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…This came out WAAAY more homoerotic than I intended. But I guess I don’t really care lmao—

Anyway, although it may have taken FOREVER…

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59735749/chapters/162132145

Here it finally is! :D

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basically the localizers for some reason cut out all the dialogue in a c support

Well. That is certainly a decision.

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an example of why alot of people dont like localizers

I don’t know what I’m looking at here I’m afraid

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Do you think that Al plans on sending Subaru back to his own world and

I really doubt that it’s that benign lol. Sounds to me like he just wants to seal him away from the world forever in that little orb

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This is Julius POV of Subaru during Dogshow:

https://youtu.be/sFv97ICWP0A?si=oMPhisbIAO24Vbio

accurate lmao

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I’m honestly not well-versed enough in Japanese culture to tell you what would be a good or bad anime localization lmao, but this conversation is pretty interesting so I’m gonna use a different example: ever heard of The Odyssey?

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

In the original Odyssey, there’s this entire subplot with a gang of suitors in Ithaca, where they have been completely ignoring the rules of hospitality and trampling over Penelope and Telemachus (Odysseus’ wife and son) in Odysseus’ absence. This culminates in a scene at the end of the story where Odysseus comes home and wreaks bloody revenge, murdering all of the suitors and all of the servants that had been complicit in ransacking his house while he was gone. And the thing about this is that there’s…a couple of places that would translate VERY differently to us in the modern day than they would have to someone in Ancient Greece. And that’s where good localization comes in. Have you heard of Epic: The Musical?

Now, I don’t really feel that I can speak for the ENTIRETY of the album — but I think that the way that Jorge Rivera-Herrans localized that scene with the suitors, specifically, was really masterfully done in two very specific ways.

The first has to do with something he removed. In the original Odyssey, there’s this part where Odysseus does not JUST murder the suitors: he also murders the servant girls who had been sleeping with the suitors. He does so violently and brutally, forcing them to clean up the remains of the dead suitors before hanging all of them and watching them flail around as they are slowly strangled to death. And the thing is: he does this because they slept with the suitors, and as such betrayed his household — but there’s no word as to whether or not they had a choice in the matter, and the implication of the time period is that they likely DIDN’T. And as a result…it really does come off that Odysseus just slaughtered a bunch of women for the crime of being rape victims.

Even if this is an accurate translation, however, it is very likely NOT how someone in Ancient Greece would have interpreted the story. They probably would have interpreted it more as Odysseus taking vengeance on traitors to his household, with the maids having betrayed his rule by sleeping with the suitors regardless of whether they actually consented to it or not. But because that’s just not at ALL how a person in the modern day would interpret a passage like that, a modern localization probably wouldn’t be able to include it at all if it wanted to produce the same impact. As such, Rivera-Herrans’ decision to just cut that part out was a very good decision from a localization perspective, even if from a translation perspective it would be…kind of awful, lmao.

The second thing he did was something he added, because Antinous never planned to rape Penelope in The Odyssey like he does in Epic: The Musical. In the original story, the suitors were trying to force Penelope’s hand in marriage, but they never openly plotted to hold her down and rape her. That’s something Rivera-Herrans added in his interpretation — and I think it was actually a brilliant decision on his part, because it completely picks up the slack of a DIFFERENT cultural difference that otherwise makes the story ring just so slightly more hollow.

The rules of hospitality were a BIG DEAL in Ancient Greece, and violating them was such a massive no-no that most myths are, in some way, about figures being punished for doing just that. The suitors coming in to trash Odysseus’ home while he’s away was such absolutely NASTY behavior within the story’s original context, and him slaughtering them all at the end was viciously cathartic for exactly that reason. But in the modern day — the rules of hospitality just don’t carry that same amount of weight. Like yeah, someone being a bad guest or a bad host is shitty behavior, but it’s not this massive sin in quite the same way. Sexual assault, on the other hand, is widely considered one of those things that is just absolutely unforgivable nowadays. So by adding in that song where Antinous and the suitors openly plan to rape Penelope, Rivera-Herrans manages to reinvoke that righteous, enraged feeling in a modern audience that may otherwise have been “lost in translation,” and then Odysseus’ retribution both makes perfect sense and induces the same sense of emotional catharsis.

Anyway, Epic: The Musical is a terrible translation, lmao, but I think it’s genuinely a very good localization of the Odyssey — or at least a good interpretation of what a localization of the original story MIGHT look like, because frankly there’s probably a lot of different interpretations that also could have worked. Also, the songs are pretty good!

what you brought up about stuff in japan is why I am really annoyed by yen press mistranslations ( making it sound like crusch wanted subaru as amate ) or localizations vandalizing other peoples work changing a characters personality/attitude what they were saying in a scene to be completely different upjumping dialogue ( or censoring stuff because they have issues ) we know japan is different culture so we know what we are getting into so even if a statement is sexist keep it in

My feelings about localization are actually pretty complicated lol. I feel like the field has gotten a reputation in recent years about being a form of censorship, when actually — if it is done well — localization is actually the exact OPPOSITE of censorship.

As I see it, there is a very distinct difference between a direct translation and a localization: the former is meant to give you the exact wording of what was being conveyed in the original language, while the latter is meant to translate the IMPACT that the original would have had on its original audience to an entirely new demographic. And the latter is much, MUCH harder to do well, because it requires the localizer to be intimately familiar with two different cultural contexts well enough to know 1) what the original work was conveying to its original audience, nuances and all, and 2) how that intention could be conveyed to an entirely new audience, even if some technicalities need to be switched up a bit. But when it’s done well, it can be seriously enlightening and open up all sorts of avenues for engaging with the story both as it translates and as it was originally intended.

—But then you sometimes get instances where people who are supposed to be translating the story end up changing things about it less because they know that the impact will differ by locale and more because they thought certain decisions were “distasteful” and that’s disrespectful on a number of levels. It’s disrespectful to the original author for obvious reasons — even if the change does make for a better story, that decision is not anyone’s to make but the original author — but it’s also disrespectful to people who believe they’re paying for an accurate translation, because the insinuation is that they need to be “shielded” from the distasteful elements in the original work. And that’s just…insulting. If I want to engage with a work that has distasteful elements, I want to be trusted to engage with it honestly and come to my own conclusions: I don’t want some third party jumping in to “protect” me from them, especially if they’re not even planning to disclose that they changed something behind my back.

And as for the Yen Press thing (and also the recent mistranslations from Crunchyroll) — that’s just gross incompetence. Mistranslations happen, but the frequency and severity of some of the ones in Re:Zero is just embarrassing.

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what you brought up about stuff in japan is why I am really annoyed by yen press mistranslations ( making it sound like crusch wanted subaru as amate ) or localizations vandalizing other peoples work changing a characters personality/attitude what they were saying in a scene to be completely different upjumping dialogue ( or censoring stuff because they have issues ) we know japan is different culture so we know what we are getting into so even if a statement is sexist keep it in

My feelings about localization are actually pretty complicated lol. I feel like the field has gotten a reputation in recent years about being a form of censorship, when actually — if it is done well — localization is actually the exact OPPOSITE of censorship.

As I see it, there is a very distinct difference between a direct translation and a localization: the former is meant to give you the exact wording of what was being conveyed in the original language, while the latter is meant to translate the IMPACT that the original would have had on its original audience to an entirely new demographic. And the latter is much, MUCH harder to do well, because it requires the localizer to be intimately familiar with two different cultural contexts well enough to know 1) what the original work was conveying to its original audience, nuances and all, and 2) how that intention could be conveyed to an entirely new audience, even if some technicalities need to be switched up a bit. But when it’s done well, it can be seriously enlightening and open up all sorts of avenues for engaging with the story both as it translates and as it was originally intended.

—But then you sometimes get instances where people who are supposed to be translating the story end up changing things about it less because they know that the impact will differ by locale and more because they thought certain decisions were “distasteful” and that’s disrespectful on a number of levels. It’s disrespectful to the original author for obvious reasons — even if the change does make for a better story, that decision is not anyone’s to make but the original author — but it’s also disrespectful to people who believe they’re paying for an accurate translation, because the insinuation is that they need to be “shielded” from the distasteful elements in the original work. And that’s just…insulting. If I want to engage with a work that has distasteful elements, I want to be trusted to engage with it honestly and come to my own conclusions: I don’t want some third party jumping in to “protect” me from them, especially if they’re not even planning to disclose that they changed something behind my back.

And as for the Yen Press thing (and also the recent mistranslations from Crunchyroll) — that’s just gross incompetence. Mistranslations happen, but the frequency and severity of some of the ones in Re:Zero is just embarrassing.

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None of you are going to guess where this is going.

April Fools Sneak Peek

____

Nearly two months ago now, Subaru had somehow wandered into another world.

—In the present moment, Subaru picked up the mug of beer. It looked like something out of an anime: that nice amber color with foam across the top. It was bitter to the taste, but he didn’t really care right now.

His dad had finally had enough of his sulking around one day near the end of March, and the dreaded confrontation had ensued — only for it to be nothing like Subaru had expected. Stern words had been aimed his way, perhaps, but they had been kind words, too, overflowing with love and care and a desire to help him back to his feet. And instead of kicking him out, Kenichi had dragged Subaru into his workplace as a new intern, fully intending to whip him into shape.

“I’ve been a real shitty father, letting you coop yourself up in your shell like that for so long!” he had declared. “But starting today, I’m going to be beating some sense into you, one paper cut at a time!”

Looking back now, Subaru wanted to kick himself for expecting anything else.

—In the present moment, Subaru took another swig of his first ever alcoholic beverage.

Subaru had gotten better and better. He ate more, left the house on runs with his father, worked harder and harder as he pulled himself to his feet. With his mom’s encouragement, he even experimented with his hair, growing it out just a little bit as he tentatively stepped out of his father’s shadow — in his own sort of way. March turned to April, and Subaru turned eighteen as a working adult, and life kept getting better bit by bit.

And then on his way home from the grocery store, Subaru had stumbled into another world.

“I need to get home,” he had pleaded with Roswaal, that first day in the manor. “You said you owe me a debt, right? Please help me get back home…!”

He had regretted those words later, when that blue-haired maid showed him just how little this lot trusted him — and how little he should trust THEM, in turn. That was why, in this loop, nobody knew that Natsuki Subaru was from beyond the Great Waterfall.

(He had still saved her, of course. Rem had hurt him terribly, but — she could still be a friend, right?)

—Subaru downed the rest of the beer. It burned as it flooded his throat, and he came out the other side coughing and hacking. He slammed the mug down on the counter. “How much for a second?” he demanded.

Everything since then had gone pretty all right, all things considered. He had slyly asked for a job instead of help getting home, and that had allowed him to collect some savings while not having to worry about food or shelter. Beatrice had been teaching him how to read in the library during his off-hours, so that he might have a better chance at recognizing a lead for an opportunity on finding a way home if one presented itself. He didn’t trust Rem or Ram anymore, but they had both been nice enough to him since the Wolgarm incident. He had thrown himself into his work, too, and even outside of the more technical benefits it had given him something to do, to keep him from driving himself insane. —And even in those failed loops, Emilia herself had been nothing but kind to him.

And then the Royal Selection Ceremony had come about, and Subaru had royally fucked everything up.

(“Did your parents really raise you to behave in such an uncouth manner?” that purple-haired knight had scolded, and something inside of Subaru had just SNAPPED.)

—Subaru felt a little dizzy as he clenched the handle of his second drink. This was his first time, after all. …But that didn’t stop him from taking another sip.

Emilia had been so angry at him. “Why would you do something like that?!” she had demanded. “Challenging Julius like that — what made you think that was a good idea?!”

It was a reasonable complaint. As one of her retainers, Subaru’s outburst had brought Emilia nothing but embarrassment. Subaru had tried to apologize, but she had left him in Lady Crusch’s care.

“I’ll— be back,” she had said. “But I need…” Subaru remembered watching her swallow. “…I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on,” she had added softly. Confusingly. “You know that, right?”

Subaru hadn’t really understood what she was trying to say, but he had figured that she needed some time away from him, which was fair enough. He’d probably need some time away from himself, too.

He had been fine after that. Really, he had. —But the fight with Ferris and Crusch earlier had just been a little bit too much.

—Alcohol tasted horrible. But he didn’t really want to go back right now, and so Subaru continued to drink.

It had started off simple enough. Ferris had just finished healing his gate, just like Emilia had so generously requested he do, and then Crusch had summoned them both for a — discussion, of some sort. Subaru didn’t know or care what her reasoning for wanting to talk to him was. But at some point the healer had made some comment about Emilia going out of her way like this, and Subaru had admitted that her reasoning was beyond his understanding, even if he was grateful. For some reason that had touched a nerve, and things had escalated.

And then he—

“Juli was right,” Ferris had said casually. Snidely. “Nyer parents clearly made sooo many mistakes, for nya to be acting like this. Man, I’d hate to be…”

He had stopped talking then, catching sight of the look on Subaru’s face. He had turned to face the healer quickly enough that he would have gotten whiplash if he weren’t suddenly so hyper-alert.

It had been quiet for a long moment, and then he had stood up.

“Subaru, wait—” Crusch had called out.

He hadn’t known where he was going, really. He didn’t want her to stop him. For some reason, he had paused by the door anyway, turning around to stare back at her for just a moment.

“Subaru, what are you…” Crusch had pursed her lips together, trying to figure something out. “What is it that you’re after, here?” she had finally asked. “What do you want?”

“…I want…” Subaru hadn’t known how to answer that. Not to himself, and certainly not to these suspicious characters. “…I want to go get wasted,” he had finally muttered, and then he had walked away. “So just — fuck off, and leave me alone.”

—And now he was here, in a crowded and dingy bar all on his lonesome, indulging in his first ever alcoholic beverage.

Your father was going to take you out for beer to celebrate your first successful month at work, a voice inside him said crossly. What are you doing, celebrating early without him when you’ve done nothing of value at all?

Subaru drowned out that voice with another swig of beer. It burned on the way down.

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I just came up with something absolutely unhinged for April first.

It’s not Omegaverse but. I think it’d be fun.

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Arc 9 Chapter 23 spoilers

aldebaran what the fuck is wrong with you

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Doctor who, the best written damn time traveler in damn history

I never really got into the Superwholock trend tbh

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Writing fluff is surprisingly difficult for me but here’s an attempt lmao

BTZ I Ficlet: Julius Is A Dick

____

“Subaru. For the last time. STOP SNEAKING INTO OUR CARRIAGES!”

Ricardo’s roar echoed through the clearing, instantly catching the attention of everyone in the area.

Subaru could feel his cheeks burning, but he didn’t back down. “Why can’t I come with you?!” he demanded. “I can help, I know I can!”

“Subaru, this is the third time this month!” Subaru scowled at the sound of Julius’ voice, the knight stalking closer from where he had been talking to the little kitty mercenaries a moment before. If they can let EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS accompany them on these missions, then surely—! “Were you really trying to stowaway again? You know better than this!”

“What‘s it to you?!” Subaru retorted, crossing his arms and trying not to feel ashamed of himself. “Just let me go, I know I can handle it!”

“Ya can’t even sneak into one of our carriages without being noticed,” Ricardo pointed out.

“I-I almost did!”

“That’s a bit of a problem,” Julius said wryly. “Perhaps we should put a bell on this one, if he keeps trying to sneak into places he knows he’s not supposed to be.” The knight poked his side. Subaru squeaked, spinning around to bat his hand away with a scowl.

Julius paused. As Subaru didn’t care even slightly what that bastard thought about anything, he turned back to keeps arguing with Ricardo. “I know I can help!” he insisted. “I just — haven’t had a chance to show it yet! If you would just give me a chance to prove myself—”

“Subaru.”

“Kid, we know enough about this entire situation to know that bringing you along would be more of a hassle than a help,” the mercenary retorted. Subaru flinched slightly. “All of us are better off if you just stay here. We’ll be in and out before you know it.”

“You don’t know that!” Subaru protested.

“I know a lot more than you think I do, believe it or not,” Ricardo countered. “And in any case, didn’t ya give any thought to how Wilhelm would feel about us dragging you off all of a sudden?”

Wilhelm would probably be thrilled if Subaru got killed off: at least he’d stop being such a nuisance every morning. Subaru shook his head. That was why he had to prove himself, that’s all. “Who cares what he thinks about it?!” he argued. Ricardo stared at him, looking somewhat aghast. “I’ll come right back, and then he’ll see that—”

“Hey, Subaru.”

“What?” Subaru snapped, turning on his heel to glower at the knight. “Don’t tell me that YOU think—”

Julius’ raised hands were forming claw shapes, his fingers wiggling threateningly. An unusually blatant evil smirk had spread across his face.

Subaru froze.

Julius took one step forward, and Subaru immediately turned and bolted across the grounds of the Estate.

*

“Are you really going to be giving me the silent treatment for the rest of the day??”

The man had chased him all around the gardens, staying just a few feet behind Subaru no matter how fast he ran and finding every hiding spot no matter where he tried to duck for cover. He could have just grabbed him at the very start and gotten it over with, but instead he had waited until Subaru had exhausted himself before dragging him into his lap and tearing him to pieces.

“Oh come on, I know you were having fun!” Julius poked him in the side. Subaru almost completely lost his composure, spinning around in his seat to frantically bat away the man’s hand so quickly that he nearly fell out of his chair entirely. Ferris snorted loudly, giggling at the display. “Don’t try to put on a grumpy face NOW…”

“Shut up!” Subaru snapped.

“Nya really wannya go out of nyer way to provoke him again this soon, Subaru-kyun?” Ferris teased. Subaru stiffened. “Are nyew nyever satisfied?”

“I mean,” Julius said, reaching for him again. “If you still want to play…”

“No!” Subaru retorted, batting his hand angrily. “Go away, asshole!” Ferris cackled.

Julius sighed, standing up. “I’ll leave you to your lessons, then,” he said. “Come on, Ferris.”

“Right, right…”

And then Subaru and Joshua were alone.

“I hate your brother,” Subaru muttered.

“My brother is the most incredible knight in the kingdom of Lugunica,” Joshua scoffed. “Not recognizing his brilliance is a sign of your poor taste.”

Subaru didn’t say anything back, scowling down at the table.

Joshua lowered his own book curiously. “…What did he do?” he asked.

Subaru didn’t want to answer that. Either fortunately or unfortunately, he didn’t have to.

“Your friend is mad because your brother tickled him senseless,” one of the knights who had been watching the entire event laughed, perusing a bookshelf nearby. “He sure didn’t make it easy, though! Had to chase him across the courtyard and everything…”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!!” Red-eared, scarlet-faced, and frantically waving for the knight to stop recounting that humiliating series of events, Subaru resignedly waited for Joshua to start mocking him right alongside everyone else.

But instead—

“I HATE it when he does that!” Joshua hissed, an embarrassed flush of his own spreading across his cheeks. Subaru blinked. “He’s such a jerk when he gets like that!”

Subaru suddenly remembered with newfound clarity that Joshua was Julius’ little brother.

“I-I mean—” Joshua coughed into his fist, his blush deepening. “My brother is a brilliant and merciful man. I-If you fail to understand that, then that is your own fault.”

Subaru took that lie for what it was, and the two of them stewed silently together in their mutual agreement.

[sufferu]

Look. She’s a great character, a fascinating personality, and a absolute thematic juggernaut within the story of Re:Zero…

…But I would fucking HATE Priscilla Barielle if I ever met her in real life lmao. I don’t think there’s another character in this story who is more perfectly suited to get on my nerves, specifically.

[sufferu]

“A simpleton and a fool are similar, but not the same. A fool has no right to live, but a simpleton can at least be amusing.” — Priscilla Barielle

That’s an interesting quote when Subaru is often referred to as “The Fool,” both in the story and outside of it.

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So far: I’m thinking Omegaverse

I wanna write something special for April Fools Day this year…

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Hmph. Actually, it’s not foul enough yet. Back to the drawing board

Suggestions welcome!

I wanna write something special for April Fools Day this year…

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…I just got an absolutely AWFUL idea. It’s perfect.

I wanna write something special for April Fools Day this year…