#but maybe it only makes sense to me...?

[maxiwaxipads]

Mysterious Invitation Rendezvous ! !

(edit 2: just a title change <3)

[Coachman] - “We’re here.”

The carriage makes a stop. Arupek takes a step outside and wears a stuffed backpack on his shoulders. Arupek turns to the coachman.

Arupek - “Thank you for the trip!” [Coachman] - “But of all places… The Swathlands? "Sure this is the place? Why not recheck it again…?” Arupek - “Nope! I checked it several times, and this is the place. I’m sure this is where I need to be.” [Coachman] - “Really sure?” Arupek - “Really, Really, REALLY sure!” [Coachman] - “No point in an interrogation I suppose.” “I’ll stay here for a good hour—come back if you run into trouble.” [Coachman] - “These horses can go miles for days, isn’t that right?”

Proud horse noises.

Arupek - “I’ll be just fine.” “Come back to the designated time! This Arupek will come back stronger than ever!” [Coachman] - “Alright. Alright. I’ll still stick with what I said though.” “No harm being cautious, right?” Arupek - “Then I’ll get going.” “See you later! Not soon I hope!”

Walking straight ahead, Arupek waves his goodbyes without turning his back forward to wave the carriage-driver goodbye. The coachman delivers a short wave, as he sighs to himself.

[Coachman] - “That kid…” “O’ Lord Pekkle. Pray for his sake, will you?”

A moderate light dims Arupek's presence, as a lantern hangs from his backpack. Arupek hums an odd tune.

Arupek - “AAARRUUPEK~ ARUPEK~ He’s traveling somewhere suspicious and strange~” “But not as suspicious as Hangyon and maybe Lili~”

In a far distance, Hangyon and Lili sneeze as Arupek hums his "Arupek-Travel-Song-Copyright-Symbol-Here"

Arupek - “…” Arupek - “…” Arupek - “…” Arupek - “Barren, yellow lands everywhere…!”

(Walk) (Walk) (Walk) (Walk)

Arupek - “Maybe the coachman was right. Am I lost?” “Hmm…”

Arupek unravels a crumpled paper from his pocket. "Knight of Fragaria Bootcamp! / Swathlands, Cogimyun Kingdom / Bootcamp at Oasis! / June 24th - July 1st". It's written with the thinnest marker on a piece of default paper. The words aren't exactly aligned or straightened, as they slope a little bit down. A few words incoherently scribbled off. Not a single visual is adorned. Not even a smiley face.

Arupek - “Nnhhh… There isn’t even directions too…” Arupek - “No. I GET IT NOW! It’s all coming together…!?” Arupek - “This is just to test myself as a knight!” “Arupek has cracked the case!”

Bolstered with the sudden ember of a lightbulb turning on, Arupek holds his fist into two! He faces the night sky, proudly and turns forward.

Arupek - “I’ll find it in a few minutes—no, right now even!”

Arupek runs faster...!? Arupek who has finally understood author's intent and plot device...!? That failure is nonexistent within the confinements of a shitty scenario...!?

Arupek - “ARRRRUUUUUUPPEEEEEEEKKK!!!!”

He spots a patch of light in the nearby distance...! !

Arupek - “Arupek has hit the jackpot!” “Prediction is 100% accuracy!”

[??? #1] - “Nyahaha ~ Finally. It took a whole day for someone new to appear ~”

Freshness blends with the choked fumes of embers and smoke—something burns over the fire. The source of this voice—he looks down to see two people across each other who surround a burning fire.

[??? #2] - “Could you perhaps be behind this ’Bootcamp?’” Arupek - “Nope!” “I’m here for it as well!” [??? #2] - “(Sigh). Three knights, but no camp counselor…” “Perhaps we were bailed after all…” [??? #1] - “There might still be time to get back!” “Hey, did you take a ride here or walk?” Arupek - “I took a ride, and then walked all the way here!” “I guess the coachman did say he’d wait an hour to be sure.” [??? #2] - “An hour, huh?” “Then whoever took you probably left us already…” [??? #1] - “…Are we really going to have to wait that long again?” [??? #2] - “That’s that.” “We’ll just have to feed off the oasis or walk back to the nearest civilization ourselves.” Arupek - “So… It’s just us three?”

Arupek - “No one came after all…?”

[??? #2] - “I’m sure it’s fine.” “Besides. Isn’t it a great opportunity to meet foreign knights and expand our connections?” Cielomort - “I am Cielomort, I live to serve Lady Cinnamaroll.” “And this is…” Sanah - “Yahoo ~ The name’s Sanah! I’m great friends with Usahana~” Arupek - “And that makes me Arupek!” “I like Lord Pekkle, lots!” Cielomort - “It’s great we know each other already.” Sanah - “You came just in time.” "The fruit we just roasted should be read about now!" Sanah - “And it isn’t too burnt at all!”

Sanah passes a fruit skewer.

Sanah - “Haha… Let’s dig in!” Cielomort - “Ye—"

Cielomort, his face scrounges mid-sentence as he slowly chewed and swallowed.

Cielomort "—sss..." Arupek - “Wow~ It’s certainly fresh, and the bitterness is just right!” Cielomort - “That’s great… Have mine, Arupek.” Sanah - “Wait right there!” “It was your idea to roast it, and this is the only fruit in the entire area.” “I want you to eat Cielomort, you’ve been here for too long and need a meal!” Cielomort - “B…But it’s bitter.” Arupek - “If you eat it quick, it’s like the food never existed in the first place!” “Because it’s all in the stomach now!” Sanah - “Mhm~ Just eat it quick!” Arupek - “A wise man once told me… A good guy is someone who finishes his food!” “You can do it, Cielomort!” Cielomort - “Good-Guy-Ship… Huh…”

Cielomort frows as his eyebrows crease. He squints at the skewer at his hands. In the voice of a sports announcer: "Cielomort takes a bite...!?"

Sanah - “Just like that ~ I might fill up as well.”

Sanah eats his fruit skewer, followed by Arupek.

Cielomort - “D…Done.” Arupek - “You did it!” Cielomort - “…It was terrible.” Sanah - “At least you ate something, didn’t you?”

Sanah gives Cielomort a head-pat.

Sanah - “You’re a good example for children who can’t finish food they like~” Cielomort (Moved) - “Sanah…” Cielomort - “(But I feel like I’m being referred like a child at the same time…)” Sanah - “Still.” “Do you think other knights will come?” Cielomort - “It’s only a gut feeling of mine… I believe we’re the only ones who listened to this invite.” Cielomort - “If not, call me foolish.” Arupek - “But wouldn’t you call your gut foolish instead?”

Cielomort - “Good point. I might call my gut foolish if I’m wrong.” Sanah - “Still~ (Yawn). I know you just came here Arupek, but I’m too tired to be hospitable.” Arupek - “Don’t worry about it!” “I might wanna sleep as well~” Cielomort - “Then get comfortable. We might stay here for a week if you’re willing to.” Arupek - “Don’t mind if I do then!” Cielomort - “Why not train early in the morning?” “…It was meant to be a Bootcamp, but even the first day was uneventful.” Sanah - “Agreed... We might not be the first to find this oasis, but I wanna use up the good and undisturbed scenery as much as possible ~ ” Sanah - “Desert landscapes—and an oasis at that, is a rare find in Fragaria.” “So if it’s possible… I want to stay here as long as I can!” Cielomort - “Then I’m glad you’re in agreement with me, now what about you Arupek?” Arupek - “I don’t see why I should go back!” “Besides~ This trip seems like it’ll be fun anywhere.” Cielomort - “Fun, eh?” “I certainly hope it will be.”

Cielomort - “But… I think it’ll be in our best interest for someone to guard while the others sleep.” “Even if no danger surrounds us… An invitation specifying ‘Knights of Fragaria’ to join? Especially in a secluded place like the Swathlands—thought to be nothing but uninhabitable.” Sanah - “Y—You do bring up a good point.” “That settles it! Why don't I take the position of guard for tonight!” Sanah - “Cielomort, who came too early—and Arupek who came too late!” “I think I’m perfect for the job~” Cielomort - “That’s that.” “Why not three-hour shifts?” Arupek - “Then I’ll take after Sanah and that leaves Cielomort!”

Edit: Messy Notes About Cogimyun Kingdom (everything pours without a filter, so maybe a detail contradicts another) (these are literally just me spewing ideas and seeing which might work </3)

[inkskinned]

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

[aroaceleovaldez]

i have suddenly become obsessed with a theme that HoO established but never proceeded to extrapolate on, which is:

You are Percy Jackson, and you have been swapped with a boy who was allegedly everyone's favorite person, but they have decided to replace him with you. They just met you. You stand next to his best friend and the people he's known his entire life. In his home. In his cloak. In his place. They stopped looking for him.

You are Jason Grace, and you have just found out you have a long lost sister who completely replaced you in her life with this girl you just met. Your lives and personalities are mirrors. She is you, living the life you were robbed of.

You are Annabeth Chase, and you have just become starkly aware that you have been inhabiting the void left behind by your best friend's long lost brother. You and Luke were just replacements for him. Now you have to look him in the eyes when he has nothing and know you took that life from him.

You are Piper McLean, and you have just found out your relationship is fake and built entirely on the memories of Annabeth Chase. You have been given a boyfriend when hers has been taken away. You have no idea how much of it is real or not but regardless you feel like if your relationship isn't exactly in their image that you have failed.

You are Leo Valdez, and you have just learned that you are the echo of your great-grandfather. You are not your own person. You just exist to be a mirror of him. A doppelganger. An actor and stunt double facing all the danger he never had to but wearing his face. To be there for his best friend decades later simply because he couldn't. You are playing a role. A seventh wheel and a pawn for a goddess who carefully sculpted your entire life for her own purposes.

You are Hazel Levesque, and the only reason you are alive is because your brother couldn't save your his sister. You are a consolation prize. An apology. Your existence here is misplaced in every way but you inhabit it anyways.

You are Frank Zhang, and you are a shapeshifter. Inhabiting your own body feels strange and clumsy when you could be literally anything at any time. You are anything and everything and live your life with the simple certainty of knowing exactly how you will die.

[c-kiddo]

thinking abt this .. the panic :( the way he just holds onto himself :( just tells himself theres work to do : (

also look at the little beetle carapace belle left for him :(((((

[lemonlimestar]

when ur in the mirror, ur just looking at me ⋆⭒˚.⋆

[knockknockitsnickels]

I think this is one of my favorite lines from the Wraith route because of (imo) how much the meaning changes depending on if you got there via Spectre or Nightmare. For Spectre, it honestly strikes me as a genuine question. Why are you doing this to her? If you're on the Spectre route, you presumably already know the Narrator can't really be trusted, since you had to reject his reward to get here. What are you hoping to gain from continuing to hurt her? For Nightmare, it honestly just makes me sad. As the Shifting Mound describes her, "She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt." This line feels like a plea from someone who genuinely doesn't understand why you keep rejecting her. She wants to be with you, but she just can't understand how to do that in a way which doesn't hurt you.

[stealingpotatoes]

hands you all this cal to announce i’ve FINALLY finished fallen order (by which i mean i finally picked it up again after those couple hours i played a few months ago and then finished the whole game in 2 days lol)

[crime-wives]

sometimes i think about the fact that regina has literally held emma’s heart in her hands. the intimacy of soft fingers slipping under layers of skin and bone and blood and pulling out the muscle that keeps emma alive. cradled in the palm of her hand, glowing, still beating. regina having to be so gentle so as to not hurt her. and emma allowing regina to have that power over her. and then i think about the fact that regina’s fingers were bare and not gloved. the way she could feel every vein, every groove. the way she was not limited in her ability to see all of emma. something about the way regina handed the heart back to emma. placed it into the palm of her hand like an offering. look, i kept it safe for you, i love you, do you trust me?

[coyotejone-s]

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

warlock wizard Wally scribbles... Thinkings! oh and a bonus bard-ish Barnabys in the corner for flavor

outfit ramblings:

first of all that is a Terrible rendition of what Home looks like in my head. i just needed to fill empty space </3

the staff was the toughest part honestly. bc it Had to be paintbrush-themed, but then halfway through scribbling i was like "oh shit. there are only so many ways to draw a paintbrush-wizard-staff and Weevmo already hit it out of the park." so if you're seeing similarities! you're right! i tried to make it as different as i could! there is Inspiration from their marvelous design, however accidental or subconscious! Apologies!

he gets a pointed hood instead of a hat because a) it looks great on him! and b) it has less of a chance of messing up his hair! also c) it helps muddle the difference between Wizard and Warlock. typically hoods have evil/duplicitous connotation - blur the lines! i want his long gloves and forearm wraps to have the same vibe. his neckerchief is a big help in hiding Home's seal!

his layered (loosely apple-themed) capelet (which the hood is attached to) has a nice high collar & hides the details of his loose shirt - eye embroidery! and some flowers on the shoulders but yk, mostly eyes. on one side of the shirt buttons has open eyes, the other side they're closed! there's also one big eye on his back!

his belt buckle is two halves of an apple! he wears tall thigh-high boots w/ low heels to feel Taller! he has a book-holster hooked to the back of his belt, which holds his grimoire! and he has a lil thigh-bag that has been magicked to be Bottomless and warps size! he can fit pretty much anything in there! canvases! paint! apples!

his half-skirt thing (idk what the word for it is!) is really plush, like a quilt - his capelet is the same fabric. soft, cozy. sometimes he'll use the skirt thing as a blanket in a pinch, or as a picnic placemat!

is his outfit a little Complicated? is it annoying to replicate? yes and yes. but im a maximalist at heart and Nothing But The Best for the blorbo <3 layers my beloved <3

[oceanwithouthermoon]

yk when i think about it, especially when im watching the anime with people who havent read the manga, the reason a lot of people who only watch the anime and didnt read the manga misinterpreted saikis character so badly is definitely in part because of how damn fast paced the anime is 😭

like that little smile and eye shine frame is there for not even half a second in the anime, so its easier to miss it and assume that he really did only finish those workbooks to get coffee jelly ☠️ its much more clear if you get a good look at how he reacts here that hes just a silly little tsundere and a fucking liar

[justpassingbyoursht]

Yknow when I first saw Chronos i couldn't quite take him seriously bc he's... he's a twink. who gave him that tiny tiny waist and those birthgiving hips? why is he built like that? i expected a giant or something, i mean the big 3 brothers are built ykno their father should be big muscly guy too right?? and then i realized he's got an hourglass shape and. 😶

my bad supergiant u are right. titan of time. hourglass. titan of time? hourglass. checks out ✓ he is hourglass shaped. an hourglass. ⌛that. that is him. titan of time alright. hourglass

but still that tiny waist

[chiricat]

souyuri (again)

[protagonist-art]

okay question. how did webby get an american accent... where did it come from

[virgothozul]

I-

hum.

[project-sekai-facts]

How are we feeling about ensekai’s emu3 translation!!! (I’m mad)

(if you remember the 3 whole posts i made when asahi got de-gayed on EN you'll know i am mad too and that this is probably going to get long)

i don't like to be too cynical but it was so obvious that they were going to change that line, i had a feeling since the event first released on JP and after the incident with Asahi where I went through and tracked down multiple other examples of EN removing queer subtext it became clear to me that in no way shape or form was "emu-chan really loves nene-chan" making it to EN without getting changed. what i didn't expect was them changing Nene's line after Luka's comment, which actually makes this whole situation far worse than many of their other instances of toning down queer subtext.

for anyone who isn't aware of what happened, in chapter 5 of the current Emu event, there's a scene where Nene, Rui and the Virtual Singers are talking about what would cheer Emu up. The vsingers all talk about how much Emu loves spending time with Nene, leading to the following exchange

If you look for them, any fan TL of this scene will be something similar to this:

Luka: ...Fufu. Emu-chan really loves Nene-chan, doesn't she? Nene: Th-that's nothing special...

EN's official translation is this:

So what's the issue? I'll start with Luka's part. In the original text, she uses the word daisuki, which can mean to "like a lot" or "love". It's a word you will see frequently in the idol/idol-adjacent genre of games, due to its ambiguity in that it can be read as either platonic or romantic when used towards a person, and often will be used in ambiguous situations so that it's harder to confirm the writers' intentions either way. so here, fans of the emu/nene ship could view the fact that emu loves spending her time with nene as more on the romantic side, but people who don't like the ship could view it as platonic and move on.

while they didn't translate daisuki directly, Luka's line still works, and still contains the ambiguity that works as ship tease in the original text. it's a perfectly fine localisation that still conveys the original intent. despite that, there is something to be said about EN's consistent refusal to translate daisuki as love in most instances when it's not used on An/Kohane (but then again, EN has literally teased An/Kohane on their twitter account so is it all that surprising?).

Here's some examples:

Aibou no koto ga daisuki de / he loves his partner -> he cares about his partner very much (The Power of Unity chapter 7 when Kaito is comparing Arata to Akito and Toya)

HARUKA-CHAN, DAISUKI DAYOOOO!!! / HARUKA-CHAN, I LOOOOOVEEE YOU!!! -> You're the best!!! (Dear Me, As I Was Back Then chapter 4 when minori is at an ASRUN concert. this one isn't actually that great of a localisation)

Honachan no koto daisuki dakara. Kore de iinda yo. / I love Honachan, so this is fine. -> I want what's best for her. And this is it. (Leo/need main story chapter 14 after Saki tells Honami she won't bother her anymore)

Minna daisuki de - taisetsuna tomodachi na no / I love them all - they're my dearest friends -> They're all amazing, and very dear to me. (Leo/need main story chapter 17. this isn't good either)

What's particularly amusing about that last one is that there's a second official translation for it that I assume was done by JP staff (since EN never promoted doing the Journey to Bloom subs like they did back when they provided subs for Petit SEKAI) that actually keeps the word daisuki as love.

Yeah. I love all my friends - and they mean the world to me.

It's a better localisation than the official EN team one.

Questionable localisation choices aside, Luka's line is fine and is actually in line with the original. The issue with this localisation very much lies with Nene's part, because that is an entirely new line.

In the original text, Nene's "that's just normal" or "that's nothing special" or however you choose to TL it, is meant to be her questioning Luka's statement, since all the things that the other vsingers said that Emu liked were pretty normal things like going shopping and playing video games with nene. To Nene, these things are normal activities for them to do together, so she gets embarrassed by the fact that Luka concludes from that information that Emu loves Nene. When I dissect it like that I think you can really tell what the writers were going for here lol.

"That's just us being friends" does still convey the idea that Nene thinks these activities aren't anything out of the ordinary and she isn't sure why the vsingers are picking these out as some of Emu's favorite things to do, but it's very different from the original line. "But those are just normal things we do together" is something I just came up with on the spot, but it's a lot closer to the original text and still conveys the same meaning. The fact they changed the line to "that's just us being friends" is, honestly, not even subtle that they're covering up queer subtext. The original scene was very clearly written in as ship tease, and EN mentioning "friends" for no reason, especially since the word nor anything close to it was not used in the original, is instantly a red flag because it's like the go-to for queerbaiting and censorship. This was intentional. There was no need for them to specify that the relationship is platonic, Luka's part is ambiguous for a reason so that fans can view it how they like.

Just to top all this off, here's Rin's original line just before that Luka+Nene interaction:

Oh, and! And! She said that playing games with Nene-chan is also super fun!

And here's Rin's line from the official EN translation:

That's not the same thing, but even more weirdly, the incorrect part (super fun->really loves) is a correct translation for the part changed in Luka's line. So, they can do it, they are willing to say "really loves", just not in the right places. Maybe because Rin's part is less personal than Luka's part? It's strange actually, this isn't the first time they've done this either. Off the top of my head I can think of an example from Shiho's Varied Kindness 2* story where they translated the word "suki" as really loves, despite that being much stronger than the original word used (and the fact that daisuki is used a lot in the Leo/need stories and it's incredibly rare if not entirely unknown for them to translate it correctly).

It's not subtle that they're trying to remove implications of the characters possibly being queer, they did it in curtain call and they did it in walk on and on, and multiple times before then too. And considering some of the content in this year's events and the amount of times they say daisuki alone, it's gonna keep happening. honestly i hate the fact that i keep trying to justify the translations in these posts. these translations are intentional. what happened in the curtain call translation back in october says enough. when a character who uses explicitly romantic language towards another guy passes as a straight character in the translation you know they're doing it on purpose.

oh and once again, it's only the EN server that has this issue. The scene in question was translated almost word-for-word on the TW and KR servers.

read fan translations. they're better than what EN gives us and people put a lot of effort into them.