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four-loose-screws · 4 months

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

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

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

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

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

Henry / Robin

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

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

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

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Lissa

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Frederick

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

Now back on topic! :)

B Support

Snippet No. 1:

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ふ～ん。▼ (Oh, really~?)

Snippet No. 2:

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

[ヘンリー]ちょ、ちょっと～…▼(H-Hey~...)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Henry / Sully

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Miriel

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Sumia

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Ricken

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Maribelle

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Panne

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

Panne: THAT was your reason?!

Original Japanese:

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

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

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Cordelia

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

Henry / Nowi

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

Henry / Tharja

C Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

Henry: Wizard fight! Wizard fight! Yaaaaaay!

Original Japanese:

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

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

S Support

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

Henry / Cherche

C Support

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

B Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

A Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

S Support

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

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

Eng. NA Localization:

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

Original Japanese:

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

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

Henry / Olivia

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

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

C Support - B Support - A Support - S Support

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

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

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

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

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

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

-----------------------------

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

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

Thanks for reading! :)

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

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iwtvfanevents · 10 months

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Eternal Yuletide —an AMC IWTV Holiday Event

From December 1st to December 25th, let your creativity run wild and help us celebrate the holiday season, along with our favorite vampires from AMC's Interview with the Vampire!

12 Prompts

A Doll's House

Mistletoe

Gift Wrap/Decorating

Trim the Tree

Feast

Family Time

Baking

Fireplace/Chimney

12 Days of Christmas

Christmas Across the Decades

Christmas Mass

Home for the Holidays

How does this event work?

You have 25 days to get your creative juices flowing and showcase your skills. You can do one or all twelve!

You are still participating whether you...

Write your own fan fiction

Create a work of art

Are a little late to the party

Don't limit your creativity!

Your contributions as a fan don’t have to be restricted to the most usual mediums. Beyond fanfic and fanart, some things that you may decide to create include: fanmixes, moodboards, gifsets, photomanips and graphics; fanedits and AMVs; meta and analysis in written, audio or video form; poetry, music, a blog post about your headcanons, your meta, or your favorite fanworks; and anything else you can think of.

Your creations can be related to your own or others’ existing work as well —if, for example, you want to use one of the prompts to add to an existing fanfiction series, or as inspiration for fanart of your favorite fic, that’s totally within the scope of this challenge!

Reblog or repost this text and graphic to spread the word! And don't forget to tag @iwtvfanevents or tag your posts with #IWTVfanevents and/or #EternalYuletide so we can share them on the blog and add them to the collection on AO3: Eternal Yuletide

You can find the bingo card and badges here »

#iwtvfanevents #eternalyuletide #interview with the vampire #amc interview with the vampire #IWTV #IWTV AMC #AMC IWTV

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textpostsosc · 21 days

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TEXTPOSTSOSC (AGAIN)

an account made so i can keep doing my work as twitter user textpostsosc: posting others’ and my own’s textpost assignments to OSC characters!

read before submitting || blacklist

I, as an admin, reserve the right to turn down your submission for whatever reason.

I’m still debating on rather or not i’ll allow suggestive / nsfw textposts in this account, so don’t be shocked if they’re not posted.

Being mean towards others’ textposts, including directly reblogging my posts to be negative about them / complain about “mischaracterization” or how “it’d fit another character better”, will result in a block.

to submit a textpost, you can send it in as a collaboration or message me with your textpost. Let me know if you’d like to remain anonymous.

tags guideline + info about me after the cut !

not a textpost -- for any posts that aren’t textpost assignments.

admin answers -- for any asks sent to me as an admin, be about myself or about the blog.

textpost -- for any textpost assignments

anonymous submission -- for textposts submitted by users who don’t want to be identified.

not a ship -- for textposts that were specifically requested to be tagged as not a ship submission / don’t wish to be interpreted as so.

artists showcase -- for promoting and supporting artists & voice actors who make pieces with our textposts!

every textpost will have its fandom tagged, as well as any ships (if so applies).

admin uses he/it and is 18. only one guy here, but i might refer to myself as “we” from time to time out of habit!

#osc #object show community #object show #textpostsosc #not a textpost

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hanaleeappreciationweek · 1 year

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(this gorgeous poster is the work of our wonderful co-host @sazanes!!)

Welcome to our second edition of the Hana Lee Appreciation Week!! We celebrated it in the first week of October last year, but this time - such World Music Day falls on 21st June - we've decided to shift our appreciation week to a slightly earlier date. After all, music is one of Hana's first great loves! 💞💞💞

Last year, we held our first ever HLAW, and every single entry we received for it was a sheer slice of perfection!! We just can't wait to see what Hana stans have in store for us this year!!

As always, this week is about celebrating Hana Lee in all her glory and her complexity - her passions, her kindness, her confusions, her own journey to healing and confidence. We love every facet of her, and this week is dedicated to showcasing ALL of them!

Certain days will have two themes - you can choose either one for your content, or even do a combination of both! Any content is welcome - fanfic, fanart, edits, moodboards, meta, playlists, icons...even screenshots of your favourite scenes of Hana!! We also accept WIPs so if you're not able to complete the piece on time, you can always show us a WIP of the piece you were working on! As long as the content is focused on Hana and shows a positive depiction of her, the sky's the limit!

These are the themes we have in store for HLAW 2023:

19th June - Throwback

20th June - Skills vs Passions/Chocolate!

21st June - Music/AU

22nd June - Relationships*/Homes

23rd June - Hana's Perfect Wedding! (Small note about this theme here)

For Throwback typically, we accept old pieces on Hana, and invite the creators to briefly tell us about the process of creating their piece. Here's a throwback questionnaire you can use if you like!

The themes are meant to be inspirations for your writing - it isn't completely essential for you to send content for a particular day only specifically for that day. You can always send it later as long as you tag it with the day you meant the work for!

Make sure you tag @hanaleeappreciationweek in your content as well as co-hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes. Tag your posts with #hanaleeappreciationweek and #HLAW (along with days #HLAW Day 1, #HLAW Day 2, etc) as well so we don't miss any of your pieces!

For inspiration, take a look at our HLAW 2022 masterlist!!

Various fan content blogs also enthusiastically promote our events and have tons of fun events of their own during these months, so we highly recommend you check them out: @choicesficwriterscreations, @choicesflashfics, @choicesholidays, @choicespride, @choicesprompts, @choicesmonthlychallenge, @drake-walker-appreciation, @maxwell-beaumont-appreciation.

Once the week officially ends on 23rd June, we will keep the blog open for a bonus week, for anyone who struggles to finish their content during the week itself.

More than a month is left before HLAW begins, and we are SO excited to see what Hana fans will come up with!! See you all in June!

✅✅ signal boosts will be greatly appreciated!! ✅✅

*(Relationships in this context could refer to romantic, platonic or filial relationships!)

#hana lee #hanaleeappreciationweek #HLAW #the royal romance #the royal heir #the royal finale

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pluralpcs · 1 year

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Playing Plural PCs in Literally Any TTRPG

For our first post, before diving into mechanical ways of playing a plural character, we want to focus on something very important:

You do not need special mechanics to play a plural character.

This blog is a fun little project that we're doing because we love to see mechanical representation of our plurality in the games we play. But regardless of the game you play, the systems you use, or the setting you tell stories in, you can always play a plural character.

To play a plural character in any setting or system, simply play your character as plural!

No really, it's that simple.

But how to do it?

In just about every game we've come across, there are no mechanical limitations that get in the way of plurality. Nor are there any narrative constraints that stop a character from being more than one. Nothing stops you from slapping an ampersand on the end of your character's name, or writing their system name in the name field.

While mechanically there's nothing that differentiates a plural character from a singular character built this way, there are some interesting spins you can take.

Dissociative Dice

A common experience among systems is different headmates having different aptitudes. Some headmates might be better with certain tasks, or they might handle situations better than others. Weave this into your narrative. When you roll really well on a certain action or skill check, you could have one of your PC's headmates switch or start co-fronting. If you roll really poorly, perhaps another headmate took over or was front stuck.

Scene Switches

Alternatively (or additionally), your character could have switches between scenes or encounters. Maybe rolling initative is a front trigger for one of the headmates, so the character changes demeanor and attitude when combat starts. Or your character has a host that does all of the talking in social situations. You can have fun and build on this as you play by considering what would happen when a headmate fronts in a situation they aren't used to.

More meta

Another common experience is memory issues. And a common issue in TTRPGs is forgetting what your character might have learned 20 minutes ago in game, because that was last session which was two weeks ago. So if you want to, you can play with that metagame forgetfulness in character. Perhaps you the player get a refresher from the GM about last session by your character asking an NPC to fill them in.

And of course you can swap or combine these approaches how you like. Maybe someone got frontstuck when you botched an initiative roll for combat and so it takes them a moment to switch out, or they have to lean on muscle memory and their headmate's advice during the fight. Maybe you flub a check to decipher some clues because the socialite headmate is extremely bored of the situation and is extremely distracting in co-con.

Some problems and pitfalls

Sharing the Spotlight

Likely if you're playing a TTRPG, you'll be doing so with other bodies. You'll have other players at the table with their own characters getting their own screen time. This means you'll need to share the spotlight with them. Which in turn can feel like there's not a lot of time to highlight your plural character's internal dynamics. If every PC is getting equal screen time, then inherently the headmates of your plural PC will have less time than the singular PCs.

There's a plethora of advice out there about the social aspects of TTRPGs; the metagame conversations, communication, boundaries, etc. A lot of will apply here. Ways to avoid taking the spotlight away from other PCs will apply just the same if some of those PCs are plural. Likewise, you have a right to have fun, and so asking for more time to explore and showcase the way that your character's system works is perfectly reasonable.

Mechanical Mismatch

Depending on the game system (heh) that you're using, you might find some specific nuances that affect how your character, and in turn their system works. For example, if a game system or setting deals with going into the mindscapes of characters, this might impose some rules on your PC's headspace. Or, if a character's soul is a tangible thing that's dealt with through game features and dice, then a plural PC with multiple souls inhabiting one body may run into issues.

You should talk to your gaming group about these mechanical issues. It should never stop your character from being plural, but you may have to have a conversation when that changes the mechanics. Perhaps your group will decide on homebrew or house rules, or perhaps your plural PC will work a bit differently than you intended.

Shitty Strangers

If you're looking to play plural characters with a group of people you're not entirely familiar with, you may run into people who are close minded or bigoted. This overlaps a lot with the struggles of having a plural identity in the world. This can take all sorts of forms from acting like your character is impossible, to telling you that you're appropriating a very serious disorder, to cringing at an authentic display of enthusiasm. Sometimes there are people that are assholes and they happen to also play TTRPGs.

It sucks and you don't have to stand for it. You might find it worthwhile to educate them about plurality. You might call them on their bullshit. You might just simply tell them that they're actions are harmful. Or you might find it healthier to just leave. If you try to bring your plural character to a table, and get a bad vibe, it's entirely within your rights to reconsider gaming with that group.

You do not need special mechanics to play a plural character.

While all of this stuff is stuff to consider, it's always important to remember that TTRPGs are for having fun. And if you have fun playing a plural character, then you should, regardless of the system or setting that you're using.

#plurality #plural system #ttrpg #tabletop roleplaying #endo safe

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nanowrimo · 11 months

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30 Covers, 30 Days 2023: Sign-Ups Open!

Hey, Wrimos!

It’s that time of the year again: 30 Covers 30 Day Sign-up season! This year, we’re doing things a little bit differently. We’ll still have the classic 30C30D experience in which you get the chance to have a cover designed by a professional graphic designer. Alongside the professional designs though, we’re adding the chance to highlight designers in our community!

So, let’s get all that information rolling!

What’s 30 Covers, 30 Days?

Every November, a handful of Wrimos will be selected to receive a unique cover for their NaNoWriMo Novel! These covers are designed in 96 hours by a group of talented and diverse professional graphic designers, recruited by our amazing 30C30D coordinator, Debbie Millman.

This year, 22 lucky Wrimos will be chosen!

When November hits, you’ll get to see a new cover daily on the forums, as well as the NaNo blog and Instagram! Past covers can be seen here.

How do I get a cover from a professional designer?

All you have to do is fill out this form and nominate your own novel!

Here’s some things to keep in mind:

If you make any mistakes, feel free to edit your previous submission! Make sure you send a copy of the form to yourself at the very end. If you want to remove your submission altogether, please go back in the form and check off the box that asks for removal at the very end.

You do not have to share your real name on the nomination form. Preferred names, pen names, or any kind of name you’d like to use are not only welcomed, but celebrated!

Wait, what’s this about a community feature?

Notice how we only have 22 covers done by professional designers this year? Well, who’s going to fill out the other 8 days?

That’s when the community comes in!

We’ve noticed a lot of you are talented designers in your own right and we wanted a chance to showcase those designs. This cover can be one you’ve created in your own free time or a cover someone created for you in the Artisan Forums.

Sweet! How do I submit a nomination for the community feature?

All you have to do is fill out this form and submit an image of the cover design!

Here’s something super important to keep in mind:

Please make sure both the artist and writer are aware their cover art/novel is being submitted! We know that in the NaNo forums, getting cover art is usually a gift from another Wrimo. As a result, please make sure you have permission from the artist or writer before submitting! Maybe send them a private message to make sure. (Of course, this doesn’t apply to you if you designed your own cover.)

Can I submit to both forms?

Sure! But you won’t be picked for both.

Can I use AI Images in my cover design?

In general, the goal of participating in NaNoWriMo is to motivate yourself to write and give yourself space to develop your creativity. We want to carry that idea onto any visual art presented here as well! It’s less about a sophisticated end project and more of the fun journey you took, isn’t it?

Furthermore, AI image generators can run into some very specific legal and ethical issues. Here’s a few articles if you want to learn more about this topic!

The great AI art debate just got even messier: New study reveals copyrighted images can be reproduced.

Artists talk about how AI blurs creative and ethical boundaries

Given these concerns, we’re asking both professional and community designers not to use AI generated artwork for their submissions.

While you’re out there in the writing world, we’ll be working hard and reading through everyone’s submissions! If your cover is chosen, expect an email from us!

The submission forms will be open until November 15.

If you have any questions, feel free to post in the forums or send me a message there!

Good luck!

— Josie

#nanowrimo #30 covers 30 days #30C30D #by nano hq #josie gepulle

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valentiinexo · 5 months

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ive been doubting elriel lately, like what if im wrong and they aren't endgame? 😭

hey there! 💖

first of all, and most importantly, it’s totally okay if you have doubts, absolutely no judgement here love!

there are a lot of factors about elriel that make me confident in their endgame status, but namely the following:

we know that each book will follow only one couple. there are multiple instances between acosf and the feysand bonus chapter that absolutely scream to me that elain will be the next leading lady. like seriously, elain saying “find me when you wish to begin�� and feyre saying “let’s focus on one sister at a time” could not be more in your face obvious about the direction the series is going. additionally, we learned a lot about elains goings on! very importantly, we learn that she’s friends with nuala and cerridwen and appears to have been learning stealth/spy things from them. why is this so important? there is literally no reason to have elain be friends with (and to hint at training with) the twins, if not to connect her to azriel. it would have been just as easy for sarah to write that elain made friends with other fae down at the local gardening center or make up whole new unrelated characters, but she didn’t! she’s specifically made her closest to azriels spies, so to then not have her paired with azriel doesn’t really make sense textually. it’s no different than feyre befriending mor and amren during acomaf. there are other things that i could say, but i’ll end this bit by saying, per her own words, acosf showcased that elain is ready and willing to be a working member of the night court in their efforts against koeschi.

so, we know elain is ready to be our next fmc, which only leads us to figuring out the second pov. in all honestly, there’s not much to say here. azriel has now gotten his own bonus chapter as well as a majorly prominent role in hofas, which had important setup for the next acotar novel. prior to acosf, cassian also had his own bonus chapter, as well as chapters in acofas. we’re following the exact same pattern. additionally, azriel is now way too tied into the entire asteri/daglan/cauldron corruption/etc plot to not have a pov in the next novel. there is literally nobody else that could do it.

i won’t get into the reasons that i’m confident lucien won’t be the second pov, all i’ll say on it is that he has no setup for it in acosf (or even hofas), when that setup could’ve easily been written in if that was the direction sarah was going, and i’m not only talking romantically.

thank you for sticking it through to the end of my ramble! there are many many many other elriel blogs that do a much better job at articulating these things than i do, but i still hope it made you feel a little better anyway 💖 (p.s. if anyone else would like to add any additional information that you find important/ think i missed, please feel free to hijack this post!)

#if i spelled anything wrong just pretend i didn’t okay?#elriel #pro elriel

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queerlilchinchin · 10 months

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Chinchin's WiYS Stream Official Post

This is the official post announcing my Write in Your Style writing stream.

Hello, everyone! Welcome and thank you for your interest in my Write in Your style writing stream.

Stream Description:

To start off, let me describe to you what I envision this stream to look like. Twice a month (every 1st and 3rd Tuesday), I will be getting on my writing streams. Probably somewhere around noon Pacific Standard Time. I will be starting the streams with that stream's strip of writing, then I will read the last stream's submissions.

Of course, I've got to start somewhere, so the first stream will be announcing the start of the streams as well as giving the first prompt. I will be doing livestreaming on twitch, which will then be downloaded and posted on youtube and tik tok. You are welcome to join me on my livestreams. I will open the stream up to questions at the end. It can be questions about the prompt or the concept or whatever else pertaining to the streams.

How to submit writing:

I will likely be making a new blog for it, though I already have a lot of blogs. This blog will be mostly for asking questions about the streams and gaining more interest in them. You may also submit here if you don't wish to e-mail yours to me, which will be the other way. Any submissions left via comments will not be used simply because I don't want to make it easier for others to steal your writing or risk anything like that.

Stream Start Date:

The streams will officially start beginning of December, so the 5th will be the first stream (unless something happens to prevent it starting on time).

Days of the week that the streams occur may change due to my life circumstances being kind of up in the air right now. I'm looking for new work, so my days off may change.

How writing works:

I've had some questions about how exactly the writing part will work and how long you all will have to write. As the streams are bi-weekly, you will have nearly 2 weeks to submit your writing. They will be short pieces of writing, so it shouldn't take terribly long to finish them.

For now, it will only be my original writing that will be used, but as time goes on, I may open up the streams to other writers who wish to also submit their own writing for the original writing for others to rewrite in their own styles.

You may write them however you wish to. It just has to be the same story as the original put in your own way (don't turn a romance about a valkyrie and a demigoddess into a horror about the two characters). You're just recreating the writing, just like draw in your style.

Who can write:

Absolutely anyone is more than welcome to write. I will be reading your submissions for now, but as I figure out the features of streaming, I may open up the floor to writers reading their own writing if they wish. I will also be giving credit in any form you wish (if you just want your name or your tumblr blog or your Wattpad/AO3 accounts linked).

Stream Account Links:

Gotta link you guys to the accounts that will be posting the streams!

YouTube

Twitch

twitch_live

TikTok

Blog

@wiys-streaming

Ending Statements

WiYS streams are really a way to showcase and remind writers that we all have our own style of writing, even if it seems like you don't. You are capable of taking a story that was already written and make it your own (not that I'm encouraging copying, but you know what I mean... hopefully). Being a writer can be really disheartening sometimes, especially when you feel like your ideas aren't original, but sometimes the most unoriginal ideas can be home to the most incredible stories. Cliches are/were popular for a reason. Tropes become tropes for a reason. People love what they love and if they love the thing that you are making that is so "unoriginal," they will love your writing.

Don't forget that originality is not synonymous to good. Or creative. You can write something "trite" and make it incredible. I hope that this new stream will remind writers of that. :)

Thank you for your time and if you have questions, please feel free to send them to @queerlilchinchin.

WiYS "tag me to everything" taglist: @nerd-in-distress, @jvten, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs (fyi, tumblr won't let me tag your other blog or I would have), @aether-wasteland-s, @mjrino, @cheezyratz, @accountusername, @perasperaadastrawriting, @mrblazeflappybird, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @mangofen, @bigwipscholar, @pluttskutt, @doublegoblin, @crazytechpersonzreal, @sitiart, @ashesinthewritten, @achildweanedonpoison6, @quotidian-oblivion, @world-of-my-imagination, @marmeegle, @alesseia

WiYS "tag me to important stuff" taglist: @distortedwhite, @lyssentome, @ah0yh0y, @grollow, @perlen-gold, @saltysupercomputer, @vshushmshu, @lordkingsmith, @gummybugg, @quisyop, @enne-uni, @cometkov, @shado48, @cryscal, @mary-is-writing, @elizababie, @squintclover, @schmem14, @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego, @wakkoroni

#official announcement #wiys #wiys streams #writing streams #writer streams #writers of tumblr #writeblr

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fangbangerghoul · 7 months

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Header originally made by @thatsgoodsquishy0

Hello everyone! I am pleased to share a great event we had in our Comrade Coe's Spouses discord server for Valetine's Day!

This server is full of wonderful creatives who all share one thing in common, our love for Starfield. Okay...maybe two and our love for the bisexual single dad space cowboy! We love to support each other in our creative endeavors and to showcase this this post is going to have all the pieces from our Valetine's Day Art Trade!

Each person who signed up was randomly paired with another. We had a channel to fill out a small form of what they preferred, what they were willing to create, and their do's and don'ts in receiving other creations! We allowed about 8 weeks for people to discuss, plan, and create their own masterpieces!

Our server is always open for incoming members and there are only a few things that you need to know before requesting to join.

You must be over 21

You must love or at least appreciate Starfield

And you are joining for a good time, some creative vibes, and with an open mind!

Just tap or click on the link embedded in the server's name above for more information on how to join!

banner made by @bearlytolerant

Everything you will see below is crafted by a member of our server! There will be links to their Tumblr and ao3 links to check more of their work out!

Please feel free to show their blogs some love and their fics on ao3 as well! You can also check out their other works under the tag The Coemancer Crew. One of the core values of our community is supporting each other's creative pieces and we hope you all would love to participate in doing the same!

@atonalginger's

Anton x Sam Astral Haze

@thatsgoodsquishy0's

From Death; A Life

You almost died. Sam's grateful you're alive.

“Wait until Constellation hears about this,” you say, accompanied by a shaky laugh. “I wonder if they’ll even believe us.” He shakes his head. “They should, they don’t have to. We were there. We survived. You survived. That’s all that matters in my book.” His realism brings your gaze to the table, though a swirl of gratitude rises in the back of your mouth, coming out in a weak smile. This was nice. Peaceful, but not enough. There was still untouched territory to discuss. You lift your head, eyes soft and sincere. Unsure. “I wouldn’t be here without your help, Sam.” A pink flush spreads across his cheeks as he smiles. Averting his gaze, his pupils dart across the wall, and you notice they focus on nothing in particular. He shuts his eyes, and you suspected he was replaying the evening. You cock your head, curious. If you could pry open the contents of Sam Coe’s brain, you would, and you would soak up everything about that man, a fact you hadn’t truly believed until tonight.

@fangbangerghoul's

Crimson Slut

@bearlytolerant's

Paint It Crimson

Delgado is tired of Ghoul not resting so he takes matters into his own hands. His attempt means trying to teach her a new hobby.

She chuckles and he chooses not to engage any longer. He’s been toyed with enough. Even if that’s what they do. Argue and bicker. Pull their claws and bare their fangs until eventually he walks away with enough of his pride beaten down, dragging his ego behind him a little broken and worse for wear. It happens often enough that he can’t say he always comes out the winner. But he is weary of the game today. He wants to be nice. Try to be nice. He is determined to be nice. Another step and he reaches around her head and tugs at the blindfold. The knot unravels. Unfurls. He removes it in one smooth motion, tossing it to the floor. Then he thumbs her chin, tilting her head up to get a good glimpse of her. He gazes into her citrine eyes. The warm glow from his hanging lamp, hovering over the tall snake tongued leaves of the sansevieria in the corner of the room, reflects off her irises and they glimmer and shine just like a gemstone. Thoughts waxing poetic, he blinks them away before he speaks them aloud. “I wanted to surprise you.” He releases her chin.

@silurisanguine's

So coy

@eridanidreams's

Twisted Towards the Light

Seren and Sam run into a little bit more excitement than they expected when taking down Tawny Adams...

Sam leaned against the wall. "We having fun yet?" He was breathing a little harder than usual; she gave him a quick once-over, but his suit seemed intact. He caught her look and gave her the grin she'd come to love. "I know you like what you see," he purred, "but maybe look a little less like you want to rip my suit right off until we're done? Mercs might get the wrong idea." Seren couldn't help but laugh. "Arse," she growled. "And a fine one," he agreed. "Though yours," he eyed her up and down, "might be even finer. Pity that your suit hides it, or we could do a real close comparison. Hands-on, even." "Focus, Sam," she reminded him, hitting the 'cycle' button. "Bad guys that way." "I am focused," he said, sounding innocent as the day was long. (In the case of this misbegotten little moon, that was only 4.5 UT hours, so… not all that innocent.) "I'm just a busy man. I have to work in all that quality time of thinking about me and you."

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sloanewashingtonappreciationweek · 7 months

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We're on our very final day of Sloane Washington Appreciation Week!! It's been amazing, especially since we've seen quite a few new faces this year contributing and giving Sloane lots of love. We can't wait to see what more you all have in store for us!! 💞💞💞

Tomorrow is Day 5 - our last day - and we have two themes!!

Our first theme is about Hobbies. Think about things Sloane would like outside of her job and her special interest in science. What would she do for fun? Are there things that the MC or Hayden or the group introduce her to, that she begins to enjoy? Are there things she introduces them to??

Our second is, of course, PETS! We know she loves cats, and in time she warms up to Dipper too. So this is where you can explore what kind of pets you'd like Sloane to have, if any, and how she takes care of them 😍

As always, any form of appreciation is welcome! Fanfic, fanart, meta, edits, moodboards, playlists, headcanons, interactive media, even screenshots of favourite scenes or simple posts about your love for her!! Our only requirement is that you center Sloane in your work, and that the depiction is positive!

We also accept WIPs - we know irl can be hard and you may not always get the time to finish off stuff, so do show us a WIP of what you're working on if you're comfortable! We keep our event open even after the deadline (the deadline is mostly for our thank you video!) so you can send in your work anytime as well.

A friendly reminder that these are merely themes for you to use. It isn't completely necessary for your content for a particular day to be posted on that day only. You can post something you intended for Day 2 when Day 5 is on, as long as you tag the post for the day you meant it for.

Be sure to follow these rules when you make your posts:

1. Use the tags #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and #SWAW so we can find your posts on the tags, along with the day you intend the post for (#SWAW Day 1, #SWAW Day 2).

2. Tag @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and hosts @sazanes and @lizzybeth1986 in your work so we don't miss any pieces!

Fan content blogs have been a great resource in terms of showcasing fan content, so we'd definitely like to explore some of them and see if you'd like to send your content to any of them. A number of them are also running some amazing Valentine's Day events, which I urge you to take a look at:

@choicesficwriterscreations - Both fic and art welcome! Check out their rules and weekly roster here!

@choicesmonthlychallenge and @choicesfebruary2024 - All types of creative stuff welcome. This month, they're doing an awesome event with the Seven Types of Love in Greek mythology as prompts!

@choicespride - All content related to LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes welcome! Check out their awesome Valentine's Day event here!

@choicesflashfics - Fics under 2500 words welcome! Find this week's prompt list here!!

@choicesholidays - Both fic and art welcome!! Check out their Valentine's Day event!!

@choicesprompts - Mostly fic-centric!! Currently they're running a round robin, for which the deadline to enter is Feb 15th!

As many of you know by now, we always keep a bonus week after the AW is done, for anyone who couldn't complete their pieces at the time. We'll be keeping SWAW open for all till 24th Feb, after which we will need to start working on our SWAW 2024 video! And don't worry if you weren't able to finish even after that deadline - we will be accepting pieces all year round! Just send it to us and we'll put it up on the final masterlist.

Can't wait to celebrate Sloane for one last day with all of you!!!

Happy Sloane Washington Appreciation Week, everyone!!

#sloane washington #perfect match #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek #SWAW #SWAW 2024 #SWAW Day 5 #SWAW Day 5: Hobbies #SWAW Day 5: Pets #tomorrow!!#signal boost

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sshbpodcast · 1 year

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Character Spotlight: Leonard McCoy

By Ames

We’re still boldly going through all the characters of The Original Series in A Star to Steer Her By’s latest blog collection, and this week the spotlight is on Dr. Leonard McCoy! We’re not even going to be at all objective about this one because Bones is the favorite TOS character of most of the hosts here at SSHB, so be prepared for us to gush about his curmudgeonly actions, witty one-liners, and constant back-and-forth with Spock.

It helps that DeForest Kelley brings so much more to the role than is on the page, so let’s dive in and discover what our favorite McCoy moments are, scrape the bottom of the barrel for some lesser moments, and generally fan all over the CMO of the starship Enterprise. Read on below and listen to this week’s banter on the podcast (discussion at 1:04:23) for more about this old country doctor. We hope you have a mint julep handy!

Best Moments

Promoted too fast One of McCoy’s most highlighted facets is his obstinance, which is often played to hilarious effect. So when the ship is under threat from Balok’s Fesarius in “The Corbomite Maneuver,” it’s quite fitting that McCoy is stubborn enough to make what might be his last living action writing up Lt. Bailey just to spite Kirk for promoting him too fast. Now that’s no bluff!

Well, either choke me or cut my throat! Make up your mind! McCoy is at his most badass in “Space Seed” when his patient, Khan, has grabbed one of the good doctor’s handy wall knives and held him up. “It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery just under the left ear,” Bones says while his life is being threatened, and everyone watching this show goes “Daaaaaamn.”

Something called a mint julep. It’s a drink, Jim! Speaking of McCoy being a straight-up badass, when the subsonic transmitter is undoing the euphoric effects of the spores in “This Side of Paradise,” he straight up slugs the guy who dares imply that his job as a physician may have become obsolete on a planet with no disease. Without so much as dropping his drink! Grade-A badass right there.

My patients don't walk out in the middle of an operation Don’t forget that McCoy is a half decent doctor, especially considering most medical work in the future is waving a medical tricorder over people. But he proves his physician’s skills in “Journey to Babel” when he performs surgery on Sarek, transfusing a blood sample from a reluctant Spock and saving the ambassador’s life, all in the middle of a battle with Orions!

I’m trying to thank you… As we mentioned in the Spock spotlight post, the jail scene in “Bread and Circuses” is just stunning acting work from both Nimoy and Kelley. It’s such a short scene, but it’s got everything. And when McCoy ponders that Spock is afraid of living, afraid of showing his human half, afraid of feeling, they display in their acting that they’re both in the same emotional place and I love it.

A child could do it Like in “Journey to Babel,” Bones gets to prove his medical prowess in “Spock’s Brain,” even if it’s a little bit laughable overall. He does need help from the Teacher to give himself the temporary knowledge to reconnect Spock to his big Vulcan brain, but when that wears off, he keeps it together, and with a little help from his green-blooded friend, gets the job done.

Please give yourself every minute No wonder this episode was our favorite from TOS. What a great showcase for DeForest Kelley. His grappling with impending death in “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” is expertly played and beautifully explores how to measure a life’s happiness. McCoy’s romance with Natira is lovely and I heartily wish he didn’t have to leave her, though as I said in my review of Sawdust to Stardust, the novel Ex Machina revisits Yonada and is quite good!

I’ve been drafted There’s just something about Bones McCoy in The Motion Picture, standing on the transporter pad that he hates so much, grumbling at Kirk about getting drafted back into Starfleet, complaining like a cantankerous old coot about all the renovations made to his medical bay, all while wearing the most disco of civilian attire that is just plain charming.

I choose the danger While we found it a biiiit presumptuous for Spock to cram his katra into McCoy in The Wrath of Khan, it allows for some just plain great DeForest Kelley acting in The Search for Spock, so we can kinda forgive the violation. All movie long, McCoy gets to act like he’s mildly possessed by Spock, and then bravely face the fal-tor-pan ceremony that could be dangerous to humans. “Hell of a time to ask.”

What is this, the Dark Ages? While it could be seen as a blatant infringement of the Temporal Prime Directive to give a kidney pill to the woman on dialysis in The Voyage Home, you’ve just gotta love it when Starfleet doctors take matters into their own hands for the sake of a patient. Does the Hippocratic Oath trump the prime directive? Probably not, but McCoy is a hero to that woman regardless.

Not long after, they found a cure Sometimes Star Trek just doesn’t deserve DeForest Kelley, whose acting chops are frequently the best on the show, in our humble opinions. And the debated worst of the TOS films actually has some legitimately great McCoy moments – watching him euthanize his father only to learn a cure has been later found in The Final Frontier is such a moving scene that we really feel for.

Aside from a touch of arthritis… Only Leonard McCoy could get away with cracking a joke during his conspiracy trial prosecuted by relentless Klingons, as he does in The Undiscovered Country. And he even gets a couple of laughs out of the spectating Klingons in the audience, which may make up for getting convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Take that, Chang!

—

Worst Moments

I was thinking about the buffalo The very first introduction of McCoy in “The Man Trap” sees him doing some pretty irrational things. How is Plum’s mind so clouded that he can’t see Nancy for what she really is, especially when she’s literally sucking the salt out of the captain? And it’s an emotional scene, but I still can’t forgive McCoy for killing the M-113 creature, a sentient being and the last of its kind.

Don’t peek! Something rubbed us the wrong way about Bones’s flirting with yeoman Barrows in “Shore Leave.” Maybe it’s the age gap. Maybe it’s that they didn’t have a ton of chemistry. Maybe it’s that we ship him and Natira way more. Or maybe it’s that when she asks him not to watch her change, his response is “My dear girl, I am a doctor. When I peek, it’s in the line of duty.” Gross, doc.

Two drops of cordrazine can save a man's life Every so often, we really question Dr. McCoy’s doctoring skills and how his shenanigans wouldn’t fly in later series. And as much as it serves as the impetus for one of the best TOS episodes, being careless enough to inject oneself with a hundred times the normal dose of cordrazine in “The City on the Edge of Forever” – time ripples or not! – is just plain ineptitude.

You are out of line… sir. McCoy says in “The Doomsday Machine” that he hasn’t had time to run an examination on Decker to declare him medically or psychologically unfit to command. Well, why not, doctor?! If in “The Deadly Years,” we had time to hold a trial about Kirk being too senile to command, you surely have the authority to order the commodore to a checkup. You’re the CMO for chrissakes!

I’m a doctor, not an escalator Everything McCoy does on Capella IV in “Friday’s Child” is very strange to me. a) Why had McCoy been there when these people are still in primitive stages? b) Why didn’t McCoy TELL Grant that drawing his phaser would get him killed? c) What fetishist wrote the slap fight with the pregnant woman? This whole incident was just eyebrow raising, one of McCoy’s specialties!

A total resentment towards women See what I mean about Bones not understanding doctoring sometimes? A woman crewmember makes a mistake that bonks Scott on the noggin, so McCoy diagnoses Scott with misogyny in “Wolf in the Fold,” and prescribes a trip to a brothel. That was a thing that happened. What incel wrote this nonsense? Sometimes, Star Trek, your being written in the sixties really shows.

They reproduce bisexually Another weird medical gaff McCoy makes is stating that the tribbles reproduce bisexually in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Someone on the writing team apparently had no idea what that word means and it resulted in making McCoy just sound incompetent. The tribbles reproduce asexually, and their being born pregnant is what Bones was trying to relay when he flubbed it hard.

I think I left it in Bela’s office Not only did McCoy NOT get to play dress up in gangster clothes like Kirk and Spock in “A Piece of the Action” (what a waste; he would have looked great!), but the button at the end of the episode reveals that he’s left his communicator on Sigma Iotia! Well. Go and get it, nincompoop! That’s cultural contamination! Beam it up! Amateurs, I swear to Okmyx.

…you pointed-eared hobgoblin! Most of our worst McCoy moments have been a bit tongue-in-cheek until now, but you do have to admit that McCoy’s constant stream of casual racism at Vulcans is absolutely problematic. And as much as we credit the beautiful jail scene in “Bread and Circuses” (as I already did above), it’s also the time that he called Spock a “pointed-eared hobgoblin” and that’s not okay. The rest of that scene is still great though.

Will I become like Chekov, doctor? Okay, doc, I know everyone’s going mildly nuts in “The Tholian Web” because of the space crazies, but Uhura’s claim that she saw the captain should have been taken seriously. It was a symptom no one else had displayed. You already knew Kirk was vanishing and reappearing. And later you take Scott seriously when he makes the same claim. Justice for Uhura!

They've lost confidence in you We mentioned this episode in our Spock coverage, but it bears repeating. Everything was out of place in “The Tholian Web,” and McCoy was in rare form being extra racist to Spock the whole time. Even if it’s for good reason (Spock is terrible at command!), McCoy comes off as petty, emotional, and cruel all episode long and that’s not the kind of light-hearted ribbing he usually gives Spock.

It tastes just fine One final blundering McCoy moment comes in The Animated Series episode “The Eye of the Beholder.” “The water is too pure,” according to Spock, before McCoy reveals that it tastes fine. What are you doing drinking untested water on a planet where people have disappeared, bonehead? And getting crushed by a dragon somehow? What is this, amateur hour?

— This blogpost is dead, Jim! We know Bones is a doctor, not an engineer, so fittingly next week we’ll make sure to aim our character spotlight at an engineer! Join us for our celebration of all things Montgomery Scott here on the blog, and also in our continued watchthrough of all Trek over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast. You can also hail us over on Facebook and Twitter, and maybe don’t keep your scalpels mounted above the biobed, doc. Just a thought.

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stayland · 3 months

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Here’s everything you have to know about Stayland!

Stayland is a network dedicated to stay writers, run by @chaninfused. Simple and low commitment, we aim to provide support to writers by promoting their work and create a community where both writers and readers can come together!

Our members tag is #stayland!

Stayland’s essential function is reblogging members’ new stories posted in the tag #stayland. We aim to update our queue at least twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays; but we have more to offer!

Lovestay Journal — Our newsletter where members may share their works in progress to gather traction and anticipation from readers.

Hall of Stay — This is an initiative for readers to spotlight and recommend their favorite stories every month.

More details will be available during the launch!

Seasonal Themes — Every three months, Stayland will choose three themes to promote. Our members may use these themes for inspiration, and readers may submit fanfiction recommendations following the themes.

Build-a-Fic Event — A joint project between readers and writers. Audience votes on story elements, writers go!

More details will be available during the launch!

Our applications are open all year round. Have a read through our rules before accessing the application form below!

Applicant rules:

Must be a stray kids fanfiction writer with at least one stray kids fanfiction in masterlist.

Must write stories other than fake texts and reactions.

There are no activity requirements. Members can be active or inactive writers, since our network aims to showcase all fanfiction new or old. Likewise, there is no requirement for members to participate in club events.

Must only write SFW fanfiction. If your blog contains NSFW content that is not fanfiction, it must be properly tagged and labeled.

Must be 16 years of age or older. Lying about one’s age will result in immediate suspension.

Must be following @stayland.

No discriminatory behavior, extremist beliefs, or bullying will be tolerated. Evidence of such will result in immediate rejection or suspension.

No plagiarism. Evidence of such will result in immediate rejection or suspension.

Fanfiction rules:

We will promote all fanfiction that adheres to the following rules:

Must not be an SNS/fake text post.

Must not be a reaction post.

Must use a read more cut if the text is longer than 500 words.

Must indicate word count, trigger warnings, and reader category.

Must be SFW.

Failure to adhere to these rules will result in a story not being reblogged even if it’s a member’s work. Please check our FAQ for further elaboration on the rules!

Our application form will ask you questions regarding the rules mentioned above, as well as ask you to create your profile for our members page. Kindly answer the former questions with integrity!

Here’s your key: 003255

Disclaimers:

We reserve the right to reject any application for failure to adhere to the aforementioned rules.

Application processing may take up to a week’s time (7 days).

#about #rules #application form

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swampstew · 9 months

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KillerCook Chapter 10

Welcome to Raven’s Reading Nook - a small corner of this blog dedicated to cozy story times. Join us in the family room as we sit around and browse our phones, and eat some Girl Scout cookies as we begin tonight’s story. Rated Mature for language. Minors DNI

“Almost ready guys?”

Affirmative voices responded to Killer as he tied his apron around his waist, preparing to go live. Wire adjusted the overhead camera mount for angles and fluid movement while Heat used his laptop to monitor and assist with the show’s channel.

“Last run down: we go live, I do my bit, the ingredients are presented, the rest of the crew helps mix, assemble, and decorate, we call in Kid and we start the party. Did I miss anything?”

Blank stares looked back at him, not answering until—

“Where’s your helmet Killer?” Dive pointed to his bare face.

“OH SHIT!”

A light knocking came from the kitchen door and Killer jumped, “NO ONE COME IN HERE! ITS FORBIDDEN!”

Silence took over as the person on the other side of the door didn’t answer or knock again. Instead, something was pressed against the wooden door, and multiple feet could be heard scurrying through the hall and away from the kitchen.

“Who else is in the house?” Killer asked after he quickly counted his crew.

“Distractions for the Boss,” Wire flashed him a thumbs up.

“…Which one of you invited the Straw Hats?”

“Killer its time!” Heat called out a minute before the hour.

“Shit, where’s my helmet?!”

Pomp was closest to the door and cracked it open before fully opening to bring in a box sitting on the floor. Inside, Killer’s helmet. A note attached to the front that read:

Sorry we took it. Wanted to see what it looked like with my hat. Jaggy already hit me and the lady in pink said to apologize. Save me some dessert please. Monkey D. Luffy

“I-whatever. As long as it doesn’t smell weird,” Killer grumbled, tossing the note in the trashcan.

Wire led the countdown, “Going Live in 3, 2, 1,” he mouthed the final number and pointed his finger at the chef to begin.

“Hey everyone! KillerCook here with a special announcement. It’s my #1 taste tester’s birthday! So today me and the crew are working together to make awesome desserts for the man who eats anything and everything!”

The crew walked through the camera’s focus as Killer introduced each one to the audience.

“Everyone is contributing, no spice or egg will be added by the same person as we all work together, quite possibly in peaceful harmony, to make this day as great as possible. As always, the recipes will be pinned to the top for anyone wanting to try it out at home. Keep the tags and stitches coming, I love seeing you all try these dishes and putting your own flair on them!”

Directing the procession with the crew, Killer had them walk in and out of the camera frame showcasing each ingredient as if it were a game show presenting the prizes to be won.

“We’re throwing the Captain a party so we need to make enough desserts for everyone AND him. Now Kid isn’t the type of guy who sticks to most traditions, just a few that he holds close to the heart. Birthday cakes he can go either way. To make things interesting, we’re not doing just One Cake. We’re going to make 3 desserts, and hopefully still have enough to satisfy everyone’s appetite and not leave ANY leftovers.”

Pulling out his tablet device, Killer showed the screen to his followers to share the desserts in mind. The sound of notifications pinging indicated that the poll was popping off. Heat gave Killer an enthusiastic whisper shout and lowered the background music so the audience could hear Killer better.

“I’m hearing a debate has broken out on whether or not two of the desserts are the same. Well kind of yes and no. Choux pastry technically is the branch family that makes both Profiteroles and Cream Puffs, HOWEVER – the difference is the filling, one uses custard and the other uses whipped cream and fruit. So technically different. Yes, I agree that a Chocolate Trifle is the clear ‘birthday cake’ replacement, but like I said, we need enough for everyone and Kid doesn’t love sharing.”

Killer motioned for Gig and UK to bring a massive serving dish into the camera’s focus.

“This is why we had to custom order this bad boy!” using a rag from his apron pocket, Killer wiped some fingerprints from the side of the bowl. “This is a pure crystal trifle bowl that can hold enough servings for 4 Kids! So I think we’ll be good. We’ll assemble the layers last to let the pudding and whipped cream chill for serving.”

The two men brought the bowl to a different area and out of the way as Killer brought out the first group of bakers.

“This is the Trifle Squad. Get to position,” the group composed of Reck, Dive, Jaguar, Pomp, and House moved towards the counter space nearest to the fridge. They began grabbing their ingredients and tools to begin baking when given the sign.

“This is the Cherry Squad, they have the fun bonus of mashing the cherries for our glaze outside. Speaking of, you can go do that now,” Killer pointed off camera. Mosh, Boogie, Quincy, Compo, and Disc J marched to their designation.

“Can’t forget about the [redacted] squad. And if you’ve been wondering about the recent use of censorship lately, well to be honest it’s all on you guys. There’s been an addendum to the social media contract that says we can’t say certain words or risk getting banned. So keep it PG-17!”

Haikei, Emma, Moai, Hop, and Papas made their way to the kitchen island with their respective mixing bowls and ingredients. That left only a few members of the official crew left.

“And last but certainly not least, the Rough Runners. Unlike the name implies, they will be our kitchen coordinators that clean dishes, bring us ingredients or tools we need to each other and from anywhere we keep them. Step up guys,” Killer motioned for the last members to come forward.

Hip, Oscar, Noe, UK, Gig, and Bubblegum stood in a line from descending order as they waved to the camera.

“Bubblegum and Gig also act as bouncers and security on the side and will also be the enforcers tonight as our parties tend to uh, get a little crazy,” Killer waved to the other tallest members of the crew that weren’t Wire.

“With the help of some local friends, the party is being set up in the backyard while we prepare the desserts for the birthday brute. Ideally, we all work in harmony to make the desserts at once. If we can manage that, well let’s just say there’s an underground betting pool that this is all riding on.”

The crew laughed as Killer joined them with his pastry hat adjusted on his helmet. Heat turned up the music playlist and Wire took over directing the live show so the chef could focus all his energy in his kitchen. Every crewmate had their moment of camera time as Wire woved between the bakers, the glazers, the runners, and Heat who entertained the community chatters as he ran polls and answered the text channel to keep the audience engaged.

As Killer prepared the doughs for baking, his commis chefs worked in their respective sections to make the glaze, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, bake the brownies, crush the No-reos, and do everything in between. Any time the groups found themselves with a few minutes to spare, they would huddle around Heat and talk to the audience as Wire filmed it.

“—And that’s cool and all but I wouldn’t mind becoming a tattoo artist, in fact I already do dotwork style but most people prefer other methods so no reason to stay in one lane,” Emma finished the rest of her water and handed the glass to Oscar. He threw her a dirty look before going to the sink.

“User_x58469: is directing this question to Papas: ‘are the tinted sunglasses indoors a statement’?”

“Yeah it’s a statement. A statement that says I need prescription glasses and I have style. [Redacted] off, I’ve got work ta do,” he grumbled, pulling his hoodie over his head and walked to the kitchen.

“He’s sensitive about his eyesight,” Heat tutted at the chat.

“And I’m sensitive about lingerers,” Killer loomed over the sizable group that had crowded around Heat and Wire. “It’s time to do the decorating, give me my show back!”

As the crewmembers ran to their stations, Killer tsked at his technical assistants before taking command of the camera once more.

“We’re in the last stretch! Now we get to the fun part, filling and putting together the layers. For the trifle, we’ll be taking turns layering the cooled pudding and whipped cream, the chopped up brownies, crushed no-reos, and chocolate shavings in the crystal bowl. We’ll also be filling the profiteroles with vanilla custard and drizzling the chocolate sauce on top once all the dough balls are filled. At the same time, we’ll be cutting the other half of the dough balls in half so we can layer the black cherry whipped cream between the two halves and top it off with some powdered sugar and a generous drizzle of black cherry glaze.”

Killer looked at his watch, “We’re making such great time that we’ll actually be done at the time the party starts which is just perfect. I have time for a few questions before I get back to supervising and layering.

“FreeBritney_MS: wants to know how difficult is chiox pastry, and if you need to be an advanced baker to attempt it.”

“Oh this is a myth! Its considered an advanced form of bakery but really all you need is patience and creativity. Most people fail between making the dough just right, or in the double baking process. Common mistakes I see are undercooking the dough, or having the structure fall when baking is done. I would advise working slow to see what your dough needs from you in order to bake exactly what you want. Don’t forget to poke a hole before the second bake, otherwise the inside won’t fully cook and get that flaky crispness its known for.”

Before long, the kitchen was relatively quiet as the music flowed and the crew took their time meticulously decorating each dessert. When they were done, they had created 300 pastries and probably the world’s biggest trifle.

“Without further ado, let’s bring in the man of the hour for his taste testing.”

Killer pressed the button under the counter to signal for Kid to come in. With a final grating of chocolate shavings on the trifle and making sure the sauces and glazes dripped in droolworthy fashion, he pushed a plate of desserts from the main bounty forward and motioned for the crew to move around to still be in the camera’s wide frame shot.

Everyone waited in anticipation as the thudding sound of boots echoed from the hallway. The door was pushed open, revealing a behemoth wearing an outfit fit for the King of Punks.

Kid was dripped out in black, ripped jeans with a mesh tank top that was partially covered by his beloved patched jacket. It had all his favorite bands, his own jolly rogers, and other inside jokes patched on the black dyed denim and spikes that ran down the collar and shoulders. At his waist, a checkered plaid half kilt that shrouded his legs but did not take away from his steel toed Doc Martens. His tufted hair was styled extra pointed, and his signature goggles were gone, in their place a simple paisley bandana keeping his long locks from his face.

Instead of his usual black guyliner, Kid had opted for a dramatic wing effect and complemented the look with a smoked red color that made his eyes glow. He had gone a little heavy on the highlighter dusted across his cheekbones and tip of his nose, but his red lipstick was immaculate as always. His golden piercings shone as if a hundred camera flashes were going off at his every movement.

The pièce de résistance was the massive wreath that rested against chest.

Massive whirls of meringue were piped together side by side to create the wreathe, and inside each of the piped nest shapes, there were tufts of meringue piped inside and on the outer rim of the nest to create a thick chain of meringue gears. The inner circle of the wreath was reinforced with solid layers of meringue to keep the shape stable, and in those flat surfaces, diluted food coloring had been used to paint a watercolor like design. The design looked vaguely like an eastern red dragon encircling the wreath itself. The gears were sprinkled with splashes of silver food coloring and edible gold leaf flakes placed on the outer rims.

A smirk was plastered on Kid’s face as he gently lifted the wreath from his chest, “Jealous of my bling?”

“Wh-what is it?” Dive asked.

Killer walked up to the birthday boy and lightly tapped his finger to the wreath, “It smells and looks like it’s made of meringue.”

“Damn straight it is. Gonna eat it later.”

“Oh that’s really cool, look at the detail,” Wire ran his fingers on the wreath for the camera and pressed too hard on one of the gears causing it to crackle and dent.

“WATCH IT! You break my wreath and I break your face,” Kid snapped, stepping past the curious hands to stand in front of the island countertop.

“It’s sturdy enough which means an expert made this,” Killer scoffed, “It’ll stay together assuming you don’t punch it or tug it.”

“Yeah yeah, what’d you make for me?”

“Excuuuuusssseeee me, Captain,” the chef regained his posture. “Made you this. Happy [redacted] birthday!” he flippantly pointed at the desserts.

“What’re you bitchy about?”

“I thought I was making your birthday dessert.”

“This isn’t dessert, Kill. It’s a tasty treat, from a tasty treat. Drop the dramatics.”

Like a switch had been flipped, Killer straightened his hat and cleared his throat, looking at the camera to continue his script.

“Aye aye Captain,” he said only a little sarcastically. “We present you with profiteroles, cherry cream puffs, and a chocolate trifle. We put together ‘specially for you.”

“Happy birthday captain!” the crew began cheering in the background as Kid smiled and nodded his head at them. He popped a profiterole in his mouth first.

“Oh damn that’s so good! I thought it was going to be cakier but the way it just crumbled and the custard to pastry ratio is just perfect!”

Killer nodded in approval as the others whooped.

Grabbing a napkin in his metal hand, Kid carefully ate the cherry cream puff, careful to not let it drip on his clothes. “I never knew cherry could taste this [redacted] good! The glaze has a tarty aftertaste but it hits so well after the whipped cream and pastry goes down. I really like those, make sure I get more of those.”

“Aye aye,” Killer went to section off a generous portion.

Balancing his mini dessert bowl in his hand, Kid took a precarious bite before a pleased smile spread across his face, “I really thought this would be too sweet but [redacted] [redacted] if that isn’t the best chocolate dessert I’ve ever had. The pudding and whipped cream layers are so light that its easy to just gobble this up. The brownie and no-reos go well with that sweet and salty balance, and just all together like this, I already said it but I’ll say it again, the BEST chocolate dessert, maybe in the history of ever. Great [redacted] job everyone!”

The crew swarmed Kid to individually wish him a happy birthday before the camera could get a clear shot of the Captain again. When they moved to the background and out of the frame, Kid grabbed Killer in a delicate hug that didn’t crush the sugary wreath.

“Thank you brother, it means a lot to me you went through this effort to make me something. You always do but it never ceases to amaze me.”

“Anytime little brother. We’ll always have your back, ride or die for life, we’re the Kid Pirates!”

The sound of howling and whistling overtook the music as the crew cheered for their nakama. They began tossing balloons around the kitchen and Killer took of his chef hat to replace it with a party hat. Suddenly, the sound of a young man’s voice cut through all the yelling.

“IS IT TIME FOR THE CAKE?!”

“Looks like we’re outta time! See you next time when I teach you all how to tackle the dreaded croissant. It’s not that hard, and like everything else I make, slays. This has been Faffaffaffa-Food with Killer.”

Live has ended.

Bonus: The comment section

Prop0$aline: How does a guy get a dessert order like that for my birthday? Asking for me. KillerCook: For a limited time only, I’ll be selling baked goods online! Scream_Maim_Fire: Siiiike, most state laws prohibit the sale of consumable goods. If you drive here that’s a different story. KillerCook: Please do not drive here. CabinHo3: From the bottom of all our hearts, happy birthday Captain!!! PunkNeverDied69: Thanks <3 Iwannabe_wherethepirates_arr: When is recruitment open??? FlamingHot420: Ehh…to be determined. Working on some…roadblocks at the moment.

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#killercook #massacre soldier killer #eustass kid #raven's reading nook #firstmatesimp #kid pirates #heat one piece #wire one piece #op kid pirates #kid pirate nakama #killer one piece #eustass captain kid #tiktok #modern AU #eustasscaptainkid #ao3 writer #wattpad author #swampstew #swampstew stories

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