#maybe this is what they say in the original japanese and the localization changed the wording/tone a bit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

riddlerosehearts · 2 months

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okay, i've got some things i wanna say about twst EN's translation of scarabia's story that i was originally typing out as part of a response to an ask, but then i realized i was going off on a bit of a tangent and was like "this could basically be its own post"--so now it's going to be its own post!

i'm a twst EN player, and for the most part, i do really like the localization. i don't speak japanese but i love learning about language and the process of translation and localization, so at one point after finishing books 1-5 i went and reread them all (and 6 as well, once it was fully released on EN) with a fan translation and the localization side by side to compare them. and from what i could tell as someone who isn't a japanese speaker, i honestly thought it seemed like they usually did pretty well? sure, there were a few mistakes like cater claiming to be an only child (this one, i think, has actually been fixed recently), or how in book 2 they removed a small mention of falena making it seem like he's never mentioned at all until leona's flashback and they also removed the numerous times that he said "be prepared" (at least they finally properly translated it in book 6, though!!). but i thought most of these mistakes were somewhat minor and could be forgiven... until book 4 (well, and book 5, mostly in regards to vil and epel's conflict and i'm not talking about them here, so).

see, i actually realized that something was off about the localization when i first played through book 4, because i have a weird memory and have picked up a bunch of random words and phrases from being into japanese media and reading so much about the localization process. and i also play twst with the sound on because i love to hear the voice acting. so sometimes i would hear jamil speak, i'd pick out the words "shujin" and "juusha" for "master" and "servant", and then the subtitles wouldn't include them at all. so i'd guess certain things about the actual intent behind the story based on that. take this message i sent to my friend when i was sharing my blind reactions to the game:

and she ended up telling me that apparently, what i thought he should say essentially IS what he originally said!! according to the fan translation on wiki.gg he said this instead:

i had wondered if maybe i was reading into things and assuming too much, but it turned out i was completely spot on! but most people who play EN would not be able to pick up on this and realize that jamil was born into servitude to kalim and has no escape, because as i later discovered almost every single mention of him being a servant at all was removed, in events and vignettes as well. which is actually really weird to me because they don't remove it entirely, they do in fact bring up the fact that jamil has to test all of kalim's food for poison during book 4 and they also left in a line where he says he "works as kalim's servant". but they only really mention these things once or twice and then they try to sort of play it off as jamil being a paid employee or something most of the time... seriously, during beanfest there's dialogue where jamil says it would be rude to refuse an order from his boss but i've read that that line was originally him saying a servant couldn't disobey his master. and in the scalding sands event he calls himself "a dedicated employee" of kalim's... what, am i supposed to assume he works as a butler by choice or something? yeah, no. also, one of his birthday vignettes, which are fully voiced so i could TELL he said, with a devious smirk on his face, that if he had a parrot the first word he would teach it would be "shujin-sama". "master". what did EN change this into?

the person i was originally writing all of this in response to said that sometimes people's takes on jamil make them wonder if people are reading a completely different story but also that part of that can probably be blamed on the way EN completely changed the context of his situation with these translation choices. and yeah, i fully agree with that assessment: more casual fans or people who just aren't that interested in the scarabia duo could be said to be reading a different story with this whole "boss" and "employee" thing that has jamil make it sound like the worst that could ever happen to him if he got in trouble would be getting a really stern lecture from his parents.

and it makes me sad because i really do love both jamil and kalim so much and i think their dynamic is so tragic and complicated and interesting to think about. i think they're both really complex characters who are trapped in an awful situation. kalim is so kind and loving and would never wanna hurt anyone but he hurts jamil just by existing as part of the fucked up society they live in. kalim thought he and jamil were best friends, he had no idea of the toxicity of their dynamic and the pain jamil was in, and people say jamil should've just talked to him about it earlier... but jamil's first memory as a child is of seeing his parents bow to the asim family. being a servant is practically all he's ever known and he's had it drilled into his head since they were both small children that he can never be himself around kalim, can never just treat him like a normal person because he's a servant and kalim is his master. and even if he did accept kalim's offer to start over as equals and be friends, what would happen when they had to go home to their families? they won't be at school forever.

and i just. augh. i hate what the localization does with them. if you try to water them down to just an employee who's super mad at his obliviously crappy boss, or just two childhood friends who needed to communicate better or something like that, then you take away from the complexity of both characters. you also lose extremely cool writing choices like how jamil is a character who was born into servitude but has the power to make himself the master with his unique magic. i see so many takes about how jamil is just a jerk who betrayed his best friend and how kalim never did anything wrong in his entire life and i hate it but i'm sure the localization's choices are in fact to blame for a lot of this.

so anyway jamil and kalim's actual dynamic is fascinating and lives rent-free in my head, no thanks to how the EN version gutted it.

#twisted wonderland #jamil viper #kalim al asim #going to also add a small thing here in my tags: i personally don't ship jamil and kalim lol #i just love their dynamic... platonically?? feels like the wrong word because they're not really friends LOL #not in love. not even friends. but tied together in a secret third really fucked up and tragic way.#and the secret third thing is NOT 'annoying boss' and 'minimum wage customer service employee'#this also isn't meant to be discourse about like #'if you interpret their dynamic Wrong then you're stupid and i hate you' or whatever #because i'm mainly just complaining about what the translators did 😭#scarabia boys

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pochqmqri · 5 months

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So, the biggest reveal of Episode 8 is that Sanae, Honoka's grandmother, exists in the OtonaPre universe and is a renowned local historian of the town.

This of course seems to imply not only that Futari wa Pretty Cure and Max Heart take place in the same universe as the other seasons directly leading into OtonaPre, but also that Nagisa, Honoka, and Hikari apparently lived in the same town as Nozomi and the others.

That last point is a bit hard to swallow, since the setting of Yes!5 and GoGo!, which is also where OtonaPre takes place most of the time, has a very distinct European architectural feel to it that the setting in Futari wa Pretty Cure and Max Heart do not.

Even in OtonaPre, which homogenized the setting a bit more to resemble a typical Japanese urban area, has some of those influences, the most notable one being the clock tower.

Speaking of which, the clock tower has been in the town ever since it was bombed, even being one of the only things left standing in the aftermath.

Sanae, like she was in Futari wa Pretty Cure, is a survivor of the WWII bombing on the town.

Of course, as you might expect, when Sanae recalls her story of surviving the bombing to Nagisa and Honoka, she doesn't mention a clock tower, since it wasn't established yet in the story. Obviously this is a retcon, and doesn't really matter much in the long run.

But what I find more interesting is that, in OtonaPre, when Sanae talks about how the people were giving up hope after losing everything, she doesn't mention anything about how she personally heard "a voice" coming from the Card Commune that encouraged her, like in the flashback from Futari wa Pretty Cure.

Of course, that "voice" came from Mipple, Honoka/Cure White's fairy who came to Earth about a century prior to the events of Futari wa Pretty Cure, and since the 40s, stayed in a shed at Honoka's house until Mepple arrived decades later (time dilation stuff).

Maybe it wasn't relevant to Sanae's version of the flashback in OtonaPre, but I find this omission interesting, since it's like, one of the more important bits of her character. As mentioned earlier, Sanae's inclusion in the anime implies that Honoka, Nagisa, and Hikari exist somewhere, so possibly, we might see Cure White, Cure Black, and Shiny Luminous. But will we actually? If the Blu-Ray listing was correct, OtonaPre only has like 12 episodes total, assuming no second cour, and we're approaching the 10th episode already, so would they really fit those three as a last-minute entrance? Maybe, to compromise, they would appear, but only as their teenager Pretty Cure selves, much like how Nozomi and the others deage when transformed.

Part of me thinks that the staff aren't fully committed to having Nagisa and Honoka all grown-up, since they're "legacy characters" so to speak and they're afraid of doing that much change to them, so they're willing to have Sanae appaear as a nod to the original PreCure, but not much more, hence why Mipple was removed from her flashback.

On the other hand, there's also this comment from Masako Nozawa, Sanae's voice actress, when she came back to voice the character in OtonaPre:

"I am very delighted and nostalgic to be playing the role of Grandma Sanae again for the first time in years. Grandma herself hasn't changed much in appearance, but I'm deeply moved that her grandchildren are growing up, I feel exactly like a grandmother myself, looking forward to seeing them grow."

So there's two things to take from this quote. One is that it might be a hint that, at least Honoka, is going to appear as an adult. The other is that she says "grandchildren," plural, like in the original Japanese it's "孫たち" (mago-tachi) with "-tachi" being the pluralizer. Honoka was an only child the last time we saw her...unless, this is like a cousin we never saw, but more realistically, she's either misremembering/calling Nagisa a grandchild, or it's about whoever Honoka married that would make them a grandchild-in-law. Make that of what you will.

#honoka yukishiro #futari wa precure #futari wa pretty cure #precure #anime #pretty cure #otonapre #otona pretty cure #kibou no chikara otona pretty cure 23 #kibou no chikara otona precure 23 #otona precure 23 #otona pretty cure 23

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yuurei20 · 1 year

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Added Dialogue Compilation Part 1

Dialogue changes are a natural part of the localization process, and sometimes entirely new dialogue that never existed in the first place gets added to better appeal to the different target market.

For example:

Trey: His signature spell is a weapon.

A heavy judgement from Trey, this line didn't exist in the original game. Does this mean that Trey (as he was originally written) doesn't actually consider Riddle's magic to be a weapon? Or maybe it's originally unspoken subtext being said aloud?

Ace: Nah, bro. I've got a shovel and I am DIGGING.

Ace, Cater and Grim might be the three characters with more NA-original dialogue than any other. Most of the time it is very much on brand.

Chenya: They're out of this world.

Chenya: Oh, but it's LOTS of fun!

Trey: ...but calling it "poison" is kinda...yikes.

I just realized that NA isn't getting Chenya's verbal tic of saying "nya" (meow) all the time! Linguistically impossible, I think, which is too bad :<

Cater: If you were on all Magicam, I'd totally unsubscribe from your feed.

Cater: Hashtag # lame.

Cater: ...and keep this in the figurative DMs, if you catch my drift?

Cater's original slang is impossible to recreate in English, but it is certainly less SNS-centric than what it has been turned into on NA.

Cater: The smiles and the tears?

For Ruggie, both "Boss" and "Cross my heart and hope to die!" were added to the NA edit of the game. (memo: want to confirm whether or not Ruggie ever canonically refers to Leona as anything other than Leona-san)

Ace: You're more of a square than Loosey-Deucey over here!

Ace: Keepin' your friends close and your anemones closer over there!

Ace: All in favor? Aye! The ayes have it!

Given how difficult humor is to translate, the introduction of American-style jokes is no surprise :>

Ace: ...but what's life without a little spice?

Floyd: ...a dirty dishrag!

Floyd's expression here was changed from a one-time throwaway line by Azul in Book 4 (that made sense in the context of one specific scene) on JP to a phrase that Floyd uses repeatedly on NA.

Grim: Er, do they have hills underwater? Whatever.

Grim: And make it extra drink-y!

Grim and Ace having so many NA-style jokes added might come from them being on the "comedy relief" end of the spectrum? These aren't gags that were changed, however, but were added entirely.

Jade: ...brother...

(neither twin refers to the other as anything other than their first name, as an age-neutral word for 'brother' does not exist in Japanese and neither tweel is any older than the other)

Floyd: Hey, are you yankin' my tail here?

Azul: ...your face is going to crack when you hear this

Ace: Gee, you think a GAZILLION windows was enough?

(all above added for NA)

Cater: Oh, the drama! Oh, the SUSPENSE!

Jack: What're they gonna do, flog me?

Jack has a variation to his speech patterns similar to (but less dramatic than) Epel's, which really can't be recreated in English. That might be where lines like this come from, to compensate.

#twstdialogue #twst translations #twisted wonderland

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cthulhubert · 26 days

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Some more random translation from Japanese thoughts:

Read a few volumes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, or in Japanese, Sousou no Frieren. I love looking up the meanings of words in other languages, seeing how they cut up the world in different ways than English. Japanese is especially interesting because it feels like all the kanji lead to a lot of words that are so specific they feel like jargon. "no Frieren" unambiguously glosses as "Frieren's"; but 葬送? "Attending a funeral procession; seeing off the deceased; burial of someone's remains; observing a burial."

Even if we had a word that meant close to the same thing, not sure a translator would've used it. Really upfronts the bittesweet and gloomy aspects of the series, compared to the title in English, huh?

A friend's playing the latest remaster of Final Fantasy VI, and we were talking about the differences between the Woolsey (SNES) and Slattery (GBA, Pixel) translations. While Woolsey made some great choices (especially in Chrono Trigger), he apparently also made quite a number of unambiguous errors, and Slattery kept most of Woolsey's more famous fun lines.

Here's Mato (professional Japanese localizer, been a fan of his blog for forever) on the differences: Legends of Localization.

But we talked about one change he thought was definitely worse:

Slattery has Kefta spamming every arbitrary negative word in English he can think of, but in the original text, Kefka is saying "Chikushou" over and over until he can only say "chiku" repeatedly; it's clear that he's having a meltdown. Not a time for verbosity.

Chikushou is one of the first ten Japanese curse words I learned, but the explanation of what it meant was so unclear I barely recalled it. "Damn it" is JDIC's first choice gloss, and it's probably a good one because it turns out the etymology is religious (ish: Buddhist), and just like how people say "damn" without actually intending to invoke the righteous wrath of God, a Japanese person just says it because they are annoyed. But it was originally an insult towards a person, saying they have been or deserve to be reborn into the Animal Domain, that is, they are lower than a real human, that they are brutish and ruled only by their desires. (This is right after you smack Kefka one, so you can see why he goes there.)

I ended up thinking about the choice of "esper" for the summoned creatures in VI. It's a great word, and I always thought it was very evocative of some kind of magical creature. Maybe just because I played Final Fantasy VI III at a formative age, or maybe because it sounds like vesper or whisper. It's actually from Extra Sensory Perception. Japanese loves its acronyms so "ESP-er" becomes "esper" becomes anybody with psychic powers. But despite that being common lingo, the magic creatures in FFVI were called 幻獣 ("genju", 'phantom beasts'), as they are in every iteration of the series (except VIII which uses GF).

While I was looking around on the final fantasy wiki, I noticed that the word translated as "magitek" is actually not that at all. It was actually "魔導", "mado". I've been chuuni, so I recognized "魔" ("ma", 'magic') off the bat, though not "導", It was interesting that it looks and sounds so similar to "道"; "do" is path or way, it's the kanji they use for the tao, and you might recognize it from "judo" and "kendo". 導 basically means conduct or guidance.

魔 on its own actually means something more like "evil spirit" than "magic", you add 法 (principles/law/system) to get "mahou", which is a very good match for "witchcraft". And 魔道 is in fact "the path of evil". The main reason I mention it is because like chikushou, it has a connection to Japanese Buddhism, which uses "mado" to refer to a netherworld where evil spirits dwell. 魔導 then is something like "leading (evil) spirits", which is a good fit for what magitek does in the game; though it's also generally used for sorcery and black magic.

#frieren #words #original

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thesmurfchick · 2 months

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Who tf is Kaito Shinonome (Part 8)

My interpretations/headcanons (cont.):

Dracmon already reached his Adult/Champion stage before meeting Kaito

I actually wanted to include this in a longer post detailing each of the partnerships the kids have with their digimon, but FUCK IT I’m going to write about it here first

Champion stages are called “Adult” stages in the original Japanese, following Rookie stages (“Child” in the original Japanese)

This is meant to symbolize “growing up”

Adult stage digimon tend to… y’know… act like adults compared to the more childlike Child stages

Compare Angemon and Patamon, for one of the more extreme examples

Dracmon already had his Adult stage unlocked, because this reflects the fact that Kaito already had to “be an adult” once in his life (and still kinda does now, with the way he treats Miu “like her dad”)

You could argue that Ryo also had to grow up fast after losing his mother (and possibly Saki, too, with her own complications)

But I think the difference is that Ryo responded to his Life Changing Incident by becoming withdrawn and depressed, while Saki became rebellious and “spoiled” (she’s not actually, but she does what she can to get what she wants)

But Kaito responded by becoming independent, not trusting others to take care of him, and deciding that his own needs were unimportant compared to Miu’s

Another hint is that when Takuma first meets him, he thought Kaito “was an adult”

Does that mean Dracmon evolved randomly one day?? …That would be hilarious, but tbh I don’t know

I don’t know the exact mechanics behind evolution among bonded digimon -- do they need their partner physically with them to evolve? Maybe Dracmon just had it unlocked but couldn’t access it without meeting Kaito?

He just meets Kaito that day in Part 3, and he’s like, “I don’t know why, but I have an intense urge to howl at the moon”

He likes cute things

There’s a dialogue option you can choose where he’ll go on a looong spiel about how adorable he thinks Miu is

Sooo… cute things probably remind him of her, and he loves Miu, so by association, he likes cute things

That has been my scientific analysis thank you for reading

He fell for the fake Dracmon in the waterways at first for like 0.001 seconds until the fake Dracmon talked a bit too much shit with no actual sass, and he was like, “... You’re not Dracmon.”

And proceeded to ignore every other fake until he found the real one

Alternatively, the fake ones just talked shit while the real one offered to help him find Miu (parallel to when they first met?)

The point of the fakes was to distract everyone from finding each other (specifically Shuuji), and he seemed to be doing just fine distracting himself by searching for Miu :^)

There was a period where he and Miu were very close, before drifting apart a bit before the Incident (but in a normal sibling way)

Tbh, I flip-flop in my head about what their relationship was like before the Incident, since we never get anything fully concrete about it

I think it’s obvious they got along at the very least

For now, the impression I get is that they used to be close when they were a few years younger (played games together, teased each other, played pranks on each other), before growing up and getting more interested in their own lives instead of the other’s

And then the Incident happened and made things Very Complicated

In Part 4, when talking to Shuuji about siblings, the original Japanese has Kaito say something along the lines of his and Miu’s personalities not meshing well

The English localization kinda has a similar line? “Maybe she and I just can’t get along.”

Maybe this led to them being unable to connect with each other like they used to when they were younger?

Syakomon mentions in the Harmony route that the ordeal of the kemonogami world made the sibs realize how strained their relationship had become

Implying their relationship had to have been closer than they are now

But that could mean a lot of things…

This might be refuted by the flashback at the beginning of Harmony Part 8, where Miu says that after the Incident, “even Kaito is clingier than usual”

Implying that he was always “clingy”

I’m not sure what the original Japanese says, but the Korean version actually says something different: “and my brother’s sticking to me like never before”

Idk how accurate the Korean translation is, but given the similarities between the two languages, I can’t see many mistranslations happening unless it was a creative decision

This could also have many possibilities: maybe he wasn’t protective over her before? Or maybe he was, but just not to that extent

Given his strong sense of responsibility and general kindness, I feel like the latter’s more likely

But you can be protective without being close, especially in an older-sibling/younger-sibling relationship

This could also explain why he took the Incident so badly and personally -- if he hadn’t been that involved in her life before, he’s trying to overcompensate by being TOO involved

He has a good sense of direction

The basis for this is just that he seems like he would

Also, from the fact he knew the right way to the amusement park from the forest

This could tie into just having good instincts (which he claimed was the reason for the above lol)

Or maybe he’s just good at navigating woodlands due to living by one

Idk I’ve tried navigating forests before and it’s hard, maybe I just suck ):

AAAAND that’s all folks! Hope you enjoyed reading! I might make another post some time in the future because, believe or not, I had even more to say about this loser alksfjdkhfad

I tried to only add headcanons that had SOME basis in canon (whether or not you agree with my interpretation is up to you!), but I might make a post about more silly headcanons that have little to no basis in canon. Some of which might even contradict the things I wrote here, but… Mom said I can do whatever I want so I’m doing whatever I want >:(

I also plan on making a post like this about Miu and Minoru (my other faves) and maybe even the other characters (Aoi and Shuuji have been growing on me) so stay tuned!!

Check out the other parts here: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

#digimon survive #kaito shinonome

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lulu2992 · 9 months

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Vaas’ (almost) unreleased dialog in “Payback”

I need to talk about an interesting thing I discovered 9 years ago!

So, in Far Cry 3, in the mission “Payback”, when you attack Vaas’ camp, he speaks to Jason over the loudspeakers and says:

Oh, Jason, Jason, Jason! You come to fuck with me in MY OWN house for a bitch, for Citra.

And a few moments later, he adds:

Don't worry, hermano, don't worry. I don't like my family either. When you meet me, OK? When you see me, you better thank me, because I am gonna free your soul.

The first time I heard these lines in English, I was a bit confused because I originally played the game in French and remembered they were longer, more violent, and that Vaas mentioned Jason’s brother (probably Riley). I wondered if the French localization team had just decided to do their own thing and change the text (that happens), so I looked at how the lines had been translated in the game’s 15 available localizations:

What I discovered is that in Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Korean, Polish, and Swedish, Vaas says what he says in English. But in Danish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, the lines are longer, and they all pretty much mean the same thing:

Oh Jason, Jason, Jason. You come to fuck with me in MY OWN house for a bitch, for Citra. And you wouldn’t even lift a finger for you own brother? You fucking sellout/traitor! [More insults]!

Don’t worry, hermano, don’t worry. I don’t like my family either. When you meet me, OK? When you see me, you better thank me, because I am gonna free your fucking soul, [says Jason’s soul is corrupted/poisoned/sick and insults him again].

In the Step Into Insanity Trailer which came out on June 5, 2012, almost 6 months before the release of Far Cry 3, we hear Vaas say a few lines he never says in the game, such as, “The pain will stop once Jason Brody is dead” or, “The thing is, I am not crazy. But you are”. In the trailer, he also says: “You better thank me, because I am gonna free your fucking soul.” This line is in Far Cry 3, but the word “fucking” isn’t.

It can’t be a coincidence that several localization teams translated Vaas’ dialog into the exact same thing. My theory is that those two lines used to be longer and that this first, long version was sent to 9 of the teams to be translated… but the devs were not done working on the game, and a bit later into development, they decided to change the dialog. This new, shorter version was then sent to the remaining 6 localization teams, and what they translated is therefore identical to the final English script.

I’m not sure why Vaas’ lines were eventually shortened. Maybe the devs thought Riley shouldn’t be mentioned because, at this point in the game, Jason and the player believe he’s dead. The old, long version of the lines sadly isn’t available in Far Cry 3’s English audio files anymore, but as a fan of unreleased/cut/early content, I’m glad that, thanks to the game’s other languages and the Step Into Insanity Trailer, we know they existed!

#far cry 3 #vaas montenegro #jason brody #I really made this image in 2014 #at the time I was too shy to post things #now I can share it :)#far cry 3 spoilers

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cateringisalie · 5 months

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So there’s a new translation mod for FFVII – one that includes cut-content and is leaning on developer commentary for how to translate into English. That’s a thing. It also is using Compilation and Remake as guidance on the translation. That’s… that’s bad? Like, if you prefer Final Fantasy VII as it was released on the PSX and don’t like what Remake has been doing to the story, a lot of people are really quick and willing to tell you to not worry. The old game is right there. And it is… sort of.

There’s a whole bunch of issues with the original game in this sense. There is the game as released on the PSX which is harder to source now thanks to the nature of physical releases that old (they can be found but can be pricey). There’s the PC port which is ostensibly the version you can mostly easily get – though the PC port changed a few minor things, and the Steam/PS4/Switch release changed a few more things. That’s not even getting into how the Japanese release of the PSX game is missing a few bits and pieces the US/rest of the world PSX version has (namely Ruby and Emerald Weapon, the escape from Nibelheim) which lead to the Japanese re-release of the US version as Final Fantasy VII International. So, saying you can just have the original game is a bit flippant if we’re being strict about what that means. It feels additionally off that people are actively modding it to “fix” the translation but with an eye to keeping it consistent with the Remake and Compilation.

Which is just… if Remake is a sequel to Advent Children as people love to speculate, why should the original game be consistent with a modified universe in its future? If Remake is a drop-in replacement then why does it change so much stuff that you need to alter the original translation to fit with it?

What even is the necessity of a new translation?

(some might here point out Reminiscence of FFVII included on the AC DVD as a point that there is scope for a new translation. And sure, the Japanese text is done as subtitles and maybe its a little different to the PSX version. But its basically beside the point. Handful of examples and unlikely whoever got the job of subbing the documentary was unlikely to go boot up a PSX just to replicate the dialogue as originally displayed)

People are very eager to buy into the idea that FFVII was badly translated. While it is true there are spelling mistakes, grammar errors, some peculiar though minor terminology switches, a few misleading lines and the odd point where someone will say something utterly nonsensical… the US release of FFVII is great. Oh, its not got the same translation and localization quality as FFVI or Vagrant Story sure, but its not wrong in any meaningful way. Friends of mine have played through the Japanese FFVII and in their estimation the tone and characters and meaning of the experience tallies very close to the translated PSX version. No translation can be perfect – you don’t think we have this many translations of Don Quixote because this time we’ll get it righter than the previous versions, do you?

Translation – and localisation – is an art. The latter’s need to more blatantly alter cultural aspects that would be obscure in the West has eroded over time thanks to increasing familiarity with other cultures. It’s still essential as some cultural stuff just doesn’t come across (like, I know some would know the answers, but some of Persona 5’s test questions are completely outside common knowledge and necessitate looking up the answers. The test questions are pretty clearly completely non-localized) – and you can either replace if possible or going to have to stick a big asterisk beside the item. Translation, though, aims to capture the spirit of the original. This, incidentally, is a thing I remember from the introduction to the copy of Don Quixote I have – this translation was trying to capture Cervantes’s voice and how it would feel to read in the original language in another language.

And by – admittedly – anecdotal evidence, FFVII’s US version works absolutely fine. But I think there is a method to illustrate there’s nothing wrong with the original translation:

The desire for Compilation consistency I understand but don’t appreciate, but Remake consistency is baffling.

A more interesting question to me is this: you, as a FFVII fan from the PSX days, likely sought out Advent Children as soon as it leaked. Fan subs were rendered pretty quickly and a certain amount of US fans likely watched the film before it was officially out in Japan (given the choice was watch it immediately or wait 7 months for the official dubbed release). Did you – in all honesty – not understand something that happened in Advent Children because of how FFVII US portrayed the story?

Was any character radically out of step with the depiction (excepting Cloud whom the creatives have admitted is OOC and then there’s a whole book to try and justify this). Was any character outright unfamiliar (excepting the remnants, Denzel and Moogle Girl – all added to the film without precedents in FFVII)? Sure, Rufus surviving is something of a surprise, but no version of the PSX release ever implied he had. Tseng’s a more nebulous point but even then neither version says he’s alive or dead. If you did steer well clear of subtitles and bittorrent at the time, same questions when the dub was released.

Given reaction at the time, no one was lead into a state of confusion or voiced some op-ed about how the PSX version of FFVII let them down when they came to watch Advent Children. There are bits and pieces of corrections/clarifications certainly – some honestly thought Tifa wore shorts in the PSX game, the nature and sizing of materia had a consensus but you would find outliers and AC presented a consistent size. About the only excuse I will allow for is if you played FFVII PSX and never found Yuffie or Vincent and yet here they are as part of the case. Fairer, though given their presence in the manual they weren’t hugely secret (something older FF fans got annoyed about at the time. Also, also if you had the real early subs with “Shion” instead of Tseng and not knowing “Agito” meant hideout and thinking the Forgotten Capital had an actual name or “Sierra” instead of Shera. You know, faults with the fansubs which were done in absurd haste anyway).

There was a lot of valid criticism of what AC wound up as and what its legacy has been but no one familiar with FFVII could not get a handle on what AC showed. And any part that you were confused over (and there are some) is a fault with AC/the Compilation not FFVII.

AC, incidentally, originally came with an animated short – since replaced with One the Way to a Smile – Case of Denzel. This older animation was called Last Order and more closely tied itself to Before Crisis – the mobile phone-centric game no one really talks about and has a lot of very strange plot adjustments that largely never got picked up. Not least was the expanded Turks cast (more than Veld and Cissnei) and their presence in most major incidents of most of FFVII’s cast’s pre-game lives. The point of LO was an action thing of Zack on his way to Midgar with Cloud but also a brief recreation of the burning of Nibelheim. LO is fascinating in that when it altered the scenes inside the reactor, fandom as a whole objected. This is why its not on Advent Children Complete discs.

The objection is small but kinda pivotal even if you can introduce reasons why it shouldn’t derail anything (and yet, Genesis is still allowed in Crisis Core somehow) – Tifa is awake when Cloud reaches her and the two share a brief conversation. Its small but that’s an issue with how FFVII works isn’t it? Sure, she can assume it was a delusion/dream/blood loss but Cloud’s also meant to be afraid its already too late for her. Oh, also he has Mako-eyes already.

So hey, LO in direct conflict with FFVII. And FFVII won. LO was ejected and never comes up the same way as the rest of the Compilation.

BC I can’t talk to much as the experience of trying to watch the story on youtube is not fun. I can say it reasonably weirdly introduces Weiss and Nero as SOLDIER recruits (so that’s why these members of the DC cast just kind of show up in CC to connect into DC) as well as the afore-mentioned expanded Turks. And has Cloud also have Mako eyes pre-capture (as with LO) and be some weird other kind of infantry guy. But no discussion or fic relying on BC is in open conflict with how FFVII told its story. Any inconsistencies stem from BC meddling with the backstory.

Its also worth noting here that FFVII – like every FF up to X was conceived of as a single instance (sorry FFIII is not connected to FFVIII, the previously popular FFVI to FFVII connection amounts to nothing. The FFVII and FFVIII references in FFIX are meant to be there but like as… jokes? Nods? Reference humour? Its cute. Like putting FFVII references in Parasite Eve 2. And like how FFVII has Xenogears references. And the FFX-2 to FFVII connection is terrible). There’s the weird and undeveloped maybe FFVI-2 but that seems to have gotten no further than a battle mock-up. All this extra sequel and prequel stuff was never considered during FFVII’s writing (and why would you? Yes, allegedly CC was based on an idea at the time of FFVII’s writing, but that doesn’t magically convey it established canon status if it wasn’t reworked to an unclear degree and released as a game a decade later. Even it was fully-formed, that’s a fault with CC as released and not FFVII. Far more interesting is how Parasite Eve and Xenogears were both discarded or rejected ideas before anything like the released game was conceived. Like how Resident Evil 4 produced at least three other games during development).

Dirge of Cerberus used to vie for worst additional element. And maybe it still does depending on your attitude. But as the third Compilation release (ignoring the book), the western version still relied on the FFVII PSX version for context on what was going on and how it related back to familiar characters. Deepground are unfamiliar! Pretty sure the Japanese audience didn’t know about them prior to this game either. Here are Nero and Weiss and maybe you can feel better for knowing they came from BC, though that’s a slim victory – likewise Grimoire (yep. Another BC one. Squeenix clearly absolutely care about your understanding of the universe and that’s why this weirdly key game was never localised. It could have been at the cost of CC). All the Omega Weapon, Proto-materia and chaos ramblings are all new. The tsviets and the fact the Planet has internet is something of a new reveal is it not?

And last of the Compilation is Crisis Core. Now, admittedly, Zack seems OOC here! Or maybe because it’s a prequel you feel he’s OOC in FFVII PSX. Which… that’s not how writing works if you are being honest. If Zack seems OOC to someone when playing FFVII PSX this is a problem with at least CC and possibly BC as well. And sure, maybe you would struggle to get him to match to his presentation in FFVII PSX as a writer. Hard to have sympathy when this unnecessary story was greenlit. You played yourself Squeenix. You walked into this situation with open arms.

People tend to gloss over what happens to Aerith here, but any conflict between how CC relays its story and how FFVII PSX presented it does not stem from a translation issue otherwise the problems would be wider reaching (see also how Aerith acts in Remake which is far, far closer to FFVII PSX than CC). You can claim that Aerith is no different, but her actions in FFVII PSX feel unlikely for the version of her wandering in CC to ever do and vice-versa. Like, her physically rushing into events in FFVII PSX being a thing you don’t see her do in CC (aware of the justifications for this too and they are absolutely awful).

And maybe you can justify why she is like that to yourself, you can’t blame the translation for why this is happening. A better translation will not smooth that shift and the mod adhering to Remake or Compilation will still conflict with what her polygonal model does on screen versus what it might now say.

What even is the point of restoring cut content?

I have heard that a chunk of the difference between Remake and FFVII US can be found in the cut or dummied text on the PSX disc. So we should all be happy its back because it was always supposed to be thing way.

Things are cut for reasons and blind restoration is not good by default. The most coherent theory I’ve ever seen for the FFVII cuts are timing and flow at the start of the game. And given FFVII PSX goes very, very fast and Remake is noticeably slower and time-consuming, it makes sense as a reason for the cuts to be made. Midgar is an oppressive atmosphere to make reaching the world map expansive and awe-inspiring.

Cuts can also be for bad ideas. Sure they got to the point where the text was in the resource files, but a whole tone of stuff gets into these (seriously, if this is new to you what happens is they pack all the data into big resource files and these are shipped out as is with the game. Things don’t tend to get pulled out once integrated because it’s hard to be sure all the places something is referenced. Hence dummying the text rather than stripping it out. You can’t be certain you found all the locations and the file-size difference is negligible) and is unused because of changes in attitude. Putting this back in does not increase understanding or consistency. No version of the PSX game was released with all this cut content in place – not ahead of Advent Children and not ahead of Remake.

There’s no expectation a player should ever be aware of what was removed before release. Knowing it won’t increase your appreciation of the PSX game. In truth it will only serve to champion the authority of the now de facto writer of the series and every one of his decisions. I find it highly contentious that he should be considered nearly the sole arbiter – and adhering to his attitude feels like it has been done with a mind towards a case that Remake is the superior version because the PSX game was hopelessly compromised. Which I would hope is pretty clearly not the case. The text was dummied out in Japan as well, again, both versions of FFVII PSX share the same mood, atmosphere and tone.

Cuts can also be made because those with more authority don’t like what they now say about character or events or attitudes of the characters. Restoring this risks throwing even more out.

I do understand broadly what the hope for this kind of thing. Make the game default Aerith instead of Aerith (and I am fully aware the game internally calls her Aerith before the prompt which then defaults Aeris in. This is a trivial bug all things considered. Plus, you do know the game has a basic expectation of you renaming the cast on your own whims, right? This was a thing right up to FFX at the last. Dictated party names was purely if you wanted them/to refer to them in conversation with others. Now you get no choice to personalize the game). Dig up the old honeybee inn scenes. Dig up the old Highwind scene (maybe. Not sure that ever got anywhere). Get some insight into the future of Remake by finding a late on conversation which alters the perception of FFVII PSX (but, I mean, people have extracted this text ages ago. You can go read it now if you want). But more than a “better” translation, the cut content will skew the experience of playing the game.

FFVII did not have the “best” translation or localisation – this is true. It did however capture the spirit of the game as released on PSX and in truth the case for a new translation is a handful of mistakes and a prevailing notion that it was always bad (and just… people aren’t careful or really seem to get what they’re messing with. I tried Because once and got weirded out by Reno and Rude changed to Leno and Lude – no official material reflects that change so why?). And no one familiar with the game was lost with Compilation entries for any reason other than those entries failed to set things up properly or forced new details into an existing story (or relied on an unreleased phone-based video game or a book that wasn’t due to be translated. These are faults of Squeenix’s business operations not a video-game from 1997).

(for localisation examples. So FFVIII has a weird fixation with hot dogs which is kind of just funny on the face of it. You can make them part of battle prep if you want. But… are they hot dogs? Zell looks like he's eating one in the end credits but to me it looks more like Yakisoba Bread. As in, what is localised in English as Hot Dogs was either Yakisoba bread or potentially simply bread in the Japanese release. Not wholly more sensible even in Japanese but not quite the same absurd feel. But I reckon the translators were stuck on what to replace it with until they saw the ending and make a judgement call. In 1999 getting across the concept of bread was going to be tricky. A more recent game likely wouldn't sub the food stuff given your audience has a better bet at understanding what it is)

Sure, some stuff didn’t make it through translation. I know people like that Aeris has a nick-name for Cloud that is totally absent in English – a shame, but its not a fundamental loss; their interactions are clear enough and the shippers still latched on just fine to the romantic potential between them.

The distinction between Reeve and Cait Sith’s voices doesn’t come across very well, but that’s a factor you would struggle to do purely in English text in any case. Didn’t make the reveal any less of a surprise though did it?

There is nothing in FFVII PSX that prompted the inconsistencies of the Compilation – that’s on those (mostly) same writers not remembering, not caring, or desperate to include a plot that required massaging, breaking, or ignoring how the PSX game said things worked or happened (see: Genesis at Nibelheim). The fault lies with the Compilation however much you personally may like it. Inconsistencies with Remake are likewise Remake’s fault and while you can turn up some elements that were created and critically discarded for the 1997 release, their restoration in Remake doesn’t make them any better ideas now than then – and it certainly doesn’t cover the fate ghosts (or whatever they are) or Sephiroth’s intro being a million times less effective at threat than FFVII PSX.

Any similarity between the dummied text on the PSX disc and the additions to Remake’s dialogue means is that the person with the final say-so on what is included has absolutely changed since 1997 and with it the character of the series. Even he wasn’t right all the time or made the best decisions, but he remains an oft-excluded (and completely from the development of Remake) critical part of why this game has a remake at all. I will of course be accused of being a purist and nostalgic, but again I must reference a friend who noted that the only reason people were so excited by Remake was via nostalgia and perhaps curiosity about other people’s nostalgia. Their nostalgia and positivity is seemingly more valid to others than my nostalgia and negativity.

FFVII PSX means a lot to me. And maybe Remake means a lot to you. I can’t take that away from you, and my experience with FFVII can’t be taken away but it feels like it’s getting tarnished. It is hard going when FVII PSX seems to only merit mention in context with Remake, with Compilation. Not in context to itself – the context it was created for. A single story with a start and end. Characters given as much background and detail as they needed to work for their roles. A game so many embraced. People were not calling for a Remake for so long (originally) for any reason than wanting to see the same thing but prettier (forgetting its dismissal in some contexts on release for being style/graphics over any other quality. Somewhat ironic). Entirely possible the desire post Compilation was to “fix” FFVII for consistency with the Compilation (which is a pretty distressing notion!) but the whole game’s legacy and fandom and popularity is because of the PSX game not in spite of it as so many seem to treat it now.

Yeah, it’s not as pretty, yeah the controls are clunkier and battles are slower.

But.

Its story and how it used different styles of cut-scene depending on context were considered and effectively chosen. It built character and told story with words and battles and animation. The polygonal figures are not realistic (until they need to be. To make sure the scene will impact you as intended) but perfectly able to convey the emotions they need to. It has mistakes, it has jank. It has some terrible plot shifts in places. Yes, you can leave the end of the world hanging for months if you want to breed and race chocobos. But it was still the start – the foundation upon which everything else was built, it was still a success. And not one part of the Compilation or Remake would have been considered for a second if it had not been a success. It is not a first version for which a second version exists that lead to all the add-ons.

No new translation is ever going to change that situation or truly improve on the experience from 1997.

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planefood · 11 months

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i dont have anything specific to say but!!!!! your robots are sooo soo cool and i love hearing more about them, and id love to know more about the world around them!!!! whats the deal with their setting?

Oh wonderful I was just thinking about this and was considering of making my own separate text post but didn't quite know where to put my thoughts. I'm glad you like my characters :) This is another lengthy answer bare with me I hope you don't mind. SO I don't know if I've actually outright stated this in a more obvious way but all my characters (currently) live in in modern day Auckland, the largest city in my country. It just made sense from a population point of view since about half of our entire population is in that city that that's where most of the robots would be.

and a handy map of the North Island, Te Ika-a-Māui for you before we continue

Tandy lived in the South Waikato for a while before moving to Auckland. Lithium comes from Hamilton, Jay and Phillip both come from Wellington. Cathy comes from around the rural Taupo area. The rest of the (nz) robots are local Aucklanders. I won't go too in depth about city differences and stuff because I only think like... 5 of my followers are from here as well. I know people are definitely more interested in the more 'sci fi' elements of robots living alongside humans, which I'll get to in time, but Aotearoa being the setting for the story is actually pretty important, at the very least in a sentimental level for me and will greatly influence a lot of the writing as we go forward. I want to focus more on that element for this ask sorry if that's not what you were looking for. A little more about me, a huge reason why I put such strong emphasis on my characters living here when I notice other local artists my age don't really tend to do that, is I spent my formative years living in Tokyo, Japan before moving to Aotearoa in like 2008. You can imagine moving from somewhere with 13 odd million people living in it to a city with like a 40,000 population speaking a language I wasn't familiar with was a massive change for anyone let alone a young disabled kid. Originally I was pretty resentful of living here, people at school generally treated me poorly just for being autistic alone only adding with all the cultural and language differences that came from being overseas. If I had simply stayed in Japan in my mind everything would've turned out fine. Now as an adult I do still think about what I would've turned out like if I did stay in Japan, but I still wouldn't trade growing up here for anything. As I get older a lot of cultural influence from Japan slips out of my grasp, I stopped speaking Japanese having nobody else my age who spoke it to talk to and when more things started getting imported overseas to here when I thought I could maybe get that part of myself back it even just a little, it was picked and altered for a more western palette and that's for a country as influential as Japan. I don't want that happening again for the country I live in now. As the internet becomes more commonplace and more NZ artists take the stage they're really starting to appeal to an American audience. It makes sense, it's the majority of your audience. I'm essentially screaming into a void with us making up less than 1% of the world population. I want my art and stories to appeal to a wider audience as well but I don't want to tone down any aspects I feel are important. I'm starting to get sick of writing all my ocs in the states when it's so alien to me just cause it's seen as a blank slate. My story is about robots, yes but it's also about the experience of what it's like to grow up and live here. I want people to really view and experience it like I do whether they've lived here or not, which is super difficult. I have a perspective a lot of people don't and I really want to use that to my advantage. I want to talk about more in depth and more niche aspects of it on here, but I also want to avoid boring anyone or alienating people?

#ask #I am pouring my heart out on this btw #sorry for derailing but it's what I do here

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simizzy-writes · 2 years

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That's great! I don't mind waiting so take as long as you need! Can I please request Tianyou Zhao with a foreign fem s/o? I'm so happy to find someone who writes for him!!

i love this man. thank you for requesting and for being so patient! i hope that this is what you were hoping for 💕

Pairing: Zhao Tianyou x Fem!Foreign!Reader Warnings: suggestive themes. mild language. zhao being a sarcastic little shit. A/N: i kept the country of origin and native tongue ambiguous on purpose to be more inclusive. same with leaving out physical descriptions of the reader.

It seemed like a good idea a few hours ago.

For the past few weeks, you have kept yourself limited to your apartment, the route to work, your office space and back again. But now that you felt - at least somewhat - acclimated to the different time zone and change of locale, you decided to branch out a little. To explore Ijincho. The only problem?

You were lost.

When you accepted a position within your company to relocate to Japan, you were thrilled. Sure, it was halfway around the world and you wouldn't know anyone once your feet hit the ground - but it was Japan! You always wanted to at least visit Japan, but now you are living here! The salary increase certainly pleased your bank account with this new position as well. Two birds, one stone, as far as you were concerned.

You were not prepared for how easy it was to get lost here, however.

Maybe it was because your understanding of the written language wasn't as perfect as you wished it to be, or that once you were amongst crowds of people who spoke only Japanese did you really begin to realize that you were a stranger in a strange land. The longer that you were lost the more it felt like your grasp on the language was retracting. Arguably, you were fluent in Japanese, but anxiety has a funny way of making you second guess yourself. Especially when you knew that you were a foreigner speaking a second language.

You came to understand that the people of Japan were much more accommodating compared to what you might have been used to in your home country. They were quite understanding of your speech, despite how your accent still strained some of the pronunciations of the Japanese alphabet. So, when you first suspected that you were lost, you of course asked for directions. You recalled the gentleman who helped you fondly as he gave you directions to Hamakita Park, which from there you could navigate to your apartment. You thanked him profusely, and went on your way. It was about that time that you realized that maybe you didn't pay attention as much as you should have. And maybe that you should brush up on your knowledge of kanji and hiragana because my God did all of the signs look the same.

You dipped into an alleyway off of Isezaki Road. You pressed your back against the side of some building, trying to catch your breath. You rubbed at your temple, trying to visualize the conversation that you had with the man who gave you directions. No use.

With a sigh, you continued down the alley, finding it more pleasant than the main road, if for nothing else than it was quieter. Did he say to go towards the station or away from it…?

When you reached the end of the alleyway, you felt it. The tickling sensation up your spine when you enter a place that you shouldn't have. The atmosphere changed, and you looked around. The sounds from the main road seemed far away - so far away - and the air was thick with a type of miasma you couldn't recognize. There were concrete stairs across from you, and your gut told you that you needed to go. This was not the place for you to be, and even if it meant getting lost even further, you needed to get out of the alley by taking the closest exit.

But you were too late, it seemed. Three men walked down those concrete steps, lost in conversation. You bristled and turned to exit the alley, but two more men were walking towards you. Shit.

"Hey," one of the men from the stairs called out to you. His voice was rough and strained. He looked like trouble, and for a moment it reminded you of the type of men back home that lingered in the shadier parts of town. The kind that had bad reputations, and the kind that everybody knew to stay away from. Glad to know that it was seemingly a universal trait, even halfway around the world.

You ignored him and tried to walk past the two men blocking your exit. They were too quick for you, however, and smiled as they crowded you. You were blocked in. Shit, shit, shit!

"You lost?"

It was the man who had called out to you the first time that asked the question. Tentatively, you turned around, holding the strap of your purse a bit tighter.

"Yes," you answered. "Just trying to find my way home."

The man smiled and licked his lips slowly. "Yeah, you're lost alright. Look at you. Definitely not from around here. What kind of accent do ya have goin' on there, girly? Sounds exotic."

Snide chuckles. Your stomach dropped.

The man approached you slowly, amused at how you shrank away from him. "Do you need directions? Why don't you tell me where you live, and we can make sure you get home nice and safe, yeah? Or maybe you can keep us company for a while instead?"

You could cry, and you cursed yourself for not knowing some kind of martial art. Your heart was in your throat, and you never felt so small in your entire life.

"What's going on?"

A smooth voice pierced the air. The men around you snapped to attention, turning around immediately to face the source of the question.

A man emerged from the concrete stairs, and your breath hitched in your throat. You froze, eyes pleading and desperate. He was either your savior or another threat.

Leather covered him, a black and gold shirt standing out underneath his jacket. Round, dark glasses obscured his eyes. His black hair was slicked back and his gold earrings caught what little light illuminated the alleyway.

The other men around you bowed in his direction, and gave him a wide berth as he came closer.

"She's lost. We - "

The man in leather and gold cut him off. "And you fine gentlemen were going to be good Samaritans and help her find her way, weren't you? You weren't going to corner and trap this little mouse, right? I'm glad that I know such upstanding citizens."

His voice was thick with sarcasm. Each syllable was airy, lilted and coy. He seemed amused as he rubbed at his goateed chin. His nails were lacquered in black, each finger wearing a ring that seemed to wink at you as it caught the light. A smile curved his lips, and you felt heat rise to your cheeks as he eyed you closely.

The men said nothing, keeping their eyes focused on the ground. They seemed to be waiting for a strike they knew would come. There was a hierarchy at play here, and the man in gold was clearly higher up on the food chain than the rest of the men.

"Why don't I help you, miss? Walk with me."

He walked past you, tilting his head in the direction of the main road. You followed him quickly, heart racing and legs shaking from adrenaline.

You breathed a sigh of relief as the man guided you to Isezaki Road. The two of you stopped under a streetlight, and as you tried to calm your poor heart, he lit a cigarette.

"Sorry about that," he said. Smoke danced from his lips. "They didn't hurt you, right?"

You shook your head. "No. Thank you for stepping in like that."

He shrugged. "Never been one to let women get preyed on like that."

The ash of his cigarette glowed as he took another drag. You nodded carefully, and shifted your weight from one foot to the other. You preferred not to think about what would have happened if he hadn't shown up.

"Anyways," he said, "Where are you headed? I'll give you directions."

Believing it wise to not disclose your exact address, you told him that you needed to get to the park. Flicking his cigarette aside, he began to give you an explanation of how to get there. But he stopped short when he saw the look of exhaustion that veiled your face, and he smiled.

"How about I just walk you there?"

—

"You're not from around here."

What an astute observation. "No, I'm not," you said.

"You have an accent," he mused. "It's pretty cute."

You blushed and kept your gaze forward, ignoring the smile that adorned his face in your peripheral.

The entrance to the park was just up ahead, and you felt the tension in your shoulders ease as you felt like you were approaching familiar ground. Your companion in black seemed to notice, and outstretched his hand in a grand gesture towards the park.

"Well, here you are, miss," he said.

You thanked him - both for guiding you to the park and for helping you earlier in the alley.

He hummed. "Not a problem. But, uh…just some friendly advice. I wouldn't go back there again, if I were you. You probably shouldn't wander into dark alleys, you know? Safer that way."

There was a warning undertone to his words, masked by a coy and boyish charm. It was not lost on you. So, you nodded and agreed to stay out of any alleyways from now on. You wished him goodnight, but you paused mid-turn. Fiddling with the strap of your purse, you looked at him curiously.

"What's your name?" you asked

His smile grew a little wider, canines catching the light from the street. He seemed to consider his answer carefully, looking to the side and then back at you. With a slow, deliberate lick of his lips, he answered you:

"Zhao."

—

Survive Bar.

That's where you saw Zhao again.

Some coworkers elected to go out one Friday night and were able to hustle you into going with them. It was an amazing feat on their part since you had become notorious for always spending weekends cooped up inside. It wasn't that you were against the idea, you were just…introverted, maybe? Who knows.

So it came as a surprise when you followed your coworkers into the unassuming jazz and karaoke bar to see Zhao bellowing out a duet with a rather tall and wild looking man in a red suit. They had pleasant voices, if only a little slurred from whatever they had been drinking that night. There were a few other people already there, as well. A couple of pretty women, an older man who screamed "retired cop", a guy with unruly hair and glasses, and a rather exceedingly handsome man with silvery-white hair. They were drinking and cheering the duet on with great enthusiasm.

Your coworkers ordered drinks for everyone while you found a place to sit, having chosen one of the small booths by the windows. You sipped leisurely at your drink when it came, amused - and perhaps a little envious - at how your colleagues could introduce themselves to the other patrons and carry on in conversation with them so easily. You were always more of the observant type, though. Let them do the talking.

"Well, if it isn't the lost little mouse."

Zhao approached you, glass in hand. He slid into the seat across from you. The ice cubes in his drink clinked together in a sweet chime, and you could smell that it was whiskey.

"I would prefer it if you didn't call me "mouse"," you said firmly.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you. What should I call you then? You never gave me your name."

You eyed him over the rim of your glass as you sipped the last of your drink. You offered him your name politely.

He smiled. "[Name]," he repeated slowly. The lilt and purr of his voice made your name sound luxurious. Like fine silk and gold. Damned if your heart didn't soar at the sound of it.

"I see that you're here with friends," Zhao mused.

You shook your head. "Colleagues, mostly. I don't…really have any friends here." Here meaning Ijincho. All of Japan, really.

He nodded, fingers pressing over the hair of his goatee. "Have you been here long?"

"Not really," you said. "I mean, it's been a few months, but it hasn't been long considering how many years I lived back home, you know?"

"Where are you from?"

You told him about your home country, adding in details about how you always wanted to visit Japan and jumped at the chance to take this job opportunity. As you spoke, you worried that maybe you were boring him. But Zhao hung on every word you said, eyes glittering behind the darkness of his glasses. He was bemused, and enjoyed listening to you speak. Your accent was still there, and he found it endearing.

You stopped short at some point, becoming bashful at how much you dominated the conversation. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on like that."

Zhao smiled, leaning back against the booth. "It's not rambling. I enjoy listening to you "

You flushed and fiddled with your empty glass. A shy smile pulled at your lips, despite your attempt to bite it back. You weren't sure what to say, frankly, so you opted to compliment him on his singing. "You sounded great, by the way."

"Yeah, you like that? I like to think that I can carry a tune pretty well. How about you? Wanna sing with me?"

"Oh, God no," you denied. "I couldn't! I'd get stage fright."

He laughed, airy and soft. You could melt.

"Fine, fine. But if you won't sing with me, you at least gotta cheer me on."

He threw back the rest of his drink, and stood up. Holding out his hand to you, he encouraged you to follow him to the small stage. You accepted, pleasantly surprised at how soft and warm his hand was.

Zhao cycled through some songs until he chose a suitable one, and you stood a little off to the side to watch him perform. As the song started to play its beginning chords, Zhao winked at you.

"This song goes out to [Name]," he announced cheekily. "She says I have a great voice, so for those of you who have ever said that I don't, you can bite me. Adachi-san, I'm looking at you."

You couldn't help but laugh as the man who looked like a cop - Adachi-san - gave Zhao the finger and waved him off.

It was another great performance, of course.

—

It was late by the time you decided to leave Survive. Your colleagues had left long before you did, but you had elected to stay behind and visit a bit longer. Courtesy of Zhao, of course. He delighted you, and you were pleased that you had his attention all evening. Some of his friends, whom you were pleasantly introduced to, had gone upstairs to crash, while one or two others decided to head to their own homes to sleep.

Zhao, however, offered to take you home.

"I'm guessing that you live around Hamakita Park?" He asked as the two of you stepped out of the bar. The night was cool and damp, a sign that it would rain sometime soon.

"Yeah," you confirmed. "I can just take a cab."

Zhao nodded, placing a cigarette between his lips. The gold plating on his lighter shimmered as he lit the end of it. "As long as you get home safely that's all that matters."

There was a cab not too far ahead of you, and you chewed on your lip nervously. You turned to look at him, melting at the sight of his long jeweled fingers rising to take the cigarette from his lips. He really did have amazing hands.

"Do you…," your voice drifted off. Zhao raised his brows inquisitively, although you suspected that he knew what you were trying to find the courage to ask. "Do you want to ride home with me?"

Your nerves were frayed. Maybe it was the liquor, but your body hummed at the sight of him. He truly was handsome, and while you weren't usually the type for hook-ups…you couldn't help it. You really couldn't. And unless you were imagining things, Zhao was just as interested in you as you were in him.

"Are you trying to get in my pants, [Name]? I hope that you don't think I'm that easy," he teased. Oh, that smile of his would be the death of you. Boyish and coy, like he could charm anything and everyone with just the curve of his lips.

It amused him deeply to see you blush and tell him that if he didn't want to, he could just say no.

"Mm, I don't remember saying anything like that," he breathed. "Lead the way, baby girl."

—

It went on like that for a while. After that first night, the two of you exchanged numbers, and you went out as often as your schedules allowed. The exact amount of time that passed didn't mean much to either of you, especially when you came to understand that Zhao moved at his own pace for everything.

He had told you about his life with the Liumang, and everything that he was involved with once he had met Ichiban and the others. He showed you his scars and hid nothing from you. This was who he was, past and present. Of course it wasn't a good life - but it was his life, and he wasn't going to start feeling ashamed for it now. Not with you.

So maybe that's why it surprised you to see him almost shy when he asked you to be together exclusively. You couldn't resist teasing him for it.

"Hey, I just know that it's a big step from what we had before," he countered. His fingertips twisted one the rings on his hand. Around and around it went. "I don't have the kind of life that seems honorable to others. A lot of what I do is illegal. If you don't want me - "

"Don't be ridiculous," you said. It came out in your mother tongue. "Of course I want to be yours. How can I resist you?"

He smiled and the mischievous spark in his eyes returned. "I am pretty great, aren't I?"

"Extremely humble, too."

His hands found your waist, pulling you into his lap in one fluid movement. It was second nature to kiss him like this, lips moving together in a sensual and languid dance. He knew nothing of chaste kisses. It was all passion, or nothing.

You moaned, and he drank down each perfect vibration. Zhao traced the curve of your spine, drawing constellations on the galaxy that was your skin.

He needed more, and his lips traced the line of your jaw and down the curve of your neck. He tongued your pulse, suckling on the tender flesh. Your fingers laced through his hair, nails dragging on his scalp. Shivers coursed through him, and he groaned into you, pressing you closer to him.

"You wouldn't mind having a foreign girlfriend?" You asked, your tone playful and light. "You'd get some looks hanging around me, you know. I'm not very familiar with some of the cultural traditions you may have, either "

"Do I look like a traditional kind of guy to you, babe?"

Zhao leaned back, one of his hands reaching up to hold your neck. His thumb traced over your kiss-swollen lips, and he smiled at the way they parted for him on instinct. "Nah, I don't care about something like that. You're sexy and beautiful. Whip-smart. And your accent is just too cute to resist."

"Again with the accent! I can't help it. Don't make me bite you."

His laugh could tame tigers and soothe lions. You melted deeper into him, caught up in his redolence. "I don't know what you said, baby, but you sound so fucking hot when you talk like that."

You kissed him again, your tongue forcing its way past his lips. A laugh and groan, all in one from him, rumbled against your mouth and he pressed you closer still. Heat was rising in you, a deep need for Zhao to touch you even more. Your hips rolled against him, the only resistance being each other's clothes.

"Mm, does my baby want something?"

His teasing would be the death of you.

"I want you," you moaned. "Zhao…"

His strength surprised you as he held your thighs firmly and lifted himself up from your couch. He knew your apartment like the back of his hand, easily being able to navigate the two of you to your bedroom as you kissed him senselessly, legs wrapped around his waist.

A delighted squeal left your lips and he tossed you onto your bed, and he admired the way you looked sprawled out beneath him. Carefully, slowly, he stripped himself of his shirt and tossed it aside. Zhao had full confidence in his appearance, but it was always nice to see how you shamelessly eye-fucked him every time he undressed.

His lips left a trail of kisses from your thighs, to your stomach, the valley of your breasts…until finally he rested himself upon you and took your lip between his teeth in a gentle bite.

"I'm gonna take care of you tonight, baby girl," he purred. "Feel free to talk dirty to me in that sexy language of yours, though, yeah? It gets me all hot and bothered."

#zhao tianyou #request #anon answered #yakuza 7 #tianyou zhao #yakuza like a dragon #yakuza 7 imagine #tianyou zhao x reader #zhao x reader

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drawnaghht · 6 months

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so..... Am I the only one who heard the reverse-akuma as "kumiko" and think that makes more sense, both for pronunciation and for meaning?

i watched the mlb paris special and tho ii've been off mlb for years now i was pulled back by this

I went to google this after I watched the special last month.

Now... I could try and find out what the exact meaning for the names could be, but instead I'll try to see what the crew would have thought a good re-name for these reverse-akuma could be from the POV of "what would this character name a good version of his power".

Now, commonly, the word "Akuma" means "demon" - fitting for HawkMoths Butterfly, I was a bit annoyed with the choice first when the show aired, but I'm so used to it now, I don't really question it anymore why the crew decided on this name. it seems like looking for simple pronunciation and recognition were at play here.

I find that because our ordinary evil!Gabe has always names things in sly but very direct ways, reverse!Gabriel would probably use babyname sites for inspiration for names etc. - as you do when you have access to the internet and are out of ideas.

Kumiko - Meaning: Companion child; Drawing together; Forever beautiful child

Kamiko - Meaning: Fragrant ocean child, "Little Goddess"

we don't know the exact kanji, so I can't actually say what the real meaning it would be. for example, japanese-names.info lists a similar meaning to both of these, depending on the spelling. to a native japanese speaker, the meaning would probably be obvious and then the reason for picking the name as well, like with the original "akuma"

but, considering how the crew on this show likes to name things - by going for the most obvious solutions, but also mirroring things in this special ep - the first one seems more plausible just by those reasons alone. But also, I feel like even if we didn't consider japanese pronunciation (as is often done in other-language productions, to adhere to local pronunciation so the word/spelling is easier to understand), it seems like it would be easier to pronounce this way in english.

I can only deduce that re-naming the akuma butterflies, they must have found the same search results I did the first time, and just went for it. Or maybe someone in the crew knows more japanese and chinese vocabulary/names than they're letting on in the show-proper.

The only real difference as a person's name, comes down to the differences between the "ku" and "ka" syllibles. I could probably find out more if i go to https://www.romajidesu.com/ and did a deep dive about the different meanings of these two syllables in ordinary words as well.

so.. even if i didn't know much about japanese as a language (i don't know much in any case anyway, besides how to pronounce japanese words and names) imo - sounds like smth the crew would use-just bc it sounds like an almost reversal/anagram of akuma - it's just gotta have that "ku" in there.

The second choice also becomes plausible once you think of the work "Kami" for "god" being the direct opposition to "demon", the original version we see in the actual show. "a small companion" vs "a small god" - seeing it from this POV, both seem possible good meanings, if you start to expand on them like that. + r!Gabe does have the whole angel-theme going on.

I am holding my preference with "kumiko" because I picture that when they made reverse!Gabe, they probably pictured that his version of the akuma would be re-imagined as a companion, rather than something that takes over. But the angel motif on the other side, does feel like it "takes over" as well, just in a different way.

As an aside note, I found it funny how much they'd managed to change reverse!Hawkmoth as Betterfly. Like. Completely different character. Still has Gabriel's face so I want to punch him, but. At least he is interesting and sorta entertaining to watch on screen? I guess? sdfsdfs it's just very entertaining to me, to see Keith (both Halwkmoth/Betterfly's VA) play another completely different version of this character (pancake-Gabe and movie-Gbe I am looking at you)

2nd: I sorta hate the word "akumatized", but you gotta hand it, it sounds better than "kamikotized" - vs "kumikotized" '- I guess would have the same weird effect as "akumatized" the first time you watch it, that it sounds un-natural as a word a bit, but then you slowly grow into hearing it.

anyways.... both are girl names, but kumiko is literally what I heard Keith Silverstein pronounce lol

#mlb paris special #mlb paris spoilers #if you're here as my regulars this is not abt SR or other stuff #i don't usually post abt this show much if at all but I thought if post abt fandom stuff why not post on specific fandom blog #anyway.... post over we can all go home now #queued #not a US am english speaker so maybe I am just hearing it wrong but idk...#28 years of hearing this language u would think some things woulda stuck #lol sorry for the long post #i mishear things a lot when it's a lot of talking but if a word is used the same way over and over and it seems clear #idk just seems like that #betterfly #reverse gabriel agreste

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solradguy · 9 months

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Towards the anon talking abt the sin shipteasy stuff,, Yeaghh... Though it might be a translation error? for sin's line against elphelt's instakill. I heard that the original japanese version is something along the lines of "Goodbye childhood"? But I'm not sure, I don't know japanese...

To be honest... Xrd's English translations aren't generally wrong, per se, but the translation team added an "edginess" to a lot of the lines that isn't always there in the original Japanese. Sol's dialog got it really bad, as a quick example. I've complained about his dialog translations before, but the gist is that in Japanese he's usually just annoyed/grumpy, but in English he's often just straight up mean. Compare his official English translations in Strive to Xrd and you'll see what I'm on about. The Strive translations are more faithful.

Anyway, Sin's Magnum Wedding line is another example of this. I found transcriptions of all three possible lines he can say for it so I'll break them all down since I've got them, and I'll translate them more literally than the localization team did. This isn't always the way I translate lines because literal translations can be very clunky in English, I just want to try to get across the feel of the original JP lines.

Off.= Official Translation | SRG=SolRadGuy translation

グッバイ、オレの童心… Off.: "Farewell... virginity..." SRG: "Goodbye, my child-like innocence"

The first part here is just "goodbye" written out in katakana. Changing it to "farewell" was a good idea, it flows better. Then Sin uses the rough/casual masculine first person pronoun, "ore," for himself. This last word, 童心 ("doushin"), is where it gets weird. Doushin is like "naivete through being too young to know better." I wasn't able to find anything on JPDB, Jisho, or Weblio that suggested it is/can be used to mean "virginity" like how "innocence" in English can refer to knowledge of sexual things, but that doesn't necessarily mean no one ever uses it that way. That said, I think translating it as "virginity" bends the original meaning a little too far. The Japanese word for "virginity" is VERY close to doushin though, 童貞 ("doutei"). Note the first kanji being the same.

I think a better translation for this line could have been, "Farewell... naiveté..."

These next two lines are completely different in Japanese vs English and I'm too lazy to try to find a video with them to match them up so I'm making an educated guess.

外はサクサク、中はふんわり… Off.: "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud..." SRG: "Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy inside..."

I understand why they completely changed this line in English because directly translated it's... Actually, even in Japanese I'm not sure what Sin is getting at haha. My translation above is really very literal; there isn't a whole lot to break down. "ふんわり" ("funwari") means like gently/airily/fluffily. It's one of those onomatopoeic Japanese words that is difficult to cram into English.

センチメンタル、バイオレンス…！ Off.: "I feel so... at peace..." SRG: "Sentimental, violence..!"

Sin's speaking English through Japanese in this line. It straight up just says "sentimental" and "violence" in katakana. Not sure why they changed this one in the official translation when it was already technically in English though. Maybe changing it to an idiom like "All's fair in love and war" or something could've worked? I dunno, I'm sure the team probably had their reasons for changing this one so much. Overworked, understaffed, deadlines looming... I get it.

As an additional note: Getting Japanese into English can be a royal pain in the ass. Sometimes it's straight up impossible to get a faithful translation in English and in that case the translator might as well just come up with something different that fits the "vibe" of the Japanese line instead. I don't want this post to come across as a dig towards the translation team. Despite the odd edgy embellishments here and there, the Xrd translation is pretty good. I'm also not a professional translator and have never gone to school for Japanese, so the translation team knows more than me anyway.

#asks #long post

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auranovabloggers · 9 months

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Share (Murai Shinobu)

Alright... since you have to have a Tumblr account to even view things on Tumblr and I am relatively small in the grand scheme of things, I will take this time to share with ya'll a piece of media that means a lot to me. I do feel a bit iffy about this since it is a doujin, which are already a legal gray area. But... I just really wanna talk about it a bit.

So first of all, the cover:

What is 'Share'? Share is a doujin created by one Murai Shinobu as both author and illustrator. The story starts at the time the sisters are in their reincarnated lives. However, it then jumps back to the time period of Vampire Hunter, in their first lives. From there, the story follows Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling as they are going about their travels, hunting down Darkstalkers. The story takes place seemingly not too long after they used the Igyo Tenshin No Jutsu to change themselves. It is beautiful story of how Mei-Ling is trying to cope with the major changes that have befallen her younger sister as a result of their shared desire to save their mother. Wonderful art, great composition of scenes, and some heartwarming and touching moments, I feel it is a story that any fan of the sisters should give a read. Allow me to share just a few samples from the story:

You might have noticed the English dialogue. That is because I got the story translated by a wonderful translator, Zeus. Using the translations, I then went in to localize the translation and edit in dialogue that flowed in English better and matched with the personalities of the sisters.

So why go out of my way? Because when I got this doujin, my first ever, I was taken away by the wonderful art and what I was getting from context clues. Plus, it is a story centered around my favorite characters in all of media! I cannot read Japanese at all, so I was left to wonder what Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling were saying. There is actually a very specific page that really made me want to know what was being said! However, I'll share the original version:

How could you not want to know what in the world is going on here!? I certainly did and after finally learning what all was being said throughout the story, I was further enchanted. The fact is the art of the sisters done by Murai and especially this story are a major influence in the way of how I shaped Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling's personalities in Cryas Darkstalkers. Murai portrays Hsien-Ko as this very positive, cheerful individual who is willing to go forward and do what must be done. Not only that, but she also dearly loves her big sister and will absolutely do what she can to protect her from harm. However, she also does recognize that she has changed and is not human anymore in body. She isn't blissfully ignorant of that and is totally fine with the fact she is a jiangshi, even recognizing some of the perks to being one. Despite that, Hsien-Ko still believes she is still that same person she was before she changed. Mei-Ling is portrayed as a calm and thoughtful woman, if a bit too concerned. She plans out their travels, engages in affairs with humans, and is there to watch over and aid Hsien-Ko in any way she can. She still views Hsien-Ko as her sister, but is overtime concerned about the changes that have come over Hsien-Ko. In essence, concerned about the loss of Hsien-Ko's humanity and if this would overall change her from the sister she grew up with. It is some gripping stuff that tugs at my heartstrings and I love it! 😭💙💛

Now you may be saying, "Aura, this story sounds awesome! Can I purchase this awesome doujin and see things for myself!?'' Sadly, no. Since I last checked on Murai's BOOTH store, the doujin is out of stock. In fact, I am willing to bet a bit of money that I managed to purchase the last physical copy of Share. Maybe it was fate for this to happen? Who knows, but it happened.

I can possibly hear you shouting, "Aura, if this is out of stock, how can I read this awesome story!? HOW!?" Well, the answer lies in a Google Drive I have. So, while I tend to only do this for big fans of the sisters I find and friends, I'll give ya'll a chance to read this for yourself. I would ask that you do not go about uploading this stuff to any sites on the internet. Just please, share the drive with others if you wish to show others.

If you do read the story, please let me know what you think of it as I'd love to hear!

And Murai: if you somehow come across this and are not comfortable with the images shared and Google Drive link, I will absolutely be willing to take down the images and delete the link if you request so. While I would love others, especially English fans of Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, to read this wonderful story, it is still your doujin and I will respect your wishes. 🙇

#darkstalkers #hsien ko #mei ling #auranovablogger #hsien-ko #mei-ling #doujinshi #murai shinobu #manga panel #manga art #manga #doujin edit #jiangshi #doujin #please read this story #I swear it is awesome and beautiful #this means so much to me

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