#that's the only version of the game I've played rip | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

queer-ragnelle · 10 months

Note

do you have any arthur/guinevere/lancelot recommendations? if not, just stories where their characters were done justice and their friendship is explored and the love triangle comes to some satisfying solution.

i sure do! as always, with caveats. this list has two parts: films first and then books as i have suggestions for both! all of these movies can be watched here and the books read here.

TL;DR movies: Excalibur (1981), Camelot (1967), Knights of The Round Table (1953), Merlin and The Sword (1985), Sword of Lancelot (1963)

TL;DR books: The Birth of Galahad by Richard Hovey, Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger, Guinevere Trilogy by Persia Woolley, Guinevere by Lavinia Collins, Spear by Nicola Griffith, honorable mention to Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart

MOVIES:

Excalibur (1981): for me it has everything. we get to see young stupid arthur and clever curious guinevere fall in love, their wedding is gorgeous, then nicholas clay my beloved lancelot throws a wrench in it as he loves and respects them both so much, and they love him. he gets to be crazy about it too like running off to the woods to beg god to take these feelings away, dreams he's fighting himself and ends up impaled<3 meanwhile arthur/guinevere leave a cup out for him even when he isn't there. the crux of it comes when guinevere is accused of cheating (which she hadn't even at this point) and arthur won't champion her because his kingship comes before husbandly duties, so lancelot fights for her honor instead. at the end, after guinevere has gone away to a convent (lancelot is a wildman with a full beard lost to them all) arthur comes to retrieve excalibur from her and his speech is so romantic about finding her in the next life. i die every time. here is my review of that movie.

Camelot (1967): i adoooore this guinevere. jenny<3 she does whatever she wants and i love that for her. the whole may day queen aspect of her is muah chef's kiss. small wonder arthur loved her immediately. this arthur gets to wear eyeliner which is a plus. lancelot almost kills arthur on meeting him and then falls at his feet on realizing it, only for guinevere to be really cold to him at first, trying to get other knights to defeat him, but ends up falling in love with him. which arthur totally knows and turns a blind eye to btw. even when pellinore brings it up in as gently as possible, arthur bites his head off, knowing he cant even entertain the rumor or else the kingdom is in danger, and he just wants his two favorite people to be happy....cries forever.

Knights of The Round Table (1953): the biggest downside to this one is that lancelot has a horrible insufferable american accent. however his celebrity worship/instant friendship with arthur is soooo good. he breaks his own sword for threatening the king and then arthur gives him his own....is that even allowed to be so adorable? anyway so lancelot had met guinevere before they were arthur's friend and wife, essentially had a charming meet cute, and went their separate ways, only to formally meet at the wedding in front of everyone....god, the eye contact could turn someone to stone. arthur is extremely sympathetic and compassionate, to the point that when he catches guinevere sulking alone on the roof with a gift from lancelot, he says "i miss him too..." bruh???? my heart?? all around delicious food.

Merlin and The Sword (1985): huge disclaimer...this movie is ugly as sin lol the only version available is ripped from a vhs tape so it might as well be a crunchy gif at this point. it was also cut down from the 3 hour tv version to 1.5 hours which is a tragedy. (i've tried emailing the studio for a rerelease to no avail...) however it has the most insane arthur/guinevere/lancelot ever i'll never be the same. arthur is played by malcom mcdowell who always brings his a game to roles. he's a bit older than guinevere, but she apparently taught him to read? he dotes on her but he's somewhat emotionally stunted which gets in the way. this guinevere is gorgeous i'm obsessed with her she has this deep sultry voice and a simple elegance that completely shatters lancelot's resolve. i get it, it would work on me. lancelot meanwhile is this incredibly lanky sometimes mute shy guy who is besties with gawain and his meet cute with guinevere involves the mingling of their blood after they are both cut on some rose thorns? hello???? they're freaks just like chrétien intended. the blood. they share bath water and fuck in a dungeon. then after guinevere is rescued from meleagant, arthur asks merlin for some sort of potion to help guinevere recover emotionally instead of like.....talking to her? he's trying but so so bad at it<3 he then takes her to bed to "treat her like a queen." IT'S ALL GREAT IT MAKES ME FERAL ARGH

Sword of Lancelot (1963): this one is fun because cornel wilde wrote it, directed it, and starred as lancelot himself!! the other fun factoid is the woman who plays guinevere is his real life wife. how stinking cute is that? so obviously their chemistry is ridiculous. but arthur is a cutie too. he's older and tends to talk down to guinevere a bit, which makes sense why she befriends lancelot in her loneliness. lancelot gets a lot of development, taking young tor under his wing, besties with gawain and lamorak and gareth. being irl married to guinevere also makes their disagreements feel very real. arthur is counseled by a ton of characters, bedievere, merlin, even mordred is here giving his two cents. so you really feel that tug of war pulling the throuple apart. it hurts.

BOOKS:

The Birth of Galahad by Richard Hovey: this play is wiiiiiild but the take away here is that guinevere is the mother of galahad. like what a twist. meanwhile all the men are away fighting rome so you get this tragic back and forth switching of perspective between lancelot and arthur missing guinevere (plus galehaut is here as counsel which really kicks this up a notch) then it cuts to guinevere with a new baby and tormented by the prospect of whether to write to rome with the news but afraid it will cause an upset where she cant be.....hovey you mad lad you've done it again.

Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger: i hate i keep having to recommend this bigoted book but damn it this arthur/guinevere/lancelot are so good. why are they sooo goood???? this arthur is compelling since he loses his virginity to morgause and is forever messed up after that, so he struggles to connect with guinevere in the way she needs, not really understanding her even though he bends over backwards to please her. meanwhile there isnt a word for what she and lancelot have here they need to be studied under a microscope so history doesn't repeat itself they're so twisted it's wild i can't look away. and the friendship between arthur and lancelot is so powerful and enduring that even at the end while joyous garde is under siege, arthur sends in kay with food the moment he hears their stores are low, and has him serve them like old times. he doesnt want it to be the way it is....sick and twisted narrative choices.

Guinevere Trilogy by Persia Woolley: i admit this isn't my favorite guinevere, but credit where it's due, she's a complex and fully realized character. through her we come to understand both arthur and lancelot as deeply damaged men, who had their emotional states devastated by the fall out of sexual abuse, and how that impacts their relationship with her (and their sons, mordred and galahad, who likewise suffer as a result of their fathers' emotional states). as a celtic queen, guinevere has every right to take a lover if she so desires, and arthur is not ignorant of his own failings as a husband, but the tragedy plays out anyway as the orkney brothers are there to wreak havoc on the place as usual. (you might find that this has a movie adaptation Guinevere (1994) don't watch it, trust me, it's not even fun bad, just cursed.)

Guinevere by Lavinia Collins: this is technically part of a series so you'll also get a lot of arthur and lancelot in the other three (Igraine, Morgawse, Morgan) but for the sake of this list, the guinevere one will suffice. anyway what i like about this is the strong contrast in relationships with both men. lancelot is bisexual and guinevere is the first woman he ever sleeps with (but not the last...) so theyre very tender and sweet together meanwhile arthur sired mordred before marrying her he's overall more adventurous while keeping entirely faithful to her for the rest of his life......there is a threesome in this but ironically its lancelot/guinevere/kay and not arthur but you know what? he deserves a win. this still goes on the list.

Spear by Nicola Griffith: this is perceval pov so the focus on arthur/guinevere/lancelot is minimal, but its delicious. arthur is kinda cold and mean here (falling back on the celtic "bear" thing, same as woolley does) but its revealed that he, lancelot, and guinevere are in a throuple, the characterization of lancelot's shy explanation of this was so good, and he goes on the grail quest to try and heal guinevere's womb so she can have their children, as it's a point of tension that mordred and galahad both exist, but guinevere wants to have children with arthur and lancelot. there's literally a part she faints and they both carry her off to bed like....they dont even pretend its any other way. no homophobia or slut shaming or anything like that in this book which is a huge plus. palate cleanser after arthur rex lol

Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart: this is more of an honorable mention, as the first three books are merlin pov and the fourth is mordred. but book two (the hollow hills) has arthur raised alongside bedwyr (who is lancelot in all but name, son of ban, eventual lover of guinevere etc) they are the best of friends its adorable, bedwyr gave him his dog cabal, which is cute on its own, then fast forward to mordred pov (the wicked day) decades later and arthur is picking out a new puppy and names that one cabal too, its like this long homoromantic ritual that every dog descended from the first calls back to his original gift....im pulling my hair out. guinevere here is underdeveloped at best, as merlin doesnt really know her well and mordred's perspective on her is that shes (respectfully) hot lmao but worth mentioning as mary stewart is the goat, highly recommend her books.

and that's the list. hope that gives you some stuff to chew over!

#arthurian legend #arthurian legends #arthuriana #arthurian mythology #king arthur #queen guinevere #sir lancelot #ask #anonymous

60 notes · View notes

landgraabbed · 9 days

Note

hi cat! 🩷 so as you know i really enjoy your ts2 posts and lately i've gotten the itch to play it again! but last time i played ts2 i played it with only a few crappy cc clothes lol, so i have no idea what mods are essential mods to have in ts2 or where to get them, how to prevent saves from getting corrupted and how to build your own custom hood - stuff like that. so i wondered if you have any advice or if you knew any guides on where to even get started on this? 😭 thank you 🩷🩷🩷

vilna hiiiiiii!! first of all i am so sorry that this took me so long to reply! i got ill and it hit me harder than it should rip 😭 anyways, thank you so much as always for your kind words, you know i love your stuff so it really is appreciated 💖

it’s a long write-up and i reference a lot of guides and resources from the community from which i learned myself. i’m really grateful to this community for sharing these resources, truly! i tried to organize this as best and include as much as i could, but i'm sure there may be missing things or things left unclear. so if you have any questions feel free to message me!

i. installation

i personally use the sims 2 rpc launcher by lazyduchess, which is included in osab’s installation guide. i really like this guide, since it includes links to the full sims 2 collection, as well as indications to make the game work more nicely with modern hardware and software, such as modern graphics cards through graphics rules makers or the 4gb patch.

it also includes instructions for reshade installation (i personally use the rpc injection method).

ii. setting up a clean slate

whether you want to play in a premade neighborhood or a custom neighborhood, i recommend using a clean slate, meaning empty and/or clean neighborhoods. many functions of the game use hoods, and sometimes these aren’t actual physical hoods and instead add sims as townies or npcs. there are also “clean” versions of premade neighborhoods that fix/tweak oversights by maxis.

mind that if you want a brand new hood without maxis’ townies, you need to get an empty pleasantview template (N001) in your game’s installation folder, or disable it somehow by changing its name. you can still play in pleasantview as it will be stored in your documents neighborhoods folder, and you can use clean versions for that. you also need to get empty stealth hoods.

this all may sound a bit complicated, but simgaroop made a wonderful write-up here for different user cases depending on what you’d like to do in your game. the mods linked here are a boon!

as for making a brand new empty hood, i love getting custom terrains (which are sc4 files originally made in simcity 4). some of my faves are made by @/nimitwinklesims, but i also like finding them at modthesims. you don't need to create each type of subhood, but i do have at least one of each in bloom valley. in bloom valley i have two downtowns (one is magic town from sims 1 originally converted to sims 2 by @/voleste. the other is @/kattaty's remake of downtown, which will be deleted and replaced with a downtown i'll make myself to be more consistent with my other subhoods. it is incredible, and i think i will use some of their lots in my new downtown because they are great), i have two shopping districts. one is strangetown because i love those premades and townies; i never have sims visit or form relationships with them though, it's just so i see them around. the other is oakburg which uses acorn bend as a base, it works more or less as an expansion to bloom valley and it's where i play more often than not these days. then i have the vacation hood makeovers by @/plumbtales. the university hood was made from scratch by me.

when you create your own hood, you will either have to set up your own townies from scratch or source them from community shared townie hoods. for making townies from scratch, i recommend @/simper-fi’s guide (also recommend getting the mods linked here before you make a hood).

for townie hoods shared by other simmers, i recommend those shared by @/mikexx2 (seriously, look at all those familiar faces that ended up as spouses for gen 1 in bloom valley) and @/marvelann’s sims made townies by @/letthemplaysimscc. i also use the bon voyage locals shared by @/plumbtales. i also make my own townies from time to time or use specific downloaded sims as townies.

iii. on corruption

here’s the good news: as it turns out, corruption really isn’t an issue. april black has made an excellent video on the matter of corruption; although it is long, i recommend anyone who plays ts2 to watch it, or at the very least the final timestamp. to know what to do and what not to do.

although corruption isn’t an issue, i still consider the suite of “anti corruption” mods to be essential in order to avoid overpopulation and overall weirdness.

iv. making the game look pretty

i have linked my eye and skin genetics over here

my supernatural skins default replacements: alien - witch - vampire - plantsim - werewolf - considering switching my vampire, zombie, and werewolf defaults to this

for hair, i only use 4t2 conversions. i just like the way they look. i use @/platinumaspiration’s 4t2 defaults collection, which is a boon. for custom hairstyles, i recommend going through @/4t2clay

for clothes, i recommend going through the sims 2 defaults database. i have also linked some favorite creators for male clothes here. note that they also have female clothes. other creators i enjoy: @/mdpthatsme @kaluxsims @/jacky93sims @/goatskickin

i have a lot of makeup and “skin details” in my folder, but i have always been fond of @/lilith-sims’ things

for build/buy, that’s more difficult to pinpoint, but i again recommend @/sims4t2bb for a conversion database, and also @/veranka-downloads’s plentiful 4t2 and 3t2 conversions. some creators that feature in my folder: @/i07jeuu @/linacheries @/nonsensical-pixels @/pforestsims @/tvickiesims

custom sliders in cas: @/simnopke’s sliders, @/memento-sims’ sliders

for the ui, i use the incredible @/greatcheesecakepersona’s clean ui; i also use the mods linked here (+ @/keoni-chan’s amazing talk to me icon to replace icons), particularly the one to remove the red border in pause mode since that won’t be removed in tab camera

speaking of camera, this is the camera mod i use

i regrettably don’t recall the exact lighting mod i use (looking at them, probably cinema secrets), but i know it is one shared by @/veronaquiltingbee

to beautify my neighbor, i consider these skylines by @/lowedeus to be essential (+ optimized textures by @/celestialspritz). additionally i use the rural charm terrain and roads default replacement by @/criquettewashere in addition to most if not all of their hood decorations. i also love 3t2 hood decor conversions!

another useful resource is the gos events

please note that a lot of these creators do multiple categories of cc, so recommendations for one category may overlap with another; i know that this is just scratching the surface but i hope it helps

v. gameplay mods

i use so many mods to overhaul the gameplay so there will be some omissions. i’ll do my best to provide the most important ones (ignoring the ones previously mentioned)

economy and careers: uni part-time jobs for teens - lower wages - no 20k simoleons handout - loan jar (afaik lamaresims is working on a version to enforce regular payments) - custom bills (750%) - expensive bills for apartments (300%) - private school bill fix (in moreawesomethanyou-al.zip; charges the household 200 simoleons each school day for a child in private school) - lamare’s job options mods - 50% job promotion chance - restricted job offers - work food delivery

food & eating: basically @/jacky93sims's whole library

lifespan & health: lifespan (modified as follows, baby to elder: 3 - 7 - 14 - 21 - 91 - 7-14; i will make the adult lifespan longer still given that i play very slowly, it works as young adult and adult stages, and as is i don’t see many sims of gen 1 living to meet their grandchildren) - more dangerous fires - frequent & faster disease processing

personality: 3t2 traits project and associated mods

relationships and woohoo: acr - romantic standards - reproductive capabilities configurer - pregnant sims wear any outfit

supernatural/occults: plantsims can change hairstyle - no more leafy hair - no more werewolf hair - child lycanthropy - werewolf fangs fix - werewolf transformation 3 nights a week + no personality change vampires can’t eat food - vampire motive decay during day based on aspiration + vampire hunger goes down at night & social/fun decay- hereditary supernaturalism

travel and community lots: visit other sims - community time (+ limeyyoshi’s fix, reuploaded bc i cannot find it)

university: semester changes - pets at university - maternity for young adults - maternity outfit fixed for young adults

misc: planting overhaul - monique’s hacked computer, which i use to give sims separate bank accounts, study skills and badges online, and so on (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) - townie apartment residents - community lot skilling - engagement and wedding ring for color traits - invisible medicine cabinet (so sims can brush teeth and wash face with any mirror) - shiftable everything - midgethetree’s mods - fix subhood selection - longer seasons (7 days)

#p #replies #resources

10 notes · View notes

aimwigs · 7 months

Note

hey I've been listening to the yard for about a year and a half and I want to get more into it ifywim do I just start watching old vods to catch up or is there any content u can recommend as a baseline must-watch

this is by no means a comprehensive list because i've only really been watching the yard since dec 2022 and my 2021 stint in lud viewing was brief and casual (didn't know what i had) but it is a fucking long list so i'll keep it under the cut. included stuff that maybe i wouldn't classify as a must watch but i wanted to include it so you can pick and choose what interests you

PODCASTS - I know for a fact there are other podcast appearances out there that I don't know of but here are a few:

the yard x wine about it - it's just the four of them and qt which means good times! this is an essential imo

there are a few eps of fear& that they appear on! specifically rec the ep with nick and aiden and the ep with ludwig and aiden. there are also a few eps with ludwig and slime (not at the same time) if you're interested in those

i've watched aiden on three different interview podcasts all are worth a watch to me: karat interview, across the bar, and good griefed (audio a little scuffed on this one but it's cute)

fucking loved nick's ep of across the bar because his outlook on creativity is super relatable to me. he also did something with safety third that i've been meaning to watch but haven't yet!

VIDEOS AND STREAMS - there's a lot here but i'll try to describe what's what

mogul money ft the yard - this is the full vod, there's also a cut down video. extremely fun watch

nick was also on mogul money live (first game specifically) and he and aiden appear in the bts video a little bit

qt posted vlogs from italy! they're all fun watches and there's some good moments. one, two, three, four

qt and aiden halloween gingerbread house video. ludwig and aiden kiss in this one. i think the full vod is in god's hands unfortunately

qt and aiden make shit in an ezbake oven and make the guys eat it. fun little video. idk if the vod is out there somewhere or not

there's a cut down version of this too but the full stream of qt having all the guys do a gingerbread house competition is very peak

lud did a shit load of taste test videos with the guys for a slim jim sponsor. this might not be all of them but here are the ones i cold find off rip (fruit, cheese, chocolate, water, steak)

ludwig has done a shitload of ylyl streams with slime that you can find and honestly i have a horrible mediashare allergy so i haven't watched a lot of them but i have watched the one they did with aiden and the one with everyone but idk where the full vod is for the latter

from ludwig's fortnite mondays, there was a week where slime and nick played with jerma and sapnap. idk if any of the others posted the vod but here's sapnap's

the subathon has a shitload of stuff that i can't even begin to link but if you want the experience of the dcom series without subbing to tier 2 they watched the truman show starting about an hour thirty into this vod, tho it takes a hot minute to get everything lined up with the time stamps

halloween po unboxing where them + qt dress up as characters from scooby doo. nick looks frankly obscene as velma this is a great vod

how many flashlights does it take to cook an egg is exactly what it sounds like. it's lud slime and nick ft a little bit of yingo

they play the family feud game together in these two vods: just them and against miz/otk (can't stand miz but it was still good)

RECENT STUFF - aka stuff you probably know about or have seen because you've been around a year and a half but i figured i'd include them anyway since they happened off the pod

two months ago they all played fortnite on lud's stream and it was awesome

both the show matches of the ludwig tarik invitationals are worth watching if you're into valo! the first one is team mogul v otv and they're split up in the second. if the timestamps are broken it's 2h30 in both vods

the rivals 2 tournament is fun! i don't understand shit about fighting games but i love to see the boys play

cdawgva ski vod with lud and aiden from the japan trip! there's also a cut down version of youtube but i found it a fun watch

recency bias alert: they all played in creator dodgeball

the qt and aiden winter cocktail tierlist stream was so good like genuinely a stream of all time to me. ludwig hangs around for parts of it

the yard doing the dougdoug fast food challenge is a MUST WATCH! they celebrate and they suffer what could be more beautiful

otv's fear pong video with them is so fucking good. SO GOOD!

and finally i guess i should mention beerio because it just happened LOL

#answered #anonymous

24 notes · View notes

kittygamer2888 · 4 months

Text

[Long text post warning]

Guys.. there's something I need to confess..

*Ahem*

If you guys ever thought that my Sonic and Sonic.exe phase are bad.. just know, that..

My Minecraft phase was even WORSE as a kid.

NO- FR- I used to play the game so much on my mom's old computer, I accidentally got blown up by my first mob, which was a Creeper (because I genuinely thought it was harmless), I even got 2 Minecraft plushies (I think.?) And a Minecraft poster of a cat chasing a creeper. I used to have 2 posters, but one of them just didn't wanna stick on the wall, so my mom had to put it away because the corner were already ripped a bit. I even used to have this big Minecraft torch that I would put on my wall as a nightlight (but it eventually faded in light and had to be put away as well)-- hell, I even have a Minecraft bed sheet as well as 2 pillow covers for my 2 pillows (because I had a little Among us phase and now have a blanket, 2 plushies, and a pillow cover relating to that game- BUT WE DONT TALK ABOUT THAT ^^"). And if you think that isn't enough, I have 2 little figures of Alex and this... Blaze (I think thats what it was..? Idk), both of them in minecarts stored inside of the little pokeballs I have on the desk close to the mirror. I think I might have a few Minecraft related stuff hidden away, but I'm too lazy to think about them since I just woke up and started writing this-- but yea....

I even used to have the Minecraft Story Mode games, and even Minecraft on the Xbox because WHY NOT?! :]

Though.. I didn't play Minecraft on the Xbox as much since I was so used to the PC version, so it was a bit hard to control it.

Not only that, but the fact I used to hear fanmade Minecraft parody songs of popular songs at the time.... I used to hear so many parodies of my favorite songs, even the infamous "Don't Mine at Night" song 😭

I used to hear it so much that, now when I hear those said popular songs on the radio I always play when I'm asleep, I start to remember the lyrics of those Minecraft parody songs more than the actual songs playing on the radio WHICH- MIND YOU- ITS STILL MY FAVORITE RADIO STATION TO THIS DAY DESPITE THE OBVIOUS SUGGESTIVE SONGS💀😭

But they bring back old classics sometimes and even some good new songs, so its all good👍 (and hey, maybe even a bit of Disney songs at rare times, or maybe some songs that I've heard in animation memes- those are always fun to stumble into when listening to the same radio station for years, now.)

But uhmm.................

Yea-

But I guess I can't say my Minecraft phase wasn't too bad, per se...? Because I did the same with My Little Pony, The Powerpuff Girls, Pokemon, Five Nights at Freddy's(that phase was.... hell, actually. I couldn't stop talking about the game to my parents- and because of the movie that came out a long time ago but is still recent- it boosted the little fnaf phase that i had left hanging by a thread due to my Sonic phase taking over, i got to buy fnaf merch as well--), Bendy and The Ink Machine(it was a bit minor, but it definitely did a very good impact to my phase with FNAF), Cuphead(again, i watched gameplay and started hearing cuphead fan songs over and over, and i even have both Cuphead games that i never finished- i think i used to have a comic dub phase where i would watch so many cuphead dubs as well as FNAF and Baldi's Basics), Just Shapes and Beats (again- i just watched so much gameplay, I even had an animation meme phase that lasted up to 2022, and played the Story Mode many times as well as making my parents play the multi-player mode with me :])-- Fandroid, and then there was a bit of Osu one day, then I went from Nightcore to hearing Vocaloid, and then FNF (which was just watching the gameplays of almost all of the fnf mods I knew as well as hearing some of the fnf mod songs over and over, which i still do! It's just... filled with demon hedgehogs that have a little word next to them called "EXE", so uhm... YEA-), and not only that, but fnf mods were actually the ones that introduced me to the Fleetway comics and even started my Sonic.exe phase (which I still have.......-) and then I eventually watched gameplay of the Sonic.exe fan games, too.)

So, uhm...

Me having a Sonic phase isn't exactly new...

But I'm back to buying merch. And when I say that, I mean like.. I got at least 3 T-shirts of this blue gumball son of a gun, 2 Shadow plushes, 3 Sonic plushes, a rectangle package that has at least 4 or 3 official Sonic art as frames to put on the wall (but I never did because the nails that I see in my room are kinda running out, so it's just sitting there on the floor, using the wall as support to keep it up), a little Sonic school pouch to put in my school stuff, some Sonic stickers--

I think it's obvious that you can find a little bit of everything in my room.

So uh.....

Yah....

That's uhm... that's all--

#kit's ramblings #Minecraft #fandoms #sth #.....need i mention the time i used to replay mlp songs on my radio because it has a disc where #you can put cds on it....?#most of the stuff i mentioned isnt even the half of it #...sort of

15 notes · View notes

kaelio · 1 year

Text

A few points for YA Authors:

1. People can have sex that they later wish they hadn't had, in the complete absence of any kind of abuse. I've ordered meals that I ended up not liking (or where I'd have preferred something else) and the restaurant did not wrong me or treat me inappropriately. Sometimes it just didn't work out with someone and sex was something you did in that relationship.

2. Things like colonialism and imperialism are complex and multifaceted, with many stakeholders with many different values. If you have an idea that will "solve" them, I recommend writing an academic paper so you can be showered in Nobel prizes instead of a story about a witch who works at the candy store.

3. If you are going to take a real stand, that means real consequences. You can't be like "But because Bopper's values were so good, it was actually fine to cede all agricultural land in the world of Frigno back to the singing butterflies. Grain fell from the sky now!" If you mean it, if you REALLY mean the stuff you're saying, your point is stronger for your willingness to show real consequences of that decision. Take your position seriously, or the readership should not be expected to take it seriously.

4. If you insist writers can only write "what they know" and anything else is problematic, you imply people should only really write autobiographies (dumb). However even a lesser version would make books whiter and more upper-middle-class because that's the commonest writer demo. This is true for a few largely unfair structural reasons, but it is true. If YA Writers were to only really write themselves for fear of overstepping, the genre gets less representative of the world because writers, as a group, are not representative of the world. Learn more and research more, talk to more people, and encourage other authors to do the same.

5. If you claim that it's super important that you research other cultures before writing about them (and I agree!), you must concede it is equally important to research business and economics and other things that affect the validity of the claims you are making.

6. Your characters' uniqueness should come from their personality and character not from demographic checkboxes. Tokenism is not just limp but indefensible when you control the entire narrative.

7. Let your characters make actual mistakes that are the result of their actual decisions which logically flow from their actual values. A character who is never really making decisions is basically just that art project robot that got its ass kicked in Philadelphia.

8. You don't have to always do a "twist on" a recognized thing. You can write werewolves that do not in any way challenge the normal perception of werewolfdom. Whatever you've landed on needs to serve the story first, not prove how clever and special you personally are.

9. If someone hates you personally, they will find a way to use your book as a conduit for that hatred and as an excuse for that hatred. You can't write a book where this isn't the case, so don't write your book with that expectation or as if you have any way to prevent this. Focus on writing a good book.

10. Whether you can use a fantasy/sci-fi element as a stand-in for a real world issue relies entirely on the competent execution of that idea. I know this sounds obvious, but yes, something might be outside your capacity to pull off (or in that story), but that is not inherent. In some cases it might be much harder, or too challenging to justify the attempt, but symbolism works to the extent that you make it work based on your capabilities as an author.

11. If half your book is basically just a thinly-disguised rant at how much you hate your parents... rip off that disguise! Don't be coy about it! If that's what you're writing about, just write about that. Why play games? If you think your parents could now read your book and not realize it's about them, you've also obscured your feelings for your audience. Do it or don't do it, but for the love of all things, don't half-ass it.

12. You do not solve any of the problems in your story by making your lead characters so pathetic that you can claim it's mean or unfair for the readership to "judge" them.

13. The only perfect metaphor for a thing is the thing itself, so test your metaphors and make sure they work, but do not hold them to the standard of translating perfectly, because they can't. That they are not 1:1 the thing is because they are metaphors for the thing.

14. Similarly, no fictional relationship can be held up to the standard of representing all relationships. You have to let this expectation go. People also need to be able to have relationships that are not framed as "lessons".

15. If you include warfare, research warfare enough that the conflicts are credible. If you don't want to do that, then the simple answer is don't put warfare in your books. It's YOUR book, YOU made that choice.

16. Overall, remember: your book exists to be a book first and foremost. It is not a treatise on you communicated via your book; if you want your book to be about yourself, write an autobiography. Otherwise, focus on telling a good story.

142 notes · View notes

richea · 2 months

Text

A dive into Hearts R's localization

I've talked a lot about Hearts R and the way it rips apart the original story and characters, but I haven't really talked much about its localization, which is truly its own can of worms. While I have stronger feelings about the Japanese version being poorly made in just about every regard than I do about its loc being a bit of a mess, I've gotten a lot more into translation and editing the past few years and I figure it's time to at least write something regarding this.

A lot goes into a localization, and that also means there's a lot more to unpack with Hearts R's loc than just the "Kor" rename and the fact that only a small portion of the dialogue matched up with the voice acting (these being the obvious things anyone can pick up on, even without knowing Japanese).

As a translator who has played through the localization numerous times, while also having gone through the game in Japanese and done a deep study on all the terms and their naming conventions, I want to go over some things, discussing characterization as well as what terms were good and which ones make me scratch my head.

There's a lot I won't discuss here simply due to the scale of the game, so don't expect nitty-gritty analyses and all the various examples of blatant mistranslations to be found in the game or anything. This is just to give an overview of some things I find interesting.

Characterization

Let's start by discussing something that is crucial for characterizing the characters properly: character voice. Each character has their own "language" for how they're written. For instance, in Japanese Shing talks very casually, Kunzite talks very scientifically, Hisui talks like a punk, etc. Essentially the goal is that via reading written dialogue alone, more often than not you should be able to differentiate who is talking without even needing to see their name slapped next to it.

This is something that is not as easy to get across into English, however the skill still exists when localizing dialogue nonetheless. You'll still want to write Shing's dialogue in a laid back manner, and write Kunzite's to be scientific, and make Hisui's very rude.

Overall, I think the loc did a decent job establishing voices. There's definitely some hiccups, but at the end of the day, I'd say the vast majority of the text uses decent character voice for each character. It's far from perfect, but Chalcedony and Kunzite in particular I think were written very well.

However, where I think R fails is that the quips in the game come across very same-y. While the dialogue can be funny, the sass that Shing would say felt very similar to the sass Beryl might say. Beryl's sass is supposed to come more from finding things absurd while Shing's is supposed to be a bit more out of frustration, but the loc didn't differentiate this well. I'm not sure how to better articulate what I mean by this, but trust me that it was a thing.

Also, they would make the characters say quips in dialogue that they weren't really meant to, which sometimes completely changed the feel of a scene. Shing and Hisui got this the worst, and I also think they're the two characters who suffered the most in this loc.

Below I grabbed some examples of character dialogue for each main character so you can see their character voice and what went wrong or what went right. This isn't a full overview of each character but rather just a small selection of lines that stuck with me (Tumblr has an image limit unfortunately, and also there's just a lot of characters I would have to go over).

Shing

Shing definitely suffers from overusing quips when he wouldn't normally, as well as his overall character voice coming off a bit more bratty than he was originally intended to be. I think everyone's aware of "Kor Meteor doesn't try, Kor Meteor DOES," which has... quite a different feel from what gandoko was originally intended to mean (which was just a cute wordplay on saying "let's go all out"). I will admit this is partially due to his rewrites in R in general as this is also an issue with him in Japanese, but the loc did him no favors. That said I don't think all of his dialogue is horrible, as the third image is an example of a line I think they did just fine.

Kohaku

For the most part, I think Kohaku's character voice is fine. She definitely had some weirdness especially early on ("rapscallion" lives in my head rent free), but she definitely eased out and overall I think anyone who plays the loc gets a perfectly fine idea of the character that is Kohaku (at least her R portrayal).

Hisui

Hisui is, erm... well I'll just say the loc team had a lot of fun with him. Maybe too much fun. It feels like only a tiny amount of his lines were intended to be taken seriously, which is really disrespectful to his character when the whole point of his character is that it's hard for him to express himself in words. Why ruin his serious moments by throwing in random goofy quips and making him come off like a full time jerk? He's definitely not a polite character, but the loc just always tried to make everything that came out of his mouth sound back-handed, even when he was actually trying to be nice.

Another huge issue, which you can see in almost every pic here, is that he would say something from the Japanese (fine) and then the loc would add in another sentence below it that is completely original to the loc and also contributes nothing other than to make Hisui sound like a jerk. For instance in the first line, in Japanese he's (seriously and concernedly) saying "Innes is calling for us? Is she hurt and can't move?" so I'm not sure why they felt the need to make it Extra and Funny. There's an infinite amount of examples of this with his dialogue and every time it truly does paint him to be a much more meanspirited character than he really is.

They did some alright things with his character voice (see the last cap, which is fine), but overall, if you see Hisui say something unhinged and incredibly rude and out of pocket, it's probably the loc and not actually what he said.

Beryl

Beryl on the other hand is a character who DOES say sassy things a lot, so I think the overall writing for the loc played into her personality a lot better than it did with the above characters. It's all written very extra and over the top, which is exactly how Beryl needs to be written. I think my only gripe with her writing is that they did make her flub up words more than she originally did (especially simple ones...), but other than that I don't have a lot to complain about here.

Innes

Innes is mostly a "no notes to be had, for the most part fine" character as far as her loc portrayal goes. I will say in Japanese she called the party "kids" a lot and the loc changed it to "mules" which, at least to me, gives off a slightly different nuance, but it does fit her character so I may just be nitpicking.

Kunzite

Kunzite's character voice is very hard to mess up... so much so in fact that I think the loc actually did him justice (you can only hope they didn't mistranslate anything with all that kanji though).

Chalcedony

Like Kunzite, I find myself surprisingly content with how Chalcedony's dialogue was written. They got across his pretentiousness and formality just right with not a ton of hiccups.

Galando

Galando completely falls in the "can never be taken seriously ever" category, except unlike Hisui I think this actually benefits his character. In Japanese, his dialogue and frankly personality are really unremarkable, but in the loc he says a lot of incredibly bizarre and goofy phrases. The loc team had a lot of fun with making him sound ridiculous and it did him a lot of favors when his overall implementation in this story was an absolute trainwreck.

Richea

Richea's dialogue can be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes it's too stiffly worded, sometimes it's too casual. Overall I think her voice is fine though and it never really did her character too many disfavors.

Terms

For this section, here's a very useful reference which writes out most terms in the game, comparing the Japanese names (romanized very straightforwardly) to the loc. I will be using my own romanizations for terms below.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: Kor. Why did they change his name? It's actually quite simple: Shing is based on kanji. It means 心具 (shingu; heart-tool). Yamamoto stated that among the characters in the game, he's the only one who's not supposed to have a mineral reference in his name. To get around this, they did Kor, which is based on cor which is the Latin word for heart.

I suppose in a vacuum, I get what they were going for. However, the decision fails to make sense for two very simple reasons: recognizability, and the fact that they left the names Hisui and Kohaku in which literally were translated into English in Graces' loc. It comes across as very ironic to me that they were so held up by Shing's name being Japanese wordplay, to the point of changing it entirely, yet ignoring the two party members with Japanese names. Why only Shing? Nobody would know (even Japanese players) that Shing was supposed to be wordplay on anything had Yamamoto not discussed it in an old blog post. Yet they left in the names Hisui and Kohaku, which are very obviously Japanese, and no English player would know what they're supposed to mean, or if they were even mineral references! Maybe their intent was that they're from Norqueen, and Kohaku has cherry blossom aesthetics to her, but this also doesn't make any sense when nobody else from Norqueen had a Japanese name. It's only them.

This isn't me advocating for them doing Jadeite and Amber from Graces' loc (as I think that was a similarly bizarre situation), but if you're going to change Shing, you could at least be consistent and commit to the idea of making everything Easily Understood References, instead of just changing one name to something completely unrecognizable (and frankly a bit dumb sounding) and not the ones that probably warrant it more.

Shing isn't the only character they did this with. For instance, the members of Chen's Corporation weren't intended to have mineral names. Their names are references to marine life in various languages. Chen's last name is Corallo, which is Italian for coral. Sango means coral in Japanese. Ecaille means scale/shell in French (with her real name being Mica, which is actually a mineral and the loc did keep). In the localization, they were translated to... Ultra Marine, Aqua Marine, and Coral respectively. While I don't think Chen and Sango's name changes were horrible, I still think they could have just kept them as is with no issue at all. "Coral" just feels disrespectful though. Why would you name her what Chen and Sango's names were SUPPOSED to be? Her real last name was changed too, from Zimmer to Zinnwald, which is really just pointless more than anything.

A lot of what the loc did can kind of just be boiled down to pointless. Here's some other pointless name changes for NPCs:

Isaac->Azide (is this even a mineral term?)

Pearl->Perl (?????????????? this one I genuinely don't get because pearl WAS a mineral to start)

Dona, Zektz->Kardia, Sydan (both were mineral names changed to heart terms to match with Shing, but really this is a pointless change. Iola's name wasn't turned to Japanese to match Kohaku and Hisui? Make it consistent if you're going to do these things?)

Sinhala->Benston (sinhalite is a mineral. I don't even know anymore)

Spin, Nel->Ward, Hope (spinel is a mineral...)

This isn't even all of them, but these are the most egregious. For a game really insistent on making everything a specific reference, it's almost hilarious how much the localization made things inconsistent with its own decisions, and how it broke things that would have worked perfectly fine had they just translated it literally. No Tales game has changed so many names arbitrarily and made them so unrecognizable with name alone if you compare to the Japanese names.

It's unfortunately not just the character names, as the location names suffered a bit from this too.

While character names are (mostly) based on minerals, the locations were based on fairy tale references. Most location names in Japanese were portmanteau of terms, whether it be author names, location names from fairy tales, titles, you name it. You can read all about this here, and these observations were made by Japanese fans as well. This stuff is about as common knowledge as the Shing naming convention among Hearts communities, so I would be willing to bet the localizers knew about it too.

Anyway, some of the loc ones I think were fine. For instance, a number of those terms just come across as awkward in English (such as シーブル, which I don't really have huge issues with them just going for Seaville). Yuraio needed to be changed anyway, as it's Japanese worldplay (though I can think of many better alternatives than just "Lion Park" if they wanted to keep the fairy tale reference).

However, I do take issue with some that completely change the reading for the name. "Dronning" and "Norqueen" (however you choose to romanize it) sound nothing alike. "Wonderidell" is a fairly straightforward romanization, and "Cind'rella" makes very little sense when in Japanese, Cinderella was the name reference for the Winged Whale ("Cendrillon" in Japanese, "Mysticete" in the loc). I also think Celland and Quartzia were absolutely fine and conveyed their meaning perfectly fine to English speakers, while I will admit it took me a while to figure out that Organica and Minera were supposed to be based on the words organic and mineral.

As for regular terminology, I don't have a ton of nitpicks. My biggest is that I don't really like the term "Spiria Nexus" as a translation for Spirmaze. The game already uses "Spiria Core" (for Spirune), and the words nexus and core are... very similar in meaning! I would probably opt for something like Spiria Labyrinth (and honestly, Spiria Maze works fine as is). Spirune is a bit of a hard one, because in the context of the story, it refers to both the whole and broken pieces of it, so I feel like they could have opted for "Spiria Shard/Fragment" for the broken pieces and "Spiria Core" and "Spiria Shard/Fragment" could have worked hand in hand. This might just be me nitpicking though.

For positives, I really like the terms "calcification," "Will Artes" and "synthetic Spiria". I'm also surprised "despir" (bungle of katakana) stayed intact given every other naming convention they went for (furuere got changed to Will Wisps, when the terms are similar in structure).

Artes

Artes are infamously something Tales is very inconsistent about, and how did Hearts R's loc fair?

To start, each character has their own "theme" to their artes. Shing's are light based and reference astronomy terms, Kohaku's are fire and cherry blossom based, Hisui's are all bird terms, Beryl's are artist babble, Innes' are French marine terminology, Kunzite's are dark based and a bit grim, Chalcedony's are aerial/holy based, and Galando's are... well all over the place. Shing, Kohaku, Kunzite, Chalcedony and Galando are all based on typical artes (and if not, their naming conventions, or are typical artes just a little to the left), while Hisui, Beryl and Innes have entirely unique kits.

Shing: My only complaint is the loc overused the word "meteoric," sadly including Crazy Comet (which I really wish they had left as is, since it's so iconic). So many celestial terms exist!

Kohaku: I just think Scarlet Halo is a bit messy, since it was already localized as Crimson Disc in Graces. Did they forget Graces loc ever happened?

Hisui: It's actually hilarious how bad his got mangled when his are some of the most straightforwardly translated artes in Tales. All of his arte names are just "[bird] [thing]" and if you translate them 1:1, you get a perfectly fine Tales arte name with no work needed. Yet somehow, they messed this up? An arte named wild-hawk got translated to Mosquito Hawk. What? Another one is kite-rain, which got translated to Rainbird. scatter-heron is Cuckoo's Egg. god-shot-chicken is Bird of Paradise. His artes are just very bizarre, because some are translated literally, and the other half just have completely random naming conventions. It makes for a really inconsistent kit of artes, not to mention each arte had a very specific bird associated with it, and the loc just mangled this. His artes really make me scratch my head at what they were thinking.

Beryl: Flying Colors (originally Slashing Colors) is the only arte of hers that's even remotely close what the Japanese had. This isn't really a complaint as I think changing the names is fine, more just an observation since the game didn't get dubbed and her arte names are actual spoken words and not strings of kanji.

Innes: The loc took hers which were two word structured and made them grammatically correct French. Don't really have any other notes here.

Kunzite: His artes are the most consistent to its own conventions, though I would probably change some to more clearly reference what the arte takes inspiration from.

Chalcedony and Galando I don't have any commentary on other than what I said for Kunzite. They're fine.

Closing thoughts

There's of course a lot I didn't cover in this post. For instance, I feel like skits were overall translated better than the story was, and there's a lot of nitty gritty things like titles and flavor text that I didn't touch upon. (Here's a very funny example of the loc team not picking up on a fairly obvious Abyss reference. Nobody knew this was supposed to be about Mieu)

But, I would say my main thoughts on the loc are that in some regards it was fine, and in some ways was highly disrespectful.

For the story dialogue, it feels like someone translated it roughly (and I will note that there are some lines that are just blatantly inaccurate to what was said, even removing the editing fluff, so I assume this was a rushed job), and then an editor came in and edited the lines without hearing any of the voice work attached to it. It's very rough around the edges, to say the least. I do think the game would have worked better if it was dubbed (like the script feels like it was intended for), even if the mischaracterization would still sadly persist.

To add a very personal comment here, Hisui is my favorite Tales character and it hurts that the only way the English fandom has to experience him is at the hands of his incredibly disrespectful localization writing. While I think his dialogue in it can be funny at times, it's not the kind of writing I want to see in very serious scenes. It's not good when a character can never be taken seriously, when that's not at all how they are intended to be viewed.

I will also add, as someone who plays games in Japanese and is heavily involved in fan translation, whenever I play Hearts R's localization, I just translate the dialogue in my head as I listen to the acting, then I read the translation on my screen and kind of laugh at how far it is from how I would have translated it. Not only is it a disservice to English speaking fans, but it is hilariously obvious to anyone who knows both languages how inaccurate it is, which is not how a localization is supposed to read.

(As a final disclaimer, the rants in this post are only intended to discuss Hearts R's localization. I support the localization practice in general, but I am allowed to nitpick when one was so obviously rushed out the door with poor communication. Please read this article to understand the ways in which I approached writing this post. I do not support the witchhunt on localizations that fandom is so currently obsessed with. All of my speaking points have come from someone who has studied Tales localization practices as well as Hearts specifically in depth, and who has aimed for putting out high-quality translation work myself.)

#tales of hearts #hearts babbling #i need a tag for my tales essays at this point

15 notes · View notes

chadfallout76podcast · 1 year

Text

Death Shroud Q&A (submitted by @completely-legit)

completely-legit submitted:

10h ago

Death Shroud Q&A!

Writing Questions

Q: 1. "You only ever took one of us." – Paladin Danse, Death Shroud Meta jokes aside, it's obvious you enjoyed playing some of the best of Fallout 4's cast off of each other in ways that we weren't able to get in the game due to the mechanical restrictions of the gameplay. Which was your favorite dynamic between characters to write?

A: Honestly I loved writing all of it. By the time you're well into the story the Red Rocket is filled with the strangest assortment of people/not people in the entire Wasteland. The conflict, ball busting, unexpected friendships that would be blossom out of that is really fertile soil for writing. Moreover, on a shared journey 2 years later they have a comfortable familiarity with each other they just slip back into. I also love Jefferson/Silver Shroud's dynamic, because you have a superhero level character who starts off 2 dimensional ripped out of a comic book and is suddenly REAL in a way that doesn't fit with reality. As a result he's kind of bumbling and awkward. Jefferson is the embodiment of him "not fitting in" outside of the page where he's idolized as well as stylized. It's just great stuff.

2. I believe you mentioned you turned to Dick Tracy for inspiration while writing this picturesque slice of noir life – what's the most important thing you've learned about writing a radio drama? What was the most difficult thing about resurrecting a much older style of media that you didn't appreciate until you were deep in it?

A: I looked at a lot of inspirations to get the feel right in the beginning acts. Relistened to old school Sam Spade radio dramas, rewatched The Maltese Falcon (Bogart's version of Spade inspired the character of Valentine in development), as well as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Dick Tracy". Since I've been writing radio drama for almost 5 years now, I think the biggest thing I've learned over time is getting the rhythm right. I write in a way that I want to take people on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey in pretty much everything I do. Because that's life. We laugh, we get anxious and tense, we pine for people, cheer them out, mourn their losses and feel their pain. I always try to recreate that ride in any story we've done whether it's this or other productions we do. Lastly, always give people what they want: a satisfying ending. As far as resurrecting an older style of media...that was really easy as I've been listening to Old Time Radio since I was a teenager.

3. Did you do everything in one take or have any rehearsals/direction? It seemed like all the VAs were in one call together, which is some incredible coordination and effort!

A: Nope! All recorded one night in one take with no rehearsal. Mostly because I was sweating over the script and didn't finish polishing it until 3 hours before recording. We did it all on Zoom and not 5 minutes in, a lightning bolt hit a transformer down the street, knocking out my power. Wes had to continue recording for me (it's why there's a big grid of people at the start as opposed to the single actor view later on. I was crushed I wasn't there live while they were recording.

4. The amount of voice (and writing) talent in this production is incredible for something so unofficial! How long did it take you to bring this 3 hour noir tour of the Commonwealth to fruition? How many times did you have to replay/reload Fallout 4 to fact check your details? :)

A: Thank you! We started asking people a few months ago. I had a brainstorming meeting with Wes and Emil from Bethesda who offered some helpful notes as I wrote on their characters. It took me 26 hours or so to edit and design the media elements, add effects and music scoring. It took 14 hours to render in 4k and only finished rendering at 10am the morning of airing. I was sweating over night that it would finish rendering in time. lol I didn't have to replay Fallout 4 as I have a really good memory of it, but looked to the Wiki on some key details and transcripts of how the characters talked in the main game.

5. Obviously, the plot had to wrap a bit around which VAs were available; were there any specific plot changes you had to make based on availability, or did you only seriously bend to writing after you already had a list of actors available for participation? Anything extremely fun you had to cut?

A: At the last moment sadly Lynda Carter couldn't join us otherwise I wouldn't have written in Magnolia without her. Shari Elliker came in clutch and did a great job voicing her! I really and truly wanted MacCready a part of it, but Matt Mercer is INSANELY busy and was taking a much-needed vacation. Despite that he was kind enough to record for us. I wanted to try and bring EVERYONE back but between not being able to reach some people, others just able to wrangle their schedule...I think we did a good job getting as many people as we did. There was a bunch of stuff I had to cut for time (because this thing was already 3 hours). There was going to be an attack by the Mechanist on Diamond City, following the events at the Lombardo's with the Mechanist taking out the Detective Agency in retribution for meddling in their plans, but felt that was unnecessary and we'd already put listeners through enough torture. lol I was going to bring back Scribe Haylen as a link to investigate some of the Brotherhood's Black Market dealings in salvaged synth tech as part of the surprise return of Kellogg. But honestly the most fun scene would've been a trap in which they're lured to a train station thinking Harold is coming in by rail from the Capital Wasteland only to be chased by an Endritch "modded into the Universe" version of Thomas the Tank Engine. It would've resulted in a car chase with the Shroud realizing Jefferson has used all his James Bond-like car gadgets already so the most they can do is throw bottles at it that Hancock has emptied. lol

Plot questions:

1. "You started something two years ago you never finished." - Boss Lombardo, Death Shroud

In my opinion, one of the biggest successes of Death Shroud was fans were of course hungry for the answers about what comes after a "happy ending". In Death Shroud it's apparent that Nora chose to assist the Brotherhood of Steel along to a victory against the Institute - but it becomes clear that the ending wasn't perfect for everyone. There's been a lot of discussion over the years about how every faction ending to Fallout 4 has its own unique drawbacks. In this case it seems like even beyond sacrificing the Railroad (and a lot of synths) the Brotherhood left a power vacuum in the Commonwealth which is allowing for raiders and the like to take back over in the absence of both the Institute and an effective Minute Men alliance. What was the most important part of this "ending" and its consequences for you to address? What made it the best backdrop to set Death Shroud in? The play mentions more than once that poor Nick is running out of spare parts with the source of synthetic limbs destroyed!

A: I picked that ending for our story because honestly it's one of the most dire from which to grow the story from. The rise of raiders and Triggermen (mafia control of parts of the city) is very Film Noir. I also needed Nora to have dipped out of the spotlight and honestly trying to just go live a quiet life and come to terms with what they did to the railroad was necessary plot wise. The Cabot storyline was also essential...she needed to have let him loose in order for the pieces of the story to come together. I also think it's important to remember that the Brotherhood REALLY aren't their for altruistic reasons. Once they take out the Institute they don't give a crap about rebuilding Boston. They salvage tech, hoard it and that's kind of it. By the time our story begins Nick and our former companions are doing their best just to keep things in some kind of order. Even Hancock needs to go back to run Goodneighbor to prevent it from falling apart.

2. The biggest breakout original character was Charlie, Nick Valentine's protege turned traitor; wonderfully played by Aeric Azana. I actually experienced several double takes during the first airing of the play and had to google to make sure I hadn’t completely forgotten the character somehow, he fit so well with the rest of the cast. What was the inspiration for his character? Care to give us some more loose backstory about how he wound up in the Valentine detective agency?

A: Aeric Azana is BRILLIANT and really completely lost himself in that character and brought it to life. I think the character fit in and felt so natural because it felt like a character that would be there. Following the events of Fallout 4, I think Nick would learn the importance of friends and family and in chasing down Nora's son, a set of continuity of beliefs and ideals. Seeing the Institute destroyed and most of the synths wiped out...there's no backup, no spare parts. Nick can be killed and destroyed and all that he was would be lost. Not only does Nick need help at the agency I think he wanted to have something he could never have: a sense of family. Taking in Charlie off the streets, raising him, teaching him would make sense for him. I have some thoughts on his background and how Nick found him...but that may end up being a story, so I'll keep quiet about that for now. Suffice to say, missing people is not all that Nick finds on cases.

3. No noir sleuth story is complete without organized crime! Fallout players are intimately familiar with a lot of the gangs of the commonwealth, be it the Khans, the Forged, or even the Gourmands – but Ma Lombardo, played by the lovely Ellen McLain & her rabid dog son Carmen (the Boss) played by the equally talented Zack Ward - represent a newer type of evil in the Commonwealth.

In your opinion how does organized crime fit within the wasteland societal structure that already... lacks organization as it were? Are they essentially just raiders who will monologue at you before gunning you down for your caps? Who is even standing up to them at this point? Prosecuting them for their perceived crimes? It’s funny to consider that these crime families are essentially more organized than most of the remaining political structures in place!

A: Say what you want about crime families, but they do hold up a semblance of order where there is needed one. If you take a look at the arc of the Godfather, in the beginning there is a balance of justice, deep seated respect of an order...a code of honor. Ma and Carmen Lombardo return because we've broken what little of that was left with the Triggermen by the time we were done in the Commonwealth. The hierarchy peaking order has been obliterated, so it leaves both a structural opportunity for them to return and also a true need to try and BE the stabilizing force after the power vacuum that was left by our choices. Nora and the gang basically fuck up the Commonwealth in one way or another and I honestly think it would be out of character for her to WANT to be a ruler. So who's left? The Triggermen under Lombardo aren't just raiders...they were forced inline in a way they hadn't been in a long time. Raiders wouldn't have stood a chance against them.

4. "If I’ve learned anything, people are what they believe" – Nick Valentine, Death Shroud

Nick Valentine is a character who has struggled with his identity in the past but came to some degree of closure about it by choosing to believe in/focus on the goodness of his deeds despite being a perceived copy of another man. In Death Shroud we see him brush up against a much more literal (and meta) manifestation of the power of belief in ideas - it's a pretty poignant juxtaposition of the character's much-deliberated ideology vs a rather wild plot. Is that the reason Nick was the only man left standing at the end? The manufactured man who was both someone else's idea but how he defines himself, who he is, is his own choice as well?

A: Honestly the reason it was him still standing in the end is because this ultimately is HIS story, a Nick Valentine Mystery. What Nick misses completely is that like Nora, he is a keystone event. Unlike any other synth out there he is aware of who he is, who he wasn't, can't hide in plain sight like others can. Because of his journey, his actions, the people he helps, saves, draws to him, a tapestry of ripples of his existence, choices and actions forever ripple throughout the Commonwealth. Magnolia's comments in the end both speak to his position in their reality and also direct speak to us as players, "in the end we're not just stories".

5. Follow up: I also found it to be an incredibly fascinating character arc for Nick as well. He was offered the keys to Diamond City, albeit by notorious criminal Ma Lombardo, but then later essentially by Charlie as well - but our synthetic hero turns both of them down since he's a “just a detective, not a politician”.

A: It's more than that also. Nick isn't motivated by power, has lived long enough to see how power corrupts and creates the illusion of choice. What Charlie misses is the EXPERIENCE Nick has as part of his journey. Could having that kind of power mean no more missing people? No more broken hearts? Yes...but it also means denying people the choices and lessons they've learned as a result of actions they take. He wasn't born. He was made. He was built to replace people. He was given memories, a life and story he didn't earn, didn't choose. He made the CHOICE to to throw all of that away and do the most human thing real humans often don't do: help people without reservation.

Over the course of the play it becomes clearer as characters reminisce over the events of Fallout 4, Nick's not entirely satisfied with some of the choices Nora made along the way and more notably some of the ramifications. This is followed by the very end where Nick takes control to reset reality to a ‘previous save’ far in the past before the entirety of Nora’s adventure - rather than say, just before everything involving the events of Death Shroud went to hell in a handbasket. Any particular reason that was Nick’s chosen reload point? Do you think Nick has reached a point from his experiences where he would take a more active role in guiding Nora's decision making going forward?

A: Nick didn't have a choice there. There is only the current state or as teased in the commercial in the very beginning the only saved state available to you. "Safe equals saved" wasn't just a funny commercial, it was a promise that going back means returning to the start of the tapestry of choices, actions and impacts that began when Nora's keystone moment began. The day she was woken up and became something other than Nora. If you pay attention, throughout Fallout 4 Nick offers very specific guidance in some areas and specific wisdom. Knowing full well how important choice is to the causal nexus and maintaining the tapestry of reality he would walk that line very carefully in the choices made vs. influenced.

Last Question:

I’m very curious what the three sentence pitch was to get most of these VAs on board with this amazing project - and even Pete Hines and Emil Pagliarulo as well – if you can share that with us!

A: There really wasn't one. I've become really good friends with Wes these past few years and the other voice actors, Pete Hines, etc. are also people I've gotten to know through Fallout For Hope. So I think our track record as far as fundraising goes, trust in me/Fallout For Hope, etc. from working together on both unofficial Fallout community projects, causes and events and official NDA ones we've done the past few years created a unique situation this thing could even happen. This was our 3rd production this scale, but the one I'm most proud of.

#death shroud #CHAD: A Fallout 76 Podcast #fallout for hope #fallout 4

82 notes · View notes

maytheratseatureyes · 1 month

Note

scariest scenes in the silent hill franchise in your opinion?

👏BROOKHAVEN. HOSPITAL. MIRROR. ROOM.👏from Silent Hill 3

It's one of the best scares in any piece of horror media, ever! I've played a lot of horror games, and nothing even comes close to freaking me out the way this one room did.

The first time I played this game was with my niece, and I remember going into the room and examining everything only to find that it was empty, just to turn around and find that the door was now locked. But then, the WEIRD STUFF started happening, and I wasn't sure how the heck to get out, so I kept looking to see if there was an item in the inventory I could use. All of a sudden, my niece starts screaming at me, saying that I'm dying. (stupid me didn't have the controllers vibration setting on, so I didn't even notice) So I go back in my inventory, and sure enough, I was almost dead. I didn't expect one of the rooms itself to try to kill me! It was so well done!

Honestly, all of Brookhaven hospital was freaky (and later sections of the church), and a lot of that was due to the moving bloodclot textures, sound design, and dramatic camera angles. I'm so lucky to have played all of the Silent Hill games blind.

Another really great scare was in the original Silent Hill involving one of the lockers in Midwich Elementary School. In the dark version of the school, you come across a rattling locker and find a cat inside. Unfortunately, it's implied that the cat gets eaten by a monster when you let him out. (RIP Mr. Kitty), but on the second run through the school, after it transforms into the otherworld, you come across the rattling locker again, but this time when you open it it's empty aside from it being covered in blood. When you go to move away from the locker BAM! a dead body falls out of a different one. Scared the absolute shit outta me the first time I played.

#asks

7 notes · View notes

himehikoshrine · 10 months

Text

Oh, Rama Havenna Stage Script (EN)

This is the full Stage Script from the game menu for Oh, Rama Havenna (occasional typos and all, though I tried not to add any that weren't already there, but no promises).

Another verse, much like the first, I've gotten through Oh, Rama Havenna with a few weeks to spare. You can read Mary Jane here [x]. Some notes - the formatting is a bit different on this one. I've gone without the constant quotation marks, and tumblr let me do different things with line breaks.

There are some things in this script that are not in the game version - in-game, parts of the script are elided in favor of summary.

The Stage Scripts don't include any character ad-libs from the in-game performance, though. Of course, you can access it from the game menu, if you've got it, but this version is searchable! The play is a touch under 700 lines long, and is thus behind the cut. I have a version saved elsewhere if you'd like an easier way to save it, feel free to ask.

Oh, Rama Havenna

By Neji Kokuto

(1) Singing Havenna

◆Havenna Lakeshore

Father: …

A boat docks.

Father: A boat.

Father: You in the boat, stop in the name of the Lord.

Chicchi: …

Father: This is Havenna. A town of decadence and pleasure.

Father: Step ashore, and you will never be able to return to the other side.

Father: Do you desire gold? Or fame? Succeed, and the town will be yours for the taking. Fail, and you will become a mugwort seller in a back alley.

Father: Young woman, clean and pure. Will you still enter Havenna?

Chicchi: Yes.

Chicchi: I have no intention of returning to the other shore, Father.

Father: I see.

Father: Then dance until you collapse.

Father: Oh, Rama Havenna.

◆Singing Pub

★Song “Oh, Rama Havenna, Oh Beloved Havenna”

Man A: Oh, Rama Havenna! Indulgence is sweet and nothing to be ashamed of!

Man B: Oh, Rama Havenna! Just give into your desires!

Rukiora enters with a flourish.

Rukiora: Oh, Rama Havenna! As warm as a baby’s first bath. Oh, Rama Havenna! As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Man A: Love the setting sun. A trash bin can take the place of a hotel!

Man B: Aimless pleasure. A place for the lazy!

Rukiora: Melt down to your bones and forget it all in Havenna. Let the lovely food and drink sing to your core in Havenna.

Rukiora: Oh, Rama Havenna! Oh, Rama Havenna!

Customer A: Rukiora, Havenna’s singing princess.

Customer B: I want to be ripped apart by those beautiful arms of hers!

Customer A: Hey, cut that out. Just imagining that will get you kicked out of here. She is well known for being a fine woman.

Customer B: That’s even better!

Chicchi quietly appears

Chicchi: …

Rukiora: Oh, Rama Havenna! …That’s all for my singing. Thank you very much. Have a good night.

Applause

Customer A: Oh rama! Oh rama! Secanda!

Customer B: Give us more! Secanda, secanda!

Rukiora: Haha, how many times are they going to make me sing… Ah.

Chicchi: …

Rukiora: I’ll sing one more song. Only because a friend is here today.

◆Town Streets

Rukiora: Chicchi! You came.

Chicchi: Rukiora. You sang beautifully today, too. Your guests were so delighted.

Rukiora: Thank you for the praise… However, haah, I’m unhappy.

Chicchi: Unhappy?

Rukiora: With the song itself! Those lyrics are just atrocious!

Rukiora: 'Oh, Rama Havenna, we are a bunch of sloths', 'Oh, Rama Havenna, even so, our life is great!

Rukiora: Ugh, I hate it. The guests at the club are just excusing how pathetic they are with these lyrics.

Rukiora: They're filling the singing club with their muggy stench.

Rukiora: If my nose weren’t so stuffy, I’d have thrown up from such a horrid stench. I’m so glad it is!

Rukiora: Though I want it fixed because it’s difficult to sing.

Rukiora: …But what I detest even more is the fact I’m making money by interacting with them.

Rukiora: My living is dependent on them!

Rukiora: Aagh, I just hate it.

Chicchi: I think anyone’s amazing who works hard at what they do. I love your singing, Rukiora.

Rukiora: Chicchi! My friend I love so much! You’re my one and only solace here in Havenna.

Chicchi: Heh heh…

The two of them hug.

A little distance away, a dirtied man address a charming woman.

Dirty Man: … I can’t sleep. Can you sell me some mugwort?

Suspicious Woman: Yes, I just got some good mugwort in.

Rukiora: …Look, Chicchi. A mugwort seller. The most indecent and immodest women in all of Havenna.

Rukiora: The smell of mugwort will get all over you if you get near them. What a revolting smell.

Chicchi: Right. Let’s walk far away from it…

The two of them walk away from the mugwort seller.

Girl: Waait!

Rukiora: What now?!

Fugio: Ah, I’m in trouble…!

Rukiora: Someone’s being chased by that crowd of women…! They’re coming this way.

Chicchi: That’s…

Woman: Wait! Waiiit!

Fugio: I’m going to get caught at this rate…!

Chicchi: This way. Come hide in the shadows.

Fugio: Huh? You’re…!

Rukiora: Chicchi?!

Girl: Hey, let me shake your hand! Hug me! Come talk to us!

Sound of footsteps run past.

Rukiora: …Looks like they’re gone.

Fugio: Thanks, you saved me!

Rukiora: …Are you Fugio, perhaps?

Fugio: Oh, you know my name.

Rukiora: You’re the princeps of the Agua Club… The most famous celebrity around! There isn’t a woman in Havenna who doesn’t know you! Right, Chicchi?

Chicchi: R-Right…

Fugio: Haha, thanks. You two really saved me. Come see my show if you’re free. I’ll prepare some VIP seats for you.

Rukiora: Really? For both of us?

Fugio: Of course! All right, bye then, Chickachina

Chicchi: …!

Rukiora: ‘Chickachina’?

Fugio: Oh, that’s just a way of saying goodbye that’s making the rounds at the club! It could be old news by tomorrow.

Rukiora: I see. Chickachina!

Fugio leaves.

Rukiora: Oh, he’s so cool. Fugio, the finest treasure of Havenna. I never imagined running into him here.

Rukiora: They say not even thieves can get their hands on tickets to his shows. Could this be a reward for trying to live a clean life?

Rukiora: Well, looks like our next meeting will be at the Agua Club! Bye-bye, Chicchi!

Chicchi: Bye-bye, Rukiora.

Chicchi: …

A man comes closer as Rukiora leaves.

Jire: …Chicchi. I see you went to meet Rukiora.

Chicchi: Jire… That’s because she’s my one and only female friend in Havenna.

Jire: …Is that all right? She’s famous for being so clean that she won’t even eat a rat.

Chicchi: Even I won’t eat a rat. Except for the kebabs on Tigris Street.

Jire: The kebabs there are fantastic, huh?! They say there’s a secret in the spices.

Jire: Er, no, I didn’t come here to talk about that.

Jire: …It’s almost time for your shift at Pontartia. Domina said to come to your room an hour before.

Chicchi: I was just a bit late from running into a guest. I always make sure to do my work.

Jire: I’ve heard as much from Domina… More times than I’d like.

Jire: All right, let’s go. Time for ‘Chicchi’ to become ‘Chickachina’.

(2) Bright Havenna

◆Back Alley

Sounds of murmurs

Girls advertising their store and men looking around.

Mugwort Vendor A: Hey mister, need some mugwort?

Mugwort Vender B: Our’s is much better than that shop… Hm? Oh my, it’s the priest.

Father: …

Mugwort Vendor A: He sure is faithful, proselytizing in a town like this. But we’re sick of those sermons!

Mugwort Vender B: Our customers are going to run away, fearing God’s wrath. Go on, get out of here!

Father: This place is once again gloomy with the smell of mugwort…

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room

Jire: Chickachina, your next guest is here.

Fugio: Hey, nice to see you again!

Chicchi: Please don’t call me by my work name outside the shop.

Fugio: Sorry, Chickachina… Er, Chicchi. I was just so happy since I never thought I’d see you around town.

Fugio: Shouldn’t you be the one who should be more careful?

Chicchi: What do you mean?

Fugio: You could have just ignored me like you do your other customers.

Fugio: You’re hiding it, right? The fact that you’re a mugwort seller.

Chicchi: This conversation is absurd. As absurd as someone like you coming to a shop like this to buy mugwort.

Fugio: It’s really tiring to be the princeps. The eyes of the public are on me, so I can’t ruin my image.

Fugio: You understand, right Chicchi?

Chicchi: I’m going to light some mugwort. Set the money down. You can call me by my alias here.

Fugio: Haha, sorry. You keep a lot of secrets, Chickachina. Ah, what a nice smell.

Chicchi: Hey, take off your coat.

Fugio: Right.

Chicchi: You like having my arm around you, don’t you?

Fugio: Yeah… So hurry, wrap it around my neck already…

Chicchi: All right, then… Hmph!”

Chicchi wraps her arm around Fugio’s neck from behind, choking him.

Fugio: Rrgh…!

Fugio falls unconscious without any resistance.

Sound of a thud on the bed.

Fade out.

Fugio: …I think I’m sick.

Chicchi: Yeah. Did you sleep well?

Fugio: Really, I wonder what kind of person first thought up of a business like this?

Chicchi: I’m sure anyone would think up a business to make men who can’t go to sleep fall unconscious. Someone from this town, at least.

Fugio: Havenna’s full of guys who can’t sleep, after all… Can I stay by your side a while longer?

Chicchi: Yes, I’m your Chickachina until morning.

Fugio: Seriously, I hate the sun for that.

Fugio: Someday, I want to take you away from Havenna. I wonder how I can have you all to myself.

Chicchi: There’s nothing outside of Havenna, Fugio.

Fugio: Haha, you speak as though you’ve seen it for yourself. Outside Havenna is overflowing with dreams and hopes bigger than here.

Fugio: Someday, I’ll get out of Havenna… with you.

◆Pontartia

Chicchi: I smell like mugwort all over…

Chicchi: I’ll be taking a shower. I don’t know when Rukiora’s stuffy nose will get better.

Jire: I’m sure it’ll be fine if she’s seeing the same doctor. That guy’s a quack, after all.

Chicchi: With any luck, he’ll hit his head and get some sense knocked into him.

Chicchi: If her nose gets better, she might notice even the faintest scent of mugwort.

Chicchi: If that happens, it’s not just my job that’s in trouble.

Jire: Pontartia’s earnings would plummet instantly. All your customers are the good ones, after all.

Jire: Even that Fugio’s all over you. My ear gets itchy every time I hear his pickup lines.

Chicchi: He’s popular in Havenna. There’s no way he’d actually fall for a mugwort seller.

A man and woman in gaudy clothing approach them as they talk.

They are Facchio and Domina, the owner of the shop and his lover.

Facchio: Chickachina!

Jire: Its Facchio. Pontartia’s owner and the millionaire of Havenna. If he’s here, that means…

Domina: The smell of mugwort is so strong here. I’m sure you’re not wasting any of it, are you?

Jire: Domina… The madam of Pontartia and Facchio’s lover…

Chicchi: Good evening.

Facchio: Did that prince boy come by again?

Chicchi: Not ‘prince boy’. The princeps Facchio.

Facchio: Prince, princeps, whatever. The fact that such a popular boy is mad about you is what’s important.

Domina: So, how much did we earn from him? Ah, here it is.

Chicchi: Ah.

Domina: A bit low for the star of the Agua club. He could be more generous with the tip.

Domina: Subtracting the rent for the room, equipment expenses, other miscellaneous fees… Here’s your share.

Chicchi: …This is it?

Domina: What’s that I hear?

Domina: Who was the one who plucked you off a dirty street corner stinking of matrik into a fine mugwort seller?

Chicchi: You, Madam Domina.

Domina: I thought so.

Domina: The one who taught you how much pressure to apply to block one’s airway, how to charm the beastly men of havenna and send them into heaven was me, right?

Domina: I can be real scary if you mouth off to me.

Facchio: Come now, my little butterfly. The reason you’re upset is proof that Chickachina sees herself as worth more. Let’s give her a little bonus later.

Domina: Facchio, I’m going to get jealous if you keep treating Chickachina so well. Enough to kill her!

Facchio: You’re flapping wings are the most beautiful, my butterfly.

Domina: Hee-hee

Jire: Um, can we leave now?

Domina: Oh, Jire, you’re still here. Get out already.

Facchio: Later, Chickachina.

The two of them leave Facchio and Domina.

Jire: That Domina. She took all that after you worked so hard, Chicchi. I’m going to complain about it later.

Chicchi: There’s no helping it. Those two were the ones who took me in.

Jire: Domina’s jealous of you, Chicchi, because you’re so young and beautiful.

Chicchi: Domina’s beautiful, too. Even though she’s not young.

Jire: Chicchi. What’s so worth gaining here in Havenna that you would go this far?

Chicchi: Jire, Havenna is the town of desire and pleasure. I am a woman of Havenna, too.

Jire: I don’t understand, Chicchi. I can’t imagine this kind of work being fulfilling for you.

◆The Edge of Town

Facchio and Domina enter a church confessional. The priest listens to them from the other side.

Facchio: Father! Oh, Father! I have sinned!

Domina: Please hear Facchio’s confession! And please here mine as well!

Father: Go on.

Facchio: Pontartia has been prosperous here in Havenna.

Facchio: Eventually, we will cross the river and expand Pontartia to a hundred locations.

Facchio: Please, God! Forgive my arrogance and ambition, and protect me from those jealous of my genius!

Domina: And I will follow this man, whose pockets overflow with profit.

Domina: Please allow me to support him in a way his wife is unable to.

Domina: …And please punish that arrogant little Chickachina.

Facchio: Father, what is it that we must do?

Father: God is always watching over us, each day and each night.

Father: He loves us in all our greed, arrogance, jealousy, and envy. Be thankful for the love from our magnanimous God.

Father: You must dance.

Facchio & Domina: Aah!

★Dance “Intense confessions at the confessional”

(3) Swaying Havenna

◆Agua Club

Fugio’s performance is a cheerful, empty song.

Fugio: The future is a hope without a dream. Let me see your dazzling smile tomorrow! I am your princeps!

Fugio: Shining tears become shooting stars! We can create a love that’s true, if we’re together! I alone am your princeps!

Audience: Ahhh!

Audience: Fugio!

Rukiora: Amazing! I never imagined we could watch the princeps of the Agua Club from such good seats! Let’s dance later! I have to thank God for this!

Chicchi: I’m happy for you, Rukiora.

Fugio: Thank you, thank you! Here’s a flower to remember this night by.

Customer A: Fugio threw a flower!

Customer B: It’s mine!

Customer A: No, it’s mine…

Rukiora: Huh? No way!

Customer: Aww, no fair!

Customer: Fugio, one for me, too!

Fugio: Thank you all! I love you like the stars do!

Rukiora: Look, Chicchi! I got the flower from Fugio…!

Chicchi: Well, you’re the cutest one here, Rukiora. I’m happy for you.

Rukiora: Yeah… I’m so happy…!

◆Yorubeya

Chicchi talks to Miguel, an employee at the club

Miguel: Rukki, Chicchi. Welcome to the Yorubeya. Hm? You look happy, Rukki.

Rukiora: Listen to this, Miguel! Fugio tossed a flower to me at the Agua Club!

Rukiora: Look at this flower! It’s so pretty…!

Miguel: A man giving a flower to a woman is a meaningful thing. And that man is Fugio, the most popular man in Havenna.

Rukiora: You’re right, Miguel. What do I do? What if Fugio becomes my lover?

Rukiora: If I’m with him, I might even be able to leave Havenna and live somewhere far away from here…

Chicchi: Leave Havenna?

Miguel: If you do that, I won’t be able to see you or Chicchi anymore. I’d be a bit lonely.

Rukiora: Miguel! I’ll write to you.

Miguel: Really? I can see you taking your sweet time in responding.

Chicchi: Rukiora, if you were to become Fugio’s lover, would you really leave Havenna?

Rukiora: Chicchi, the world outside this town is full of things that aren’t just pleasure and desire.

Rukiora: Things unimaginable to people like us who have grown up in Havenna!

Chicchi: What do you think is outside Havenna, Rukiora?

Rukiora: I don’t know. Probably…everything.

Miguel: You think? It might just be dandelions and neshiromi fields, you know?

Rukiora: That would be so boring!

Miguel: Havenna’s a place with everything. You can get all the riches and privileges you want here. If you have the power, that is.

Miguel: To me, Havenna’s the most amazing town! There’s no one to criticize you if you spend all your days having fun.

Rukiora: You really are the embodiment of Havenna, Miguel.

Miguel: There are girls as cute as you too, Rukki.

Rukiora: You playboy.

Miguel: Ahaha, it’s true.

Rukiora: I want to get out of here as soon as possible. If only Fugio really WOULD take me away…

Chicchi: But we’ll be apart if you leave Havenna.

Rukiora: You just need to come with me! Me, you, and Fugio, all three of us will leave.

Miguel: No fair. You’re only taking Chicchi.

Rukiora: It’s different with Chicchi, Miguel. We’re special friends.

Chicchi: …

Chicchi: …So you want to leave Havenna, Rukiora? You have no desire to stay here?

Chicchi: Even if I’m with you…?

Rukiora: Wait, Chicchi. It’s not like I want to leave Havenna right NOW.

Rukiora: Though if I could leave, I would.

Miguel: Are you okay being with anyone, so long as they’ll take you away from Havenna?

Rukiora: Well, of course I’d prefer Fugio. He’s a pure-hearted princeps. This flower must be a sign of things to come.

Rukiora: I’m sure something will happen before this flower’s fragrance fades. Oh, what a nice smell. If my nose weren’t so stuffy, I bet it’d smell even lovelier.

Chicchi: Rukiora, you’ve got pollen on your nose.

Rukiora: Oh, no! I need to touch up my makeup!

Rukiora leaves her seat.

Sound of her hurrying away.

Miguel: Rukiora is quite taken with Fugio.

Chicchi: It’s because he threw her that flower. What is he trying to do, anyway?

Miguel: You think he could’ve been trying to throw it to you? I mean…

Miguel: I’m sure you were the cutest one in the audience.

Chicchi: …That’s why people call you a playboy, Miguel. I don’t eat up sweet talk like that.

Miguel: You’re my guest today. Shouldn’t I be serving you?

Miguel: …I can’t sleep. I crave the scent of mugwort.

Chicchi: Don’t talk about that here. Rukiora will be back soon.

Miguel: It’s tough, isn’t it? Having to keep lying.

Chicchi: I’m not lying. I just haven’t told her the truth.

Miguel: And you want her to believe a false truth? Why are you so adamant on hiding it?

Chicchi: When I first started taking customers and Pontartia, Domina always scolded me for failing to knock them out right away.

Chicchi: … ‘We don’t need someone like you here, you freeloader’.

Chicchi: I cried as I walked around Havenna, and when I arrived at Pig’s Rear Street, I heard someone singing.

Chicchi: “‘Oh, Rama Havenna’… I love Havenna so dearly. You can be a good-for-nothing, and that’s all right. Laugh and dance, and you can forget it all…

Chicchi: I was crying.

Chicchi: I cried and cried, and couldn’t stop. When the show ended, I still couldn’t move from where I was…

Chicchi: Rukiora spoke to me.

Chicchi: I think she thought of me as a pure-hearted girl who was moved by her singing. When in truth, I’m far from pure.

Chicchi: But I was happy.

Chicchi: Rukiora’s the only person who can’t know who I really am. No matter what happens.

Miguel: Even if it hurts her in the end?

Chicchi: Is there anything that would her her more than the truth that her friends sells mugwort?

Miguel: Don’t glare at me like that. It’s fine. No one knows anything about who you really are. No one in Havenna. Not even me.

Chicchi: Miguel. You’re different. You’re special.

Miguel: Hey, now. Look who’s dishing out the sweet talk now.

Chicchi: Then, will you be honest and tell Rukiora that you care for her?

Chicchi: You’re a liar, too. You mix in flippant, nonchalant flirting with your true feelings, then shrug off your sleepless nights with mugwort.

Miguel: …I give up. You win. You sure are mean today. Are you annoyed that Rukiora’s so obsessed with Fugio?

Chicchi: Rukiora seemed happy to get a flower from him. That’s why I’m happy, too.

Miguel: You’re not telling the truth again.

Rukiora comes back.

Rukiora: Sorry. Where were we?

Chicchi: We were thinking about how you could stay in Havenna, even if you and Fugio become lovers.

Miguel: I think Fugio going totally broke at a casino would be most effective.

Rukiora: Idiot. Fugio leads a proper life, so he wouldn’t go somewhere like a casino.

Chicchi: …

(4) Noisy Havenna

◆Town Streets

Miguel: Then, can I get those? The Bakuu cookies. Yeah, thanks.

Rukiora: …Those cookies are cute.

Miguel: Rukki! If you had cookies, I would have gone straight to buy them from you.

Rukiora: I have no such thing.

Rukiora: Are they for your customers? I think they’re a little too cute to give out at the club.

Miguel: They’re for me, I just like them.

Rukiora: Oh, you’re so adorable.

Miguel: Right? I AM adorable!

Rukiora: Oh, never mind that. Look, the flower Fugio gave me. It’s still alive. Isn’t it amazing?

Miguel: That’s love for ya.

Rukiora: It is.

Rukiora: I’m going to have my nose checked now. I want to be able to enjoy the fragrance while I still can.

Miguel: I see. I hope your nose gets cleared up soon.

Rukiora: Yes. Goodbye now.

Sound of her walking away.

Miguel: …I think tonight’s going to be another sleepless night.

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room

Fugio: Chickachina, how I’ve missed you. We couldn’t stay and talk for long last time.

Fugio: First, thank you for coming to my show. My heart was dancing just from seeing you there at the Agua Club.

Chicchi: Rukiora was there, too.

Fugio: Oh, right. So, that flower. Did it surprise you?

Chicchi: Rukiora caught it.

Fugio: My aim was abysmal. I really wanted you to catch it. I’m sorry!

Chicchi: I see. She was really happy. She’s a big fan of yours.

Chicchi: But I don’t want you to play with her feelings. She’s a dear friend to me.

Fugio: I see. I didn’t mean to do so, but I admit it was wrong of me. I’m sorry.

Fugio: I’ll throw it next time so that you catch it. No, maybe it’s better if I give it to you directly.

Chicchi: Rukiora is enamored with you. You’re all she talks about.

Fugio: What about you? Talk about me, too.

Fugio: About how you want to run away from Havenna with me.

Chicchi: What a ridiculous conversation.

Fugio: You always avoid the topic whenever it leads to what’s outside Havenna.

Fugio: …Could it be that you have the strongest desire of all to see what’s out there?

Fugio: Don’t you want to escape this harsh reality?

Fugio: Why? Why are you working as a mugwort seller? Debt? Is there something you need?

Fugio: I can give you what it is you desire. Whatever you want, even a moment to make you forget reality.

Fugio: So, just quit being a mugwort seller and…

Chicchi: …Stop already!

Chicchi: If you’re just going to pity me so much, then just stop buying me!

Chicchi: What do you even know about me? …Jire! This customer is on his way out.

Fugio: Chickachina, calm down, I was out of line.

Jire: Chickachina, what’s wrong?

Fugio: It’s nothing. This is between the two of us.

Jire: And I’m stepping in between the two of you as well.

Fugio: Aren’t you just Domina’s lackey?

Jire: What did you say? I’m Chicchi’s ally!

Fugio: What can you do, with no status, prestige, or money?

Jire: You’re one to talk! Buying mugwort all the time when you HAVE status, prestige, and money.

Fugio: What was that?

Jire: What’s your problem?!

Chicchi: Stop!

Chicchi: …It’s fine. I’ll just do my job. I’m a mugwort seller, after all.

Jire: But, Chickachina…

Chicchi: I’m sorry, Jire. Leave the room. I don’t want to be seen working.

Fugio: And this is time that I purchased. Am I mistaken?

Jire: …Understood.

Fugio: Oh, wait.

A clinking sound.

Fugio throws a tip.

Jire: 100 panie…!

Fugio: It’s a tip. Go get yourself some kebab with that.

◆Pontartia

Jire: Who’s he kidding with the kebab crap.

Jire: I don’t need this!

Jire throws the 100 panie.

Sound of him throwing the coin

Jire: …Chicchi! Aah, Chickachina! ! I… I…!

Jire: The smell of mugwort is seeping into her body…!

Jire: …

Jire: …100 panie.

Jire picks up the coin.

Jire: He has the power to give 100 panie as tip…

Jire: What I have is…

Jire: …Chicchi.

◆The Edge of Town

Father: …Lost little lamb.

Jire: …

Domina: Oh, Jire. I didn’t think I’d run into you here. Have you been up to no good?

Jire: Please don’t lump me in with you. I don’t have any sins to confess.

Jire: I have something to talk to you about in regards to Chicchi. I’ll ask bluntly. What do you think about her?

Domina: She’s a pupa who doesn’t know her place. She may grow to be a carbunculus-patterned butterfly.

Jire: You’re scared of her, aren’t you?

Jire: Would you like to make a deal?

Domina: A deal?

Jire: Yes.

(5) Aromatic Havenna

◆Singing Pub

Rukiora: Chicchi, Miguel! You came!

Chicchi: You were lovely today as well.

Miguel: You sang like an angel.

Rukiora: Hee-hee, thank you.

Rukiora: Here, look, Fugio’s flower! Two petals fell, but it’s still in bloom!

Miguel: Perhaps it’s the magic of love.

Chicchi: It’s not a fake flower, is it?

Rukiora: A fake flower wouldn’t have a scent like this!

Rukiora: Here, have a sniff. Hnnn, hahh, hnnn, hahh… Huh?

Chicchi: What is it, Rukiora?

Rukiora: I smell something displeasing.

Chicchi: Huh? From Fugio’s flower?

Rukiora: No. Mugwort.

Chicchi: …That’s just your imagination isn’t it? Remember, your nose is stuffed.

Rukiora: I changed doctors. Thanks to that, it’s getting better day by day.

Chicchi: …!

Rukiora: I DO smell it. That filthy stench… That dreadful stench.

Miguel: Maybe it’s this.

Rukiora: What… The cookies?

Miguel: There are all sorts of flavors. These are mugwort.

Rukiora: What terrible taste you have, Miguel!

Miguel: I didn’t think your nose would get better… Sorry!

Rukiora: I’ll forgive you since you were honest.

Rukiora: Ah, it’s time to give the flower some water. Excuse me for a moment.

Sound of her leaving.

Chicchi: Thanks, Miguel.

Miguel: Never thought she’d change doctors

Miguel: What are you going to do, Chicchi? If her nose gets completely better, she might notice the smell of mugwort on you.

Chicchi: I’ll change perfumes.

Miguel: …Chicchi. I don’t think you can fool her forever. What about being honest with her?

Chicchi: …

Miguel: Or maybe… I’LL be the one who takes Rukiora and runs away from Havenna?

Chicchi: You’re joking, right?

Miguel: Yeah, just trying to distract us for a bit.

Chicchi: Stop. I’m not in the mood for this right now.

Miguel: Then, want a Bakuu cookie?

Chicchi: I ate those as a kid. There aren’t any that are mugwort-flavored.

Chicchi: You like those, Miguel?

Miguel: I hate them. They’re dry and have no taste. But they remind me of the past.

Chicchi: Are you eating them to not forget about the past?

Miguel: That’s about right. You don’t have anything like that for yourself?

Chicchi: Memories just make me feel empty.

Miguel: That’s so like you.

◆Pontartia

Chicchi: …

Jire: What’s wrong? You don’t look great.

Chicchi: Rukiora’s stuffed nose is starting to get better.

Jire: Huh? But that hospital’s supposed to be full of quacks…

Chicchi: She found another doctor.

Chicchi: If she finds out the truth…

Jire: It’ll be okay, Chicchi. God will protect you.

Chicchi: God’s been asleep for a long time.

◆ Pig’s Rear Street - Second District

Rukiora: The flower smells so nice! I’m so glad I changed doctors.

Domina: You’re in the way.

Rukiora: Aaah?!

Sound of the two bumping into each other.

In a hard collision, the flower falls onto the street.

The woman who bumped into her steps on the flower.

Rukiora: What are you doing! Huh?!

Domina: Well if it isn’t the moonlight princess of the singing pub.

Rukiora: I feel sick… Of all people, I had to bump into you…!

Rukiora: Ah, the flower. My flower…

Domina: Flower?

Domina: You mean this filthy trash under my shoe no different from a rat’s carcass?

Rukiora: Move!!!

Rukiora: How could you… The flower I got from Fugio!

Domina: Oh, too bad I’m not sorry.

Rukiora: Don’t you ‘not sorry’ me! What are you going to do about this?

Domina: It’s not something to be so down about. Flowers wilt eventually. Humans are the same.

Rukiora: Quiet! You vermicurmi! You rotten matrik woman!

Domina: How rude. I am still in my prime.

Domina: That’s why your father is still so obsessed with me!

Rukiora: You dreadful mugwort woman…! Shut your filthy pig mouth!

Domina: And how is that woman doing, tossed aside by her husband?

Rukiora: Don’t make fun of my mother…! She’s… passed.

Domina: I see. Facchio made no mention of that at all.

Rukiora: I’ve erased any memory of that man reeking of mugwort!

Rukiora: Ah, I’m going to vomit! I’ll leave you all in this filthy putrid town… With Fugio, my beloved.

Domina: Fugio? From the Agua Club?

Rukiora: Yes! The princeps Fugio! One who would never reek of mugwort like you!

Domina: So what if you found out that Fugio spends his time buying mugwort?

Rukiora: Huh…?

Rukiora: …What a joke! Fugio is Havenna’s treasure. He’s my idol!

Domina: I don’t know if he’s an idol or an idiot, but I’m only telling you the truth.

Domina: He’s a man stained by Havenna, collapsing every night in the arms of a mugwort seller.

Domina: What an innocent young, Havenna-like woman you are, fooled by such ostentatious displays as his.

Domina: Your fate is to have everything taken away by mugwort sellers in the end.

Rukiora: Lies… Lies!

Domina: If you think it’s a lie, come by Pontartia sometime. Behind Ant Hill Alley.

Domina: It’s possible… that he might come today.

Domina: He’s mad about a woman named Chickachina.

Rukiora: …Chickachina?

Domina: You want me to tell you more? She…

Miguel: Stop!

Rukiora: Miguel…!

Domina: What do you want?

Miguel: Get away from her. If not…

Domina: If not, then what? …Hmph! Out of my way!

Sound of her leaving.

Miguel: Rukiora, are you all right?

Miguel: That woman is a mugwort seller full of lies. Don’t take what she says seriously.

Rukiora: Miguel.

Miguel: Yeah?

Rukiora: Then why did you interrupt her?

Miguel: Because she says the most ridiculous things.

Rukiora: …You lie so much that the truth is clear.

Miguel: Rukiora? Ah! Wait, Rukiora!

(6) Fussy Havenna

◆Pontartia - Facchio’s Room

Chicchi: Excuse me

Facchio: Ah, come in, Chickachina

Chicchi: You wanted to talk?

Facchio: It’s as though you are my adorable daughter. I can ask about how you’re doing, can’t I?

Chicchi: I’m having a lot of fun. All my customers are good people.

Facchio: I’m glad to hear it. I want to ask you, my adorable little girl.

Facchio: Chickachina, what do you think about Domina?

Chicchi: Domina? If you’re playing the role of my father, that would make Domina my kind stepmother.

Facchio: Chickachina. I swear I will never tell Domina.

Chicchi: She’s an aged vermicurmi.

Facchio: Ahaha! Oh the things you say behind people’s backs are always so amusing!

Facchio: Domina’s a clever woman. She’s planning on a higher status in Havenna, using me as a stepping stone.

Chicchi: Is that so?

Facchio: Of course she is! Chickachina. Aren’t you interested in status as well? What would you think of becoming the madam of Pontartia?

Chicchi: But the madam is Domina.

Facchio: You’re popular among the men. You’re affectionate, and you knock them out quick. And above all, you’re clever.

Facchio: There’s no one better suited to represent Pontartia.

Facchio: Will you build this business with me?

Chicchi: Facchio. I don’t intend on going from daughter to stepmother.

Facchio: Of course, I’ll prioritize whatever it is you wish. It’s just that there’s no mistake that a brighter world awaits you.

Facchio: Just think about it. A woman of mine will wear a ring of carbunculus.

Chicchi: …I understand. I’ll think about it.

◆Outside Pontartia

Rukiora: Pontartia… there’s no mistake. This is it.

Rukiora: I can smell the mugwort even out here. Is it possible Fugio actually comes to a place like this?

Rukiora: There’s no way such an upright and clean man could…

Rukiora: …

Rukiora: No, this isn’t right!

Rukiora: I should be ashamed for getting led on by that woman and doubting him!

Rukiora: I’ll go home… Huh?!

Rukiora: Is that…?!

◆Pontartia

Chicchi: Facchio wants me to be…

Jire: …Chicchi. It’s time for work, Fugio’s coming.

Chicchi: R-Right…

◆Pontartia - Chicchi’s Room.

Fugio: Chickachina, I’ve missed you!

Chicchi: Good evening, Fugio. You can’t sleep again?

Fugio: I feel like my face is heavy with a mask I put on myself.

Chicchi: All right, I’ll light some mugwort then…

Rukiora: Hey!

Chicchi: …!

Rukiora: To think the princeps would come to a mugwort shop…!

Fugio: You’re…

Chicchi: A-Ah…

Rukiora: Chicchi…!!!

Chicchi: Aah, ah…

Rukiora: …What is the meaning of this?

Chicchi: I… I…

Fugio: Let’s calm down for a moment.

Rukiora: You be quiet! You falsa of a man!

Fugio: Wha…

Rukiora: Chicchi. We’re friends, right? Friends don’t hide things from each other, right?

Rukiora: Tell me the truth. If so then I, I… will forgive you.

Chicchi: Rukiora…

Chicchi: Tell me!!!

Chicchi: I… I…

Chicchi: I’m actually a mugwort seller. A mugwort-selling woman, the likes of which you hate so much…

Chicchi: I’m sorry for hiding it from you… You’re the one person I didn’t want to find out.

Chicchi: Because I care about you. Because we’re friends…

Rukiora: Chicchi…

Rukiora: You’re terrible! To trick me like this!

Chicchi: R-Rukiora…

Rukiora: What do you mean ‘friends’?! You were ridiculing me, drenching yourself in mugwort with Fugio!

Chicchi: No, Rukiora! I…

Rukiora: You were jeering at me, exhilarated over a single flower!

Rukiora: Don’t ever come near me with that disgusting stench ever again!

Sound of her running off

Rukiora leaves the shop.

Chicchi: Rukiora!

Chicchi: Ah, my dear friend…

Chicchi: Because I’m… a mugwort seller.

Fugio: Chickachina… Poor thing.

Fugio: Come here!

Fugio takes Chicchi’s hand.

Chicchi: Fugio?! Were are we going?

Fugio: Towards hope.

Sound of them running off.

Jire watches in the shadows as the two of them exit Pontartia

Jire: …

◆The Edge of Town

Rukiora arrives at the church.

Rukiora: …Please let me confess!

Father: Proceed.

Rukiora: God… Please forgive me! Please forgive me for being unable to forgive such a dirty lie, unable to forgive my precious friend!

Rukiora: I wanted to… I wanted to forgive her, but my head and my heart are all a mess, and I can’t do anything about it at all!

Rukiora: Not only that, I want her to be punished, even though we’re friends! Even though we WERE friends!

Rukiora: Or, am I the one in the wrong?

Rukiora: Am I the terrible one? Is my heart the one that is dirty? Aagh!

Rukiora: Is everything disappearing around me because I’m the one who’s no good? If only I had done better, If only I had more value, things wouldn’t have turned out like this?

Rukiora: Then Father wouldn’t have been taken away, and Mother wouldn’t have gone mad?

Rukiora: Please forgive me, forgive me, please forgive me. Please take out my heart, and wash away all its sins.

Rukiora: Please forgive me, forgive me, please forgive me, forgive me…

Miguel: Mind letting me confess too?

Rukiora: Miguel…! What is all that luggage?

Miguel: I’m leaving Havenna. I finally saved enough money.

Miguel: In fact, I’ve been able to leave for a while now. I just kept letting things drag on.

Miguel: But I made up my mind after watching you run off.

Rukiora: Whatever do you mean?

Miguel: My family is made up of poor neshiromi farmers. We are not from Havenna.

Miguel: With so much debt, the farm was in danger, so I was sent to Havenna to earn money.

Miguel: But now that I have enough saved, I’m going back home.

Rukiora: What are you here to confess about, then?

Miguel: For lying to myself.

Miguel: Rukiora, I’m in love with you.

Rukiora: What?

Miguel: Escape from Havenna with me.

(7) Drowning Havenna

◆Pontartia

Facchio: Chickachina! Where’s my pupa?

Domina: She went off somewhere with a man.

Facchio: Domina! Why didn’t you stop them?

Domina: I saw my younger self in her and thought she might get in my way, so I just thought to rip off her wings before she became a beautiful butterfly. You don’t need two women, Facchio.

Facchio: What a terrifying woman you are!

Domina: Who’s the terrifying one here?! You ebrietas of a man. I’m the one who raised Pontartia to who she is, you leech.

Domina moves behind Facchio

Facchio: What are you doing! Stop!

Domina: My skills have not yet dulled. Hmph.

Facchio: Rrghk!

Sound of him dropping to the ground.

Domina: …Chickachina, Facchio. Now everyone in my way is gone.

Domina: I’ll confess to God later.

◆Havenna Lakeshore

Fugio: Alright, we’re here.

Chicchi: This is the lake.

Fugio: Right. We’re going to cross it on a ferry and reach the other side.

Chicchi: Stop, Fugio. I don’t want this.

Fugio: Then what DO you want?! Your lie has been found out by your dear friend.

Fugio: Is it money? Status? Fame?

Chicchi: I don’t want any of that.

Fugio: Then tell me, Chickachina. I want to help you.

Jire: Chicchi!

Jire runs forward. He has a knife in his hand.

Chicchi: Jire! What are you holding…

Fugio: A knife…

Jire: Celebrities have so much confidence. To think you’d take Chicchi away from Havenna.

Fugio: Urk…

Jire: Chicchi. Come back here. This man is nothing more than a thief.

Chicchi: …No, Jire. This man is the princeps of the Agua Club. Rumors will spread quickly.

Jire: Then…

Jire: All I can do is pretend I didn’t see anything.

Jire: Chicchi, you decide.

Jire: Whether you’ll cross the lake with that man and leave Havenna, or punish him and come back to Pontartia.

Chicchi: Jire…

Chicchi: I won’t cross the lake, nor will I punish him.

Fugio: Chickachina…

Jire: That’s not a choice you can make! You need to leave. I don’t want to see you dirtied by rumors.

Jire: When you first came to Havenna, you were pure as the purest white. A vase for a single flower, descended down to us in the snow.

Jire: To watch you poisoned by this town, stained by the scent of mugwort is… painful.

Fugio: Even he agrees. Leave Havenna with me.

Fugio: If you do, you can become pure again. You won’t have to lie anymore.

Chicchi: …

Chicchi: …Leave Havenna so I can become pure again? How can you decide that all on your own?

Chicchi: I came to Havenna of my own free will. When I leave Havenna, it will be of my own free will as well.

Jire: Chicchi…

Chicchi: It was you who provoked Domina into telling everything to Rukiora, wasn’t it Jire?

Jire: I…

Chicchi: How arrogant of you to get Fugio involved in this.

Jire: Chicchi, I just wanted you to…

Chicchi: You should confess to God. Before I can no longer stand you. Goodbye.

Chicchi leaves.

Sound of her leaving.

Jire: Chicchi!

Fugio: You…

Jire: Uurgh…

Jire: I… just cared about her so much…

Fugio: I understand

Jire: …Thank you.

Jire: Hey, sorry for dragging you into this. Will you join me in the confession booth?

◆Pontartia

Sound of murmurs

A crowd forms around the shop.

Domina and Facchio are arguing.

Facchio: You finally showed your true colors, you sneak!

Domina: What about you? Isn’t it about time you realized you’re about to be fired?

Chicchi: Facchio and Domina?

Man: They’re arguing over who gets ownership.

Woman: It seems like the fight led into an investigation, and it turns out this shop is illegal.

Chicchi: I see. That’s terrible.

◆Pig’s Rear Street - Second District

Chicchi staggers.

Chicchi: …

Chicchi: Ugh…

Chicchi: Urgh… Aagh…

Chicchi: Aaaaaagh…

Rukiora’s voice can be heard.

???: Oh, Rama Havenna! As warm as a baby’s first bath.

Chicchi: …?!

Rukiora’s voice continues.

???: Oh, Rama Havenna! As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Chicchi: Rukiora.

Chicchi: Rukiora!

◆Singing Pub

Chicchi runs into the pub.

Chicchi: Rukiora!!!

Rukiora: Chicchi…!

Chicchi: Rukiora. I…

Rukiora: I was asked to leave Havenna with someone.

Chicchi: Huh?

Rukiora: By Miguel. He wasn’t raised in Havenna.

Rukiora: He said he’ll be returning to his family of neshiromi farmers… He wants me to come with him.

Chicchi: Miguel…?

Chicchi: Ah, right. I see. Miguel was finally able to be honest with himself.

Chicchi: …I’m sorry.

Chicchi: Miguel told me as well. That I needed to tell you the truth. But I couldn’t.

Chicchi: I just didn’t want you to hate me.

Chicchi: I thought that instead of hurting you, it would be better for me to stay silent.

Rukiora: I see.

Chicchi: I wanted us to become true friends.

Rukiora: …I see.

Rukiora: Even if it meant lying?

Chicchi: …Yes

Rukiora: Your problem has always been that you’re too lovable.

Chicchi: Huh?

Rukiora: Hey, Chicchi. Are you able to forgive me?

Chicchi: Huh? What do you mean?

Rukiora: I lied to you, too. I was unable to tell you the truth.

Chicchi: That’s not true! You’ve done nothing wrong.

Rukiora: Then, forgive me. That’s far simpler than having God forgive me. It’s a pain to go all the way to the church.

Chicchi: But…

Rukiora: Chicchi!

Chicchi: …I forgive you. I forgive you, Rukiora.

Rukiora: Then I forgive you, too.

Chicchi: Rukiora…!

Rukiora: When Miguel asked me to go with him, the first thing that came to mind was you.

Rukiora: When you listened to my song, so full of tears. You were so beautiful.

Rukiora: Whether you’re a mugwort seller or a kebab seller, I don’t care. You’re you. My dear friend.

★Song "Faded Color"

Chicchi: Rukiora…

Chicchi: …Pontartia’s gone.

Rukiora: You can just sing here with me. Dancing would be good, too.

Chicchi: But what about Miguel? Aren’t you going to leave Havenna with him?

Rukiora: There is a desire in his heart that Havenna cannot fulfill.

Rukiora: I do like Miguel, but he and I desire different things.

Rukiora: I want to be with you.

Chicchi: Rukiora…

Rukiora: …Chicchi, can I ask you one more thing?

Chicchi: What is it?

Rukiora: I want to know the truth.

Rukiora: Coming here to Havenna, going so far as to become a mugwort seller… What was it that you desired?

Chicchi: …

Chicchi: I’ve been asked this question by everyone. But I’ll tell the truth only to you, Rukiora.

Chicchi: I wanted to live the life of a mugwort seller.

Monologue: After that, Chicchi and Rukiora lived their lives. Singing and dancing, laughing and crying in Havenna, the town of desire and pleasure.

(8) Havenna

◆Back Alley

A few days later, Chicchi stands in a back alley.

A man appears. It is the priest.

Chicchi: …Oh, Rama Havenna. As warm as a baby’s first bath. Oh, Rama Havenna, As gentle as a rocking cradle.

Father: …

Chicchi: It’s you…

Father: I cannot sleep.

Father: I cannot sleep, night after night. What should I do?

Chicchi: I see…

Chicchi: Shall I burn some mugwort for you?

Father: Oh, Rama Havenna.

The End

#jack jeanne #stage script #reference #oh rama havenna #my posts

28 notes · View notes