru noticed that Kuro had a slight blush on his cheeks and he wondered if his face was the same.

He turned away from him and he focused on making warm milk for Lily. He lit a match and he started a fire over the stove. Mahiru created a makeshift boiler by placing a glass bowl over a pot of water. Then, he poured the milk into the bowl and he stirred it slowly. “This should only take a few minutes. I hope Lily isn’t too worried that you’re not back with his stuffed bunny yet.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind after he sees that you made him a drink. My siblings already like you after one lesson. Hyde told them about how you saved Cain.” Kuro leaned against the counter and he watched him boil the milk. “Do you like London? Moving to a new country must be difficult, especially after you lost your uncle.”

Mahiru’s first instinct was to force himself to smile and reassure Kuro that he was fine. However, he hesitated when he looked into his red eyes filled with sympathy. He simply couldn’t lie to him. A heavy sigh escaped him but the weight on his chest remained. “I’m a little homesick. That shouldn’t affect my work so please be assured your siblings are in good hands.”

“That wasn’t what I was worried about.” Kuro gently placed his hand over his. His touch was comforting and a part of Mahiru was tempted to lean into his warmth. The kindness in his voice caused a strange flutter in his stomach. “You’re friends with Misono so you can talk to him if you need anything.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, my lord. Misono was right when he told me that your family is kind, if a little unconventional. The milk is done so we can go back to Lily.” Mahiru lifted the pot off the stove so he could put out the fire. He poured the warm drink into a cup and said: “Please tell Lily that I hope this helps. I should retire to my own room to sleep. Goodnight, my lord.”

“You can call me by my name, Kuro, instead of ‘my lord’. I’ve never liked titles.” He said as he took the cup from him.

“Okay. We will work closely together because I’m teaching your siblings so it would be nice if we can be friends.” He mused to himself. He held his breath as he waited for Kuro to disagree with him. Since he was a tutor, most would view a friendship between them as inappropriate. Yet, Kuro nodded. Mahiru smiled at his answer and he said, “Goodnight, Kuro.”

“Oyasumi, Mahiru.” His response surprised him. He didn’t notice the blush that appeared on Mahiru’s cheeks. “Ii yumemite ne. My siblings told me that it means ‘goodnight’ and ‘sweet dreams’. Did I pronounce it correctly?”

“It’s not the pronunciation.” When Mahiru helped the children prepare for bed, Lily asked him to teach him a few Japanese words. The child must’ve told Kuro without explaining it’s context. “Only close friends and family say oyasumi to each other before they go to bed. Lily wanted to say goodnight to JeJe in Japanese. I told him to say oyasumi. The more common way to say goodnight is oyasuminasai because it’s formal and polite.”

“Oh,” Kuro worried that he unintentionally made him uncomfortable. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I thought that speaking with you in Japanese would make you feel a little less homesick. Oyasuminasai, Mahiru.”

Kuro started to turn away until he stopped him by catching his arm. Mahiru didn’t know which of them was more surprised by his action, Kuro or himself. He was certain his face still had a hint of his blush. “Thank you, Kuro. It really means a lot to me. Oyasuminasai.”

Mahiru hoped that they would eventually be close enough to say goodnight the way Kuro did initially.