#english was Rather funny tbh

[mayorofcattown]

Everytime I'm like "hmm maybe I should catch up on the dub" I'm reminded of what the dub is actually like and immediately lose interest

[mimzaucracks]

Silly little Oz AU

I wanted to create something silly for Spooky Season, so I did.

(Click for better quality)

Leonardo is not Dorothy. The idea is that this would be like an actual episode of the show; he'd get Wizard of Oz'd into, well, Oz, and the episode would play out like an abridged and heavily toned down version of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Which in turn means that the others are not the other three Turtles, either. They are, however, styled after and voiced by the other three. So, instead of saying something like "Donatello", I'll either use "Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman" or simply "the Tin Woodman" (which of course also applies to the other two).

The idea of the Scarecrow, the most intelligent character in the main cast in the book, speaking like Michelangelo does in the show was too funny not to implement!

I imagine the dialogue in the scene where Leonardo and Kiki meet him would go something akin to:

“I'm going to the Emerald City to find the wizard to help me back to New York.” “You suppose that wizard dude could give me some brains?" "Yeah, I'm sure he can!" "Mondo tubuloso!”

Not sure if I want Leonardo to be outed as knowing the fact that the wizard is a fraud, though...

I put Leonardo in the silver shoes from the book, since I heavily doubt anyone would've cared for fighting MGM for the rights to use the ruby slippers. On Discord while sketching, we did joke that I could put him in silver Birkenstocks or ruby Crocs. Sadly, Crocs weren't invented until 2002 😔

I debated a lot who to cast who as. Leonardo in the role of Dorothy and Raphael as the Cowardly Lion were easy enough, but which one of the other two brothers to cast as the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman? Both Michelangelo and Donatello work for either, since the book characters' main traits are intelligence and empathy respectively, but I finally settled on the casting that I did. Like mentioned above, the Scarecrow with Michelangelo's speech pattern is absolutely hilarious, but I don't think that Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman's hilarity should be understated, either; especially since his canon name when he was human (turtle?) was Nick Chopper, which does fit Donatello's general strategy of repairing things in the TV show by hitting or kicking machines strangely well.

While sketching, I also joked that Raphael-as-the-Cowardly-Lion looks like Raphael just finished a Cats the musical rehearsal but hadn't told anyone and just got busted sneaking back into the Lair. I also accidentally coloured him piss yellow when I coloured the flats, which I suppose is fair. Yellow is actually a colour associated with cowardice (even though the Lion wasn't actually a coward at all, but we'll set that aside).

Speaking of colouring mishaps, when colouring the Tin Woodman's base colour, I decided to look up images of tin to find a good rough match. Well, it then hit me to double check whether tin actually does rust or not. And guess what, it doesn't. Thus, I got around the problem by making his bolts, screws and joints made of iron instead. He has to rust somehow; you cannot have a Wizard of Oz "adaptation" without [Dorothy] and the Scarecrow oiling him upon meeting him.

The Toto situation was a tricky one, since TMNT isn't really known for its prevalence of dogs. The only actual noteworthy canine characters I can think of in any iteration are Rahzar and Dogpound, and as funny as it would've been for me to cast Rahzar as Toto, truth be told I had honestly forgotten him and Tokka even existed in the cartoon. I briefly considered having April be Toto (somehow), but I refused to entertain that idea even more than I already had. Instead, I got around the Toto problem by just drawing a dog (here a Scottish terrier, like how I pictured Toto in my head) and then renaming it. And thus, Kiki! And I love her.

Also, fun fact, the Scarecrow actually wore blue in the book!

[ricochetlovebombs]

I have finished the main story, as well as the companion mission and I wanna share my thoughts; all about Sampo, of course! This is NOT spoiler free, you've been warned.

Starting here:

Omg hi I've missed you so much 🥺💕

Why you gotta lie? He says this and then proceeds to say a bunch of shit that completely contradicts it. I thought we'd have the option to call him out bc I thought it was confirmed (or rather implied that we knew) in game that he's a Masked Fool? (More on that later)

Not necessarily Sampo related but I was surprised to see a character in the game with my name- But I also thought it was funny to imagine Sampo hanging out in a bar with all of the Pepeshi people hehe

Always looking out for us 🥺 Even though the whole thing felt so ominous at the time.. not to mention the mixed emotions after seeing that ridiculous dream. I'm wondering how that was related to what he was wanting to show us? Was he going to show us the "real" Dreamscape?

Took a cute pic here hehe

Tbh I'm not fully sure what Sparkle means by this part here regarding Sampo. I would also like to share that given the theories about Sampo "playing a character," as well as the light cone It's Showtime, that I was worried that he was never real to begin with and merely one of many puppets played by Sparkle. I'm glad that's not the case, though!

The way Sampo talks about the other Fools makes me think he is much more tame compared to the others. Or perhaps he used to be as wild but as calmed down more over time.

Look at that precious smile 😭❤️

THIS WHOLE SCENE THOUGH. THIS BETTER MEAN WE GET HIM AS A 5 STAR LATER

Also it seems like their masks grant them powers, in that case?

In conclusion, I'm extremely happy to have more Sampo content! I adore Roger Rose so much, he's a super sweet guy and the biggest reason I keep the game in English. (Tbh it made me sad to hear so many people talking bad about his voice lines a while back.) He once again delivered an amazing performance and I will continue to adore both him and Sampo 💕

[l-in-the-light]

Why do you think Law has a weakness for cute things (like Bepo)? 🐻

What a cute question <3 let's see... I think we don't really see any signs of him liking cute things in his childhood (but that flashback was quite short, so it doesn't have to mean much). His little sister was for sure cute though!

Just look at that bright smile and all thanks to some ice-cream <3

But to answer this more properly, we have to ask few extra questions here: why would Law consider Bepo cute (I mean, he's a polar bear and a mink)? And which things does he actually consider cute?

Cuteness is a funny term. I assume your question is referring to this picture (but even if it's not, it's a good start):

Because Law is holding a cute pen with a bear motif, something we never before suspected he would even own. This totally fits the concept of "kawaii" and that term is broader than just word "cute" in english. For example, Robin's imagination also counts as "kawaii" despite the fact that the images appearing in her mind are not really fitting the idea of something cute.

They're also kinda "ugly" tbh (maybe besides the cat, but it's also a bit strange, objectively speaking!). Which is fine for the term "kawaii" because it can combine contradictions, something can be ugly but cute, weird/strange but cute, and even scary and cute at the same time. In english the term rather suggests something sugary cute, no contradictions involved. That's because the origin of "kawaii" term stems from "something pitiful", "something you feel sorry for". For example, a person who constantly trips on a straight road can be considered kawaii. But it doesn't have to be just about people. As long as you can find that angle of "pitiful" in it, anything can be cute, even a manhole on a road! Ryuunosuke is actually the best example of this, because even without understanding the idea of "kawaii" we can easily call him a pitiable being! Recognizing the quality of "kawaii" requires a whole different mentality honestly.

Now let's go back to Law. We can assume he considers those people and objects cute:

Lammy (she's his sister, so ofc he loved her, but I guess if he considered her cute it means she was probably either clumsy or very carefree or not very smart, or maybe even all of it. This is all just an assumption though)

Cora-san (he was extremely clumsy, to the point he could set himself on fire while lighting a cigarette)

Bepo (who can't control himself very well, when he feels hunger he can't stand it and eats even a poisoned fish, which makes him pitiable. Law's novel also states that Bepo thought he's making friends with Shachi and Penguin when the two were honestly just bullying and beating him up. Not being able to tell such basic things is also quite kawaii by definition, because just looking at him makes you feel sorry for him). There's this infamous anime-only scene in Wano with cute Bepo (below), this really isn't about the sparking eyes, it's about how Law feels sorry for Bepo in this moment that shoots him right in the heart and that's why he can't leave him (despite the fact Bepo would be fine even if he did):

Chopper (because he's very guillible and trusting, so again, it's easy to feel sorry for him. We don't really see Law reacting to that, but since Chopper acts like this all the time, it's safe to assume Law had the opportunity already!)

Luffy (yep, I said that, sue me :D Luffy's carefree attitude makes Law worry constantly, because again, it's pitiable if someone lacks any sort of alertness to dangerous situations)

Kin'emon (yep, I also said it. Kin is a lovely and funny person, but he's not the smartest. He falls from Ryuunosuke because of his and Kanjuro's clumsiness, he is so airheaded he doesn't come up with a backup plan despite having suspicions there's a traitor among the Akazaya Nine and that being his responsibility as the leader, in beginning of Wano's arc he also keeps drinking poisonous water from the river despite knowing perfectly well how bad it is, exactly the same way Bepo did. All of these traits make him kinda pitiable and I bet you anything Law felt incquired to protect/help him because of it)

Eustass Kid (yes, I'm serious! It only happened in their fight against Big Mom, never before that. It's because Kid kept doing those ridiculous attacks and Law even makes fun of it "what will be next? Hippo? Elephant?" which proves he worried for freaking Eustass Kid, Law just couldn't help it, because in that moment he felt he's kinda pitiable. Only for a moment though, mind you!)

Nami, Chopper, Brook and Momo, in that moment when they screamed scared of the fighting fish. Law's not scared of those sea beasts, but he probably felt sorry for the Strawhats, to the point that he later accepts all the blame on himself for everything that happened and calls it "his mistake".

that kid in World Seeker (no spoilers!). Dunno if he considers all kids cute tho, but that's also a possibility. He did help kids in Punk Hazard at the very end of the arc, without anyone asking him to do it.

the bear pen (probably because it reminded him of Bepo or even he received it from someone who got it for Law exactly because it reminded them of Bepo. Anyway, the reason's Bepo)

And what do all of these have in common? They're all people Law feels inclined to protect and help. It started with Lammy, continued to Cora-san, then for a long, long time was exclusive to Bepo. So whenever he spots those traits in someone his older sibling's instinct kicks in, whether he wants it or not. That must mean he was a really good older brother or at least tried to be. Or maybe his regret over Lammy is so strong he now projects it on anything and anyone that resemble him of her.

In other words, I don't think Law is actually into cute things in general as in cute looking colorful desserts in shape of animals, cute looking bentos, cute colorful sweets or plushies (though it's kinda fun to imagine). But he definitely has a soft spot for people he adores, so anything reminding him of the people listed above would be "cute" and in the range of his interests. That means anything bear shaped, for example a bento with rice shaped like a bear - definitely, but not just any cute bento. I guess that's a subtle difference, but an important one.

But would he refuse a cute gift from a person he considers cute? Oh, definitely not, because it comes from someone important to him :) from that point on he would also consider all those gifts cute and so the amount of things he finds cute would only grow bigger. One day he might find himself finding things cute in general as the result, just like Robin, and wouldn't that be hilarious?

And now we have to ask the question! You know which one, right? The final question of all questions:

Did he mean it? Did Ryuunosuke's pitiful effort really not strike any protectional chord in Law's heart? It totally should, considering my mini-analysis here. And I actually think it did, Law would just never make a fuss over that, he *hates* people getting all dramatic / overly emotional after all. And speaking of dramatic...

It most likely means he also felt pity for Tashigi here.

In hindsight, I guess Usopp trying to tie Chopper to his hat wasn't only a bad experience for Law after all, hm. He sure got triggered, but it probably stroke a protectional instinct in him as well. Later on when Chopper asks him stuff Law actually opens up a little and answers him truthfully.

Besides, how can a person wearing a smiley jolly roger all over his clothes AND skin dislike cute things? His jolly roger is kinda cute... and Law came up with that design by himself! Like I always argue I think it proves that Law likes smiling people and wants people to smile, it reminds him of Cora-san, of Lammy, and later on also of Luffy. But it's fine to consider it as just my headcanon. I doubt manga will ever say it directly though.

I guess it means if you want to make Law protect you, you just need to act pitiful, lol.

Thank you so much for your question, I hope you feel satisfied with the answer, anon <3

[haedalkoo]

I was curious about same thing and I ended up in quora once.. and this is what I found about their speech pattern from Korean speaking or K-army , basically what you mentioned already : (I'm copy pasting)

This is an overview of what I noticed about the boys' speaking habits :

🌳 Namjoon :

• He chooses words very carefully and wisely, wide range of vocabulary, always impresses people with how eloquently he speaks.

He uses lots of advanced vocabulary, always finishes his sentences with great details. He has a way of mixing metaphors with his spoken Korean vocabulary.

• If you see something that looks like it’s quoted from a poem or a novel, it’s Namjoon's

• Uses calm tone when speaking in normal circumstances, but tends to raise and distort his voice when under adrenaline rush (eg. bts gayo track 3, acting mission with Yoongi )

🍗 Seokjin :

• Varying talking speed, he can either talk really slowly or talk so fast that even 0.5x speed can’t help decipher what he’s saying.

he sounds like and old guy most of the time and his way of speaking is very “exaggerated” like he puts a lot of emotions when he speaks i believe

• Focuses on emotions rather than words, so middle-ranged vocabulary.

• Come across some lame puns? it’s Seokjjn's

• But tbh i love his puns even though sometimes it’s really lame that i have to consider turning off the video

• imo, 2nd best english speaker in BTS, after Namjoon

• Also i love how seokjin pronounce the ㅅ and ㅂ syllables

🐱 Yoongi :

• Imagine Namjoon but with less philosophical elements and more emotional explosion.

• Not the easiest to understand due to his low and raspy voice. He mumbles a lot of what he says which can be due to him being a rapper. Most of the time it’s like his words are sticking together and talks fast (kind of like he doesn’t articulate most of the time and speaks fast normally). Therefore most of the time it’s not easy to catch up onto what his saying

• Usually stretches the ㅔ(e) in 네 ( nae ) like instead of a short 네 (nae : yes )he would make it sound like 네에에에에 ( yeahhh ) ↘

• Kind of keeps his original 'Daegu-style' speech (but not the up-and-down nature of satoori sounds)

🌻 Hoseok :

• Uses 되게 (really) and 뭔가 (somewhat) A LOT

• Likes to insert 네 ( yeah ) in mid sentence, he uses a lot of what I call “filling words” like 되게 (like) 진짜 (really) 많이 (lot ?) I believe that he uses these words the same way V uses actions to describe situations

• How should i describe his tone? it varies 100% of times, speaks with a lot of energy in his voice.

• Has a distinctive way of pronouncing ‘fun’

• In short, the opposite polar of yoongi

🐯 Taehyung :

• Doesn't finish his sentences, and often stares into the air after stopping midway. I noticed that he’s always using actions instead of words. I’ll say that he “lacks” the most in that aspect because some of the time what he says doesn’t make sense.

• Uses adverbs like 약간, 조금, 진짜 separately and repeatedly, has the habit of saying adverbs first, then continue with his sentences and repeat those adverbs again

• Splits one straight sentence into short phrases

• Uses ‘like this’ and demonstrates with actions instead of describing the actions with words

• Tents to use slangs, but not a lot as far as i can remember.

👼 Jimin :

• Soft and sweet, a very feminine like tone. Very soft spoken and he has a very comforting voice. His words/ vocabulary have the most feminine speech pattern compared to the other members

• Always talks to armys as if he’s with his friends, when doing a v app broadcast alone, he talks informally like how friends talk to each other, but when sending messages or some other ‘official’ occasions, Jimin talks formally

• Jimin is the one with a slight lisp to me, i've always noticed that he has this funny little tongue/teeth sound when he's saying things that end in an "s" or "ㅅ" sound sometimes

🐰 Jungkook :

• Jungkook is like 30% satoori and 70% dialect. Usually men speaking with Busan dialect makes them sound hot and more masculine to Koreans.. Honestly, this is fascinating — he seems to be especially adept at mimicking sounds and patterns, so the fact that he chooses to hang on to his Busan accent even though I bet he could very easily adopt the Seoul accent... interesting !

• Raises voice at certain random words when he's excited, kinda talks through his teeth

JK is not the best speaker in BTS but he sounds well spoken most of the time. He’s just not as polished as other members, like Jin or Jimin, and tends to stutter (rarely though).

Yes to all of this!! Namjoon is a walking poem guys I'm so down bad for him 😣

[inkblackorchid]

I know the 4kids dub is terrible, but what do you think of each main cast English voices in general do you think they fit for who they are?

Just for you, I went back and got a quick refresher on the English voices, because it has actually been so long since I saw any significant portion of the dub that I genuinely forgot how some of them sounded. For reasons of the dub episode listing being a mess due to cut episodes, meaning that I have no idea where to reliably hear which character talk and thus had to pick a couple episodes at random, I'll just go over the signers if that's okay.

So, first off, Yusei. Honestly, purely from a voice acting standpoint, I think Greg Abbey is perfectly fine. The fact that his dub Yusei voice is one of the voices that stuck with me is a testament to that fact, I think. I'm not too hot on how they changed Yusei's personality in the dub, but that's on the writing, not on Greg's performance. And for what it's worth, I think he does a decent, more sarcastic Yusei. That said, in emotional scenes, I do think he lacks some of the oomph that I adore Yuya Miyashita for in the sub. That guy has a pair of lungs on him, whew. But Greg gets a solid 8/10 from me.

Then, we have Jack. Jack, to me, has arguably the best dub voice. Not only does the over-the-top accent Ted Lewis does make him sound suitably arrogant and haughty, there's also a really cool headcanon I've seen floating around again recently that I think goes perfectly with it—namely, that Jack has a Cockney accent (commonly regarded as a lower-class British accent) which he picked up because he wanted to sound posh, whilst not realising that what he's speaking still outs him as a former lower-class citizen. (If somebody could point me to the op of that headcanon again I'd be grateful, tumblr search is being as useless as ever.) The only criticism I could offer is that I do think Takanori Hoshino's even deeper voice in the sub fits Jack just a smidgen better than Ted's. But for these two, honestly both work for me. 10/10 for the posh accent, cheers.

Next up, Aki. I don't necessarily think Erica Schroeder does a terrible Aki voice, but tbh, between her and Ayumi Kinoshita, I prefer the latter by far. It's mostly because of the vocal range, though, which in fact recently came up with a tumblr mutual of mine. Ayumi simply manages to reach deeper registers, which works especially well towards the first half of the show, when Aki's still occasionally making threats as the Black Rose Witch. Erica's performance by comparison isn't terrible, but it's on the whole a little more higher-pitched and soft, almost, whereas I feel like Ayumi gives Aki more depth with her performance, because especially during the Fortune Cup and Dark Signers arc, Aki isn't just the girly female lead, so it fits that she wouldn't sound like it, either. Also, I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity that they didn't give her a slightly more posh accent in the dub, too, given that she comes from a very well-off family. So 4/10 for Erica.

As for Crow. With him, I have the opposite problem. The performances Clay Adams and Tom Wayland give are fine character-wise, but their voices honestly sound a little too deep to fit the character well for me. Shintaro Asanuma, by comparison, sometimes breaks out into these higher-pitched squawks in moments of outrage, which I think fit Crow perfectly. It also contrasts his voice better with those of Yusei and Jack. That said, I find it funny how all three of them seemed to share the idea that Crow would have a slightly scratchy voice, as befits his namesake. Also somewhere around 4, maybe 5/10.

Then we've got Ruka/Luna. She's probably the one I have the weakest opinion about. Cassandra Morris and Eileen Stevens both do a decent job with her, though I have to admit I have a bit of a weakness for the specific softness Yuka Terasaki gives her in the sub. But both (or rather, all three) work decently here, I think. 7/10, not bad, not stand-out.

And finally, Rua/Leo. I'll admit, I don't like the performances Morris and Stevens give here (again) nearly as much as Ai Horanai's Rua. I think it's because Horanai's Rua sounds like a much more believable, excited young boy to me. She captures his exuberance and occasional embarrassment in a way that feels less performative than the two English VAs do to me. That said, Leo's personality still tracks perfectly, so 6/10 for the English VAs.

(Let me tell you one thing, though: It was weird hearing the dub voices again after I've stuck to sub watching for so long now. Both in a good way (they're so funny) and a bad way (Crow, are you hoarse?).)

[project-sekai-facts]

Regarding your post about censorship: I'm like 90% sure most of this is not censorship (they left the entirety of buddy funny as it was. I refuse to believe "partner" is where they draw the line). I've played tons of Japanese video games in official English; the usual standard for translation is, in practice, that it shouldn't be obvious it wasn't originally written in English. Imo, this is the actual difference between "the miles i fell in love with is so cool!" (Not grammatically incorrect but not how actual people speak) and the official. As for it having romantic connotation to begin with, lol you said you got that from looking it up but Google the same thing in English and you will still get only romantic advice because it just assumes you're asking when the appropriate time to say I love you in a relationship is.... It could've been a joke, or a gay allegation, an anime way of speaking, or even nothing. How would you know which? I absolutely do not mean this in a rude way and I'm really sorry if it comes off like that but. I don't think you can comment on the connotations of words or level of casualness without speaking the language yourself.

Same with minoharu; it's (unfortunately) not canon. If she actually said "I love you!!" Regardless of dictionary definitions, it will be read as a romantic confession by most players, and you often say the game likes ambiguity so I take it that's a no. "I like you!" Is rather an awkward thing to yell in english, though. So "you're the best" is what they substitute.

(Please don't blame the translators for stuff this insignificant tbh. Some things in early game may sound clunky, but they've really smoothed out over time in terms of word choice sounding natural (...event names notwithstanding). I've done translations between my first language and English for fun; if you linger on every last word and it's connotations, you will go /insane/ reallyyy quickly. Imo no two words in different languages have the exact same meaning, connotation, use case etc. Ever. Differences of this level are utterly inevitable when games have so much text.)

Anyway. Thanks for all the effort you put into this blog, it's a fantastic one and it's not my intention to be harsh, if it comes off like that please just delete this ask. Don't feel bad about something some stranger on the internet said.

to be honest I don't think it's all censorship either, i just kinda went off on a tangent about things getting removed in translation and i did put in the post reasons why these translations actually are valid (aside from Toya woao because they did leave that one in the card name so it was a deliberate choice to remove it from the story, thereby also removing the reference in the card name). That Asahi post is old and I have done more research into it since, because my JP isn't good so I've gotta make up for it somehow, and literally every dictionary definition and anything I can find for that word frames it as romantic. For the extra mile I checked Japanese dictionaries for languages other than English. I found one thing saying it can be used for an idolisation, but even in that instance the way it's framed in the story is still done in a way that could be viewed as ship tease. In other words, it's probably romantic. Even if he's just talking about the character and not Tsukasa, it has a romantic reading and removing it was a deliberate choice. "The miles i fell in love with is so cool" might sound a bit rough, but it could have still been translated to keep the original context no problem. You could've just done something like "well of course it was cool. i fell in love with miles for a reason" or "it was so cool! as expected of the miles i love". the thing is with writing for a game like this is sometimes people need to say things that in real life you would probably just say in your head. the POV character for this event is Rui so we can't just take a look at the thoughts of the characters, which is why what they're feeling needs to be conveyed through text even if it sacrifices a bit of the realism. especially in a visual novel styled game like this because the characters are limited to a 2D model with limited movement and expression. if this was an anime you could probably get more leeway with what they say because you can convey the character's feelings through various other means (eg: the animated MVs that don't have any dialogue but could convey a story and emotion much better than looking at the in-game version of the scene with no dialogue). Don't worry I don't think you came off as rude and I know I shouldn't really talk about a language I don't speak but I hope the research can at least kind of make up for it.

Minoharu isn't canon I know but it's very obvious that what Minori feels for Haruka goes into romantic territory, whether you like the ship or not. And sure, if you put "I love you" most people would probably read it as romantic by default, but that hasn't stopped the translators before. "You're the best" honestly is a valid localisation that still conveys pretty much the same meaning I just find it odd that "I love you" is removed here, a flashback scene from a point in time where minori and haruka didn't know each other, but is translated with accuracy in multiple interactions between An and Kohane in present day. If Minori and Haruka don't know each other it's slightly less likely that people will interpret it as romantic and slightly more likely that people will interpret it as a simple idolisation but with An an Kohane actually knowing each other and having a close and affectionate relationship the go-to is probably gonna be romantic (which isn't wrong considering the events of BFST and Wishing for Your Happiness, but still sticks out that they left this in here but change it for another couple with heavy romantic subtext).

I'm not blaming this on the translators, they're just doing their job and obviously with localisation you've gotta lose stuff, it's just that some of these are very specific things to cut (eg: any indication of Asahi feeling romantically towards Tsukasa's character and ambiguously Tsukasa himself is completely absent in the official translation). I'm blaming this on the higher ups at sega who get the final say on what is and isn't included in the translation. You can't translate everything directly because languages don't all work exactly the same, especially english and japanese. obviously due to these differences, you're not going to be able to translate everything directly and localisation is necessary (regardless of language) to make it accessible and easy to read for an audience outside the country of origin. but there are gonna be questions raised when a scene is localised to keep the same meaning as the original text aside from one line that removes notable queer subtext. because if they can keep the rest of toya's speech in line with the original but they specifically remove the part about him wanting to stay side-by-side with akito forever and change it to wanting to perform side-by-side, despite the fact they left in the "now on and always" part in his card name, that was removed from the story intentionally. they kept what asahi says to tsukasa with the same meaning as well, but any indication of asahi feeling romantically towards the other is completely gone. the issue is that sega seems to be intentionally removing queer subtext from the game.

don't worry anon this wasn't harsh, and localisation is something that actually interests me and i've read into quite a bit, so i enjoy the opportunity to talk about it. and thank you as well!

[vanmarkus]

I'm not a native english speaker but "sob stories" is used kind of disparagingly, right? It will probably be silly rather than actually sad?

yeah sob stories is usually used to mock people complaining, but it's also used to genuinely tragic stories when it's so bad you don't even wanna address it seriously...

tbh if i have to guess i'd say it'll be the former for 2/3 calls and the latter for 1/3 main storylines

either way i think it's simultaneously gonna be painful and funny af

[ponygirlgamer]

Just tried out a bit of Gotham Knights (I saw the discount I took advantage) and the greatest thing about it in my opinion:

✨The spanish (latinamerican) dub✨

Like obviously the written stuff its all in english but i genuinely enjoy so much having the option to hear these characters in spanish

Cherry on top tho: Nightwing is fucking Ala Nocturna in spanish and Red Hood is Capucha Roja which is the funniest shit to me XD (I have yet to hear any time they call Batgirl and Robin in spanish but for Robin I'm assuming will stay as his english name is rather than translate it. Batgirl could get translated tbh but I desperately hope it isn't for the funnies)

They could have easily said the english names but went a step further to translate the names which will never not be both hilarious and endearing to me

Also what could have been funnier is making Alfred speak with a spaniard accent to make that little difference of him not being originally from the americas just like how in english he has an english accent while the rest of the batfam has an american accent

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

If my memory serves me right I remember you saying Ada would like sweet food (or has a sweet tooth?). But wouldn't it be the opposite? Given most asians don't really like sweet food, preferring them to be less sweeter. I imagine her taking a bite of chocolate cake and immediately giving it to Leon because she's one bite away from gagging. 😂 And I also think she'd be lactose intolerant too (because she's East Asian, and about 70-100 percent are lactose intolerant) so her eating ice cream would be less likely tbh.

No hate, just giving my thoughts as a fellow asian myself! 😅

i like the idea of ada having a sweet tooth (mostly because i like the symmetry of her having a sweet spot for leon) lol

so even if she does, i kinda think she wouldn't indulge very often. or would do so very rarely.

IM GONNA BE HONEST (about the lactose intolerance thing)

(i have a lot of very strong opinions about this)

i do think there's a lot of nuance with understanding lactose intolerance in asian people and people in general. i do think it's funny that i am also asian (and also have asian friends that are all not lactose intolerant, myself included) while having several white friends that are ALL severely lactose intolerant.

the other thing is that i think it's kinda weird to place this on an asian character, based on the fact that's it's a possibility for asian people. it doesn't really change much for her story other than she "can't have milk" and im like - that's.. weird lol. to attribute that to her for just being asian. (like it feels like one of those not necessarily racist characteristics, but it feels weird to attach this to her JUST BECAUSE she's asian)

also especially since it's not something that's ALWAYS occuring with asian people. sure, it's a higher percentage. but europeans also have a high chance of being lactose intolerant, along with many other people from different parts of the world.)

this also doesn't include the fact that many asian countries along with the west, that have also developed milks that have less lactose and or are lactose free. so it's entirely possible for someone to be lactose intolerant consume a bunch of dairy products and be fine. (or be like my white friends that are lactose intolerant and just shit their brains out later)

another thing that i think would be weird is to write like - a korean character not sweating or smelling because they might have the gene that makes it so that they don't smell. - like that's fucking weird right? to bring up in a fic?

or the chinese alcohol flush thing, which yes, many people have it (myself included.) but it doesn't seem important enough to write in? or maybe just mention a small flush and then move on??

another thing to note is that i do hc that ada spent most of her life in america or an english speaking country. i don't hc that she was in china for most of her life. mostly because it's not typical for asians in asian countries to remain in asia up until their mid teens and to not retain some sort of accent. since ada has no accent imo (even in the remakes,) i've always hc that she lived longer in an english speaking country.

SO that would also mean her diet was westernized at some point. so she would have probably acclimated to the diet.

I DUNNO

i like thinking about these things lol

another thing to note, i think it's more important to write about a character's culture, rather than statistical likelihoods. if i feel like an asian trait doesn't necessarily align with what i hc ada to have, i'm not going to write it. and that's the fun - if you like that, then write it yourself!

when writing stop and smell the roses, which was my first fic to really dabble more with chinese culture and also the language. i focused on things that were moreso in line with traditions and cultures - not just likelihoods of what asian people might have.

i think the only reason why im bringing this up is because it's very easy to box a character into their race when you write this way. and it can easily lead into racial stereotypes when you write in things that aren't necessarily required for a character. if you can work it in a way that doesn't highlight the fact that it's a race thing, then i think that's fine.

but i'm not going to write a character this way - it just seems unnecessary.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Okay, I Am Still spoilers under the cut. Let's do this.

Oh boy, that was something.

Seeing Jungkook made me so happy and at peace. His bright smile makes me happy. I felt so much love for him, so real and deep that it's surreal I feel that way and that my love for him has grown so much throughout chapter 2 - and that I've loved him for 5 years now... When the first Golden performance was played, I really felt so serene and present. I wanted to close my eyes. My problems felt so far away and I was grateful to be alive and to be alive at the same time as Jungkook. I often think this, but as long as Jungkook is happy, then at least one person I really love is okay, and that makes living a little bit easier. So I often plead to myself for him to be happy and have a happy ever after (as much as possible in a world where sickness and death are guaranteed). So, thank you, Jungkook, for every bit of comfort and happiness you give me, and for filling my heart when I feel that it is so hollow. I'm so proud of you. I was so proud seeing your journey.

I was also so moved at the end of the movie... Magic Shop played, then the black screen thanking Army showed up (tears), followed by Jungkook shaving his hair for the military... His hairstylist cried... It was sweet and sad, I love how much everyone loves Jungkook. He hugged his hairstylist was sweetly and acted bravely. And then Jimin showed up and Jungkook acted silly for him... The doc ended. with Jungkook making a funny face... It felt very Jungkook. It left me feeling happy, sad, grateful, touched, and overwhelmed all at once.

I guess the documentary also made me feel bad for how critical I am of him. It's just my nature. I feel things very deeply or very shallowly...

Now, other thoughts and criticism:

Most of the doc was rather underwhelming. I paid too much to see something that could've been available for free on YT. It had about the same quality as LSRF's docs tbh. They could've hired a really good producer instead.

I get the story they were telling, but it left much to be desired. The timeline was all over the place, and they overall showed very little given the material they must have. They could've dug so much deeper and shown so much more of Jungkook - which is what I believe he probably wanted. They showed so much old footage, like some of his performances and interviews. It was all about showing his success, talent, and perseverance. That's great and all, but it doesn't make the doc insightful or new.

I wanted to really see the process of creating Golden. Not just him recording stuff and traveling the world, but discussing the songs, the MVs. Why did he release the explicit version of Seven - what was that discussion like? Why he decide on collabs? How did he choose the songs? Why did he decide to make an English album after 3D - was it an easy choice or was he unsure about it? Did he give his input on the MVs? The doc doesn't answer these questions or truly show the decision-making process behind Golden, behind Seven, 3D, and SNTY. So it's less about Golden, and more about Jungkook's growth. I guess Golden is only about Jungkook proving something, but they could've done more, dug deeper, showed more of Golden since the doc is marketed as a "making of" Golden.

Still, it did show candid and very Jungkook-like moments and how his confidence in himself grew. It showed what his goals were, and I really relate to what he said about not knowing what the end goal is but that at least he's learning. I also don't know what I want my career to be yet, but I'm learning stuff and hopefully I'll figure it out.

I just expected more substance. Showing him perform and being interviewed was unnecessary. We've already seen all of that. Some performances and interview moments are fine, but there were too many imo. I also didn't like the quotes from some of the producers. Tbh, Jungkook would've made a much better documentary than Hybe. I was still satisfied in the end though.

On another note, I witnessed the Taekook effect for the first time irl. Some fans started yelling when V showed up - they either love V or Taekook, or both. No one really reacted with Jimin or Jikook...

This was my first time seeing BTS on the big screen. I'd never done it previously because I don't want to give Hybe money and because it didn't feel worth it. I was also very afraid of watching it with other Armys. I expected fans to yell when JK appeared shirtless, which they did, and they laughed and cooed a bit too much, but overall fans were quiet. Thankfully. That had been my biggest concern... The Portuguese just can't be bothered with anything.

Speaking of Portuguese, I paid 11 Euros for a movie that was translated into Brazilian Portuguese? I never thought an official movie would be shown in Portuguese from Brazil in Portugal. It is not the same as Portuguese from Portugal. A lot of the translation sounded off.

Anyway... what did you guys think? I have to eat now before I pass out. I'm so weak my arms and legs are tingling. And I bit all my nails during the doc because I was hungry lmao.

Edit: Forgot to add that beginning the doc with baby pictures of Jungkook was too cute. Also, I loved all the moments of Jungkook Jungkooking. Cause of death: Jungkook and his big, pretty eyes, and cute mannerisms, and perfect heart.

[afterthefeast]

terror ep 7 rewatch

ok kind of funny hodgson was the one who let hickey on to the terror. all things considered.

“are these our own choices, cornelius? or are they being made for us?” kiiiind of a thesis statement methinks. cause like tbh yeah their choices are being made for them, there’s no real counter to that. and while i do think the mutiny is supposed to be read as crossing a moral line, turning one’s back on the bonds that make one human, at the same time hickey et al are all products of a victorian class system which has confined them to a certain strata of society and only encouraged resentment and ruthless competition between those born in the same class as you for very little reward. hickey’s whole logic for the mutiny is rooted in this competition; the idea that the correct response in the face of resource scarcity is to maximise your share regardless of the cost. capitalism moments i guess.

billy being the first to suggest the mutiny, though hickey starts to take control of the overall idea once tozer indicates he’s in favour — good demonstration of hickey’s general opportunism rather than machiavellian scheming.

“we’d prefer to die under english blankets, smelling english coal.” — the interesting thing is that the show pretty neatly balances the harsh truth that this doesn’t really matter because they’re equally dead with the fact that it sort of does matter in that if they’re dead either way at least they died with that comfort? but also on the other hand that attitude is really what doomed them from the start

ship as confessor is cool — from now on there’s nowhere for crozier to hide, figuratively or literally. not only does his survival succeed or die based on his own physical strength but also the entire expedition lives or dies based on his flaws.

collins & goodsir conversation — “my stomach doesn’t know horrible from supper, but i do” wooo the horrible logic of cannibalism. eating other people does necessitate on some level a loss of identity (as human, as someone who was friends with those people etc etc) — and in fact probably on some level requires that breakdown in identity (material necessity overriding in-group ties at the very least) to become justifiable.

goodsir begging crozier to send out hunting parties — crozier is sort of becoming franklin here a little, i think? while i personally hate franklin i really don’t think he’s intended to be completely dislikable and probably this is supposed to show how for all he was a dick about it he was dealing with very difficult questions. but crozier does then later send out hunting parties once morfin dies so he’s not fully there yet.

deeply tattered british flag.

tozer asking for weapons is kind of a lose/lose situation for crozier because at this stage tozer’s still somewhat loyal, though probably the mutiny was a foregone conclusion. arming a group including hickey is obviously dangerous, but as little and crozier admit tozer’s reasoning is sound, so refusing to arm them only further distances tozer and strengthens the argument that sticking with crozier will not ensure their survival.

goodsir carrying around jacko’s body — he’s so interesting!! like simultaneously he feels so bad but also he’s

crozier remembering morfin’s name and that he’s from gainsborough

actually i think in this episode in particular there’s a strong undercurrent of choice running through it. like broadly that’s a theme in the show more generally but it’s really to the forefront of this episode — obviously with billy asking if they’re even making their own choice, and with collins and goodsir’s conversation throwing into question whether cannibalism can even be considered a choice if you’re just that hungry. and then most importantly with morfin; crozier won’t let him die, and like, yes that demonstrates crozier’s insistence on getting all of his men out of here, but also there’s no reason why morfin shouldn’t get his wish. he is dying, incredibly painfully, and he obviously won’t make it to whatever paradise may be waiting for them. but he lacks the means to kill himself so he’s begging someone to do it for him and crozier refuses. notably in two episodes he will make the exact opposite decision with fitzjames.

there’s a few things here — the first is showing how the arctic will slowly push you towards making harder and harder choices and compromises and crozier hasn’t reached that point. the second is that a lot of the characters are in their position because of the choices of other people. of the admiralty to send the expedition in the first place, of franklin for refusing to listen to crozier’s advice, of crozier and fitzjames deciding to walk, and these choices get passed further and further down the chain of command to little & dundy abandoning the sick. and third i think there’s a suggestion of the arctic as a crucible in which your choices are thrown into stark relief. the cogs of empire tend to make every choice seem very far removed (you don’t see the person who died to get your coffee etc etc, a general won’t see the soldier they ordered into battle actually die, decisions are made by people far away from where they’ll be felt most). but in the arctic that distance is removed and you’re face to face with the reality of your choices. this has implications both for empire in that it’s a site where the structures that supported it break down under their own weight, because they’re no longer protected by that distance. but it also has key implications for the self — you can distill the interactions between crozier & morfin and later crozier & fitzjames into the basic question of mercy killing another human being, and what you do in that situation? initially, in ep 7 crozier is still somewhat protected from the cold reality of that choice and it’s ultimately made for him by tozer, but in ep 9 he cannot hide from it and chooses differently. there’s also the sense, not that your true self is revealed in the arctic, but that it does test you to see how, well, you “measure up”, because every choice you’re faced with is an immediate one. there are no empty choices, and so your responses to them says everything there is to say about who you actually are.

oh and tozer shooting morfin eventually is pretty key; shows that he will make that difficult choice and contextualises his view of the mutiny as really an extension of this.

silna & goodsir — their relationship is sooo fascinating but mostly

in a way hartnell has what hickey wanted with crozier i think — a special relationship, his ear and confidence. hartnell achieves this by working within the system; he has the appropriate response to his punishment, exactly what a good victorian boy should do. whereas hickey’s response is really more reasonable to a modern day viewer; he’s resentful and angry. like yeah hickey is an irredeemable racist and his view of what is fair is ultimately also deeply embedded in a victorian worldview (see his extreme resentment of silna) but he does on some level recognise that the world is unfair and rage against it. this isn’t hickey apologism though and more i suppose suggesting that hartnell (who ultimately dies for crozier in his arms) is an illustrative example of the unfairness of the victorian system, and the only way to get anywhere within it is to meekly submit to indignity and suffering.

jopson getting promoted. fitzjames psyching him out is very sweet, as is how excited the rest of them are. alsoooo breakdown of norms woo

why exactly does hickey say he needs an officer for the mutiny? is it to give it a veneer of legitimacy or because he’s more comfortable acting as second to a leader who can take the fall?

i am actually so confused about what hodgson’s role is. why wasn’t he at the command meeting and why if they’re short of officers is he going in the same hunting group as irving?

irving meeting the netsilik…ultimately he is reduced purely to John, nothing more and nothing else (the arctic will strip away all vanity and conceit).

[hell-drabbles]

(tbh, I don't even have the angel cards cuz I'm broke lol🙃, but I'll tell a few thing's what I noticed on other people's post about them either the comics, message's, or stories and theories)

Let's start with Rafael, the dude is like that one insecure kid in the family that always get compared to their other siblings or cousins, Gabriel is the messenger, Michael is the right hand, Rafael wanted to be acknowledged as something, he sees god as kind and benevolent being and being too merciful so he wanted to be the one who punishes evil for him because he loves god and wanted to understand him in some degree, so he judges based on his beliefs wether they're innocent or not and just like other Angel's, his views are always on god and wouldn't acknowledge the God's other creations because he sees them unworthy of God's recognition, bro is already insane (and God didn't even reprimanded this type behavior idk) and had spiraled further since God disappear when peepaw Solomon died, so ever since then he sees all of his decisions and other forms of punishment as a will for/from God in hopes he will come back one day and see his work.

So, the Christmas event happened and most of us know about the chastity belts they wear as to keep them pure for god, and out all of the three seraphim, Rafael is the only one that had his successfully and actually taken off by Raon (that's what they say) and by the time our little rara came back to heaven, bro had his post nut happiness because no joke that the brother actually thought he had ascended into a higher rank than Michael and Gabriel after he experience his first nut (since Lucifer said that Angel's engaged in ecstasies and eventually stop before they climax) Rafael was in a good mood back in heaven during those days that he scared most of the other Angel's.

(that's all bro, I'm new to your blog and love your raon trash talks, sorry English is not my native language btw, you also get a follow, I'll still go a couple of research for the other seraphim)

[ and also After reading a couple of your Lucifer x Companion works I'm hooked, Raon is so rotten to the point I think he wouldn't stop even if ever one day Companion gets married to Lucifer and Raon would just insist that its for the betterment of hell lol bye]

Funny you should send me Raphael of all angels, I was actually starting to write about him. So that's how he's like huh? That's funny. I am going around and reading what I can find about him, especially his card lines because I get the strongest grasp of a character by the way they're talking. And wow, he's a delusional one, ain't he? Also, I take an interest in his relationship with Heaven, since it's pretty clear he has no love for the others that live there, and if need be, will burn that place to the ground if it aligns with his views on God. What a weirdo.

Haaa, my brain has been stuck on how the seraphim would take in interest in the Embittered Companion, and how that would descend into some good old obsession. I know for certain that they didn't take any interest in the Embittered Companion. It's only after spending time in Heaven do things start to descend. Of course, I naturally want each of their obsessions to be distinct from one another. Like, how I imagine Gabriel to take issue with anyone who keeps a feather of the Embittered Companion to themselves, regardless if they were demon or angel. And Raphael, he has a weird sense of when the Embittered Companion is about to become lucid, so he tends to be there and just, stares. And sometimes laughs for seemingly no reason. He's creeeeepy.

Michael, eh, I don't have anything on him right now. Maybe later.

And yes, yes, Ra-on is certainly a rotten little thing, because holy hell man, incel behavior is no joke and that shit is extremely hard to weed out of a person. So, Ra-on is going to be a frustrating character to deal with, but he'll get better eventually. It's just going to be a rather painful process because of how much he's gotta unpack. Thank you for liking it all!

[atthebell]

Why do you think Roier and Missa are easiest to understand? I found the same thing as someone who's just learning Spanish, and I wasnt sure if it was because I've watched so much Roier content that it influenced my ability to understand him, or if there's a deeper reason due to some regional accent differences being easier for non-native speakers to understand. I'm curious about your thoughts since you have really good insights into linguistics, but ignore this if it's too much for tumblr lol!

neither of them talk super fast, and imo their accents are fairly easy to understand-- for me, missa is easy to understand bc he's from the north and that region has accents i'm more familiar with, and roier's accent is somewhat neutral although obviously still clearly mexican and he uses a lot of slang. i think that also helps-- roier uses a lot of the same vocab, so if you're still learning spanish, you can pick up that slang and then understand quite a bit of what he's saying because he swears literally five times in a single sentence. they both speak pretty clearly and, additionally, i think most non-native spanish speakers, especially U.S. americans, are most familiar with mexican spanish rather than other dialects. so that's why someone like rubius or spreen is harder for nonnative speakers to understand, unless they're more familiar with spanish or argentine dialects specifically.

for me it's hard to parse bc i understand most of what they all say regardless since i've spoken spanish for so long, but i think rivers is just difficult because she speaks very fast. mariana is pretty easily to understand as well, there's just less for me to say about him tbh idr where he's from and i don't really have a hard time understanding him, i just watch him less than anyone else really.

for quackity, his accent is more noticeable, and his spanish is a little weirder, in that he is so bilingual and if you're not familiar with that way of speaking it can be hard to pick up what he's saying sometimes. this is partially why i wish there were a few more latino americans on the server so people get more familiar with that type of bilinguality-- i think quackity is in a unique position that he doesn't full share with other server members (aside from mouse, in that she is also a latino who lives in the states, although from a content perspective she doesn't do the same kind of bilingual split that q does nor does she stream in spanish), and i would be interested to see more of that kind of diasporic latino experience on the server. that's me rambling and doesn't have to do with accents i've just been thinking about it for a while and i think it would be cool. but yeah q phrases things funny sometimes because he's thinking of the english way of saying something or vice versa, and he is by far one of the most fluently bilingual members of the server, so it's an interesting dynamic for people watching him who aren't super familiar with spanish nor the kinds of calques and things that end up happening with bilingual speakers.

anyway back to your actual questions i do also think exposure does tip the scales lol most of us watch more roier than anyone else and esp for people just learning spanish, you're gonna understand him better than anyone else because of that. which is nice in some ways bc you learn a lot of slang but also if you're going to speak spanish in any kind of non-casual setting please do not talk like roier he is a fucking crazy person who swears so much it's actually unreal

[shoko-komi]

The Komi Report - Communication 441

This week in Komi Can't Communicate...

...destinies are sealed!

Read It: Mangareader Mangakakalot Viz Media (North America Exclusive) Mangadex (English updates are dead, but there’s the backlog; and Spanish language updates)

The conclusion of the group discussion! With these kinds of tests, it's never the decision you reach that the examiners are looking for, but rather the way in which you communicate with and form understandings with others. It's a great test of the skill set that Komi has been cultivating!

I like Oda's decision to show us this whole thing from girl-Tadano's perspective; we get familiar with a new character, get invested in her personal struggle and growth, and tension is built around not knowing what Komi's thinking! After she overcomes her anxiety, Komi pretty much aces the test. So if we'd seen the whole thing from her pov it wouldn't have been as interesting.

A deft maneuver, Oda-san!

I'm often like this in group conversations ajsdnoandsoasd. I'll be listening silently and my mind will start wandering; then by the time I have something to say, it's a complete non-sequitur...

...and I spend so long getting ready and planning what I'm going to say, I go on autopilot and end up saying what I rehearsed even if it doesn't fit.... she's so me.....

My girl is too gay to concentrate

JAM?!

This is so funny alsdnlaksndlasd. This is exactly the complete breakdown I was hoping for. And it's more productive than how things were going before tbh. It's good to get everything out in the open; like when you're rearranging your shelves and have to take everything off and make a mess on the floor before you put it all back on neatly.

Y'know, Egypt is kind of growing on me. The joke of her saying random ancient egyptiany words didn't appeal to me at first, but her interjections fit perfectly into this chaos. And of course we discover that she actually serves an important purpose in this arc.

Maybe she's not so much like boy-Tadano after all

That's my girl!!!!!! If I was the examiner I'd be passing Komi immediately based entirely on this. No one else tried to understand Egypt until Komi took the initiative.

This framing is so cute. How can we achieve world peace? By working hard to understand one another and meet on equal terms, perhaps?

God this moment is good

(❁´◡`❁)

it's great to see some genuine passion from girl-Tadano. At first she was so concerned about looking good that she was holding herself back, but now she breaks down that wall and starts acting like her earnest self.

asdnlaksndlkasndlaksndlaksd

they should all get fried eggs!!!

If you ask me, they're the perfect group for the course. Developing a mutual understanding is vital to overcoming interpersonal challenges! That's sort of what this whole manga is about

uuuuwwwaaaaaaaaa 😭😭 *has to be personally invited to feel like she's welcome* fr fr fr fr fr fr

Yay!!!!!! I enjoyed this!!!! I hope we get a chapter of them in the restaurant! I need Komi to talk to girl-Tadano about her name so we can find out what's up with that.

Does this mean Komi has got into University, or is there a third trial? Who knows! No one but Oda (and probably his editor).

I'll see you next week :3 and until then, stay safe!!!

[spacemooshroom]

I can see through you

Chapter 1 (you're here) Chapter 2

Satan/gn! MC (they/them pronouns)

Third person POV (both Satan and MC)

2280 words

Kind of angst?? I guess?? It's more of an exploration of Satan and MC's feelings at the beginning of Nightbringer

At first, MC was far more concerned about going back to their time rather than rebuilding their relationships, but Nightbringer, the cause of all their current troubles, had specifically "explained" that rebuilding their relationships was exactly what they had to do.

And it wasn't exactly easy.

The hardest person to get close to was, in fact, the person in a situation similar to theirs:

Satan.

Uhh not really spoilers tbh except for a brief mention about Simeon's situation in the late lessons of the og Obey me and uhh spoilers for one of the early lessons in NB? Early as in around lesson 8 I can't be bothered to check which one rn

This is my first time posting my writing anywhere so please be nice lmao

Also english isn't my first language so there's that

Yeah so I haven't gotten very far in Nightbringer but I got this idea about how Satan and MC were in similar situations in NB and thus this was born

This part is purely platonic but I do intend to make it romantic as it goes on so yeah enjoy :))

It was quite a bizarre situation.

Bizarre as in familiar and unfamiliar all the same.

MC couldn't help being reminded of when they first arrived at the Devildom- as a human exchange student and not as a lost and confused demon; Lucifer and his brothers were wary of them again, Luke was complaining about the demons, Simeon was trying to make the best of a bad deal, Diavolo and Barbatos seemed all too pleased with the situation MC had found themselves in, and Solomon was... still shady.

All of that felt familiar, but unfamiliar feelings started with their new room, at their new house, with their new roommate.

Who would have thought MC would come to miss the ruckus at the House of Lamentation?

And sure, it was funny to see Mammon and Luke bicker with each other; the young angel calling Mammon all sorts of pg-7 insults while the demon answered back with the same type of insults, but MC felt a pang of pain in their chest every time it was at them who Luke looked at with fear in his eyes, when it used to be them who Luke would go at seeking refugee from the demons "torturing" him.

And seeing Simeon so nostalgic felt strange as well, especially knowing the fate that the Simeon from their time fared.

It once was MC who asked millions of questions to Diavolo and Barbatos, while it was now the pair who tried to pry answers from them; answers they either didn't have or were strictly forbidden by Solomon to share.

Lying to all of them, to their family was the worst feeling in the world.

And even after revealing the truth about their nature, they still felt guilt.

And it felt even worse to see everyone around them with their already built relationships, something MC would have to make from scratch all over again.

At first, MC was far more concerned about going back to their time rather than rebuilding their relationships, but Nightbringer, the cause of all their current troubles, had specifically "explained" that rebuilding their relationships was exactly what they had to do.

And it wasn't exactly easy.

The hardest person to get close to was, in fact, the person in a situation similar to theirs:

Satan.

The young demon wanted nothing to do with his "brothers" or the angels or the demon prince and his butler or the shady sorcerer said butler hated for some unknown reason.

And especially, he wanted nothing to do with his "attendant" who was supposed to help him around the Devildom.

Satan didn't want help.

He wanted the exact opposite, in fact.

Rage consumed him day and night. His own rage confused him and exhausted him.

His mere existence was as exhausting for him as it was for his brothers.

None of them wanted to care for him, and the feeling was mutual.

What did Satan truly want? He didn't know, but he did know that whatever was going on in his life at the moment was not it.

Half his life wasn't even his own, it was part of an angel-turned-demon who due to his rage, created a being on his own and had the pride to call his, his brother.

Satan loathed Lucifer as much as he loathed himself. Hating Lucifer made his rage complete; his whole existence, his whole being was consumed by his own rage.

And he was punished by his rage.

Punished by his own nature.

Satan felt as if his brothers hated his mere existence, as if all they could make out of him was his rage.

Was it all that made him?

His rage? His resentment?

He wished he knew.

He felt like a stranger in his own body, in his own mind.

He hated feeling this way. He hated feeling like an extension of someone's worst feelings, and he absolutely despised anyone else viewing him as such.

He was a stranger in his own body, in his own mind, in his own family.

And MC could relate to that.

The way they presented themselves to the brothers and to everyone else made them feel strange, distant, different.

They were both strangers in the place they were placed at, neither of them feeling like they belonged, neither of them wanting to belong, yet both of them being forced to find themselves amongst everyone else.

MC knew how Satan felt. They knew very well about Satan's insecurities and fears, as he had laid them out to them.

He didn't feel like a stranger in his family in the present time anymore, yet MC recalled Satan telling them just how horrible it was for him when he was just created.

They could see it in him, how he would purposely distance himself from his family so as to not make them boil over, to not make himself boil over.

And they hated seeing him like this. Satan did distance himself from his brothers every once in a while in their time; whenever he felt close to bursting, but he was able to control it fairly well.

But in the past? Satan was still figuring out the mechanics of being alive and how to handle himself.

Which is why more often than not he ended up being chained up in a closet by his brothers.

MC empathized with him the most. And so they tried to get close to him.

But he didn't make it easy.

He hated the idea of being alive, yet he hated the idea of having someone help him how the whole being alive thing worked.

He snapped at MC every time they approached him, and he did everything he could to stay away from them.

But they didn't make it easy.

..................................................................

It was still early. The sky was still an orange-purple-ish tone, and the birds were starting to sing their song. Half of his brothers were still in bed, yet there it was, the knocking on the door Satan had come to know.

Tap-tippytaptap-tap-tap

The knocking on the door he had come to hate.

He let out a groan from his place in the dining room, where he sat alone, and walked down the hallway to receive the attendant.

When they first started coming, Satan didn't even respond to their knocking, but he had learned that if they were left waiting at the door for long enough, their tap-tippytaptap-tap-tap's only got louder and louder the longer they were left waiting.

If they were waiting long enough, they just started calling their D.D.D.s.

One by one.

Besides, if he purposely left the attendant waiting outside, Lucifer would just yell at him as soon as he found out they weren't let in as soon as they arrived.

Yeah, Satan didn't need to deal with the guy's yelling so early on.

So, despite his disgust and complete discontent to receive them, he went to open the door.

And there he found them.

His annoying attendant, a smile on their face as soon as the door was opened.

"Good morning, Satan! How did you sleep today?"

Their cheery tone annoyed him to no end.

"Good"

It wasn't true, but he had learned that if he told the truth, and told them that he was plagued by nightmares about memories that didn't even belong to him all night long, they would just start asking him questions about his wellbeing and listing remedies he could try against insomnia.

Their smile just got wider.

"Great!"

After that, they both went silent.

If they were expecting him to ask how their night was, they'd be waiting until the cows came home.

Despite his reluctance to have a conversation, their smile never faded, and they went on to say:

"So, may I come in?"

Satan shrugged, feeling the anger bubbling up in him already.

He stepped aside without saying a word, and they entered the house with a bounce to their step.

He shut the door behind him, and turned around to go back to the dining room when the attendant said:

"By the way, I have something for you"

He turned around, a dumbfounded "what?" leaving him and a puzzled expression on his face.

It was only then that he noticed the book they were carrying.

He approached them, eyeing the book warily.

It was fairly old and torn, the leather covers eaten away by time.

MC presented the book to him, a grin plastered on their face at his curious expression.

On the cover, there was the engraving of a cat, laying down on a meadow.

Satan traced the engraving with his fingers, mesmerized by the creature portrayed in it.

"What is...?"

"Solomon has a lot of books in Cocytus Hall," they started explaining. "I was looking around the library the other day, when I found this book. I asked Solomon about it, and he explained to me that it's the story of the day-to-day life of a man through his cat's eyes"

Satan's eyes started to glimmer with their words.

"I skimmed through it, and found it quite interesting. It depicts the life of this man, with a life most mundane, but from his cat's point of view, his life suddenly becomes much more exciting"

"Solomon is also a fan of cats, you see," they smiled. "He read this book a long time ago, and when he explained to me what it was about, the first thing I thought about was you"

Satan started at their words.

"Me?" He asked. "Why would you think of me?"

The attendant giggled. By Diavolo, he hated them.

"What do you mean 'why would I think of you?'? I recall how fascinated you were with that cat we found a few days ago"

Satan recalled their meeting. They talked for a while and he got to pet a creature he had come to love in a short amount of time, a cat.

"I assume you already made your research about cats," They were right, of course, but why would they assume that about him? And how were they right about him? "So, I figured, now that you know more about them, you'd be interested in this book"

They presented him the book once again, and he hesitated before taking it.

"Is it really okay for me to have it? I mean, I don't want Solomon up my ass for keeping one of his books"

They let out a laugh, and their eyes crinkled on the corners and glimmered with mirth.

Foul.

"I specifically asked him if you could have it, and he assured me he was happy you'd have it. He did, however, ask me to ask you to tell him what you thought about the book after you read it"

He scoffed.

"Sure, I'll let him know"

Their eyes softened.

"And do let me know if you enjoy the book as well. I haven't read it myself, so I might ask you to lend it to me once you finish it"

He shrugged again.

"Sure, I will"

They gave him a smile and then they both went silent once again.

"I'll go check on Lucifer, then"

Like clockwork, every morning they were there, they would first go to Lucifer's office to ask him about their plans that day, so they could schedule their day according to theirs.

Satan nodded, and they started walking down the hallway with that bounce on their step again when he croaked:

"MC?"

They turned around, shock in their face that went away as fast as it appeared.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for, uh- the book"

What?

They grinned at him.

"You're welcome!"

They turned back around and disappeared around a corner.

What was that?

Why did he stutter?

And why did he thank them?

He looked down at the book in his hands, and stared at the intricate design on the cover.

He opened the book and skimmed through the pages. Despite the cover appearing old and withered, its pages were in perfect condition.

Perhaps Solomon had placed a spell on it to keep its contents intact.

Whatever the case, Satan was glad to have something new to read.

It was written in a human language he identified as sumerian.

He was still perfecting his human language knowledge, but he felt confident enough to be able to read it.

And even then, he enjoyed a challenge.

He couldn't wait to get started in his new book.

He walked the path to his room, a light smile on his face.

..................................................................

"Sure, I'd love to give it to him, but don't you want to read it first?"

"Solomon," they started "I don't know sumerian"

"And are you sure Satan does?"

"The Satan from our time definitely does"

Solomon was taken aback. "How do you know he knows sumerian?"

"Because he once lent me a book that was written in sumerian, and when I tried to explain to him that I didn't know the language, he just said: 'what do you mean you don't know sumerian? You're a human, and besides, sumerian is very easy to learn'"

"He's right, though," Solomon teased "what are they teaching in school nowadays that you don't know sumerian?"

"It's a dead language!"

"Latin is also a dead language, but you do study it in school"

"Okay, yeah, I'm not doing this"

Solomon chuckled and ruffled their hair.

"You know I'm just teasing"

They rolled their eyes and smiled.

"So, can I take it to Satan then?"

"Of course" he smiled "I'm sure he'll like the gesture"

MC sighed. "I really hope so"

..................................................................

"So do you want me to teach you sumerian?"

"I do need you to help me read the book once Satan finishes it"

"So you do want me to teach you sumerian"

"Okay, fine! Whatever!"

..................................................................

This had me searching for the world's oldest languages and yeah sumerian is one of them, if you didn't know

This is me trying to make a sense of the canon timeline even though it is a complete mess but anyway yeah Solomon managed to own a book written in sumerian. Don't think too much about it

I'd really appreciate feedback and just comments so if you have anything to say just do so thank you :))