#woe tovposting be upon ye

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vesperia characters posted by the tales of the rays twitter :)

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Illustrations from Rita's novel: 青の天空 (rough translation: Blue Sky) (also on imgur with the other novels)

drawn by Atsuko Nakajima (中嶋 敦子)

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Words with deeper meaning- Yuri and The Second Star

If you remember a post I made some time ago about a certain something that Flynn says, well, here is what I would call "the Yuri version"! I've decided I wanted to tackle his iconic sword Second Star. Shoutout to my friend Choc for discussing it so extensively with me, and for also providing good ideas for thought :)

This goes without saying, but everything further down the post includes spoilers for the game! I also ramble semi-extensively about language, like I have the previous time.

So let's take a look at the sword! For the unaware, the guaranteed way to get it is as a drop from fighting Estelle (which is overall one of my most favorite parts of the game).

My own screenshot, in English. Here is the flavor text:

Second Star “The first one is for him...” A sword named with a deep message.

Skills you can unlock for this are "Special" (a requirement to perform mystic artes) and "Combination 2", a skill used for combo building. Given this is more or less what I would call his "canon" sword (as it's seen in multiple illustrations featuring Yuri, and even the opening of the game), the availability for his mystic arte through this checks out. Otherwise, nothing too notable yet.

There are two ways to read into what "the first one" means:

This could be referring specifically to Flynn's sword, Radiant Star. Here is my screenshot of it:

flavor text:

Radiant Star A sword designed in the image of an especially bright star. The star at its tip is a mark of its strength.

The skills here are "Hero", "Rival Surge" and "Rival Surge 2". The first skill is unique to Flynn and how he plays against non-humanoid enemies, with the latter two skills being different boosts based on Yuri's actions in battle.

And of course, in order to gain access to it, you need to win the 100-man melee as Flynn. (It's particularly fun because you need to face off against Yuri)

Further comparison between the two swords will be done further down the post.

2. "The first one" could represent Flynn and Yuri's feelings about him.

My friend Choc says that in this case "the first one" is not truly a specific object but an abstract concept that illustrates Yuri's feelings on Flynn and himself. And I agree with it wholeheartedly.

Based everything the narrative puts down in the game, this is simply another instance of the fact Yuri considers himself second best to Flynn, while simultaneously putting Flynn on what I love referring to as "the pedestal". Even the game itself, through flavor text and descriptions, loves reminding the player that Flynn is essentially the hope and shining light for the knights. This is also, in my opinion, an indirect reflection of Yuri's feelings.

2.5 I'm opening this point based on an idea suggested by Choc:

Let's first recall the legend behind the Vesperia star: and how it's about a brother that went to save the world from the end of the world, while his sister stayed behind to protect the world. The game eventually reveals that this is a fantasized way to say that Zaude is the core protecting the world, while the Vesperia star is in fact the blastia that hid the Adephagos out of sight, keeping it at bay. But what is also worth noting is that this is supposed to draw a strong parallel between Yuri and Estelle with those fictional siblings.

(hey, if you want to feel emotional, the track that plays during the Estelle boss fight is called "The Full Moon and the Morning Star")

Why am I mentioning this? Well, one fun thing that Choc has pointed out is that the audience becomes explicitly aware of that intended parallel, and particularly of Yuri's comparison to the brother who sacrifices himself for everyone else. The hero that steps up and leaves his family behind. Compare that to Yuri's tendency to sacrifice his well-being and tendency to "do the job no one else wants to do."

However, let's imagine we're in Yuri's mental headspace for this. Is it possible to argue that Yuri would hear such a legend and have his own interpretation of it? Choc has proposed that it's one where Yuri thinks that this kind of hero would befit someone like Flynn, instead. He obviously isn't aware of how the narrative intends the legend to be perceived in regards to him, and on top of his (eventual) idealized look at Flynn, it certainly seems worth considering.

As to whether 1 or 2 is the correct answer, it was actually a trick. I believe both are ideas that can coincide here.

Now, let's go to the Japanese flavor texts to further discuss the swords!

flavor text for Second Star:

ニバンボシ 一番はあいつの為にとっておいてやるさ…… ……ってワケでもないが意味深な名前を持つ刀

flavor text for Radiant Star:

レイディアントスター ひときわ強く輝く一つ星。そんな思いをこめて作られた剣。剣先の星が強さの証

I will try not to go too much into the language use here, because this post would otherwise get even longer than it is.

But for the sake of comparison, while both sword names use the Katakana script, Flynn's sword is English transliterated into Japanese, while Yuri's is in Japanese, but using Katakana.

(many weapons in Vesperia, including ones with Japanese names, are written with Katakana, as opposed to Hiragana and Kanji. It's mostly done for flair/style.)

Here's where it starts getting interesting. Let's look at the Japanese closer:

レイディアントスター ひときわ強く輝く一つ星。そんな思いをこめて作られた剣。剣先の星が強さの証

ニバンボシ 一番はあいつの為にとっておいてやるさ…… ……ってワケでもないが意味深な名前を持つ刀

I've marked certain instances that I will be discussing here.

一つ星 (hitotsu hoshi)

Now, the flavor text for Flynn's sword uses this, which is translated as "single star" or "a star". In the dictionaries I use, this also translates to "evening/morning star", which seems to invoke the fictional Vesperia star again.

I need to mention the fact that Japanese has a lot of possible variations for counter suffixes. for "一つ", this is using the the general one.

2.一番 / ニバンボシ (ichiban / niban boshi)

Do not mind the fact they're using kanji and katakana respectively. Under normal circumstances, ニバン would be 二番.

These are two counter suffixes in Second Star's name and flavor text! "First" and "Second", these are used to count an order for things.

What I particularly enjoy about this here is that Radiant Star's counter suffix is not used to invoke an order for first, second, etc. It's a single bright star. So it's only with Second Star where the order is invoked, indirectly through Yuri.

Let's look at the two other interesting instances of the text in Second Star!

3. あいつ (aitsu)

This goes without saying, but Yuri is extremely impolite in Japanese. He uses a lot of informal/short forms in sentences, many of which are considered very rude. I won't dissect every instance of Yuri opening his mouth to prove this, but one notable instance is this word (and variation) that Yuri enjoys to use regularly. He uses it for people he isn't close with, he's used it for people he's close with. I've found an instance for him using it with Judith, so he doesn't even limit it to gender. And, of course, he's used it to refer to Flynn.

Now, what does this word even mean? Well, it comes in a set of three, こいつ, そいつ, あいつ. (koitsu, soitsu, aitsu), which are informal/rude ways of referring to people. The main difference between them simply depends on the position of the subject. In the third one's case, it's referred to someone who is "far away from both the speaker and the listener".

Fun fact, Rita also regularly uses these words when she speaks.

Anyway, I just wanted to translate the phrase "あいつの為に", because it's basically "for that guy's sake/for the sake of that guy". thank you

4.ワケでもない (wake demo nai)

Now here is the part that stumped me while reading the flavor text. Normally, this phrase would be written as わけでもない, but the marked in green is in Katakana! でもない is a form of negation, and I've grabbed an example of it from this website:

梅雨時でもないんだから、傘は要らないんじゃない。 "Since it's not the rainy season, there's no need for an umbrella."

ワケ/わけ is most likely 訳, which can mean conclusion/reason/judgement.

When I was looking into the phrase, I also came across "わけではない" (wake dewa nai), which from what I understand is a variation of the negation above. It's used to indicate "It doesn't mean that..."

So, because I wanted to challenge myself, I also wanted to try translating the Japanese flavor text!

warning! amateur translation! (and if it's got a severe error please feel free to let me know) (shout out to the multiple dictionaries I've used)

一番はあいつの為にとっておいてやるさ…… ……ってワケでもないが意味深な名前を持つ刀

"The first one is set aside for him (that guy) / his (that guy's) sake..." Even if he said it had no meaning, the katana carries a meaningful name.

The flavor text offers us the option that Yuri essentially said "The first one is for him" casually, but in reality, the naming of the sword holds a deep meaning to him. The localization shortened it, but ultimately carries the intended message.

I assume this was done to cut out the repetition found in the usage of the word "meaning". Japanese has several ways of saying it, but English is much more limited.

Finally, let's actually move away from the two swords, and point to something closer to late/endgame. Vesperia No.1 and Vesperia No.2! Screenshot from Hyouta:

What I wanted to point out is that the party never ends up using Vesperia No.1 as intended, right? Because it is at a point in the game where Flynn needs help on Hypionia. Yuri, in a surprising turn of events, makes his first selfish request from the others, doesn't he?

That's right, he asks to use the first one, for him.

And later on, when Rita repairs and perfects it, No.2 becomes a sword that Yuri can equip in battles!

So now you can sit with this knowledge too.

Thank you for reading this post! Yuri Lowell is gay

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as i was watching my sibling play tov today i had a fun little theory come to mind

we already know flynns cooking experimenting often goes awry. but there still are two recipes you need flynn to make to evolve them. for one of them, he has to evolve steak from salisbury steak, which is an extremely hilarious recipe evolution. did he glue the beef back together? did he ungrind it(????) who knows

but i noticed smth on the hyouta website that makes me want to propose the following:

what if he made steak from salisbury so that repede could also enjoy it?

there is no otherwise indication in game to support this, but i do want to note that the only other foods repede actually likes eating are the dog food and the salad

and i just like the idea of flynn wanting to make his and yuri's dog happy and it NOT going wrong

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Words left unspoken-- Flynn and the XBOX 360 ending

Today, I finally wanted to make a post about something that might be a little obscure. Whether it truly is would depend on whether

a) you’ve watched/seen the original version of Vesperia,

or

b) you enjoyed the game through PS3 or Definitive Edition and have looked into the significant differences done between the same game.

To preface, I think it is no secret to anyone that the original 360 version did not have Flynn as a playable character, whereas Patty was just not present (though there was a hint in the original version, if my memory serves me right, that there were plans to implement her even before the ps3 version)

This is my warning to avoid reading further, as this entire post contains spoilers for the ending of the game, regardless of the version.

To make sure all readers are up to speed, it’s important to mention that Flynn is not brought along for Tarqaron in the 360 version. If the player wants to talk to him as an NPC, he would be present in Aurnion (and the Colosseum as an enemy if you’re doing the 100-man melee). Regardless, this significantly changes the progression of the ending cutscene, once you are able to defeat the end-game boss. I would suggest to take a few minutes to watch and compare the original vs updated ending, which I am providing now, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91L4AIKcyg The version used in PS3 and Definitive Edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgeMz8Vyocw The version used for the XBOX 360 version, in English.

[I want to mention that I think the part where the rest of the party runs up to Yuri is cute in both versions. In the older one, Yuri kneels to greet Repede! Um, they forgot Patty in the new version somehow, but I imagine she’s doing her Dream Star arte and is about to explode the others.]

Let’s put our focus on Flynn, though!

In the Definitive edition, you know that he approaches Yuri happily, and they both do their little handshake/high-five thing before running up to the others.

In the XBOX 360 version, we get something entirely different! We have Flynn looking up softly at the sky in order to declare his pride for Yuri, without Yuri ever being able to hear that, let alone know it was even said.

Why does he not say it in the newer versions of Vesperia? Your guess is as good as mine, but I will still propose an idea: The moment was different.

Time and time again Flynn witnesses Yuri and the gang do so many good deeds without taking the proper credit for it. In the case of the original, Flynn is not playable, so he witnesses even less of what the party is doing. I think this cut away from the party perspective in the original to show Flynn is meant to assure the player (who usually may be controlling Yuri) that yes, he genuinely considers Yuri in that high of a regard. He doesn’t personally witness the defeat of the Adephagos in the original, so his only line of thought is to assume Yuri was able to defeat it himself. In fact, the original helps the viewer know that Flynn is perfectly certain this was Yuri’s doing.

Though Flynn goes through the same issue of Yuri refusing to take credit in all versions of the game, he is able to travel with the others and establish more of a bond (albeit awkwardly) with them in PS3 and onward. I think part of him not saying the pride line in those endings was also because he was generally relieved to see the Adephagos defeated with his own eyes. I assure you he probably still is proud of Yuri for it.

Let’s move on to a more interesting observation. Since the English XBOX 360 was very big for the west and there was no dual audio at the time, many players have missed out on how the line is spoken in the Japanese version of the original. So I wanted to compare them too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5h6QoedZ9o&t=322s The 360 ending, in Japanese.

INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

This part of my post isn’t meant to say which version is superior, but to discuss the choices done that make the lines both similar and different. Please keep this in mind I am saying this as a(n English) Language major thank you and godspeed.

Anyway, let’s put the lines together:

……君こそ僕の誇りだよ。親友 ...I am so proud to call you my friend, Yuri Lowell.

The website I’ve referred to for years by now does not offer a fan translation for the 360 version, but only for PS3 and on. In my experience playing the game in Japanese audio, watching my sibling play it in the dub, studying Japanese, I have found that the only significant times the fan-TL and the localization differ are when translating arte names. (Here is the website https://hyouta.com/vesperia/index.php?version=ps3p&locale=jp&compare=c2)

Some notes: こそ is used to put emphasis after pronouns. だよ is also used to put emphasis too, but in a very informal manner. Flynn typically ends many of his sentences with だ in Japanese, especially when he is speaking casually with Yuri and other party members. He even switches his first person pronoun depending if he’s on duty or not.

(for だよ: https://www.alexrockinjapanese.com/meaning-of-dayo-in-japanese-and-english-how-to-use/, for こそ: https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2015/10/22/japanese-word-koso-%E3%81%93%E3%81%9D-explained-in-detail/)

With my beginner-level Japanese, I will try to offer a translation of the former line, with the help of dictionaries such as https://jisho.org and the above resources to help me parse out a meaning.

“...You are my pride, close friend.” ← where arguably, switching close for the word dear might convey the message better. Frankly speaking, this ended up being the same translation as the one provided by a fluri quote bot that was used on twitter (pay respects for it no longer working).

Now, you might have noticed that I put an emphasis on ‘you’. Well, it’s because Flynn’s wording would be impossible to convey in the translation otherwise.

Let’s compare this and the official English localization! Several elements here are the same. They are marked:

...I am so proud to call you my friend, Yuri Lowell. ← Subject: I, Predicate: am, Complement: to call you. I’m not making the rest of the sentence now as it’s not that important. ...You are my pride, close friend. ← Subject: You, Predicate: are, Direct Object: my pride

So why is the English one so different? I can’t be truly sure, but even with a glance I can say that the syntactic construction is more complex, for one. I am interested in the switch between ‘pride’ and ‘proud’, with the former being a noun, the latter, an adjective.

What I also want to highlight here is that they ARE saying nearly the same thing. With the words ‘pride’ and ‘proud’ being able to be formed from one another, the meaning behind the words are not lost. In fact, when looking up the kanji for pride in the script of Vesperia, it is always translated interchangeably, depending on context.

If I must further simplify Flynn’s words, we get the following:

ENGLISH: I’m proud of my friend JAPANESE: (close) friend is my pride

depending on whether the difference is significant may be subjective.

Let’s determine the reasons /why/ the two versions wind up ultimately different while saying the same thing.

1. This is something my friend Choc pointed out. The possessive adjective. MY FRIEND vs MY PRIDE. When pulled from all context, the Japanese version comes out more intimate. But putting them back in it makes the scale more equal

I am proud + you are my friend = you are my pride + close friend

2. Troubles in translation: 親友 (しんゆう)

This kanji is not easy to translate. I’ve seen posts talking about it used in Naruto, where even there, it is difficult to emphasize the meaning in a translation. Even directly translating it like I did may come off awkward when in English. Translation and localization are one of the hardest parts of offering a Japanese text to non-Japanese speakers. And what can one do when the direct translation fails to impart the word?

You find other words that attempt to impart a similar connotation/meaning. This lies at the core of translation studies. It’s why a translator is REQUIRED to be a good speaker of the source and target language. The capability of having a wide range of vocabulary AS WELL AS being able to use it in the best placements are at the core of what one could consider a good translation. And even then, such a term is very subjective depending on which language speakers you ask. Especially when this comes to languages as different as English and Japanese.

But is 親友 truly lost in translation? I think the average English speaker is still able to infer that Flynn genuinely means his words in regards to Yuri. If not through one word, I think everything else that is said in done in the game is proof enough.

“I am so proud to call you…”

3. Cultural translations and implications

This point arose in further discussion between me and my friend Choc on the topic. Though I have operated with both lines saying they convey the same thing, I have not considered the semantics and cultural aspects of such phrases.

Firstly, Japanese is taught in a way where there is a large emphasis on formality. Most of what is seen in anime/manga/games can be considered at best informal and rude at worst. So it is important to keep such a thing in mind when looking at a Japanese texts. While we can translate something, we also need to understand how intimate it can be read, and subsequently, how would such a sentence come across in English.

“X is my pride” as a phrase is much less common than “I am proud of X”. And, subsequently, a speaker comes to alert if the former would be uttered. Why call someone the noun when you can describe them with the adjective?

This is speculative on my end but, in the case of Flynn’s line, I think it’s perfectly fine to say it’s intimate. That’s the intention! He and Yuri have known each other all their lives, and have been through the roughest parts in their relationship. They already speak informally with each other in Japanese, so such a line should not be too surprising, right?

Well, the perceived issue with using “You are my pride” in the localization could be that its meaning alters when it enters English. Semantically speaking, most English speakers would perceive this as romantically charged in most contexts. Part of it could be due to how direct it is when dissected syntactically, whereas the official localization lengthens the sentence and makes it more complex. In personal experience, many sentence structures I’ve already learned in Japanese are short and direct. Though Flynn’s line breaches intimacy, the structure is not why, but because of “こそ” and “だよ” that I mentioned earlier. Once more, the direct translation would in theory create a miscommunication of intention in the translation.

Ultimately, the most devastating part of Flynn’s line is the fact that Yuri will never be around to witness it. Yes, Flynn is still pretty direct with his feelings, we have that one line before the Aurnion fight, and it seems he can still convey his feelings non-verbally in a fight. But for someone who begins the story as demotivated and depressed, continues on to a point where his self-esteem plunders further, and manages to find what he wants to do while holding certain unhealthy ideas about Flynn (such as putting him on a pedestal, check the conversation with Sodia in Nor), Yuri probably really should hear those words, even if he is allergic to praise or positive affirmations aimed at him.

Ultimately, what can be done as a result is to ponder ideas after the end of the story and hope that Flynn eventually actually uses his words. But who’s to say! What did I do for this? I made edits. This is your reward for making it through my post. Maybe someday I’ll post them separately too.

Thanks for reading. Flynn Scifo is gay

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have i ever posted this image i edited? its been the pinned post on my twitter since june 2019

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Illustrations from Karol's novel: 銀の明星 (rough translation: Bright Silver Star) (also on imgur with the other novels)

drawn by Atsuko Nakajima (中嶋 敦子)

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i cant stand flynn scifo btw. just saying. no reasom whatsoever. this guy sucks. absolutely. yes

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new illustration from the tales of festival website! https://tof.tales-ch.jp/

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Illustrations from Estelle's novel: 金の満月 (rough translation: Gold Full Moon) (also on imgur with the other novels)

drawn by Atsuko Nakajima (中嶋 敦子)

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while i was compiling things for my video i completely forgot about these old screenshots

anyway in a playthrough prior to 2021, i quickly found that certain npc react differently to you depending on the character you've chosen to run on-screen with. this happened during my sidequesting in nam cobanda isle. i dont have the screenshots for that sadly (and there were a weird joke or two hidden in there, so try at your own risk)

but when i was playing in 2021, if my memory serves me right, i had flynn running around on my screen and decided to interact with this knight, which prompted a very funny response from them

poor guy.

i thought to myself in that instance: "IS THIS A UNIQUE INTERACTION?" so i naturally switched back to yuri. and yes, it truly was

there's totally other instances of the game reacting to your character if you have someone else other than yuri leading,

...just that it would take a lot of trial and error to record all possible examples (try as I might, i think ive only caught one instance of someone reacting to me running with repede, if at all... noone cares if a dog is trying to talk to you)

EDIT I LITERALLY HAD THIS ON HAND

knight's line in the day (flynn edition)

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THE RAYS IS RELEASING ALT COLORS FOR COSTUMES AND IM HYPER ZOOMING IN ON ALT COLORS FOR TRUE KNIGHT YURI.... HELLOOOOOOO

(gets dragged away by the hat man)

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Thoughts regarding the Scifos

i felt like gathering some ideas that ive had and discussed with people in the past, combining them with what we have available from the novel translations of dnk. it'll be under cut for if you havent read the novels yet and/or havent finished tov.

this goes without saying, but obviously since this is all found within side content and not in the game directly, this doesnt mean its 100% canon. its only canon to a person if they choose to believe it!

also. this is all speculative so do keep that in mind!

but i want to take note of how much flynn's parents' influence (in the brief time they've spent with flynn) could be felt on him. obviously, this wont be an ideal look at it, as writing and ideas about flynn's parents wasn't a thing in the game, and instead started with the first strike movie (unfortunately, some plot points contradict with things within the game. this is not the post to talk about that though). flynns past is explored further in the novels, which released around 2015/2016

firstly, it would be good to try gather whatever confirmed info there is on flynn's father. flynn's father in dnk doesnt even have a name attached to him! but i decided to stick with the name we get in first strike: finath scifo. for starters, let's stick with only the information from the novels.

it's heavily implied that the scifos all come from the citizen's/public quarter. finath's death was enough of a blow to norein and flynn that they needed to part with their former lives and move to the lower quarter. with how sickly norein is shown to be, it becomes apparent to me that finath was the sole breadwinner of the family. you could argue that he probably wasnt a very important position of a knight too, since becoming a captain is pretty hard. (flynn is the spiders georg of knight promotions) hence, finath probably wasnt even that rich (but still doing fine when compared to the lower quarter residents). if he didnt earn much to begin with, then it would make sense why norein had to resort to selling most of her and flynns possessions and move out.

as to how he must have been as a person... clearly, his own sense of justice affected norein enough for her to wish to follow the same principles, even if it meant her death. the question i want to pose though, how much of his sense of justice can we infer? was he actually against people stealing? how much of his worldview has influenced flynn in the novels?

with how flynn seems to act about the dark wings in the novels, its possible to say yes, finath was against stealing. but even then, i cant find myself saying this with complete certainty. this is because norein makes the choice to not drink the panacea, and it's already been years since finath's death. i feel her memory of finath and the choices she makes must have been motivated by her own mental state, too, besides finath's morals.

when it comes to flynn, finath actually started teaching his son swordsmanship before age 7. historically speaking, trainings for knights in noble families started from age 7, when the child is considered a page, whose job became to serve the senior knight, as well as learning swordsmanship. with flynn even having a book on techniques that he continues learning diligently from, its apparent that finath had ambitions for flynn to follow in his footsteps. i feel i could argue this could also be part of the reason why flynn is so adamant about not besmirching techniques for the knights, and why he chides yuri about it (both in the novels and in the game). by doing the same techniques, it's like flynn is able to honor his father's death, even if knighthood itself is a sore spot for him at the time.

i also want to note the words norein uses in her posthumous letter to flynn: [source from this chapter]

You may not be able to understand the choice he made, or the choice I made, right now. I’m sorry for not being able to stay by your side until you did. Even so, I still hope that you will understand one day.

(emphasis in bold by me)

once again, it all comes back to choices and living (or dying) by them, a central theme of vesperia!

the wording here is fascinating, as we never quite get an explanation as to how finath died in the novels.

but ultimately, it was still a choice he made that lead to his death. norein probably knows how finath must have perished. does flynn? with how dodgy he is on the topic, it could be argued for either way. in my opinion, with how the novels follows flynn's perspective sometimes, it doesnt seem that bit in particular turmoils flynn. it makes me think he is probably aware of how finath died, but simply hasnt been able to fully come to terms with it (much like how he later struggles understanding norein's choice to not drink the panacea)

i feel like such an honesty on how and why both his parents died is a double-edged sword for flynn. while he is able to know the truth, it also makes him close off with his thoughts at his lowest. granted, this isnt fully visible in game, but id argue its one of the possible reasons he spends so much time coming to terms with different things and ruminates about it even when in the party (such as yuri's killings). in fact, in-game, he takes alexei's betrayal pretty badly, still wishing he could understand why alexei made this choice even in the latter's boss fight, much to yuris surprise!

let's move on to norein for now. we know she is sickly, and it's clear that she hasnt been the same since moving to the lower quarter. flynn tends to her on many days, and she requires his help on many things even as he is young. she's made the hat for flynn in the past, but you never find her making anything similar again. if she had any particular interests and passions, finath's death took them with him.

it's when she is able to teach the lower quarter how to read that she briefly regains a spark of life, and a purpose to do something. and when she is hit with the (presumably aer-related) sickness, she sinks back to how she'd been. she refuses the panacea from jiri, because it meant going against finath's ideals, and chose to die.

it's easy to infer that she was an incredibly depressed woman. and when she was hit with such a deadly sickness, i think she was simply waiting to die from it. obviously, it's a painful and a pretty terrible choice to have, especially as she does ultimately leave her son all alone. on the other hand, she believes flynn wouldnt be alone in the community of the lower quarter. its hard to completely rationalize her choice, as it all seems motivated by her own mental state. such as the fact she may also display some form of self-deprecation? how low would one have to be doing to think their child will be ultimately alright after their death?

what does all of this say about flynn later on? you see this as soon as chapter one of the novel. he doesnt wish to be a trouble for, or have his negative feelings be known by his mother. he puts on a smile, and isnt entirely honest with her when the other boys pestered him. he goes for the river escapade for his mother's health's sake, and not for any other known reason.

even when she dies, flynn is never able to get out of that behavior. as is noted in the last chapter for part 2, it's like he had no desire for anything. this was said about him not spending money, but this line seems to ring true about flynn throughout the novel. this is obviously due to the grief he's been dealing with, but it's also indicative of something flynn struggles in the future too. he is never able to be a very selfish person. arguably, when he expresses selfishness, it actually ends up causing some things to go differently (such as when he insists going with the party to baction rather than lead his brigade up until the heracles scenes) (or how, arguably, his own insistence to learn knight techniques evolved into norein willingly teaching literacy to the lower quarter residents)

especially in his position as a knight, taking any time as distraction even to speak to yuri for a bit costs him valuable time. this is already an issue when you become a captain of the knights, but its even further amplified when its an issue flynns been dealing with since childhood.

but when it comes to it, it seems to me that there have been some vague attempts for flynn to stop concerning himself with knighthood, from noreins end. i dont mean it in a "she was against it", but in a "she didnt encourage him" way. for one, flynn didnt have his first sword back for quite some time, until chapter 3 of part 1 in the novels when he and yuri bought it back. so he wasnt able to train with a sword by looking at his manual. and yet, the manual was the single thing flynn had left of knighthood and of his father.

finally, i want to invoke the reason the first strike movie gives for finath's death, and how it may have affected norein and flynn.

(this is incredibly speculative)

the movie says finath "disobeyed orders". for a knight who seems to have had astrong g sense of justice that affected both norein and flynns sense of right and wrong, it makes one wonder:

a) was he truly uptight about morals, and made an exception that resulted in him dying?

b) or was he more lax with strictness, but thebreader is getting a warped sense of his views through norein in the novels? a more back or white reading of his views, as opposed to nuance?

when norein declined the panacea, was that her way of affirming finath's morals when he didnt at his death? was the memory his family has of him sculpted into an ideal, rather than remain that of a person they knew?

we dont even know his name in the novels.

when looking back to the game, flynn is textually treated as the shining light of the imperial knights, and the light to yuris dark. yuri also has, by act 3, put him on a pedestal, undermining the equal standing they otherwise are shown to have in game. because yuri thinks too little of himself as a person, and thinks flynn of more than simply the person he calls his best friend.

and ironically enough, flynn in his youth makes the choice of sticking to knighthood, and ultimately, sticking to his beliefs. in the future, its a path where he has to numb down most of his desires for the sake of following his principles. he unknowingly may have made the choice of sacrificing his selfishness.

for his beliefs, finath had made a choice that resulted in the separation from his family. for her beliefs, norein forgot all that she had to live for, and gave up.

is it for a similar reason that flynn doesnt protest his commandant position? (there are hints that the commandant position broke alexei, after all)

...here is a final thought to chew on in regards to finath. stage play spoiler. its in rot13 cypher:

va gur fgntr cynl, gurer vf n fprar jurer nyrkrv naq sylaa gnyx. va gung fprar, nyrkrv zragvbaf sylaaf sngure, juvpu gryyf gur nhqvrapr gung nyrkrv xarj svangu.

i wouldnt take the bit itself too seriously, as, again, its not something stated in the original source material, but it opens room for speculation, so i figured it can be shared

[transflynnscifo]

[transflynnscifo]

every few months namco shares new art of yuri lowell in a different hairstyle and people collectively lose their minds over it (by that i mean a lot of people draw him with it)

i think its especially fascinating when some of the hairstyles are elaborate enough to fall under the "someone made him do this, theres no way he did it just because"

[transflynnscifo]

do NOT ask me about flynn scifo thoughts if you dont want this!!!!

this is fatal btw. if you or any of yoir loved ones have flynnscifoism you arent entitled to a compensation. good luck