#i want to translate this with the help of some friends who can read japanese tho

[lxikoniko]

Some personal favorite panels from the 4Koma manga

[cnovelartreblogs]

C-Novels Available in English Translation

A few weeks ago, a few of my danmei-loving friends and I got to talking about how much there is that we want to read, but that none of us have been very organized about keeping track of titles, fantranslation links, etc.

So, we decided to make a spreadsheet.

AND to combine every link we'd each separately stashed around on that spreadsheet.

The result is a list of 102 titles (currently 96 are danmei, 5 are baihe, and 1 is gen, reflecting our personal interests/preferences) with links to translations, some complete, some not. (as of 2/20/23)

Love C-Novels? Especially danmei? Looking for something to read? Check it out!

Some notes:

This is specifically for English translations from Chinese titles. Though some of the links do include other works (for example, some translators also do Japanese, and some Carrds list fantranslations in multiple languages), we're English speakers who are interested in Chinese novels, so we focused on that.

Currently, this is mostly basic information (titles, authors, links), with no summaries, genre tags, etc. We hope to ultimately expand it but that will be a lot of work and the information is already available at the provided NovelUpdates links, so we encourage you to use those.

We make no claims that this list is exhaustive; while the first sheet lists the resources we had collectively already gathered, there's a second sheet with things we know of and intend to add.

We'll try to keep links and such up-to-date but if you spot a problem please let me know!

Know of something that's not on the main list OR on the "to add" page? Please do send the info my way! Comments or ask box stuff will help.

Note that to actually access the fantranslations, you'll often need to take additional action to read them - you may need to request access, or get a password, etc. How to get this access is usually included on the pages.

Known official translations are listed. We will not link fantranslations for titles that are out officially in English. Don't send them. Don't ask for them. We won't help you pirate these titles.

(ADDED): I have also now added carrds for works that I could find carrds for, and added a third sheet, with carrds for authors. (I looked for every title and author and added the ones I could locate; Google asked if I was a bot at least 6 times lmao). Carrds are often good for summaries, information about the characters, and especially trigger warnings, so they're worth checking out! (ADDED MORE): I also added NovelUpdates links for all authors, so people can see a full list of their other works even if they don't have Carrds.

Don't forget to thank and respect translators, and honor their wishes! Without fantranslators, we wouldn't have all this amazing stuff to read in English, so THANK YOU FANTRANSLATORS!

GO FORTH, AND FIND YOUR NEW FAVORITE BOOK!

[i-heart-hxh]

is Killua truly jealous of Palm?

Yes, I absolutely think he is!

It's never explicitly stated, but the subtext is so in your face in a few different ways that it's essentially not even subtext any more.

Togashi could have chosen so many different ways to portray the way Killua feels about the Gon/Palm date subplot, but making it clear over and over again how bothered Killua is by the whole situation absolutely reads as jealousy, especially within the larger context of the arc. Look at these especially!

Togashi puts so much emphasis on Killua's expressions and distress throughout the whole subplot. Of course it's partly intended to be comedic, but this situation with Gon and Palm does have serious emotional weight for Killua as well--pulling out the needle, his breakdown in front of Palm, what she ends up saying to him after that, etc. I do think the exaggerated and extreme ways Togashi expresses Killua's feelings are intended to make the audience go, "Oh, he's really jealous, isn't he?"

People can argue Killua's reactions are just because of who Gon is on a date with (someone unhinged/violent and much older than him), or that it's just "concern" about Gon because of his nen situation, and those are both definitely aspects of what's going on here--but to reduce it down to only that ignores those deeper emotional impacts it has on Killua. I think the protectiveness aspect is something Killua uses to veil some of the other things he's feeling about it even though of course he is legitimately protective of Gon in this situation (and he has good reasons to be so). I also think Togashi himself uses the ambiguity to his advantage here, because if he put in romantic jealousy that was any clearer, would Jump allow it?

The way Killua goes immediately from the topic of going on dates/being freaked out about the prospect of Gon having been on dates before to feeling heartbroken because he wants to be with Gon forever the next panel is telling, in my opinion... (The English translation is a little vague, seems like it was intentionally toned down. In the original Japanese version he says he wanted to be with Gon forever.)

Here's a post where @tjlnn22 and I discuss this weightlifting scene in more detail.

I firmly believe that a big part of Palm's role as a character is to get the audience to question the nature of Killua's feelings for Gon. Without considering this context, the way her character is set up from the beginning and what role she's intended to play in Chimera Ant Arc is confusing. But when if you look at her character as having been built for that role, suddenly her entire character and subplot makes sense. Here's an older post where OP talks about some of the framing of Palm's character, and then I talk in more depth about why Palm is written the way she is.

It especially makes sense when you consider that the date with Palm is one of the factors that destabilizes Killua's faith in his relationship with Gon, leading to him wondering if they're acting together as friends or just as teammates. Here's an awesome post @tjlnn22 put together and submitted to me on this topic, with specific details supporting this argument. I think this is an important part of the arc that gets overlooked, and I love how clearly it's laid out in the linked post.

Killua also acts dismissive of Gon worrying about Palm to the point where other characters comment on his behavior, which to me seems like another sign of jealousy and bitterness on Killua's part. Then when he encounters Palm again after her transformation, this is how he behaves towards her:

Hands on his hips, full sass mode here. Again with the jealousy...

...And then shortly after this he proceeds to have a total emotional breakdown when he admits to himself that he thinks maybe Gon cares more about Palm than him, and that Palm might be the only one who can help Gon, rather than Killua. Of course there are more factors than this behind his breakdown, including him getting pushed away by Gon prior, but this is DIRECTLY the thought that leads him to start crying and then sobbing on the ground.

The Palm subplot is one of the biggest things in the series that makes me confident that the romantic subtext around Killua's feelings is completely and utterly intentional. The way the whole subplot is constructed, the decisions Togashi makes around Palm and how she's presented as a character, the way Killua's reactions and emotions are emphasized with regards to it, and the significance of this subplot in the greater arc of Killua's character all show a great deal of thought and care, and it's hard to come to any other conclusion when looking at it carefully.

Thank you for asking!

[mamapyjama]

I’ve been rereading the current anime arc in the manga, and finally got to The Apology™️, and I wondered what words Katsuki used before translation.

Disclaimer: I’m sure others must have posted about this before but I couldn’t recall reading it myself. I do remember there was a lot of talk about the way he used “gomen” as the Japanese fandom were saying how cute and childlike it sounded, so I thought I’d see if there was anything else interesting there.

Oh, my sweet sweet baby boy…

So, just before he says ‘Sorry for everything’ (ima made gomen), he says:

言ってどうにかなるもんじゃねェけど

本音だ

出久

“Itte dōnika naru mon ja nē kedo… Honne da…Izuku”

Which in the English translation, gave us:

And “speak my truth” is lovely and all, but the word from the original that stuck out for me was ‘honne’.

I’m not sure how familiar most people are with honne–tatemae (I only know about it because I go way way too in-depth when researching for my fics lol), but it’s a concept that every Japanese person is deeply aware of, and underpins much of their society.

Here’s the Wikipedia intro:

Ohhh, that is some extra juicy context for Kacchan’s speech. Essentially, he is saying that everything up until now has been his tatemae, a public façade to protect his own position (strong, powerful hero etc), but that he can’t keep that up and he wants Izuku to see his honne, his true, private self.

Excuse me while I melt from the cuteness.

But WAIT! There’s more!

How much do you know about second-person pronouns in Japanese? (Nope, this isn’t about ‘kare’ again this time hehe).

You’ve probably noticed in the anime that Kacchan says “Temee” a lot, and you may have also noticed that it tends to get translated as cursing. So it actually just means ‘you,’ but like a really rude way of saying it, such that the only way of reflecting that in English is to replace ‘you’ with something like Bastard or Asshole.

Again, have an expert explain:

This and the below are from a very excellent article about second-person pronouns and how they are used for context and drama in anime specifically. I’d recommend reading it as the context is really interesting!

So although pronouns aren’t actually commonly used or necessary in much spoken Japanese, when they are used, it’s a deliberate way to tell you about the relationship dynamic between two characters.

But why, you may ask, am I talking about pronouns again?!

Because, dear friends, throughout the first half of his speech, Kacchan uses ‘temee’ as usual to describe his past with Izuku. I’ve highlighted it below, and pls also note the shaky speech bubble showing his nerves during the ‘honne’ section. 🥺

HOWEVER, straight after he says he wants Izuku to see his Honne, Katsuki switches pronouns from ‘Temee’ (v rude), to ‘Omae’ (very casual/familiar). Below is the page after the apology.

Considering we now know pronouns are not necessary to convey meaning, that’s a hell of a lot of omaes on one page!! Boy cannot get enough of saying it.

If you want more about the different pronouns, see below for a helpful table of common uses for both. And please indulge my shippy heart for highlighting the second usage (but, like ‘kare’, you never know)…

Katsuki is showing Izuku immediately and repeatedly that this is who he wants to be to him and how he wants the world to see them. His honne, his inner desire, is to be close to Izuku, to treat him as an equal.

He’s not just saying sorry, he’s showing that—at least from his perspective—things are going to be different from now on. But, like, also, that this was how he felt about him in private the whole time?! GAHHHH.

So there you go, the apology that was already a massive turning point in their story/relationship was actually even deeper and more beautiful than we all thought. Yet again, Japanese conveys nuance and intention far beyond what can be translated. 😭💕

[invidiia]

Heyy! Can you write for yandere fyodor< 3 ?

Have a great day!

꒰ general yandere fyodor headcanons ꒱

notes ; YES I CAN!! thank you for requesting, and have a good day, too! it would have been done sooner but i passed out on my keyboard LMAO ngl this is probably just a fic written how i'd write hcs instead of actual hcs, so lets just say i'm sharin my thoughts instead

warnings ; he seems nice at first but please take the warnings seriously, manipulation, stalking, starvation, murder, yandere themes, possessiveness, kidnapping, hurting your family, friends, probably the biggest red flag i write for, does fyodor himself need a warning

⋆ this man is such a red flag but it's okay because most things are better in red

⋆ upon seeing you for the first time, you won't remember him for a while, having only seen his face once. weirdly, you don't seem to notice for the next two months that he happens to be in the same store as you, the same cafe you go to, the same library you borrow books from, your favorite restaurant, and so many other places you frequently visited. i mean, the city was super safe, why would you need to look behind you?

⋆ after about two months of stalking, he finally tapped your shoulder one day and started to make conversation of the book you had in your hand, a well recognized crime novel. fyodor made small-talk about the book to you, expressing his interest in literature and asking how far you were into the book.

⋆ i mean, who wouldn't immediately fall if some hot guy came up and talked to you about books you both liked? because i know i'd fall, first and harder.

⋆ after a bit more talking, he offered his phone number to you so he could text you all the recommendations he had, since he said he didn't have pen and paper on him at the moment. but of course, you didn't think there anything suspicious about such a person. after all, he seemed to like the same books you did, and there was a clear connection.

⋆ and every few days, it was another date at the library, catching up on books. only about half of these were planned, all the other times, he just happened to show up about 25 seconds after you walked through the door. every time, you both ended up staying at the library until it closed, talking about books and reading through some that you hadn't finished yet.

⋆ and he wants to know everything you think, every few sentences, the man stops reading to ask about your thoughts. no matter how different your views are, he finds your perspective interesting. afterwards, you ask him about his own opinion, and he gives it. to you, fyodor seems like one of the smartest men in the world.

⋆ he also recommended you some russian literature, some of his favorites. he met you at the library once more, after texting you that he had some books. walking up to you with a book in hand, you noticed the unfamiliar language on the cover.

"it's not a japanese novel, but i can help you translate it, yes? i think you'd enjoy it."

⋆ it was safe to say he was pretty in love. it was months since you started to hang out in the library, sometimes not even talking about books. he wasn't fully convinced you also loved him, but he was so kind to you, and you deeply appreciated it. why not give it a chance?

⋆ the man was unusually calm when you turned him down. you told him that you only viewed him as a friend, apologizing profusely for upsetting him, but fyodor only smiled and told you it was fine, bidding his goodbyes and walking back to who knows where.

⋆ it was a weird month after his confession, no library dates, you got fired from your job, and even some of your close family stopped speaking with you. it felt like almost no jobs could take you, every place you tried turned you down and shut the door in your face after ushering you out of the building. cafes you walked by looked at you and turned the sign in the door to the side with 'closed' in big, bold, red letters.

⋆ it felt like moving was the only option, so you started to plan your departure from your side of yokohama. the city was huge, surely everyone couldn't hate you! as you were moving boxes into your car, you were stopped by the familiar man, of course, you knew his presence.

"could i help you with those?"

⋆ his voice wasn't mocking, but it sure felt like he knew. after helping you, fyodor offered a place to stay. but,, dependency on someone else felt weird, and you already called the apartment complex, speaking about the vacant room. you politely declined the man's offer, saying you had your living situation already sorted out

⋆ man that didn't go over well with him, he asked if he could take you out to the cafe you always used to go to with him to talk about the novels you found interest in. since he was paying, why say no?

⋆ surprise surprise, when you weren't looking, he slipped something in your drink, and now you're locked in a dark room with a locked door and a note. it wasn't really readable though.. fyodor needed to practice writing in japanese.

⋆ every morning, afternoon, and evening, e came in with a plate of food. surprisingly, it was really good. sometimes, when he came in with more water for you to drink, he even gave you books to read while he was away, or busy sitting in front of multiple bright screens.

⋆ it was rare for him to let you anywhere outside that room, but eventually you gained some of his trust, and he allowed you to roam around the house, with close observation. he even blocked out the windows!

⋆ but even if you do get through the windows, it's a long fall to the pavement below. but it'd be worth a chance! if fyodor didn't have his eyes on you about 24/7.

⋆ you can TRY to escape, but he'll likely catch you. it's like he has eyes everywhere. when, not if, he catches you, no more food until the next day!

⋆ but i wouldn't try escaping immediately. a good way to escape from fyodor is to gain his trust slowly, so that he'll maybe let you go outside under his close supervision. even if you run off into a large crowd.. he'll probably still find you. and if he can't find you himself, you have his closest friend seeking you out as well! good luck, cause he's also dangerous!

@kolyakisses // i drank soy sauce while writing this

[roo-bastmoon]

IMPORTANT INFO: issues around Jimin’s album

I have an ARMY friend (who shall remain safely anonymous) who works in film production for the music and entertainment industry here in the US. They offered me some valuable insights today into production limitations and possible issues related to Jimin’s solo album.

Below the cut is a transcript of their messages to me. I share this in the hopes it better informs our discussions around fair treatment of BTS members’ releases. It is by no means a definitive account of Jimin’s situation—simply an insider’s ideas on what likely happened around a few things.

I understand there are very big feelings about this topic, especially with the apparent differences around JK’s single, and I appreciate everyone’s viewpoints. However, if you choose to interact with this post, you will be respectful to others (including members) or you will be blocked. You are always welcome to DM me privately if you need to vent—we are all human and we all need a bit of grace, so you’ll always have that with me.

Sending you guys so much love, Roo

Anonymous Insider

Some “light reading” while you’re resting up and recovering, lol. This is all just based on what I’ve been watching and seen. Of course, I don’t have access to their production budget sheet and Korea works very differently than the US when it comes to production, but this what I’ve been seeing when it comes to their videos and particularly the promotions for FACE.

(I’m sending in sections, lol)

Alrighty - I’m still like deep in edit-land (still am two days later 😭) but I started typing this on the train between meetings, ha ha. (And am still on the train doing this, lol.) Also this rambles a bit I’m sorry! So the first thing I did was go back to the interview where Jimin talked about the music videos — it was a Japanese TV show and he’s talking with a host in Korean.

He’s talking about “wanting to do it all,” laughs and says, “I wanted all the music videos” and that “they” (the company assuming) said “무리다” which has its roots in the word 무리 which means a herd, a party, a group — basically “it’s too much,” “it’s unreasonable,” and “it’s impossible” are decent translations as it refers to something or an idea being “too much” — then the host and Jimin burst out laughing and the host goes “서리와 무리다” which I read as “sorry (in konglish) but we can’t” and they continue to laugh. So based on that —it sounds very understandable.

We can imagine Jimin sitting down with his team and planning out SMFP2 and LC videos, with the 30 dancers and all the party scene extras, and then Jimin saying he wants to do the music shows with 6 different sets in rented locations so they could have total control. And if Jimin in that process went “what if we made official music videos for all of them?” the team would understandably go “that’s just not reasonable!” 1) because it would give Jimin a budget no other member had gotten and 2) there aren’t that many production houses in Korea. It’s a very small scene — it may just logistically not been possible. There aren’t enough DPs and crew and editors. Sometimes, as a producer, you have to tell your creative talent “I’m sorry, but no.” — I say it every week!

So what about the music videos? Well, here’s what I know from meticulously watching all the behind the scenes for BTS videos over the years. They work with a small team. They likely own a good deal of the gear — they shoot mainly on RED cameras and heavy expensive Cooke lenses (which you can’t get this stuff easily in Korea. I lost a lens cap for a Canon CINÉ Lens in Seoul and it was like this whole big deal because getting gear there is an import challenge but anyways) they use MOVI and Ronin gimbal stabilizers and Jimmy Rigs a lot.

Recently they’ve been using technocranes but I wonder how many technocranes there are in Seoul. As I said, they likely own a lot of this gear which can help with costs. But we’ve also been told — and I’ve heard through my industry friends — that Hybe PAYS. And in Korea there’s no unions in the entertainment world, and often the rates are shit (hence Netflix investing so much there - blerg) their standard work week is also already 12 hours longer than the US. It’s a whole thing. and they spend so much money on sets. It’s incredible.

They rent these huge spaces outside Seoul and BUILD — I mean the build out for SMFP2 was astounding. They easily dropped 1million on that video. The rigging, the build-out, the custom set and the custom camera rigs to achieve the 360 shots - the drone shots. They’re astounding videos. No US label is spending that money on videos these day. Absolutely none of them are — my friend recently produced a video for John Legend. They were trying to pull the whole thing off for $100K which is ridiculous. It’s really almost impossible.  

But on the Big videos they spend a lot of money, but they also produce a lot of other stuff too (and these are often looked at as Performance Videos vs all-caps MUSIC VIDEOS) -— like RM’s video shoot at DIA Beacon… that was a much smaller, fairly single camera shoot — all shot on drones or a MOVI handheld rig. No set, they also didn’t like pay for the set because DIA: Beacon is an art museum — and similar a little bit to Letter for Jimin, which was much smaller set and easy in-house gear.

(And it was also released on Bangtan TV channel vs Hybe Labels Channel, which is a good indicator of how they categorize these shoots.) But the big videos, they go for broke. I mean they spend so much money and again they may own a lot of the equipment but there’s still so much people-power and labor involved. Take the dancers’ rehearsals. You have to pay people for all that — you have to pay them for the weeks of rehearsal, you have to pay them to be in a video. It is so expensive — like, I would not be able to budget that video for under 1 million, that’s how much it costs.  

So then Jimin wanted to do music shows —- and so because he’s Jimin and it’s BTS, Hybe rented larger venues and locations for all of the shoots. None of them use the actual Broadcast spaces or were provided by the broadcast studios. The smaller companies do though — remember when BTS first started out they went to SBS to film on the day? — but they don’t do that anymore. They rent huge facilities so that they could be a mini concerts for ARMYs to visit with Jimin and see him.

They also have to do this kind of outside of the city and they built huge sets because they’re going to want to show off if they’re gonna be on TV but that is so expensive. (I don’t think you were an ARMY then, but when ON was released, at the time it was the “biggest broadcast performance ever” and they keep upping that ante for sure!) It’s possible the broadcast companies spend some money but what BTS is doing is so outside the usual budget and given the tension with the broadcasters and HYBE — they (Hybe) wants control of their products, and so I think they pay for that control.

I can’t imagine they got out of any of those days for under $500K; I mean, there were two different sets, all the crew; they’re paying for all of it. We add it up and they probably spent close to $3-5 million between Jimin’s music videos and his music show performances, and I would be understandably like: “That’s it!” Like, that’s the budget for an EP, you know.

I don’t think Jimin could have it all because that wasn’t the case for the other members. RM got to lead videos and J Hope had pyrotechnics, which definitely costs money and safety and insurance. You know he had visual effects his first video (a lotta visual effects) and again a lot of challenging technocrane work, but I haven’t really seen them build something on the scale of what they built for SMFP2 in a very long time (or ever?).

We heard from the Art Dept that Jimin did not want to shoot on blue screen, so they built the set for him. This cannot be the same label that is shafting him — that allows him to spend that amount of money just because the artist said “I want to shoot in a real space!” because I’m gonna be completely honest— he could’ve done that on a blue screen — I’m glad they built a real world because BTS almost always shoots on Blue/Green Screen. They build him a huge set like that. It’s absolutely incredible.

I was also reminded this morning that people are talking about radio for Like Crazy and not supporting the song — and I just keep thinking that they did exact rollout for Butter, Dynamite, and Permission to Dance. They released Like Crazy. It had both a Korean version and English version. (Obviously that wasn’t the case for the English BTS songs.) They released two additional remixes. Then they kept releasing, like, alternate cover versions — alternate covers of the main remix, alternate cover the other remix. They were trying to maximize the direct-to-consumer store and exact same way they had tried to maximize it with Dynamite and Butter and Permission to Dance.

The way you were buying Like Crazy was the same process I took on Dynamite. They did the exact same playbook. So the fact that they were unable to get the kind of radio play they wanted or maybe they weren’t prioritizing radio because they knew that they were gonna have a better chance at direct to consumer sales... Maybe they didn’t want to fight radio. Maybe Geffen was like “We don’t have the right ‘Ins’ yet!” — I’m not sure, but the fact that they got completely screwed over by Billboard doesn’t mean that they weren’t actually rolling it out in that way, because as soon as they started doing the whole alternate cover thing, I was like: “Well, they clearly want us to try to go for number one!” You know, “They clearly think that they are going to be able to get number one on the hot 100 and we’re gonna use these sales to do that!” And clearly that’s all changed now.

They keep changing the rules on us, so — with JK, they’re obviously trying to, you know, use whatever tools they have available to them at this point.

Finally, when it comes to restocking the digital single CD. There are still albums available in the store. So why would they manufacture and ship more (likely thrown away) plastic that’s just for one song, when those CD singles only serve to raise sales for the charts? All of the other member’s CD singles are out of stock except The Astronaut, which they treated more like a proper album a bit (kinda like the Butter CD releases). Because they still have both versions of his full albums in stock, so if I were Hybe, I’d be like “No,you need to buy the album, we still have albums, we’re not going to sell you a single song when you can buy the album!” That makes more sense to me. The albums cost more.

TL:DR, haha — so I feel like this narrative around Jimin’s release has been ramped up because, from my professional opinion, he’s had the most expensive release so far (by far) and if we want to compare him to, say, Beyoncé — well she owns her own production company (Parkwood Entertainment), so she can funnel her own money into a Visual Album, I don’t know if Jimin has considered that at this point in his career, but in the future, he might!

((Not including costs for Suga’s tour because that’s a whole other thing, and the tour probably made money I would expect to balance out the cost of the tour itself))

Anonymous Insider

This isn’t to say that the other things, the part where he didn’t get the cake celebration, or the posts, the issues with the linking and this general feeling that Jimin was short-changed in these things isn’t valid and understandable. I think Hybe relied too much on D2C sales and I don’t think they leveraged their might as much as could have for JM. They could have risked more for him.

{This is an end of Anonymous Insider’s messages to me. They noted that they are an intermediate non-native Korean speaker so please excuse any translation errors. They translated things themselves using Naver tools that aligned with the video subtitles.}

So, listen, I still don’t think Like Crazy was sent/promoted to radio (which was a mistake and still is a mistake) and I am furious at the shady articles and lack of celebration for Jimin…

But after reading the way the members approach their work in the Beyond the Story book and now hearing from someone who produces these works for a living, I have to wonder if the company was doing everything they knew how to do for Jimin, but the second it didn’t work out because of the western music industry culling streams and sales, they pulled back all their resources and pivoted for Yoongi and JK. (I also wonder if leadership shut up about it all due to liability issues, or not to cause bad blood with the music industry for future releases.)

Again, I’ll never forgive the lack of celebration and the split streams (not without a great explanation), but at least now I think there’s a good chance no one was actively trying to sabotage Jimin on purpose. They seemed to have wanted that #1 and then it all went to shit because Billboard and radio want to get paid. Maybe leadership decided not to put any more resources into Face but instead pivot for all the future music coming out (including PJM2.)

Perhaps I'm a cockeyed optimist. I’m just hoping like hell they never engage in payola. I want all our boys to win, but I want us to win fairly. And even if everyone cannot have the same investment every time on every project, I hope when they come back together in 2025 that everyone feels good about their solo works and each other. This is my prayer. Love, Roo

[herlockslimbo]

summary of rui’s wl chapter cause it made me ueuueueeu (spoilers ahead)

so the first chapter opens with wxs discovering a new island in wonderland sekai. they need to find the map to "star island" and then they see a phoenix soaring above with this very map. i forget if the phoenix like. already had it or they snatched it, wxs then decide to go on a quest to find the phoenix and get the map back. to do this they must journey the island, so they set off!

(rui's chapter begins) the first place they encounter is a village of plushies, and along with them, some "zombie plushies”. we learn that the zombie plushies are outcasted from the others because they're "scary and weird", and rui immediately motions to go meet the zombies. they meet them and it turns out they greet by biting lol, but rui isn’t put off at all, and bites back. everyone introduces themselves, then asks the zombies if they knew about the phoenix. the zombies refuse to give information because they think the others might be faking kindness, and are probably scared of them like everyone else, and they don't want to help people who "hate them", so they run away. rui kind of pauses for a moment, and rin asks what's wrong, and rui says that their words resonated with him, because the plushies remind him of his old self. (pl end)

rin asks what he means and i'm just gonna spit the dialogue here bc i think it's better to just read this part

(also disclaimer i have extraordinarily limited japanese knowledge, i’ve read this whole thing through online translators, and a bit of doctoring to fix machine error)

(disclaimer two i just realized i forgot to fix this text, the “thinking about this and that” is in reference to his plan to keep wxs together, and specifically keep emu with them. i just phrased it weird. )

after this rui says that he can tell that the zombies really do want to make friends, they’ve just been rejected so many times they’ve given up, like he did. he then says he wants to make them realize their dreams and make them come true, like wxs did for him.

the gang approach the zombies and rui suggests the zombies do a play to convey their feelings. it is settled to do an altered version of “potato ghost”, the show from wonder halloween, and the zombies take the role of well. the zombies. they play around and show the plushies they’re not scary, and that actually being a zombie is fun. the others plushies see this, and start to befriend the zombies.

rui watches this unfold and he’s so happy he was able to help the zombies, and see their true desires. he pops out a tom gray quote reference about breaking down the barriers of people’s hearts and i died a bit.

the gang finds a new clue for the phoenix via the zombies. and we move on.

this is literally everything i could have asked for in his chapter i maybe cried a bit. i love you rui kamishiro.

[kaiowut99]

A Special Announcement~ | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special Re-Translation Project!

I've been itching to get around to posting about this for a few months now, but wanted to wait until I'd worked on enough for it, but also had the idea to create an announcement trailer to go with it for added good measure--after recording and editing clips for a couple weeks and leveling the audio last night, heremst we are! (For some clips, I forgot to turn off the PPSSPP emulator's DevMenu option so that shows up in the top-left, buuut I didn't feel like re-recording those, lmao.)

Details worth reading below the cut here, but tl;dr work has been in progress for over a year in between things, work will continue to be in progress for a while, and the release will happen when everything's ready, but stay tuned, fun's getting started etc etc~

So, I'm sure most of us are familiar with the as-yet-unlocalized-by-Konami TFSP, the seventh and last entry in the Tag Force series on the PSP that came out early in ARC-V's run (featuring the first five series which was a cool first), as well as the current translations out there originally worked on by the guys at XenoTranslations (omarrrio and ScrewTheRules/ClickClaxer01 at GBATemp handling the card and story/etc translations, respectively) and how there are... some issues with what's out there. Everything from the DM story mode being loaded with YGOTAS references (no shade to YGOTAS and much respect to LK/Martin for his ongoing work on it still making me laugh sometimes, ofc) to the off-the-cuff edginess of 2014-2015-era internet culture and the problematic (in some cases, derogatory) language that permeated it--though to its credit, some parts do have some level of translation attempted, but taken as a whole, it can definitely turn people off from giving the game a try and seeing what it brings to the table (which is still a good amount despite the corners Konami cut here/there compared to prior TF games).

I actually did attempt a translation of my own back in 2015 (if you've been following me for a long time, you might remember it lol), tackling the GX story text starting with Judai's heart events, but eventually put it on the backburner as I focused more on my GX subbing work and beginning to finalize everything (which I'm still doing). Sometime in 2022, a friend over on NeoArkCradle (the "anonymous YGO fan" in the opening screen) was poring over the story text and patching it up the best he could to remove the references and inaccuracies with more coherent work, and after a while of seeing what he was working with in the Discord, I was a bit blown away by just how inaccurate much of it was--so alongside him, and using the better tools available since then (including some really awesome work from both nzxth2 [who did a proper re-translation of 5D's TF6 not too long ago and was kind enough to release his tools for it] and our coding helper Xan1242 who we eventually reached out to for some help), I decided to *cracks knuckles* get involved and help give everything a more accurate and professional translation, much like I do with my GX subs, working directly off the Japanese text and files. I've been taking cracks at everything in between the GX episodes I've been finalizing going back to at least last January (and I'd used my little hiatus after finalizing GX Season 2's subs to really get at some other stuff throughout the game), starting with re-translating DM's story text but also properly translating other aspects of the game, from the character names (using the original Japanese names, including those of the TF-exclusive characters, partly since Konami made a whole mess of them in English TF1-5), in-duel dialogue, pack descriptions, and more to images with Japanese text (such as localizing the in-duel cut-in onomatopoeia as you see in the video above, or other little images throughout) using some Photoshop skills I've picked up. And it's been a joint effort, as said NAC friend and I have been bouncing off how we'd like to see this go between us to stay on the same page and all, while also checking with other translators there for second/third opinions as needed.

Our plan is to release two versions of a translation--one which uses the OCG [translated] card names in Story Mode, in-duel, and other text but not in the game's card system (mainly to deal with story-relevant notes like Osiris vs Slifer with the Gods or things like not-Utopia Hope being symbolic between Yuma and Astral, akin to how I do my GX subs), and one which uses the TCG card names in everything (like how the official subs go about it). While we're mostly working with the Japanese game files due to how the Xeno team went about decoding everything, we'll be using the card-system-related files from the fixed ISO provided by FLSGaming which fixed some issues that had been present there. And Xan has helped us with a plugin that will be used to apply our translations to the system files that were hard to edit otherwise (things like the character and recipe names, as well as the pack names pulled from for the Card Description screen), but more on how that'll work once this is ready for release, lol. At some point, I'd like to also look at HDifying textures and things, but that's definitely a bonus-level thing for after the main work here is done.

SO.

Currently, Story-Mode-wise, I've gone through everything up to Yusei's events--so Dark Yugi/Kaiba/Jounouchi/Ishizu/Mai in DM, Judai/Manjoume/Asuka/Misawa/Ryou in GX, and Yusei in 5D's have been fully retranslated, though I took initial cracks at Yuma and Yuya's events to get content for this video lol (I've also been intentionally holding off on as much ZEXAL as I can until I've properly watched the whole show so I have context). I haven't tackled overworld text yet, though (like pre-duel or the tournament-related text, which is all in the same file as all the story text). I've also been handling the in-duel dialogue as I go through the character stories, so also just up to Yusei, though I did take initial cracks at Aki's, Yuma and Shark's, and Yuya and Yuzu's for the video.

Other things tackled that were sprinkled into the video, along with some other notes:

Pack names and descriptions have been retranslated, though the descriptions may see minor edits closer to release for a little variety between worlds given the different characters at the shop. Character recipe names were also retranslated, with Yugipedia's translations for them used as an occasional second opinion, though ones based on pack names had to be abbreviated in spots.

Menu text, from the Options to Help screens and stuff in between, has been retranslated, as have in-duel text strings (so, you'll see a full "Activate Effect" instead of "Activate" or "Switch to Attack/Defense Position" instead of "Switch to ATK/DEF Position", etc--also fixed the "BATTELE PHASE" graphic typo, and NAC friend created a new translation for the "Turn Change" graphic for accuracy since ENG TF1-5 made that into "Next Player's Turn").

Database stuff, such as the Sound Test, Tutorials, Duel Missions, etc., have been retranslated closer to the Japanese text; originally I retranslated the Tutorial text via hex editor, with compromises done on quite a bit of it due to the space limits, but as Xan recently updated a text extractor tool of theirs to more cleanly pull out and reinsert that text, I've been going through and fleshing out those translations more (on my commutes to/from work mostly, to be productive lol).

As mentioned, I've been localizing/translating Japanese-text images throughout the game as I come across them, like with the in-duel onomatopoeia that come up during cut-ins or images in the shop/duel/etc screens using Japanese text, to make sure the game is fully translated.

The series logos, used during the title sequence and in the Series Select screens, were updated with translated fan edits shared on Deviantart (which we'll credit in the final release) for DM and GX, while the 5D's-ARC-V logos were edited to enlarge the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" text on them that was pretty hard to see originally.

The game's original opening sequence starts on an anti-piracy message before going into the Konami logo and then a "From Yu-Gi-Oh!..." screen before the opening animation for each series logo--the original team decided to use the first image to vent their frustration at Konami for not localizing this game, and while that's valid (to some extent), we thought we'd use the opportunity to dedicate this project to Kazuki Takahashi for inspiring our love for YGO and the place it's had in our hearts for all these years.

We'll be updating the names of cards that had TCG releases after the original patch was worked on/updated by FLSG to those corresponding names.

Xan has been working on many UI fixes for us to apply with this, among them 3-line dialogue box text as is used in the ENG TF1-5 games--once implemented for TFSP, I'll be going over everything to make full use of that extra space where needed, so things might not look as they do in the video by then.

Character bios will be worked on after I've done the story stuff, though I've taken initial cracks at it for Yuma and Yuya's bios for the video, along with translating the location/affiliation names ("Domino High School," "Satellite," etc).

Currently no release date is planned, as I'm working on this between my GX-finalizing work and actual IRL work, though we'll see how later this year looks as more work gets done--but as noted in the video, all things being equal, it will be released when everything is ready. I'll try to post regular updates or rambles now that this announcement's been made, lol, but do try not to constantly check in on a release date. 🙏🏽

All that said, I think that covers just about everything I wanted to put out there with this, lol. It's been fun to work on this so far and getting to see what I've re-translated in-game is definitely neat; looking forward to us being able to release everything when ready.

Stay tuned for more; the fun's just getting started!

[mizldrizl]

I've never read English fanfictions of K-Dramas before, but recently I watched Beyond Evil and it made me go digging AO3 right away. After reading several works, I wanted to write down a few thoughts and some information on names/titles as a native Korean speaker.

It sounds extremely weird when Joo Won calls Dong Sik "Dong Sik" or "Lee Dong Sik" in normal circumstances. In Korea, it is a taboo to call someone older than you by just their name. Whenever this happens in a fic, I can't help to think like, "Joo Won, are you trying to get punched by Dong Sik?! Why are you being so rude all of a sudden??" Of course, we saw that Joo Won calls Dong Sik "Lee Dong Sik" a couple of times in the show, but it was only when he was infuriated or really frustrated by Dong Sik.

Similarly, Yu Yeon would never call Dong Sik "Dong Sik." Maybe "Lee Dong Sik" if she is really mad, but I don't think she is someone who would ever act like that towards her older brother. She'll always call him "oppa (오빠)."

Whenever Dong Sik calls Joo Won "Joo Won" in a fic, my brain automatically translates it to "Joo Won-ah (주원아)" because that's just how you normally call someone younger than you by their name in Korean. In other words, Dong Sik wouldn't literally call Joo Won "Joo Won (주원)"; it'll always be "Joo Won-ah (주원아)." Basically, the rule is that you put "ah (아)" or "ya (야)" at the end of a name depending what it ends with; if a name ends with a consonant, you add "ah (아)," and if a vowel, "ya (야)." Therefore:

Joo Won (주원) -> Joo Won-ah (주원아)

Jae Yi (재이) -> Jae Yi-ya (재이야)

Ji Hoon (지훈) -> Ji Hoon-ah (지훈아)

Ji Hwa (지화) -> Ji Hwa-ya (지화야)

Yu Yeon (유연) -> Yu Yeon-ah (유연아)

You can't use a name + "ah (아)" or "ya (야)" as a subject or object in a sentence, as this convention only happens when you call someone. Because of this, the following sentence sounds awkward:

Dong Sik said, "My Joo Won-ah is such a handsome man."

Strictly speaking, "친구 (friends)" are people who have a bond and are the same age in Korea. That's why we can say Dong Sik, Jung Je and Ji Hwa are friends. Then what about others? At school or work, we can use "선배 (sunbae)" and "후배 (hoobae)." If you're familiar with Japanese terms "senpai" and "kouhai," they are exactly the same meaning. "Sunbae" is someone who is older than you and/or started school/career earlier than you. To your "sunbae," you're their "hoobae." In the show, Sang Yeop, Dong Sik's old partner, calls Dong Sik "sunbae."

However, if you become more intimate (not in a sexual way!) with someone, or if that someone is your family, other terms such as "형 (hyung)," "누나 (noona)," "오빠 (oppa)" and "언니 (unnie)" can be used as follows:

Younger male -> Older male = "형 (hyung)"

e.g. Ji Hoon -> Dong Sik

Younger male -> Older female = "누나 (noona)"

e.g. Ji Hoon -> Ji Hwa

Younger female -> Older male = "오빠 (oppa)"

e.g. Yu Yeon -> Dong Sik

Younger female -> older female = "언니 (unnie)"

e.g. Jae Yi -> Ji Hwa

Plus, you can add the person's name in front of each term. One thing to remember is that you should put "yi (이)" at the end of the name if it ends with a consonant. If it ends with a vowel, no extra syllable is necessary. For example:

Dong Sik (동식) -> Dong Sik-yi hyung (동식이 형)

Jae Yi (재이) -> Jae Yi noona (재이 누나)

Sometimes, you add "nim (님)" to "hyung (형)" and "noona (누나)" to be even more polite/show more respect. Therefore, "hyung (형)" becomes "hyung-nim (형님)," but for "noona (누나)," it becomes "noo-nim (누님)," not "noona-nim (누나님)." Once, Oh Sub refers to Nam Sang Bae "Sang Bae hyung-nim (상배 형님)" while talking to Jung Chul Moon after Nam Sang Bae was arrested. "Nim (님)" can be also added to a job title, so in the show we hear "소장님 (Substation Chief + nim)", "경사님 (Lieutenant + nim)," "경위님 (Inspector + nim)," etc. plenty times. Personally, it is funny to watch Dong Sik sometimes call Joo Won "한주원 경위 (Inspector Han Joo Won)" at the beginning and Joo Won sometimes call Dong Sik "이동식 경사 (Lieutenant Lee Dong Sik)" because technically you have to add "nim (님)" in those cases (you know, Joo Won being Dong Sik's superior officer at the time & Dong Sik being older than Joo Won and his "sunbae" in career), but they just want to show they don't like each other that much so bad!

Oh, and Dong Sik calls Joo Won "도련님 (young master)" from time to time, and it reminds me of Merlin calling Arthur "sire" sarcastically. Those young, elite, arrogant and (surprisingly) naive boys...

Anyway, now what I'm trying to figure out is--what would Dong Sik and Joo Won call each other once they start a romantic relationship? For Dong Sik, obviously it'd be either "주원아 (Joo Won/Joo Won-ah)" or "한주원 (Han Joo Won)." For Joo Won? As I've rambled long above, "동식아 (Dong Sik/Dong Sik-ah)" certainly is out of question. "동식 씨 (Dong Sik-ssi)" is slightly better, but it still sounds a little off to me. My personal picks are "이동식 씨 (Lee Dong Sik-ssi)" and "형 (hyung)." For the latter, I'd like to imagine that Joo Won asks Dong Sik if it's okay to call him that at some point. In bed, Joo Won might call Dong Sik "이동식 (Lee Dong Sik)" when he feels like to be a bit dominant or wants to tease/taunt Dong Sik, but not too often. (In one fic I've read, Joo Won says something like "Focus, Lee Dong Sik" while having sex with him and Dong Sik tries to be angry, saying "Yah--" but apparently he couldn't say much else after that. The fic is one of my favorites so far.)

Okay, that's all I guess. I've never written anything this long in English in my life, and honestly I'm a little nervous. Beyond Evil made me do this. I'm going to look for new fics now. (By the way, thank you for your amazing fics, Beyond Evil fic writers! Keep up the good work!)

[nasubeenwithcat]

Slytherin Harry Potter(but he is a Gryffindor)/Ron Weasley fic doodle

What is their shipname???? Okay, I have only read the original in Japanese translation. And this post was machine translated. I checked it as best I could, but it is not perfect.

Harry and Ron are indeed friends. Ron loves the time The Boy Who Lived spends paying attention to him. He is completely absorbed in it.

Harry Potter is clearly not the right student for Gryffindor. He chose red and gold just to be 'special' to his friend.

"Pleased to meet you."

His answer was much shorter than Malfoy's rude greeting. But there was an unspoken understanding between them that it would be enough. In less time than it took Ron to blink, they had mutually agreed to it. Malfoy smiled in satisfaction and left them gracefully. It was a momentary lapse. A momentary lapse. What's that all about? It was a big shock, at least to little Weasley. For he had not expected that Harry Potter to shake Malfoy's hand. Ron felt the time that had been so cosy a moment ago suddenly grow boring, and he cast his eyes down. It would be nice if everything worked under clear rules, like chess, but the fact is that it doesn't always work that way. Harry Potter welcomed Malfoy. Ron swallowed the little seed. No doubt, he was happy to have this famous boy's precious time all to himself. He was happy that the boy, who was loved by everyone, could see him, and he felt a strong sense of specialness in that. He was disappointed when that was suddenly destroyed. The seed that had been sown wanted water. Great soil, warm sun and a well-thought-out name. All in order to put up young emerald leaves and put down roots in his 'favourite'.

Ronald Weasley is the youngest son in the Weasley family. Born into a poor but warm home, he grew up just like any other child. In the Weasley family, there is truly something that can only be called love. Ron loved his family because he knew it, but he also realised it no one ever said so openly.

The love from the Weasley family has never been equal.

Unfortunately, Ron realised this early on. The Weasleys loved their children, but there was never a moment when Ron felt more valued by them than Ginny. She was the only princess in a small house full of sons. Her parents clearly cared for Ginny more than any of their children. Surely if Ron and Ginny were to drown in the sea at the same time, they would save Ginny before Ron. Only after she was safe would they finally reach out to Ron. Even if it was not Ginny but his brothers, Ron would still be the last to be helped by them. Until then, who would take care of Ron? Undoubtedly, it was the chess. Only a used-up soldier and an instruction book needed Ron. It was not the Weasleys who told him, "It has to be you", but a white pawn. It was almost inevitable that he would become a chess master. He learnt the rules, learnt the openings, learnt how to guess his opponent's thought. Thanks to this, Ron was able to 'guess a few moves ahead' to some extent within the set rules. Based on this, he could also 'manipulate the situation to his advantage'. The problem is that there are not as many rules outside chess as he would expect. He does not want laws. He wants a promise: 'If you do this, this is what happens.' But no one has ever tried to teach Ron that. Even when he acts to make himself look like an honours student, the mysterious promise messes it up. He would always just stand there and be baffled. It always was＿＿＿ Ron looked enviously at the book Ginny was holding so carefully. He too had books he wanted to read, but when Mr and Mrs Weasley found out, they looked a little annoyed because of their financial difficulties and simply said, "Boys at this age play outside," and went on to the next shop. "There's a big library at Hogwarts. You can read as many books as you like there." It's not that he was expecting a library. What he wanted was attention. That day, Ron bit his lip in a huff. He wasn't even young enough to pretend he didn't know how stupid a way to get stuck in a bookshop, stubbornly, just to get his parents' attention.

That is why he was secretly pleased when Harry Potter was in a compartment, knowing it was a coincidental prank. The boy everyone knew had chosen Ronald Weasley, of all people. Not the rich boy, nor the children who also came from the Muggle community. Ron, who had attracted no attention from anyone, was found by him. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had nothing in common except that they were the same age. They were different in appearance, birth and love. Above all, he had more than enough 'attention' on both hands, which Ron had always wanted. However, the moment the Hogwarts Express started running, the only person Harry was paying attention to was Ron. How happy that made him. What even his parents had found it hard to give him, he gave easily. ......And how harmful it was for him.

"Gryffindor!"

Harry came running up to the Gryffindor table to thunderous applause, narrowing his eyes happily. A little further away, his brothers were shouting, "We've got Potter!"

"Ron."

Harry tapped him on the shoulder delightedly. Sitting down next to him naturally, he said, "Good. We're in the same dormitory," he whispered excitedly. He felt a strange satisfaction rise up his throat again at the sight of him. Of course. On the train they became friends. The Boy Who Lived's first friend was unquestionably Ron. Not Malfoy. After all, that handshake was just a stopgap. Having concluded this, Ron was completely at ease and watched the rest of the pairing. Come to think of it, the Malfoys are a famous family. (Of course, the Weasleys too.) He probably just decided that he shouldn't make buy him his displeasure.

By the way, Harry Potter was inexplicably strange. Not to mention his appearance, but his existance. He was an honours student. He could study well and was strong in sports. On top of that, he was brave, kind and 'The Boy Who Lived', so his following only grew stronger. Sensing a myriad of attention that was not directed at himself, Ron was more than a little doubt with the perfect Gryffindor student. If he was telling the truth, Harry had never known the magic until recently. He doesn't like reading, nor he doesn't have an unusually good memory.

"Maybe I have a good bond with magic." He explained as he unwrapped the large package McGonagall had sent him. "I didn't get very good grades before I came here, and I wasn't very good at sports." "A bond? Then maybe magic doesn't like me." "Don't be discouraged," he revealed the contents of the box. It was a Nimbus 2000, not a Clean Sweep. "You have chess, don't you?" "If I could get a grade by playing chess, I'd have a game against Snape by now." "Play with me. I've never beaten you."

He said as he made stand his broom by his side. Not teasingly, but seriously. The words made Ron feel better and he replied, "Anytime you're ready." The time for the eyes of the hero who arbitrarily holds the world's attention to turn to Ron alone. There's nothing more interesting than that. In fact, Harry was not a good player.

He probably did not know the theory. Often, without his awareness, the game would start on the kings gambit and end soon after. He always chose only the middle pawns to move, as if he could not forget being told one time that it is important to dominate the middle first in chess. That in itself wasn't wrong, but he was so obsessed with the middle that his subsequent moves were always fatally bad. He's thankful the muggle world has a game of the same name, every time he wins. Also glad he is good at chess. Thanks to that, he can beat Harry Potter, even though his Potions results are dismal. He can get his attention. The only fear is that he will give up trying to beat Ron one day. His brothers were brave enough to challenge him at first, but they soon realised that there were more important things to do than that. Gradually his chess skills became less and less important. So he loved it when Harry would say, a little ruefully, "Play with me again". It was nicer than 'congrats' or 'wow'. Because Ron could see that it was enough to promise that he wouldn't get bored yet.

-

"Honestly, sometimes I can't believe my eyes. Because that uniform doesn't suit you too well. Nothing describes you more distantly than 'Dauntless'. No real Gryffindor would befriend a Slytherin. A student who befriends the enemy for their own gain is called 'Cunning'."

"I agree with you," replied the sarcastic voice, a voice that Ron knew very well. "Actually, I'm a Gryffindor. I got in there of my own volition, that's for sure." "Not the Sorting Hat?" "Sorting Hat? Oh-" he said, his faint smile betraying no trace of impatience at the mistake. "Yes, the Sorting Hat."

Ron had no idea what that conversation meant. There was the same air in the cellar that he had felt then. It's called 'unspoken understanding'. It is treated as a violation of the basic rules to speak about it. It is customary to talk eye to eye, memory to memory. Really, Harry Potter was incomprehensible to him. One thing he does know is that he looks different from the other Gryffindor students. There is no doubt that he is brave and courageous. He was the first one to run out to retrieve Neville's Remembrall. Despite this, that red uniform doesn't suit him very well. Even now it didn't. He was more 'natural' when he was talking to Malfoy in the cellar than when he was playing games in the Gryffindor common room. It was as if he looked like a Slytherin student, despite the fact that his tie was red.

"Can I go now? It's almost lights-out time." "I know that, but Potter-" Malfoy coughed. "No, Harry. If you want to go back to Slytherin, you can tell Professor Snape that." "Thank you, Malfoy. If it comes to that, I'll count on you."

Harry approached the door to leave the cellar. Ron hurriedly put away his extendable ear and ran as fast as he could up the stairs before the door opened. He spat the password with ragged breath at the fat lady and prepared to start on his homework report. He wrote the title in messy handwriting, opened some books and waited for the hinges to open again. His head was filled with a whisper that he had just heard. He had chosen Gryffindor of his own volition. So should he have originally been chosen for another dormitory? A student who would befriend the enemy for their own gain. What on earth did Harry value in Malfoy? At least on the train they would have met for the first time. Besides, even when the classes started, they didn't seem that close. No, no. Malfoy is a Slytherin. They were close without Ron's knowledge. Then was that incident that led to his being selected for the Quidditch team actually 'just designed to happen'? He wished he could have said it was just paranoia, but even he could see the marks of the promises made.

At that moment, there was the sound of a hinge opening, far behind his back. Ron picked up his pen with a bitter feeling. Why had Harry chosen Gryffindor? Was it because his first friend was a Weasley? No way. Even if he had chosen Slytherin, he would have had Malfoy. Or was it because he was proud to be The Boy Who Lived? If that was the case, why did he shake his hand?

"Ron," Harry approached the table where Ron was sitting, exactly as usual. "That report's still a week away from being due. Aren't you going to sleep?" "You're the one," the nib of his pen, which kept looking for a place to write, wobbled about, lost. "Where have you been?" "I told you. Penalty."

"Right. Can you see Malfoy as Snape?"

As soon as he said the words, the air that had been flowing gently until then froze as if it were a lie. Ron stared into Harry's eyes. He couldn't take it anymore. He had learned many people's secrets and kept them to himself, but tonight, he couldn't help but ask it. Likewise, Harry gazed back into Ron's eyes. The emerald green were not perturbed at all. On the contrary, it was like he knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Oh. You saw us," he readily admitted. "I did not tell you a lie, you know. Just that it ended too soon. Malfoy's arrival was just a coincidence. He's in Slytherin and Snape is a housemaster. He probably had something to do and just happened to find me there." "It didn't sound like the kind of talk he would do if he happened to find you, though." "I didn't have the impression either that you were the kind of person who would do homework at late night."

Harry nodded his head and took up one of the open books. "Put them away. We'll do it together tomorrow." He insulted me. Whatever the truth, Ron felt that way. It was just like when George or Fred would cover up a story they didn't want their brother to touch. Or when the Weasleys realised Ron needed to buy books too and wanted to leave the bookshop early. But Ron wasn't timid enough to bite his lip in silence again.

"......Why did you choose Gryffindor?" "Why don't you ask the Sorting Hat?" "I'm asking you. Why didn't you go to Slytherin?"

"Why didn't I go to Slytherin?"

His eyes narrowed. If he did so to smile, it was too eerie a movement. It was not unlike a lion's stare. It was more like the kind of look a snake would give when it has found its prey. As far as Ron knew, no student in Gryffindor ever smiled with a face like this. If this hero was a true Gryffindor student, that was not the case. Harry released the book onto the table.

"Because you're a Gryffindor, Weasley."

[candy-blue429]

skk’s relationship is so much more complicated than ‘they hate each other they want each other DEAD they’re TOXIC’

Like while this is more obvious in the novels and other media like Dead Apple, you can see this just from the anime. Like ik the anime doesn’t provide as much context as the manga+other content but you can still tell they’re relationship isn’t that simple.

To start off with, skk first met as some REALLY emotionally/mentally fucked up 15 year olds.

Dazai, though we know nothing about his life pre-15, is as fucked up as they can be. He is extremely suicidal and sees no point in living at all. For Christ sake, he’s in the goddamn mafia. His only influence is Mori, who is a pedophile bastard who only sees Dazai for his intelligence & ability and neglects the fact that he is a 15 year old who clearly needs help.

Chuya is literally a fucking vessel of god. He doesn’t have any memories prior to the Arahabaki incident. He is the head of the Sheep, which just means he is in charge of protecting a bunch of powerless orphans who also have a lot of issues. He’s also a very trusting and loyal person - he values friends. When the Sheep stabbed him he looks genuinely surprised and despite them literally trying to kill him, isn’t mad at them and takes Dazai’s deal so they aren’t killed. He blames himself & Dazai for the incident, but not the sheep. Then he proceeds to join the mafia & swear loyalty to Mori, and no matter how much I love the members of the mafia it’s not what you would consider a healthy environment.

You really expect Dazai and Chuya who met under these absurd conditions to develop a normal, healthy relationship? Like

And as for wanting each other dead, they do say that but it’s not actually… genuine? Again more examples in novels etc but even in the anime during their fight against Lovecraft, you can visibly see that Chuya is extremely concerned when Dazai pretends he’s dying. And when Corruption doesn’t seem to be affecting Lovecraft, Dazai voices his concern of Chuya not making it much longer. Yes, this is more likely an ‘Dazai has low physical fighting stats and can’t defeat Lovecraft on his own’ concern but still. They both can’t really afford the other one dying even if it is for their own benefit and not concern for the other. (I would personally argue that they have concern for each other but that’s a debate for another day)

The rest is kind of my own interpretations but I feel like the reason skk fight all the time and are like ‘god I wish you would die already’ because they are polar opposites.

Even visually they’re opposites. Dazai with the dark hair and eyes and the slim, tall figure. Chuya with light hair light eyes and short, muscular figure.

Personality even more so. Dazai is often not very emotional, distant - even though he is physically human, emotionally, he is very much so ‘No Longer Human’, especially during the Dark Era. Chuya on the other hand is very much so human despite being the vessel of god. Like I said he is fiercely loyal. He’s compassionate. He likes people in general and is depicted to have a pretty large social network. In Stormbringer, Dazai even refers to Chuya as ‘disgustingly human’ (sorry if it’s worded differently in the translated version I’ve only read it in Japanese)

That’s the whole point of their dynamic - they’re opposites. They’re partners. They’re supposed to complement and complete each other. Dazai the brains, Chuya the humanity, and when Chuya uses Corruption and becomes god, Dazai’s No Longer Human returns Chuyas humanity. Idk if I’m making any sense but like to me, that’s such a poetic and cool dynamic.

Like yeah, skk isn’t some average normal healthy relationship that you want to mold your own social life after, but there’s so much more context and nuance to their relationship I just…… idk. I probably didn’t make sense in all my rambling but I’m also not normal about these two in any sense so I guess it’s fitting

[desultory-novice]

"Is Marx really just hungry?"

So, one common understanding of Marx's character is that the poor grape is just hungry all the time. Hunger + Angry = Hangry after all, and anyone who's been hangry before has probably felt the urge to wish on an ancient artifact for planetary conquest!

...Right?

But is he really JUST hungry?

Let's do a little dive into where this idea of Marx's unending hunger all began - with Marx's Star Allies pause screen!

Here's the English version.

"He'll be your buddy if you keep him well fed." Well, the propensity for Marx to devour (in blackhole form) large masses of Whispy Wood's apples (...and random, innocent Waddle Dees who didn't deserve to be sent to the DIMENSION OF ETERNAL PAIN inside Marx's black hole...) means that shouldn't be a problem!

Now, let's look at the Japanese screen...

The first difference is that the Japanese screen starts out quoting Marx's famous "Hey, hey, hey!" It's one of the most memorable of his, err four lines or so, and it's the first thing he says to Kirby at the beginning of Milky Way Wishes.

Kind of a sad thing to lose, but I can sort of understand the reasoning, as Marx's "ヘイヘイヘイ" may be considered more memorable in Japanese, given as how he pronounces "Hey!" the English way, making him sound even more like a funny little guy. In English, it might've just sounded like he was super eager to get Kirby's attention and maybe didn't leave as much of an impact with people. (Generally, it's assumed the use of "English" words and pronunciation in Japanese text is more impactful in Japan. See my post on Magolor's "haircut," aka, his distinctive accent.)

Another thing we lose here is Marx's characteristic way of speaking. He ends all of his sentences with 「なのサ」 or "nano sa!" There's no exact way to explain this except that it's a little bit childish sounding (the "nano" part) and a bit attention seeking/know-it-all sounding (the "sa!" part) Marx sounds playful yet insistent. Like a kid grabbing you to tell you some common knowledge thing they learned for the first time and now they're totally an expert!

But here comes the real difference I wanted to talk about.

「ゴハンを食べればもうおともだち」

If you know a little Japanese, you can pick out that THIS is the line that was translated as "He'll be you buddy if you keep him well fed." But the original is, in my opinion, actually quite a bit more meaningful.

Here's my translation: "Sharing a meal is all it takes to be friends."[*]

I chose this translation because this line is actually written in Japanese to be more of a generalized statement applicable to all life than it is about Marx's needs in specific. It's philosophy. You could even say it's the philosophy of Kirby! Friendship is easier than it seems! So is love! You just have to reach out to others with trust and your heart in your hands - even last bosses can be your friends!

So you see, it's not really some big mystery as to why Marx joined the Dream Friends. Not to Kirby. Because it doesn't take anything more than a simple act of friendship to BE friends.

You don't need an excuse or reason to love and care about others. To help them on their journey. You just need to want to. Throw a heart their way, and there's a good chance they'll respond in kind.

This goes for not just Marx, but for all the Dream Friends with "questionable pasts." To Kirby, they are friends. No conditions, no questions, no doubts.

It's one of the reasons I really, truly love this series.

---

[*]The full line would thus read, "While he MAY be planning more mischief, sharing a meal is all it takes to be friends." Aka, even if Marx DOES cause trouble again, it's not going to erase the bonds of friendship between them - which foreshadows what happens in the post-game where, lo and behold, Marx does play a trick on Kirby by sneak-attacking everyone in the middle of the credits. So, I guess that answers the question of whether they're still friends after the mid-credits boss fight: Kirby says a clear and emphatic, "Yes!"]

[elfen-alcibiade]

You have totally fueled my Mariali love! XD

About this part of your art:

I had noticed someone who looked like Reimu here, and I thought maybe these pages were the drafts of "The Grimoire of Marisa". (I don't know if you know about it, but there is an official book of spell cards that Marisa supposedly wrote!)

Actually, the contents of this book gives me an impression that Alice is somehow special to Marisa. It may be hard to understand in the English translation, but Marisa calls Alice in a slightly different way when she calls her. On the explanation page for Alice's spell card, the main text refers to Alice as Alice, but the remarks section refers to her as "こいつ(koitsu)," meaning "this girl", "this person", or something like that. Marisa speaks a little boyishly, and the term "koitsu" is also boyish and a little rude.

Also, in "Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism", there is a line where Marisa calls Alice "おまえ(omae)". The English translation would just be "you", but this is also a boyish way of speaking. The word itself is a term that Marisa uses all the time to refer to her interlocutors. The funny thing about this line is that it reads "omae" even though the text says "Alice":

In Chireiden, Marisa can also team up with Patchouli or Nitori, but then she will call each of them normally, "Patchouli" or "Nitori" respectively.

Marisa is an outspoken person to begin with, but Alice is the only other person she has dared to be so rude to. From such canon lines, I get the impression that they get along! XD

Some might think that Reimu is the person closest to Marisa, but I personally think that Marisa is a little more distant from Reimu than she is from Alice, because she recognizes Reimu's ability. Marisa acknowledges Reimu's power and is even a little afraid of it. (Sometimes she thinks that it would be bad to displease Reimu.) Of course they are very close, but I personally don't see them having a relationship where they are more than friends.

I suspect that Marisa is a little ruder to Alice than she is to others because she thinks of Alice as "her girl". 🤭💕

There are many other things I could say about Marisa and Alice's relationship, but I wanted to share this with you because I thought it might be difficult to understand these nuances in the English translations. I hope you have enjoyed reading this! :)

It's very funny how something I discreetly implied in my drawings ended up being such a big discussion haha ^^!

Thank you so much for all these observations about the japanese version!! It's very interesting and it helps me understand them much better, I always struggle to find the games well-translated and even when they are, the japanese language just has a lot of subtle nuances that we can't really translate in english anyway, so I just feel a bit left out sometimes when I'm a fan of some japanese stuff x)

I didn't know about the grimoire of Marisa, but I'm definitely going to check it! Coincidentally, this part of my drawing was just supposed to be Marisa studying everything that happened during the imperishable night in order to defeat the people from the moon in my next try. But it can totally be interpreted as the drafts of the grimoire now that you mention it!

I really like Marisa as a character, and I totally get how she would become much ruder with someone she actually feels closeness to. x) And yes, I totally agree with what you said about her and Reimu, and I think that this distance created by their mutual respect really contrasts well with her relationship with Alice. (I like to believe that Marisa mistakes her admiration for love, and struggle to understand what she feels for Alice, being like: " Yeah no I bring her and complain about her all day but thats because I can't stand her, by the way how is she doing? " but I just really like when things are a bit dramatic and complicated I guess!) I'd like to make other drawings and comics related to this someday.

Anyway thank you again for all these transations subtelties I really appreciate these kind of remarks when I get interested in something that wasn't written in english, it must have taken you a lot of time to write all this so thank you very much! 🥰🖤

[killjoy-prince]

Do you have any shoujo manga recommendations? I recently read Sasaki and Miyato and realised that I have been severly missing out!

Sure!! Thanks for asking me!

First, in case you haven't read it yet, Sasaki and Miyano has a spinoff that starts six months before the plot of Sasaki and Miyano called Hirano and Kagiura also by Shou Harusono.

This one focuses on Sasaki's friend, Hirano and his new dormmate, Kagiura. I know Sasaki had extra stories with them but the spinoff gave them an actual story. It currently has about 23 chapters and a light novel with the light novel being the first thing that happens chronologically. No anime for it as far as I know. The back of the first volume has a timeline of where events fit (this came out when Sasaki was up to Volume 5)

Speaking of novels, Sasaki and Miyano has two novels, one focusing on the characters' first year and one on their second year. I haven't read them yet so I'm not sure what exactly happens in them but if you can, check them out!

OK, now for other recs!

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku by Fujita

This one is really cute! An office worker and otaku named Narumi Momose got dumped by her boyfriend when she got outed as one. Feeling awkward about running into him at work after the bad breakup, she quit her job and got a new one at a different company. This time, she's determined to keep her secret under wraps as to avoid another incident. However, this may prove to be hard when she finds out her childhood friend and fellow otaku Hirotaka Nifuji works at the company and almost outs her on her first day. She meets up with him after work to catch up and when Narumi tells him about her recent breakup, he asks her why not date an otaku. Specifically him. She rejects it at first but when he says he can help her in life, video games and with her booth at Comiket, she agrees.

There are three couples this series focuses on. The second couple knew each other since high school and have been dating for about a decade and work at the company with Narumi and Hirotaka. The third couple is the younger brother of Hirotaka and a gamer who goes to his college. It's a lighthearted comedy about office worker otakus and navigating their relationships. A lot of references to anime, video games, BL, GL, you name it. Like Sasaki, this was a webcomic posted on pixiv so the pacing and layout feel similar, at least to me. There are 11 volumes (6 volumes if you go by the English translation bc they combined two volumes into one for 5 of them and then the last one is by itself). I mainly got into this one bc Hirotaka was aesthetically my type. I remember seeing the first volume cover at kinokuniya when only the Japanese version was out and being like "I need to find out what this series is bc I need to meet him"

Kimi Ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina

This was a series I read when I was in high school. High school freshman Sawako Kuronuma has been feared and misunderstood by her peers all her life due to her appearance. It was so bad that her classmates call her Sadako since she looks like the character from The Ring. She had resigned to her fate of never making a friend until popular boy Kazehaya starts talking to her. The more time he spends talking to her, the more her world opens up and she starts making friends and experience things she hadn't been able to before this point. As they spend more time together, love blossoms between the two characters.

There are 30 volumes and 38 episodes. I read up to volume 18 and then stopped because that was the most recent volume at the time and I kinda forgot about by the time more volumes came out. But that was my fault not the manga because this series is really really cute!! A term I've coined for myself when I read this was whenever Kazehaya and Sawako were being cute together, I'd exclaimed "THESE ADORABLE LITTLE FUCKS!!" because they are so adorable to each other. The friends Sawako makes are really cool and fun in their own right. If you want some really cute, tooth rotting sweetness, I recommend this series.

Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura

Tsukimi Kurashita is a jellyfish fanatic that lives in Amamizukan, a woman only apartment building that houses other woman with their own fixations. They are considered NEETS and have a strict rule of no men allowed in their living space. Tsukimi's love for jellyfish came from going to a jellyfish aquarium with her mom before she died of an illness when Tsukimi was a kid. She goes to a pet shop regularly to visit a spotted jellyfish she's taken a fancy to that she named Kurara. When she sees that the employees put a moon jellyfish in the same tank, she fears for its life as the moon jellyfish will kill Kurara if not taken care of. However, her fear of talking to normal people lead to a misunderstanding with the employee until a stylish person comes to her rescue and they take Kurara back to Amamizukan. The next morning, Tsukimi finds out the stylish person she brought back to her home is an illegitimate son of a politician and cross-dresser named Kuranosuke Koibuchi.

There are 84 chapters and 11 episodes of this series. I read up to about chapter 74 before stopping for the same reason I did for Kimi Ni Todoke. It's a really fun time. The characters are funny and sweet, the situations are entertaining, it's just a fun o' time. And the art is really pretty!!

Skip and Loafer by Misaki Takamatsu

Mitsumi Iwakura moved from her small town on the outskirt of Ishikawa Prefecture to Tokyo to start high school. However, she gets lost going to school on the first day due to the culture shock and seems at a loss at what to do. That's when she meets Sosuke Shima who was late to school himself and travels with her to school. The series follows Mitsumi as she experiences school life in the city and meets lots of new people and makes friends with Sosuke along for the ride.

There's currently about 59 chapters and 12 episodes of this series. I started reading it when the anime was announced and I had a fun time reading it. I really enjoyed Mitsumi and seeing her learn and broaden her horizons as she goes to school and hang out with Sosuke and everyone else. It's a nice story!

Given by Natsuki Kizu

High school student Uenoyama Ritsuka is a guitarist in a instrumental only band with college students Akihiko Kaji and Haruki Nakayama. When going to his usual hiding spot for lunch, he finds Mafuyu Sato sleeping with a guitar with broken strings in his arms. Uenoyama offers to fix it and when he does and plays a note, Sato begs him to teach him how to play. Uenoyama is reluctant but gives in when Sato persists. After spending some time together, Uenoyama finds out that Sato has a beautiful singing voice and invites him to join his band.

There are 9 volumes, 11 episodes and a movie, with another movie on the way. The series focuses on three relationships. The first is the relationship between Uenoyama and Sato, the second between Akihiko and Haruki and the third between Sato's childhood friends Hiiragi and Shizusumi. The art is really pretty and the characters are so good!! I really enjoyed the story a lot! My favorite character is Hiiragi and I can't wait for the next movie to come out because they're gonna cover his story then and I wanna hear him sing!! (Also his seiyuu is Fumiya Imai AKA seiyuu for Akito Shinonome so double reason why I wanna hear it) Also, Imma use this as an excuse to post a page I really wanna see animated bc I can hear it so clearly in my head.

Bloom Into You by Nakatani Nio

Yuu Koito, lover of shoujo manga, always dreamed of being confessed to and experience that heart pounding feeling she sees happen in her books. However, when she's confessed to by a guy in middle school, she feels nothing and rejects him. Now starting high school, she's left confused on what her lack of feeling means. When she sees the student council president Touko Nanami turn down a boy, she asks her for help with her situation. But when Nanami confesses her love to Koito, will she feel that spark she's being hoping for? There's 8 volumes, 13 episodes and 3 light novels starring a side character. I'm up to volume 6 of this one and I'm really enjoying it!! The story is engaging, the charatcers are interesting. I like that Yuu isn't a pushover, she's a bit snarky and doesn't let Touko push her around. And I like how Touko comes off as a competent student council president but she has a more vulnerable side that she only shows Yuu. They pair nicely with each other.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki

OK I know you know this one already but this wouldn't be a rec list made by me if I didn't include it. This is my favorite series ever. It's mecore. Me-coded. Me. Second year high schooler Chiyo Sakura finally gets the courage to confess her love to Umetarou Nozaki, a guy in her grade. However, she messes up the confession and says she's his biggest fan instead of "I like you". Nozaki, in response, gives her his autograph and then invites her to his house. She accepts but once they get there, he has her do inking on a manga he makes. Turns out, Nozaki is a manga artist under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno and he's had his eye on Sakura for a while because he wanted to bring her onto his team as an inker. She agrees to join so she can get closer to him.

There's currently 14 volumes, 12 episodes and an OVA split into six 5-mintue parts. This series has me dying of laughter with every chapter. The characters are fun, the story is fun, it's just a fun time! There are three main couples with some side couples and duos that get their own time in the spotlight as well. The main ones are Sakura and Nozaki, Sakura's friend Yuzuki Seo and Nozaki's screentone assistant and first year Hirotaka Wakamatsu, and Nozaki's background artist and third year theater club president Masayuki Hori and "Prince of the Drama Club" Yuu Kashima. Other characters like Mikoto "Mikorin" Mikoshiba, Mayu Nozaki, Yukari Miyako, Ken Miyamae, and Mitsuya Maeno all bring their own brand of fun to the table. This series made me laugh so much I couldn't read it in class to slack off because I'd laugh out loud and disrupt class. I've yet to read another series that made me do that. I cannot recommend this series enough. Please read AND watch it if you have not already. Nozaki is starting to gain awarness. I lose my mind whenever I see it happen. I wanna see it happen. It's been 13 years!

Imma put an honorable mention here because I haven't read or watch it yet but I've heard Horimiya written by HERO and illustrated by Daisuke Hagiwara is really good. I wanted to but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

That's all I have for right now! If you've already read/watched all of these already, lmk and I'll list some more!! Hope you enjoy! ^_^

[lutiaslayton]

It’s coming.

Hellooo, just giving you all a little update and teaser regarding the event I have mentioned for a while, and which is finally about to begin!

Yes, it is finally time. To reply to an earlier reblog I saw some time ago: yes, I guess we are going to Dracula Daily the Layton novels now. Or at least I will try to keep this up for as long as I can. I am very much hyped too 👀

The Eternal Diva novel will be cut into about twenty parts,

so this will be a twenty-week journey (unless one part happens to be extremely short, then maybe I’ll merge it with the previous or next one for example). And after that, hopefully by then the transcript of another novel will have progressed enough to start all over again with a different story! So far, a French friend (who doesn’t have a tumblr) is helping me make a transcript of the Illusory Forest novel; so fingers crossed, as this might be the next in line! Yep, for those interested in my theories, it is the very same novel that I’ve talked about for so long, and it is arguably the craziest of all. Just the way it starts is an absolute roller-coaster.

Also, I lied. Updates are going to be on Mondays now.

I was not ready to post yesterday, Sundays already have their Layton-related weekly event, and since I am too impatient to wait until next week, I thought I might as well make this a thing for Mondays instead. Gotta end the first, universally depressing work day of the week, with something uplifting, am I right? :3

I am going to give you a warning, though: as much as I’d like to keep the translations as close to the originals as possible, I am also, unfortunately, a fanfic writer, and the novels’ writing style is very different from what I usually write. Also there’s some weird stuff such as verb tense consistency in Japanese… Ohhhhhhh dear this part is such a nightmare. You can have verbs in the present tense and others in the past tense in the same sentence. You can have a sentence in the present tense and another in the past tense right after. I hate this. I hate everything about this.

So, I will try to restrain myself (because if you already took a peek at SLS, you already know what my writing style is really like), but I sometimes couldn’t help but add a sentence or two, cut a sentence into multiple ones, make the dialogue less robotic and more lively, that sort of thing. For example, if there’s a lot of dialogue going on and on without any narration in-between, I might sometimes add a sentence or two just to break it up a bit and make the scene sound less static. That sort of thing.

I will try my best to make it sound similar to what the official game translations did, in the end! The Japanese dialogue is usually rather bland and repetitive, but the official translations added a lot of details and quirks that are completely absent from the original text, but which also make the characters feel like, you know, themselves as we know and love them.

So here’s a reminder that if you want to know what the real Japanese text says, do NOT take this fan-translation series as a reliable source. I spent months writing a transcript of the real novel precisely so that people willing to know what the original Japanese text says (including me) would be able to check it out and compare, regardless of what anyone else translating it will say. Even without speaking Japanese, you can copy-paste the Japanese sentences into a translator such as DeepL, and so you’ll be able to see which parts exactly are in the novel, and which parts I pulled out of my magic hat. The “9/10 accuracy, WhatTheHeckIsThis/10 readability” translation is going to take a LONG time to make, but it will also come eventually (though don’t expect much before at least something like 2024).

So now, with all that being said:

See you all tomorrow at 6PM (France time) for the first chapter of our reading journey!

Though if you have preferences for how you would rather see things (e.g. better time that fits the majority), then I am open to suggestions! I can easily rename a tag or reschedule my queue.

[kavaeric]

The Forever War, from 2019.

Commentary below. This is a heavy piece, and my thoughts on it are long, so grab a coffee.

Around this time, while a lot of my political thoughts and worldviews began to crystallise, I started scrutinising the art that I enjoyed. One such piece was the Vilous worldbuilding project, by artists Kiki and Mick39, most famous for the creation of the sergal species.

Light Era at this time was mostly an aimless kitchen sink, and in it, lore was the Vilousians were in contact with the Terrans but were also fighting a war. Aesthetically, it was also a way for me to explore a kind of alternative tech aesthetic that feels more rugged and janky though also with an air of retro-tech:

I realise now that the war as I wrote it embodied something of my own criticism of Vilous as a worldbuilding project: while I doubt that Mick or Kiki are genuinely bigoted people (and they are queer, and do maintain a collab group of pretty queer folks), it's hard to not read some of the iffy colonial subtext that emerges in her work. The idea of "civilised" and "uncivilised" groups of sergals, the fact that Rain Silves is depicted as a genocidal war criminal while the text itself doesn't seem fussed as to whether to condone or condemn her—while I lament the fact that sergals have a reputation in the fandom for being associated with the worst elements of bigoted, racist, fascist furries, I can't ignore the fact that they did not arise out of nowhere. Simultaneously, Mick and Kiki started to show signs of being burnt out on working on Vilous, despite a fervent fanbase, and that has only grown more apparent over time.

My thoughts of Vilous hence are a complicated swirl of emotions, but I suppose if there was anything that was apparent it was this sense of futility and tragedy. Two artists who are Japanese persons of colour, like myself, and quite queer, making something fairly genuine; a something that is now associated with bigotry and some of the worst types of furries; and an association that was unfortunately the two artists' fault yet out of their control at the same time; sand something now they have been saddled with for nearly 15 years, and with no real exit. I can't help but feel the weight of tragedy and futility.

Kyrja is the character in the painting. I envisioned potential video game, where their story was similar to that of Cpl Upham's from Saving Private Ryan: someone who wants to do good but is a pacifist, being plunged into a war where it seems everyone is innocent and guilty at the same time. The player character might be some kind of typical leader archetype, and the game would progress leading the player into the typical sense of feeling like a big cool hero rallying the troops.

But the game would "end" prematurely after you "win" a certain battle. In that scene, Kyrja finds out their sibling was alive, but actually one of the captured soldiers, who was basically fighting on the side of the nationalist faction. The revelation is what breaks Kyrja's mind, and send them into a breakdown tantrum.

The player would be presented with a choice, video-game style: you can either restrain Kyrja and stop them from beating up their sibling, or let them have a go and do not intervene. If the morality of that choice seems deliberately vague, that's because it is.

I had attempted to translate that into a music comic, based on Soldier by Fleurie:

Eventually, though, I think the reality of the situation of Vilous began to defeat my interest in it. I didn't feel motivated to really commentate on it, and in the end I couldn't be interested in the concept of Vilous or sergals or anything like that anymore. The lore of Vilous was excised from that of Light Era; presently, the Terrans know no other spacefaring society than their own.

I don't really know how sergals fit into Light Era. I do have friends who would love to see themselves in LE, but the whole setting has so much...baggage. It feels impossible to find a way to do it neatly.

It feels so...futile. And forever.