#i also tried to translate it into english but it doesn't have the same vibes anymore :(

[passingloves]

गुंजते आता डोक्यात फक्त हे नाव तुझे; मन भरून आले हृदय फुटून आले! भक्त झालो तुझ्या नावाचे, हो, तुझ्या नावाचे.

ऐकला तो शब्द पहिल्यांदा नकळत, तेव्हाच तुझा झालो. येई ना झोप आता, एकेका श्वासात ऐकू येतं नावच फक्त तुझं.

पळून गेलं डोकं तुझ्या डोळ्यांकडे. बोलायचं प्रयत्न करितो येतं ओठांवर हे नाव तुझे भक्त झालो तुझ्या नावाचे.

(gunjate ata dokyat fakta he naav tuzhe; man bharun ale hruday futun ale! bhakta zhalo tuzhya naavacha, ho, tuzhya naavacha.

aikla to shabd pahilyanda nakalat, tevhach tuzha zhalo. yei na zhop ata, ekeka shvasat aiku yeta naavach fakta tuzha.

palun gela doka tuzhya dolyann kade. bolaycha prayatna karito yeta othannvar he naav tuzhe, bhakta zhalo tuzhya naavacha.)

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 2

Part 2 - Anya's "Anya-isms"

I think Anya has one of the most interesting ways of speaking out of all the SxF characters. But like with Twilight's dialogue that I previously discussed, it can only be fully appreciated in the Japanese version. Probably the most noticeable thing about her dialogue is how it's written compared to the other characters.

Written Japanese is comprised of three different alphabets: ひらがな (hiragana) and カタカナ (katakana), which together are referred to as "kana," and 漢字 (kanji). Kanji are the characters that hold the meaning of words, while kana simply represent the various Japanese syllable sounds and don't have any meaning on their own (much like the letters of the English alphabet). There are only about 100-ish total unique kana symbols, however, there are over 2,000 kanji in common use today. So Japanese children will start out learning kana and then learn kanji gradually during their school years. This is why Japanese children's books are typically written only or mostly in kana. This is also why manga and books aimed at a younger audience will have kana "translations" of kanji written above kanji characters, which are called furigana.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that all of Anya's dialogue in the Japanese version of the SxF manga is written entirely in kana. Even though using kanji in her dialogue wouldn't necessarily mean she knows kanji, reading a character's dialogue only in kana definitely gives off childish vibes – it conveys feelings of youthfulness and innocence, like "they're speaking only in kana because they don't know the kanji for these words…they're just a little kid, after all." At least, that's the feeling I get when I read Anya's dialogue. Though I haven't read enough manga in Japanese to say for sure, it seems like this concept of making little kids speak only in kana is not unusual, as there's at least one other example I know of: a manga from the mid-2000s called Yotsuba also has a titular 5-year old whose dialogue is written only in kana.

What's also interesting is that all of the other Eden kids speak "normally," using kana and kanji properly in their dialogue. This helps to convey the fact that, despite Anya being roughly the same age as them, their "rich family" upbringing has forced them to grow up faster. In the below panel, you can see how Damian's dialogue uses kanji (with furigana translations) while Anya's uses only kana, even for words that have kanji.

Interestingly, I found at least two cases where Anya does use kanji in her dialogue: when she's calling out the name of her big "Arrow of Light, Seize the Star" move during the dodgeball game, and when she calls out her "Lighting Bolt, Deliver my Aid" move when she tries to throw Yor's weapon back on the deck in the cruise arc. As you can see in the below panels, the names of these "moves" is written in kanji (with furigana translations). This makes sense not only because this is parodying shonen series where the characters shout out the names of their moves, but because it emphasizes how determined Anya was at these moments.

But going back to how Anya's speech compares to the other kids, another thing that stands out is that she speaks very "plainly." Her grammar is (mostly) correct, except for a few mistakes you'd expect a little kid to make. But she uses pretty much no colloquialisms, almost as if she knows the language but lacks the experience for using it in normal social interactions. I don't think this is unusual for a kid her age who's still learning, but it definitely stands out when compared to her classmates. For example, in the below panel, Becky uses normal interjections and other colloquialisms in her speech, like "ne" (ね), "wa" (わ), and "yo" (よ), which are all standard Japanese linguistic devices for softening or emphasizing your sentences. However, Anya doesn't use things like this in her speech. Again, this makes her speech come off as very plain and abrupt, almost like she's not a native speaker.

She also refers to herself in third person all the time in the Japanese version. In fact, I don't recall her ever using an "I" or "me" pronoun. I don't know why the English version of the manga doesn't keep this characteristic of her speech. I think it's very important in highlighting the childish aspect of her personality.

Putting all this together – the fact that she doesn't use typical colloquial speech and refers to herself in third person – really emphasizes the childish, naive, and almost baby-like nature of her character. I'm curious if Endo made her speak this way simply to show what a little kid she is compared to her classmates, or if it will somehow tie back to whatever roots she has in classical languages that he keeps hinting at. Regardless, as I mentioned in my full Anya analysis, what she lacks in speech and school smarts, she makes up for in empathy and resourcefulness.

Besides all this, Anya does make typical speech mistakes a normal kid would make, like mishearing words or saying things wrong. She mostly uses casual speech, but does try to use keigo (polite speech) on occasion, though not always correctly. For example, she says "ohayaimasu" (��はやいま��) for "good morning" instead of "ohaiyou gozaimasu" (おはようございます).

But the most consistent "mistake" she makes (though it's not really a mistake) is what she calls Loid and Yor – "chichi" (ちち) and "haha" (はは) respectively.

Japanese has many different words for relatives depending on whether you're talking about your own relatives or someone else's, and whether you're talking to them or about them. "Chichi" and "haha" are the general, neutral terms for "father" and "mother," and are also used when talking about your parents to someone else. However, they're not used when talking directly to your mother and father. There are many other words for that, the usual ones being "o-tou-san" (お父さん) and "o-kaa-san" (お母さん), or some variations of these with different honorifics. Damian refers to his dad as "chichi-ue" (父上) which is very formal, while Becky calls her dad the actual English word "papa" (パパ) which is very informal and normal for kids to use. But again, "chichi" and "haha" are typically only used when talking about your parents, not to them the way Anya uses them. This started from the very first chapter where Loid asks her to call him something that sounds "elite." He originally suggests the very formal "o-tou-sama" (お父さま), but when Anya says "chichi," he doesn't bother to correct her.

Hearing a little kid call her dad and mom "chichi" and "haha" is kind of like calling them "my father" and "my mother" even when speaking to them directly – it's not wrong necessarily, just strange. But again, this serves to further emphasize the childlike nature of Anya's character.

<- Return to Part 1

Continue to Part 3 ->

[geekgirles]

I'm actually quite proud of Armand right now. Openly admitting to Amalia the reason their relationship was always strained was because he'd always been jealous of her and her relationship with their father is such a great character moment for him.

One thing season 4 is definitely delivering is some much needed depth and exploration of the Sadida Royal family. And I find myself fascinated (not only because Amalia is my favourite character and I have a soft spot for her people).

Personally, Armand is a character I have a lot of trouble having a clear stance on. I don't hate him, and it's true his motives become clear and even understandable once you give them some thought, it's just that Ankama does a wonderful job at making him both outwardly dislikable given his abrasive personality and some of his most questionable actions.

For example, season 3 Armand and season 4 Armand are almost like night and day. Maybe it is indeed that his new role as king has forced him to be more responsible and emotionally mature, but the vibes between L'assamblée and Falling Down are completely different.

In season 3 he just oozed contempt for his sister, and his actions towards her reeked of ulterior motives. The fact that Aurora has been described as manipulative (even her hairstyle is meant to hint at her true nature) and was purposely placed in between the two siblings as a visual nod to how she's keeping them apart doesn't help matters.

Which is another factor to take into account: Aurora's character and the role she plays in the siblings' deteriorating bond.

Even if so far she seems to genuinely love Armand, I really can't bring myself to trust Aurora. Not only because of all the behind-the-scenes facts I already mentioned, but because her actions are just sketchy and clearly veered to the betterment of the Osamodas rather than the Sadida.

First of all, her contempt for Amalia is genuine and she legitimately seems to be planning to send her away to keep her from interfering with her plans. After all, this is literally what she had to say about her sister-in-law:

"Ne vous en faîtes pas mon prince, nous finirons bien par redresser cette mauvaise herbe."

Translation: "Don't worry, my prince, we'll get this weed straightened out in the end."

(I haven't watched the English dub, so my apologies if the translation doesn't match the official version).

There's also the fact that, despite being the new Sadida Queen, her intentions in season 3 clearly laid in the benefit of her own kingdom, the Osamodas. Such is reflected in her choice of suitors for Amalia:

She intended for Amalia to marry Ashdur, her own cousin, thus, strengthening the Osamodas' hold over Sadida politics. In fact, it becomes quite clear Aurora's choice in suitors, only supported by Amalia implying back then her sister-in-law had already tried the same thing with her brothers, was much less about the future of the Sadida Kingdom and more about the Osamodas' sake.

After all, while arranged marriages between royal families isn't anything new, usually the sensible and even most strategic thing to do is for rulers to"spread" their children and marry them into different families around the world. That is exactly what Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabela of Castile did with their own children, they married them off to the royal families of England, Portugal, and Austria.

With that in mind, having both Sheran Sharm children marry Osamodas royalty just seems dumb, doesn't it? It all comes to show Aurora is more concerned over solidifying her power over the Sadida Kingdom than its actual well-being.

Which is why I'm still going to keep my guard up regarding her character until the season ends. After all, we still have 9 more episodes where everything can go up in flames.

But going back to Armand, even though he is in love with his wife, his treatment of Amalia in L'assamblée is leagues better than it was in season 3. Unlike most of his appearances and his interactions with his sister, where he kept treating her like a child who didn't know any better (what she just so happened to accuse him of when presented with Ashtur, as a matter of fact), here not only does he finally open up to his sister about his insecurities and his reasoning for his behaviour towards her, but he offers her support in the wake of their father's passing and even invites her to attend the assembly with him.

He is entrusting her with responsibilities befitting a queen, not a child.

Their relationship is finally healing.

As I said earlier, despite the undeniable depth behind his character, it's difficult to really side with Armand in plenty of occasions. Not only because of his difficult personality and flaws, but because it is so much easier to sympathise with Amalia.

And I'm not talking exclusively about the fact that, as one of the main characters, we've been by her side throughout everything, witnessing her true selfless, responsible, and brave self, but the fact that her position within her own family certainly tugs at our heartstrings.

Amalia is the youngest sibling, the princess. For all the sheltering and privileges that can get her, it also became her gilded cage. And for the most part, not even her family was a safe haven.

Queen Sheran Sharm died when Amalia was probably still a kid, whereas Armand was most likely already a teenager. As King Oakheart revealed back when he explained to Amalia it had been Armand who insisted they let her go, the queen's death shook their entire family, making the king and prince unintentionally turn their backs on Amalia during a time she needed as much affection as possible. And so, her royal duties became stifling, her royal upbringing unbearable. Thus is the reason for her wanderlust.

And then we have Armand's reason for not always being fair to her: jealousy. He resented her for being Oakheart's favourite, despite constantly going off to adventures while he remained in the kingdom by his side. Now, as I said, this was a great character moment for Armand, one that also belies his character development. However, it doesn't change the fact that, while easier to relate and sympathise with him, we still sympathise with Amalia more or have been doing so for far longer because we knew the effect this had had on her.

We all have been someone's scapegoat to their frustrations with a third person, we have all been treated unfairly by someone who, for whatever reason, couldn't solve their own issues with the person they had problems with in the first place and took it out on us. This is the crux of Armand and Amalia's strained relationship: for years, Armand took his frustrations and insecurities out on Amalia instead of having an honest conversation with their father.

That's why it's easier to sympathise with Amalia, because we know that, deep down, for all her flaws, she was never at fault for how their relationship turned out. Because we can understand her frustration and pain when, even with their dying father, Armand still chose to listen to his wife over her and try to marry her off instead of being there for each other when they both needed most. As Amalia called him out for before leaving with Yugo, he still chose politics over family. Everything involving Armand and Aurora is about politics.

But now that they are at least beginning to rebuild their relationship, I sincerely hope things get better for them. Unless their original intentions back in 2017 have changed, I seriously fear Ankama will still use Aurora to complicate things further between these two.

Please, Ankama, I'm literally begging you. They're all the family they each have left, don't let their relationship be ruined forever.

[yuri-is-online]

Any Hc's for Rook!Yutu? I'd imagine Rook would have an inkling of what was going on due to this child's abnormally heightened senses.

I did write a bit about Rook's Yutu in this post about artistic dad's and their sons. In it I mention that Rook says he was very shy as a child, which is something I don't think twst writers capitalize on enough. Rook's Yutu is very shy and does not have the same confidence boosting idol realization that Rook did.

Also, we will be taking something from this idea from Grim OB anon, thank you very much for sending it in!

This is a two part hc, please read this first and then go to the second part linked at the end.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, for context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here. This post contains some additional angst to the other Yutu posts, CW for discussions of child neglect, starvation, and extreme isolation.

The wind flutters through the tress as Yutu sits and tries to focus on the few strains of birdsong he can hear. The wind chimes he bought for your last birthday makes the task harder, but he can't say he minds. If it helps him hone this talent of his, maybe one day he can use it for something, something other than sneaking out of the house or looking through that box of things that causes you too much pain to look through but not enough to throw away.

"This world is filled with beauty, and it wraps itself around you begging you to lay your head within its bower. Stay and intertwine the melody of your breath with mine and never know how weary it is to wander again..." He is uncertain if this translation is satisfactory, the language used is familiar to Yutu but the words and some of the grammar is off. It's a beautifully written letter, the paper's maintained a specific perfume through the years thanks to how well you have kept it packed away. A branch snaps up as Yutu's eyes open and center on the thrush he's been tracking as it soars into the early morning sky, finally he leans back against the side of the house and lets out his breath. Someday he will find the thread that connects all of this, he's sure of it.

And somewhere across the universe, another child looks up at the sky and has as similar a thought he can without the words to form it.

Yutu is a quiet kid. Like his father was as a child, he's very shy and finds it difficult to connect to the other kids around him. They find his uncertainty annoying, and while his teachers enjoy having him in class they sometimes find his perspectives difficult to connect to. This is not helped at all by how keen his senses are, hiding things from Yutu is difficult and he tries to use what he sees to make friends, but he often comes off as creepy. Much like Rook he is very insightful in his media analysis and blunt in the way he puts things, but unlike Rook he does not find someone like Vil who vibes with him. Instead he finds teachers who take him aside and tell him to stop answering so many questions in class, peers who refuse to interact with him and openly call him weird, and a community who whispers loudly about where he came from behind his back as if he cannot hear them. It's exhausting.

Yuu has some letters from Rook that made it across worlds with them, long flowing things written in a language that takes him a while to figure out. Most of them are written in something similar to English, but there are bits and pieces of French in there. The letters spark an early interest in linguistics for Yutu, he feels like the letters have enough clues for him to learn who his father is and if anyone has answers for him about why he is the way he is it has to be his dad, doesn't it? He's the only Yutu who manages to isolate his father's name long before Yuu remembers, but he assumes that Rook is a pseudonym because who the hell names their child Rook? Not someone from France (which is where he assumes his dad is from... or maybe French Canada?)

Yuu tells him of his father's appreciation for the beauty of the world and his eagerness to encourage it in others. They speak of his protectiveness, and loyalty to his friends so often that Yutu wonders, why isn't he here? His parent calls him a "hunter" so often that Yutu wonders if they connected over hunting, he can't really see you doing something like that. Where do the poems fit into that, they cause you a lot of pain to look at so he tries not to ask about them and focus on the things you say he has in common with his father, such as his love for literature and nature.

His love of nature is much less, violent? Than his father's... as in he is not one for the hunt, at least not in the same way. He does not find the fight or the chase thrilling or beautiful, though he does deeply admire the skill it takes to thread the needle through danger. You aren't so strict about his trips into the woods that he feels like he can't go but you do try to encourage him to stay safe in a way that feels restrictive to a kid. He's very interested in wildlife photography, and enjoys darting through the wilderness to take pictures of animals in their natural habitats. This does not help his reputation at school, his teachers are proud to note his talent while his peers spread rumors about him because of how much time he spends alone in the woods or a darkroom.

While he does enjoy his alone time, sometimes he begs you to come with him, especially after he's found particularly beautiful place that he wants to show you. He takes a great deal of pride in being able to provide his parent with a sense of peace, especially when it's through something he enjoys. Given that Yuu was the owner of the Ghost Camera I like to think you would feel a sense of familiarity in taking photos of things, and Yutu would beyond overjoyed if it was an interest you could share with him.

As for how you remember... I like to think that what triggers the memory is that one day Yutu comes home sadder than usual, and confesses to you that he took a picture of you for a school contest but only managed to win second place with it. When he shows it to you, it triggers something:

"Oh now this is a funny coincidence." You were in the process of trying to pick which magnet you wanted to use to put it up on the refrigerator, a perfectly normal thing. A perfectly normal day, "I lost to Rook with a similar picture during Portfest, he'd love to have a matching set-" And then you had dropped the magnet, dropped your line of thought and turned to look at him in a way that screamed you were afraid, afraid of something he couldn't see and sorrowful in a way he couldn't describe. "Wait a moment, where is Rook, he was just stepping out for a moment and I was getting the letters together..." And then his world is upended as he is tossed over the rift into a group of people in dark robes, impressing them all with how he literally lands on his feet.

Rook! Yutu is left numb by Yuu's death. He doesn't speak much, it's not at all what Crewel expected of Rook's son given how odd and exuberant his student was. He tries encouraging him to open up by telling little stories about his father to him, about your time in Twisted Wonderland, anything to fill the empty space and help him form a connection with the child. He feels foolish when he realizes that Yutu is in shock, but once he does and gives him some genuine familial affection Yutu starts to perk up. The gift of the Ghost Camera makes Yutu actually speak, though one of the first things he says is that he doesn't think he's ever going to be himself again. Crewel's been mourning how he never got to know that boy for years now, hearing him say he's missed the chance out loud doesn't hurt as much as it perhaps should.

I kicked around what house I thought he would be in a bit, Rook was initially in Savanaclaw as we all know but Yutu... he's quiet. Withdrawn, still very intense about his passions and pursuit of beauty but not able to really speak about his interests openly. Pomefiore... it is meant to be based on the unrelenting effort, the tenacity of the Fairest Queen. It's very intense, and despite his quiet attitude this Yutu is very intense so I do think he would be placed in Pomefiore by the mirror. Something that would make Grandpa Crewel very proud.

Grandpa Crewel tells him bits and pieces about his father, but Yutu can just tell that he's keeping things back. The stories are always so odd, like he's very willing to tell Yutu his dad used to name the plants he grew for the science club and read them poetry but when he asks about the poems he wrote for Yuu, Crewel dodges the subject just saying it "sounds like something he'd do." When he asks about his friends he tentatively mentions that Rook's best friend is still alive, but that he's not in the best mental state so he probably won't want to talk to him. Which is of course, not true at all Yutu is very interested in speaking with Vil and that much more determined to do it the less information Crewel gives him.

It's "me and the boys looking for classmates" round 2, Idia has a heart attack when he sees ANOTHER HUNT on a broomstick outside his super secret island yoo-hooing at the security cameras asking to see Vil. He can't with this fucking family what is WRONG with you people. Vil doesn't exactly get a lot of visitors so he's surprised to hear he has one and unable to hold back his laughter when he finds out who it is. He can't even pretend to be strict or upset with the boy, though he does give him a scolding for being so reckless.

Most of the questions Yutu has are answered; his father was eccentric but well loved, he was very much a hunter, had nicknames for most everyone based off of things he noticed about them and claimed he himself as the "hunter of love." He was not from the City of Flowers he just really liked the culture and a play that was set there so that's why he talked like that.

"His nickname for Yuu was 'trickster' for reasons he never fully explained but I'm sure there were a mountain of them." Vil has a beautiful smile, even as haggard as the man now is it shines through giving Yutu some understanding of why his father was so willing to change dorms and swear some oath of loyalty to him. "He got it into his head it would be 'romantic' to send them secret admirer letter, we had to endure him writing pages of them and opining how his feelings would never be returned-"

"They didn't like him at first?" Yutu can't really picture that and Vil's smile twists in amusement.

"They thought he was odd but I don't think they ever disliked him. You and your brother came from somewhere-" and the rest of what Vil says is drowned in the hum of that last little bit of information as Yutu's world is flipped once again.

Yutu is meant to be a pseudonym, and I did say I wanted his name to be Oliver. And as Vil informs him, with care because Crewel really should have been the one to do so but he understands why he didn't, Yutu has an older brother named Roland, though not by much. The two of them are what Yuu had called "Irish twins." Rook had simply called them beautiful which does give Yutu a bit of a laugh but raises the question of where his brother is. Shouldn't he have been at school? Well no, as Idia decides to cough and remind Yutu he is in fact still in the room (he is being very brave and keeping all of his opinions on Rook to himself) they don't really know what happened to his brother. They know Rook is dead, transformed into a phantom by the Fairest Queen and closing off the Shaftlands hunting down mages with extreme precision, but no one really knows what happened to Roland. Vil is technically the last person to have both seen a living Rook and Roland. "He was depressed about you and your parent disappearing, but very convinced he could find you. Your brother seemed happy too, not that I understood what he was saying on account of him being an infant." No one says the word dead. Vil and Crewel are too depressed to think about it and Idia- well he has some suspicions. He doesn't have evidence yet, but he does (after yelling at Yutu for breaking and entering again) tell him to keep his ears open for a message from him because he might have a job for him.

So Yutu waits. He starts up the school newspaper again, makes some friends finally who are intrigued by the ghost camera and certainly met weirder people, and trains both his body and his magic in the hope he can maybe find a way through his father's defenses. "Into the Woods" is what he names his spell, it allows him briefly to move extremely quickly by becoming a shadow. The more he uses it the more magic it costs, but if he only uses it occasionally he can get away with using very little magic. He's proud of it, certain it will convince Idia he's strong enough to put his father to rest. Instead he's met with a different proposal: he and his friends go back in time to before any of this happened, before his parents were together, before he was even born to stop this future from ever happening.

He does not agree at first. Vil has to to talk him into it, though it is less of a talk and more of a lecture. Yutu does want to see you again, more than anything really, but his father is still a phantom. He has no idea what happened to his older brother, his friends have family too asking them to go back in time when some of them still have people worth fighting for in the here and now. Vil hears all of this of course, but he knows better than anyone how limited the time this version of Twisted Wonderland has. "There here and now cannot exist without the then and was" he's right of course and Yutu admits as much. He promises, much less flamboyantly but with just as much seriousness to create a world in which Vil can achieve his dream and for one small moment he allows himself a smile that would cause a wrinkle. It's like Vil has both of his best friends back, wrapped up into the tiny shining sapling that is their son.

The past is a strange place to Rook! Yutu. He has heard a decent bit about his father, and he likes to think he knows you pretty well but everyone else is just so... weird. Ace and Deuce are almost too normal, Kalim feels like a fairy tale prince, and he is worryingly interested in studying Azul under a microscope. The twins too if he could figure out appropriate caging techniques, everyone here is just so odd. Good thing you have such a normal son like him here to look out for you, he has no idea how you handled this in the original timeline. His shyness does a lot to cover for his eccentricities, though you do pick up on how familiar he is with some of your habits after a while.

He develops a new interest in movies and an enjoyment of watching them with you; neither of you know anything about this world's entertainment industry. It is pretty much dead in the future but hearing how excited Vil got about his work made him interested at least in those movies. The two of you end up taking notes and discussing the various ways the stories would or would not work in your world and Yutu finds himself surprised at how much praise he's getting for his insightful commentary... and that's before a certain someone joins and starts cheering his enthusiasm for Vil's catalogue.

Rook is someone Yutu tried to make a game of avoiding. Not that he did not want to get to know his father, but he was curious about what being a phantom did to his technique. His magic made him best suited to being a scout (bait if he's being realistic) when dealing with his father so he likes to think that he is well practiced at avoiding him but no. He thinks he has given the hunter the slip only to find he's been beaten home as Rook opens the door for him so they can hang out with you together. Rook picked up on this little game fairly quickly and it delighted him. It's similar to how Jade deals with him but with none of the obvious malice.

Rook does not think too much about this habit of Yutu's at first. He tells him that his dedication to his craft is truly beautiful; perhaps teases him a little to keep up the competition but the thought of "there is something slightly sinister about Yutu being here" does not come until he realizes what he feels for you is a bit more significant than normal. Rook, to me anyway as I kick around how to write for him romantically, is someone who does not fall into romantic love particularly easily. Or I suppose to be more specific, the line between platonic and romantic love isn't one he tends to cross over too often because he prefers to dance on it. He's a little bit in love with all of his friends and has no problem telling them as much or acting like he is, and he sort of thought that was the way he would be forever so to find the feelings he has for you spending more and more time across that line- it scares him. He's shy about it, not that you see his behavior as shyness exactly, he's still Rook but there are moments where he isn't as long winded in his praise as he typically would be if he was talking about Vil. It might make you think he hates you when nothing could be further from the truth. He's at risk of saying too much if he does.

There are certain habits Yutu has that once Rook finds himself unable to stop thinking about you start to stick out. Little ticks that suggest the boy knows you, and knows you in a very specific sort of way... but the information is just off enough to suggest that his information is not wrong but out of date. And then there are all the little ways that the boy acts like he did before he discovered Roi de Neige, it's like looking at an alternate timeline version of himself that has traces of you woven into him. And that gives Rook a thought that he knows by instinct must be dangerously close to the truth. So he does the only thing he can think to do: he hunts.

Yutu is pushing his magic to the limit, it hurts Rook to think that he might be the cause but it is clear the precious one has no idea what his signature spell is, otherwise he would know there was no point. But still, Yutu runs closer to the strange blot like clouds, stopping abruptly under what looks like the portal that brought him to this world. Ink drips out of it, dark and familiar as Rook swings down from the treeline to an unsurprised Yutu and readies his pen.

"Do you know what we are fighting, Monsieur Caneton." He tries to be gentle as he speaks, you have told him his voice is soothing and reassuring but still the boy bristles.

"No." He's run himself ragged, Rook would step in front of him on instinct even if he was in fighting shape. Even if it wasn't his fault that Yutu wasn't, surely he wasn't such a failure of a father that he doesn't know that? "You never do until it cracks." Like an actor who knows their cues the sygil breaks with a sickening noise akin to the groans of a dying boar as slick ink plops its delivery onto the ground. It groans, deceptively human before rolling itself up to stand, shaking the ink off its body like it was a nuisance and not vital for its continued existence. Rook readies himself, begins to prepare a spell and swells with pride as Yutu does the same until

"Fuck!" The person spits, away from both of them he notes after the shade. Red. Bright. Oxygenated this isn't a monster at all, it's a human, shaking himself like a dog to rid the ink that's practically soaking himself the whole the way through. "Hey!" he turns rubbing just enough ink out of his face to reveal an eye, familiar in shade and shape as Yutu finally untenses behind him and Rook feels tears begin to well in his eyes. "Dad! What'er you doing dressed all funny, give me a- hand?" A smile, or he thinks it's a smile spreads across the older boy's face when he finally looks past Rook. "Oh thank the seven!" Blob boy tracks ink across the pristine forest floor, everything else forgotten in a rush of genuine excitement that shatters Yutu's entire perception of reality enough to force his exhaustion to the surface.

He hears Roland calling him by his name as he falls.

pt. 2

[therealvinelle]

Is it true that Tom Riddle has a different name in a lot of translations because publishers thought making the anagram in book 2 would be super important so they changed the name rather than just letting that one thing not work in the translation? What's Tom's name in your Norwegian copy?

I'll have you know almost everybody have different names in the Norwegian translation. I'm sure Harry would too, if the translator could get away with it, sadly his name was on the title card.

Some of this is for pronunciation, Hermione Granger is made Hermine Grang so we're not all sounding like Victor Krumm trying to make sense of her name, others are given more of an overhaul to convey the pun or vibe from the original name. Alastor "Madeye" Moody is Alastor "Galøye" Bister ("Galøye" is literally "Madeye", while "bister" means "terse").

Other examples of translations include the Black family being Svart (Norwegian word for Black) but by and large keeping their constellation names and spelling (with such exceptions as Alfar ("ph" isn't how we spell the f-sound, and the d would doesn't really work either - it's a phonetic translation of Alphard) and Narsissa (the c would be a problem)), and foreign characters like Victor Krumm and Gellert Grindelwald stay (almost: Victor is now Viktor.) the same, presumably because they're foreign in-universe.

For punny translations we have not just the names, but places and things being made punny to best reflect the original. Diagon Alley is made Diagonalgangen, "The diagonal hallway" that with the -en ending becomes "walking diagonally". Heh. Quidditch is rumpeldunk, the snitch is "snoppen" (a euphemism for penis. I commend the translator for making the game somehow that little bit gayer than it already was), Rita Skeeter is Rita Slita (conveying that she's an exhausting, tireless person), Cornelius Fudge is Kornelius Bleouf (a made-up surname that coincidentally is pronounced the same as "bluff"). It keeps going.

Some people didn't get punny names, simply names that captured the vibe. The Crouch family is now Kroek, Percy is Perry, and Tom Riddle (whom I'll get further into below) is Tom Venster.

(Though, since you've got me talking about one of my favorite niche subjects: the translator did make a pun out of Tom's name that isn't in the original series.

Tom is a common name in Norwegian, but it also is the word for "empty". We have an unrelated idiom, "full av faen" - literally "full of the devil", figuratively a malicious or cruel person. For use in conversation, I could use it about a person but also about a particularly grouchy cat. My friend had a horrible day so now they're full av faen, I tried petting that cat but it's full av faen.

The chapter where we meet eleven-year-old Tom Riddle is titled "Tom, eller full av faen".

I can only imagine the translator had been waiting four books to make that pun.)

In other words, yes Tom's name was trnaslated. In Norwegian the full name is Tom Dredolo Venster, with the anagram being "Voldemort den store" (Voldemort the great). That's right, we suffered even worse secondhand embarrassment in Norway.

I am quite fond of the translated name, as it in my opinion captures the vibe of Tom Riddle very well. An ordinary name with a very nice ring to it, and you don't actually know anybody else with that exact name. Dredolo, the oddball middle name, is as foreign yet fitting with the rest as Marvolo is in English. It's a name that rolls off the tongue.

The Danes, by comparison, have Romeo Gåde Detlev. Which is a very... eyecatching name, I've seen it go viral several times (along with the French Tom Elvis Jedusor), but the problem is that Tom was named for his father, an English gentleman in the 1920's, and this name sounds like a cultural melting pot. Gåde, originally the middle name that stood out and had Mrs. Cole assuming Merope came from an exotic background, is now the most normal name in there.

I want to be lenient, I do, the translator hadn't read Half-Blood Prince at the time and didn't know how much emphasis would be placed on Tom's name being ordinary. But, well, he made the name a different ethnicity, and I can only imagine he must have wanted the first name "Romeo" quite badly. We're left with a name that signals completely different things, which I do think is relevant when Tom's name being painfully Muggle and ordinary, growing up in 1930's London, had such an impact. Being perceived as foreign, which he would be with that name, would change things. His shedding the name to become Voldemort also takes on a very different meaning when he's an Englishmen who spent the first few decades of his life being asked if his parents fled the Soviet Union.

So, not a fan of Romeo Detlev.

As for Tom Elvis Jedusor, that one I have no problem with. Elvis wouldn't become a star until several decades after Tom's birth, and the middle name is supposed to be unusual anyway. The rest of the name sounds appropriately French, no notes. (Though the Danish translator should have taken some for how to give readers a funny, but plausible name).

[kasunex]

You know, I was going to say that I had "two nickels for everytime" NeroHaku and Aikoto reminded me of one another. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized there actually are a good few parallels between the two. Which is interesting, since I had never really thought about them as being all that similar.

1) In CCC, Nero says that what she wants in a relationship is to remain by Hakuno's side and protect them.

Meanwhile, Aigis repeatedly expresses a deeply held desire to remain by Makoto's side and protect him.

“You are very special to me… I do not know why, but I always want to be by your side… I want to protect you..."

2) In Extella, Hakuno is left comatose in a bad end. Nero collapses over him, professing her affections and begging Hakuno to wake up.

When Makoto dies, he does so in Aigis' lap as she tells him about how she wants to be by his side, always.

Both of them have allusions to "sleeping" when they are truly dying, though Aigis tells Makoto it's ok to sleep - not knowing he is dying - while Nero is begging Hakuno to awaken, fully aware that Hakuno is not well.

3) Aigis carries Makoto bridal style in PQ if she is picked as his partner.

Nero carries Hakuno bridal style in Last Encore, Extella, and Extra Record.

Assuming male Hakuno, in both cases it's the girl holding the guy rather than the more common reverse.

4) The Persona Official Magazine refers to Aigis and Makoto's meeting as being "fated".

Similarly, Hakuno is alluded to as Nero's "fated spouse" in Fate/Grand Order.

In both cases, it's only in Japanese. The Persona Official Magazine wasn't translated into English, while the NA version of FGO doesn't have the "fated" part for whatever reason.

5) Both pairings have an alternative option who is hypothetically on even footing, up to player choice...but in practice relegated to a jealous third wheel. For Nero and Hakuno, it's Tamamo, for Aigis and Makoto it's Yukari.

6) In terms of the characters themselves, both Aigis and Nero are socially eccentric, although in opposite ways. Aigis is more formal, if sometimes inept, Nero is aggressively outgoing. Both are also the more affectionate and more battle-prone of their pairings. Both are indifferent to their partner's gender, Nero's relationship being the same with male and female Hakuno while Aigis falls for FeMC all the same as Makoto. And both Aigis and Nero are criticized by fans for being given "favoritism" by the writers.

7) Hakuno and Makoto, aside from both being JRPG protagonists, don't have a ton in common...at least, unless we're counting Last Encore. The technically-not-Hakuno-but-still-Hakuno of that anime has the same broody introvert vibe going that Makoto does.

8) Both pairings have a scene where the antagonist wipes one of their minds and tries to turn them against each other, only for the character to snap out of it through their love. In Persona 3, Aigis is brainwashed by Ikutsuki, but she snaps out of it when she looks into Makoto's eyes.

In CCC, BB tries to delete Nero, and though that fails, Nero is stuck comatose. Hakuno dives into her subconscious to revive her, but is confronted with an inner version of Nero who doesn't remember them. Inner Nero is disinterested, even hostile towards Hakuno, but she falls for them again and defends them against BB despite that.

9) One in both pairings is an AI. Aigis is a robot and Hakuno is…well, literally an AI.

10) Both have a scene where they hug after forgetting about one another.

So if I had a nickel for everytime NeroHaku and Aikoto paralleled one another, I would have...50c. And that's not even two nickels at that point. That's two quarters.

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR Rambles magic 8 ball-

Here we go again, I feel the chemicals kicking in-

Ah, we've arrived at a scene I literally wanted since I read the manga so I might have some stuff to say. X'D Shadow introducing Vio to Vaati. Like I stated on the posts of these updates, it's heavily implied (And even outright stated in the German translation, thx AK for that info ^w^) Vio met with Vaati directly.

Also his "I can't believe I didn't notice..." line when fake Zelda turns out to be Vaati ALSO leads me to think he knew what Vaati looked like/has met him before....?

In English it's vague as hell but the Viz Translation has a few genuine flubs imo compared to what I've seen of other translations. (The German one seems super accurate from what I've heard? but that makes sense because it was directly translated from Japanese to German apparently. English gives off "interpretation not 1 to 1" vibes.)

Suffice to say: I've REALLY wanted to know how their interactions went down. X'D

Shadow feels he has some leverage with Vaati since TECHICALLY him and Vaati are equals? Even though Vaati bosses him around oof.

Because Creatures of darkness can sense fear, despite Vio putting on a blank face Shadow knows Vio's nervous and kinda tries to subdue it. (He cares aww)

He's really excited to get this out of the way so they can officially work together.

I figure he technically doesn't NEED Vaati's permission but is still getting it anyway: Because he doesn't wanna upset daddy lmfao.

Also the lines about Vaati being "Lazy" and using people: It comes up later

Vaati's entrance here was so fun to think of. Bro was napping or smth lmfao. Loved the idea of his weight being so huge it shoves giant gusts of wind as he rises.

The other 3 in FS seem surprised, I think it's supposed to be Green who shouts "SO THAT'S VAATI!?" during the fight. Already mentioned Vio's "I can't believe I didn't notice" rather than HORROR at the Eldridge monster they're about to take on??? X'D

Figured he got the terror out of the way when he MET Vaati. Because Vio is ya know, not experienced fighting DEMONS and virtually ALONE right now he is obviously shitting bricks at the sight of this huge floating eyeball demon lmao.

He also holds Shadow's hand cause it's cute and Shadow Link is the only person who could MAYBE protect him against Vaati.

I can't with eye contact so maybe I'm just a wuss but Vaati's design is so unnerving to me. X'D Also again: If you know my previous fandom work you know I love creepy/scary scenes. You'll notice I virtually always avoid making characters look AT YOU because I literally hate that so much in manga.

Especially in romance scenes I cannot stand eye contact, don't look at me look at your lover lmfao. So if a character in my comics is looking AT the audience: It's because it's meant to be uncomfortable.

Vio tries to dampen his own fears and Shadow not so casually tries to keep things smooth between them and Vaati. Talking about how great this is.

Vaati can see right through that shit though.

Vio tries to pass off his fear as just being nervous to meet someone so amazing lmfao. Stroke that ego Vio, Vaati's a sucker for that kind of thing.

Vaati wants a moment alone with the hero. X'D Shadow again is very adamant on Vio being on their side because he really thinks they are.

He in THEORY has just as much of a say as Vaati and has MORE of a say considering Vio's fate is up to him because Gannon put him in charge of that.

Which is hysterical considering he's like 14 to 15 here at minimum considering Link's old enough to drink in FSR and Link deals with the curse for 7 years tho their ages are really whatever in the flashbacks. Like the idea of Vaati and a 14 year old having the same amount of say on their evil plans is so damn funny to me lmao. Gannon thinks Vaati is as competent and useful as a literal child and that's HILARIOUS.

Vio is quick to realize Shadow's wording here and that SOMEONE is a bigger player. He assumes Gannon because that's the only name he has to go off of.

Something I noticed in the manga: Despite being Shadow's partner Shadow doesn't EXPLAIN a LOT to Vio. Vio has to ask him things lmao. I genuinely wonder if it's a trust issue thing or if it's a "he didn't ask so I didn't tell" thing. I had to be smart about this scene because Vio and Shadow don't bring up Gannon until like...WAY LATER in the timeline of them hanging out. I really try to take into consideration the timeline of the actual manga while writing in-between scenes. I'd love to do an entire rewrite of FS but I do not have the time or patience for that. X'D

Honestly the most annoying thing about writing in between scenes is just how WEIRD it is from like: a regular ass person perspective.

Like it's not natural to be like "Yeah lol Gannon, I'll wait to bring that up like a week after it was first relevant"

This is done a LOT in media. Lmao literally just experianced a scene like that in JJK volume 0. It's like for the audiences sake, always awkward and ALWAYS done for exposition, and it's ALWAYS weird from like: an actual person conversation side of things? Idk if I'm articulating this well lmao.

So Shadow was told to leave the room because Vio brings up Gannon to gain Vaati's trust and I needed a reason for Shadow and Vio not to bring up Gannon here because they do later in the manga.

But I thought it'd be clever if Vio brought up Ganon because: He's already gambling might as well use the fact he THINKS the bigger player is Ganon to his advantage.

Anyways: Shadow's still a bro and gives Vio some advice on dealing with Vaati.

The panel of Vaati's eyeball/body taking up the entire background behind Vio while he steels his mind miiiiiight have a very special place in my heart. UwU It's just so ominous.

I wanted to get across just how much of a threat Vaati is. Mans is TERRIFYING. He's also HUGE.

Vio's rightfully terrified of this thing. I really wanted to show the struggle Vio went through with this plan because it was A HUGE RISK. I feel kinda snuffed we didn't get to see Vio's struggles with this plan in the manga save a few panels of him looking guilty.

We were robbed by page restraints and I'll never forgive whoever only gave Akira 2 volumes for FSA for that, they did SO GOOD for what they had to work with though so don't think I'm dunking on them for this.

I also get the liberty of giving thought bubbles. Smth I noticed is the severe LACK of thought bubbles in FSA?

Also 1 on 1 convos but that's a whole other thing. Again, time and page restraints would be my assumed reason. Pacing in FSA was rushed so I can't really say "For pacing reasons" imo.

So we get to see inside Vio's head as he goes through this, he uses Shadow's assumptions about him here: "Admitting" he always had second thoughts and admired the darkness.

Vaati is obviously skeptical of this nonsense considering who Vio is.

Vio really hams it up.

Bringing up Gannon which surprises Vaati considering NONE of the heroes should even know about Gannon. He is purely there to distract them while Gannon gains power after all lmao.

The fact one of them KNOWS is not only surprising but kinda scary!

Vio continues to show his "faithfulness" by bowing and declaring his loyalty.

His words hit different for somebody who's been through the same shit as Vio's describing, as Vaati's eyes widen and his wings droop as Vio continues to describe how he would have been despised. If you don't know: Minish Cap manga explains Vaati worshipped the darkness and was a bit of an outcast.

Vio's mind is on one person only at this moment: Princess Zelda! :D

Vio cares about Zelda deeply as we'll continue to see through FSR.

I don't like to see it as romantic (Just because I think Vio is gay but that's a whole other thing), but he is DRAWN to her and wants to protect her no matter what, because well a LOT of reasons.

1. He's apart of Link. And this version of Link and Zelda are childhood friends and deeply care about each other. So just on a personal level he wants her to be alright

2. He's apart of the chosen hero destined forced to save hyryle.

3. I kind of like to think Zelda Gannon and Link have the Triforce in FSR at least, and it's drawn to itself. Side note: Would love for the Triforce to appear on Link/the four's hands at some point. Because I love that design motif on Links.

The moment of truth...Did his plan work? Everything is FUCKED if it didn't...

Vaati just silently stares at him as Vio dares to raise his head to meet Vaati's eye.

But Vio can't even tell if Vaati's looking at him in this moment with that thousand yard stare.

Rightfully: Vio is still shitting bricks.

Lol so that blurred word bubble is Vio stating "Lord Vaati?" but Vaati can't hear him lmao.

He's too busy wrapped up in remembering the time he grave robbed-

Jokes aside: You might have noticed smth a tad ODD about being able to see what Vaati was thinking in this moment. But this point is SO FAR from being relevant I'll just leave you to think about it.

If ya noticed it: You noticed. I'll bring it up when it's actually relevant. Which is a LONG time away.

Anyways also if you don't know: Master Elzo gives Link the hat Vaati used to be magical boy at the end of Minish Cap's manga. So Vaati's just stealing it back lmfao.

He is still a demon with magic regardless of the hat, the hat is just a symbol of his bad boy-ness.

Also the idea he "returned" to Minish Cap Link after the dude died was an idea I just could not leg go of.

I maybe have an idea for Minish Cap Link in FSR but I dunno if I'll end up going with it or WHERE. Stuff has changed in the script before so who knows.

Stealing some of Zelda's light force forever fucked Vaati's mind and body up.

You can kinda assume what went down but the general idea is Master Elzo is fucking dead and Vaati's on a downward spiral. Link is dead because the door between the Picori and the Hylians only opens every 100 years. Also the "Using people" line: Vaati often doesn't use his own striength but uses others to achieve his goals. Ya know like a coward. X'D

Nobody ever fully trusted or accepted Vaati after what he did in the events of the Minish Cap manga. Sooooo.

Bro turns back to the dark side.

That's the only thing I could think of after seeing he was "Good" at the end of Minish cap manga I was like "????????" after reading FSA first. X'D

Like did he just wake up one day and decide to be evil again lmfao.

The Zelda manga's reference themselves so I'm under the impression they're all SOMEWHAT connected. SO like- WHAT'S VAATI'S DEAL???

Presumably after this he went on to do the events in the story told at the start of the FS Manga: where he fights the first incarnation of the four hero.

Which holy shit I'd also like to dive into buuuuut mmghhh- It's wild to me OUR Link from FS manga is the SECOND bitch to do this. Like MMHH So interesting to me...

Insanity aside this is my explanation for "Good" Vaati. He just reverted. Like a lot of people would under that scenario.

Lol looking at the same face he did years ago. That must be weird.

Vaati kinda felt a kin-ship with the purple hero cause...YOU KNOW. EVERYTHING I STATED BEFORE THIS. XD

He's a Link-

He's caught off guard by all this so is just kinda like "Oh...Yeah sure you're a part of the team yeah... Yeah...Whatever" Vio broke Vaati by appealing to his trauma lmao.

Shadow spying on if Vio's okay is very funny to me. Dude's worried about his new friend.

Shadow nervously walking up to Vaati after being caught spying is very funny to me. Bro was just keeping an eye on his new Boyfriend. UwU

Vaati asks for Vio's unput well: Because he was on the Four Hero team at one point lol. If he IS evil getting his opinion is a good route to take.

Which he doesn't fully believe considering he's still sus of Vio but doesn't feel like arguing with Shadow, who is the equivalent to his boss's entitled bratty kid.

Vio of course gets leverage to go to Death Mountain, because he's holding onto the idea he MIGHT be able to regroup.

Vaati's still distracted as fuck from the state of his expression. X'D Like he's kinda just, repeating himself/out of it.

Shadow's just like "Yeah yeah shut up we're great yeah yeah It's fine it's fine"

Shadow takes a moment to just walk ever so casually away from Vaati getting enough distance before showing how happy/excited he is.

I just like drawing Shadow trying to touch Vio in some way he's so starved for attention and positive interaction. Not having a bad word to breathe about Vio before the betrayal was always funny to me from the manga. He just admires this boy so much.

Like, I like showing off that "He's not really EVIL" side of Shadow link half the fandom seems to DESPISE.

Cry harder we sympathize with Shadow Link in this house. UwU

Vio's cracking under the welcoming nature a little by making a jokes, and even thinks "Man I used to be scared of this dude"

Shadow is just a little guy in love and I like that about him moving on-

Vio laughs at his dumb joke and Shadow's like "Finally you're not a tense weirdo" X'D

Vio's coping hard lmao.

He's still just a kid during these events so it's HARD to deal with what's going on. I wanted to write him getting his cracking through because how normal he acts in the events of the manga leads me to think he steeled himself overtime.

Laughing his ass off before going into a state of pure raw emotion of "Holy shit I could have just died" comes off as jarring and unnerving.

Shadow can tell SOMETHING's wrong but guesses the cause wrong.

Shadow assumes Vio's having a difficulty with the heat.

This goes off of TOTK/BOTW logic where sapphires ward off heat because I think that's awesome.

If I were rewrighting FSA I'd have him give Vio a different outfit or smth like that.

I DO love the sapphire specifically though because um: Anyone remember what the Zora Sapphire was in OOT?

Lmao an engagement ring- X'DDDD

From that one frame of Blue yanking out his hammer from his hat we know they store shit in there. Freakin' Link From the LOZ cartoon has a magic bag that shrinks his shit and I find that hysterical. I like to think Link's hat works similarly.

Vio's blushing and not unsubtle heart skipping is so funny to me.

If the fact Vio kissed Shadow first didn't already get ya:

Vio's in love with Shadow Link too lmao.

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Random media i love and want to recommend:

Saving Me (animated tv show) - A Canadian show about a brilliant 61 y/o inventor who, upon realizing that he's driven away everyone he ever loved, projects himself into the mind of his 12 y/o self to help save his (their?) relationships before they crash and burn. This show gives me super intense Gravity Falls vibes, in the sense that it's basically just what would happen if Ford Pines went back in time to help his child self. It also has a lot of interesting plot pieces that slowly connect over the course of the series. Currently has two seasons.

Daybreaking Romance (manhwa) - A Korean manhwa following three different college couples and their romantic escapades. This is very slice of life but also features comedic misunderstandings of epic proportions and grounded examinations of people, not to mention plenty of nice lighthearted emotional turmoil. Also two of the main characters (Saebyeok and Yeomyoung) are the most autistic twins you'll ever meet. Check it out if you like simping boyfriends, aesthetically pleasing artwork, and misunderstandings that drive you up the wall in a good way (if you're a Miraculous Ladybug fan you'll probably like this one lol). Unfortunately there's no official English translation so you'll have to read it online.

Mision: Yozakura Family (manga) - a recent(ish) Japanese manga about a high schooler who accidentally gets married to the head of a family of spies and is adopted into the family business. Now I've complained about this series in the past, but I'm still recommending it because it's funny and sweet, all of the characters are easy to love, and the main couple are incredibly shippable. Plus its myth arc is shaping up to be incredibly interesting!

The Goes Wrong Show (tv series) - a British comedy series with the premise "what if an amateur theater group tried to put on shows and they went disastrously wrong?" It's the most hysterical, side-splitting show I've ever seen - I'm not kidding when I say every episode makes me choke with laughter. The craftsmanship is also top notch. You will not BELIEVE what sort of things these actors will go through for the sake of the bit. There are two series (seasons) plus a handful of holiday specials and a wholeass movie. Also, the entire series is free on YouTube!

Small Kingdoms (book by Charlaine Harris) - a short story collection, all featuring the same character: Anne DeWhitt, an assassin trainer turned high school principal. The writing is clean and concise, in a way that grips you right from the first sentence and doesn't let go; I also really love the characters, who are delightfully practical and also super endearing. Definitely recommended if you like thrillers, good writing, and short reads.

Eerie Tales From The School of Screams (graphic novel) - a recent horror anthology comic. It's middle grade fiction, but hoooo boy it's the sort of book kids will come back to as adults and be like "holy shit, this was for kids???" You might recognize the author and artist (Graham Annable) because he's done a bunch of comics/comic strips and also worked on movies like Boxtrolls and Coraline. This one has a bunch of body horror and creepy art so genuinely don't read it if you're not interested in horror horror ^^'

[hood-ex]

Yo you're watching jjk? That time fushiguro got asked about his type, the correct translation is he said a person with unwavering humanity. A certain someone's name has a kanji meaning the same 👀

Highly highly recommend that you watch the jjk 0 movie right after finishing season 1 so you know, what's up, who's down bad, who's coming etc.

The one anon is right about the content being dark, it is technically a tragedy horror action true, bit there's no sexual violence unless you deep it and think about what really goes on.

Oh you're also so wrong about Kurama 😂 Akutami's writing this as a tribute to shounen (mother's basement on youtube has good videos on jjk) but his main inspo are bleach and hunterxhunter, along with older stuff like ngo, yu yu hakuso etc. Naruto influences every shounen but it's not Akutami's fave. He worships bleach mangaka 😂

I don't know many good translator or meta writers on tumblr but if you have twitter check out lightningclare!

Welcome to hell tho, you're in for a lot of heartbreaks. (Beware the popular found family doesn't exist in canon, dismissed by Akutami many times, and the canonical found family is of an old villain's so they're kinda hated, like a Lot lol rip)

That's the translation I got in the sub during that scene, I believe. Lol can I just assume it's Yuji? Last time I tried to figure out the meaning of a name, I was totally wrong, and my student's mother was like uh no that's not what his name means at all, actually. So I don't trust my general Google searches for non-English names 😭.

Oh did not know there was a movie so that's veryyy good to know, thank yooou!

Yeah, I mean it's dark but not in an off-putting way. At least not to me alskdja. Idk it doesn't bother me at all. A lot of the dark stuff really pushes Yuji to be better and stronger, so I like it for that effect.

I can draw parallels between Naruto/Kurama and Yuji/Sukuna from my own perspective, but him having inspo from those older animes makes sense. I've actually never seen Bleach, and I think waaaay back in the day, I might have tried to watch the first episode of it but didn't finish it. I was way more invested in Prince of Tennis back then lmao. "Mada mada dane."

No yeah the series isn't really giving the found family vibes I would've hoped for so far (Yuji and Todo though... LOL). Yuji has been separated from the others too much, and we haven't really seen more than surface level connections between the other students so far. Although, they are watching each other's backs pretty well, so I am getting caring vibes between them.

*spoiler mentioned below*

Waaaait what do you mean the canonical found family is an old villain's? I spoiled myself on TikTok today and saw that Sukuna is apparently Yuji's uncle... or something? Something something with Sukuna's twin. Is that what you're referring to?

[dreamtydraw]

please talk to us about your ocs 💕💗💕💗💕

I am currently praying this post dosen't get eatean by tumblr because this is the third time i'm writting it ╭( ๐_๐)╮

First of all i want to thanks you guys for genuinly asking because i really didn't tought it would interest ppl as i am never sure, so once again, thanks you for asking ♡

Euhm euhm....

☆SYMBOLISM OF MY OUR LIFE MC☆

Nda : english is not my first language so i excuse myself in advance for possible typos.

Second nda : because this post is already long enough, Valentin is getting a separated post about her design.

Before starting the analysis there are informations that needs to be given first! When creating my mc I only had a summary of the game: for example, didn't know who Lizzie would be but chose my me to look similar to her by accident, making them looks even more like siblings.

Cerise name was chosen because I wanted her to have a name/appearance fruit inspired, choosing the French translation of Cherry as her name and a mandarine based design. Her last name ( fourth ) comes from the fact that every time I replayed the game I updated her last name to make it easier to differentiated my saves, the fourth run being my favorite. She doesn't have any specific ethnicity and her color palette was chosen to fit in the summer aesthetic, but also an autumn palette aesthetic.

The autumn colors are more present during stressful periods (end of high school, start of step 4) mainly because of the start of adulthood and leaving sunset bird.

Patterns usually associated with Cerise are fruits patern, dots, and ribbons. Cerise also has a very visible scar on her face (the backstory of the scar here) this scar is in the middle of her forehead, it's massive and one of the first features of her you can see, this is im portant for her character.

Now last important info before going on analysis step by step : Cerise was written as a nonverbal autistic child, this and other little details of mannerisms make her a very closeted person. Her character evolve with time, but through the shaping of it, her looks change too.

In step 1 Cerise only had her scar for a year now. She's scared of interacting with people and her prominent feature drowns too much attention into her, so she does what every 8 year old kid think is best; hide it.

Cerise's face is always covered with her hair. It's messy and nonpractical but showing her bareface is too much for her, the idea of people looking at her is just too scary for her.

She usually wears shift dresses because the loose fabric is comfortable and feels right.

She also wear platform sandal, she likes to feel tall and be the same height as her big sister.

The dominant color of her childhood clothes is green, white, and blue. Those color are chosen because little cerise likes her town, she likes the sky, the hill and the ocean.

As time passed by, Cerise now having a friend ( no siloh did not pass the friendship test, Cove is her first friend ), she feels less self conscious about her face. As she grew up she felt less scared and gained bit of self confidence.

But growing up means, Cerise entered middle school, and here started her complicated relathionship with school. Between the terrible stress of work being very hard for her and everyone not being little kid anymore, many thing changed and so did she.

In step 2, influenced by all the people around her, Cerise wants to look pretty and tries to put more effort into her appearance. As she never cut her hair they are very long so she starts by that: trying different hairstyles, her most common one is the side braid ponytail. She's still scared but she's not a kid anymore, Cerise is now able to go out her face not covered.

Now older she was allowed get her ears pierced and so she did.

Growing up she chose yellow as her favorite color because "it has a positive vibe" but secretly it was also because it reminded her of her sister.

Her wardrobe was filled with pretty clothe, ribbons, pretty cutted shirt and flowers patern. Although she intended to wear pretty clothes the types stayed the same : practical shorts and shirt.

She tries to be more feminine with little details like nail polish, hair accessories to look nice.

At the age of 13 years old, Cerise started having a noticeable chest and she hated it. Every clothes she felt too revealing was never wore again, everything that brang attention to her body was hided: tank top got banned from her wardrobe.

Fun fact : she ended up getting a sport shirt because it reminded her of Derek

Middle school is a period of self reflexion, and questioning herself that what she did. Moving to high school her anxiety didn't left but self confidence started to rise now that she felt pretty trough the help of accessories . She felt comfortable in her appearance but still worried of people's opinion, still unsure of what to feel about her body.

Summer 2016 or like they named it... The year of the incident... After 18 years of keeping her extremely long hair, Cerise's cut her hair short to try a new look. Out of highschool, she was worried and lost about herself and her possible future, this new hairstyle marked the start of a new search of self. ( cove discovered it when he came back from his mom and was quite in shock )

This last vacation of her tern year's was bittersweet and she spent it terrified of what the future may hold. Not a kid but not an adult, everything was scary and it reflected into her color scheme who gained more dull and earthy tones.

Her love for accessories grew with her and she started wearing rings, chockers but mainly a lot of bracelet, lot of which she shared with other.

Her love for yellow shifted to green, she tried to feel more adult to feel less scared about the future

Her discomfort with showing skin got mixed with her liking of wearing layered clothes. Her wardrobe got filled with long skirts and overalls dresses.

Her habit of wearing nail polish stayed but instead of the funky color she settled for the same dark green.

Fun facts : she traded one of her rings with one of Baxter's.

She has as multiple friendship bracelet handmade that she shares with Cove.

At the end of Summer, Cerise still scared of what the futur could bring, took the scariest but best decision of her life : moving out of Sunset bird.

Cerise took a year gap after high school and went traveling abroad. She did it to face her biggest fears and focus on herself. It was the decision that shifted her life like she needed. The experience helped her a lot and she grew up to become who she always dreamed of to be. She was not scared of people anymore, she found who she wanted to be and was happy with herself. She went back to appreciate what she used to like : bright color, feminine and comfy clothes, accessories, the ocean, the hills, her home town. Her scar didn't meant anything to her anymore, she liked who she was regardless of exterior opinion.

Inspired by internet fashion, Cerise developed an interest for cottage core and many other soft aesthetic .

She has 3 piercing each ear but often wear just two set of earrings.

She went back into liking yellow as one of her favorite color, but kept green along side of it.

She still wear green nail polish .

Her favorites clothes are long summer dresses.

She feels comfortable to show some skin after a long time of self hatred, now embracing any type of clothes regardless of if it's brings attention to her.

She dosen't wear her accessories as much as she used to but still hold an important love toward it.

Cerise became Cerise and accepted her likes and dislikes to become the best version of herself when it comes to her appearance.

END OF THE POST

If you read that much i thanks you for it ! Hope you'll have a nice day and here, a little Cerise to end this post

[gayhotpriests]

hello hi bursting into your office (ask box) with comically large binders that have papers falling out (so many questions about spanish)

first off, thank you for the post, and the collection of people in the post willing to help out! super duper appreciate it. I can tell when Spanish sounds odd or forced in a fic, but I don't know enough to fix it so- midnightsbuck, you're my only hope.

So, first, could Eddie call Tia Pepa, just Tia? It's a thing in my language to have custom labels for each family member, that are meant to be more affectionate than just, like, Aunt Cassie, so I was wondering if it would carry over okay into just Tia.

Also, I have her calling Eddie, "Editto" and "Mijo", which, I know the second one is technically, my son, but it feels more, like, my kid or kiddo, vibes? idk you tell me if im off here.

3. “You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but Tia was having none of it. “Sí, yo dije, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que linda!” - This section, I tried blending a bit more Spanish into English, which is something my mom does often with Urdu, so the speech patterns felt right for the language blend.

4. Would Tia Pepa call Buck "Evanito"? I've seen a lot of that, and I can't think of a way to turn 'Buck' into a nickname. Conversely, would it be approriate for Buck to call her Tia Pepa, or is there a more respectful alternative?

5. “Aw, no, mirame, Tia, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” - Does this work for "look at me" from Eddie?

okay that was so much many apologies - thank you for offering your knowledge!

Hi!!! thank you for coming in, have a seat! it's my pleasure actually, so lets see what we got here💓

1. yes, it is fine for him to just call her tía instead of just saying tía pepa all the time. i personally feel like he wouldn't just call her "pepa" because it's not common to call your older relatives by their first names, you say their "title" first, idk if im making sense. i have met people who do that, but it's not common bc it's seen as disrespectful.

2. and for her to call him eddito- absolutelly. i feel weird when my aunts call my by my outside world nickname hahaha i feel like pepa might call him eddie too (or even have her own nickname for him), though abuela would stick more to eddito. you're right about mijo though, it's not exclusive to parents and their children, aunts and other relatives do also say it.

3. about this little excerpt:

“You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but Tia was having none of it. “Sí, yo dije, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que linda!”

there's a couple of things! don't forget the possesive, add the his before tía, because tía isn't a name but a title(?) i don't know how to explain it hahah it's like saying "but aunt was having none of it", it doesn't work in english! if you're replacing the noun you have to keep the same grammar rules. in spanish it would be the same too.

the "i said" part, i would translate as "dije eso" (i said that), in spanish we tend to erase the first person pronouns (and pronouns in general when they're kind of redundant bc the conjugation already implies first person), but to only say "dije" doesn't work. and finally, remember words in spanish are gendered, so adjectives end in A or O if you're describing a woman or a man (YES is a big problem for non binary speak). and lindo translates to pretty or cute, so if you're looking for a word that means "handsome" that's guapo. if you're angling for pretty, lindo works just fine! (pero first is a thing in spanglish as far as i know! good on that).

to sum it all up, it would read better like this:

“You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but his Tía was having none of it. 

“Sí, dije eso, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que lindo!”

4. i have personal beef with Evanito tbh KSDJKSLSJ i'm more of an "Evancito" myself. you add ito/ita to make the diminutive, but when a word ends in a consonant, you add cito/cita. so it makes more sense to me and feels more natural that they'd say evancito. buck is a nickname on itself so i don't think they would change it.

5. finally! on this part:

“Aw, no, mírame, Tia, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

one thing you have to know about spanish is that we have like three different ways to say you, the informal, formal and a third form used only in spain hahhaha so the informal tú is used for friends, siblings etc anyone on your same or lower levels of hierarchy(? but you would use the formal usted for people in higher hierarchies, like your boss, teacher, or older relatives. this can also change with trust levels! i say tú to my mom but usted to my aunts, although in some countries they are a lot more traditional and also use the formal version with parents (eddie would say usted to his dad, for example).

so, in this case "mírame" is "look at me" but it's informal, when speaking to his aunt in spanish he'd probably say "míreme" which is the formal conjugation. so it would look like this:

“Aw, no, míreme, Tía, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

i hope this all made sense!! i tried not to go too hard on explaining grammar rules but i tend to overexplain all the time ;-; hope this helps and thanks for coming into my office! you're welcome any time<3

[sewi-li-suwi]

I love making grammar and unique writing systems but I'm shit at making plausible vocabulary. do you have any advice?

uhh ok i'm really just a novice at conlanging, and this is a mess bc otherwise i'll never actually end up posting it post it but-

derivational morphology! take a root, add an affix, bam! new related word. stuff like "relate" and "relationship", or "big" and "biggest"

even if your lang doesn't have much morphology going on, what about loanwords? perhaps its borrowed a word from one language, and a similar (related) word from another.

k. an example. language A has the word [nita], which means "to catch" or "to grab". language B, which is in the same language family as A, has [nirə], which means "to fish" and is actually just A's [nita] with a century or two of sound and semantic shift! our language, C, could happily loan both of these in as individual words.

a more extreme example of this is english's "capture" and "have" - both come from proto-indo-european "*kap" (to seize/hold), but "have" came via proto-west-germanic "*habbjan", while "capture" came via latin "capiō + tūra".

oh! right. it's generally a bad idea to have a one-to-one correspondence with english translation to your language's word. i try to give at least a couple possible translations to get a vibe of the sorta thing it could mean. also worth baring in mind that a single word can cover several meanings. look at english's "run" (to run a cold, to run a tap, to run away, to run a program, a running engine, etc) for an idea of the sorta extremes you could have if you want.

i've been sitting on this draft for ages (sorry!) and honestly have no idea how to continue it. here's a good video for this sorta stuff - he explains it much better than me.

an important one is to have consistent phonotactics going on - what sounds exist in your language? are there any places where certain sounds aren't valid? (eg. english's /ŋ/ (ng) is only valid at the end of words (mostly), bc it came from [ng] -> [ŋg] -> [ŋ]. ng was only valid at the end of words, so /ŋ/ is too. your lang will feel much more realistic with consistent phonotactics.

sidenote of above: loanwords will generally be made to fit the phonotactics of the language they're being loaned into. spanish "taco" /tako/ is a good example - english doesn't actually have any of those sounds, so tries to approximate it with /tʰɑkʰoʊ/ (or british english /tʰækʰəʊ/)

i think i'm gonna leave it here. hopefully you can make more sense of my thoughts than me, you find the post, and that something about this was helpful! probably the video more than anything else, since that has like. actual thought put into it. the other stuff on Lichen's channel is also very useful - i'd also reccommend Biblaridion and Artfexian's conlanging vids.

[astralartefact]

ARE YOU READY TO BINGO The Bi-Annual Final Fantasy Fourteen Expansion Bingo Returns

I tried to keep it ~balanced~, but after Myths of the Realm burned me I felt the need to include a pessimistic corner in the lower left.

Thoughts and Explanations below the cut!

Eliminator Gundam

I know we already technically had Mech Suit Fights with the Weapons, buuut.... what if we did it again :) Give her a Gundam!!!

Ill-Advised Azem Lore Drop

They should know better than to go into Azem's Backstory, but I have a feeling they might still make them an actual character. Which I'm squarely against. Do not touch. You will simply not write something that will make it worth it.

Someone Sundered finally knows more than us

aka 'WoL and Friends stop being the Main Character of the Universe for once'-Challenge.

The Forgotten People went to Tural

Aloalo kind of already implied this happened (They left Aloalo but nobody knows where they went and where else could they have gone but across the ocean?) but I also think that it might actually be plot-relevant (more on that later)

The Enigmatic Maiden doesn't make it out of the Expansion

I don't really think she's going to survive this. I certainly want her to but it's just too easy to get rid of her, especially if she is indeed the bad guy of the Solution 9 Arc. Bonus Points if it's a heroic sacrifice as repentance for the wrong she caused, because as we all know the only way to make up for something is to fcking die about it <3!

Trial Fight on Top of Solution Nine

Come on!!!! They have to!!!

Questionable Armor Design Choices

How many robes that all look the same could they possibly design before someone steps in???

Somebody "Important" (but not too important) dies

I won't count Enigmatic Maiden for this space, even if I mean the same thing by it: They will kill a 'major' NPC (people say the one headed mamool ja prince has death flag vibes) for sTaKeS.

The Twelfth Shard is Involved (even though it doesn't really make sense timeline-wise)

Listen, this is not me being against it - I want this to happen, I think it's a really cool idea to put another Shard's people onto the source - but timeline-wise it doesn't really make sense.

On one hand it does make sense - Heritage Found is specifically described as having been built around the ancient structures there and if those manifested there during the Calamity of Lightning that would line up with the Forgotten coming to Tural and possibly first populizing it around the Calamity of Ice.

The problem is that the Calamity of Lightning was the second overall and at that time the people of the source learned how to create and use tools which... makes this sort of technology a little far-fetched. They still could make it an "The Ascians helped" sort of thing - maybe apart from saving them from it this thing also caused the entire Calamity? - but it would certainly need some amount of handwaving.

They finally talk about the Sun and/or Sundering Meta-Physics

I couldn't decide which one to focus this point on so I just put both. They somehow have never once actually talked about the Sun in any meaningful physical lore way which is kind of weird tbh... Similar to that I just want confirmation how Space Travel works after the Sundering. How far into space does the Sundered Dimensions reach? Could the other Shards see, for example, Dalamud or that other Allagan Satellite that crashed onto the Moon back when it was active? Is the sun we see on different shards the same or are they different suns?

English Localization Moment

The English Localization will just Translate something differently for no good reason and everyone will clap despite that not being a good thing. Could already mark this based on the trailer straight up using entirely different lines.

Y:DA did it better

I will probably find something that Y:DA did better. I'm not here to play fair, I want to win.

Somehow Shaaloani won me over

I will probably not be won over by Shaaloani. We already did arid western. Twice.

Erenville Outfit Change

Surely they keep him in his work clothes on purpose, right? They wouldn't just cheap out on giving him some other clothes, right? Right??

Something Actually Unexpected Happens

I don't know, it doesn't really seem like something on the level of "Fight Zodiarc, now!!!" will happen this time around, but what if they go crazy at Level 97??

Not Enough Krile

They will still find a way to disrespect her, I just know it. I will only mark this square if I'm happy with how they treated her!!!

Enigmatic Maiden's Name is kind of Underwhelming

Some people are saying she might be "Sarah" and that's exactly what I mean, something in the vein of Clive.

Genuinely Well-Intended Ascian

It doesn't have to be a good reason, I just don't want their reason to be "Who cares about these inferior beings!" again.

Is it to late to pray for salt flats?

Listen, if you can do Arid Western for the third time you can do Salt Flats for the second time!!!

The Pessimism Corner

Who Needs Eternal Life, It's Bad Anyways!

To skip the section where I amateurishly ramble about philosophy, let's make this quick:

Seeing that Solution Nine seems centered around offering its inhabitants eternal life without strife, etc. I just... have it in my bones that this narrative goes one step further than Venat and argues that actually, Death, Pain and Suffering makes us stronger or something like that.

And that's the viewpoint of a jealous hater. Who needs Eternal Life anyways!!! Eternal Life is bad actually!!! -3-

idk bad mouthing a thought experiment is just not the strategy to deal with the limitations of the human race that I would proudly theme half an expansion around.

The Writers really want me to like a character but I don't

I nominate Koana but "Sarah" might end up as this, too. In "Sarah"'s case I will just make up a new OC to replace her with though lol you should see what i did with elidibus' chin

Also no I don't care about Haurchefant stop bringing him up as if I did!!!!

I will be reminded of Myths of the Realm

If this happens send help.

Asinine Community Reaction

Come on, we all know they will regurgitate something fine into the ground ("That, I can't remember the smiles that we ceased, but you're not here to hero.") or hate something benign with a passion (they're still harassing every official insta post complaining about hats) - the question isn't if, it's What

[kitewithfish]

Wednesday Reading Meme for Jan 18 2023

What I've Read Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film - by Lee Clark Mitchell - This book was read for the Great Queer Supernatural Re-Watch section on Westerns and while I think it provided useful background on the pre-cinematic roots of the genre in novels and painting, I found that the analysis of filmed works was just fine.

There are times where Mitchell misinterprets a work to suit a contrasting reading of masculinity in two films - Hondo and Shane, for example. Hondo absolutely has a plot about a strange interloping male lead coming to a homestead and getting emotionally involved with an abandoned but still married woman and her son, before getting serious with her after her no-good husband dies - because the male lead kills him! Shane has an strange male interloper, but the move bends over backwards to make sure that the ranch wife and the interloper are never in the same shot alone, and the husband is a clearly heroic figure in his own right - plus the ending where Shane bids his farewell to their son rather than to the wife. Modern viewers would be justified in seeing a triad relationship than seeing infidelity. Mitchell also really ignores the racial dynamics of the genre and the fact that he's analyzing White American masculinity, not something more broad, plus he also doesn't really do audience reception of films at all. For all that I found Monsters in the Closet a bit prosaic in the analysis, it's miles better than this for providing context. But Westerns is from 1996, maybe the author has had a chance to get deeper into these topics since.

I read a BUNCH of fanfic that is just too short of the novel line to count as a novel for my reading purposes: A Man of Honor by astolat https://archiveofourown.org/works/44251276 36k - Regency AU, queer accepting AU of Jaime/Robb. It's actually massively fealty fic with some fun politicking, I adored this Tyrion. Cersei is Sir Not Appearing In This Fic, the monarchy and the battles are displaced to English Parliament, it's quite fun.

trust is a mobius strip by sinspiration https://archiveofourown.org/works/22394041 35k - Voltron: Legendary Defender, Shiro/Keith -this is just deeply charming example of non-sexual submission and kink in space. When aliens think you are dating, you might be dating. I don't even go here! I have not engaged in this fandom at all! All I know is that they have goofy space lions.

The Desert Storm by Blue_Sunshine 30K https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206480 - this is a truly massive series that is only technically finished because the author moved the second and ongoing portion of the series into a different series altogether. It's absolutely not shippy, it's very focused on Ben Nasaade, aka, Obi-Wan Kenobi from Luke's toddler years, getting magicked back to work with the Jedi in the years leading up to the Clone Wars. It's wonderful in terms of taking Jedi philosophy seriously and involves a lot of the Tatooine slave culture worldbuilding that fanon has put together from other sources (which I need to read). I inhaled the first five pieces of this and was so glad I had it downloaded to read when AO3 had it's maintenance shutdown last week. ruin 1/12/23 - holy fucking shit 16k fallout 1/12/23 oh my god 12k true colors 11223 10K in crisis 1/13/23 10k

What I'm Reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - SFF Book Club - Chugging right along! I feel like I am getting the fun vibe of this book in a way that I really wasn't the first time because, since I first tried to read this, I have actually read some recent YA fiction, so I am slightly more in tune with the tropes that they are pointedly subverting.

When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare - Audiobook, absurd and fun

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong) Vol. 4 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù with Faelicy (Translator) - moved out of hold so that I can read one section that is the basis for shipping two background characters. I might abandon this one after this section.

On Hold but not abandoned The World We Make by NK Jemisin (Great Cities 2) 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson - Slowly

What I'll Read Next The Uncle's Story, Witi Ihimaera The Good Lord Bird

Library books  Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys 

Owned and need to read: Frey Marske's A Restless Truth, and Susanna Clarke's Pirenesi California Bones, Raven Song by IA Ashcroft, Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert, Even Though I Know the End by CL Polk, True Colors by Karen Traviss, At The Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard, Tamryn Eradani's Enchanting Encounters Books 2 and 3, Like Real People Do by EL Massey, Tom Stoppard, invention of love. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and Other Myths about Fatness by Aubrey Gordon, Alisha Rai Partners in Crime, the Right Swipe, Aphorisms of Kerishdar

[hiveswap]

How do you get into mcyt?? I’ve tried a couple times and I can’t really figure out where everyone’s finding lore? Any tips?

Oh hi. i dont even know where to begin, i've been really out of the loop. But i have recommendations. This is going to be long

DreamSMP

Well, the dsmp has gone to shit for many reasons.

But if you do get into dsmp, blueberrytv on youtube is your best friend, they cut streams down to more digestible episodes so you can follow the story along. Yes it's long. Dear god it's long. Also @relaxxattack has a carrd that updated until fairly recently, i also recommended it many times.

The story was (i never thought i'd have to speak in past tense about it, the fucker seemed to drag through for decades in just 2 years) told through livestreams, quite a few of are lost forever because twitch deletes vods after 2 weeks and no one bothered to back them up. Also ignore everything after the disc war finale except quackity (and tales of the smp)

You can test the waters by watching Wilbur's L'manburg war video to see if you like the vibes. I usually recommend this, though it's not the earliest point in the story. (that would be tommy's disc war, which is also VERY important, but people tend to find him annoying at first, esp. 2020 tommy like jesus christ he was a different beast. Definietly watch it after the L'manburg independence, things will click.)

Sad-ist's animatics are classics that helped shape the story as it was being written. Watch them as you progress through.

Hermitcraft + Adjacent*

*as far as fandom/content creator overlap goes

1. Hermitcraft is more gameplay heavy. If you don't enjoy minecraft you're not gonna like it, but it's pretty straight forward. You find a youtuber and follow their series on youtube. People usually recommend Grian, GoodTimesWithScar, and Mumbo for beginners, (they are the most popular ones) and then you can branch out from there. Hermitcraft recap is a godsent if you want to know what's going on everywhere.

I personally loved season 8, it's also the shortest and the most lore-heavy. Really gives you a taste of what the series is like at its best.

2. The life series! (Third life, Last Life, Double life, Limited Life) again, find any participant want, then branch out if you want to. Lore is easy to find here, people were under pressure to make up stuff quickly because the series is short, and the result is funny, creative, and so so tragic.

3. People watch EvoSMP for grian, pearl and martyn lore but it really doesn't matter to anything that's going on right now. It's a good series, but Watcher (basically evil angel Grian) headcanons are far detached from it nowdays despite originating from it.

4. Yandere highschool! Do not watch Yandere highschool. No detail is worth it. Use adblock if you force yourself through it, no money for the creator he's an asshat and the other members apparently no longer talk to him.

QSMP

Since the last post, Quackity started the QSMP, in which spanish and english speaking youtubers play on the same server. It has roleplay but it's looser and less grimdark than the dsmp thankfully. They are on an island and they adopted little eggs that walk around and act all cute. It's streamed on twitch. Pick a person and look up their vods, if you're interested. Slimecicle is recommended to start with, and some spanish creators use english subtitles/translation mods. There aren't comprehensive sources to find every vod/video yet, since the server isn't that old.

EmpiresSMP

Start from participants' youtube channels, can't tall you more. I never got into it, not my thing. However, a lot of people left guides in the notes!

[zhuzhudushu]

do you happen to know how to translate english names to chinese without it just being the phonetic spelling? a native mandarin speaker brought it up to me and now i'm wondering if it would seem more natural or if i should stick with phonetic

I'm assuming by phonetic spelling you mean translating English names to the closest Chinese equivalent with pronunciation? Like my name: Julia > 朱莉娅 (zhuliya)

I've talked about names A Lot™ with my Chinese friends because I often felt that way too, that this name was.. obviously not a native Chinese name lol So sorry ahead of time, this will be a long answer!!! I LOVE NAMES

Why I've stuck with a phonetic name: All my Chinese friends said the same thing: that my name isn't super unnatural, and that I shouldn't change it because they like it and immediately think of me whenever they see it because it's distinct.

((Of course some names are probably way more unnatural than mine, too, and I'm lucky that my English name converts well to many languages lol))

I tried letting new friends on Tandem/HelloTalk pick a name for me to see what they came up with (keeping 朱, because I'm attached to it) and tbh they were pretty, and probably more normal sounding, but none of them resonated with me. I've just associated myself with "red grass girl" 🤣🤣

I feel like there's nothing wrong with converting names to the closest phonetic equivalent!! My closest friends in China and Taiwan agree.

Side tangent #1

Once someone recommended switching to 丽 (li), but then another friend told me that one was too overused. Someone recommended 立 (I think?? If not, it was another character with this radical) once too, and a guy told me it gave off vibes of independence, but 2 girls told me it was way too masculine for a girl's name. Essentially, just because one Chinese person maybe said your name was too unnatural does not mean all Chinese people feel this way. In my experience you can ask 5 Chinese people about a name and you will get 5 different answers for whether it's masc/fem, what it's associated with, whether it's common, or whether it sounds foreign. One of my friends has even met a native Chinese 朱莉娅 before, with the same characters I use!

Side tangent #2

What about the reverse, what do we think of foreigners who have English names vs. foreign names? Obviously Xiran Jay Zhao is Chinese by their name and did not pick an English name, and I think this works!! Though I do see most foreign Chinese people pick names like John, Edward, Caroline... And what do we think when we see "Edward Pan"? (潘雲安, the singer for 告五人 btw) Some of us might think "lol why did they pick that name, that's obviously not their real name." And what do we think when they pick old-fashioned names like Eunice? (Yes, I've met one) If we pick an overtly standard Chinese name, will they think similarly? But then, if we have something that's completely non-standard, what will they think of that?? They might say "oh a foreigner" but... is that such a bad thing? It's tricky!

IN CONCLUSION (and to actually answer your question... 😅)

If your name doesn't convert well phonetically, or you think the phonetic translation is too odd, (or maybe you hate your English name lmao) here's what I'd recommend for finding alternatives:

Try picking a surname character (click for a list) that sounds similar to your English name, then pick a "normal" given name! Or vice versa, use a common Chinese surname and pick a given name that has the same initial consonant/syllable as your English name but is still "normal" sounding.

Here's some resources for picking characters:

Behindthename - pretty accurate from my experience!

Everyday Chinese - good video with a PDF below of 100 common characters used in boy/girl names

My Name is Andong - I like his suggestions a lot!

Shuoshuo - She's adorable and has good advice

Shuoshuo again - Here she critiques her students' names!

(You're also more than welcome to join my discord channel, where we have a whole section dedicated to discussing names!)

HelloTalk & Tandem are great places to bounce ideas off natives. They've been super friendly and open to picking names based on the meaning of my name, pronunciation of my name, or based on characters used in classic poetry or more hip characters.

If you pick a name on your own, run it by multiple native speakers. You never know if you might've picked a homonym for an insult or a rare idiom with a negative meaning!!!

Also something else to consider: what your friends actually call you. Do my closest friends calls me 朱莉娅？ LOL NO I'm 朱朱 and 朱老师(lolz) And this is super cute, and a super normal nickname to be called in China. Literally there are a million 朱朱's lol

So maybe instead of worrying about "does it sound foreign" altogether, find one character (I'd suggest a surname or the first character of a given name) that you feel you can associate with yourself phonetically/visually/meaning-wise and then go by that in the double-repeat format of Chinese nicknames. I've been much happier since I started using 朱朱 on most platforms~~

Because I can't stop rambling, see some real life examples below:

杰里德 (Jared) youtuber who uses a phonetic name and he's very popular both here and on the Chinese version of youtube, even his Chinese girlfriend calls him 杰里德 and no one seems to care. And because it's distinct and "foreign" you can mention 杰里德 to Chinese person and they're like "the Canadian guy???" lol

Blondie in China (艾米饭) her real name is Amy, seems to have a fun but nonstandard Chinese name but she never uses it in her youtube videos so idk how people react to it!

毛毛虫 (Anastasia Koss) youtuber who complains sometimes that she gets weird comments about her name... which, she did name herself a bug, so that's not normal by Chinese name standards, but I wonder if she had picked something closer to her english name, would she get comments like that?

丹娜 (Danai) youtuber who seems to have gone with a direct phonetic translation, and tbh I think this is really cute!!

小马 (Arieh) youtuber who also has a weird name imo, since it's literally "pony" lol But tbh I don't watch him bc he bothers me so idk how people react to his name

There are also lots of phonetically-translated names for famous people and Chinese people don't seem to care??? Examples: Anne Hathaway (安妮 海瑟薇, ani haisewei), Obama (奥巴马, aobama), Romeo & Juliet (罗密欧/朱丽叶, luomiou/zhuliye)

Also for fun, here are some of my Chinese friends and their English names that I think are pretty good translations because they're partially phonetic~

佳琪 (jiaqi) > Jackie

培�� (peiyu) > Penny

刘潇璇 (liuxiaoxuan) > Lexi