#this is only in the English version I don't know how it works in Japanese

[charlesoberonn]

A lot of fans probably missed it because they don't know the 't' in Godot is silent. But Godot's alias is made up of the last syllables of his first and last name (Diego Armando)

[windupaidoneus]

i got used to mar.cille's english voice but then heard her japanese voice & now it's all over once again

[shadesofmauve]

I want to step away from the art-vs-artist side of the Gaiman issue for a bit, and talk about, well, the rest of it. Because those emotions you're feeling would be the same without the art; the art just adds another layer.

Source: I worked with a guy who turned out to be heavily involved in an international, multi-state sex-slavery/trafficking ring.

He was really nice.

Yeah.

It hits like a dumptruck of shit. You don't feel stable in your world anymore. How could someone you interacted with, liked, also be a truly horrible person? How could your judgement be that bad? How can real people, not stylized cartoon bogeymen, be actually doing this shit?

You have to sit with the fact that you couldn't, or probably couldn't, have known. You should have no guilt as part of this horror — but guilt is almost certainly part of that mess you're feeling, because our brains do this associative thing, and somehow "I liked [the version of] the guy [that I knew]", or his creations, becomes "I made a horrible mistake and should feel guilty."

You didn't, loves, you didn't.

We're human, and we can only go by the information we have. And the information we have is only the smallest glimpse into someone else's life.

I didn't work closely with the guy I knew at work, but we chatted. He wasn't just nice; he was one of the only people outside my tiny department who seemed genuinely nice in a workplace that was rapidly becoming incredibly toxic. He loaned me a bike trainer. Occasionally he'd see me at the bus stop and give me a lift home.

Yup. I was a young woman in my twenties and rode in this guy's car. More than once.

When I tell this story that part usually makes people gasp. "You must feel so scared about what could have happened to you!" "You're so lucky nothing happened!"

No, that's not how it worked. I was never in danger. This guy targeted Korean women with little-to-no English who were coerced and powerless. A white, fluent, US citizen coworker wasn't a potential victim. I got to be a person, not prey.

Y'know that little warning bell that goes off, when you're around someone who might be a danger to you? That animal sense that says "Something is off here, watch out"?

Yeah, that doesn't ping if the preferred prey isn't around.

That's what rattled me the most about this. I liked to think of myself as willing to stand up for people with less power than me. I worked with Japanese exchange students in college and put myself bodily between them and creeps, and I sure as hell got that little alarm when some asian-schoolgirl fetishist schmoozed on them. But we were all there.

I had to learn that the alarm won't go off when the hunter isn't hunting. That it's not the solid indicator I might've thought it was. That sometimes this is what the privilege of not being prey does; it completely masks your ability to detect the horrors that are going on.

A lot of people point out that 'people like that' have amazing charisma and ability to lie and manipulate, and that's true. Anyone who's gotten away with this shit for decades is going to be way smoother than the pathetic little hangers-on I dealt with in university. But it's not just that. I seriously, deeply believe that he saw me as a person, and he did not extend personhood to his victims. We didn't have a fake coworker relationship. We had a real one. And just like I don't know the ins-and-outs of most of my coworkers lives, I had no idea that what he did on his down time was perpetrate horrors.

I know this is getting off the topic, but it's so very important. Especially as a message to cis guys: please understand that you won't recognize a creep the way you might think you will. If you're not the preferred prey, the hind-brain alarm won't go off. You have to listen to victims, not your gut feeling that the person seems perfectly nice and normal. It doesn't mean there's never a false accusation, but face the fact that it's usually real, and you don't have enough information to say otherwise.

So, yeah. It fucking sucks. Writing about this twists my insides into tense knots, and it was almost a decade ago. I was never in danger. No one I knew was hurt!

Just countless, powerless women, horrifically abused by someone who was nice to me.

You don't trust your own judgement quite the same way, after. And as utterly shitty as it is, as twisted up and unstead-in-the-world as I felt the day I found out — I don't actually think that's a bad thing.

I think we all need to question our own judgement. It makes us better people.

I don't see villains around every corner just because I knew one, once. But I do own the fact that I can't know, really know, about anyone except those closest to me. They have their own full lives. They'll go from the pinnacles of kindness to the depths of depravity — and I won't know.

It's not a failing. It's just being human. Something to remember before you slap labels on people, before you condemn them or idolize them. Think about how much you can't know, and how flawed our judgement always is.

Grieve for victims, and the feeling of betrayal. But maybe let yourself off the hook, and be a bit slower to skewer others on it.

[cyazurai]

Medieval Name Default Replacement Mod

Updated to be compatible with Kuttoe's Townie Demographics mod on March 8th, 2025 Released on September 22nd, 2024

Sul sul, and hail, my fellow medieval gameplay enjoyers! Have you grown tired of scouring the internet for names appropriate for Ultimate Decades Challenge, or the History Challenge, or any other gameplay that includes a medieval time period? Because I sure did, and that's why I got the idea to create this mod for those of us who want to just leave it up to the game to name our sims. And now, I'm so so excited to present it to you now!

If you don't want to read about the mod and just want to skip straight to downloading it, scroll to the very bottom of this post (under the "keep reading")! But if you want to know, I have written up a bit about the mod below.

How does it work?

It's very simple. You download the mod, and put it into your mods folder. Once the mod is in your folder, load up the game. In both CAS, and randomly generated townies, the available names will only be selected from a pool of medieval names.

When in CAS, if you use the die to randomize a name, it will only give you medieval names, like so:

When a townie is randomly generated in town, they will no longer have modern names, like so:

When your sim gives birth to a baby, the random name options will all be appropriately medieval, like so:

Is it compatible only with English?

It should be compatible with every language the game can be installed in; Miss Chipsa confirmed for me that it worked on a Russian-installed game!

Any details on the names you can provide us?

Well, it would be far too long of a list for me to tell you all of the names, but here are the details I can share - (under the cut)

a little over 3500 female names

a little over 7200 male names

a little over 13,400 surnames/bynames

the date range that these names should be appropriate for is between 800 and 1500, because that is the range that I pulled names from

Indian names replaced by medieval German

Islander names replaced by medieval Dutch

Japanese names replaced by medieval French

Moroccan names replaced by medieval Scottish/Irish

Latin names replaced by medieval Spanish/Portuguese

Native American names replaced by medieval Lithuanian, Latvian, Hungarian, Russian, and Romanian (I wanted to add all of these languages separately but ran out of categories)

Southest Asian names replaced by medieval Italian

a little over 1400 pet names (cats, dogs, and horses)

in the future, I intend to add names for the farm animals as well

Where did you get your names?

All human names in this mod have been sourced from this website: HERE.

Any other details I should know?

base game compatible, but it might be a little glitchy if your game isn't up-to-date.

you may only have one name replacement mod in your game at a time

this mod is subject to change as I find more names, so check back occasionally to see if the version is new!

if you have any questions or suggestions for names, feel free to message me

works for every age

will not replace the names of sims that have already been created

DOWNLOADS

SimFileShare // MediaFire // Patreon

Like my CC? Consider buying me a coffee! 💜

@mmfinds @ts4medieval @alwaysfreecc

[librarygarten]

Hello, i loved all your LU scenarios, specially the ones where the chain reacts to their games, they were so well written.

I was wondering if you could do some scenarios where the reader talks about some Zelda trivia with the chain, like the development of some games (Majoras mask was made in just one year and the director of Zelda don't like it, there were supposed to be more dungeons in Wind Waker) or the reception of their releases (Four swords adventures sold less than a million copies, WW was poorly recieved unlike TP for it's art style, this changed as time passed, etc.), perhaps some easter eggs or cameos (Talon and Ingo looks like Mario and Luigi, Link appears in other games as a cameo).

Okay, but why is this lowkey me 😭. My autistic ass would NOT shut up about their games, even if I was telling them stuff they didn't want to hear about.

It was a peaceful day. The chain had found an inn to stay at for the night. Nobody was injured. Supplies and spirits were high. Until Wind decided to ask you a question.

“So, if our adventures are games, does that mean you know everything that happened during them? Like everyone we met, everything we did, EVERYTHING?” Wind asked. Some of the other Links brustled, clearly uncomfortable with the question and what you might say. You smile nervously. 

“Basically? But you don’t talk in the games, so I don’t know anything you said.”

“But who made the games? How do they know about our adventures?” Wind asked.

“Oooh boy.” You scratched the back of your head, “There’s a company called Nintendo, they made most of the Legend of Zelda games. I think Four’s games were made by a different company, though. That’s why some of the details are a bit screwy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Four snapped his head up to look at you, forgetting the weapon he had been working on.

“Oh, uh…” you stammered, “Well, the other company made your games, but they didn’t use the same stories as Nintendo did, so the lore gets a bit weird. Like, your Ganon is probably a completely unrelated guy from the Ganon that Time, Wind, Hyrule, Legend, and Twilight all had to deal with. The way he randomly turns into a pig in your game after getting that trident or whatever doesn’t match up at all with how Ganondorf turns into a pig after being sealed away by Time’s Zelda in an alternate timeline where Time dies during the final battle.”

“Wait, there’s a timeline where Time DIED?” Twilight is behind you now, and you’re not sure when he got there. You turn to look at him, his face full of panic.

“Yeah, Ocarina of Time kind of broke the timeline into three different paths. The game was so popular it became, like, the most important part of the timeline. It actually sold so well that the people who made the game made a sequel to it, Majora’s Mask, in under a year, which is kind of insane. For context, Ocarina of Time took over twice that long to make.” Time raised an eyebrow at your explanation, but decided he didn’t want to know more.

“Wait, if there are multiple timelines, how can you know which of our adventures are ours and which were just really similar? The many timelines means there’s infinite possibilities.” Sky asked, reminding everyone that he was the only Link to ever attend school (and remember it), and apparently he studied multiverse theory???? Moving on.

“Well, there are some differences between languages, I guess? Like, in the English version of Link’s Awakening, there’s a quest to get a mermaid’s lost necklace, but that was just a change the translators made. In the original Japanese, the quest is to get the mermaid’s bikini top.” You chatter on, missing the blush that creeps up Legend’s neck and ears. “And some of the items in Wind Waker are mixed around between the English and Japanese versions. Like maps, heart containers, and rupees are in each other's spots.”

“Can we go back to the part where there’s multiple Ganons, apparently?” Wild gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles white. You hadn’t notice him sit down. Actually, the whole chain seemed to be listening now. Wuh-oh.

“Oh, well, not at one time. Unless the dragon cutscenes from Tears of the Kingdom happen after Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild is after all the other games. Then, Calamity Ganon was just kind of… chilling under Hyrule Castle while Four and Time dealt with their respective Ganons. But fans still argue about where your games fit on the timeline.” You shrug, trying to downplay how absolutely terrifying dealing with two Ganons at once would be.

“Wait, why do fans argue? Isn’t there an official timeline?” Hyrule asked. You groan.

“Yes, but it was published before Breath of the Wild was released, so we need to figure out where it is on the timeline based on the stuff in game, which is hard, because there's so many easter eggs.”

“Easter… eggs?” Warriors tilts his head.

“Items or decorations that reference other games. Like, in A Link Between Worlds, Legend’s house has Majora’s Mask hanging on the wall for no discernable reason. And in Breath of the Wild, there’s areas named after places in Link’s Awakening, like Koholit Rock and Goponga Island, which makes no sense because those places were dreamt up by a wind fish. Not to mention the fact the ruins of Lon Lon Ranch can be found, but there’s no way that structure would have been in as good of condition as it is for how old it is. And Lurelin village is an almost exact copy of Outset Island, but again, the timing is just too far apart.”

“But you never answered my other question.” Wind tapped your shoulder, stopping what would have been an hour-long rant on where Wild’s games fit on the official timeline. “How did ‘Nintendo’ or whoever else know about our adventures with that much detail?”

“UHHHHHH………. OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME.” You quickly stand up from the table and launch yourself out the nearest window, escaping the conversation. (You were on the first floor. You’re fine).

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 7

Part 7 - Supporting character musings – other characters

As mentioned in Part 6 where I focused on the Eden kids, today I'll be discussing the supporting adult characters in SxF. Like with the Eden kids, I'm only going to be touching on a few characters who I think have the most notable things to say as far as the Japanese version.

Starting with Yuri, if you've ever watched the SxF anime in Japanese, you've probably heard him shout his signature 姉さん! ("Nee-san!") whenever he sees Yor, with 姉さん meaning "older sister." It's standard in Japanese for younger siblings to address older siblings with these kinds of terms rather than by their actual names.

We saw another example of this in the previous post where Damian calls Demetris 兄貴 ("aniki") which means "Big Bro." While it's normal in English for a younger sibling to call an older sister "Big Sis" or "Sis" or something like that, it's not something one would do as consistently as in Japanese. So even though Yuri only ever calls Yor "Nee-san" in the Japanese version, the official English manga will fluctuate. Sometimes it'll have him say "Sis" while other time he'll just say "Yor."

I can sort of understand this decision as it is less common in English for siblings to address each other like this all the time. Interestingly, the official anime subtitles are more consistent. I haven't checked every example, but it seems like they have him say "Sis" more often, at least in scenes where the manga doesn't.

When it comes to Yuri's nickname for Loid, in the Japanese version he calls Loid ロッテイ("Loidy" or "Loitte"). This originated from when Yuri first visited the Forgers and, in a drunken haze, demanded to know what nicknames Yor used for Loid, with this being one of two he "suggested" (the other being ロイロイ or "Loi-Loi"). Ironic how he ended up being the only one to use the nickname!

What's kind of weird is that the English manga translations have him call Loid the other of the two nicknames, "Loi-Loi," instead. Not a big deal as it doesn't change the meaning of anything, but still odd.

And of course, there's Yuri's nickname for Anya, チワワ娘 ("chihuahua girl"), which I discussed in detail in Part 5 if you haven't yet read it.

Moving onto Fiona, similar to Yuri, she has her signature term that she always uses for her "special" person – for Twilight, she refers to him as 先輩 ("senpai"). If you're into other aspects of Japanese pop-culture, you're probably familiar with the term "senpai," which is used to address someone who's your senior. It can either be used on its own (calling someone "senpai") or as an honorific (calling someone by their name+senpai). It's commonly used in school settings with students calling upperclassmen "senpai." It's used in work settings as well to address senior coworkers who are older than you and/or have been at the job longer. There's actually another example of "senpai" used in SxF – Yor's coworkers call her "senpai" or "Yor-senpai." They don't call each other "senpai," only Yor, which to me indicates that Yor has been working at City Hall longer than them.

Unfortunately there's no consistently good translation of "senpai" in English, at least not one that would sound natural to use in the same way as Japanese. Because of this, it's often omitted in English translations and replaced with just the character's name. Going back to Fiona, even though the English translations have her call Twilight just "Twilight," she always calls him "senpai" in the Japanese version.

Another thing to note is that, when she needs to be in her undercover role as a nurse who works with "Dr. Forger," she calls him 先生 ("sensei"), which is the term used for a teacher, doctor, or professor.

And lastly, I wanted to talk briefly about Melinda. Along with Becky, she's the only other reoccurring character to use feminine speech in most situations, which is defined by adding softening interjections at the end of sentences, like "ne" (ね), "no" (の), and especially "wa" (わ). It makes sense since she's a lady of high society, as well as being from a family of political influence, so she has a dignified persona to upkeep.

She also calls Yor "Yor-chan," with "-chan" being an honorific used among female friends. She called her "Yor-chan" fairly soon after they met, which shows how fond she was of Yor right away. Makes me even more excited to see what developments there will be for "Plan C" in the future!

<- Return to Part 6

[noxiatoxia]

okay, i’ve been obsessing over your komaeda translations and i must know… given the unsure way he talks in the japanese (lots of filler words), does his dialogue change much after he learns the truth? late ch4, i mean. when he starts being condescending to everyone. i’m also very curious about his big speech about wanting to be called the ultimate hope

Hello, anon! Thank you for the message and interesting question! And thank you for the patience!

So, there's three questions here if I'm understanding:

Does Komaeda's speech pattern (sounding softer and using filler words, or generally downplaying his words) change later into ch.4?

When Komaeda starts rambling about hope, does he speak more clearly and more confidently?

What is the nuance in Komaeda's "hope" speech on the laptop?

I will answer all 3 in this order.

(Also, for anybody confused.... here's my post talking about how Komaeda uses filler words, and here's my post talking about how Komaeda's speech was deliberately changed during the earlier beta to make him sound less confident in himself.)

So, question number one:

1. Does Komaeda talk more rudely, use less filler words, or talk more assuredly in ch.4?

Hmm...I don't think so. He still uses honorifics for everyone (-san for girls and -kun for boys), he still uses sa and ne to the same amount, and he does not seem to devote any sort of rude speech for the most part. It is only his words that change, and not the way he speaks them.

My memory is horrifically bad, so please keep that in mind...I asked my friend @kaiokentimesten for help, and was provided with a good number of lines he remembered from ch.4/5 of Komaeda saying rude things, and I looked them up in the Japanese version. All lines were said in his usual speech formations, so there was no change. Again, the words he spoke just happened to be ruder, but they were said in the same tone.

I will show an example.

KOMAEDA: おっと、安易にハムスターを例に出すと、 脱落した彼に怒られちゃうかな? KOMAEDA: Oops. How clumsy of me to use hamsters as an example. Do you think that loser* would've gotten mad at me if he were still here?

*Komaeda does say "dropout" and it's used for people who have been eliminated in a game, or failed a test/exam/otherwise didn't "make the cut". I just think "loser" works better as a translation.

Nothing changes about Komaeda's speech here, he talks the same as he always does. He's just saying meaner words.

(I don't know where the translators got "weakling" from...that's nowhere in the text.)

The only exception I can think of is the beginning of Trial 4. Souda remarks they talk about the murder weapon, and Komaeda three times goes, "Ha?"

It's a funny scene, but significant because, as far as I know, this is the only time Komaeda uses this word.

(I could be wrong, but I'm totally coming up empty right now...please correct me if I am!)

は ha, is very rude. It means "What?" or "Huh?" but is a very rude way to say it. People like Kuzuryuu and Oowada love using it, and Hinata uses it a fair amount, although even Hinata - who's whole design philosophy, as pointed out by the SDR2 artbook, is to be more masculine and ruder than Naegi was - uses え e more often.

え e, うん un, ん nn, あれ are, are more casual but non-rude ways to say "What?"

Komaeda always used one of those first four from what I can remember, or simply 何 nani, which is probably the most neutral way to say "What?"

So to see Komaeda use this is surprising.

This is different than ははは, はっ, or あはは which are normal laughing sounds.

Oh, before we move out of Chapter 4, here's a mistranslation I want to point out (or, less mistranslation, more very direct translation where the joke is lost in English).

KOMAEDA: じゃあ、始めようか。シンキングターイム...ってヤツだね。

Komaeda isn't a stranger to randomly injecting English words into his speech - a quirk that I feel is used to show he's a bookworm/otherwise intelligent (that's just my thought) - and in those instances, instead of translating directly (because using English in English loses the nuance that using English in Japanese does) I would replace it with bigger, more obscure English words.

But this is actually not one of those times.

Another thing Komaeda is no stranger to is making random pop culture references. He does it more than you would think for a character like him.

While "Thinking Time" isn't a reference to any specific Japanese media per se, it's Japanese game show lingo.

For example, a tough question is given to the contestants, and they have 30 seconds to think of the answer before being forced to give one. These 30 seconds are called "Thinking Time".

I don't know the English equivalent. I know there's a countdown timer in stuff like Jeopardy and Minute to Win It, but I don't think they say anything. Sometimes it's "You have [x] seconds, good luck!" Or "and...start!" or suchlike.

I guess in that case, this line is better localized as:

KOMAEDA: Let's start! You have 30 seconds on the clock...good luck!

(I chose 30 seconds because that's how long the "Make your Selection" part lasts maximum).

2. When ranting about hope, does Komaeda speak more clearly, more confidently?

Yes!

In scenes like post- Chapter 1 trial, where Komaeda monologues to the audience for a few minutes before being knocked out - where he is rambling on and on - his speech is noticeably smoother with less pauses or filler injections. I would also venture to say the way he speaks makes it sound like he is stating facts, that he is very confident in his assertions.

3. Komaeda's Hope Speech on the laptop

Firstly, I want to point somethings out...unrelated to the hope speech itself, but just fun to note.

The garbled, loud noise you hear sometimes where Komaeda is speaking is not gibberish (listen here, volume warning). For whatever reason, the English version did not have Bryce Papenbrook record lines for this, and still uses the Japanese version.

It doesn't reveal any new information, sadly. And I can't make out the second one...but it's highly likely in that line I linked that Komaeda is saying 希望は絶望なんかに負けないんだ or "Hope will never lose to despair."

When it comes to the scrambled text...I've never been much of a decoder, but I can point some stuff out.

For one, I'm 99% sure the Japanese team probably provided the translators with the full, unscrambled text so they could better translate it.

That said, it's not impossible to figure this out.

<まじむかつく+超Ｙさしい２こんなにEEものｇ１０２＄うRしｓ～＝～＋いｄｓねうれOｒｚ』

まじむかつく is a term that means "extremely irritated" hence "seriously pissing me off".

The + is the same in both version, I assume it means "and".

The next part needs a little explaining. In Japanese, all consonants (for the most part) are followed by a vowel. on a Japanese keyboard, if you do not finish typing the character, only the consonant shows up.

for example, な is "na". but if you only type the n and don't follow with the a, you get ｎ.

There's a lot of Japanese slang based off this. To type ん you have to type "n" twice. so, a slang form of konnichiwa (こんにちは) is shortened to こん, konn. But it got shortened even further to こｎ.

so, 超Ｙさしい requires a bit of guesswork, as there are several sounds that start with "y", like ゆ yu, よ yo, や ya. the さしい at the end tells us it's an adjective.

超 in this case means "very", like "very expensive" or "very awesome".

Likely, Yさしい is やさしい, which is either "kind" or "easy".

This makes 超Ｙさしい either "extremely kind/nice" or "extremely simply/easy".

Official translators wrote it as "hella nice", aka "very kind".

Beyond that I start to get bad at this xD I don't know where they get "I can't believe something odd like this is only $102".

The 2 may be に, as 2 in Japanese is pronounced に(ni), and に is a particle.

I think the ＥＥ Is to be read like いい (ii) in Japanese. And the ｇ might be が (ga)?

超やさしいにこんなにいいものが１０２＄

こんなにいいもの would be "Such nice stuff" or "Really good stuff".

が at the end could be "But..." or "However..." but if the 102$ is connected somehow, then it may be an object particle.

Maybe it's "Really good stuff gotten easy for $102"

But that isn't fully true to the official English version, so maybe they were provided with more clear words to translate from. Like I said, I'm no good at codes.

The last part is easy though. うRし follows the same rule as before. うれし Ur(e)shi(i), which means "happy". I don't know what the "s" is, since it seems the sentence picks back up at いｄｓね, as うれしい is the full word. "d s" is probably d(e)s(u) with the ne particle at the end. うれしいですね, which means "I'm happy!"

And I'm guessing Orz is the emoticon.

Okay, sorry for rambling. When it comes to the actual speech, there is something interesting to note, albiet small.

The English version is correct in its translation, and the only thing I have to offer is the nuance behind how Komaeda makes his requests.

He says stuff like, "Respect me" "Praise me" "Build a bronze statue of me" and such. And he requests all of these by saying ～てくれ ~tekure.

I don't think Komaeda ever uses this outside of this speech. てくれ can be seen as rather rude. Though the formation looks like an imperative (very rude), it is not, since at it's core, てくれ means you are asking someone to do something for you, not ordering them. It is still the rudest way you can "request" something though.

It's not as severe as Komaeda yelling 黙れよ (damare yo) in 2.5, but it's close behind.

It does show he is being very callous and assertive in this scene, truly a 180 from him being casual but still respectful. This sort of demanding request tone coming from Komaeda is surprising, I feel.

Otherwise...there isn't really any nuance to add, I'm afraid. The speech is rather straight forward and the English version translates it well.

I hope this answers your questions!

[43501]

How would Near show affection to his lover? Like.. Do you think he’d be the type to cuddle or call them sweet names? Or would he be rather emotionally distant…

One of my favorite subjects! Thanks for the ask!

(Since you're whispering in my ear for Nearposts, I suspect you've already seen these, but if you haven't: Near Romance Headcanons Part 1 // Near Romance Headcanons Part 2)

Need to advise that my answer will be a combination of pointing to things in canon that inform my opinions, and pure headcanon. Death Note's canon and extrinsic materials give us very, very little indication of what any of these people are like in their personal lives (except L, who has an entire DS game where you can romance him, and I am forever jealous).

What kind of person is Near?

Want to start by saying that I think the common fandom perception of him as an emotionless person is wrong. He definitely feels things - very strongly at times, even (speech at the Yellow Box, calling the president a "maggot", that very, very good scene in the Relight where he calls Light after the SPK is killed and just sits there seething in silence while covered in blood) - but he's always in control of himself. That's one of his defining character traits, after all.

I don't know why this omitted from the English translation, but the Japanese text under the "personality" section of his character bio in HT13 describes him as "a dry person". Also worth mentioning that in Japanese, Near is maintaining a super high level of formality in his speech at all times. He's always ending sentences with -masu or -desu, even when he's talking to Mello.

Like, the only really telling thing we get about him as a person is a meta comment (from Ryuk, of all people) in HTR13 suggesting he might be distant from others because he's sensitive. I think we are supposed to infer that he intentionally isolates himself from others to maintain his peace and clarity of mind. By the way, the original Japanese version of this says "due to being too smart and sensitive, they cut off contact with the outside world", so the Viz English translation is faithful.

HTR13 explicitly says he "had no friends at Wammy's House" but this is obviously self-imposed. Linda tries to get him to go outside and play with the other kids and the fact that the other guy on-panel is like "don't bother, Linda" means that this is probably a regular occurrence... plus, we see the panel of everyone crowding around Near to look at his test results. They would probably try to be his friends if he'd allow it, but he seems to hold them at bay.

He values Mello a lot, though. He has zero hesitation about inheriting the title of "L" together with him and working collaboratively (and in the anime adaptations, honestly reads a touch disappointed to me when Mello storms out of Wammy's House). His original line to Mello during the reunion was "welcome home, Mello" (okaerinasai) ... why did they change that? He's quite passionate in his speech to Light at the Yellow Box, giving Mello the credit for solving the case and almost directly saying "he makes up for what I lack". It's implied he recovered Mello's belongings and eats Mello's chocolate in remembrance of him. He keeps Mello's finger puppet and just like... sits around wearing it, years later.

I think this is the in-text proof we get of the "he's actually kind of sensitive" comment from HTR13. Also the C-Kira one-shot where he falters and knocks over a tarot card tower when Halle correctly surmises he's agonizing about what the original L would do in the situation (and then he apologizes and dismisses them, asking to be left alone for the rest of the day). In general, his emotions are displayed through his props. In part because manga is a visual medium, in part because that's actually how he expresses himself... sitting in the shadow of those huge "L" shaped card towers. Taking great care with making Mello's puppet because he "liked him". Breaking his own toys whenever he gets frustrated.

All of that to say that I think, if we're trying to make inferences from canon:

Near is certainly capable of warmth (and I'd even argue genuine attachment and admiration for a person), but his expressions of affection are likely to be low-key.

His social skills are extremely low. At least at first, he's not going to know what he's supposed to do in a relationship. It might even take him a while to realize he has more-than-friendly feelings for a person in the first place.

The suggestion that he has a "sensitive core" somewhere under all of that leaves a lot to the imagination. There's a ton of ways this can be interpreted.

By the way, this didn't fit in with any of the above but I wanted to mention a scene I really like. Only in the TV anime, Near tries to stop the Task Force from pursuing Light when he flees the Yellow Box. When Aizawa tells Near "I'm not going to follow your orders", Near seems genuinely aghast and embarrassed for a moment lol. It's not a strictly necessary scene (it's not in the original manga or the Relight) but it's nice to see Near shocked out of his element for a second, a humanizing moment.

Actually Answering Your Question

Now I'm going to forget about all of that and answer with what is in my heart, as someone who has been unreasonably attached to this character for 17 years.

Most of his expressions of love are indirect. He's the world's greatest detective (implied to still be quasi-FBI in present day) and provides financially for his partner - it's a very practical, down-to-earth show of love and very Near-like. He's very creative and always making stuff. He'll definitely make things in the image of his partner - finger puppets, sculptures, plushies - and keep them nearby. He's a careful study of everyone and everything in his life, so he knows you back-to-front. Gifts relating to your interests/hobbies will show up at your door at random, he definitely expresses affection by way of gift-giving.

Yes, he's very cuddly. Once a trusting relationship has been established and he feels he can open up. In keeping with his tendency to express his bigger, more complicated feelings in ways other than words, he relies on physical affection as a shortcut. It makes him feel at peace. Sometimes it lulls him to sleep. The first times you hold him, it feels like you're touching a thoroughly touch-starved person. Something he does a lot is hide/bury his face in the crook of your neck. He also twirls your hair through this fingers like he does with his own hair, like you might be an extension of him.

Kissing is much the same. For the most part, it's very loving, pure and chaste. Impossibly gentle kisses on the back of your hand, your forehead, your cheeks, your lips. Those hot, open-mouthed kisses, all tongue and teeth, are a more occasional thing. It always makes his head spin a little, lol.

Sex is infrequent but intense (at least emotionally, for him, I think, especially the first few times). He's pretty straightforward about his desires, but a touch awkward about it still. I don't personally view him as asexual (this is a whole essay unto itself so I won't elaborate), but he could easily do without it also. It's low on his list of priorities.

I struggle to see him as someone who uses sweet names on a partner, but I honestly think you'd get a "dear" or maybe even "my dear" once in a while. It fits with him still being a little bit formal, even in his private life, and it's the address he went with for the back of Mello's photograph instead of writing "To Mello" or something more impersonal...

In the case of a long-distance relationship which doesn't have a face-to-face component, I think his letter-writing is thoughtful and surprisingly ardent. He can be more honest (perhaps a touch poetic) when he has distance and time to compose his thoughts and feelings and put them to a page. There's a Near x OC fic I really like that runs on this premise. He doesn't talk like this in person or on the phone, though.

He doesn't distance himself from his partner per se, but there's always a sense that he's holding back a bit or there's something unsaid. Like there's a little tiny part of him always just out of reach. He doesn't say "I love you" unprompted (though he'll say it back if you do first). He's never going to be one for grand gestures. Even if he loves you, he still needs a lot of alone time (both for himself and in service of his work) and appreciates you respecting his space.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 78 Finally Posting

LET'S! FUCKING! GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Editor's notes: First Page: 敗れた昼彦...！！ [yabure ta Hiruhiko...!!] "Hiruhiko is defeated...!!" Last Page: 京都にチヒロ、 東京にハクリ！2つの戦場が動き出す！！ [Kyoto ni Chihiro, Tokyo ni Hakuri! 2tsu no senjou ga ugokidasu!!] "Chihiro in Kyoto, Hakuri in Tokyo! The two battlefields heat up!!"

YEAH

THAT'S RIGHT

A whole bunch of stuff happened so let's get into it!

Mechanics and Info Yap

Boy did I struggle to translate all the information that was dropped this chapter. But we learned a ton!

[ominous Latin chanting kicks up in the distance]

One, Suzaku is not infinite. Or it's not supposed to be, at least. It also doesn't actually reverse death, but given how hax Samura is right now, Chihiro's information might be out of date. I'm calling it: Samura is certified OP now. He's cracked. A true raid boss. Whatever he did to prepare for this moment, it fucking worked and now he's apparently the Kagurabachi version of Faker. Good fucking luck, Chihiro. Go for breaking Tobimune! It's the only way you can beat him since he won't expect it!

Samura was also apparently pushed into developing Suzaku during the Seitei War. I wonder if we'll see the moment that inspired the move...

Oh, and one-point-five. Owl can even affect the weather, apparently! Samura's almost a god. Seriously, good luck Chihiro (he'll be fine in the long-run because he's the protagonist, but let's pretend we don't have that meta knowledge).

The edgiest member of the Hishaku is also the master of edging himself.

Two, Kuguri's sorcery! Nice to know it! Not exactly practical, but he's a swordsman for a reason. Given how much he loves to train with the blade he probably got quite a bit stocked up before blowing it all to escape from Samura.

Translation note since I have no idea what the official English version will do with his move. In Japanese it's 破暮 [hagure]. 破 [ha] means rend/rip/tear/break/destroy/defeat/frustrate, while 暮 [ku] means evening/twilight/season's end/livelihood/make a living/spend time; 暮れ [kure] means sunset/nightfall/dusk or end/close or year's end. I'd translate this as "Broken Dusk" because it sounds cool as fuck but there's a lot of room for creative liberty here. I think the official TL is cool as hell too so no complaints from me.

[Matrix vibes intensify]

Three, some Kamunabi lore! They have barriers, of course, which were probably a gimme in terms of defensive measures. This guy also looks cool as hell!

We don't know how many fighting forces they have on-hand but it's alright. The non-combatants of the ~500 members of staff at the Tokyo location will go further underground and we will hopefully get some awesome action from a certain someone I've been wanting to see for ages now.

*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Let's do some trivia since I'm here!

神奈備 - Kamunabi. It's not just a name, it's an actual word (usually pronounced kannabi) for a mountain or forest where a deity is enshrined. What a fancy, pleasant-sounding way to say your mission is to imprison a guy who went insane and slaughtered about 200,000 people who'd already surrendered.

This chapter, instead of using 防壁 [bouheki] for a defensive military barrier, the term 結界 [kekkai] was used. Kekkai is a mystical barrier rather than a physical one, and folks who frequently read manga/watch anime will probably recognise it because of how common magical barriers are. It's got ties to Buddhism too, of course- it refers to the fence between the inner and outer sanctums in a temple, the prohibition of various things that would hinder Buddhist practice, and is also the Japanese term for Bai Sema.

I just wanted to mention this because the more we see of the Kamunabi the less traditionally military they seem. Leaning on mystical terminology, traditional onmyouji outfits making up the higher-ups uniforms... their whole org appears steeped in spiritual concepts and imagery.

*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Hiruhiko, Defeated

Oof.

Man, even I feel bad for him at this point. He wanted his own fight with Chihiro to be as hype of a clash as Chihiro vs. Sojo was but all that happened was that he hit rock bottom instead. He overcame nothing, did nothing, and still got his arm sliced off by the arc's main antagonist anyway. That's the only thing really connecting him to Chihiro at this point.

I don't think I've seen a more miserable, pitiable creature.

The ultimate counter to Hiruhiko is apathy. His passion for fighting Chihiro is burning bright, but even someone as emotional as his "rival" can't feel anything for him. Hiruhiko's totally irrelevant and I feel vindicated for thinking all of his stuff in the hotel until now was an annoying side-show.

Chihiro won his reality check fight because he was willing to adapt his mindset. Hiruhiko lost because he was laser-focused on his own interpretation. He's differentiated from Sojo's situation because Sojo actively refused to incorporate more information about Kunishige that would alter his worldview; I have a feeling that Hiruhiko will learn quite a lot from this once the shock wears off.

So this will be the true start of Hiruhiko's story I guess. Chihiro's journey didn't really begin until he had to overcome Sojo forcing him to realise that he didn't know enough about his father. So as Chihiro's self-proclaimed frenemy, Hiruhiko's journey will start with him confronting his own vision of reality being incomplete. What form that takes is up to the author- I just hope his growth is interesting to follow.

Chihiro vs. Samura Round 2

Hype and aura incarnate.

They're finally cleared to start fighting now that the Hishaku have retreated. What will happen? No clue! I won't even try to guess because it could be anything.

We've got our arc boss battle set up. Chihiro and Samura going to clash. Sojo was about death of the author and Chihiro accepting there was more to learn about a situation that was more complex than he grew up believing, Kyora was about what it means to be a good father and the dangers of blind devotion to legacy. Samura... is about condemning oneself to a path that one doesn't necessarily have to walk, I think. The burden of guilt unaddressed leading someone to spiral down and eventually out if no one can help them. Basically, what I thought since chapter 51 or so.

This part broke my heart though.

This is the personal reason.

He thinks back to Iori's sadness and it becomes a core part of his motivation. I mean, of course it did- Chihiro started walking the road to Hell the day he lost his own dad. He's burdened by taking a path that neither his father nor Samura wanted him to follow, but he's going to see it through.

So I think that rather than wanting to put Samura down like the previous two main antagonists, Chihiro wants to save him.

Chihiro's whole reason for being out here in this position is because his dad was murdered; he's not exactly champing at the bit to put other people in his position. He takes it so fucking personally when fathers aren't treating their kids right! He only killed Kyora for actively choosing to be a piss-poor father, perpetuating human suffering on a massive scale, and because Hakuri pleaded with him to do so. But Samura? This man is fundamentally good. He's misguided due to guilt and anxiety, but he's not doing things to make the world a worse place, deliberately or intentionally. He's trying to save people and make the world better for his daughter's sake.

This is why I'm so all-in on Chihiro winning the fight by breaking Tobimune. His ideals aren't going to make it easy for him to cut Samura down- he looked up to the man, he knows he's not a bad person, and he definitely doesn't want to make another orphan out of Iori. So even if he could stat check the raid boss his heart wouldn't be in it. The neatest solution would be to break Tobimune instead -Samura's overwhelming strength born from Soaring Faith- and show him a different way to do things.

I'm open to other outcomes obviously. Chihiro might be forced to kill Samura somehow, Iori and the Masumi might come in and throw a wrench in things, anything can happen. But this clash of ideals of Chihiro wanting Samura to live for Iori and Samura believing he needs to die for her is going to be incredible, I know it. Hokazono's at his best when he's examining these themes of parenthood and legacy after all- he's not fumbled once yet with them.

Man. If Chihiro and Samura are both trying to save each other here, I'm gonna go nuts. This fight is set up to be an absolute masterclass and I can't wait for it to unfold.

Meanwhile, at Kamunabi HQ...

The Kamunabi are mostly up-to-date, blah blah. We got an unexpected narrator here though.

Name, please?

We got Prince Nez's PoV and it makes sense. He was the one who tried to reassure Samura in the flashbacks that the Kamunabi was totally secure. He's got an even read on the situation and helpfully points out that we still don't know the Hishaku's exact plan here is. It's anyone's guess so I'll just slap down a non-existent bet that they're trying to cause the Malediction event here and now.

Okay so, who's gonna fight all seven Hishaku members that we may or may not finally see in full? We finally got confirmation that Shiba and Hiyuki aren't present since they're guarding the other two bearers, so who's left to face the intruders?

A new challenger approaches! NOTE: "Hibiki" is supposed to be "Hiyuki". Another dumb mistake from VIZ.

That's right, my gorilla wife is going to take the field- at long last we will see him in a real fight! Probably! Maybe we'll even get to see his sorcery at long last! And maybe we can have a few less jokes about him being the traitor until there's better reasons to believe he's a suspect!

I wifed Azami based on the very little we've seen of him and it's mostly because I like his design and the promise of his personality. He's the only guy in the whole cast who uses the casual male pronoun 僕 [boku] (even Mr. Inazuma uses the rough and very masculine 俺 [ore])! I won't go on a huge tangent here about why I love him so much but there's a reason for it, I swear. He seems to enjoy brawling despite being a straight-laced government agent and it really gets the braincells movin'. Plus being a powerful sorcerer but choosing to fight in melee with his fists. Being a calm and rational guy on the job but having a short temper when it comes to Shiba. The contrasts intrigue me and I will stand by him no matter what. He's my wife: a handsome, polite, and erudite gorilla in a wizard's robes and hat.

There's someone else who's gonna get some time on screen too, though.

[incomprehensible screeching]

HE'S BACK HE'S BACK HE'S BACK HAKURI I LOVE YOU I MISSED YOU AND I'M ALMOST IN TEARS SEEING YOU AGAIN IT'S BEEN SO LONG AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH NEVER LEAVE ME FOR THAT LONG AGAIN PLEASE I BEG OF YOU

He's still got some scuff marks to show he's not completely healed yet but he's BACK. HE'S HERE. HAKURIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Given the announcement for non-combatants to evacuate preceding his reintroduction, I don't think he'll be in the fighting. Poor guy just woke up and surely won't be asked to overtax himself again, will he? Or more like, surely there will be some responsible adults around him capable of stopping him from overtaxing himself again? But his PoV will be valuable to see what's going on with the Kamunabi while Azami and whoever else is on deck fend off the Hishaku's assault. I have a feeling we will be getting some big reveals to set up the next arc thanks to Hakuri. Hopefully he won't be written out for months in real time again.

A Miscellaneous TL Note

If anyone was curious, 響 [hibiki] means "echo" or "reberveration"

Also, this week's chapter title is 交代 [koutai] which has a bunch of similar-yet-distinct meanings like "switch", "change", "substitution", and "taking turns".

Lastly, perhaps most interestingly...

"Resurrect" here has some fun double meanings. It was written as 黄泉返し [yomikaeshi], which actually means "return to/from Hell" but the Ruby over top reads [yomigae] for 甦, "resurrection". It's got some nice thematic tie-ins to how Chihiro and Samura both think they're headed for hell (but have a very good chance of being redeemed in some way).

OKAY! For the first time in ages I am vibrating in my seat waiting for the next chapter. I'm so freakin' stoked, man. See you next week if I don't explode from anticipation, dear void.

[kaialone]

Guilty Gear Xrd Series Official Artworks- Short Story "The Reminiscent Gale" (English Translation)

This will be a full English translation of the short story "The Reminiscent Gale" (JPN title: 追憶の疾風)

It’s the third out of three new short stories written to be included in "Guilty Gear Xrd Series Official Artworks"- an artbook released in October 2024, containing concept art for all three main versions of Guilty Gear Xrd.

The specific author(s) of these short stories have not been revealed, but it's been indicated that they were in-house staff of Arc System Works.

--

The Reminiscent Gale

The "wall".

It's not one of the iron fences that might surround you, or some hardened gang of thugs.

But surviving in this harsh environment for sixteen years? That's one "wall" you'll find yourself facing, no matter what.

It may be called by many names, but even in the town where the boy grew up, people knew the "Wall of Sixteen".

The boy possessed extraordinary intellect, allowing him to quickly understand the reality of this. He mastered the art of living in the shadows, and cleared the wall with ease.

—

Countless shadows fell to the ground, and a mob eagerly pecked away at them like a wake of vultures.

One shadow found himself completely unable to move. There was a man, gently whispering to him, keeping both of them out of sight.

"Don't worry, I won't bite. You get it, don't you?"

"E-eek…"

"See, we just wanna get along, too. So, how about you show us some sincerity?"

"G-got it, I'm sorry, please forgive…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the larger man had passed out from fear. As the other let go of his collar, he heard someone call his name.

"Hey, Answer. How's it going over there?"

It seemed his fellow slum residents had finished their "work" early.

"Done already, Martin? Well, same here. Doubt they'll try anything else after this."

"Hmph, sure hope they learned their lesson."

"If they didn't, we'll just pay them back in kind. Anyway, we're leaving!"

Following Answer's command, everyone withdrew. Since it was a struggle just to make it through each passing day, their group always stuck together closely. As a result, their bond had grown stronger than blood.

And for Answer, the very act of protecting them was his sole purpose in this hell.

…Until he met a certain man.

—

"Alpha Blade!!"

"Gaaaargh!!"

A man who could only be described as bizarre, calling himself a ninja. Answer happened to be familiar with the concept of a "ninja". And this man, who'd appeared like a gale of wind, looked nothing like one.

"Wh- What's with this guy… Is he crazy?!"

"He's so fast… Gaargh!"

"Hey, Answer! You gotta help us!!"

"Martin! Harold! Keith! Damn it, what the hell's going on?!"

This guy just started preaching to them out of the blue, claiming he would make the world a better place. It was more than enough to set off Answer and his cohorts.

So, they decided to rough him up a bit, figuring it wouldn't take much to make him cry and beg them for forgiveness. Instead, they were now the ones falling to the ground, one after the other.

Inexplicable techniques, incomprehensible speed. Swirling echoes of angry shouts, instantly silenced by an unseen blade.

And mere moments later, only two shadows were left standing… The man who called himself a ninja, and Answer.

"…What's with that stupid-ass get-up? Don't you know who you're messin' with?"

"Hmph. You're talking a lotta smack… considering you don't even know about the most lethal of Japanese weapons—the shinobi!"

"Th- That's it, you're dead…!"

It didn't make any sense. How could the home he wished to protect, his family, just be trampled like that?

For Answer, it was like everything he'd done up until this point was being rendered null and void. He had to fight back. With nothing but that single thought in his mind, he stood up to the man before him.

—

"You're actually tougher than I thought you'd be. What's your name?"

Even as Answer was lying on the ground, the self-proclaimed ninja continued to speak to him with the exact same tone as before.

It took great effort to even move his head, but he still turned to glare at him, and a completely genuine question escaped his lips.

"…Seriously, what the hell's your problem? If it's money you want…"

"What I want is your name. Even if you grew up on the streets, you gotta at least have one of those, right?"

"…It's Answer."

"Answer, huh? That's a fine name. Hey, you should help me become president."

"…What?"

"I bet you'd make for a pretty good ninja."

What is he on about? Did I really just lose to an actual nutcase…?

It took the full capacity of his brain to even come up with a follow-up question.

"Why… president?"

"Like I said, I wanna make the world a better place. That's why I'm hard at work to get folks to vote for me, obviously."

"Vote? You're telling me you're running for office?"

"Running for what?"

Now his anger started giving way to sadness. Even the little brats around these parts knew their place better than this guy.

"You really gonna waste your time with scum like us? If you wanna make the world right, you gotta use your head a little more."

"Don't be silly! Being a ninja isn't just about your head, you gotta train your mind and body, too. And even I used to be a… Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Tell me, are you okay with the way things are right now?

"…Am I what?"

"Like, trying so hard and just barely surviving. 'Grin and bear it', and all that. You gonna keep doing this forever?"

"…Don't you make fun of me. What do you know? Every single day I see things in this garbage dump that I wish I hadn't. They're forever seared into my mind."

All the things they'd done. Telling themselves that they had to, in order to survive. And all the faces that followed along.

Faces of his family, contorted with pain. Faces of his comrades as they breathed their last. Faces of those damn hypocrites that made him want to puke. Faces, faces, faces…

"There's nothin' good about living like this, but you gotta do it if you wanna protect people! I don't need some well-off asshole without a care in the world showin' up to spout hollow bullcrap and tell me what to do!"

After his outburst, he realized he'd completely forgotten to breathe. A sharp pain filled his lungs, and he was starting to feel dizzy. Probably from the lack of oxygen.

Having kept quiet so far, the man before him sighed deeply, and looked Answer straight in the eye as he spoke.

"I dunno what kinda things you've been dealing with up until today. But, the things you're dealing with right now? I'll carry those for you. So, become a ninja, and help me become president."

"Are you shitting me?! The hell are you gonna do, jackass?! An outsider like you got no business in this shithole!"

"I'm gonna change this shithole."

"…Huh?"

"I'm gonna talk to everyone here and tell them to vote for me. That way they'll all agree to make me president. And presto! We'll have a safe and secure country."

"…"

"Well, there's probably gonna be folks like you who aren't gonna listen. I'll still talk to those guys though, even if I gotta beat them up, too."

"…"

"Oh shoot, our country's gonna need a name then, huh? It's probably better to keep it simple, so how about 'Shinobi Kingdom'? What do you think, Answer?"

"…Hah… Hahaha…"

The corners of his mouth curled up all on their own. He could practically hear the sound of his brain cells blowing out.

This guy was the real deal. His instincts told him so.

"Y'know…"

As he sat up and regained his balance, something caught his eye.

The barrel of a gun, hidden in the shadows behind the ninja, pointed in their direction. It was Martin.

In that instant, two options flashed through Answer's mind.

The first was to just let the crazy ninja die.

And then continue living this shitty life for the rest of his days.

The second was…

"Watch out, dumbass!"

Not quite what you're supposed to say when you're saving someone.

—

"I must say, I did not expect you to actually kick everyone's butt and then talk with them."

"A ninja never lies. Good thing you trusted me, huh?"

"Indeed. Well, in hindsight."

"…By the way, Answer. Shouldn't you first practice your ninja skills instead of how to talk all stiff like that?"

"Oh, quit your bellyaching, would you? Seeing as you are quite unreliable, I have no choice but to rely on anything else available to lay the proper groundwork for us, Boss. Really, you should be on your knees and profess your gratitude towards me."

"Oh yeah, about that 'Boss' thing! I told you to call me 'Okashira'! Martin and the others get it right." (1)

"Yes. Yes, you did tell me. My humblest apologies."

"Plus, there's your look. If you were just a tad more… you know, like an actual ninja, it'd be perfect."

"Aaaarrrrgh! Will you shut up already, you moron?! Ah, shit, a call. Hello, yes, this is Answer! Yes, thank you for the other day- Oh no, we pride ourselves on dedication and sincerity…"

--

Translation Note:

(1) What happens here is that Answer refers to Chipp with the actual English word "boss". This is fairly common in Japanese pop culture for this sort of character context. Of course, Chipp being the way he is, insists on being called "okashira" instead, a Japanese word that can be translated as "boss".

It's also spelled in katakana as "オカシラ" when Chipp says it, rather than the more conventional kanji/hiragana spellings, which—long story short—is a visual indicator showing that Chipp is literally saying the word as "okashira", even if in-universe these characters are likely supposed to be speaking English to each other.

Because of this, I left the word untranslated here, as that seems to be the intent.

There's one more thing to note about this, however.

By the time of Guilty Gear Xrd itself, Answer actually does consistently refer to Chipp as "okashira". But now Chipp wants to be called "president" instead, making the "okashira" bit from this short story intentionally ironic.

This only goes for the original Japanese script though, since Chipp's "okashira" title was just translated as "boss", or sometimes "my lord" in the English localization of Xrd.

So, if you're only familiar with the English script, you don't really get the full context of this bit, which is why I wanted to explain it here.

--

[diardri]

Dia's FFXIV Art Reference Notes, A possibly long post

Hello! I made this as a thread on my twitter but I might as well post a version of it here. For the record this will be a thread linking to the resources I use when drawing commissions or fanart, I have not made Any of these and whenever I can I will note the creators and link directly to their resources.

GPose Reference First and foremost, if you're drawing a WOL or ordering a commission of your WOL the most important thing is to take a proper reference GPOSE. I use the method in this post, to make sure I got all the angles. Clean refs are super important when drawing armor/intricate outfits so take care to take simple standing poses like the one in the tweet above. Cool dynamic poses might be fun but they're not really useful for referencing.

Gear/Weapon Reference

If you need good references for a weapon/outfit that you don't have a GPOSE for, I recommend using the attire website

This is a japanese website maintained by @/chiyo_asa on twitter and if you've ever looked up a piece of gear in the lodestone you've almost definitely come across their pictures.

This is a super rough translation in english of the menu of the website. While it is in Japanese it's very easy to navigate and all the pictures in the site are super high quality and very useful for referencing.

This is my number one source for gear references I haven't taken myself

The "mirapuri" button afaik is for glams they made themselves that they want to showcase.

An important note about this site specifically is that I believe it's currently undergoing an overhaul so Some weapons/gearsets might not be completely transferred in yet.

That being said, the majority of sets from dungeons/crafting/alliance raids/job gear sets etc are sorted like so, which makes it super easy to look for.

There IS also a search function but I'm pretty sure it works only for japanese input.

NPC reference sheets

@xivrefsheets Offers really detailed resources of npc models. They also occasionally accept requests on their ko-fi (closed at the time of writing this)

These are super useful and really high quality, especially for some of the boss refs they've done. As someone who doesn't use anamnesis I go back to their refs very often

Convocation of the Fourteen refs

Maintained by @/Igeyorhm on twitter this site has a nice list of Ascian refs per character in addition to some lore bits for each of them. Also some very useful closeups of the Ascian clothes.

Even more NPC and Boss Refs

I believe maintained by @/MlNRATHOUS on twitter, this site has a really nice array of major NPC and boss references in various angles and with colourpicks for skintone and hair which is super useful. I use them a Lot

Lalafell centric refs

Norirow Note is a super cute blog that showcases glam items/ weapons/ chocobo barding and more.

It is NOT meant to be an art reference, however if you play a lala like me, I find their showcases useful when drawing gear on lalas.

Even if you don't use it as an art ref it's a super cute blog that's just fun to go through AND fully translated in english so I recommend just having a fun time reading through it anyway.

Bonus- Au Ra Scales.

I literally found out about this today but @/saficchi on twitter has made a super detailed angled ref sheet for both male and female au ra scales and I love them for it

Bonus 2 electric boogaloo- TextTools

I use this to import 3d models of specific weapons into CSP if I'm drawing them.

I don't know how useful this is for other art software but it's saved my ass from freehanding titania weapons so in the thread it goes

That's the full list of refs I personally use, if there's more that people want to add please feel free to do so in the comments. I hope it helps people out in their creative endeavors!

[sugirandom]

Ughh another post about people who prefer subs being toxic

I'm sure there are some of us who are toxic jerks but it feels like some people who prefer dubs assume just the act of preferring the subs or expressing our opinion that (insert Anime here)'s dub is bad alone is toxic and...guess what? Having an opinion that's different than yours isn't toxic.

I am willing to try an English dub, the problem is I haven't come across any that were tolerable enough for my personal tastes, that doesn't mean I'm going to insist others should watch a show subbed. but I am going to express my opinions about it!

To sum it up a little, something I am not great at lol... Here are some bullet points for why I personally prefer to watch Anime in the original Japanese with English subtitles, my reasons may not be your reasons and it's fine. Also disclaimer, this does not apply to all English Dubs...there's actually one or two Anime I like the dub ok in.

(Often Unnecessary) Script changes: Whether it be for censorship, localization, or inserting the humor of whoever is handling the English version this causes shifts in characters and how scenes play out in bigger ways than you'd think.

Odd Emotional Delivery: Pretty self-explanatory but can definitely lead to misunderstanding a character. This isn't always the Voice Actor's fault, I'm sure there are multiple factors at play.

Missing Cultural Nuances: What characters say and how they act might not always translate well if you don't have understanding of Japanese culture.

Misunderstanding a character: They just don't know the character at all and it shows.

Inserting American/Western Culture

Use of Slang that wasn't originally present: Funimation dubs love to do this, idk why.

Omitting parts of the story: This tends to apply more to censored dubs but it can happen in uncut dubs too.

I have been studying Japanese for years but I'm not fluent enough to turn the subs off yet so subs help me fill the blanks of my understanding in (also, I start to notice when subs are wrong..)

Japanese voice actors seem to have a different approach to voice acting and tend to over-act rather than underact but voice acting in general here tends to be more subtle and that doesn't always work out (i.e. being too subtle and ending up sounding dull)

I've met several Voice actors and Actresses who have worked on Anime dubs and they clearly are well-versed and know what they're doing SO I in no way am insulting the intelligence or talent of the voice cast. I know now that often times it's the other people involved in the production of the show that can make or break the performance.

And sometimes at the end of the day you're just going to have a preference and that's ok. If you only want to watch English dubs you do you. I know there are some good English dubs out there even if it might be hard for them to meet my requirements, this is just my opinion so please.

Don't consider me toxic for preferring to watch Anime in it's original Japanese with English subs and expressing how I feel about the dubs. We all have our own opinions and can express them ok? I know on today's internet that doesn't seem like something we can do but it is.

Also to my fellow up-and-coming voice actors out there. A fan preferring the subbed version of an Anime doesn't take work away from you. Trust me there will always be a demand for watching Anime in English and really many many different languages! Just in case you were going to mention that!

[ckret2]

Hey! I remember you mention once that for writing you use an app the gives you achievement for writing certain amount of words. What was the app name and do you know if it's only works in English?

the website is 4thewords.com.

Since it's technically a website, it'll work anywhere; but it's written in English. It should be able to count wordcounts just fine for people writing in languages that include spaces between words (like, anything on the Latin alphabet, Cyrilic languages, etc) but I don't know how it processes languages without spaces between words like Chinese or Japanese.

It now has a free version, but it's pretty limited (like, you can only keep a few active word documents at a time), BUT it's enough to work if you wanna try it out.

[hervygervy]

Also since I'm the resident pyrrhon autist I'm curious how his japanese dialogue handles humility with his arrogant personality and all. Particularly I've often wondered if the way he uses those terms switches or not at that bit around the beginning of his bossfight when he's briefly himself and trying to fight them back, like if he shows any "cracks" so to speak. I hope specific kinda translation comparison requests like this are okay

Thank you for your request! Let's talk about Pyrrhon :)

His boss fight has a really interesting difference in the Japanese version! I will talk about it at the end of this post because first I would like to talk about Pyrrhon more generally.

Normally I would like to include English voice files just for the sake of easily accessible comparison, but this website seeks to inhibit me and contain my hyperfixation and I am only able to attach so many voice files. Tragic. So because we have a lot of ground to cover, unfortunately, we'll just be working with Japanese voice files today. I'll try to reference the English version when I can. Once again, we'll be here a while, so read below the cutoff!

Some initial notes that might be of interest to you before we really dive in (it's a bunch of language stuff so bear with me!) Pyrrhon's called ラーズ (Raazu, but I'll render it as "Raaz" in my translations) in the Japanese version. I sincerely wish I could tell you what this is derived from but I honest to goodness have no idea. The English name meanwhile is obviously sourced from "pyro" as in fire and even perhaps figures like King Pyhrrus, which is where the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" comes from (a triumph which takes such a toll on the victor that it eventually leads to defeat).

In the Japanese version he consistently uses informal speech and masculine sentence ending particles. We don't have particles in English so it's difficult to explain, but the best way I can describe it is the way he ends his sentences give off a strong and gruff masculine vibe.

Despite this very apparent manner of speech, he uses 私 (watashi) to refer to himself. I point this out because unlike in English, there are dozens of first-person pronouns in Japanese and what you use, depending on the context, will say a lot about you as a person. 私 is like the "default" pronoun (as in like that's what you'd be taught to use in a class first thing). It's gender neutral and applicable for both casual and formal situations. I'd say it leans ever so slightly formal. In casual conversations, it sounds a little feminine. If a man is using it in a casual situation, it either sounds awkward, or like the speaker is trying to establish some distance between himself and the listener, thus coming across as a little cold and stiff.

Palutena also uses "watashi," but interestingly, in the game's subtitles, hers is always written out in hiragana like わたし while Pyrrhon's is always written in kanji like 私. It's the exact same word at the end of the day so I guess it's just a stylistic choice?

There are also a bunch of second-person pronouns in Japanese because of course there are. They're rarely used in actual conversation, however. It tends to come across as a bit rude, and using the other person's name instead of "you" is generally preferable. I've only ever really seen it in anime and manga or texts that address the "general you" as it's called. Pyrrhon uses キミ (kimi) to refer to others. The way キミ (or 君 as it's usually written) is perceived tends to vary from person to person it seems, it can either sound affectionate or it can sound like you're a bossy man addressing his subordinates since it's apparently historically associated with the masculine first-person pronoun 僕 (boku). Nowadays 僕 is more of the young boy's pronoun, though. Pit actually uses it.

With that out of the way, you know that Pyrrhon is meant to be a comic book superhero parody of sorts, so naturally, in the Japanese version, he uses a lot of English words/phrases in his speech. Here's the Japanese equivalent of his introduction as an example:

He uses a few English words here. The English script adapts this by instead giving him a lot of silly one-liners that you'd expect to hear in some Saturday morning cartoon. You could probably make the argument that this aspect of his character thus more effectively expressed in the English version. This interaction also plays out a little differently here in the Japanese version. Oh, but I guess I should translate:

Pyrrhon: No problem!

Palutena: Are you... the sun god, Raaz?

Pyrrhon: Yes!

Pit: The sun god, Raaz...?

Viridi: The self-proclaimed "emissary of the sun."

Pyrrhon: So you're all together, huh?

Palutena: Raaz, is there something you know about this enemy army?

Pyrrhon: Listen well! This here! Is the floating continental cluster of the Aurum!

Hades: The Aurum, huh?

Pyrrhon: This bit's important so I'll say it again! This is the floating continental cluster of the Aurum!

Viridi: Geez, that's enough.

Pyrrhon: In the book of Revelation of the Realm of Gods, chapter 84, verse 3: "Lured by destruction and heresy, they are born from nothing and appear to return to nothing. Those that swallow the heavens, earth, and sea--they are the Aurum. They travel across the galaxy!"

Viridi: Is there really such a legend?

Pyrrhon: To put it plainly, you could say the Aurum can swallow up the world at this rate! Let's work together! Come now, shoot these invaders from space!

Pit: Is it really alright to put our trust this guy?

Palutena: Well, his explanation matches the current state of affairs.

Viridi: Well, I suppose it's good to call this enemy army "the Aurum."

Pyrrhon pretty much sticks true to this style of speech throughout the rest of this section of the game. It's over the top and gruff and commanding you could say.

A few notes! Pyrrhon is referred to as a 太陽神 (taiyoushin) which means "sun god" I suppose, but if we break down the meanings for the individual kanji, it's "plump sunshine god" and I personally find that amusing. Okay, what's actually more interesting is Viridi states that he's a "self-proclaimed 太陽の使い" (taiyou no tsukai) or "messenger/envoy of the sun." I went with "emissary" for my translation since that's a common phrase in a lot of mythologies and it carries a similar sentiment. But either way, the use of 使い implies more something along the lines of "servant of the sun" which is curious. Personally I'm wondering if the purpose behind this wording is to draw a parallel to Pit who can be described as a 天の使い (ten no tsukai) or "angel," but I'll return to that thought later.

Another minor note is that Pyrrhon states that the Aurum are "破壊と破戒にいざなわれ" (hakai to hakai ni izanaware) and 破戒 (hakai) means like, breaking a religious commandment, so I went to translate it as "heresy" for simplicity's sake.

When Pyrrhon says "those that swallow the heavens, earth, and sea," he uses the word 者 (mono) to describe them. It means "person" which makes the Aurum sound a lot more humanlike. I still opted to use "those" because it still can be used as a determiner.

Lastly, this is just mildly interesting, instead of "the Book of Divine Prophecy," it's a mess of kanji that I attempted to decode as "the Revelation of the Realm of Gods." It's written as 神界黙示録 (shinkai mokushiroku). The last three kanji in this set, 黙示録 (mokushiroku), is actually the title of the book of Revelation. You know, like from the Bible. Neat, huh?

Since we don't have English voice files, I'll just point out the notable dialogue differences:

In English, Pyrrhon elaborates that the floating islands we encounter in chapter 15 are just one of the many bases the Aurum possess. In the Japanese, he doesn't really comment on this and instead just repeats the fact that we are indeed looking at the Aurum islands. Thanks, buddy.

In English, once Pyrrhon finishes explaining the supposed passage, he tells the others to "stow their fear" and that he'll essentially take care of everything on his own, or at least, that's the implication. In Japanese he immediately suggests everyone work together. Everyone seems a bit more receptive in Japanese whereas they're more hesitant in English, especially with Viridi saying "you know things are dire if that's the guy we're listening to."

Also, sometimes what he says is rendered using Roman letters in the subtitles:

His laughter is always rendered in Roman letters. In the Japanese text below, he says "shoot! Shoot!!" as in English "shoot," not Japanese "shoot" (撃つ/utsu). It's not quite the same as kablooey kablammy, huh...

I'm not quite done with chapter 15 yet. There's one curious dialogue difference at the end of the level. Here's the English line:

And the Japanese:

He says "it seems I won't be bored for a while!" Well, I'm glad he's having fun.

Much like how his comic book superhero persona is hammed up in the English version, I'd say his arrogance and haughtiness is intensified. He does a lot more talking down to the others in the English dialogue. Sure, he does speak informally in the Japanese version, but this is also a video game so, that's par for the course. Anime, manga, and video games don't often reflect how actual spoken Japanese goes. You could say it's like, super exaggerated Japanese. And it can often get pretty crude or informal. What I'm trying to say is, Japanese Pyrrhon's speech doesn't strike me as terribly unusual. He talks like any other brash anime character. None of the other characters seemed too unnerved by him compared to the English version, anyway.

As for chapter 16, Pyrrhon only appears for a brief moment to aggravate the boss. The interactions between the two versions are pretty much the same, so there's not much to talk about, but I will note this!

"You seem to be having trouble, Pit!" ...or "Pit-kun" in this case.

Most of the time he addresses Pit as "kun." This is a masculine honorific, usually used by men addressing their male subordinates or used to refer to good male friends (it's not wrong to use it for women, but the typical usage is for men). In English he says "looks like you could use a hand, little angel" which to me sounds kinda condescending but I'm sure the intention was to sound kinda affectionate in the "hey, we're buddies, right?" kinda way that the Japanese seems to convey. Or maybe I'm totally wrong and the English writers did want to make him sound more condescending.

In a previous post, I talked a little bit about how talking about giving things in Japanese is complicated. In particular, Viridi was using やる (yaru) when asking Palutena if she was giving Pit any kind of allowance (the Japanese equivalent of the "floor ice cream" bit). やる is used when talking about giving things to something of lower status, but in the context that the receiver is literally like a plant or an animal. Pyrrhon seems to have a little bit more respect than her!

"I shall lend you a hand!" Or "I shall assist you!" However you want to word it. Here he's using あげよう (ageyou) which the volitional conjugation of あげる (ageru). あげる is used when talking about giving something to someone of equal or lower status, but not in the animal or plant type of lower status. Hopefully that makes sense. Considering that he addresses Pit as "kun" and not in the sarcastic way like Hades does, I'm going to presume that Japanese Pyrrhon sees him on a relatively equal enough playing field. That's the impression I get anyway.

Alright! That was! A whole lot of yapping! And there is more to come because because we are so close to the moment you've been waiting for! We shall talk about chapter 17!! And then the boss fight!!!

When Pyrrhon and Pit encounter the Aurum brain, in the English version, Pyrrhon's lines are delivered in a pretty nonchalant fashion. In Japanese he maintains his energy and pep. Take a listen:

In English he says something like "do your thing, Pit! You know, your... shooting thing." Anyway, a translation for the voice clip!

Pit: This is... the Aurum brain?

Pyrrhon: Shoot at it, Pit! Shoot at it until your sacred treasure burns up!

No more "kun," huh? He's probably too fixated on that brain, anyway.

Oh, uh, any instance of 神器 (jingi) or "sacred treasure" in the Japanese version is replaced with "weapon" in the English version. I wonder if such phrasing is for the sake of keeping in line with franchise terminology, or perhaps directly referencing "weapons" would have run the team into trouble with the ratings board, CERO. If you care, the game has a CERO B rating in Japan, which means it's suitable for ages 12 and up. It's pretty much the equivalent of the ESRB E10+ rating, which is what the game got in the states. Supposedly, the beheading of the Hewdraw is what cemented the game's rating as B in Japan.

That's not relevant. Let's move onto when Pyrrhon assumes control over the Aurum troops!

Level Infinity Epic Super God Plus!! ...nah he didn't say that. It went something like this:

Pit: I-I'm saved! And Raaz?

Pyrrhon: Hahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Well done, Pit!

Pit: Raaz?!

Pyrrhon: Thanks to you, I've become this magnificent! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I've obtained the strongest power!

Pit: What do you mean?

Pyrrhon: This is what I mean...!

"Kun" has returned! Anyway, I pointed out the one line change already.

How irritating that it's split up into two voice files. Continuing the conversation:

I shall continue the translation:

Pit: No way... Raaz?!

Pyrrhon: HAHAHAHAHAHA! The Aurum are now my hands and feet! The Aurum will embark reborn! I'll give you all a show!

Hades: Ho ho! This guy's interesting! What a discovery!

Viridi: I don't think this is a situation to be glad about.

Pit: Raaz, you rat! Tricking an angel! That's not okay!

Pyrrhon: With this vast power, I will challenge the gods!

A few notes: Pyrrhon uses やる (yaru) for "give" here! He's really on his high horse now.

Pit says "ラーズめ" and tacking め onto anything makes it derogatory. People can translate it in a number of ways, like "you scum" or "damn you" or "bastard" or what have you (I'm really not fond of swearing so I hope my friends don't read this and make a big deal about it). Pit's kinda talking in a childish way here so I opted for "rat," especially since that's what's used in the English version, haha. He uses いけない (ikenai) which is something one would use when describing something like socially unacceptable. Basically he's saying "you're not allowed to trick me!"

Lastly, when Pyrrhon says "challenge," he's using 挑戦 (chousen) which carries the implication of a defiant attitude. I felt that was important to mention!

The differences between the English and Japanese here are pretty minor. Pyrrhon emphasizes his newfound power a lot more in the English version, I'd say, with his whole "not even the combined power of the gods can stop me" bit. He also seems a bit more overtly haughty? (seems a bit more subtle in Japanese to me anyway). He blatantly brushes off Pit in English ("What?! I can't hear you over all this awesome!") but just kinda continues his spiel in Japanese.

We all know that Pyrrhon shows off his quirky new powers by blocking Palutena's extraction (or "jamming" it as he says in Japanese) and we're forced to fight on some dinky platforms. Thankfully we have dialogue to ease the pain. We always do, I guess. Such is the way of radio-style storying telling as it's called in gaming. One interaction always stood out to me. In English it goes like this:

Hades: Our little sun buddy must have a thing for you, Pit.

Viridi: Of course he does. Pit's the only one that loon considers an equal.

We can infer a lot from this... Pit and Pyrrhon are comparable in the sense that neither of them are really taken all that seriously by the gods. For Pit, we can easily see this by the way quite literally any other character treats him. Other characters are baffled to see that he can put up a fight or they simply don't want to admit that he's a genuine one man army. Palutena is probably the only character that will give him any credit, but even then, she isn't beyond toying with him or speaking for him. But I already addressed all that in a post replying to a comment.

Pyrrhon is also disregarded immediately, both in English and Japanese. His status as a god is always called into question (we the player never learn his true place in the divine hierarchy), other characters are quick to doubt him, and well, everyone only ends up following along with him because what other choice is there?

You get the point. Pyrrhon seeks the Aurum's power in order to finally get on the gods' level. To finally be taken seriously. That kind of thing. I was really surprised to learn that the interaction plays out a little differently in Japanese:

It goes something like this:

Pit: Alright! We made it out of the giant battleship!

Palutena: Enemies are approaching from all directions! Watch your surroundings well!

Hades: Did Sunny fall in love? You're very popular, eh?

Viridi: Of course he is. Because right now, as it stands, the only one who can oppose Aurum Raaz is Pit.

Quick note: Hades calls Pyrrhon "太陽ちゃん" (taiyou-chan) and ちゃん is an affectionate honorific, one you'd use for close friends or pets. Obviously he's using it sarcastically here. I employed some creative translation. The actual English script writers had to do the same thing, you know.

But yeah, I can't say the Japanese dialogue leaves as much room for character analysis, huh? It's more or less stating the obvious. The Underworld army isn't really participating here, and Viridi was unable to inhibit Pyrrhon with her last reset bomb. So yeah, Pit really is the only one left that can actually challenge Pyrrhon.

Well, I can go back to that point I brought up earlier. Pyrrhon was called the 太陽の使い or "messenger of the sun," and you can draw that kind of parallel to 天の使い or "heavenly messenger," or more simply, "angel." On that basis, I'd say perhaps you can draw a connection between the two. Maybe they were always meant to be compared in both versions. Or maybe I'm looking too deep into it.

Before we get to the boss fight, I just wish to point out that in the Japanese version, a standard centurion gets some speaking lines, whereas the English version only has a strongarm talking:

I guess I'll translate: "Captain! We came because we wanted to be useful to Lady Palutena."

Okay okay okay boss fight time!! In English, Pyrrhon starts talking in a robotic voice. In Japanese, it's a strained voice. Take a listen:

Translation as usual!

Palutena: Raaz is just up ahead!

Pyrrhon: Stooooop... turn baaaaaack...

Pit: Is Raaz like, acting completely strange or what?

Palutena: Perhaps it's because of the overflowing exaltation?

Oh, and the portraits are different! In English we immediately get a glimpse of Aurum Pyrrhon:

In Japanese, he's still using one of his standard portraits:

...the laughing one to be precise. Okay. But his speech is now rendered in katakana. To reiterate from a previous post, Japanese uses three writing systems all at once. Katakana, this angular text you see here, is mainly used to render foreign words into the Japanese sound system, but it can also be used for stylization purposes and whatnot. Here it's clearly meant to indicate that his words aren't fully his own...

After a loading screen we get to fight him! The boss intro in English has Pyrrhon spew out this binary code:

Supposedly it spells "kill" in ASCII binary. In Japanese it's a lot more "normal":

Pyrrhon: You've come... Pit...

Pit: Raaz! What in the world?!

He's still straining like before the loading screen. But where things get interesting is as he continues to try to talk:

Whoa! Pyrrhon! I can't hear you all over that TV static!

Yeah, so in order to understand what he's saying at all, you actually have to read the text. Cool, because that's what I've been doing anyway. My audio processing abilities are atrocious, after all. That and it's easier to look up words I don't know (which is a lot of them) in my dictionary when I can actually see what words they're using. So let's translate:

Pit: Raaz! Are you really controlling the Aurum? Or, are you being controlled by the Aurum?!

Pyrrhon: I... >cannot be controlled.

The top image is the text pertaining to Pyrrhon struggling to say "I" and the bottom image depicts when the static kicks in with "cannot be controlled" by using an > arrow.

The static speech is rendered in katakana. Alien speech is typically written that way in Japanese media to really emphasize their foreign status.

It's a bit eerie to listen to when it's just the audio, huh? Let's hear a bit more:

Pit: W-what was that?!

Palutena: As expected, you could say he succumbed to the power of the Aurum brain.

Pyrrhon: >Do not inhibit our mission. We will consume all.

Hades: They behave just like insects. Considering their strength, it's fine if they're low-grade, huh?

Palutena: Drawn to the torch of battle, they live only to consume everything. Calling them bees or locusts might not entirely be wrong.

Pyrrhon: >We will multiply. We will continue to increase.

Viridi: But every living thing is like this. Their desperate survival connects to their growth, and they influence each other, enabling for the cycle of life. However, these guys are troubling! Their power is too strong!

Palutena: That and they're an alien species, after all.

Pit: Won't they eat everything at this rate?!

Palutena: That's why you have to put an end to this, Pit!

It's pretty similar to the English. Minus the hungry moths. RIP hungry moths. And I guess in English Aurum Pyrrhon says "we will be all" rather than "we will consume all." Something like that.

Also, when the Aurum (static) speak, they use the pronoun ワレワレ (wareware) which is super old-fashioned and means "we." It supposedly has a strong emphasis on one's own existence. Fitting for the Aurum.

I'll share with ya one last static:

Yay, it's easy for me:

Pit: Return to space!

Pyrrhon: >Uuuoooooo

Eventually the static becomes calming to listen to.

Obviously I didn't hit every Pyrrhon moment, but these are all the notable differences I could find and interesting things I could point out! Aurum Pyrrhon is pretty different between both versions, huh? The whole static thing almost makes it seem all the more dire. To me anyway.

Thank you for bearing with me in this long post. I'll probably do more characterization posts next, so they'll probably be just as long as this one...

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

I have thoughts on Hitsugaya's Secret Story from 'BLEACH: Rebirth of Souls'

So, you may have seen my recent reactions to Hitsugaya Secret Story from BLEACH: Rebirth of Souls. I finally decided to sit down and get my thoughts out about it, because I have some surprisingly strong ones. I'll be going through the cutscenes and giving my thoughts and a few more reactions, and maybe a bit of analysis for what I think it means for both Hitsugaya and Hinamori. Prepare yourself for some fangirling and some overly nerdy rambling.

Before I dive in, two things. First if you don't know what moment I'm talking about, you can look up 'Bleach rebirth of souls toshiro secret story' and should be able to find a playthrough. They're usually about 30 minutes long.

I've only been able to find the English dub versions, but would be very curious to see if there were any translation difference between the two. For instance, in the English version, Hitsugaya says in the beginning 'Long ago, when I was a kid, the only ones that would ever talk to me were Grandma and Mom, who I lived with." Now this wording could be taken a few ways, but I have admit, I took it to mean he lived with Momo, but Kubo recently confirmed in his Klub Outside Q&As that Hitsugaya and Hinamori were neighbours. I'd be curious to see if the Japanese version says the same thing or something different. Anyway, nit-picking aside, I recommend watching a playthrough or, of course, going to play the secret story yourself if you have the game.

And finally, you may be wondering the same thing I did after watching the cutscenes: how canon is this game? Well, it seems Kubo assisted with writing, but I don't have an official source that says this. If anyone does have a source, I would love to see it. If Kubo's truly that involved (and I'd honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was) then I think we can consider most if not all aspects of the story and characters here canon.

Anyway, on to the thoughts, reactions, and a bit of analysis!

The past

Canon-bending info aside, this section had me tearing up. Although it's mostly retreading old ground -- acting more as a clipshow for the chapter about Hitsugaya's past -- we got some interesting tidbits of info.

The ones that stuck out to me were the reveal that Hitsugaya stayed behind with his Granny to protect her. This was implied in the original chapter, with how Granny responded to him saying he was going to enroll in the Shinigami Academy. To have him outright state it, however, brought a tear to my eye. It implies that a part of him always wanted to go off and be where Hinamori was, but he chose to remain with his Granny to keep her safe ;w; All the while, he didn't realise he'd fallen into a tragic irony: because he had no control over his powers, he ended up affecting her health and being a danger to her during his sleep. The only way to protect her was to leave her behind...

Another interesting piece of dialogue is Hitsugaya mentioning this: "She probably knew that was the last time we'd ever meet, but Grandma still gave her blessing when I left." This implies Hitsugaya hasn't seen his Granny since he went to the Academy. We know for a fact, thanks to one of the databooks, that he visits his Granny. However, that's as a Captain. In the game, he seems to be recalling these memories while he's a Third Seat, which implies he hasn't seen his Granny since he left for the Academy, and that's...really sad if that's truly the case. We know he graduated in a year, and then quickly became a seated officer in Tenth Division. It could be that he was kept so busy with his work, or it could be that he was afraid of harming her with his powers. Regardless, it would make sense that later on when he's Captain and has the ability to reign in his powers and can make more time to see her.

Hitsugaya as a Third Seat

Here we get a few moments of Hitsugaya as a Third seat. The first is not long after he was promoted to the rank and battles Hollows in Karakura Town alongside Rangiku and two other Tenth Divison Officers who whisper about him.

So, first up, was I the only who laughed when he called Rangiku 'ma'am'?! I never thought he would ever be so formal with her. I thought right from the get-go these two would have an annoying sibling dynamic going on.

And the officers gossiping about him, I found this fascinating. We've never really gotten a glimpse into how other Shinigami saw him or interacting with him while he was climbing the ranks. I can definitely see some Shinigami brushing him off due to his young age, only to be surprised by his abilities. Still, it's sad to think even after graduating and becoming a seated member,he not only had to continue to prove himself worhy of being there, but also found it difficult to connect with those aroudn him despite having more in common with them than the residents of the Junrinan.

We also see here a glimpse of the message this story is getting at: Hitsugaya needing to trust in others and learn to relax and not be so strung up on becoming stronger. Rangiku, in response to Hitsugaya saying he needs to improve and become stronger in battle, says 'Know what they say about the about the strgonest Soul Reapers dying first?' Hitsugaya understands, but she elaborates anyway, saying that he can try his best, but also needs to learn how to relax. He gives a non-committal answer and goes off into thought, clearly thinking he can't afford to relax for even a second.

Also, yes, I lost it when Rangiku said 'I have your back'. My BROTP name for these two came to life!!

The second moment we get is him training until Rangiku comes along and asks to practice with him. it's implied he trains alone, and might be shy about training with others. The same officers from his mission in Karakura Town witnessed the two sparring, and after it's done, they're amazed by what they saw and ask for Hitsugaya to train them. Hitsugaya goes on to reflect how Rangiku and Isshin helped him fit in with the Tenth Division.

Again, the theme of his story is being emphasized here: Hitsugaya thinks he needs to do things on his own, including becoming stronger. It also shows, however, that even though he was among beings just like him, he felt a sense of isolation even when he became a seated officer. I wonder if perhaps this in part due to his prodical status combined with his age. You have to imagine with someone as skilled and talents as him, it's a different kind of loneliness even among people a lot like you. You can do things other Shinigami are still training to do, and there's no one like you. Aizen, I think, went through a similar struggle, but we saw how that turned out.

Where it differed for Hitsugaya is that his fellows officers began to accept him thanks to Rangiku's efforts to help him socialize and gets other division members to see him in a different light.

And then there's the Isshin part. We get to see the aftermath of Isshin going missing, and we get to see Hitsugaya already acting like the Captain he's going to become -- telling Rangiku to not think about the 'what ifs' like if she had follows Isshin to Karakura Town, for instance -- and the one of my headcanons got confirmed O_O I've always had the headcanon that Hitsugaya and Rangiku will focus on work if it means they want to try to forget about something that's deeply affected them. I'm currently writing of this very thing in my fic An Unwavering Light, and to have Hitsugaya say this in the game just made me:

The Fireworks

We get a reenactment of the Hitsugaya's birthday chapter.

All I have to say here is: Rangiku, you're not saying 'Aren't winter fireworks just so romantic?' to Hitsugaya with Hinamori just standing right there and expecting me to to take no other way!

Okay, I'm sure she meant it in a different sense, but let me dream of wing-woman Rangiku!

And again, Hitsugaya affirms he wants to become stronger for the people most important to him. We've gone from wanting to protect Granny to protecting more people. He's gradually expanding his circle of people important to him, even if he doesn't fully realize it.

After Aizen's Defeat

The way I nearly screamed when he asked Rangiku how Hinamori was doing, then when he punched the wall and yelled Aizen's name in anger and said he wasn't strong enough:

It's far less dramatic than what I wrote in my fic, but I couldn't believe how some elements of what I was writing were there.

Anyway, back to the scene! Here we get a brief interaction with Hitsugaya and Rangiku, who gives an update about Hinamori. After he tells Rangiku to get some rest and she leaves, he reflects on Aizen, causing him to yell and punch a wall. He reaffirms aloud that he needs to train harder to become stronger.

A piece of dialogue from this moment made me do a double take. When Hitsugaya is reflecting on Aizen, he says this: 'We...Momo and I...We didn't realize you were fooling us. We thought we were close...Hmph. What a total joke." Now, who's the 'we' in 'we thought we were close' here? Is he referring to Aizen or Hinamori? if it's Aizen, then that's interesting. In the manga, it's shown Hitsugaya trust Aizen enough to look out for Hinamori, but we've never really seen the two be on super friendly terms. Hitsugaya doesn't seem to respect him the same he does, say, Unohana. I believe he refers to Unohana by her title, but he doesn't do the same for most of the other captains, including Aizen. If he's referring to Hinamori...T_T Given this him at a low point, it would be tragic if he thinks his bond with her wasn't close anymore. I'd be curious to see what you all think.

After this scene, we get more battles, including one where Hitsugaya yells at some Hollows attacking him that he doesn't have the time to be held by them while he's trying to get stronger. Then, when a Menos Grande shows up, he's glad for the challenge, implying he sees his combat with Hollow as a chance for him to gain more strength. Rangiku approaches him after taking it down and notes he was pushing himself beyond his limits. Hitsugaya admits she's right, but also admits that he needs to become stronger. Rangiku tries to get him to take his mind off it by suggesting they go visit Hinamori.

The way he reacted to Rangiku suggested visiting Hinamori...

Oh my God he really wanted to see her! I honestly didn't see that coming. Yes, I thought a part of him would want to desperately see her, but that more than that he'd want to get stronger first before facing her. To think he'd want to see her first, even when he feels he needs to get stronger...

The last moment we get here is with Toshiro and Rangiku on their way to Fourth Division, but they bump into Izuru and Renji. Izuru unintentionally convincing Hitsugaya to not visit Hinamori when he says he needs to smile for her and not show how stricken or tired he is currently. He agrees, and tells them that they need to give their all in any future battles and that he's counting on them. When he and Rangiku are alone, Hitsugaya questions why Rangiku is so chipper, and she says she's proud of the person he's become, having seen him grow in how he connects and opens up with others. Hitsugaya brushes her off, saying he merely did it because he has a rank to uphold, and then, to himself, that this rank means he needs to be strong enough to protect those important to him.

For me this scene came back to instances where Toshiro visited Momo but had nothing to say. We of course have the manga and anime showing him visiting Hinamori while she was unconscious and we see how deeply it affects him. In the Honey Dish Rhapsody, we et a brief moment where Rukia mentioned Hitsugaya always looked grief-stricken when going to visit a still unconscious Hinamori. Similar to the anime version, he chooses to walk away when he can't think of anything to say to Hinamori, and in the case of the game scene, he walks away because he doesn't want her to see him so stricken.

And here again we Hitsugaya opening his circle that little bit more. He probably doesn't consider Renji and Izuru friends, but he cars about them enough to put their minds at ease. He was able to express himself more freely than he previously has, something Rangiku notices and is proud of him for.

THE MOMENT

The moment of all moments. The big one. The scene I always wanted to see. The reconciliation of Hitsugaya and Hinamori. WHERE DO I EVEN START?

I'm doing a more detailed summary because I'll have a lot to say about this section:

Almost a month after Aizen's defeat, Hitsugaya is training and still believes he's no strong enough. He laments about what happened, believing he failed in contributing to the battle and reaffirms his desire to protect the person who matters most to him.

Shinji comes in, having looked for Hitsugaya and Rangiku (who's watching all of this from afar, trying to stay hidden). After a brief comical moment, Hitsugaya and Shinji discuss the Visoreds and Shinji's return to the Soul Society.

Shinji cuts the conversation off though, and as for Hinamori to come out of hiding.

Hitsugaya and Hinaori become speechless when seeing each other.

Annoyed, Shinji prods Hitsugaya (aka, a kick to his shin) to speak up, but the latter is too flustered to come up with anything. Hinamori laughs at Hitsugaya reaction, which breaks the ice and gets Hitsugaya to apologize for letting her get hurt.

Hinamori is quick to forgive him, and goes on to say that she should be apologizing to him as she feels she was holding him back. Hitsugaya dismisses this, saying she has nothing to apologize for.

Hitsugaya ask Rangiku to come out of hiding, and while she and Hinamori chat, Hitsugaya thanks Shinji for giving him to opportunity to make amends with Hinamori. Shinji says it's nothinghe only did it because he was looking out for Fifth Division, but Hitsugaya is thankful he says he'll bring sweets over for them to eat together next time.

Hitsugaya thinks that he nearly forgot he isn't alone anymore, that he's always had friends who are by his side. Smiling, he reflects aloud that being obsessed with acting like a captain keeps him going around in circles. However, Rangiku assures him isn't going around in circles, and Hitsugaya a little moved by this.

He asks Shinji about his captaincy, and Shinji says he's isn't as 'stuffy and serious' and Hitsugaya back then or now. He offers to help Hitsugaya learn how to chill out, teasing that he has no idea how to do that. Hitsugaya says it'd be a big help if he did.

Hitsugaya silently reflects on Aizen's betrayal and letting Hinamori get hurt. He was shaken by both events and feared being betrayed by someone close to him again, causing him to shut his heart off to the world. He thought he could protect everything by himself, but he has come to realize believing in others isn't a weakness and that having them by his side is what will make him grow stronger. He reaffirms aloud he won't lose his way again.

He concludes the scene by quoting what he said about fireworks from his birthday chapter and saying that the bonds one forms never go away, no matter how distant they become or what's happened, they keeping on shining forever.

I'll get my reactions out of the way first:

'It's hard to admit, but I really didn't contribute anything to that battle...'

'I can't even protect the person who matters most to me.'

SHE MATTERS THE MOST!!!

Hitsugaya not remembering Shinji's name had me cackling, laughing way too hard for something so dumb:

Then Hitsugaya and Hinamori seeing each other:

I was like this throughout most of their exchange:

With a few moments of this in-between:

Now on to my thoughts. First I want bring up another bit of canon-bending that came up here, and it's going make me sound way too nerdy: in the game it's been almost a month since Aizen's defeat, but in Death Save the Strawberry, Hinamori was still recovering at this stage. In fact, it took her nearly five months to make a full psychological recovery and leave Fourth Division. We also see a scene from Death Save the Strawberry play out in Shinji's Secret Story, where Hinamori gets a text from Renji saying Rukia has a plan to help restore Ichigo's powers.

This is what makes me question if this game or canon or if the time periods are getting retconned. Personally, Death Save the Strawberry's seems more realistic to me. She's gone through so much in such a short period of time, from having the person she admired most betray her, thinking everyone is moving on without her, and likely thinking she wasn't strong enough to be on the battlefield. Plus, we get the beautiful interaction between her and Shinji, who reaffirms everyone's waiting for her and that he wants to her continue being the lieutenant of Fifth Division. I don't know, I just feel like it would take more than a month before Hitsugaya and Hinamori saw each other again, but again, I'm making a nerdy nit-pick.

Anyway, this scene all but confirms these two were on talking terms before the Thousand Year Blood War arc began. A few fans wondered, based on Hinamori's reaction during chapter 658, if these two were speaking to each other. I mentioned in my analysis post that I thought they had reconciled based on the snippets from the 13 Blades databook. Now though, if this game really is canon, we can confirm they absolutely were!

On to the interaction itself. I have to admit, I was shocked at how short and simple it was. Here I was, with my dramatics thinking they'd go somewhere quiet and have this long, emotional debrief about what happened and Hinamori would forgive Hitsugaya but say there was nothing to forgive, then Hitsugaya would ultimately realize he needs Hinamori in his life far more than he needs to keep her and others who are important to him at a distance.

What I got was basically:

'Hinamori, I'm sorry'.

'It's okay, Shiro-chan, I'm sorry too.'

'You don't need to be sorry'.

It perplexed me at first, and I even felt an odd sense of discouragement for the way I've been writing 'An Unwavering Light', a fanfic all about the reconciliation of Hitsugaya and Hinamori. Here I was thinking it would be this angsty, emotional period in their lives, but it got resolved so quickly and had more direct involvement from Rangiku and Shinji.

But the more I thought on this scene, the more it started to make some sense to me. Of course it can be that simple. It's THEM!

These two have known each other for decades, and it shows that even something as horrific as what they've been through can't tear them apart. They were uncertain when they saw each other, you can see it in the hesitation when neither speaks and they look away from each other. Hinamori even hesitates to make her presence known after Shinji tells her to come out.

Just when you think this is going to devolve into some angst-riddled moment, Shinji brought out a side Hitsugaya that Hinamori as always known -- a flustered side that's been with him since childhood, that she has even teased him about on a few occasions. Seeing him act like that makes her laugh, relaxes her enough that she speaks to him. It showed no matter what, even if she doesn't know where they stand or where to start, she knows him. She knows and accepts and loves him, whether you think that's platonically or romantically.

At hearing her laughter, all Hitsugaya can say is her name, but it's in such a way that made me do the fangirling reaction as per above. There's relief at seeing her being able to laugh, but there's also, I think, a little disbelief. It's like he's seeing her for the first time again. She can still laugh around him, she came with Shinji to see him. She's right there, wanting to see him. He's not even caught up on the fact she's laughing at him, he's just amazed that she's laughing and smiling at him. When was the last time he saw her do either of those things, let along at or with him?

It's this, I think, that gives him the courage to finally apologize. And of course he thinks he's responsible for her getting hurt, but Hinamori knows this isn't really the case. They were both victims of Aizen, tricked into doing things neither of them would otherwise do to each other. I think we as a fandom knew Hinamori would be quick to forgive Hitsugaya and say there was nothing to really forgive.

What I didn't see coming was Hinamori thinking she was holding Hitsugaya back. I would love to know where this thinking came from. Had it been something she'd been contemplating during her recovery? Had Rangiku let something slip during a visit and Hinamori thought on it too much and came to the conclusion that he was going through mental anguish because of her?

And Hitsugaya is quick to dismiss this and say she has nothign to apologise for. Because no, she never has. Hinamori herself has never held him back. Hitsugaya's obession with wanting to be stronger, with feeling he isn't good enough and needs to do things alone is what has held him back. He's still growing, still learning, it's understandable. What Hinamori doesn't realize is she's probably the number one person who is getting him to become stronger. She went to the Academy, and he wanted to go with her. He gained the abilities of Shinigami quicker than most, and he chose t use these abilities to protect her and eventually others he grew close to, as we've seen time and again in other BLEACH media. We even got a freakin' song about it for godsake!

His lack of strength is his own perception, but others like Rangiku can see he isn't weak and has become stronger as the years went on. He wasn't going around in circles, just getting stuck in a mindset that made him think he wasn't good enough when he always was. But he had to work his way through it, and a big part of doing that was finally seeing Hinamori.

It was through the effort of Hinamori, Shinji and Rangiku that he learned to let go of his fear of being close to others and of being betrayed again. It's something I'm 100% certain Hinamori herself went through, but this is Hitsugaya's story and I hope we get to see a secret story for Hinamori too.

My only small gripe about the scene is...I don't know if it'd be in character for Hitsugaya to offer to eat sweets with Shinji the next time they meet. Seems like something he wouldn't do, but maybe he really is just so thankful that this is his way of expressing his gratitude??

Also, Hitsuhina fandom...HOW ARE WE FEELINGS ABOUT WING-MAN SHINJI AND WING-WOMAN RANGIKU GETTING CONFIRMED!!

Maybe I'm being over-dramatic (I totally am), but what else can you call this?! Rangiku brought up the fireworks were romantic and was there for the final scene, and Shinji practically brought the two of them together to talk. He knows what's up, and he's not about to let them lose what they have and what it can potentially become in the future. It's like @alexiethymia said: he's likely learned from his past experiences with Aizen that communication is key, and that despite how long-lived Shinigami are, their bonds and time together are precious. He doesn't want to see his lieutenant lose a friend she's known since childhood. He wants to see her get better, to move forward into the future without doubt or fear about the people she's close to. He's looking out for her, as the proud pseudo father/uncle figure he will become to her!

I think the same can be said for Rangiku, who lost her childhood friend and love and doesn't know why he did the things he did. She doesn't want to see these two go through a similar fate.

All in all, it was a simple and sweet moment for all involved. For me personally, it didn't go down how I thought it would, and it's honestly made me reevaluate how I'm writing 'An Unwavering Light'. I plan keep the drama there, but maybe I can ditch a few of the moments I was planning to lighten the story up. I still like how it happened though, and I was an emotional wreck afterwards, so I think it did it's job XD

TL;DR

The whole story of Hitsugaya's Secret Story is to show the evolution of Hitsugaya's character. He's gone from a child who was emotionally closed off, isolated and ostracized, believing he needed to reliable/become stronger without anyone's help, to a teen who is opening up and becoming more expressive, is seeing the value in relying on others, and realizing he's always had friends by his side who will help him becoming stronger. It's a beautiful thing to see after all these years as a fan, and we've seen evidence of this growth throughout the manga.

For Hitsugaya and Hinamori's bond, it shows they were talking before the Thousand Year Blood War, and that their bond is too strong to be broken by something as big as what happened during the confrontation with Aizen. They went through so much, but ultimately, their reconciliation was simple and sweet, knowing who they each are and knowing they're better off by each others' sides than they are apart.

I'd like to thank @ryusxnka for bringing my attention to this in the first place. I was aware of the Rebirth of Souls game but not that there were secret stories for some of the characters. Here's hoping Hinamori gets one!

And if you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my crazy ramblings! I would love to read your takes on these scenes too! :D

[yamayuandadu]

The answer to this is probably clear, but I'm baffled on where the Teen Wolf series got its lore on Kitsune from and why the fan communities think that they are in Japanese myths? One time I tried finding the sources for these "13 types" of Kitsune from the show, but nothing really aside from like one or two of them was out there in English atleast.

Is there any specific reason behind the increased amount of questions which appear to depend on random works of fiction I don't even post about as the sole point of reference? Did someone share my blog in some non-standard location? I know nothing about Teen Wolf but the "13 kitsune types" lists you can find in such illustrious sources as AI generated tiktoks and yt shorts and whatever this is:

are made up. Basically worthless as a source. Attempting to track their origin down lead me to a neocities version of an rp resource for the mmo Furcadia compiled between 2003 and 2007 which in turn depended on this archived page of highly dubious quality ("To be honest, I have no idea how many provinces are in Japan") going back to 1997, where the idea of 13 types was, as far as I can tell, invented based on, to put it diplomatically, rather creative exegesis of the 1961 book Kitsune. Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance & Humor by Kiyoshi Nozaki, which is largely just a compilation of quotes from classical literature (which at the time would be something relatively novel in English) - free of 13 types of elemental foxes. Note that while the article mentions "researchers" the only sources other than this single book listed are random people active on the same websites as the author in the 1990s, as seen on the archived list of credits here. To date I haven't seen these lists of "kitsune types" actually being posted in Japanese, they exclusively propagate on the English-speaking web and on particularly low quality sites at that; they are absent from both credible and less than credible sources over on the Japanese side, as far as I am aware. A number of medieval sources contain an enumeration of three types of foxes - heavenly, earthly, and human, following the heaven-earth-man philosophical principle imported from China, but what that exactly entailed varies between said sources (Bernard Faure, Protectors and Predators, p. 138-139). Needless to say, this is completely unrelated to the discussed tomfoolery. Jp wikipedia claims there are a few Edo period attempts at arranging various terms for foxes like nogitsune, tenko etc. into some sort of hierarchy but I didn't independently verify that. In any case, nobody ever believed foxes have offbrand Pokemon types which determine their power level. The list of alleged fox types is the result of a game of telephone.